Ghosts and Haunted Houses

[Axxman300]

Sooo, would the new owner of any of these types of buildings “put back” the 13th floor in a multi-storey?
It staggers me that there are so many irrational people in the US, that this is still a thing.

I work in a motel. We have three floor, 51 rooms. Rooms are numbered by floor: 104 - 119 = first floor. No rooms are numbered 13. I wish I could tell you society has evolved beyond the number 13, but never underestimate the ability of the superstitious to flip out over the dumbest things.

 

[Ron Obvious]

I work in a motel. We have three floor, 51 rooms. Rooms are numbered by floor: 104 - 119 = first floor. No rooms are numbered 13. I wish I could tell you society has evolved beyond the number 13, but never underestimate the ability of the superstitious to flip out over the dumbest things.

Agreed, but, from a commercial viewpoint, customers may avoid such room numbers. Or the price will have to be lowered to entice them.

 

[EHocking]

I work in a motel. We have three floor, 51 rooms. Rooms are numbered by floor: 104 - 119 = first floor. No rooms are numbered 13. I wish I could tell you society has evolved beyond the number 13, but never underestimate the ability of the superstitious to flip out over the dumbest things.

Yeah, this can also include street numbers.
And in some Asian countires, it is the number 4 that is their "13"

 

[EHocking]

Agreed, but, from a commercial viewpoint, customers may avoid such room numbers. Or the price will have to be lowered to entice them.

It seems that is pretty much why the practice still prevails.

The city of Vancouver, apparently, has passed planning laws to prohibit the practice on the grounds that it can be confusing to first responders,
e.g., being told that someone on the 14th floor needs assistance (say in a fire situation) and the fire crew going to the wrong floor because they are counting physical floors from outside of the building. No mention on wiki if there is a push by any other sensible city planners to implement this.

Oh, and some non-superstitious people mock the number 14, e.g., the crew of the 13th space shuttle flight included a black cat on the flight patch and landed the shuttle on a Friday the 13th. NASA had changed the numbering system after STS-9, so this flight was officially STS-41C.

 

[PitPat]

It seems that is pretty much why the practice still prevails.

The city of Vancouver, apparently, has passed planning laws to prohibit the practice on the grounds that it can be confusing to first responders,
e.g., being told that someone on the 14th floor needs assistance (say in a fire situation) and the fire crew going to the wrong floor because they are counting physical floors from outside of the building. No mention on wiki if there is a push by any other sensible city planners to implement this.

Oh, and some non-superstitious people mock the number 14, e.g., the crew of the 13th space shuttle flight included a black cat on the flight patch and landed the shuttle on a Friday the 13th. NASA had changed the numbering system after STS-9, so this flight was officially STS-41C.

I walked with an umbrella inside, under a ladder, with a black cat in the way. Yes, it came in threes, and I turned out phine.

 

[Thermal]

it is more bowing to superstition than tradition, IMO.
And still prevalent.
This article from Jan 2023 claims as few as 5% of NY residential condos have a 13th floor ...

It does claim that. Did you look at it? That stat includes mid rises, which by definition, have less than 13 floors (and make up the lions share of NY condo buildings). That's about as foolish a stat as I could imagine.

...those apartments actually on a 13th floor are 18% less frequently bought than those on a different floor....

Check the source for that claim. It's cited by a European realty website, citing Minsk sales specifically. 'Taint "irrational Americans".

...Otis lift company (back in 2002) claimed 80-90% of their installations had the 13th floor removed.

Yes, and they've been removed for generations, ans many still observe that tradition, as I said.

Most articles I’ve (quickly, admittedly) googled seem to indicate that the superstition is as prevalent as it ever was.
I found that is a common superstition with travelers on cruise liners, so similarly, many (most?) cruise liner lifts also do not have a 13th level.

(An aside, as an non-USAan we call elevators lifts. I always grin slightly whenever I get into one made by Schindler )

Heh heh.

If it was a real fear of 13 though, wouldn't it apply to things beyond elevators? You mentioned NYC; there is not only a 13th street (oh, horrors!), but a #13 East 13th street. The zip code is even 10003. Must be a barren lot that no one would touch, right? Nope. $2 million dollar condo, and it ain't for sale.

