Amy Bruni joins us to talk about her future in TV, how her views on the paranormal have evolved and her upcoming book, FOOD TO DIE FOR
You can pre-order the book right now at Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3L0Ke56
Thanks Amy!
JIM’S NEW CAMPFIRE BOOK!
Get your paperback or eBook of Jim’s latest Campfire book, TRUE GHOST STORIES: Jim Harold’s Campfire 6. Get all the links here: https://jimharold.com/campfirebooks/
PARABOX
ParaBox Monthly is your source for amazing one of a kind paranormal t-shirts that will lead you into an online paranormal mystery. Head on over to https://paraboxmonthly.com and use promo code Jim20 to start your paranormal journey today.
TRANSCRIPT
Jim Harold (00:00):
If you’re looking for true crime stories that cut straight to the details, I’ve got the show for you. Serial Killers. Serial Killers is a top 10 podcast worldwide with something for every true crime fan. They have hundreds of episodes covering serial killers from around the world and across the decades. There’s in-depth biographies, intimate anecdotes, and of course, expert guests. Tune into new episodes of Serial Killers each Monday free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Announcer (00:46):
This is the Paranormal Podcast with Jim Harold.
Jim Harold (00:50):
Welcome to the Paranormal Podcast. I’m Jim Harold. And that person on the screen right there needs no introduction in the paranormal world. We’re talking about Amy Bruni, you know her of course, from Kindred Spirits and numerous TV projects and all of her work. And she has a new project and it is Food to Die For: Recipes and Stories from America’s Most Legendary Haunted Places. And she’s also got an exciting new TV project coming up that she’s going to tell us about. So we’re looking forward to that. Amy, welcome to the show. It’s been a long time. Thanks for coming back, and glad to have you and talk a little bit.
Amy Bruni (01:35):
Yeah, thank you.
Jim Harold (01:36):
I know when you think of paranormal personalities, you think of TV shows, websites, all different projects. You don’t necessarily think about a cookbook, so I’m going to flash it up there again. What really gave you the impetus to do this cookbook?
Amy Bruni (01:58):
Well, my goal in life is to continue working in the paranormal in some fashion for as long as possible. So I’m always thinking of projects that are kind of new and different and thinking outside the box. And this one actually, I’ve been stewing on for a few years now. I think we actually started working on this over two years ago, and the whole idea came to me just because I saw an article from the local Fall River Historical Society that they had found Lizzie Borden’s original meatloaf recipe. And I,
Jim Harold (02:37):
(laughs) Well, she cut it with an ax, I’m sure.
Amy Bruni (02:39):
Yeah ,I bet. Right. And it was a recipe card and her handwriting and everything. And it dawned on me, I was like, wow, you could make this recipe as written and you would be tasting exactly what the Borden’s tasted. You would be living that moment with them, and your house would smell like their house. It’s different from just looking at photos or looking at historical artifacts. You would be experiencing something just like they did. So it’s kind of this little window to the past. And so then I started thinking how many other haunted places have recipes associated with them? And truth be told, if I can think of any way to combine ghosts, food, and wine, I am a happy camper. So there were a number of reasons why this book came about.
Jim Harold (03:31):
And by the way, I’m in the same category. All somebody has to do is take one look at me and realize that that guy likes food. But anyway, be that one way. I like the way that, (overlapping speech) I like the way you broke this out: eerie Hotels, horrifying homes, hair raising historical landmarks and so forth in kind of that way, what was the criteria you looked for? What made you say, this is a recipe that belongs in this book? What did that?
Amy Bruni (04:04):
It was hard. It was a nice mixture because some of the recipes are truly historic, and so some of them you might make and go, I don’t really like the neutral loaf from Eastern State Penitentiary. And so some of them are more historic than delicious. And so I wanted to make sure I had both in there. And so I went through and just kind of picked, some of the places are now operating as restaurants or hotels and inns, and so my cat’s making an appearance. Sorry.
