Regular readers of this blog, or those who have read my Haunting Question book, will be well aware of my opinion of the appalling standard of historical research behind most ghost stories. All too often the claims of how a place came to be haunted and who died there turn out be either completely or significantly wrong, yet remain unchallenged and find a wide audience. However, recent events in Queensland have raised hopes that the days of this unquestioning acceptance of such urban myths could soon be over.There are many examples of ghost stories involving people who died as victims of murders, accidents or fires that, in reality, just didn't happen. Such stories have become increasingly embedded in folklore thanks to the thoughtless cut-and-paste nature of social media. Sometimes they are propagated and publicised by people in the tourist or hospitality industries who have a commercial interest doing so, and then repeated ad verbatim on paranormal-themed websites or in local newspapers by C-grade reporters. Even governmental authorities can get in on the act. On the Scenic Rim Regional Council's tourism website, the former owner of Harrisville's Royal Hotel tells us that the pub "is home to seven ghosts, which legend has it were killed in one of the pub’s fires". This fatal fire, as we shall see, never happened.
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That research usually assumes that ghosts exist and can be linked to certain dead people, and the aim is to try and find out ‘who’ the ghost may actually be, and what happened to them. On paper, the task of finding out who died at a particular location shouldn't be too hard, especially if they died in notable circumstances. Once upon a time, however, this relied primarily on word-of-mouth accounts, as paranormal researchers often lacked the ability or inclination to spend hours or days delving into archives and microform records. If so-and-so said the ghost is linked to a murder that took place in the 1920s, that was good enough for most researchers, leaving us with all these stories beginning with "legend has it", "old timers say", or "according to local folklore". For serious research, this approach simply isn't good enough
So what has changed in Brisbane ghost research over the last year or so? Well, Liam Baker started the Haunts of Brisbaneblog. Liam is not only a rare example of a paranormal researcher with a university education (Cultural Heritage and archaeology), but he has some scruples when it comes to presenting history. Having formerly worked in the ghost tour industry as a historical researcher, he was appalled to find his material being ignored or distorted during tours and replaced with more sensationalist but untrue stories. He has used his blog to apply his research skills to the ghost stories turning up elsewhere online, often with surprising results. It was Liam who recently exposed the story of the Royal Hotel fire as a furphy. A few examples of his groundbreaking exposés include:
Others are now taking their lead from Liam and either doing their own research or using his work. For example, just after Liam published his account of the history of the Royal Hotel (left), a newspaper article about a paranormal investigation at the pub talked of "false accounts of seven deaths when the pub burned to the ground in 1916". This might not seem like much, but it represents an important step in the reporting of such stories. The new breed of researchers, more concerned about credibility, are dumping tired old rumours and gossip and placing greater emphasis on factual history. This new approach is something of a watershed, a demarcation between schlock-horror tour guides and more serious researchers.The seven-death fire story is now dead, and anybody repeating it from now on instantly loses credibility. Hopefully this phase will see all similar stories thrown in the rubbish bin once and for all.This movement is enabled by new and easy-to-use technology, such as the brilliant 'Trove' newspaper search facility of the National Library of Australia, which allows quick but exhaustive database searches of historical newspapers to check details of supposed murders, deadly fires, etc. While this should be seen as no more than a great starting point for further investigation, it is safe to say that if a Brisbane murder is not mentioned in any Brisbane newspaper, then it never happened. Liam Baker provided a great 'how to' guide for this kind of research on his blog.
Added to these improved research capabilities is the need for contextual analysis, asking why these false stories are being told. Where did they start and how are they spread? Once upon a time many of them were no more than schoolyard gossip, but the 'paranormal industry' has an underlying commercial need for customers to believe that ghosts exist in certain places and so any old tale will do.Facts aren't allowed to get in the way of a good story, and all too often the justification for repeating this schoolyard gossip has been that 'they are part of folklore'. Unfortunately this attitude is directly at odds with the responsibility of historians to uncover the facts, and can lead to unwanted conflict. I have explained before how a ghost tour operator accused us, rather bizarrely, of using our non-profit Moonlight Tours of the South Brisbane Cemetery to undermine "old ghost stories of the cemetery with historical 'facts'". Here was a clear admission that the old school of ghost tours is built on the use of inaccurate history.
Making sure you get the 'who, what, where, when and why' of ghost stories correct is an increasingly important consideration in the overcrowded 'paranormal' marketplace. Credibility is suddenly vital, and those who want to stand out and distinguish themselves from the rank amateurs of yesterday need to take the time to check the facts and bust a few myths along the way. Play-acting with dodgy scientific equipment, night-vision goggles and groovy logos isn't enough anymore, and any 'ghost hunting' team without a decent historical researcher in their ranks aren't even in the game.This change is well overdue. The paranormal industry that emerged in the 1990s was one that depended on being able to fool some of the people all of the time, and is now discredited. Those people have put too much misinformation on the record to hide from it and are being superseded by smart new operators who understand the public have ready access to new information and don't appreciate being taken for fools.Welcome to the 21st century.
