(This was article was written last week. Since then Courier-Mail reporter Des Houghton has published this hard-hitting article titled 'Stop This Sick Sideshow'. He is strongly critical not only of Ghost Hunts, but also ghost tours at Boggo Road. My own recent concerns have been about ghost hunts in places where deaths in custody occurred. Here is my original article:)
The funny thing about atheists is this - they all want to be wrong. Given the choice between utter non-existence and some blissful eternal afterlife playing harps in another dimension, atheists would choose Heaven every time. Who wouldn't? And I say that as an atheist myself. Thing is, we don't believe there is eternal afterlife so non-existence it is, which is fine by us. Que sera sera.
![]()
I'm also a skeptic. Same thing there. Like Agent Mulder, I want to believe, I want there to be an afterlife, but I've seen nothing to make me believe there is one. I think it's something a lot of people in the 'paranormal industry' don't get about skeptics. We're not cynics, we just set a very high bar as far as proof goes because deep down we want this stuff to be true. As I've written before, understanding the supernatural - if it it was to exist - should be a thing of awe and wonder, and understanding it would be an epochal triumph of science. Skeptics are just not prepared to accept the laughable Kentucky Fried Ghosts play-acting that too many in the paranormal industry are currently engaged in.
This opinion has been reached after more than a decade of personal dealings with the 'paranormal industry'. One of several prospective books I'm working on now is something of a warts-and-all memoir of that relationship. It's been an eye-opening experience to say the least, and over that time my opinions have evolved considerably. There have been times in the past when I gave tentative support to a couple of paranormal investigation projects planned as heritage fundraisers, and it was during those times that I had to confront ethical questions about 'ghost hunting', questions that I am still working through.
That is, putting the pseudoscience aside, where and when is it appropriate to do ghost-o-meter-type paranormal investigations?
Back in 2009 the Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery were approached by a woman who suggested doing a not-for-profit paranormal investigation fundraiser for cemetery heritage. The group agreed and planning commenced. It was a very strange time indeed. 'Queensland Paranormal Investigators' and the 'Brisbane Ghost Tours' business co-ran commercial 'ghost hunts' in the cemetery and did what they could to stop this fundraiser. They didn't want any 'competition'. Phone calls were made, emails were sent, and I won't go into here but court intervention was required to stop the persistent harassment of this woman.
Of course all this only strengthened the resolve to do the fundraiser, but along the way this involved practical on-the-ground planning, and it was during that time that I came face-to-face with ethical questions. Was it right to run paranormal investigations in a place where people were placed by their loved ones to 'rest in peace'? I was uneasy but the group planned away.
In the end it never happened anyway. Once the staff at the Brisbane City Council discovered that commmercial ghost hunts had been conducted in the cemeteries they stepped in to ban them all. And quite rightly too. More than that, they overhauled the whole ghost tour thing, charging a fee for the first time and regulating tour content and marketing, which was getting more and more disrespectful.
After a long period of squabbling, it was something of an acceptable ending.
During this time I was also involved with the Greater Brisbane Cemetery Alliance, a coalition of heritage volunteers associated with various cemeteries, who among other things lobbied the council to crack down on nocturnal trespassing in cemeteries and ban all night tours. I pushed for language that a total ban was the 'preferred option'.
The ban never happened, and so the Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery decided that if for-profit ghost tours were going to be held in cemeteries anyway, then let's offer the public a respectful alternative that focussed on real history, and so the not-for-profit Moonlight Tours were born (once again there was private-sector opposition to this 'competition').
Was this 'hypocrisy', as was alleged? Not really. To us, the night tour bans were had always the preferred option. If council was going to allow ghost tours in cemeteries anyway, then the next best approach for FOSBC was to do night tours properly. Merely a change of tactic.
Something of the same process took place at Boggo Road. In November 2012, during negotiations for the interim management of Boggo Road, a Public Works official gave us three days notice to produce a business plan for something we had never contemplated before - running Boggo Road ourselves. It was a request more suited to a reality TV show ('we gave the contestants three days to come up with a business plan from scratch - can they do it?') than best practice planning. But it was the kind of rushed, chaotic process than led to the interim opening of Boggo Road and all the subsequent problems.
Three days from scratch. That's not how business plans work. Especially as we were highy skeptical of fair consideration. We said we'd put together an outline, that was it. Established ideas were included, but some new things were sprinkled in too, such as the monthly not-for-profit 'paranormal investigations' as suggested by one of the organisations interested in being part of the set up.
As with the South Brisbane Cemetery paranormal fundraiser, it seemed reasonable enough without giving it too much thought in the rush to get the document together. Thinking about it afterwards, the problems became clear. There had been deaths in custody at Boggo Road, including Aboriginal men committing suicide. I have studied Aboriginal culture enough to know there were spiritual issues here.
Consequently, at a meeting with Public Works officials in December 2012, I voiced my concern about paranormal investigations at Boggo Road in relation to deaths in custody. The officials were of the same opinion, and no 'ghost hunts' were to be allowed. At the same meeting I also suggested it might be appropriate for the Indigenous community to conduct whatever ceremony was felt necessary to spiritually 'cleanse' Boggo Road if there was going to be ghost tours in there. Again, there was agreement. If we had managed Boggo Road, such a ceremony would have been a prerequisite to the place opening again.
So now, with 'ghost hunts' planned for Boggo Road, I have again voiced my opposition. This opposition is the result of careful consideration of the issues over time. What might seem harmless enough at first can be, with further consideration, disrespectful.
So, in short, opinions evolve over time. Tony Abbott supported a carbon price before he opposed it. 'Ghost Tours' once ran commercial ghost hunts in Brisbane cemeteries, now they label them as 'disrespectful not only to the people that have passed, in their final resting place, but also to the living families of those that have passed as well'.