Jim Harold:
That’s okay. Hello.
Amy Bruni: And he also has his big collar on because he has skin allergies right now. So it’s very —
Jim Harold (04:42):
Looks good. He looks good
Amy Bruni (04:44):
Anyways. And so I wanted there to be a good mix of recipes that were kind of more modern and current and actually really delicious that you would want to make. And then others that were more historic that are worth a try. And so you can really kind of experience how things were back then. And so that was really the criteria, just having a healthy mix of actual food we’d want to eat and then others that maybe the stories and the history are going to be the interesting part for you.
Jim Harold (05:15):
Now, this might kind of sound like an odd question, but did you ever, when you were preparing these, I’m assuming that you’ve prepared some of these yourself and sampled them and so forth. I don’t know if you did that with every recipe you can tell us.
Amy Bruni: Oh yes.
Jim Harold: Okay. So did you ever feel any spirits? Because I mean, I think about food and smells and that kind of thing in certain smells will take me back to my childhood, to my grandma’s home, those kind of things. When my wife makes things that my mom used to make, that takes you back. Did you feel any of that when you were doing this? Did you ever feel transported to these places or I guess I’ll dare ask you. Did any spirit show up and say, let me help you cook? Or did anything like that happen?
Amy Bruni (06:04):
It’s very interesting that you ask that. So I live in a 300 year old house, which is why I’m hiding in this one room with air conditioning right now. But I live in a 300 year old house, and I did make a few recipes that I felt like the house would maybe recognize there was the peanut soup, for example, from the Farnsworth House. It’s one of my favorite recipes in the book. And honestly, I love the Farnsworth House so much. I always try that soup there. I always tell people to try it. So it was kind of nice to get transported back to there. So I did wonder, I’m like, are the ghosts here kind of wondering what’s going on here? You’re cooking all this food that we’re familiar with, but then something really unexpected happened. One of the recipes actually is a Caesar salad recipe from the Sheboygan Asylum, and I made that recipe.
(07:01):
And the funny thing is, my mom passed away in 2018 and she had this amazing Caesar salad recipe that literally she took to the grave with her. None of us know, knew how to make it because she just did it. She knew it by heart and just made it all the time. And so I’ve cooked this or made this salad from the asylum, and it literally tastes just like my mother’s Caesar salad recipe. And so I was like, oh my gosh, I finally am reliving this moment. And it did really transport me back to memories of my mom. But I’ve made that recipe now so many times because it literally reminds me so much of her, like you were saying, tastes and smells, and those senses really trigger memories and emotions. And so food has a lot of power that way.
Jim Harold (07:51):
One here that caught my eye, the Villisca Ax murder house, the cornbread. They had cornbread. Did you see any kind of thread through, and you can tell us about the cornbread. I love cornbread. And again, did they cut it with an ax? That’s the natural question. But anyway, the point is, the point is did you see any thread in these really tragic places, or is it just kind of the odd thing about it is how kind of mundane the recipes were? I mean, what did you find?
Amy Bruni (08:29):
Yeah, some of the older recipes definitely are very few ingredients, and we had to also figure out what their measurements were because some of them, it just wasn’t what we’re used to. But the Villisca house, I really, that house obviously is unfortunately very much defined by something terrible that happened there. But I ever like to look at that house and think of everything that happened before that. We have this very loving, happy family. They had Christmases there, they had birthdays, they had their friends over for sleepovers. There was so much happiness in that house beforehand. And so that’s the memory. When I think of the Villisca house, I really, I’ve been in it many times. It’s a very warm environment. I try to kind of transport myself back to that happier time, remembering them for their lives rather than the horrible way that they died. And so yeah, if something as simple as cornbread gave them joy, then I’m all for it.
Jim Harold (09:32):
No, that makes a lot of sense. What are some of your, now, obviously you said that Caesar salad, and I’ve got to believe that’s one of your favorite, favorite recipes in here. What are some of your other favorites?
Amy Bruni (09:48):
So the Myrtles, their croissant bread pudding is one of the most deliciously evil things I’ve ever eaten in my life. I’ve made it now a few times because it’s literally bread pudding made of croissants, which is like they’re so buttery and flaky, and I was so thrilled when they gave me that recipe. I contacted them and immediately they were like, this is what we’re known for. And that I would say my family really loves when I make that, but I can’t do that too often. Also, the malasadas from the Hawaii’s Plantation Village. It’s funny because my partner, he’s Portuguese, so my daughter’s half Portuguese, and it’s a Portuguese recipe, but it’s from Hawaii. And so they were very thrilled when I made the malasadas. So it’s in their blood, I guess. But there’s a lot of great recipes. I mean, there’s a quiche from the Hotel Del Coronado from their hundredth anniversary brunch. They serve to all these celebrities. There’s so much in there. Oops, I’m cutting out. Hold on. Sorry. There’s so much in there. Just there’s a lot of good stuff in there. I can’t even list them. I think there’s like 50 or 60 recipes altogether, so.
Jim Harold (11:11):
Now, how did you research this and how did the skills you’ve built up as a paranormal researcher, investigator, everything you’ve done in the paranormal, how did you transfer that to this? Obviously you have a lot of contacts, but how did you go about this? Because to me, it’s very much historical work, and I love history; love the paranormal, love history. So how’d you do it?
Amy Bruni (11:37):
So the nice thing was a lot of these locations, I already had extensive research done on them because I had featured them in my own podcast or I investigated them at some point in the past, and I hang on to all that stuff. There were few places. There are a few places I have not even been. So those ones required a little additional work. But I was, thankfully, because of my experience, I’ve actually experienced many of these places for myself. And so that was really the first building block of this, and it was important to me. Obviously every recipe has a companion piece to it, which is ghost stories and a ton of history. And so we even did an audio book version of this, a companion for people who want to be able to cook and then maybe listen to me tell the stories at the same time. So that was really it. As you know, there’s a lot of research. We were able to cite all of our sources. So yeah, it was a lot of work.
Jim Harold (12:50):
What’s the oldest recipe you have in here, do you think?
Amy Bruni (12:53):
That’s a good question. I don’t think I know off the top of my head which one would be the oldest. There was one, I’m trying to think. There’s one out of Baltimore area that was, the recipe itself was handwritten. I don’t even know. I want to say it’s from the 1700s, but it was for a seafood stew, and that one we had to really get creative with interpreting that recipe. It was literally like catch 24 crabs, like.
Jim Harold (13:37):
Smack them up on the head!
Amy Bruni (13:39):
It was that kind of thing. And I was like, I don’t know how we’re going to do it. Took us a few tries, but I think we got some of them. We had to, even the Lizzie Borden one, the legal team was a little concerned that people would get food poisoning if they actually made that the way that it was written. So we had to make a few notations on that one just to protect people.
Jim Harold (14:01):
A few disclaimers, maybe that’s what got her in a situation she was in. That’s what it was. The meatloaf now. Yeah, meatloaf madness. So now here’s another thing, because I’ve done a little family genealogy over the years and just deciphering the handwriting because many times these people use this really flowery kind of ornate, the joke is the congreth of the United States, the way that they used to make s’s. Did you run into that weird handwriting and things that were tough to decipher?
Amy Bruni (14:39):
Not as much. A lot of these had already been archived for historical purposes, thankfully. So someone had already done that part. But I’ve run into that when I research properties and I get into the deeds and everything, sometimes I’m like, I don’t even know. They’re like, the property lines start at the northern most stone facing the pond or something. And I’m like, I don’t know what that means!
Jim Harold (15:01):
Exactly.
Amy Bruni (15:03):
And so yeah, I didn’t have to do that as much for this, thankfully, but I have encountered that in the past for sure.
