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No.2 and 3 Quality Row (The ‘Duplex’) – Norfolk Island

No.2 and 3 Quality Row (The ‘Duplex’) – Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island is one of the most haunted locations in Australia. Over half of the population on the island have had an experience with the paranormal. No.2 and 3 Quality Row (known as the ‘Duplex’) is regarded as the most haunted location on the island. Visitors to the Duplex (including

The Blond Haired Boy

The Blond Haired Boy

Hi all, looking for some help with information on this one. This week I received a framed picture. It belongs to someone, who’s grandmother no longer wants the picture in her home and believes it to be haunted and gotten rid of. It was going to be dumped, but I

Car and tractor ‘graveyard’ – Auckland

Car and tractor ‘graveyard’ – Auckland

UNDISCLOSED LOCATION

Carnegie Cres – Development, Hobsonville

Carnegie Cres – Development, Hobsonville

During the massive development projects of the Hobsonville Point region of West Auckland, many full street and sub division blocks were bought up by developers and demolished to make way for more construction in the name of progress. Many 100s of houses went under the bulldozers; many low income renters

Hidden in Gorse – West Auckland

Hidden in Gorse – West Auckland

 

Haunted Marionettes

Haunted Marionettes

In my collection hang three tatty looking marionettes. Two that were gifted to me about 10 years ago. Two Kathputlis; Indian made puppets given to me by a work acquaintance who said they were no longer welcome in their home due to ‘‘their constant fighting” which was starting to frighten

Rangiriri Hotel overnight Investigation – Waikato [PHOTO GALLERY]

Rangiriri Hotel overnight Investigation – Waikato [PHOTO GALLERY]

On Sunday, the team headed south to the Waikato region to spend the night investigating the historic Rangiriri Hotel, (also known affectionately to locals as “the Rango”), a landmark that has seen its share of unusual occurrences through the years. The 1866-built tavern is only about an hour’s drive from

Big Bird’s Last Stand

Big Bird’s Last Stand

Cryptozoology can be separated into three classifications: Out of place animals – Alien Big Cats in Britain for example. Previously unknown species – for example Bigfoot and the Mongolian Death Worm. Paleocryptids – those species that once existed but though extinct still make appearances and leave evidence of their continued

Re-visit to Massey Homestead – Touch-light activation incidents

Re-visit to Massey Homestead – Touch-light activation incidents

On July 25th, 2020, the team returned to follow up on a location we had investigated back in 2014. The mid 1800s built Massey Homestead; situated in lush, landscaped grounds in Mangere, is one building the team have been wanting to revisit for a few years now. It was a

Haunted by Shadows

Haunted by Shadows

These intriguing NZ shadow experiences were sent in by one of our wonderful followers…. I’d like to document An experience, here’s one out of a few in my life,all experienced in the same house. I’m not a person who is easily scared and I’ll always looks for the logic in

