Reporter: Alexis Roohani, Westcoast Magazine 2006 WESTCOASTFAMILIES.COM

I'm standing in my living room, trying to decide what exactly one brings with them on a ghost hunt. As this is my first time tracking the paranormal, I
can't be sure I've covered all the bases.I review the current contents of my bag:one tape recorder (one back-up tape included), one spiral-bound notebook
(wide-ruled), three pens (black) and one sweatshirt (zip-front). My list of ideas runs out there. Lucky for me, I'm not expected to be the expert tonight.
In roughly two hours, I'm due at Hycroft, Vancouver's most famous (and most famously haunted) Shaughnessey Mansion. There, I'll be meeting with a
group of investigators from the Vancouver Paranormal Society, a non-profit organization that's been tracking, documenting and engaging with the Lower Mainland's
other-worldly inhabitants for nearly ten years.
My inlet into the society is Jan Gregory, the Society's founder and resident roommother. Over the course of a few phone conversations, I was able to ask Gregory
about her interest in the spirit world and what inspired her to start Vancouver Paranormal in 1996."I had a cat that died, and it came back,"she begins."My cat had been very sick, and the vet ended up having to put her down right in my living room. Six hours later I was looking at her toys, and suddenly a ball of hers rolled across the floor, completely on its own. That broke through the fog of being really upset—what did I just see; was it her?" Gregory began extensive research on spirits and paranormal activity, but for every book she read or person she spoke with, her curiosity was never fully satisfied. "It finally came to the point when I had to find out for myself what it was all about, and try and do that as scientifically as possible," she shares."That's basically how Vancouver Paranormal began."
The scientific approach to studying paranormal activity is as integral to the success of Vancouver Paranormal as the passion of its investigators. For Gregory, it's the
closest thing to control they can hope for in studying subject matter that is as elusive as it is unpredictable."The problem with the spirit world is that they can be quite persnickety and only do what they want to do when they want to do it," she explains."Ghost hunting is, for the most part, repeating things and hoping to get lucky."
To prevent the collection of false evidence, Vancouver Paranormal investigations follow a strict series of protocols gained from years of trial and error in the sport of spirit hunting.
"There's a lot of optical illusions out there that people think are ghosts when they're not," says Gregory, citing everyday things like dust, cigarette smoke and camera
defaults as potential reasons for creating images that appear to be more than they really are."You have to learn how to do this as carefully as you possibly can."
Amongst the list of "no-no's" during investigation are smoking, using candles, daring a spirit to appear and breaking off on one's own (even to go to the wash-
room). All ghost hunts are conducted with a minimum of four to five people, and the site of interest is thoroughly researched beforehand and documented with tape recording, video and photographs.
To establish a control image, all photographs are taken two or three at a time without moving the camera. If an unusual or ghostly image is captured in only one
of the shots, a closer look is warranted. Bright or glowing images caused by dust movement or reflective surfaces, on the other hand, should appear in every shot,
and likely have a less exciting explanation. But before all the leg work and analyzing begins, there is an important step to be covered: that of asking permission from
both the seen and unseen to conduct the investigation. At the start of every ghosthunt, all investigators present stand in a circle, hold hands and ask permission to
be on the site, reminding whatever spirits may be present that they come respectfully to learn about the spirit world, not to harm it.
Vancouver Paranormal's current collection of documented ghostly occurrences is enough to make even the biggest skeptic think again. One story in particular grabs
me: that of an investigator who was actually bitten while researching a Surrey residence. The fang-like bite marks drew blood, though their cause remains unknown.
Another investigation at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown produced photographs with the ghostly image of an unidentified woman standing beside the restaurant bar. I note this down, unimpressed—until Gregory forwards the photo for me to look at. In the background is the faint image of what looks like a woman with dark hair in a light
pink gown.
Another image Gregory forwards me from the Port Moody Station Museum is of a photo she took herself. It shows a rather creepy reflection of a face peering out
from the corner of a mirror directly on the wall in front of the camera. While the face and the flash of Gregory's camera are captured in the mirror, Gregory, who is
standing right in front of it, is not.
