Unlike most people that get into this field, I did not grow up in a haunted house. My interest in the unknown began in early elementary school and it all started with extraterrestrials.
I remember being the only one in my classroom who would order the alien abduction books from the Scholastic book club. My teacher even called me an alien. I was always so different from everyone else. Obviously my taste in music was already out of this world haha.
I have always had a fascination with the stars, and I can recall a time sitting on a hill outside my house looking for UFOs. There was something great about the classic image of a flying saucer. I truly wanted to see one and thought that maybe someday it would be possible. If I encountered otherworldly beings I’d study them, if they didn’t destroy me first. I might also introduce them to fashion and teach them how to go through revolving doors. After endless summer nights of listening to stories on Coast to Coast AM being broadcast from a tiny radio in my dads garden, I always wondered if aliens were currently roaming the Earth disguised as humans. Sometimes you meet people that are so odd that you have to ask yourself “Am I encountering a real human being or an alien from another planet?”
Aside from reading about ET’s, I started to develop an interest in Ouija boards. I remember being 8 or 9 years old and eavesdropping on my brother and his friends playing with one. I watched them through a slightly opened door until they caught me. I was drawn to the idea of Spiritualism. One thing led to another and I discovered Lorraine and Ed Warren’s extensive research on the paranormal.
During my teenage years, I was obsessed with filming my life and creating skits with a video camera. I found it necessary to document everything, kind of like Andy Warhol. I started ghost hunting in my hometown of Altoona, PA with the goal of capturing evidence. From Ouija board sessions in my basement with groups of friends to late-night drives in search of “the white lady”, this became a weekend activity and I was the circus leader. I even stole my brother’s micro cassette recorder to catch EVP’s. I never really got any evidence but it was always an adventure. I was in it for the thrill and had no problem trespassing into supposedly haunted, abandoned buildings to explore and wonder about their history. How old was the building? What kind of energy has passed through? Little did I know that these excursions would prepare me for what I was going to get into next.