Editor's Choice
The White Lady of Worstead Church
The White Lady of Worstead Church05/01/2014HauntingsIn August, 1975, Diane Berthelot visited the St Mary Church in Worstead, North Norfolk, UK, along with her husband and son. They ducked into the church to get out of the heat. Diane took a seat on a pew towards the front of the church, while her husband took some photographs. It was not until they returned home, after the holiday, that Diane found this ‘extra’, dressed in old-fashioned clothes and a bonnet, seated behind her. A Ghost Story In  the 1830’s, a man was staying in the Kings Head Tavern in Worstead,  North Norfolk, United Kingdom, where he heard about the legend of the  White Lady of Worstead Church. The legend stated that the White Lady would appear every Christmas Eve,  and anyone who witnessed her, would suffer an untimely death.   This gentleman, not believing in such tomfoolery, stated that he would  stay in the church, and if the White Lady appeared he would kiss her. As  it also happened to be Christmas Eve, he was definitely keen to put the  legend to the test, and show these backward local folk a thing or two! He entered the church and climbed the belfry.   After a time, and with anxiety building over his late return, his  friends went searching for him. They found him huddled in the belfry. He  was shaking with fright, and muttering to himself. He was obviously  dying. His last words were; ‘I’ve seen her, I’ve seen her This story is now adorned in pride of place at The White  Lady Pub in  Worstead. Once known as the ‘New Inn’, it changed it’s name  to ‘The  White Lady’ in 2011, when its new owner took over the  business. The  owner took inspiration from his own home, the building  which used to be  the Kings Head. So,  with the Lady in White apparently the cause  for at least one untimely  demise on Christmas Eve, you may be surprised  to find out that the  locals now believe she is a more benevolent  spirit… A Ghost Photo In  1975 Diane Berthelot, and her husband and son, were enjoying their  yearly holiday out at North Norfolk. It was a hot August day, and the  family decided to visit the church and get out of the heat. Diane had been quite unwell, and took advantage of one of the pews  towards the front of the church. She gave a quick prayer for better  health as her husband took in the sights and a few photographs. It was not until they got home after their holiday that they realised  something mysterious had taken place. As the family were going through  their photographs, they were shocked to see that Diane had a mysterious  extra sitting behind her in the church, a church they are certain they  were alone in that day. This extra looks to be wearing  old-fashioned clothes,  perhaps made of the Worstead Cloth the village is  well known for, and a  bonnet. She is also bathed in a bright white  light. It was quite a curiosity for them, and a curiosity it remained until their holiday back to North Norfolk the following summer.    The Berthelot family returned to the church, and showed the photo to a   vicar. He explained the legend of the White Lady, and told them she  was a  caring, healing soul. It was at this point that Diane realised  the  ailment she had been struggling with for some time, had in fact  been  eased somewhat, after that original visit the year before.   The  photo is now on display at The White Lady pub, and ever since  strange  things have taken place there; lights turning themselves on,  glasses  moved around and the feeling of been touched while in the  cellar.   However, it is not a scary haunting, but rather  comforting, knowing  that perhaps the White Lady now resides in the  building bearing her  name. No one knows the true identity of The White Lady of Worstead Church. [...] Read more...
Central Hotel – Dargaville
Central Hotel – Dargaville29/07/2017Haunted Locations / Hotels and Businesses / InvestigationsOn July 29th the team headed off on another road trip, this time up north to Dargaville, to spend the night investigating ongoing paranormal activity within the Central Hotel. The Hotel sits directly opposite the mighty Northern Wairoa River and is located at the corner of Victoria and Edward Street Dargaville. Constructed in 1901, during the Kauri logging and ship building era, the first hotel on the site was known as the Kaihu Hotel until it burned down on the morning of Saturday 16 February 1901. One man, named James Carmody, didn’t escape the fire. The victim’s bones were discovered amongst the ashes after the fire and an inquest was later held to determine the cause of death. The hotel itself was completely destroyed. The licensee of the hotel, Edmond Moriarty, had previously been the publican of the Pahi Hotel which coincidently had burned down in September 1897, when he had been in charge of that establishment. Auckland based Architect John Currie designed the new hotel and had advertised for tenders for the erection of the new replacement hotel in March of 1901. Currie was also the architect for the new Pahi Hotel and also possibly the Maungaturoto Hotel. Haunted History Staff have reported hearing unexplained activity in the two bars in the hotel. this included more possibly physical activity; glasses being banged down on the bar when no one is there. In the Club bar, the sound of a glass being put down loudly on the bar has been heard by all staff. They hear it while they are working in the Lounge bar and when they go through to serve whoever it was who was trying to get their attention there the bar is empty. Beds in some of the rooms were found messed up with no apparent explanation. The bed in Room 14 is sometimes messed up with an indent in the pillow (as if someone had been lying in the bed) and shadows have been seen in the hallway leading to that room. People have reported seeing shadows and movement downstairs and in the upstairs hallways. Previous Australian paranormal students who stayed at the hotel a few years prior to our visit had mentioned to the owners claimed to have had ”very positive readings” on their equipment, in their time there. Staff monitoring the DVR security video system have also noticed balls of light moving around the gaming machines in the Club bar. The present owners reported coming into the bar one morning to find every piece of paper that had been on the walls around both bars was on the floor. They also told us that they have talked