 | Write-up from the Smart Aleck Staff: Adam's night job is working as a historian, tour guide and ghost investigator for Chicago Unbelievable (check out the podcasts!). He says that he isn't quite sure he BELIEVES in ghosts, but looking for them is a lot of fun, and you tend to find a lot of fascinating things besides ghosts on a good investigation (like this). Every member of the Smart Aleck Staff has been along on the investigations, though only one of us claims to have seen a ghost (and we we're pretty sure it was just swamp gas!) He is always available to discuss local ghostlore and his own adventures at Chicago-area schools, libraries, etc. Check his "tours/visits" page or send us an email for booking. He's also currently running bus tours for Chicago Hauntings - ask for him while making reservations, and they'll try to hook you up! |
A nonfiction adult book about his adventures in the field, YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD GIVES ME THE CREEPS: TRUE TALES OF AN ACCIDENTAL GHOST HUNTER was published by Llewellyn Press in Fall, 2009. It aspired to be the funniest, most down-to-earth book ever written on the subject of ghost hunting and became a hit with believers and skeptics alike. It also inspired this hilarious, wildly inaccurate write-up in that tabloid The Sun, which we here on the staff tease Adam about mercilessly. He's nowhere near as kooky as they describe him (thirty suck-up points, please!) He's declined numerous invitations to appear on ghost hunting TV shows simply because he was afraid they'd make him look like he was nuts.
Adam has worked for most of the ghost tour companies in the city, and now gives tours privately. Follow along with his adventures and research by following the Chicago Unbelievable Blog! Check out the podcasts!
And, no, he does not use a proton pack. The 4.0 versions of proton-stream shooters fit on a keychain, and we've been able to cross the streams since model 2.3 came out in 1994. Get with the times, folks.
FREQUENTLY ASKED GHOSTS QUESTIONS:
Have you ever seen a ghost?
I've seen and heard enough weird stuff to keep me wondering, but I know that just because I can't explain things I see doesn't mean that they're necessarily dead people.
Can you verify that a picture I took is a ghost?
Probably not. The furthest I ever go is just saying "well, I can't explain it." If I wasn't present when the picture was taken, there's no way for me to know if you faked it (which isn't hard to do). For the record, the best "ghost picture" I've ever seen was taken on one of my tours: the Shadow in the ballroom. I've analyzed the heck out of that one with no good explanation. I like to think it's a picture of me with the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt, but even with this one, I have to take the photographer's word for it that it isn't a hoax.
Which ghost hunting TV shows do you recommend?
None, really. I've worked with a lot of those guys and have usually been impressed by them in person, but once the show goes to editing, it's usually out of their hands. They might get all excited about something on an investigation, then figure out that it was really just a raccoon. The show will only show the part where they get all excited, and then they have to keep vouching for it or risk ticking off the network. I think of those shows as kind of like pro wrestling: pro wrestlers are athletes. They are pounding the crap out of each other and risking their necks doing it. But their job in the ring is to put on a show.
Don't you ever get scared?
Now and then - your imagination can really run away with you on a ghost hunt. Also, poking around basements in the dark isn't the safest thing in the world to do.
How do people become ghosts?
Hey, man, if I understood how the afterlife worked, I'd be out running a tent revival! There are some nifty theories going around about how a jolt of energy can "create" the things we perceive as ghosts, and I suspect there may be something to it, but it's still closer to science fiction than science at this point. Even when we do see shadows that shouldn't be there, hear a little girl giggling in an empty hall, or even see a woman in white on top of the stairs, I don't think it's responsible to assume we understand the nature of these things. We call them ghosts on a ghost hunt, but would we just call them pixies if it was a pixie hunt? I've met people who think ghosts are really UFOs, and even that theory isn't much more out-there than saying these things are dead people up and floating around, when you think about it.
What kind of gear do you use?
I'm usually in charge of audio gear, though I also take pictures. I'm kind of on the record as the anti-gear ghost guy, though. None of those gadgets people use will really tell you for sure that a ghost is in the room. At most, they can just give you a clue of where to look. I prefer to go stomping around locations looking for cool stuff rather than staring at gear.
Has anyone ever seen a ghost on one of your ghost tours?
Weird things have DEFINITELY happened on my tours.
Adam's book on Chicago ghostlore:
