DIARY OF A GHOST HUNTER

This weekend we had a very special event at Maitland Gaol, one that has been in the planning since last September, after I met Amanda Howard, true crime author, at APPI's Psychic Fair in Sydney.                                                      Photo from Daily Telegraph article I pounced on Amanda at the fair and asked if she would be interested to come to the Gaol and do an Author's talk. She agreed and so finally the night arrived last Saturday. Amanda has written 18 books, and has another another heap on the boi,l and she is totally fascinating to listen to. The backdrop of the Gaol and the history of the inmates there was a perfect place to allow our minds to enter, for just a moment, into that of the criminals Amanda has interviewed over the years during her periods of research. One thing that struck me is that this amazing lady, who has such a very interesting yet very creepy career, can still be so very down to earth and a totally charming person! I gue

I've been studying a little about Demonology over the last 5 months. Demonology is not the study of how to worship the devil (yes, some people do believe it is) It is the study of the history of demons and demonic belief in history and for me, current beliefs about demons and their effect within the paranormal and specifically in Australia. Considering I was bought up in a very Catholic environment I really only heard about demons and the devil in church - my parents never mentioned such topics. It was not talked about at home and my first real understandings came from religious teaching at school and "Rosemary's Baby", a book written in 1967 and a best seller about the time just before I hit my teens. Religion at school back then could leave scars on impressionable young children - being taught by nuns in full neck to knee black habits was daunting. They looked and behaved so differently to anyone else I was accustomed to. Back then they could still w