Haunt Jaunts Best Of 2010 Awards

Something I really enjoyed doing last year that I had to bring back this year was the Haunt Jaunts Best Of Awards. If you are listed below and receive this award, don’t panic! It’s not like so many of the awards that circulate amongst blogs in which you have to answer certain questions or say X amount of things about yourself, then name X amount of people in return, and then let them all know you’ve given them an award.

This award is just for you. Display it if you want, ignore it, or shout to the world about it. I leave that decision up to you.

The Haunt Jaunts Best of Award is just my way of letting you know I noticed something special about you this past year. Maybe you inspired me, motivated me, supported me, or WOWed me. Maybe you did all of that and then some. (Many times it was then some. You’ll notice many received more than one award.)

Basically, I’m nuts about you and am glad when I adjusted my Internet’s sails the wind blew my browser your way. Hugs and kisses and wishes for a prosperous New Year to you!

BEST PARANORMAL TV SHOW: Ghost Adventures and Destination Truth

Again, it was really hard for me to call this one. I enjoy both shows, so…a tie it is!

READER’S CHOICE FOR BEST PARANORMAL TV SHOW: Ghost Adventures

I put this one out there on Twitter and FB and this show was the one HJ’s followers unanimously declared the winner. I think Jen Blaney summed up why so many picked GA best when she explained their coverage of Waverly and the kids who had suffered there was exceptionally well done. Fans just relate to Zak, Nick and Aaron’s antics because at the end of the day they have fun and also have big hearts.

BEST EXOTIC HAUNTED PLACES TV SHOW: Destination Truth

Pompeii was my favorite!

READER’S CHOICE FOR BEST EXOTIC HAUNTED PLACES TV SHOW: Destination Truth

This one was no contest. Everyone declared DT the winner when I posed this question.

BEST PARANORMAL PERSONALITIES: Brooke, Chris, and Brian from SCARED!

They were not only open to me interviewing them, but remained in touch all year. I’ve watched them do that with everyone. And they have a TON of friends and followers. It’s just how they roll. They don’t know strangers, they only make friends!

CITY THAT BEST PROMOTED ITS PARANORMAL TOURISM: Cape May, NJ

One city stood out this year to me over and over and over and it was this one. However, I also have to award three Honorable Mentions, because they also stood out as excellent promoters of the paranormal history in their cities:

1. Selma, AL
2. Savannah, GA
3. Mansfield, OH

BEST HAUNTED HOT SPOT: Vulture Mine

Another blogger first brought this haunted hot spot to my attention in 2009. In 2010 it was kind of like Cape May –everywhere I turned I seemed to hear even more about it. But the bonus this year were the film crews that went on paranormal investigations there. Like Believers and Ghost Adventures. So I not only got to hear about it, but watch investigations unfold. I expect due to the coverage this place is receiving it’s going to explode even more as not ony one of Arizona’s most haunted hot spots, but also the nation’s.

BEST PLACE TO READ ABOUT HAUNTED PLACES: Ghost Stories and Haunted Places and Ghost Eyes

Another tie because I enjoy both of these blogs equally. Jessica’s writing on GSHP is unparalled in the blogging community. She writes with a poetic flow and a tender heart as she relates ghost stories about both famous and not so famous haunted places. Steve from GE delves more into the history behind the haunted places he features, as well as tells of the activity reported. Both never fail to get my travel bug biting with their posts, that’s for sure!

BEST HAUNTED PLACES HOT SPOT ON FACEBOOK: Hauntings / Haunted Places

With over 50,000 members, this is one place you are sure to find info or answers to any paranormal questions you may have. Anyone’s free to post, and the page’s friends are an active, helpful group.

However, I also have to give an Honorable Mention to another very active Facebook group who also fits this category: The Unexplained and Paranormal Phenomena group.  They’re a bit smaller than Hauntings / Haunted Places, but growing fast. Very welcoming group that just loves talking paranormal anything!