to previous owners and that they too tell similar stories of the ‘ghost activity. One of the people we spoke to told us that they feel that there is ‘something’ around the middle of the stairs. The owner told us that when they first came to the hotel it was rundown and uncared for and they were felt that the building was hurting due to having mistreated by bad tenants. It is a lovely old building. The current owners really care for the building and it shows. We noted a few old photos of the hotel from a few years ago on the walls around the bar area and the building looked very scruffy and unkempt at the time these earlier photos were taken. The building is now well maintained and has a pleasant atmosphere. The main focus of our investigation took part in the hotel guest room no 14. a small unassuming room, small, clean, and comfortable, and was very similar to the other single rooms in the hotel; so we were surprised when the owner told us that most people look at the room and refuse to sleep there. She told us that in the last four years the room had probably only been used 5 or 6 times, as it is never chosen and they don’t like to put people in it due to the activity experienced in and around the room. There was a dining room, kitchen, a small office with reception area, and storerooms on the ground floor. Beside the office, there was a beautiful carpeted staircase, which lead to the accommodation. Once up the stairs, there was the manager’s accommodation and two accommodation wings on either side of the landing. To the right was the main accommodation wing where there were 8 guest rooms with a bathroom and toilet block at the end of the corridor. There was also a small guest kitchen, storeroom, and a guest lounge with a door out to the balcony that ran along the front and side of the hotel. The balcony overlooked the river across the road, as did the room at the front of the main accommodation wing. This room was being renovated at the time of our visit (although we did have access to it and all rooms in this wing). The other wing was to the right once at the top of the stairs and was not used often. It was only opened if the main wing was fully occupied. We conducted several EVP sessions in Room 14 as well as the hotel corridor that led to room 14. Barbara and Mark also did a separate EVP session early on in the night on the steps of the hotel. We also did EVP sessions in both Bars of the hotel. We asked the usual questions we normally do during an investigation, although a lot of our questions were focused on establishing contact with the diseased James that had originally died in the hotel. Some of the viewers of a short Facebook live-feed we thought we’d do at the time, commented they felt there was a little girl in the hotel, either age 5, 7 or 9. Approaching the end of our investigation that night, all team members sat quietly in the corridor where we had the a laser grid and cameras set up. Marlene sat with her back against the wall of the upstairs corridor, with the stairs facing to her right. During one of these quiet sessions, she reported hearing the sound of someone approaching the upstairs landing. ”It was very distinct, clear, and almost sounded “in detail”. It sounded like someone trying to walk very slowly upstairs hence the creaking on the wooden steps was very pronounced. Barbara at the time next to me also heard it. It was different than just the normal creaking sounds and thumps an old building makes at night.” We had some interesting large Electromagnetic spikes that were picked up by two different branded EMF meters at the time. These were in room 14. However, we were able to establish that these EMF readings were generated from only one tiny spot on the floor, which makes it more plausible that it is electric wiring or something situated directly underneath that room (on the first floor) that could be giving off regular EMF. There were a few odd noises heard while doing communication sessions in the bars but the one that stood out for the team was what sounded like what could have been a glass being put down heavily on the bar. (This was a noise that the staff had reported as having been heard by all staff members at times. They would go to the bar to serve whoever it was and no one would be there) Another audio incident of interest; Marlene and Barbara reported hearing what sounded like two definite heavy footsteps on the main stairs as they were packing up. The investigation went really well and the team worked well together. We got all areas of interest in the hotel investigated and documented. As a team, we were able to take hundreds of photos, many hours of video, check baseline EMF levels and temperatures and monitor them throughout the evening, investigate thoroughly all areas of interest in the hotel, hold numerous communication sessions in key areas and monitor the hallway, where shadows had been seen, for movement using a laser grid and multi-camera set up. The entire investigation was also recorded on audio and video. Individually we were able to set up video cameras and audio recorders in each of our rooms in an attempt to capture any activity that may have occurred as we slept. The Central Hotel was a lovely heritage building and we really enjoyed our investigation there. The owners were very welcoming and were happy to recount stories about possible paranormal activity they had experienced as well as stories they had heard from others. Despite conducting a full overnight investigation and sleeping in the room where a lot of the activity is supposed to be centered around, we did not experience anything that convinced us that the hotel is haunted. We did hear (and record) sounds of movement, possible footsteps, and a door squeaking but these all could have rational explanations. There were unexplained occurrences involving torches malfunctioning while we were conducting a communication session and sounds recorded in the bar however these are not necessarily paranormal events. Therefore at this moment in time, the team can’t say that the hotel is haunted….. but then again we can’t say that it is not either.       [...] Read more...
Lake Alice Hospital – Manawatu
