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A Wal-Mart employee by day and paranormal investigator by trade, Jamie Roush, 29, of Clyde, has seen it all — from visions of the dead to encounters with spirits.

While some may refer to her as a ‘ghostbuster,’ Roush said what paranormal investigators do versus what’s portrayed on television are very different.

“Most of the time, the stuff that’s on TV has so much acting” and special effects, she said. “I get sick of television pushing all this (stuff) down people’s throats. (People) think about evil when they think about ghosts, and most of the time, they’re not (evil).”

For example, some cultures believe in ancestral ghosts, or ancestors sent to guard living relatives.

“They’re there to protect you,” she said.

Other “reality” television shows like Ghost Hunters on the Sci-Fi network, she said, do “good work” when they go on investigations, “but you don’t see much of the stuff that really happens — you only see the exciting parts.”

During a typical investigation, she said, there can be hours of down time when nothing takes place before a few minutes of sometimes intense paranormal activity.

“You could go into an investigation for hours and not see or hear anything,” she said.

And most of the time, the investigators and camera crews on television end up playing pranks on each other rather than finding any hard evidence of the afterlife.

“When we go in, we joke around a little, but we’re very respectful to the spirits and to the people” who currently own the property, Roush said.

During a typical investigation, Roush said she will gather audio, video and photographic evidence to prove — or disprove — a spiritual being inhabits the building or area.

Some signs that a ghost may be living in a house or commercial building, she said, include items being moved without explanation, seeing apparitions or shadowy people, hearing unexplained noises and hearing and seeing phantom lights and sounds.

While most people in Western North Carolina are skeptical, people are more open-minded of spirits in other parts of the country.

“People are more willing to talk about it (in other areas),” she said. “People just need to understand that ghosts are beings, and they’re not all bad.”

A personal experience
Roush first encountered the living dead when she and her mother were shopping for antiques in Florida.

“As I made my way up the steps and through the first room of the upper level I noticed all the vintage clothing. I headed in to the back room of the upstairs and immediately started looking at a clothes rack. I was only there for about 30 seconds or so when I started smelling this horrible stench — it smelled like blood.

“I started feeling very nauseous and as if something was behind me. I turned around and to my surprise there was a woman lying on the floor in a pool of blood around her head,” Roush wrote on her Web site.

What she saw she describes as a placement ring, a feeling or vision of the person who died in a particular building or room of a house.

Why ghosts appear

There are many reasons why ghosts hang around a certain area.

“They’re just lost souls,” she said. “They’re trapped or they can’t move, or aren’t ready to move on. They want justice done. They just want to leave, but they’re attached to the home or someone who is still living,” she said.

Currently, Roush has two ghosts living in her house — one of which moved with her when she moved out of her house in Canton. Rousch had a hard time selling the house, which she guessed was because of the ghost.

“A man had a heart attack (years ago), but his wife is still alive. So, we told the ghost he could go with us, and he did. The house sold the next day, and he’s still with us. We still smell his coffee brewing, we still smell his cigar smoke. We have checked, and his wife is still alive, (living in the area).”

When a ghost appears

Most of the time, Roush said, ghosts aren’t there to harm people.

“If you feel like they’re not trying to hurt you, then don’t worry about it. But if you want to prove you do, or you feel threatened by the ghost, call us,” she said.

If a particular ghost does threaten the home or business owner, there are ways to get rid of the ghosts, she said.

“We suggest you sit down with your family and really believe what your saying. You have to tell it to leave as a family. Most of the time, it will work. Praying sometimes works, too,” she said.

Roush and a team of other paranormal investigators can also come to the place in question and help their clients through the process.

While it’s unusual to have a ghost physically harm people, “they can make you feel threatened or make you feel uncomfortable, and then you end up hurting yourself.”

Haunted local areas

Roush said she has encountered only two “angry” ghosts, so far — one in Canton and the other in Charleston, S.C.
Her encounter in Canton happened after she said she went into a vacant home after receiving a call to investigate possible paranormal activity.

“We were pretty much choked and pushed up against a wall,” she said. “My mom was with me. We ended up leaving — the house is still vacant, too.”

Other proven haunted places in Western North Carolina include the Grove Park Inn and Helen’s Bridge, both in Asheville.

Grove Park Inn, she said, has had customers check out in the middle of the night.

“The ghosts (there) won’t harm anyone, but sometimes people just get freaked out.”

Around this time of year, Roush said she receives a lot of pictures people want her to analyze. She said she recently received a photograph of a building in the Cataloochee area that “looks promising.” However, her investigation of the area is not yet complete.

For more information on the types of ghosts, Scriptural references to the existence of ghosts, how to contact Roush for an investigation or other ghost-related topics, visit www.historichaunts. 4t.com.