BEST PET FRIENDLY HAUNT JAUNT: Bulldog Tours in Charleston, SC

This was one of the places I included in 16 Awesome Pet Friendly Haunt Jauntsand it gets my vote for best of 2010 because of one of the reps from Bulldog Tours. Unfortunately her name is stowed in my crashed computer, but she was so kind and helpful to me as I was researching the pet friendly post. I remembered it all year. Charleston is one of my favorite haunted places as it is, but that they offer a walking tour Murph is welcome on too? I can’t think of anything much better than going for a walk with my dog while hearing ghost stories. I’ll definitely do it next time we go back, all because of how very kind that woman was.

BEST GHOST TOUR NAME: ghoST Augustine

At first glance it may seem like a simple and unremarkable name, but it’s the way they spelled it that earns it a Best Of award.

BEST PLACE TO CONDUCT GHOST RESEARCH: USS Salem, The Haunted Cottage, and Old South Pittsburgh Hospital

This year I was delighted to see a new trend developing: more and more people are trying to make haunted places open and available to ongoing paranormal investigations. Don’t misunderstand. There are a ton of places open to teams coming to investigate. However, these three are trying to not only collect data, but draw correlations from it in an effort to make some sense of it. I love this approach! It makes the most sense to me. How can you ever hope to really find any answers by investigating here or there without any real data analysis? (Beyond just seeing what kind of evidence was collected on a certain night.) That’s why it ended in a three-way tie. They’re all contributing something very valuable to the paranormal community.

BEST PARANORMAL COMIC: Entities-R-Us and TaraNormal

I couldn’t decide between them, so, guess what? Yep, another category with a tie! Except that they’re both webcomics about the paranormal, they’re very different from each other. TaraNormal feels a little more “hardcore” to me. That’s not the exact word I’m looking for, but it’s more in your face than Entities-R-Us and its more subtle and subdued humor. But both are amazing creations brought to life by some super talented people.

BEST PLACE FOR PARANORMAL LAUGHS:  Ask Doc Paranormal and Entities-R-Us

I couldn’t make a call on this one because both Peter and Terri’s witty cleverness never fails to make me LOL, so I called it even and declared it a tie.

BEST PARANORMAL STORIES AGGREGATOR: Area51.org

If you want to keep track of the best of the best paranormal blog stories, you want to bookmark Area51.org. They track it all –UFOs, ghosts, cryptids– via an aggregate of blogs that write about such things. You name it, it’s likely there. Crytpmundo, Phantoms & Monsters, UFO Casebook, even the latest paranormal submissions on Flickr and YouTube! It’s all presented in very user-friendly style too. It’s a most excellent resource!

BEST PARANORMAL MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Aaron Sagers

Aaron has dubbed himself a paranormal pop culture expert. He is. He is the man with connections to and interviews with today’s biggest paranormal media celebrities (Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, etc.). In addition to writing a nationally syndicated pop culture column he’s also the editor for ParanormalPopCulture.com. He’s the man I rely on to know what’s what in today’s paranormal pop culture.

BEST PLACE TO FIND “GHOSTS CAUGHT ON [FILL IN THE BLANK]” STORIES: GhostTheory

Javier continues to amaze me with the quality of his blog’s content. He covers ghost news stories from all over the world. If someone has claimed to catch a ghost photo on a ghost tour or a business reports a ghost caught on a security cam, Javier’s all over it. But what I really like is he follows up on the stories, as most end up being debunked with a logical explanation. It’s a completely unique style Javier has trademarked as his own.

BEST PARANORMAL VARIETY BLOG: The Occult Section

TOS’s style kind of reminds me of GhostTheory’s. They feature a lot of stories culled from a variety of news sources. Basically, if they come across a story about Bigfoot, Nessie, UFOs or a ghost sighting, they share it. And I mean in full. You get to read a story within a story. It’s a nice mix of anything paranormal. Plus, they couple it with hysterical titles which makes for a fun read.

BEST HAUNTED BLOG PHOTOS: Above the Norm and Ghost Stories and Haunted Places

In the past couple of years I’ve fallen in love with photography. Not only trying to take stunning images, but appreciating stunning images caught by others. I’ve really come to love a good picture and the story it has to tell. The blogs that repeatedly share pictures that are stories unto themselves are these two. The images these women share always speak to my soul.