Jim Harold (15:12):
I mean, as we talk, the book is not out yet. It is available for pre-order, and this may come out before the book is out at the end of July, or it may come out after. Either way, make sure that you, if it’s before pre-order your copy and if it’s after July 30th, July 30th or later, order your copy by all means. And it’s kind of early to ask this, but are you hoping for a book two? I got to believe this is something that could go on and on and on because people love the paranormal, they love food, and I’m assuming there’s a ton more recipes. You weren’t able to even fit in this book, I’m guessing.
Amy Bruni (15:51):
There’s so many. I had to pare down my list to make rooms. So yes, there are so many. There’s already talks of an international version, so I’m just, my fingers are crossed that this does really well because this is probably one of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on. I would love to do another one. So I just think people are going to, it’s just one of those things that it’s not just for us paranormal nerds, it’s for anyone who loves history. And the photography is stunning. It’s just blown away. I mean, I did obviously the research and everything, but the artistic side of it too, which I did not have much to do with at all, is just stunning.
Jim Harold (16:33):
And I assume there’s not a lot of low calorie things in here though for the most part. I mean, I’m guessing that they weren’t really watching the fat content and those kind of things, being historic. Of course, as I said, that doesn’t bother me, but I just figure they did things in a different way back then.
Amy Bruni (16:50):
They were moving around a lot more than we are.
Jim Harold:
That’s right. That’s right.
Amy Bruni:
They were able to burn those calories off. There are definitely a few. We broke down the calories on the peanut soup because we were dieting when I’ve made that now a few times. And so we figured out that one actually isn’t that bad. And there are definitely some modifications you can make. There’s times where you could probably use a low fat cheees, maybe a free half and half. But yeah, there’s modifications to be had if you need to.
Jim Harold (17:26):
I got to believe also, one of the nice things about this project was that you got to do something a little bit different. Not that you don’t love the paranormal and paranormal research investigation, doing TV shows, doing podcasts, but it’s kind of like if you have a straight diet of kobe steak or wagyu or something, something that’s tremendous, eat caviar all the time. Sometimes you like to have something different. I assume maybe the variety of doing this project was kind of fun doing something out of the box.
Amy Bruni (17:59):
Oh, absolutely. I kind of thrive on switching things up. I love having multiple projects and different things because I just like keeping it interesting and I don’t ever want the paranormal to feel like a job for me, even though I guess it is technically. But yeah, so this was definitely something really fun and interesting and different. So now it’s kind of opened up this whole new world for me. I’m like, what else can I do that’s different and interesting? And there’s a lot of things, it turns out.
Jim Harold:
The Paranormal Podcast is brought to you by Parabox, and Parabox is made for people like us who love the Paranormal. And once again, we’re joined by the Mastermind behind Parabox himself, Jim Hamilton. Jim, so glad to have you back on the show again. Could you explain to the folks the concept behind Parabox?
Jim Hamilton:
Our designs are as diverse and as intriguing as the supernatural world itself. From mysterious cryptids like Bigfoot and Chupacabra to chilling ghost stories, haunted locations, and even mind boggling topics like Area 51 and alien encounters, we’ve explored a lot over the last seven years. And guess what? We’ve only scratched the surface. Imagine wearing a shirt that not only features a cool design, but also kickstarts conversations about these mysterious topics wherever you happen to be, it’s like wearing a piece of the unknown that keeps the intrigue alive.
Jim Harold:
Well, I’m absolutely amazed by how intricate they are.
Jim Hamilton:
We love adding those sneaky details that make you do a double, triple, or even a quadruple take; think hidden symbols and subtle nods that only the sharpest eyes will catch. It’s like wearing a piece of art that spins a paranormal tale. Each shirt design contains a password that will unlock our monthly challenge. And hey, not only are our tees a visual adventure, but they’re also super soft and comfy, guaranteed to become your new favorite in no time.
Jim Harold:
And really, the T-shirts, they’re a game too.
