Hi gang! I just got the Spirit Candle to use on an upcoming ghost hunt at a Wild West ghost town in April. The crew and I will also use it with the North Head Technique. If you remember that, we had 3 really massive, burning-wick candles. Replacing those with the Spirit Candle drops the chance of burning down a haunt, eh?

Spirit Candle Gallery

What To Know About The Spirit Candle

The Spirit Candle is designed to detect EMF anomalies. The product documentation states the candles use a magnetic detection system. If the anomaly is strong enough, it will shut off the flickering candle effect. You can change its magnetic sensitivity using the dial on the bottom of the candle.

Ghost Stop, the manufacturer, claims the candle filters out modern electronics like phones and walkie talkies. So, I tested it with my phone as well as my iMac. In those quick tests, my phone didn’t affect the flickering, but my iMac shut it off real fast. This makes me think it’s better than a K2 meter, but not as good as a natural EMF detector like a TriField Natural EMF meter.

Construction Quality

In my experience, Ghost Stop products are hit-or-miss with their gadget build quality. I bought 2 candles, and each had differing build quality.

First, the candles are made of real wax, which means they’re pretty easy to scratch and gouge. The ones I received were in great shape and free of blemishes.

Beyond that, I experienced 2 things that concerned me.

1. The dial component popped out when I turned the dial to the ‘On’ position
2. The dial component continued to turn around-and-around while adjusting the sensitivity

These incidences only happened on one candle. The other didn’t have the dial mechanism pop out, nor did it allow be to continue turning the dial. I started to have flashbacks to the first Dead Bell I got (and it never got resolved).

If you’re going to spend $120 on a candle, it shouldn’t have these faults.

EMF Accuracy

The Spirit Candle is simply an On/Off type gadget. If it measures an EMF anomaly above your sensitivity setting, the flickering flame turns off or on, depending on its current state. There’s no scale with the sensitivity dial, which is the same one used to turn the gadget on. This makes me raise an eyebrow.

I used my phone to check if it would turn off and nothing happened. This is expected per the gadget’s documentation. Then, I put it next to my iMac, and it did turn off. I continued to change the sensitivity and place it next to appliances, lamps, tablets and other electronics, and it seemed to operate as expected. However, it does bother me that there’s no range system for EMF. I’d want to know at a 9 AM setting on the dial is the equivalent to 3mG.

This is the only info from Ghost Stop about it:

EMF sensor is ‘natural’ magnetic only (to fortify from most man-made interference like phones and walkies). Magnetic flux density sensing up to ±160 mT.

https://www.ghoststop.com/spirit-candle/ (technical specs tab)

Ghost Hunting Use Cases

I can see using the Spirit Candle for a few things:

1. A trigger object to entice spirit engagement (“blow out the candle to let us know you’re here”)
2. A sensor to identify a spot of ghostly activity (i.e., place it on a table with a camera on it)
3. A real-candle replacement for spiritualism tests (for example, replace the big ol’ candles used in seances and the North Head Technique)

Conclusion

Overall, I like the concept of the Spirit Candle: An easy-to-use, easy-to-understand gadget with a vintage look, but it’s got major flaws. First it’s awfully expensive for an On/Off type gadget. Next, the build quality had me shaking my head ‘WTF?!’ when the sensor popped right out. As for its usage, you could use it in a variety of ways you’d use a real candle, like a call-and-response session, remote monitoring of a haunted hotspot, or part of an old school ghost hunt without a lot of fancy gadgets.

I think it comes down to your team’s resources. Do you have the money for it? Would you use it often on your ghost hunts? I mean, it would be perfect for outdoor investigations since there’s no flame to blow out in the wind, and you wouldn’t burn down the forest either.

I’ll say it’s worth it, if you and your team would use it often. For me, I’ll definitely use it because my little group uses candles on our ghost hunts. Using a fake candle will end the need for fire insurance at haunts.

---

Note: Jake bought both Spirit Candles with his own money, so there’s no expectation of a positive review for the manufacturer.

---

Last Updated on March 21, 2024 by Jacob Rice