BEST PARANORMAL BLOG PUBLISHER: Edgar Allen Poe Community College

EAPCC publishes Ask Doc Paranormal. By far this is the most innovative blog creation of any I follow. Here’s part of the description telling what EAPCC is about:

We’re an online paranormal trade school physically located in the charming desert town of Pahrump, Nevada. Nestled between sunny Death Valley and the historic Nevada Proving Grounds, site of 900 nuclear explosions, and at the epicenter of Nye County’s thriving brothel industry, EAPCC offers an unparalleled range of educational and recreational opportunities.

It’s all in fun, and what fun Peter makes it. So clever!

BEST BLOG COMMENTER: Autumnforest

I’m not talking about leaving comments on my blog (although she has been known to do that, too), but of all the bloggers I’m friends with, she is the one who comments the most. It never fails. If I go to a blog and think I’ll be among the first to comment, I’m always wrong. She’s been there! She’s got an uncanny ability to comment as blogs unfold.

Although, I do have to give out some Honorable Mentions to people who comment on my blog and FB posts, as well as my Tweets. Jen Blaney, Syd Southworth, Marilyn Biersdorff, and tjcmen all rule at letting me know my words don’t go unread!

MOST PROLIFIC PARANORMAL BLOGGER: Autumnforest of Ghost Hunting Theories

Not only does she comment on other people’s blogs, but this woman churns out blog after blog, day after day. I once asked how fast she typed. She said 100+ words a minute. I think her fingers fly at Millennium Falcon warp speed! And on top of many, many, many posts, they’re all interesting. That’s supernatural unto itself!

BEST DIY HAUNTER BLOG: Frog on the Pumpkin

Thanks to Chris I get to live vicariously through her the life of a yard haunter. There are a ton of blogs out there like hers. Chris follows and recommends the best of the best. She’s introduced me to many neat blogs about the same thing, but what makes hers Best Of worthy is her.

BEST BLOG TITLES: Ghost Stories

Lately Andrea hasn’t been as active posting as she usually is. She’s busy doing all kinds of different types of writing these days. However, one thing I love about her blog is her titles. At their essence they’re simple, such as Haunted Theaters in London or White Lady Road. Yet, it’s that simplicity and straightforwardness that’s also appealing. She doesn’t have to mask her great writing behind kitschy titles aimed at grabbing a reader’s attention via sensationalistic tactics. It’s refreshing.

HAUNT JAUNTS BEST ADVOCATES: Dinell Holmes, Chad Hawks, Patty Paschal Ceran, Linda Moffitt, and Wojciech Usarzewicz (aka Nathan)

I would not have the followers I have today on either Twitter or Facebook without the above people. Without me even asking, they took the initiative to spread the word to their friends and followers to follow me. Or they’ve helped introduce me to new people or ideas. Time and again they’ve shown me the meaning of friendship in action. I am deeply humbled and truly grateful to know these amazing people and have them rooting for me in my corner.

BEST HAUNT JAUNT OF THE YEAR: Quebec City

As I wrote about in my year-end recap of what goals I reached and which I didn’t, I wrote about how behind I am on blogging about haunted places I’ve been in 2010. Quebec City was the disembarkation port of our 10 day Canada/New England cruise. We got to spend almost two whole days wandering this majestic old city. It was FABULOUS! I still have yet to write about it. I’ve been sort of waiting…for what I don’t know, but it’s like I want to keep savoring the memory for fear when I do write about it my words won’t do it justice. But by far this is the place that made my heart happiest on its haunted travels this year!

POSTHUMOUS BEST OF AWARD FOR MOST INNOVATIVE PARANORMAL BLOG: Weekly Spectre

Unfortunately Dinell closed WS’s doors shortly after Halloween. What an innovative blog she had going there for a while. She kept diaries of any activity from her haunted doll collection, had a webcam set up at night to capture activity she suspected going on in her house during the night, but by day it was on her hamsters and ferrets! Weekly Spectre will be missed, but not forgotten. R.I.P.