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WE'RE BACK!

October 2025 lilbrary presentations return for another season of lively multi-media presentatioins on "ghost hunting" with from a skeptical viewpoint, including high-tech pseudoscience, skeptical inquiry, critical and thinking pitfalls like cognitive biases. Free admission and open to the pubic. Note: Portions of this presentation may not be suitable for very young audiences.

When and where?

Oct. 21, 6-8pm

Kensington Branch Library

4121 Adams Ave, San Diego, CA 92116

Oct. 28, 5:30-7:30pm

Paradise Hills Branch Library

5922 Rancho Hills Dr, San Diego, CA 92139

honoring the heroes of

skeptical inquiry

Ectoplasm: A viscous material believed by some to be the residue of ghostly visitation, ectoplasm has almost no substance in fact. Rather, it is a "residue" of an older style of paranormal huckstering and spirit photography, in which spirit mediums represented their ability as spiritual conduits by drawing ropes of cheesecloth out of their ears, mouths or nostrils. With the success of the film Ghostbusters, which featured copious amounts of viscous material in its special effects and makeup, ectoplasm became a boilerplate detail once again in films and television programs with ghostly subject matter, and adds an atmosphere of horror by drawing on our fear of the disgusting. However, even though unexplained stains and real residue turn up from time to time in reports of paranormal activity, ectoplasm is found primarily in the realm of fantasy only.

click for team bios

Geiger Counters in Paranormal Investigations

The idea of documenting environmental fluctuations at alleged haunted locations dates back to at least the 1930's, when serious paranormal investigators like Harry Price began applying the principals of scientific method to spontaneous paranormal investigations in the field. Price standardized the practice of environmental monitoring during his famous investigation of Borley Rectory, and his methodologies proved so compelling they are still used in the field today.

PPI Podcast #15: Halloween Night (2012)

We join members of Pacific Paranormal Investigations during their fifth annual fireside chat on Halloween Night. Karl Sherlock, Brian Miller, Tim Mountain, Debra Page, Larry Page and Tracy Evans discuss children and the paranormal and the nature of EVP in a spontaneous conversation.

Recorded October 31, 2012

Length: 01:08:35