The Stanley goes spirit viral !

...or something like that....

I like to tell people I've been in the ghost hunting business long enough to remember when hotels - especially expensive, image-conscious, postcard-worthy, legendary or near-legendary hotels - got squirmingly uncomfortable if you asked about their ghost. Bad for business, either because the whole subject of ghosts is vaguely offensive to acutely religious people (it is, in some cases), directly offensive (at least credibility-denting) to stalwart atheist/materialists, or a little scary for the believers...in all cases, a drag on the business.

But, at least in the case of the Stanley Hotel, the 'Ghost Hunters Effect' has taken full hold.

I noticed that Sharon had friended up with/fanned up with them on FB, so I did too. And what have we seen? Regular exhortations about ghosts: 'who's up for our Friday night investigation this week?', 'check out these cool orb pics!', 'here's some tips and tricks for newbie ghost hunters'...etc etc.

It's marketing time, kids.

And it's true, while the Stanley has hosted 'ghost tours' and been generally paranormal-team friendly over the last few years, through social media it has now connected aggressively, enthusiastically and almost exclusively with the 20-30something Ghost Hunters crowd right where they live - orb pictures, DIY investigations, guided tours, ghost stories, etc etc. And check out our discounted room rates this weekend. Oh yeah.

Maybe it's the old-fogey in me, but I have a kind of knee-jerk "get off my lawn" reaction to all this. The practice of ghost hunting, to whatever extent you believe it's a pursuit worthy of the time and effort, is something that should be undertaken with a level of seriousness, skepticism and focused reticence. The image of all these gawking 30 something females snapping pictures in the Concert Hall and squealing when they capture the inevitable orb hanging like a semi-transparent Xmas ornament over a grainy, twilight-dark exposure of nothing kind of cheapens the allure that Stanley has held for most of us longer-than-1 year ghost hunter types. The place is, deservedly or not, a kind of ghost hunter's Promised Land. And my ire isn't helped by being a Colorado resident, imbuing the whole thing with a second level of proprietary ownership I hate to see callow interlopers challenge. Grrr!!!!

And on a more practical level, this may well make it a bit harder for us, either in DGH or FME, to get back in there and do a decent investigation. (We were up there a couple of years ago, and didn't get a thing except snapping a few orbs and getting nearly mauled by a grouchy momma elk on the front lawn...) Kinda reminds me of The Ladders TV commercials - y'know, the tennis tournament when all the slobs climb down onto the court to start playing, and ruin the whole thing.

Ah...I've become such an elitist.

Related to this, Sharon and I are discussing starting our own group. I may wonder in a few months why I even considered it (either because I did and it made obvious sense, given our currently precarious and usually frustrating role with the other three groups we 'belong' to....or I didn't, for some other reason), but from where I sit, we just have to.

Cards, website, stickers, blog, domain...the whole thing. We just have to.

First thing to do is pick a name.

Flatiron Paranormal Inquiry is my favorite, followed by Spirit Bear Paranormal.

Shall see.