Dr. Mark Farley's Personal Blog

So, I allow team members to carry their cell phones during investigations. There are just too many advantages to having them.

I also think investigating cemeteries is extremely beneficial for new investigators. Until you get established, investigations are hard to come by, and if you rent out haunted locations, it can be rather expensive. Cemeteries are free, open year-round, and a great opportunity for investigators to gain experience.

There is also another side of an investigation that cannot be solved with the Scientific Method: the research side. The site's history and the reasons why it’s haunted. The side of the investigation that answers the who, what, when, and why questions of a haunting. Waving equipment around may help answer some of these questions (in the form of responses), but never entirely.

Most members of the community base their reasoning on the apparition’s color. Because black is the color most associated with evil, most investigators think shadow figures are evil. My answer tends to be unpopular because I don’t subscribe to the widely held belief that the color of the apparition determines its nature.

Now most major cities have a "Hitchhiker Annie" story, and St. Louis is no different. Now, the basic premise of every Hitchhiker Annie story goes something like this. It's usually a dark, rainy, or snowy evening, and a motorist is traveling down a desolate road next to a cemetery. The motorist sees a young woman walking along the side of the road and stops to offer her a ride.