Lake Alice Hospital – Manawatu01/05/2017Abandoned Buildings / Haunted LocationsLake Alice Hospital was once a rural psychiatric facility situated in the Manawatu region, catering to the full mental health spectrum, from troubled youth and the criminally insane to the elderly with dementia. The sprawling complex, opened in August 1950, spread out across 56 hectares of land consisting of ten two-level villas, each with eleven beds for patients, four two-level villas housing 50 beds, a maximum security wing, morgue, chapel, library, staff quarters, administration building, landscaped grounds complete with vegetable gardens, sporting areas and two swimming pools. The hospital even had its own fire station. The facility slowly shut down during the mid 1990s, with plans to assimilate patients back into the community. It was an idea that divided many in the community, as public safety concerns came into question. Full closure of the hospital was implemented in October 1999. Former patients of the hospital’s child and adolescent unit have made allegations of abuse that happened at the hospital during the 1970s, including the use of electroconvulsive therapy and paraldehyde injections as punishment. The New Zealand government issued an apology in 2001, and has so far paid out a total of $10.7 million in compensation to 183 former patients. Auckland accountant and property developer’s group Lake Hicks Ltd purchased the buildings and grounds in July 2006, though redevelopment plans came to a halt after the new owners fell into financial difficulties and could go no further with it. Lake Alice was sold on once more in December 2008 with plans to demolish most of the buildings to make way for farmland after plans for a subdivision failed. At this time, only a handful of buildings remain, abandoned and derelict, having been vandalised by trespassing urban explorers and thrill seeking teens looking for a spooky place to party. Much of the complex has gone and the remaining villas, which had asbestos roofing, are being carefully demolished one by one.   There are many stories that have circulated through the generations of the Lake Alice Hospital being actively haunted by spirits. Staff working their shifts have told of mysterious apparitions, voices, being touched by invisible hands, surgical equipment moving without human interaction and figures seen wandering the halls. [...] Read more...
St James Theatre, Wellington
St James Theatre, Wellington11/01/2014Haunted LocationsThe St James Theatre, (previously known as His Majesty’s Theatre, and the Westpac St. James Theatre from 1997–2007) (shortened to “St. James” by locals) is a stage theatre located in the heart of NZ’s capital city, Wellington. The present theatre was designed in 1912 by Australian theatre designer Henry Eli White. The theatre currently faces on to Courtenay Place, the main street of Wellington’s entertainment district, opposite the Reading Cinema complex. The building is number 83. The building is classified as a “Category I” (“places of special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value”) historic place by the New Zealand Hstoric Places Trust History The St. James has had a long history, with its success in its early years, a near demolition in the 1980s and to its return to the city’s cultural light in the late 1990s. The theatre’s land had been used as a church and volunteer hall prior to it being bought by the famous entertainer John Fuller on 23 December 1899. The St. James was made famous by Fuller, who had also built over 60 other theatres in New Zealand. He revamped the hall in 1903 and named it “His Majesty’s Theatre”, or nicknamed “Fuller’s”. During its use, the hall was host to pantomimes and a Cleopatra act, which involved the first and last import of snakes into New Zealand. However, Opera of any kind was seldom allowed by Fuller, who usually directed any opera show to Wellington’s Opera House down the road. Fuller used the old hall until November 1911, when it was eventually declared a fire hazard and demolished. After this demolition, Fuller vowed the new theatre he was going to build would be the best in New Zealand. Fuller enlisted the help of Henry Eli White, who had already designed other theatres around the country for Fuller. White, fresh from building theatres in Timaru and Auckland, set out to plan the St James. The St James theatre was the first entirely steel frame and reinforced concrete theatre in the world and plans made sure over 650 people could escape the auditorium in the event of a fire. Pillars in the auditorium were also kept at a minimum to allow perfect viewing, and seating was arranged in the arc of a circle to view the stage. The St. James was then adorned with marble pieces, carved face masks and cherubs to be placed on the ceiling and coloured glass. The plaster work was made by William Leslie Morrison, who reinforced the lime plaster with cow hair. Morrison used his grandson as a model for the plaster cherubs and modelled the full-figured seen near the stage after Bacchus and Apollo. The wooden floors of the St. James were made of rimu and jarrah, along with totara for window frames and deal for doors. After the plans had been set, construction began on the theatre in March 1912. To speed progress, White himself designed two electric cranes to lift the in excess of 500 tonnes of steel. In all, the St. James cost £32,000 to build and took 9 months to build. The theatre was officially opened 8pm on Boxing Day, 1912, by the Wellington Mayor, David McLaren. During the new theatre’s first months, it was used primarily to play silent movies. The St. James was changed nine months later to present live performances. However in 1930, after 17 years, it was again converted back to playing both movies and occasional live performances. This was after the St. James’s life long opposition, the Opera House began screening movies. After this change to the “talking films” or “flicks”, on 3 May 1930, His Majesty’s was closed and reopened as the St. James Theatre. Over the years, the St. James was slowly brought back to showing live performances. Many shows were performed at the venue; everything from Shakespeare, to minstrel acts to ballet. After Fuller died, the St. James passed through numerous owners. Decline and restoration After its enormous success over the past decades, in the 1970s, the St. James theatre fell into decline and was effectively closed down. Shows began performing at the Opera House and newer venues such as the Michael Fowler Centre, Downstage and the restored town hall. Rumours of ghosts haunting upper seat levels didn’t help the theatre’s