13 E 13th St, New York, NY 10003 | Zillow

13 E 13th St, New York NY, is a Condo home.It contains 4 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. The Zestimate for this Condo is $2,043,100, which has decreased by $41,884 in the last 30 days.The Rent Zestimate for this Condo is $7,831/mo, which has increased by $7,831/mo in the last 30 days.

www.zillow.com

 

[Hlafordlaes]

I don't believe in ghosts.

I do recall the house we had in the mountains of Segovia, replete with Tolkien-level spider invasions from nearby pine forests, large, hairy, and difficult to stomp, often moving in large groups; quite unnerving. There, in that home, my wife swore she'd been shoved from behind while ironing, and had frequently felt someone pressing down on her when resting. She claimed to have seen an old women as a ghost, too. I, too, thought I imagined a strange touch one time. All explainable and owing to whatever real causes were in play, physical or psychological, surely.

However, when the furniture movers were just finishing up late one evening as we left for a new home elsewhere, they both came running out into the street claiming an old woman's ghost was haunting the now-empty house, clearly in shock. Don't really have an answer for that.

Anecdotal, good for camp fires.

 

[Axxman300]

I don't believe in ghosts.

I do recall the house we had in the mountains of Segovia, replete with Tolkien-level spider invasions from nearby pine forests, large, hairy, and difficult to stomp, often moving in large groups; quite unnerving. There, in that home, my wife swore she'd been shoved from behind while ironing, and had frequently felt someone pressing down on her when resting. She claimed to have seen an old women as a ghost, too. I, too, thought I imagined a strange touch one time. All explainable and owing to whatever real causes were in play, physical or psychological, surely.

However, when the furniture movers were just finishing up late one evening as we left for a new home elsewhere, they both came running out into the street claiming an old woman's ghost was haunting the now-empty house, clearly in shock. Don't really have an answer for that.

Anecdotal, good for camp fires.

You had me at "Spider Invasion".

 

[8enotto]

Didn't want to start a new thread when I could bring this one from the dead.

I watch a lot of YT instead of network TV.

The spooky videos are a last option when all my other fave subjects are tapped.

Apparitions and ghost videos have evolved. Not poltergeist vids, those are fairly consistent in content.

Asian ghosts are a white figure with long black hair that hop or jump when they move. As if in burials there a white gown and binding the feet together are traditional.

Western ghosts walk or float when moving. They are varied in appearance.
Latino ghosts tend to make noises more than others.

Suddenly fading away is normal everywhere.

I usually suspect all the videos are faked. Reason being that each play to local culture and expectations. If some way of releasing a spirit from a living being were to occur wouldn't it be the same everywhere? Some consistent form or manner of movement would be expected. Local cultural differences shouldn't play in.

Another clue is a lot of the ones posting these vids are making money on whatever platform they use. Pretty good incentive to keep making them.

Makes me wonder why I bothered working hard labor jobs so long. All I needed was a mediocre camera and video editing skills.
Dammit.

 

[Axxman300]

Didn't want to start a new thread when I could bring this one from the dead.

I watch a lot of YT instead of network TV.

The spooky videos are a last option when all my other fave subjects are tapped.

Apparitions and ghost videos have evolved. Not poltergeist vids, those are fairly consistent in content.

Asian ghosts are a white figure with long black hair that hop or jump when they move. As if in burials there a white gown and binding the feet together are traditional.

Western ghosts walk or float when moving. They are varied in appearance.
Latino ghosts tend to make noises more than others.

Suddenly fading away is normal everywhere.

I usually suspect all the videos are faked. Reason being that each play to local culture and expectations. If some way of releasing a spirit from a living being were to occur wouldn't it be the same everywhere? Some consistent form or manner of movement would be expected. Local cultural differences shouldn't play in.

Another clue is a lot of the ones posting these vids are making money on whatever platform they use. Pretty good incentive to keep making them.

Makes me wonder why I bothered working hard labor jobs so long. All I needed was a mediocre camera and video editing skills.
Dammit.

Your suspicions are correct.

The pathetic thing is they all copy each other now. And you can tell they fake their content because every video has activity, and that just doesn't happen. Not just in ghost hunting, but in any expedition to capture a rare thing. Hell, you don't even catch fish every time out. There is no legitimate investigation, just the modern version of "Double-Dog Dare". If I were to start some kind of ghost channel I would clearly state it was for entertainment purposes only so I could live with myself.