Jim Hamilton:
Like I mentioned before, every shirt we send is basically a puzzle in disguise and at Parabox it’s not about wearing a puzzle, it’s about diving into the thrill of solving it. We throw in clues, codes, and visuals that will put your mind to the test. Plus each tee comes with a handy content card explaining the theme and pointing you towards our monthly challenge. And trust me, each month is a new adventure with some months being trickier than others. If you’re clever enough to crack the challenge, you could score yourself some Parabox merch. It’s like a monthly brain teaser with a chance to snag some cool gear.
Jim Harold:
Simply put, Jim, I think people just need to get Parabox and you’ve got a special deal for them, right?
Jim Hamilton:
Absolutely. I do, Jim. For all you Paranormal Podcast listeners, this one’s for you, use the code JIM20 at checkout, and you’ll snag a 20% discount on your order. That offer is not only good for our paranormal tees, but for our national park shirts as well. Also, be sure to follow Parabox Monthly on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for more paranormal content, as well as contests and giveaways. So head on over to paraboxmonthly.com and use promo code Jim20 to start your paranormal adventure today.
Jim Harold:
That’s right. Go to paraboxmonthly.com and take advantage of that great deal. Thanks, Jim, for taking some time out of your very busy schedule. Now, I know you’re going to get back to designing more great shirts, no purchase necessary to be entered into their monthly drawing. You can find all the details at paraboxmonthly.com. Thanks, Parabox.
And I will say this, I mean, I do want to emphasize what you were saying. There’s a lot of history there too. It’s not just the recipes, it’s much more than that. So I want to make that clear. Well, since we have you here to talk about the book, I thought I’d ask you about some of your other projects, and I know that people watching this want to see when am I going to see Amy on TV again? What’s going on with the various projects? With the various shows? So I will just leave it up to you to share what you’d like to share with folks.
Amy Bruni (22:16):
So I know everybody’s eagerly awaiting Kindred Spirits. We haven’t filmed that show, gosh, in almost, I want to say almost two years, which is really crazy.Yeah, there was this big merger with Discovery and WB and Max and all this. And so all of these paranormal shows, we kind of just are sitting there going, so what happens to us? But in the meantime, I created and produced a whole new series that we just wrapped on last week. We shot it in California. And so I’m very excited to share more about that. I can’t share too much as far as how people can see it or anything like that, but it’s great. It was me and two other women investigators, and we basically investigated for a week straight, multiple different locations, and it’s going to be real. I think people are going to love it. So I’m hoping to continue that and do more of that if it does well, but that should be out in the fall,
Jim Harold (23:21):
And that’s something I’ll ask you about. How important do you think it is to get more women involved in the paranormal investigation? There’s kind of this, I guess, for lack of a better word, this bro culture in the paranormal. You’re like, I’ve got my black T-shirt, ah. It’s like the old Tim Allen thing, EMF meter er er er. So how do you feel about that and why do you think it’s important? There are big time female purveyors of the paranormal like yourself, but there seems to be a little bit of a vacuum. Why do you think it’s important to get women involved in this field?
Amy Bruni (24:09):
As I’m sure you probably know, anytime I go through marketing demographics and things, for any project that I’m doing, 70% of the fans of the paranormal are women. When you go to a paranormal convention, it’s largely dominated by women. And so they’re the ones that are actually boots on the ground doing this. And I think it’s because there’s this kind of empathetic kind of maternal instinct that works really well with paranormal investigating, and I love seeing everyone investigate. I don’t care who you are, but I do just feel like sometimes women love to watch other women doing this and being able to kind of do it on their own and take that initiative and get out there. And so I’ve really tried to spearhead that and just, I think that’s one of the reasons why I’m always kind of thinking outside the box and trying to do new projects and just, I don’t know, I don’t feel like women are necessarily underrepresented in the field per se, but I think that there could be more in more leadership type role. That makes sense. And I think that’s important for women to see that, Hey, we can do this. We’re awesome.
