The Paranormal Genre

My intention is to create a psychological horror movie based around the theme of the paranormal; dark experiences that cannot be justified through scientific explanation and are beyond rational thought. I am interested in making a film of this genre as I enjoy already existing paranormal films myself such as Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project. I'm looking to do a similar trailer.

Paranormal Definition- ‘Denoting events or phenomena such as telekinesis or clairvoyance that are beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding

Most reports of ghosts appear as misty visions that seem to repeat themselves in a particular motion. A spirit is typically found in the many legends of haunted places.

Another form of ghost is known as a crisis apparition. Such an entity is said to show itself to certain people, like a family member or close friend for the express purpose of warning.

Poltergeist phenomena, although represented as violent events in films and novels such as The Entity or Poltergeist, are actually quite harmless.

One of the most common beliefs about poltergeist phenomena is that they are the psychic projections which is called Psychokinesis. Psychokinesis is the ability to move objects with your mind.

Haunted locations can be a home, a hotel, an apartment complex, a theatre or even a shopping mall. Cemeteries and battlefields. They are conventional places to find spirits residing about. It is commonly believed that if you build a home over such a location, such as an old graveyard or place where lives have been abused or lost, you may unwillingly be inviting such entities into that home.

Demons are another common form of paranormal belief. A demon is a creature conjured up from hell, or other dark underworld and made to do evil on earth, specifically to the living. Such demons have also been portrayed in books and films as the most nasty of creatures, taking on various forms and even possessing the living for their evil purposes.

People who investigate the paranormal are 'skeptics'. They will be professionally, trained, serious investigators who search for the answers to the age-old questions that inspire them. A specific example is Dr.Ciarán O'Keeffe a English psychologist specialising in parapsychology and forensic psychology who investigated "paranormal activity" on the show "Most Haunted" which I frequently watch. Skeptics  will study the possible cause and effect of an alleged haunting or presence of an apparition. They will use scientific equipment to rule out the possibility of ghostly events with a scientific theories.

Another researcher is the folklorist.A  folklorist collects information that revolves around the ghost story or a haunted legend about a particular location. Said folklorist will do this to discover possible causes to an event, such as a haunting or to record the legend in question for the sake of history. Often, folklorists team up with psychic researchers in order to differentiate between that of a simple folktale and factual history.

Usually, a team of ghost hunters use a variety of equipment such as electromagnetic frequency detectors, temperature reading gauges, infrared goggles and high-powered listening devices, all for the express purpose of finding a ghost.


I have looked into some websites such as http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/, http://www.my-paranormal-experience.com/ and http://www.ukpsychics.com/trueexp.html where people have shared their own questionably ‘real’ experiences with the paranormal, from abductions to haunted homes which have given me a better idea of how to approach my fictional story.

Some of the most established paranormal horror movies include ‘Paranormal Activity’, ‘Paranormal Entity’, ‘REC’, ‘Cloverfield’, ‘The Host’ and ‘Poltergeist’. A majority of which are shot through ‘handheld camera’, giving the impression that the footage shown are home videos and in turn make the stories more realistic for the audience. I want to use handheld camera for my horror film as the realism makes the movie more frightening and is more effective for directing on a low- budget.