Ghostly Gumshoe Detectives & How They Solve Haunted Cases

Ghost hunting and detective work have a lot in common. To me, I view being a gumshoe as a way to investigate: It’s an approach and way of thinking about your ghost hunt. Find out how it works after the jump.

What’s A Gumshoe To Begin With?

A gumshoe is an old school name for a detective. I like to say “ghostly gumshoe” when it comes to ghost hunting. To be specific, a ghostly gumshoe is:

• A shoes-on-the-ground investigator, who’s in the field … a lot
• Someone who works cases patiently and quietly
• A gumshoe follows all the leads and doesn’t stop digging to find the truth behind a haunting
• They don’t want to be a “flashy social media star:” They simply solve a case for themselves or others.

If I compare a ghostly gumshoe to a cozy ghost hunter (like me), the biggest difference is that gumshoes do it alone. They’re solo investigators. It’s like comparing Sherlock Holmes (gumshoe) to The Scooby Gang (cozy ghost hunting) And you may never know what case a gumshoe is working until they publish the final report.

Low Tech, High-Effort Investigation

In a way, a ghostly gumshoe doesn’t rely on modern tools like gadgets or Internet archives to track down suspected ghosts and hauntings. They kick it old school, which means …

• Knocking on witness doors
• Talking to witnesses, previous owners, AND the neighbors
• Spending a lot of time at the haunted place to learn how the haunting manifests
• Digging through archives and records at a local library or historic society

To the modern ghost hunter, that seems insane. Why not just use TikTok and Reddit to get those spooky stories and rent the house?! Rhetorical question there.

A gumshoe needs that deep understanding of eyewitness accounts and relationships for the next bit.

Using Your Brain, Not Just Your Tools

For a gumshoe, it’s about:

1. Noticing small details others miss
2. Remembering inconsistencies in stories, witness reports, and whatever documentation exists
3. Connecting all the clues to find the best evidence
4. Testing theories instead of jumping to conclusions

Tools help with the testing, gathering clues, and finding evidence. But it’s observation and reasoning that helps identify a spirit and its motive to haunt a place.

Legwork And “Shoe Leather”

As a gumshoe, you’ll pound the pavement and do your sleuthing in person, getting your hands into the guts of the investigation. You can expect to …

• Follow-up on every lead, even the mundane ones
• Check witness testimony and their backgrounds
• Re-interview witnesses to see any new info appears
• Cross-reference names, events, and ghostly activity for innaccuracies

In a nutshell, you’ll “wear out your shoes” chasing clues for the haunted case.

Grounded, Reality First Mindset

A gumshoe is practical, if nothing else. That means …

• They are skeptical, and never take a claim at face value
• They verify everything: If someone says it, you have to double-check it
• They document everything in notes, logs, and timelines. Memories are fallible.

Once they have a grip on clues and evidence, then they let their intuition out to generate ideas of what’s really going on at the haunt or with a ghost.

So … How Does This Apply To A Cozy Ghost Hunter

Ok, you’ve put all that good ol’ fashioned gumshoe detective work in, and now you need to do something actionable to come from it. Here’s what I’d make, do, act or write.

• Pull property records, obituaries, and old newspaper clippings
• Interview homeowners, staff or witnesses at the haunt
• Walk the haunted location slowly, and multiple times (just observing and taking notes)
• Log evidence like EVP, EMF spikes, temperature anomalies—but not trusting the results
• Update a case file with history, reports, clues and evidence
• Write a report and publish it

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Do you think I missed anything? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading Ghostly Activities. Much appreciated and take care!