Recently, I was able to interview Jack and Laura, two young Paranormal Investigators from the U.K.
They’re both very kind and you can follow them on twitter here
You’re both pretty young, what made you decide that this is something you’d like to do?
We started the series when we were in high school, and you can imagine we were the ‘weird kids’, for that and some other things we thought were fun and cool. We’re both interested in and dare we say it influenced by shows such as Most Haunted and Ghost Adventures and so we thought it would be good to see if we could go out and experience what they did. Our first episodes were awful – we had no idea what we were doing! We’ve improved as it’s gone on and we’ve aged and got to grips with how things work.
Do you find that people are less inclined to take you seriously because of your age?
Definitely. We find it difficult to get any type of features to promote the series at all, especially now when we’re trying our best to get features to promote our relaunch. We’ve had so many ideas over the time we’ve been doing this, and hardly any of them have been seen through to the finish because no one really wants to help us. However, we have been given some opportunities in the form of a magazine which sold in the UK in stores, and we were encouraged to do what we do, but since that stopped we’ve been troubled with finding new locations and getting new features and a small following going. There’s been support, but we would like a little more. We hope, however, that people will be pleasantly surprised to see us doing what we do, as you usually don’t see people our age doing this type of thing. We’d like to hope it inspires people our age to do the same thing.
What equipment do you use?
Obviously we have the necessary equipment such as camera’s to film the action, but we have used other equipment, such as walkie talkies, dowsing rods, crystals and ouijia boards.
How long have you been doing this for?
We started in 2010, and our first episode saw us walking around hoping a ghost would just step out in front of us. We thought we were great! We took a break at the end of 2012, and I think that might come down to the fact people just stopped being interested in us, and we found it difficult to find new places to film. We’re now starting the new series, with the help of new production company Flump Productions – (run by Jack and Sarah, a new investigator in the series) – and we hope we can get some brilliant locations, more night investigations and a better quality series. 2014 is the year we hope it all comes together and we are taken more seriously.
Have you caught anything on camera yet?
We’ve caught quite a lot on camera! Most of the things we got were on the first series. We’ve heard audible noises, such as groans, footsteps, taps, etc. Then we’ve got stuff we haven’t been able to explain. At Newbridge Memorial Hall, we caught an image of what looked like a boy stood in the corner, bouncing a ball. It looked like you could see his hands. Then we took a picture at The Skirrid Inn, and there’s a clear shape of a man coming out of what would have once been the prisons.
What’s the creepiest place you’ve been to so far?
Newbridge Memorial Hall, or possibly The Skirrid Inn. Newbridge Memorial Hall was run down when we went, and was the perfect atmosphere for a haunted setting. It was our second investigation ever, and again we had no idea what we were doing and were way out of our depths. The Skirrid Inn we had to ourselves over night, and it has a reputation of being the most haunted pub in Wales. We’d say it certainly is!
Any advice for people who would also like to investigate paranormal phenomena?
What ever your age, just do it! It’s scary, yes, but not as scary as you would think. It’s very thrilling, exciting, fun and enjoyable. It’s all tongue in cheek a lot of the time, and you need to take everything with a pinch of salt. Always go with a group, never travel alone. After all, its not the dead you must fear, but the living.
Do you think you’ll ever write a book about your experiences as an investigator?
It’s funny you should ask that. Jack likes to write, and he has been writing a series of novels, the first of which he’d like to get published next year. Writing is very important to him. We have toyed with the idea of putting a book together – mainly when we were younger and were told it would happen – but we would definitely like to compose a book of ghost stories, or a book of tales on the things we have experienced.
// These are some getting to know you questions
Favorite book?
Jack: I would say my favourite books are Harry Potter. I’m a huge Potter fan! I think my favourite in the series is The Order of the Phoenix.
Laura: I would say Harry Potter, too.
Favorite movie?
Jack: Again, I think it would be Harry Potter!
Laura: Lord of the Rings!
Favorite video game?
Jack: Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. The new game in the series was brilliant. I’ve also just begun playing old Sega games again, which is cool.
Do you have a favorite album?
Jack: I love music. I think my favourite album right now would be Paramore, by Paramore. It changes all the time.
Laura: I think my favourite album would be Femme Fatale by Britney Spears, or possibly Ke$ha’s Animal.
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Here’s a sneak peak at what they’v got coming soon.