Jim Harold (25:28):
Well, it’s interesting that you mention that because the thing is that, yeah, the demographics I see mapped to that almost exactly, it’s two thirds women. The other thing is that I just think, and you kind of touched on a little bit, Hey, I am all for guys. I think both sides of the ledger are very important in their own way. So this is not to diss guys, but women just seem to me to be more plugged in. They’re more empathetic, they’re more open to spirits, I believe. I just think it’s a fact of life. Like it or not. Women just are better at this stuff, in my opinion. Is that an oversimplification or do you think that’s true?
Amy Bruni (26:16):
No, I mean, I think everyone has what role fits them in their investigative style, and not to pigeonhole anybody based on their gender, but it just seems like a lot of the guys are really more into the tech side of things, and the women are more into the sitting in the dark and feeling that moment as opposed to getting behind all of these gadgets and whatnot. And so I think there’s room for everybody in it, but I think that women might just, in my experience, just have this more kind of emotional attachment to paranormal investigating sometimes. So that’s just my observation. Of course,
Jim Harold (27:09):
Now you’re very busy in addition to your TV shows, books, also you’ve, you’ve been very successful in the field of podcasting. How has that gone for you doing that as opposed to maybe the TV shows with the huge, not huge but significant structures and a lot of people and podcasting, even if you do it in coordination with the company, it is a little more kind of DIY, it’s a little more personal and so forth. How has that journey been for you with the Haunted Road?
Amy Bruni (27:45):
I love doing the podcast, and it’s nice because I can do it at home. I don’t have to travel. A lot of what I work on involves me traveling. And I have an 11-year-old daughter and she’s my only one, so I don’t want to miss a lot. So it’s hard. I have to really have justification to go on the road. And so the podcast is great because I can just do this at home and I can research it at home and write it at home, record it at home. And also, for some reason, I guess I’m pretty good at it. People weirdly like my voice, which is very bizarre. But it’s one of the reasons why I was able to do the audiobook is because I’d had so much practice now with the podcast. And so Haunted Road has been just a blessing and it’s garnered a large audience, and I feel very fortunate to have that as well in my back pocket.
Jim Harold (28:44):
And then I’m going to throw another one out there. You also do, and I don’t know if you’re actively doing this, I haven’t kept up, but you do these paranormal excursions or travel things, right? You’ve done those in the past, right?
Amy Bruni (28:55):
Yeah. I have a business called Strange Escapes, and it’s basically haunted tourism. We go on haunted vacations and yeah, I do them. I do a few a year coming up. We have Belvoir Winery in Missouri where we, that’s like the old Odd Fellows Asylum. We’re doing a cruise, a New England cruise in September. And I bring in all these really fun paranormal personalities and researchers, and we actually investigate, we do lectures and workshops. And again, it’s me finding an excuse to blend all of my favorite things, ghosts, travel, good friends who are weird, just like me, wine, food, I mean all of the things. So it’s a lot of fun.
Jim Harold (29:39):
Well, that’s excellent. So let’s say that somebody has been watching you for years and they’ve kind of had a backseat in the sense of they’ve just been watching and they say, you know what? I want to get involved. I want to start going out on investigations. I want to start taking it out into the field. What would be some of the baby steps and some of the things you could recommend? Because to me, that’s great, but there’s also a lot of ways you might go wrong. You got to keep yourself safe, you’ve got to be considerate of other people, and particularly people going into private homes, those kinds of things. So what would you say to somebody who wants to take it to the next level and get involved directly?
Amy Bruni (30:22):
Well, thankfully now there’s so many opportunities to kind of get out there and get your feet wet without getting too extreme. And this sounds crazy, it doesn’t sound crazy, but not to pimp my other book, but I do have a book called Life with the Afterlife that I wrote in 2020. And there’s a ton of information in there on how to get started. And so I encourage people to read books, not just mine, but other people’s go to events. There’s so many great paranormal conventions that happen around the country and just meet other people like you who are also interested and find out why. I always tell people before you start investigating, figure out why you want to investigate, because that will really determine what kind of investigations you want to seek out. If you’re just going in because you want to get creeped out and you want the novelty of having a paranormal experience, which is totally fine.