A new disturbing trend on ghost-tube is going after debunker channels using copyright strikes (three will get your channel removed). Not the big ones though, just the smaller channels. They've failed, but they're effecting how the debunkers do their thing, and that's too bad. Even back in my hardcore believer days it was important to track down the source of a noise or shadow for an explanation, and not just chalk it up to ghosties. If you are not debunking, you're not investigating - you're an advocate.

For me the most interesting videos are from non-ghost hunting channels, most often urban explorers who don't believe in such things. There's a guy in Toronto who explores the many abandoned, soon-to-be-demolished homes around Ontario ( guess there is some kind of development boom going on). He has a few hundred videos spanning all kinds of homes from modest subdivision ranch houses to huge mansions. And within his body of work he has maybe four or five videos where something freaks him out enough to exit the property. He doesn't believe in ghosts, and makes fun of ghost-tubers, and to his credit he will track down the source of a strange noise (mostly to make sure it's not a cop). Other times he'll pause to listen (usually the footstep phenomenon), and correctly shrug it off. Those few times he's run were mostly a voice, or voices coming from an empty part of the house he's already explored. Those events are interesting because the houses have all been different, but two of them had known violent history, and one was just a creepy small home. Both cases represent mental preconditioning at the subconscious level. I'd post links but the respectable thing about this guy is he doesn't advertise any of these encounters, or tag them because he doesn't want to be a ghost-tube guy.

 

[arthwollipot]

When I first posted this, years ago, they didn't do the reveal in the title. It was presented as a genuine ghost hunting show. One person I showed it to stopped halfway, saying "yeah, this is just like all the other crap", which kind of missed the point.


BTW, Brian Brushwood, the short guy, is a skeptic, magician, and fire-eater, and was a friend of Randi.

 

[8enotto]

The disgruntled assistant to famed ghost hunter Carlo Trejo also revealed he had set up a lot of stage magic to get all those scary hauntings. Particularly when he bought a historic villa and had total control of the setting.

Later he faded out but his daughter was on tv some hosting paranormal shows.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

The disgruntled assistant to famed ghost hunter Carlo Trejo also revealed he had set up a lot of stage magic to get all those scary hauntings. Particularly when he bought a historic villa and had total control of the setting.

Later he faded out but his daughter was on tv some hosting paranormal shows.

Read all about it here:

 

[novaphile]

Didn't want to start a new thread when I could bring this one from the dead.

I watch a lot of YT instead of network TV.

The spooky videos are a last option when all my other fave subjects are tapped.

Apparitions and ghost videos have evolved. Not poltergeist vids, those are fairly consistent in content.

Asian ghosts are a white figure with long black hair that hop or jump when they move. As if in burials there a white gown and binding the feet together are traditional.

Western ghosts walk or float when moving. They are varied in appearance.
Latino ghosts tend to make noises more than others.

Suddenly fading away is normal everywhere.

I usually suspect all the videos are faked. Reason being that each play to local culture and expectations. If some way of releasing a spirit from a living being were to occur wouldn't it be the same everywhere? Some consistent form or manner of movement would be expected. Local cultural differences shouldn't play in.

Another clue is a lot of the ones posting these vids are making money on whatever platform they use. Pretty good incentive to keep making them.

Makes me wonder why I bothered working hard labor jobs so long. All I needed was a mediocre camera and video editing skills.
Dammit.

In Chinese folk tales, Taoist monks would animate corpses, and preserve them magically, so that they could be 'walked' back to their birth village, and be buried with their ancestors. If you ever see a Chinese movie, where a priest is leading a single-file line of people in funeral attire (i.e. white clothing), who are all roped together, and all hopping, because their feet are tied together, that's what is going on.

Tied to that are Chinese 'vampires' who also dress and move in the same manner, probably with the idea, that they are corpses that escaped the priest, and continue to stay 'undead' by consuming human blood.

 

[8enotto]

In Chinese folk tales, Taoist monks would animate corpses, and preserve them magically, so that they could be 'walked' back to their birth village, and be buried with their ancestors. If you ever see a Chinese movie, where a priest is leading a single-file line of people in funeral attire (i.e. white clothing), who are all roped together, and all hopping, because their feet are tied together, that's what is going on.

Tied to that are Chinese 'vampires' who also dress and move in the same manner, probably with the idea, that they are corpses that escaped the priest, and continue to stay 'undead' by consuming human blood.

I haven't seen that in a Chinese movie yet but it fits the pattern of the appearances. I just noted it was always an Asain guy doing the talking or investigating in those videos.
Malaysia seems to use that style of funeral too.