Weirld.com

Why and how do spirits get attached to objects?
Maybe someone didn’t follow through with what they were supposed to do, for instance Grandma’s ring didn’t go to who it was supposed to. Can something like that cause a haunting? Yes. Whoever ended up with the ring could start to have problems. Grandma’s energy could have attached to it. Then there’s the negative aspect, like things that are used in rituals and ceremonies that can hold onto energy, too.

Are these ghosts or demons?
I refer to it as energy, not so much as a demon, but as negative energy.

Can you tell us about some of the more infamous or creepy objects you have stored in your Museum of the Paranormal?

I have occult things, jewelry, clothing, military items, and each one has a story. I don’t have any favorites but some stand out. A young man who got involved with the dark side, doing rituals, conjured up an energy or spirit that was residing in this statue, an idol. He claimed that it was speaking to him and telling him to kill himself. He didn’t want to get rid of it but his parents forced him to. He was 16 and had an altar set up in his bedroom with the idol in the middle. I never found out where he got it. There are no markings on it that would tell that. I went and got it and did a binding on it—say a lot of different prayers and I put sea salt over items to bind the energy to them. The young man needed an exorcism and the house needed to be cleared. Another is the old pump organ from a man who used to buy and restore them. One night he went out to his workshop and looked over at this recent purchase and there was this beautiful woman standing there with a white gown on, blonde hair, swaying back and forth. He was so petrified that he would not go back into his shop. He said, “Either you come pick it up or I’ll get someone to come get it out of here.” I got over there as soon as I could and got it in the museum but I’m still waiting for the gorgeous blonde to show up!

How many objects do you have in the museum?
I stopped counting at 1000.  I have boxes of things that haven’t even been unpacked.

Do you allow visitors?
It’s a private museum. Occasionally I’ll do small groups by appointment only. If we get picked up for a second season I might have to move it!

With all these objects together in one place, that’s pretty powerful—does it make you nervous?
Not really. I don’t know, maybe one night they’ll all wake up and blow the place up, but doing the different things that I, or other people, have done like  binding prayers and rituals with these items, and some of them are in glass or plastic cases so people can’t touch them, the energy can’t get out.

When things have negative energy attached, why not just burn or trash them?
It’s very bad to do that. If you burn an item or break it or throw it in the trash the energy can gravitate toward you.  You can release the energy that’s attached to that item. It’s better to bury it or throw it into a body of water, But once that item is removed I can’t do any research. So I tell people to take it out of the house, put it in the garage or a shed until we can do our investigation.

Your uncle and aunt, Ed and Lorraine Warren, are legends in the paranormal field and you’ve followed in their footsteps. Did you always want to do this? Did they get you interested?
Hell no, no pun intended!  Even though I grew up around this, hearing the ghost stories and everything, it wasn’t until I was 16 years old and had a sighting at the foot of my bed—a transparent 6’ tall figure, shaking its head back and forth.  I didn’t know what to make of it so I went downstairs and told my mom about it and she said, “That’s my father. He was a very stern man and whenever he got upset he’d shake his head back and forth.”  That’s what started it all for me. I got my hands on as many books as I could, reading and learning about these things and then I took it a step farther, checking out haunted locations. Then I started working with my uncle.

What are some of the lessons you learned from the Warrens?
Never jump to conclusions. Dig in as much as you possibly can. Learn as much as you can about all the different topics within the paranormal field. It’s so important to learn about the different religions, occult practices, working with psychics, scientists.

You lost your uncle Ed a few years ago, but how is Lorraine doing?
She’s still bopping around, she’s still lecturing and investigating, doing TV shows, She’s going as strong as she did 20, 30 years ago. Keeping busy keeps her going.

You knew the late Father Malachi Martin, one of the foremost experts on demons and possessions. What did you learn from him?
He was a dynamite individual, a walking encyclopedia. What I learned from him was one key thing.  He was based in New York City and had asked me to investigate two cases here in Connecticut. I interviewed the people and came back with my findings on the telephone with him. One of them, I told him I didn’t think there was much to it and that the person had a psychological problem. The other family, I felt there was something going on in the house that needed to be investigated.  He laughed and said, “You just passed the test.”  He was testing me. I found it intriguing and interesting, having the opportunity to learn from him, even though I only knew him for a short period of time, three or four years before he passed away.

Did he ever discuss his most infamous cases?
He would talk up to a point, which is very common with anyone who gets into the demonology field. You leave certain things alone. You learn that in this field it’s one of the things that helps protect and guard us so we don’t give it that much recognition even when we’re trying to teach someone else about the work.

Do you think there’s been an increase in possession cases over the last 30 years, and if so, why?
I think we’re hearing about more things and I think it’s due to the TV shows, radio shows and the movies that are out there today. People are watching and saying, “You know what, I’ve got this going on in the house. Maybe it’s not my imagination and maybe I’m not crazy.” People are more open-minded today than they ever were before.

You’ve been doing this a long time so you’re used to it, but is there any case that has really scared you?
Even after 37 years doing this, do I still get nervous and scared in certain situations? Yes. That’s human nature and is what helps protect us. When I sense something isn’t right my guard does go up. You don’t know what to expect when you go into these houses. You don’t know what you’re going to be dealing with. You only know what people are telling you. My guard is always up. When someone tells me they don’t fear anything, that’s not a very healthy way to look at it. When the day comes that I no longer fear anything, it’s time for me to get out of this business.