reputation either and soon the theatre was forgotten. On 7 May 1987, the St. James played its last movie, ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive”, to a small group. The site was then declared unpractical and was abandoned. The theatre was nearly demolished in the 1980s and ’90s after the owners placed a destruction order on the plot. However, due to the efforts of an objecting group, the St. James was eventually spared and restored to its former glory. The alarm had been risen after a photographer, Grant Sheehan, was told by the theatre’s curator that the St. James was set to be demolished by the Chase Corporation. For nearly a decade, a wrecking ball sat poised above the theatre, but it was never used after the owners were finally persuaded to save the property. The company looking to build on the site, Chase, were still angered by the result, so a trade-off was made by the committee vouching for the St. James; Chase would be allowed to build a tower in Wellington exceeding current height restrictions if the committee could save the theatre. The offer was highly contested, with some companies near the new tower protesting at its aimed size. The Opera House objected to the St. James’s restoration, saying that the city would not be able to sustain two theatres. In any case, the council rejected the committee’s proposal to allow Chase to build higher. Chase retaliated and immediately asked the council for a demolition permit. However, the council slowed progress on getting the report so the Historical Places Trust could add the St. James to its list. The plan succeeded and a limited protection order was placed over the St. James. Now Chase could only demolish the site with consent from the Trust. Knowing that the protection order would only last for a limited time (in fact only until 31 March 1988), there was a frantic rush to get Chase to sell the building to the council so they could restore it. Fundraising events were commonplace during this time, most asking for donations towards the “Save the St. James fund”. Eventually, after hard negotiations the plan to sell and restore the theatre went ahead, due to the theatre’s good aspects and proximity to the city’s hot-spots. Due to the increasing amount of theatre-going public, the Opera House would not be able to support the demand, especially when the Wellington Festival of the Arts arrived. The council finally agreed to allow Chase to plan its tower in Willis Street in return for $7 million to refurbish the theatre; the other option that was not taken was for the government to raise $18 million to purchase and restore the building. However, once again bad luck fell upon the deal, when the financial crash of 1987 struck most companies in New Zealand, including Chase. The building and deal were abandoned once again and time passed with no results. Chase hadn’t secured a tenant for its new tower and the council began to doubt whether it should spend millions on a single theatre. After the finish line for the protection order over the St. James ended, Chase gave their word that the theatre would not be demolished. Eventually, Chase went into liquidation and all its properties were put up for sale. The St. James was put on the market for $7 million, double what Chase had paid for it. The council declined and over the months, the price fell dramatically as Chase saw an absence of offers. The price fell to below what even Chase had paid for the theatre. The council still declined and a massive campaign to save the theatre arose. Eventually on 22 September 1993, the council sought to buy the property and succeeded with their offer of $550,000. The council handed the St. James over to a new St. James Theatre Charitable Trust. Soon it was booked out and live performances were shown frequently. An $18.5 million restoration plan was set out in 1995. However, this was considered worth the risk, as it was estimated the theatre would bring over $3.6 million into the local economy. In 1996, the council gave a $10.7 million contribution towards the restoration plan, in addition to $2.4 million from a Wellington Community Trust grant, $3.5 million from the Lottery Board and over $1 million in donation from the public. The total of around $17.7 million allowed the St. James Trust to confirm they would start restoring the theatre. Current situation Restoration work finished in late 1997. Most of the theatre’s aspects were modified, including the addition of “The Jimmy” a café on the theatre’s ground floor. “The Jimmy” was the nickname given to the St. James Theatre by technicians, thus the name was utilised. The St. James currently holds many shows and a large portion of the New Zealand International Arts Festival. The building also hosts the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Art shows are often held on its second floor, as well as conferences. The theatre was also fitted with an orchestra pit, which is located many stories below the stage’s level. The bank operating in Australia and New Zealand, Westpac until 2007 held the naming rights to St. James, as well as other stadiums, including the Westpac Stadium, also in Wellington. A face-lift of the facade in 2007 included removing the Westpac name from the Brickwork frontage. In July 2011 Positively Wellington Venues, an integration between the Wellington Convention Centre and the St James Theatre Trust, began managing this theatre along with five other venues in the capital city. Reported haunting There have been numerous reports of several spirits or ghosts in the St. James Theatre. One of the most seen ghosts is that of Yuri, a Russian performer who supposedly fell to his death from the flies several metres above the stage. Another account, more widely accepted, says he was pushed by a female named Pasha, also a Russian performer. Yuri has been encountered playing with the lights, especially turning them all back on again once cleaners have left for the night. One projectionist says Yuri saved his life twice. While on stage, the lights went out in the auditorium. While searching for the light switch, he was pushed backwards by what he believed was Yuri. The lights turned back on and the projectionist realised he was only inches from the orchestra pit and if he had not been pushed back, would have fallen in. The second time he says Yuri saved him was when he was on stage with his infant son. He suddenly heard a beam