As we charge right into Halloween week here in the lakes area, ghost stories and tails of hauntings get bantered about. Leaving me to do some Googling to answer some questions.

A new poll from YouGov for Halloween asked 1,000 Americans about the paranormal, and found almost one in five of us think we’ve seen a ghost before. So, 19% of people say they’ve seen a ghost.  Here are a few more quick stats on things we’ve experienced but can’t explain . . .

1. Most who’ve seen a ghost say it’s happened multiple times. Just 9% say it only happened once.  Almost a third say it’s happened more than five times.
2. There’s a 50/50 chance you’ll know the ghost you encounter. Of people who’ve seen a ghost, 29% said they knew the person . . . 29% said it was a stranger . . . 28% said they’ve seen both . . . and 14% weren’t sure, or didn’t see the ghost’s face.
3. Most ghosts are nice. 40% of people said the ghosts they’ve encountered have been “good,” compared to just 7% who said “evil.”  A lot of people said they’ve met good AND evil spirits though.
4. Thinking your house is haunted is common. One in four Americans think they’ve lived somewhere haunted before.
5. Even if you’ve never seen a ghost, you may have sensed one. 37% of us say we’ve felt a “presence” before . . . 29% have heard the voice of someone who wasn’t there . . . and 28% have felt an unexplained change in temperature.

30% have smelled an unexplained odor . . . 33% have heard music, or a sound they couldn’t explain . . .

25% have seen lights or other electronics turn off on their own . . . 22% think they’ve seen an object move on its own . . .

So, of these statistics and experiences that people claim… How many of them are happening to people around here? Well, it depends who you ask I guess. Explore Minnesota has a top 8 list. Not sure why its 8, but it’s 8. The Explore Minnesota List Has some commonly know to be haunted places on it. From First Avenue Concert venue in Minneapolis to the Palmer House Hotel in Sauk Centre, the list is far from difinitive.

One location that was #3 on thier list was the William A Irvin ore ship inn Duluth’s Canal Park. Recently, a friend of mine, Chris Allen with the Duluth Paranormal Society, went on the Irvin with news reporters from WDIO TV to see if they could experience any paranormal things. Check out the story from our sisterestation WDIO (here)

So what is the most haunted place in the Brainerd Lakes Area? We’ve heard that The Last Turn Saloon has some known activity. Chase on the Lake recently hosted a paranormal event. Excluding those sites what are some other location that could possibly be a site for an investigation for the experts? Hit up our Facebook and let us know.