Are You Afraid of the Dark? Spirits in Attics and Basements

Are there really more spirits or ghosts found in attics and basements? Or are the movies and our minds just playing on our natural fears?

This is a twofold answer. Partly yes, in my experience as a location medium, there does seem to be more spirit activity in places where there is less activity of the living like in an attic, abandoned home, or basement. But part of our human perception of this is also biased because of a natural fear of the dark.

Humans rely on their vision for knowing their safety and what lies in the darkness is unknown. In a survey of 2000 Americans, almost 50% of adults said they are afraid of the dark. Of those who said they are afraid of the dark, 14.5% said they were afraid of the unknown and 33% said they were afraid of the dark because of what could be hiding there.

As visual creatures, our vision is our most important of the five senses. Our eyes are developed to track prey and to be aware of subtle movement around us which could indicate danger. Historically, what our ancestors could not see behind the bushes or in a dark shadowy area, could potentially contain a dangerous animal that could eat us! Think of our ancestors living in the dark of night, maybe a lion or bear is out there? Humans rely on seeing the bear’s presence, to KNOW what it is. We wait until we see movement, an outline, or the whole thing for a positive ID. We rely on our vision to KNOW and then make an informed choice for our safety. In most scenarios, the input from our other senses (hearing, smell, touch, and taste) are not enough to inform our cognitive brain to know what actually IS present. This is why when we hear a noise in the house, we get up and go investigate to SEE what caused the noise, because typically the noise itself is not enough for our minds to KNOW what caused it. This is in contrast to other animals, like a dog, which has a stronger sense of smell and can identify a bear by its scent alone and does not need to visually see the bear to KNOW it is there.

So, it is partly our natural fears of dark places that trigger our fears of what could be lurking in the unknown. And what else do many people not know is real? Ghosts, spirits and the paranormal! So, our fear mind places these other fear unknowns into the situation. In addition, those who have more anxiety and phobias about the dark are generally more prone to being afraid of spirits.

But in my experience, spirits do tend to be more active and present in basements, unused rooms, abandoned houses, and attics. I have found this more to be because they are actually trying to avoid the living!

The energy of abandoned or enclosed places is less disturbed and quieter. There may also be an energetic staleness or heaviness in less used or abandoned areas that can feel dense to the living but may feel better to spirit. Less commonly, I do experience spirits in heavily trafficked areas, and these are usually the places where people report more paranormal sightings. But relying on sighting reports can lead an investigator astray as reports can be skewed. More people in an area means more encounters in that location compared to a room or area where no one goes which will have less or no reports of sightings. In these cases, people often report sounds coming from an area rather than firsthand sightings. AKA hearing sounds in the attic but rarely will they have a sighting in the attic because people don’t spend a lot of time there.

This is one of the reasons why I will walk through and open up to an entire location to read it. I may be made aware of an area that isn’t typically reported as having activity, but a spirit could still be present. A lot of times as an investigator, there are reports of activity at night when the lights are out, and people are gone from the room. This is when security cameras pick up on activity, or people hear things. But I don’t believe it is because the spirits are attracted to darkness or to scaring people (although some entities do do this). They are really just trying to avoid interacting with people and waiting until the chaotic energy of the living quiets down to be more active!

So, the next time you fear going into a basement or attic just remember your apprehension may be your ancestral natural fear trying to convince you that something unknown, like a bear or spirit is there, or maybe it is only a courteous spirit actually trying to avoid YOU!

Check out my Walkthrough and Investigation Reveal Videos Page for a listing of my mediumship sessions at historic locations!