collapse above him. The projectionist insists he was pushed back by Yuri and that his son was “carried” through the air for about 3 metres. Other than Yuri, many other ghosts have been reported in the theatre. The “Wailing Woman” is a frequent apparition who is said to wail throughout the theatre. According to accounts, she was an actress trying to make a comeback. However, she was booed off stage. She later slit her wrists, either at home or in her dressing room. She is also said to be the cause of many of the odd occurrences surrounding lead actresses in plays performed at the St. James; many actresses performing on stage have sprained their ankle, one fell from a ladder, one suddenly caught a cold and was hoarse for her opera part. Another ghost is that of Stan Andrews. He is often heard wheezing around the backstage corridors at night, checking on his ushers. Also, a boy’s choir is said to haunt the auditorium. The choir played their last song at the St. James during World War ll before sailing off on tour. Their ship was never seen again and workers at the theatre often hear their music in the stands. However, when they investigate the sound, it moves to a separate part of the seats. The reason there is so much paranormal activity at the theatre is disputed, although there have been claims that the old choral hall was built on a cemetery or burial ground. This claim however, has never been proved. The paranormal activity of the St. James was investigated in 2005 on the New Zealand television show Ghost Hunt. The three investigators captured paranormal photographs and numerous ‘orbs’ inside the building and the elevator used suddenly began to malfunction which is a common among workers moving instruments from the orchestra pit to the loading bay. The programme also featured other haunted locations around New Zealand. [...] Read more...
South Island Investigation. A stunning old abode with stories to tell.
South Island Investigation. A stunning old abode with stories to tell.05/06/2022Abandoned Buildings / Haunted Locations / Investigations / Private Residences Read more...
Spirit Attachment Research session
Spirit Attachment Research session30/04/2019Haunted Auckland Updates / Hotels and Businesses / Opinions and TheoriesCan spirits attach themselves to an item or location? Can an object become cursed, possessed or haunted? If one item can hold an energy / curse / entity (in theory), what happens if a whole room is filled with these items? Would that mean a concentration of energy? A clashing of energies? Would entities interact with each other? What happens when curses come near other curses? Would any of the objects affect any team members in any way? Physically, emotionally, psychologically? Would us being there make any difference? Would anything follow us home afterwards? As a collector / paranormal ‘’foster parent’’ of items that seemingly have a haunted reputation and tend to create unwanted fear and tension within the homes they reside, I have long held a fascination for the idea that spirits and various energies can apparently adhere themselves, or be absorbed into the very fabric of a particular item. Perhaps an item can be cursed using some dark magic ritual; be it a personal belonging of the deceased, a car, old furniture, portraits and mirrors, Ouija Boards, wedding dresses, a favourite toy (dolls are a common item) or just some random and unassuming household object that appears to hold something unexplainable within, that somehow creates some overwhelming emotion for anyone holding or near it. Cursed and haunted objects have also been blamed for causing mysterious deaths and suicide. As Paranormal researchers it is something of a duty for us to look into such things. To at least try to filter out the fairy tales from the fact. Claims of allegedly haunted items are a worldwide phenomenon and go back hundreds, even thousands of years. Stories of dolls being possessed by previous owners, walking and talking are common and seem to be a popular form for the spirits to take on as a host. Portraits and people in paintings are said to move; faces appear in mirrors and toys activate on their own; even without batteries. I have to say that in all the years I’ve been collecting and giving these unwanted dolls and things a home, I’ve yet to see anything happen for myself. I will admit I’ve heard scuffling noises and the odd tapping coming from the room, though when I’ve gone in there are no signs of movement and nothing appears to have been disturbed. The team all collectively share a common interest in the idea of haunted or cursed items, so we have set up a project of sorts to try and see first-hand if there might be anything to all the stories and hopefully we’ll get lucky in documenting something interesting in the process. What we needed were items, many many items. Items with age; a history. Items of personal significance or historical family importance. Things with memories and a past life. Valued objects and favourite belongings. Ritualist tools and ceremonial wear, medical equipment, family portraits…..deceased estate artefacts that meant something to the deceased prior. We needed a place that was filled with all these things. A room filled from floor to ceiling and from corner to corner that we could immerse ourselves and some equipment in for a night (hoping for more than one!) seems like a good plan for now and will hopefully aid our research somehow. Maybe. Hey, it’s worth a shot and there’s nothing gained by not giving it ago. After all, the field only moves forward with experimentation, observation, research and documentation. Trial and error etc. So anyway…. the team will be staying overnight in an antique store. Not saying where, as we need to keep this session as controlled as we can, but it’s not just any old antique store. The location has been chosen specifically for it having the potential to be more controlled than many of the others we have looked into. Many of the usual annoying audible and visual contaminants that hinder our recordings and footage should (hopefully) now be eliminated, giving us better potential evidence capturing opportunities. You’ll see what I mean later. We will disclose the location after the investigation. Promise! This Friday night (May 3rd) if you’re interested. Hopefully the signal will be clear on the night and we’ll catch you on a live feed!  – Mark [...] Read more...

