Local author pens book on ghost hunting

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October 30, 2009

By CHRIS HARRIS, Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Fri Oct 30, 2009, 08:35 PM EDT

Somerset — You can’t spell “book” without the word “boo.” It’s appropriate, then, that Pulaski County has churned out so much literature on the controversial art of ghost hunting. Commonwealth Journal readers may remember features on a work by local supernatural enthusiast Bill Scott called “There’s the Book ... Volume 1 in the Ghost Hunter Series,” back in 2003 and 2004.

Now the area can claim yet another book devoted to the topic of searching out the inscrutable, this one penned by Zach Bales — local filmmaker, spirit-world investigator, and now author.

“The Amateur’s Guide to Ghost Hunting” will be released within the next couple of weeks most likely, said Bales, who self-published the book. Unlike many collections of favorite Kentucky ghost stories you find on bookshelves, particularly around this spooky time of year, Bales says his book is more for folks who want to try a little ghostbusting themselves.

“The book isn't just a collection of anecdotes,” said Bales. “It offers a great deal of information about the process of ghost hunting. Not only have I debunked many common ghost stories, I've debunked many of the common ghost hunting tools.”

On Halloween 2007, the Commonwealth Journal spoke to Bales about a group he operated called PICK — Paranormal Investigators of Central Kentucky. In that conversation, Bales said that he started out as a skeptic, but ended up running into “unexplainable things that left us kind of shaken up and wanting more and more and more.”

Nevertheless, Bales retains his skeptical mindset, so don’t get any ideas about the book running off on any flight of frightful fancy. The book will tell of Bales’ adventures chasing down those who supposedly didn’t quite make it to the Great Beyond.

“For the last four years, I've tried to debunk many of Kentucky’s haunting ghost stories,” said Bales. He said he traveled to Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, one of the country’s most infamous “haunted” locations, as well as local haunts Soule's Chapel and the Mill Springs Battlefield.

“I've tried to discredit the hair-raising legends of Clara Morrow, Short Creek, and the Keno Monster,” said Bales, invoking the favorites subjects of local storytellers. “It has been a wild ride!”

So yes, the book provides you with the tools to tell whether or not your haunting is for real — most likely not, in Bales’ view. Still, he even he admits there’s a lot out there that we can’t explain.

“Originally, I thought that ghost hunting would be a way to find a lot of answers — I would be able to put to rest many of Kentucky's ghost stories,” said Bales. “Unfortunately, I didn't find answers. I just found more questions!”

Bales said he’s very impressed with how the book has turned out, and credited illustrator Bryon Vaught and my editor Jon Large for its completion. “The book would not have been possible without them.”

Self-publishing is something new for the multi-talented Bales, but “it's a process we've been looking into for a long time,” he said, and hopes to do more, with plans for a mystery novel in the works.

“We were able to do the vast majority of the work on our own computers,” he said. “In 2010, we are considering expanding our film production company, Iridescent Pictures, into a full-fledged media production company, offering a variety of unique services like videography, photography, graphic design, and manuscript formatting. We've learned a lot with ‘The Amateur's Guide to Ghost Hunting,’ and we hope to build upon this success in the future.”

Anyone interested in pre-ordering a copy of the book can do so at www.iridescentpictures.com.

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