R-E-S-P-E-C-T

September is here and with it comes the first whiffs of the “spooky season”. A time relished by children of all ages. The time of crisp-air, falling-leaves, corn-mazes, ghost-stories, and for those that seek to take it up a notch, time for a ghost-hunt.

Time honored traditions, however as with many things in our current times, commercialization has crept in. With the rise of “reality” driven television, the rise of paranormal based media was inevitable. Ghost “hunting” television programs with a variety of catchy titles, but with virtually identical formats (what was that?) are legion. These presentations while boldly blazing trails over threadbare pathways have brought a spotlight to previously unrenowned locations.

One such area location is the Waverly Hills sanatorium. Long known to Louisville, Kentucky locals as a place of spectral incidents, Waverly has gained worldwide recognition as a paranormal hotspot, and a “bucket-list” destination for would be ghost-chasers of any caliber. Understandably so if only a portion of the alleged activity is true. However, research and investigation are one thing, exploitation is another.

Ghost tours are by no means a new concept, but to establish a cottage industry predicted on the unending torment of Earthbound spirits would appear to be shameless exploitation innocences.

How many souls spent their last incarnated days, languishing away, forcibly separated from their their families, their homes, and everything they had ever known. Now, their restless spirits relegated, for all intents and purposes, to the cast of a sideshow attraction. Doomed to a eternal performance for the (not so) cheap thrills of a soulless audience.

Is it moral to derive enjoyment from the suffering of others, be they living or not?

To each his own; this is the U.S.A., and all hail capitalism, but how can patronage of such a place not equate to endorsement of ethereal-slavery?

Is this stance a bit hyperbolic, perhaps. Nonetheless, In the end, lets us not forget the premise of our ghostly interests, and lose sight of just what that means.