“Pioneers in the field…. Leading the way with Paranormal Research in New Zealand” – Connor Biddle, Paranormal Encounters.

“I have much respect for the level of study Mark and his team have put into the paranormal phenomenon through the years. His work is interesting and very well researched.” – Murray Bott, U.F.O Researcher & NZ’s MUFON representative.

”Refreshing to see solid and innovative investigation work, done with passion and honesty. Haunted Auckland stand out in the crowd and dont fit any typical mould. This is a very good thing”. – Paranormal Review newsletter

 

Paranormal New Zealand is the home of Haunted Auckland, a Paranormal Investigation and Research group.

Whether you’ve been aware of Mark Wallbank’s research work since the 1980s, attended his early 90s discussion events, received the quarterly newsletters, subscribed to his popular mid-2000s online blog BizarreNZ, followed the Haunted Auckland team since 2010, or just recently discovered us; WELCOME and thanks for joining in the fun, learning, and adventures.

We are a dedicated group of paranormal researchers, all having one thing in common – a passion and drive to find out as much as humanly possible about the mysterious and unknown field that is the Paranormal, as well as documenting New Zealand’s historical buildings and landmarks in their current state.

Paranormal (păr′ə-nôr′məl) adjective.
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as beyond normal experience or scientific explanation. The term “paranormal” has existed in the English language since at least 1920. The word consists of two parts: “para” and “normal”. The definition implies that the scientific explanation of the world around us is “normal” and anything that is above, beyond, or contrary to that is “para”.

We’re always learning new things, so hope to pass that knowledge on to you all so that you might learn as we do, in this crazy but fascinating world of the paranormal.

Our primary reason for existing as a team is to experience first-hand and document any perceived paranormal activity so that we may learn to better understand the phenomena and the misconceptions surrounding it. Our aim as a research team is to study these phenomena as closely as possible to form more educated opinions via experimentation, documentation, and simply being present at the moment to record and respond accordingly to it and wherever it may lead us.

Firstly a few things you should know about Haunted Auckland. We’re a small Auckland based team of friendly, dedicated, well seasoned and enthusiastic researchers with differing levels of experience, knowledge, skills and expertise.  Our investigators are intelligent, honest, compassionate and possess critically thinking (yet wide open) minds. We’re also very good listeners.

We work closely with Property Managers, local Councils and Historical organisations to help preserve local histories, bring further awareness and raise funds by running public events.

We are also very proud to have worked alongside both the NZ Police and NZ Fire Services with our work.

Haunted Auckland has it’s roots deep and strong. Going back to 1984, with a team (Auckland Ghost Hunting Group) formed by H.A founder, Mark Wallbank; making them NZ’s longest running Paranormal field-research entity.

What we aren’t:

We aren’t Ghost Busters, Ghost Hunters, Exorcists, Mediums, Clairvoyants or Psychics and we don’t do clearings, blessings or the ridding homes of alleged demons. We don’t do prayers, rituals, or bring in any religious elements to our work. We aren’t mental health experts or sleep disorder professionals, though we do work closely with mental health professionals.

We travel that spooky road, between sceptic and believer. We are happy to sit right in amongst it all and take the research wherever it may lead us.

While we are sceptical and doubtful of certain cases and ideas, we have seen and experienced enough in our time to realise that dedication to the research is definitely a worthwhile cause. Instead of blindly believing (or disbelieving), or just accepting what we are told is true and real, we prefer to seek out the answers ourselves through first-hand, “boots on the ground” investigation. Experimentation, observation and documentation. We don’t have all the answers and we don’t consider ourselves experts.

The team prides itself in being quite a bit different from other paranormal investigation teams out there. We tend to stay away from the mainstream gadget fads.

Research time in locations is valuable and a privilege, so wasting it on pointless flashy boxes that offer no accurate data in return or are vague and open to interpretation (as well as mis-interpretation) is counter-productive and a poorly used opportunity. Thinking outside of the ‘’box’’ confinements of the popular T.V and social media- lead mainstream is something, the team sees as important if the field is to move forward and gain any serious credibility or traction within scientific or academic circles.

The team utilises a combination of old-school thinking and techniques, coupled with a modern way of thinking. Simple and stripped back yet embracing current technology to work though theories and ideas that may find their way into our research. We don’t make claims we can’t back up with evidence or reliable data.

We pride ourselves in keeping it real. No faking evidence or embellishing of facts. If nothing happened, nothing happened.

Why we don’t offer Clearings and Banishings

We decided many years ago to stop offering clearings and cleansings, as the more we learned, the more unethical (even damaging) we could see it was on a few levels.
We wanted to experience and observe these ”beings” and learn about them. Learn from them directly, if such a thing is possible.
To hopefully interact and document as much as we could of it to advance the study of the paranormal.