(31:15):
Some of these larger group investigations at a convention might be great for you. If you ultimately want to help people alive or dead, you might want to kind of get into it a little deeper and start meeting other people that you can pair up with or people who are experienced at it and see what direction they’re taking. So there’s a lot that goes into it, but I always encourage people to read and just get out there. Once you start going to conventions or even Strange Escapes events, people become fast friends because we all want to be friends with other weirdos like us right?
Jim Harold (31:51):
Now, the reasons to become involved. I think there’s a lot of people who get involved because they really have an interest in this. I want to try to figure out for themselves and see for themselves what’s going on and so forth. But I also think there’s a contingent of people who get involved because they see the TV shows, and I want to be on a TV show, and I’ve got such a great personality. If I get involved, I’m going to be at a TV show. Do you think that’s a real thing? And what would you say? Because to me, that has to be a one in a million shot to get a TV show or something like that. I don’t know that it’s always so glamorous as people think it is necessarily.
Amy Bruni: Definitely not.
Jim Harold:
But what would you say that people, because I don’t think it’s a majority, but I think there’s a contingent of people who get involved in this because they think it’s the fast lane to becoming famous. And maybe that’s not fair. You tell me if that’s not fair, but what are your thoughts?
Amy Bruni (32:49):
I do think there are some folks like that. I would caution them that I think those days are over. I don’t think, at least for now, the paranormal TV kind of tends to ebb and flow as we’ve learned over the years. There’ll be like 50 new paranormal shows and then there’ll be none, and then one will find success, and then there’ll be a bunch of copycats. And so I do see that. I always think of, there’s a couple people that I won’t name, but I met these people at an event one year, and they were very gung ho and very excited. And then I saw them at another event six months later, and they literally had matching T-shirts, and they had all the gear, and they were saying how they were making a sizzle reel, and they had literally just started doing this. So they were that type that were like, we’re going to get famous from this. And so, I mean, maybe I don’t think it’s the purest of intention when you’re getting into it. And I think that sometimes you do have to be very real with yourself as to the why you’re doing something. And if it is to get famous, the paranormal might not be the way to go.
Jim Harold (34:02):
There’s easier ways to do it.
Amy Bruni (34:05):
There are! There are.
Jim Harold (34:07):
Get a guitar or something. But as we close out, and I saved the easy question for last, of course, we’ll tell people where they can connect with everything and get the book and the podcast and everything. But first, I mean, you’ve been doing this a long time now. What do you think, what are some of the key things you’ve learned about the phenomena itself? A lot of people when they get started, they assume all ghosts are dead people. And then I’ve heard people say, well, that’s expanded. Their thinking has expanded on that as they get involved in this. Maybe they’re not all dead people. Maybe there’s some other explanations too. What kind of highlights do you think you’ve learned over the years you’ve been doing it, about the phenomena itself and maybe some things that surprised you?
Amy Bruni (34:54):
So like you mentioned, I definitely went into this just thinking, oh, all ghosts are people who have passed away and they are stuck here for whatever reason, and we have to cross ’em over. And highlights for me, the big one is I am very against this idea of trying to cross spirits over because we can barely prove they exist. And so if we can barely prove they exist, how can we speak for them and know exactly why they’re here? And I realized over time, I find it kind of dismissive and frankly, pretty egotistical of us to be like, we know what’s best for you, even though we can’t.
Jim Harold (35:35):
That’s so funny. I asked Dustin Pari that very question, and I said, it kind of bothers me. And again, I’m not a paranormal investigator. I’ve never claimed to be. I’m just a guy that asked questions, but it always bothers me because what qualifies you to cross somebody over? Where do you get that degree? And Dustin said, basically, it’s BS. I don’t think he used those initials though, but he said it was BS. I thought that was a very interesting answer. And it’s really interesting to see you say something maybe in a little bit more nuanced way, but that is very interesting.