So what investigation especially scared you?
There was a movie done on it, A Haunting in Connecticut. That was 23 years ago, a haunted funeral parlor, and I spent nine weeks in there. That was my first encounter with what we call a demon. That case ended up resolving with the Roman Catholic church performing a full, sanctioned exorcism.

Did it work?
Yes it did.

What do you think of EVPs that come across as children’s voices? Are demons masquerading as children to draw people in and let their guard down? Are they child ghosts ore something more sinister?
I proceed with caution because when adults hear a child’s voice, it tugs at your heartstrings. “I’ve got to help it.” But you’ve got to be careful because a spirit will try to trick you.

What can people do to protect themselves from a spiritual attack?
Educate yourself. Learn as much as you can because knowledge is power. People say, “I want to get into this but I don’t want to being anything home with me.” Guess what—that’s the chance you take.

Has a spirit ever come home with you?
Definitely. I call them hitchhikers. You learn to stand your ground. I don’t think twice about yelling, “Get out of here!” It usually works. But you have to be firm and you have to believe that or it’s useless to say it.

How did Haunted Collector come about? How did you get involved with Syfy?
Over the past couple of years I’ve been very interested in doing a show on the objects and Syfy showed an extreme interest in it. I think it had to do with the fact that so many of the paranormal shows talk about items today.  It all seemed to line up and fall into place at the right time.

How many episodes are there?
Six, two cases in each episode. We traveled to several different states.

How did the cases come to your attention?
People made contact with us; we talked to them on the phone to figure out if it was legit. A lot of cases were referred.   We had thousands to choose from. We looked to see who needed help the quickest.

Were any of those you investigated particularly scary? Did you ever fear for your safety?
Several times.  I can’t talk about them till they air. But that’s the chance you take getting involved with the paranormal. I’m a very spiritual person, a religious person and there are various prayers that I do before I go into a location.

Can you talk about the gear you use on investigations—the audio recorders and video cameras, EMF detectors, and how you use them?
We use these different pieces of equipment to see if we can get any hardcore evidence, a recorder to try to get an EVP around an item, an EMF detector to see if we can pick up any energy. We video things to see if they move.  We also use old-world methods. When you’re doing an investigation you can sprinkle powder around, you might get some markings in it. Psychometry is an old method of testing whether there’s energy attached to an item by holding it,

You have your son Chris and daughter Aimee helping you on the series. Were they always interested, or did you conscript them?
It happened by accident. I always kept my family away from it. My son has done investigations with me over the last few years but wasn’t interested in anything on the dark side. My daughter was always interested in antiques and looking up history on things. I’d tell her about an item and she’d come back with information about it. But to this day she hasn’t gone out on an investigation with us. So this past January when I said to them, “Do you want to do a TV show with the old man?” The both of them said yes, which surprised me..

How about the other team members, Beth Ezzo and Brian Cano?
I’ve known Beth since she was a teenager, over ten years. She was interested in the paranormal and took classes I was teaching, Brian is a good friend, we’ve worked on several projects. He’s fantastic for debunking. He comes from the science perspective and I felt we needed that on our team.

Have you stayed in contact with people you’ve helped over the years?
Absolutely. A lot of them became very good friends.

Have you heard from Jill, the Louisiana woman from the premiere episode whose house was haunted?
I haven’t heard from her about any further activity, but I always leave it so they can contact me if they need additional help.

If there’s another season, will you go outside the U.S.?
If the opportunity came up the first country I’d like to hit would be Greece, because so much is intact over there after thousands of years. After that would be Italy or England.

What do you think of some of the other paranormal shows on TV?
Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures, I’ve been on those shows several times. Each show has a little bit of a twist on the way they do things. They all get the information out there and bring it to the forefront so people today have a better understanding of the paranormal than they ever did in the past.

What professional and personal goals do you set for yourself? Is there anything on your to-do list?
At this point I’m very comfortable with what I’m doing. I followed my passion and I’m able to do what I’ve always wanted to do. I lecture about it. I talk about it. I do a lot of universities especially in the fall. I love working with the kids on the campuses, talking about the [paranormal]  and sharing what I’ve learned over the years.

You have a book out called Shadows of the Dark. Details?
It’s how to do paranormal investigating, what to look for. I talk about several different cases so people can get a better idea of the work.

Are you working on another book?
"The Struggle Within". it’s a case I worked on for four years, a woman who had 16 exorcisms performed on her. I’m hoping to get it out next year.

Any movie documentary plans?
There’s one called The World Within that came out in 2010, it’s a DVD documentary of my life made by Core Films. It’s available on Amazon.com. There’s another one about the Paranormal Museum and some of the things in there, Museum of the Paranormal

Do you have any appearances coming up?
I’m at Bolton Mansion in Pennsylvania June 14 and I’m doing one in Michigan, and there’s one in July and two in August. I’ll be at Dragon Con in September.

Is it important to you to have interaction with the public?
I love it. I love to talk to people. I don’t do the Twitter thing yet but I am on Facebook.