Thanks in part to such programs as “Ghost Hunters,” “Haunting Evidence,” and “Paranormal State,”
ghosts and the paranormal are fascinating a lot of people these days. And many people are learning that ghost tours and haunted locations can help add some excitement to tourism.

“It’s a wonderful way to learn about the history and culture of a city,” says Rhetta Akamatsu, author of Ghost to Coast: A Handbook of Ghost Tours, Paranormal Investigators, and Haunted Hotels.

Rhetta has collected contact information for ghost tours and paranormal investigation groups from coast to coast in this useful book. From Alabama to Wyoming, almost every state is represented. (A few, like North Dakota, do not seem to have any.) In addition, for the brave tourist, there is an illustrated list of haunted hotels.

“I only chose hotels which bragged about their ghosts on the Internet or in their brochures,” Rhetta says, “so that I knew they would be friendly to the ghost-curious.”

This 175-page directory also includes articles ranging from Rhetta’s own paranormal experiences to how-to guides for beginning paranormal investigators.

Ghost to Coast is available at Amazon.com, Borders.com, and most other major bookstores.

“It’s also available internationally,” Rhetta says with a laugh. “So if you’re in Hong Kong, or Germany or the UK, and you want to plan a trip to the U.S. to visit our ghosts, just Google Ghost to Coast and you can pick your destination.”

A measly 176 pages from cover to cover, this book promises to help you find that perfect haunted hotel for this year’s vacation, book a ghost tour, or contact a paranormal investigator about those pesky bumping noises you keep hearing in your attic.

Rhea A. White’s life took an unexpected turn in 1952, when she was involved in a bad car accident. This accident caused her to have a near-death experience, which changed her outlook on life after death. After she recovered from her injuries, she entered into the field of parapsychology, first studying mysticism, religion, psychology, psychiatry, philosophy and literary criticism. Later, she founded the Parapsychology Source Information Center, Parapsychology Abstracts International and Exceptional Human Experiences Network.

In 1990, she realized that traditional science wasn’t going to answer her question as to why she experienced the NDE and what it meant. Rhea began studying the reports of other people who had experienced NDE’s, along with other non-ordinary and anomalous experiences. She classified this study as “Exceptional Human Experiences,” which students of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology rely heavily on to write their dissertations. Rhea’s career spanned nearly 40 years, earning her the respect of colleagues and students alike.

Quoted from Palyne Gaenir:

From her early studies in Jung’s writings to her research work with J.B. Rhine, she was a driven thinker from very young. Editor of professional Ph.D. level journals much of her adult life, and founder of the Exceptional Human Experience Network, an organization dedicated to recognizing and better understanding the things that move us and evolve us, Rhea was one of those people who put out more work for good causes in the world than any one person will ever know about.

Rhea White passed away on February 24 of an undisclosed illness, which she battled for several years.

After his son’s death in 1918, Dr. Thomas Glendenning Hamilton began to experiment with psychic phenomena, investigating paranormal occurrences such as rappings, psychokinesis, ectoplasms, trance states, psychic phenomena, and apparitions. He conducted his experiments under scientific conditions that he believed would minimize errors and expose hoaxes. His work became known throughout Europe as well as the United States.

The picture above is one of 700 in this paranormal photo collection, which were taken in the beginning of the 20th century. To see more, visit:

http://umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/archives/hamilton.shtml

The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) has enjoyed a significant rise in popularity since the Sci-Fi Channel aired the first season of Ghost Hunters, a paranormal reality TV show. Their enjoyment came to a halt when Allison Smith of Skeptical Analysis launched an investigation against TAPS for fraud.

Her organization is a skeptical group devoted to debunking popular claims of paranormal activity. She received complaints from “interested parties” who claimed that TAPS was intentionally misleading the public into believing that it was a non-profit organization. MondoSkepto and the TAPS Tattler had launched their own investigation, but didn’t uncover the information that Allison did.

TAPS has been promoting themselves as a non-profit organization for years, collecting thousands of dollars in donations from fans and holding fundraisers for charities. However, they did not register themselves as a non-profit agency with the state of Rhode Island. Had they registered their company, the records of all donations would have been available to the public and held accountable. Because they didn’t, they have come under intense scrutiny and harassment from Allison and her cohorts.

Once Allison discovered this discrepancy, she contacted the IRS, the Better Business Bureau, the Rhode Island State Police, and the Rhode Island Gaming Commission. She contact the last agency with the hopes of busting the founders (Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson) for throwing a raffle without obtaining a permit. Her attack didn’t end there. She posted Jason’s home address and telephone number on her website.

After numerous emails, Jason was able to coerce her into removing his information. He wrote an apology on the TAPS website. The attacks from Allison and her SAPS supporters continued, despite his efforts to fix his mistake and despite the fact that both the IRS and the police have cleared him and his co-founder of any wrongdoing.

Whether this mistake was intentional or not doesn’t matter to TAPS fans. They have rallied for Jason and Grant since this began and will continue to support TAPS because of the great things they’ve done with their local communities.

“TAPS helped raise over $8,000 for various charities just on our Queen Mary retreat in January alone, and over $4,000 for schools on January 27th in Massachusetts,” Jason Hawes said on his myspace.com blog.

There are many con-artists out there as there are vindictive, spiteful people. Allison Smith does make a valid point in that you should research any organization that you plan on giving money to.