Ghost Hunt 2 Glossary of Paranormal Terms

At a recent trip to our local library, I happened to notice a featured book: Ghost Hunt 2: MORE Chilling Tales of the Unknown by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, co-founders of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) and stars of the Syfy Channel hit show, Ghost Hunters.  I hadn't read the first edition but I am excited to now!  It was a great read with short fictional stories based on actual cases by the TAPS team, some from the show.  I was especially excited to read one story from the Augustine Lighthouse, one of my favorite cases!  I believe this was written for younger readers but I can assure you, an adult can enjoy it as well.

At the end of the book, Jason and Grant test the reader with stories and quiz questions such as what equipment you might choose and approaches to your investigation.  I am proud to say I scored pretty well, especially considering I've never been on an actual investigation!  Jason and Grant have taught me well over the years  :-)

The book concludes with a glossary of terms from the ghost hunting world.  Here is that glossary for all of you paranormal nerds like me!

Anecdotal Evidence: Evidence of an event that comes from people's stories.

Apparition: A spirit visible to live people.

Audio Recorder: A piece of equipment that records sound.  Audio recorders can be digital or analog.  TAPS uses mostly digital audio recorders.

Black Mass: An apparition in the form of a shadowy black mist.

Cold Spot: A specific area where the temperature is colder than the surrounding areas, or an area where the temperature suddenly drops.  Many paranormal researchers believe cold spots are caused by entities drawing energy from the air, literally sucking the heat out of the air in order to appear.

Demonic Haunting: One of the four types of hauntings.  A demonic haunting is caused by an inhuman spirit.  They can be very nasty.  Fortunately, they are very rare.

Digital Thermometer: A device used by paranormal investigators to detect cold spots or hot spots.

EMF Detector (Electromagnetic Field Detector): A device that records the electromagnetic field of an area (the force given off by electrical charges).  Paranormal investigators use it as a tool to detect spirits either disrupting or creating electromagnetic energy.

Entity: A disembodied spirit.


EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena): An audio recording of voices or sounds that, at the time of recording, were not detectable to the human ear.


External Microphone: A microphone attachment that connects to the audio recorder.  Paranormal investigators use these to avoid picking up the sounds of the recorder itself.  External microphones can be directional (picking up sounds from only the direction they are pointed toward) or ambient (picking up sounds of the whole room).

Geophone: A very sensitive device that "feels" vibrations on the ground and registers how strong the vibration is on a display of lights.

Ghost: See Apparition.


Haunting: The continued appearance of an entity at a specific location.  There are four main types of hauntings: Demonic Haunting, Intelligent Haunting, Poltergeist, and Residual Haunting.

Hot Spot: An area where a lot of paranormal activity has been observed.

Infrared Camera (IR Camera): A device that uses infrared waves to see in the dark.

Infrared Illuminator (IR Illuminator): A camera attachment that shoots infrared light into a room, making the night-vision function work better.

Inhuman Entity: A hostile entity of non-human origins.

Intelligent Haunting: An entity that has some awareness of its surroundings.  It may have some limited mobility and may be able to communicate.

Ion Generator: A piece of equipment that electrically charges the air.

K-II Meter: A device that uses blinking lights to rate levels of magnetic fields and frequencies.  Some paranormal investigators believe it can be used to communicate with ghosts.

Materialization: The process of an apparition becoming visible.  Materialization can occur quickly or over a period of time, causing the entity to appear solid or indistinct.

Matrixing: The tendency of the mind to add details to images, making the images seem more familiar.  It happens all the time, but it can cause problems when analyzing evidence.


Orb: A floating sphere, often white or bluish, that shows up in a photograph or video.  An orb is a contained ball of energy.  Some consider orbs to be evidence of paranormal activity.  They are often confused with dust, bugs, or optical illusions registering on film or video.

Paranormal: Literally, "beyond normal."  Something paranormal is an event or a phenomenon that is beyond what is normally experienced by humans - or what can be scientifically explained.

Paranormal Indicator: Evidence that may lead one to believe paranormal activity has taken place.

Phantom Smell: An odor caused by a spirit attempting to make itself known.  Common phantom smells include flowers, tobacco, and perfume.  A phantom smell is only considered paranormal if it cannot be traced to a source.

Poltergeist: A ghost that moves objects to draw attention to itself.  Banging sounds often accompany the movements.  The phenomenon often revolves around an individual person.

Residual Haunting: One of the four main hauntings.  An entity will replay a moment from the recent or distant past at the exact location where it happened.  Usually the entity does not have any recognition of the living people watching it.

Sensitive: Any person with a sensitivity to the paranormal.


Thermal Camera:  An IR camera that makes cold and heat visible.

VP (Voice Phenomena): Sounds or voices heard during an investigation that have no natural cause.

Warm Spot: Similar to a cold spot, a warm spot is an area that is hotter than its surrounding areas.  Some investigators believe spirits using energy to show themselves create warmth, almost like a body does.