Paranormal Investigations with Paul Kimball at Hal-Con 2011

Close to the end of Hal-Con 2011 we went to an event I was looking forward to so much! As a supernatural enthusiast, I absolutely could not miss the workshop on paranormal investigations. I did not even look at who was talking about what, I just knew I had to be there.

I was shocked to sit down and immediately recognized Paul Kimball from Ghost Cases! I have watched just about every episode of this Canadian "ghost hunting" show but my feelings were a bit conflicted.

Paul was always a tad controversial on the show, making jokes and appearing as though he did not take the supernatural very seriously a lot of the time. As a result, I was a bit apprehensive at first yet excited because I was familiar with the host of this workshop. I wondered what did he really believed?


GHOST "HUNTING" ADVICE & INTRO TO YARMOUTH GHOST CASE



Paul shared his perspective on the term "ghost hunting" and later advised that if you want to do an investigation, do not bother with an EMF detector. He says they are useless.

His advice? Get a good camera and make sure to capture your reaction to the situation. Invest in a high quality audio recorder to ensure the best EVP evidence. I was relieved to hear him mention that yes, science is moving closer to the paranormal, but the experiential is also still important.


GHOST CASE: Yarmouth Nova Scotia



Towards the end of the above clip Paul sets up the Ghost Cases investigation he shared with us. Set in an old isolated farmhouse near Yarmouth, the home has a history of creepy sounds, people having visions and a long history of paranormal activity. Paul refers to it as your "prototypical haunted house." And it looks like one too! The house had actually been moved from its original spot 100 years ago.



I apologize for the low video quality, the light was on in the room at the time I recorded this!

I remember watching this particular case on Ghost Cases and it is creepy. Paul said he is skeptical of psychics but the woman in the video had a very good reputation. I was personally impressed she did automatic spirit writing, an old technique to connect with the dead. During the writing session the ghost communicated "find baby" which clearly disturbed the psychic and Holly.

They decide to tell the ghost to go in the basement where poor Paul is hanging out in the cold and could hear them telling the ghost to come visit. Sure enough, it appears as though the ghost comes for a visit. Paul said that this particular farm door was difficult to open so he figured the staff was playing a joke on him. When he did some debunking and realized something paranormal probably had happened to him he said, "I wouldn't go back into the basement." For him the investigation was over.


GHOST CASE: Algonquin Hotel, New Brunswick



Paul normally disregards orbs as evidence of supernatural activity. In fact his response is usually "bollocks" but this particular experience with an orb may have changed his perspective.

The ghost in the Algonquin Hotel had apparently been left at the altar then jumped to her death. To try and provoke the ghost, Paul began his 30-minute "Ghost Dating 101" monologue with no results.

His co-host Holly Stevens went into the room to apologized to the ghost for Paul's inappropriate behaviour. At the same time, a light anomaly appeared. Please note, photos have been previously highlighted to indicate orb activity.



The orb then appears to start moving off camera.



Holly felt something behind her and turned to the left. The orb appeared to go out the window. Even Paul had a hard time dismissing this orb evidence. Was this time space distortion? Was something reacting to them? Does it matter if we ever find out for sure?


Are there answers?



When it comes to the paranormal, Paul advises to focus less on finding answers and more on the actual exprience. Let the answers go but continue to search. It is the desire to investigate and possibly find the truth that is important.

In the video above he also answers the question as to whether or not they ever found a baby in the basement. Later on he shared with us that the psychic did a blessing on the property and there has been no paranormal activity since.



In the end, I was relieved to see that Paul is passionate about the paranormal and had a lot to say on the topic. Paul had many people who wanted to speak with him after his workshop so I just gave him our Hexed business card and asked if it was possible for us to do an interview with him sometime? He seemed interested which was awesome but we did not want to take up his time and headed down to the vendors once more.

While we were there, Paul kindly stopped by and spoke with us. I had a moment to tell him about my fears that ghost hunting and paranormal investigations were becoming all tech-based and soulless. I was relieved to see that he did not appear to disagree. In fact he re-iterated something he had shared in the workshop, that he personally goes out looking for experiences as a way to find out why he is here. Far from soulless.

I do hope that we get a chance to interview Paul for Hexed in the near future. Just those few moments as the vendors were packing everything away as the convention was coming to an end were fascinating. I am sure there will be much, much more to talk about. Fingers crossed!