Of course, this opinion was only expressed some time afterBrisbane City Council banned ghost hunts in their cemeteries. Before then, 'Ghost Tours' had fought tooth-and-nail to run the hunts, and promotions for them even involved smoke machines and Ghostbusters theme music.
The questions is; is this change of opinion on cemetery ghost hunts the result of genuine reflection on the subject, or is it just hypocrisy?
The funny thing about atheists is this - they all want to be wrong. Given the choice between utter non-existence and some blissful eternal afterlife playing harps in another dimension, atheists would choose Heaven every time. Who wouldn't? And I say that as an atheist myself. Thing is, we don't believe there is eternal afterlife so non-existence it is, which is fine by us. Que sera sera.
This opinion has been reached after more than a decade of personal dealings with the 'paranormal industry'. One of several prospective books I'm working on now is something of a warts-and-all memoir of that relationship. It's been an eye-opening experience to say the least, and over that time my opinions have evolved considerably. There have been times in the past when I gave tentative support to a couple of paranormal investigation projects planned as heritage fundraisers, and it was during those times that I had to confront ethical questions about 'ghost hunting', questions that I am still working through.
That is, putting the pseudoscience aside, where and when is it appropriate to do ghost-o-meter-type paranormal investigations?
Back in 2009 the Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery were approached by a woman who suggested doing a not-for-profit paranormal investigation fundraiser for cemetery heritage. The group agreed and planning commenced. It was a very strange time indeed. 'Queensland Paranormal Investigators' and the 'Brisbane Ghost Tours' business co-ran commercial 'ghost hunts' in the cemetery and did what they could to stop this fundraiser. They didn't want any 'competition'. Phone calls were made, emails were sent, and I won't go into here but court intervention was required to stop the persistent harassment of this woman.
Of course all this only strengthened the resolve to do the fundraiser, but along the way this involved practical on-the-ground planning, and it was during that time that I came face-to-face with ethical questions. Was it right to run paranormal investigations in a place where people were placed by their loved ones to 'rest in peace'? I was uneasy but the group planned away.
In the end it never happened anyway. Once the staff at the Brisbane City Council discovered that commmercial ghost hunts had been conducted in the cemeteries they stepped in to ban them all. And quite rightly too. More than that, they overhauled the whole ghost tour thing, charging a fee for the first time and regulating tour content and marketing, which was getting more and more disrespectful.
After a long period of squabbling, it was something of an acceptable ending.
During this time I was also involved with the Greater Brisbane Cemetery Alliance, a coalition of heritage volunteers associated with various cemeteries, who among other things lobbied the council to crack down on nocturnal trespassing in cemeteries and ban all night tours. I pushed for language that a total ban was the 'preferred option'.
The ban never happened, and so the Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery decided that if for-profit ghost tours were going to be held in cemeteries anyway, then let's offer the public a respectful alternative that focussed on real history, and so the not-for-profit Moonlight Tours were born (once again there was private-sector opposition to this 'competition').
Was this 'hypocrisy', as was alleged? Not really. To us, the night tour bans were had always the preferred option. If council was going to allow ghost tours in cemeteries anyway, then the next best approach for FOSBC was to do night tours properly. Merely a change of tactic.
Something of the same process took place at Boggo Road. In November 2012, during negotiations for the interim management of Boggo Road, a Public Works official gave us three days notice to produce a business plan for something we had never contemplated before - running Boggo Road ourselves. It was a request more suited to a reality TV show ('we gave the contestants three days to come up with a business plan from scratch - can they do it?') than best practice planning. But it was the kind of rushed, chaotic process than led to the interim opening of Boggo Road and all the subsequent problems.
Three days from scratch. That's not how business plans work. Especially as we were highy skeptical of fair consideration. We said we'd put together an outline, that was it. Established ideas were included, but some new things were sprinkled in too, such as the monthly not-for-profit 'paranormal investigations' as suggested by one of the organisations interested in being part of the set up.
As with the South Brisbane Cemetery paranormal fundraiser, it seemed reasonable enough without giving it too much thought in the rush to get the document together. Thinking about it afterwards, the problems became clear. There had been deaths in custody at Boggo Road, including Aboriginal men committing suicide. I have studied Aboriginal culture enough to know there were spiritual issues here.
Consequently, at a meeting with Public Works officials in December 2012, I voiced my concern about paranormal investigations at Boggo Road in relation to deaths in custody. The officials were of the same opinion, and no 'ghost hunts' were to be allowed. At the same meeting I also suggested it might be appropriate for the Indigenous community to conduct whatever ceremony was felt necessary to spiritually 'cleanse' Boggo Road if there was going to be ghost tours in there. Again, there was agreement. If we had managed Boggo Road, such a ceremony would have been a prerequisite to the place opening again.
So now, with 'ghost hunts' planned for Boggo Road, I have again voiced my opposition. This opposition is the result of careful consideration of the issues over time. What might seem harmless enough at first can be, with further consideration, disrespectful.
So, in short, opinions evolve over time. Tony Abbott supported a carbon price before he opposed it. 'Ghost Tours' once ran commercial ghost hunts in Brisbane cemeteries, now they label them as 'disrespectful not only to the people that have passed, in their final resting place, but also to the living families of those that have passed as well'.
Of course, this opinion was only expressed some time afterBrisbane City Council banned ghost hunts in their cemeteries. Before then, 'Ghost Tours' had fought tooth-and-nail to run the hunts, and promotions for them even involved smoke machines and Ghostbusters theme music.
The questions is; is this change of opinion on cemetery ghost hunts the result of genuine reflection on the subject, or is it just hypocrisy?