Haunted Museums: Fact or Fiction?

Haunted Museums: Fact or Fiction?

I know that in the writing of this post, I will encourage both support and criticism.

But first and foremost, we must remain truthful and honest to our pledge to seek out the REALITY of the existence of the paranormal.

This post I am hoping will be the start of a small series on the discovery of Haunted Artifacts.

To begin with I wish to state that I have little to no experience of these 'so-called' Haunted museum, so far!

And I intend to withhold judgement on them until I myself, have experienced each and every one of them!

Just to clarify, what I mean by 'Haunted Museum'. It is a specific genre of museum or collection of items, which claims to all be 'Haunted' or 'Cursed' in the interest of displaying said items for the public perusal. I am NOT referring to general museums which tell of ghost stories and paranormal activity generally.

So where to start on this journey?

What haunted museums do I know of?

Well a quick Google search gave me these 5 results for the UK:

The Haunted Museum ~ Nottingham.

Extraordinarium museum ~ Hull.

The Paranormal Research Centre & Haunted Antiques Museum ~ Hinkley, Leicestershire.

The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic ~ Boscastle, Cornwall.

The Last Tuesday Society ~ London.

That's the lot folks! The above 5, are what I can find.

Do you know of any more? Please leave me a comment below so that I may add them to the list for investigation!

So I think at this point it would be important to define what is generally meant by the terms haunted or cursed object.

Cursed objects: 'Cursed objects are generally supposed to have been stolen from their rightful owners or looted from a sanctuary. They can also be a talisman created by powerful Witchcraft; given as a token to the person to be cursed, to wreak havoc in their lives. The Hope Diamond for example is supposed to bear such a curse, and bring misfortune to its owner.

The stories behind why these items are cursed vary, but they usually are said to bring bad luck or to manifest unusual phenomena related to their presence.

Busby's stoop chair was another reportedly cursed item, cursed by the murderer Thomas Busby himself, shortly before his execution so that everyone who would sit in it would die. ~ Wikipedia

Haunted objects: Would you believe this has no Wikipedia entry! :O

However, for the purposes of this experiment, we shall class a 'haunted object', as any item that is said to be actively inhabited by the conscious spirit / soul of a deceased human spirit, or non human entities: e.g. Elemental spirits, Demonic / Angelic spirits.

You might wonder why I chose to cite Wikipedia? This was mainly to ensure that an argument did not ensue over what was meant as 'general definitions'. I do not wish for us to get bogged down in irrelevant nuances. Let us focus on rational thinking and scientific method, to attempt to make an informed decision on such phenomena!

As I said above. I have very little experience of these places to date. Mainly because I feel that it would have gone one of two ways. Either disappointment at finding fraudulent practice; or an overwhelming experience where these potentially dangerous artifacts aren't stored in a 'closed' fashion to protect the on-looker.

After two decades of interest, investigations and genuine desire for the truth; I have decided to delve into this rabbit warren of growing interest. Pardon the pun!

What other base questions should we be asking ourselves?

How does an object become haunted?

Why does an object become haunted?

What does it mean for people who 'find' them?

How does the alleged haunting affect the item in it's original function?

How does the affliction alter the object physically?

And on what evidence can we 'prove' that an object is haunted?

There will be many questions we must ask when dealing in this field.

Starting with smaller collections would be wise, so one doesn't over-stimulate themselves in this process.

My first task in this endeavor is to set my parameters for the testing of items.

But how does one create a set of base readings for the aforementioned study?

Luckily, although I have not experience of these types of 'museums'; I do have over twenty years experience in Witchcraft and the Paranormal realms.

This gives me a tried and tested knowledge base to work from. I am lucky in having a whole host of experience to use as my foundation for the work to come.

As mentioned above, setting a series of test 'questions' is a good first step here.

Being methodical in my approach for each item I come across, I believe will give me the strongest set of rational results to gain the knowledge we seek.

Over the coming week or so, I will attempt to build a comprehensive set of tests to use for every object I decide to study.

As soon as I have this ready to publish I will be sure to upload my progress every step of the way; so be sure to subscribe so you never miss an installment!

That brings us to a close for today my girls and ghouls,

I look forward to talking with you again soon.

Pythonissam Black