Does this kind of documentation take place during every investigation, I ask.
"We get recordable activity from every third or so investigation," says Gregory, citing examples that range from recorded unidentified voices and laughter to round
bluish glowing balls called "orbs" and phantom-like shadows resembling the
human form. Gregory's unsettling accounts run through my mind as I pack up my ghost hunting goods and head out the door. What activity, if any, will I be witness to tonight?
Hycroft Mansion:
Thursday, August 31, 1800 hours
I'm standing at the wrought-iron entry gates of Hycroft, taking in the ivy-draped columns and arched windows of the home for the first time. Though I've seen photos before, I still find myself gaping at the grandeur of the property. Used today as the home of the University Women's Club, Hycroft was originally built in 1911 by leading politician and
businessman Duncan McRae. McRae was famous for hosting extravagant parties throughout the 1920s and 30s, one of which is rumoured to have been the site of the controversial and still unsolved murder of a 22-year-old nursemaid named Janet Smith in 1924.
Though Smith's body was discovered at another residence, investigators, historians and crime buffs alike, speculate she was murdered at nearby Hycroft, her body then moved post-mortem. We (myself, Gregory and seven other investigators) will focus the bulk of our investigative efforts this evening on the attic, a secluded stretch of hallway lined with a dozen or so vacant rooms. We split into two groups, and conduct separate Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) sessions, a process used to document spirit activity by asking questions aloud and recording any noticeable responses. I am sharing a room with Gregory and two other investigators, all of who have
been to Hycroft before. During their last investigation, I'm told, a large black orb the size of a medicine ball materialized at the end of the table, floated along the surface, and then disappeared.
We attempt to evoke the same entity tonight, asking it to appear, knock on the wall or move one of the light bulbs sitting loose on the table. Gregory picks up some fuzziness with her video camera, but nothing more. So, we move with the entire group to the ballroom in the basement. Another EVP session ensues. Our questions receive no noticeable response, though I witness a momentary flash of light at the far end of the room. I know for sure it wasn't the result of camera flash or another light source, though I suspect it could just be my eyes playing tricks on me. It's hard to say with the splitting headache I'm now battling—apparently, a common sign of spirit activity. Several of the more energy-sensitive investigators report a definite shift in atmosphere in the basement area, though everyone agrees the house feels significantly less active than their last visit.
After three hours of investigation, the Hycroft staff are ready to close down for the evening. On our way out, one of the investigators and I pause briefly in the home's main foyer for a final look. Suddenly, the chandelier above our heads goes dark as if the light switch had been flipped, only to come back on again seconds later. We look at each other and around the room. We are the only ones present, except for a staff member who is down the hall in the kitchen. Assuming she's the cause, we ask her if she's just flipped a light switch accidentally. No, she replies, confused by our question. We then ask where the light switch to the chandelier is, and she points to an old
push-button switch, tucked behind the grand staircase. But we hadn't heard a thing. And no one had been standing in that area of the room moments ago…no one visible, that is. 
Bidding a silent farewell to the inhabitants of Hycroft, seen and unseen, I make my way out into the night.
A Few Days Later The Hycroft tape sits in the tape recorder where I left it, untouched since the last investigation. I hit rewind, but the reels only spin in place and the tape doesn't move at all. Upon closer inspection, I discover the tape has actually detached from the reel, making it and whatever ghostly revelations it may contain impossible to
listen to.
When I mention this to Gregory, she is unimpressed."Oh, that's common," she shrugs."Things break down on investigations for no reason all the time." Tracking the unexplained, it seems, means trafficking in the unexplained.
"The only one truth that comes up for me is that I still don't know what's going on," confesses Gregory."Every time we think we're closer to an answer about this, more
questions come up. But that's what keeps it fascinating for me. As long as you're okay with not completely knowing the answer, then ghost hunting is for you."