By Alex Kratz

A woman selling gigantic muffins at the second annual Pacific Northwest Ghost Hunter’s Conference told me how she saw the ghost of her deceased grandmother three days after the woman had died. The grandmother reassured her that everything was going to be OK. Though it happened several years ago, the Muffin Lady remembers it like it was yesterday. There is no doubt in her mind that grandma’s ghost was ghosting. After telling me this, she says, “Actually, I don’t want you using my name. People at my work will think I’m crazy.” Maybe so, but at the conference that went on for 12 hours on Saturday, Sept. 25 and the same again on Sunday, everybody was a believer. The entire event was orchestrated by the West Coast’s largest ghost hunting organization, the Federal Way-based Amateur Ghost Hunters Organization Seattle Tacoma (A.G.H.O.S.T). When I showed up at the event, held at the eternally spooky University Heights Center (according to A.G.H.O.S.T. it’s quite haunted) I had no idea what to expect. Questions ran through my mind. What is a ghost hunter? What happens at a ghost hunter’s convention? Will there be food? Wasn’t Bill Murray funny in Ghostbusters? After climbing the steps to the entrance of the center on Saturday afternoon, I would receive answers to all of these questions and more.

First of all, a ghost hunter’s convention is probably like a Star Trek convention only everyone is dressed in black instead of in Klingon outfits. They had an extensive schedule of speakers and workshops along with exhibits of ghost hunting techniques. There were booths of people selling paranormal paraphernalia, books about haunted places and, of course, muffins. They even provided free coffee for the ghost hunters who needed an extra spike for their nerves. After wading through a sea of ghost enthusiasts (OK, maybe a small puddle; I counted about 20, not including staff), I encountered the information table, located right next to a white, 9-foot-tall inflatable apparition; it was smiling. At the information table I met the man behind the mission, A.G.H.O.S.T. president and founder, Ross Allison. The leader of more than a hundred amateur ghost hunters, Allison has always been interested in the paranormal—even as a child with an overactive imagination. “I was one of those kids that had to sleep with the night-light on,” he says.

In a room with floor to ceiling mirrors, Allison told me about his ghost-hunting techniques. As he talked, people kept coming in to take pictures of themselves to see if any ghosts showed up for a cameo. Allison said his life’s passion is not all guts and glamour. “In fact, ghost hunting is very tame,” says Allison. “It’s not scary at all. I get this a lot when I tell people I’m a ghost hunter. They say ‘Oh my God, you must be really brave.’ I’m like, ‘Well, actually there’s really no bravery to it.’ ” In their three years of existence, A.G.H.O.S.T., has explored many possible paranormal hideouts throughout Washington and all up and down the West Coast. About 10 ghost hunters accompany Allison on his ghostly investigations. His tenacious tracking team includes at least a couple of psychics and a handful of techies to create a fair and balanced outlook on the experience. Allison believes in experimenting with several different hunting techniques. There is no right or wrong way, he says, to find a ghost. “You really don’t know what you’re up against,” he says. “You really have to open up the field quite a bit to see what’s out there.”

Sometimes Allison’s crew investigates historically haunted sites like the Harvard Exit or the rusty ferry Kalakala. Other times people will call A.G.H.O.S.T. and ask them to investigate their private residence for evidence of paranormal activity. Whatever the location, Allison doesn’t want his band of seers and researchers pre-judging a situation. He wants his team to be skeptical of everything they see, hear or sense. It’s the only way they can legitimize their findings. “You don’t want to offer something that you want to say is evidence if you’re not really sure,” says Allison. “It could be ruled out as natural causes.” For example, Allison says, just because you use a slow shutter speed on your camera and the lights that you are photographing move, it doesn’t mean you’ve found paranormal activity. Being skeptical as well as being aware of scientifically explainable phenomenon is one way that A.G.H.O.S.T distinguishes itself from other ghost hunting organizations. “A lot of groups … believe there’s ghosts out there,” he says, “and they are really trying to find … something that could be paranormal. So they label it as ghosts when a lot of times it’s not.” Nine times out of 10, he says, it’s not.

But after hearing about several first-hand encounters (including the Muffin Lady’s), I came away from this conference muttering to myself, “I do believe in ghosts. I do I do I do I do believe in ghosts.” But please, don’t tell anyone about this. They might think I’m crazy.

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