If the theories on spirits are correct, then clearing, or ”banishing” becomes nothing more than a punishment, torture, an eviction from a home, or even a death. Death to a person (possibly living in an alternative dimension we are yet to even understand or comprehend), that has as much right to exist as ourselves.
Until ghosts, spirits, negative energies, and demons have been sufficiently verified to actually exist, (to which they as yet haven’t, outside of belief, possible misinterpretation, and superstition) it would be unethical to assume a position of knowledge and superiority enough to think we have rights that far outweigh theirs. That we may enter their home and try to evict or eradicate them as if they were cockroaches or some other household pest.

It’s about respect, understanding and compassion; on both sides.

What we are, is “real world” researchers. Learning by doing. If we don’t know something, we say so.

We don’t charge anything for what we do. The opportunity to investigate a location and hopefully further our research is its own great reward.

We follow the Scientific Method as closely as we are able to; though it’s not always easy to create a fully controlled environment and the fact that true paranormal activity is sporadic and very rare means we don’t always have a lot to go on. Still, we do our best with what we have to work with at the time and go wherever it takes us.

We go to where the stories come from in order to see for ourselves. We talk to the people involved to get their sides to the occurrences.

Our conclusions are never really final and we find multiple return visits yield the best results; so have built up trusting relationships with quite a few locations within the historical communities in this country.

Our clean and respected reputation within historical circles is something the team prides itself on, as it has grown over the last decade and is based on well over 200 investigation sessions within that time.

For a full listing of References & testimonials, please visit our TESTIMONIALS page on this website.

Exploration – Observation – Experimentation – Documentation … Ultimately leading to Interaction, Understanding and Conclusion.

KEEPING IT REAL

Please check out our website and don’t hesitate to make contact if you have any queries or would like to know more about what we do.

We’re always happy to talk about spooks!

Through the years the team have investigated:

Auckland

Wellington

Northland

                                                                    Dargaville Central Hotel

Coromandel

Waikato

Hawkes Bay

Central North Island

  •                                                                Chateau Tongariro Hotel                                                               Jubilee Pavillion – Marton

 

Northern South Island

                                                                                 Trout Hotel

West Coast and Central South Island

  • Seaview Asylum
  • Otira Stagecoach Hotel

Canterbury

  • The Old Shipping Office (Akaroa)

Otago

  • Cardrona Hotel
  • Vulcan Hotel (St Bathans)

Dunedin

United Kingdom

  • The Drovers Inn – Scotland
  • Traquair House – Innerleithen
  • Ancient Ram Inn – Wooton-Under-Edge
  • 30 East Drive – Pontefract
  • Boleskine House – Scotland
  • Ballachulish Hotel – Glencoe
  • Chillingham Castle
  • The Golden Fleece – York
  • Bunchrew House – Scotland
  • Oswald House – Kirkcaldy
  • The Skirrid Inn – Abergavenny
  • Halston Hall – Carlisle
  • Airth Castle
  • Dalhousie Castle
  • Barcaldine Castle – Oban
  • The Witchery – Edinburgh
  • Edinburgh Vaults – Scotland
  • Touchwood House – Scotland
  • Greyfriars Kirkyard – Scotland
  • The Hellfire Club – Ireland
  • Ostrich Inn – Slough
  • Caynton Caves –  Shropshire
  • Four Crosses Inn – Staffordshire
  • Torwood House – Scotland
  • Dalhousie Castle – Scotland
  • Windhouse – Yell, Shetland
  • Swan Hotel – Wooton-on-Edge
  • Weston Hall – Staffordshire
  • Clava Cairns – Inverness, Scotland
  • The Queen’s Head Hotel – Troutbeck
  • Haunted Antiques Paranormal Research Centre – Hinkley

Australia

YHA [Katoomba]

Hartley Village [NSW]

Quarantine Station [Manly]

The Russell Hotel [Sydney]

Maitland Gaol [NSW]

Kilmore Gaol [Melbourne]

Aradale Lunatic Asylum [Melbourne]

 

Hawaii

Kaniakapupu Palace Ruins – Nuúanu Pali – Manoa – Oahu Cemetery [Oahu]

Norfolk Island

New Gaol – The Crank Mill – Bloody Bridge

Cryptozoological Field Research

YOWIE RESEARCH: Blue Mountains [ Australia] – Kanangra Ranges [Australia] – Blue Mountains Exploration: Research Area – Bullaburra [Australia]

MOEHAU RESEARCH: Coromandel Ranges [New Zealand] – Urerewa Ranges [New Zealand]

LAKE MONSTER RESEARCH: Loch Ness [Scotland]

 

… as well as many private home visits around Auckland and surrounding towns and extensive investigation and exploration internationally.

Some of the services and experience we have on offer:

Research and Investigation of buildings, historical locations and businesses

Photo & video analysis

Photographic enhancements

General paranormal consultation

Historical Research

Conferences / Public speaking

Educational talks & fundraising for historical locations

Media interviews