Difficulty talking about ghosts back in 1986

The episode about the college athlete being haunted took place around 1982 to 1986. Back then no one talked about ghosts and hauntings, even though there had been lots of ghost movies from Hollywood over the previous decades. Ghosts still resided in the realm of Hollywood and people's frightened imaginations.

Oh, come on. The 80s weren't the prehistoric era. I was in college back then and we knew all about ghosts and had a good time scaring ourselves with local ghost stories. People have been talking about ghosts since there have been campfires.

Hollywood didn't invent ghost stories. Hollywood stole from thousands of years of folklore for those movies.

Today in 2012 there has been so much publicity about paranormal research, human ghost hauntings and demonic manifestations, that there is far more willingess to discuss the subject and also the belief is becoming more accepted that human ghosts exist and more people are believing that demons exist.

Complete nonsense. People did plenty of paranormal research back in the 70s and 80s. Spiritualism was huge in the 19th century. Where do you think the idea of seances came from? As for TV shows, ever heard of "In Search Of..."?

The Internet also didn't exist so it was harder to come by information and research information. If you believed in ghosts it was probably because you either experienced it for yourself, or a family relative or a friend, or a friend of a friend.

The Internet was invented back in the 60s. My brother had a computer in the 80s and was in online chatrooms all the time.

As for people spreading information about ghosts, there were TV and radio. Oh, and these things called "books". People got all sorts of information from them.

Today we know more. There exists either a human soul haunting where a deceased person is trying to get attention. Or there is a demonic infestation that is territorial and destructive, with the intent to frighten and intimidate. People can do things that bring on the presence of demons, or else be in the wrong place at the wrong time and do the wrong thing. Human hauntings are different and can be dealt with prayers or blessings.

Absolute BS. Most of what we "know" about demons goes back to legends of the early Middle Ages and even the Ancient World. As for hauntings, the Greeks and Romans told ghost stories. We don't know any more about demons today than we did thirty years ago.

I'm actually surprised about this new series, SCHOOL SPIRITS, because I had never heard about hauntings in college buildings, dormitories, fraternities, or sororities. When I was in college there had been no talk or stories of ghosts or spirits on my campus, thank goodness.

Just because you've never heard about something doesn't mean that most of the rest of the world didn't already know about it. You must have been terribly sheltered never to have heard about ghosts or the supernatural in college.

I find the series entertaining, but it's hardly breaking any new ground in the genre.

Innsmouth Free Press http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com

reply share

add reply

formatting help

Hi Jeff,

My name is Chris DiCesare. I am the former college student who lived through the haunting at SUNY Geneseo. The haunting began around February 8th or 9th, 1985, and seemed to be resolved around April 20th or 21st, 1985. It was a life-changing experience for me. I am writing to thank you because, in my opinion, you have hit the nail on the head in terms of how things are so amazingly different today. And not just in terms of the paranormal. When I was conceived African Americans did not have the right to vote. When I attended grade school if you were gay (or even suspected of being gay) you were beaten. When I attended high school computers began making there way into education (although no thought that they would be in households someday). By the time I got to college cell phones began to gradually replace wall phones. When you had to do a report, you had to use the card catalogue, and then hope that the book you needed was on the shelf. If it was you had to read it, and then use your notes to type (with no errors) the paper. There was no 'spell check' no 'cut and paste' and virtually no internet search capability. Divorce was still a major shame on your family (I knew of just one couple who had a divorce up until I was the age of twenty). Today the divorce rate is close to 50%. I had heard the F-bomb THREE times from birth until my entry into college, and at times I would share those occurrences with classmates in an attempt to understand why someone would ever use that word. It was uncivilized. Now it can be heard in movies, TV shows, songs. In fact, I now hear it several times a day. Likewise, talk of the paranormal was often taboo. I was afraid to talk to the priest for fear of being excommunicated. Things have changed radically - as they often do - through social manipulation (often progressive or liberal) in music, television, writing and the movies. Depending on the issue and one's political, moral and social beliefs this has been either primarily positive or primarily negative. For me, it has been a little of both ... which I suppose is to be expected. In truth, I have been amazed at the positive reception afforded me since I first decided to share my experience publicly last July. Thanks in large part to huge number of (sadly amateurish) paranormal shows on cable, the paranormal has moved away from the lunatic fringe of the 1970's and 1980's into the mainstream of social consciousness. As a teacher, I am tremendously impressed with this (for my lifetime) renewed sense of exploration. I hope that you enjoyed the School Spirits episode. It took almost thirty years to tell. By best to you - Chris

reply share

add reply

formatting help