Amy Bruni (36:11):
Well, it’s one of those things that someone can tell me they crossed someone over, but I just have to trust and believe them in the process when they say, well, this is what has to happen. It’s hard for me because sometimes certain mediums or psychics will come to me claiming to have this ability, but there’s absolutely no way that I can argue with them because there’s no proof that they can provide me other than their word. And so it’s hard to qualify that. And so that’s one of the things where I’ve kind of moved away from that very much. And then the other thing is I do think sometimes we create ghosts, us living people. I think that activity comes from us a lot more than we realize. And so that’s another thing that just I’ve really explored and experimented with in recent years is that sometimes hauntings don’t make sense as far as their origins because they’re not originating from dead people. So it’s very deep. But that’s one of my new theories, not just mine.
Jim Harold (37:18):
Well, I agree a hundred percent. You think about tulpas, thought forms also, I think it was in the mid seventies in Toronto, the Philip Experiment, where basically a group created a ghost and it interacted with them. So to me, it’s not excluding the fact that some ghosts very well may be dead people. And I do believe that people have visitations and messages from loved ones. I don’t think that this idea discounts this, but it’s kind of almost an all of the above kind of thing, right?
Amy Bruni (37:49):
Right, exactly. So I look at that now when I investigate just as much as I look for the dead people that could be causing it.
Jim Harold (37:57):
And that could explain a lot of poltergeist cases. And we see, I mean, it’s well known that a lot of times there’s adolescence, young people, a lot of energy. Sometimes in a house, there might be a lot of turmoil, that kind of tulpa thought form that we generate these things. Boy, that makes a lot of sense in those kinds of contexts sometimes, sometimes,
Amy Bruni (38:19):
Yeah. I think sometimes, and that’s the other thing too, that’s actually another theory that the whole poltergeist being centered around female tweens or whatever. And I was like, I think that was just an excuse for– having a tween now myself – I think that was just an excuse to kind of justify their behavior or something. But that’s a hard one. I’m like, so we’re saying now that girls who are in that tween girls are now causing activity because they’re that hard to live with.
Jim Harold (38:53):
Well, I was thinking of both males and females, but
Amy Bruni (38:57):
No, but that was a popular theory for a very long time.
Jim Harold (38:59):
I heard that. I’ve heard that. I never thought of it as gender specific, but yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Interesting. Well, I’m so glad we got to spend some time together. It’s been a long time, good to talk to you again and good to talk about this new book, Food to Die For: Recipes and Stories from America’s Most Legendary Haunted Places. It is going to be out July 30th, but you can pre-order it right now on Amazon. I’m looking at it. Amy, anything else you’d like to tell the folks what they should do, where they should find it, where they should go to connect with everything you do or anything specific you’d like people to plug into?
Amy Bruni (39:41):
Yeah, so obviously the book is out there. I love Amazon and everything, but also if you have local book sellers that you want to ask them to order it, please do. And also, I do have a new thing called the Paranormal Circle you can sign up for at amybruni.com. It’s like a whole online community of paranormal enthusiasts. We have 24-7 webcams at haunted locations. We have weekly chats. It’s just a way to plug in, and I know there’s a bit of a drought in paranormal content right now for people, so I think they might enjoy that.
Jim Harold (40:13):
There you have it. Amy Bruni, thank you for joining us today on the Paranormal Podcast.
Amy Bruni (40:21):
Thank you so much for having me. It’s been too long. We’ll have to do this again.
Jim Harold (40:24):
Absolutely. And thank you for tuning into the show. I appreciate it. If you like what you just heard, make sure you subscribe or follow the channel and hit the notification bell so you never miss a show. Thank you so much. We’ll talk to you next time. Have a great week everybody. Bye-Bye.
—
For more information on our podcast data policy CLICK HERE