Is the Hawthorne Hotel Really Haunted? Reviewing Exploring With Josh’s Salem Ghost Hunt

Hello, spooky cats!

Today we’re doing something a little different.

Instead of simply conducting our own paranormal investigation, I’m doing what I like to call a paranormal peer review.

I originally called these debunking videos, but that isn’t really what I’m trying to do. I’m not watching other ghost hunters hoping to prove them wrong. I’m looking at how other investigators work, examining the evidence they capture, considering alternative explanations, and hopefully learning something that can make my own investigations better.

For this one, we’re watching Exploring With Josh investigate the historic Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, Massachusetts.

And I picked this location for a very good reason.

We’ve stayed there.

We’ve investigated it.

We’ve even captured some audio there that I still find interesting.

So, did Josh capture anything better?

Let’s find out.

The Haunted Hawthorne Hotel in Salem

The Hawthorne Hotel is one of Salem’s most recognizable historic hotels and, naturally, it has accumulated plenty of ghost stories.

Because really, could Salem have an old hotel without somebody eventually declaring it haunted?

One of the rooms most associated with paranormal activity is Room 325, which happens to be where Exploring With Josh stayed for this investigation.

The third floor in general has a haunted reputation, while the sixth floor has its own collection of stories.

During our stay, we were on the sixth floor.

Stories associated with that area include unexplained sounds such as babies crying and reports of a mysterious woman in white.

We didn’t hear babies.

We didn’t see the woman in white.

But we did capture a couple of interesting EVPs.

More on those later.

The Mystery of the Hawthorne Hotel Elevator

Before we even get to the investigation, I have to mention one of the strangest things that happened during our own visit.

The Hawthorne has old elevators.

While my husband and I were waiting for one, several guests stepped inside.

It was crowded, so we decided to wait for the next one.

The elevator doors closed.

We waited a moment and pushed the call button.

The doors immediately opened again.

Nobody was inside.

Um...

Where did everybody go?

These weren't apparitions. They looked like perfectly ordinary hotel guests.

Both of us remembered watching them enter.

Maybe more time passed than we realized.

Maybe there was another exit we didn’t notice.

Maybe the elevator moved incredibly quickly and returned.

I honestly don’t know.

I’m not calling it paranormal.

But it remains one of those bizarre little experiences where both of us looked at each other and basically said:

Wait. What just happened?

The elevators themselves have also become part of the hotel’s paranormal reputation.

Personally, I suspect “old elevator” explains quite a lot.

But the disappearing guests?

Still weird.

Room 325

Exploring With Josh stayed in Room 325, one of the rooms most frequently associated with the Hawthorne’s ghost stories.

The investigators discussed doors behaving strangely and the general reputation of the room.

They also planned to investigate other areas of the hotel later, including the sixth floor.

Since we investigated the same hotel, I was especially curious whether they would experience anything resembling what we captured.

A Correction About Bridget Bishop

When we originally investigated the Hawthorne Hotel, we attempted to communicate with Bridget Bishop, one of the people executed during the Salem witch trials.

At the time, I was under the impression that the Hawthorne Hotel had been built on land associated with her apple orchard.

After doing more research, I realized that wasn't quite right.

The orchard was in the general area, but the hotel itself wasn't simply built directly over Bridget Bishop's orchard in the way I originally understood it.

Could a ghost theoretically wander a couple of blocks?

I suppose if ghosts exist, they probably aren’t restricted by property lines.

But historical accuracy matters.

If I get something wrong in an investigation, I would rather correct it than keep repeating the better ghost story.

And No, They Weren’t Witches

Another thing that came up during Josh’s investigation was the Salem witch trials.

The investigators asked whether one of the spirits had been a witch.

This is one of those historical details worth correcting.

The people accused and executed during the Salem witch trials were accused of witchcraft.

That doesn’t mean they actually were witches.

The tragedy was that people were executed because other people claimed they were practicing witchcraft.

So asking:

“Were you one of the witches?”

already builds an assumption into the question.

A better question might be:

“Were you accused of witchcraft?”

Tiny wording change.

Big historical difference.

The Delo Experiment and Red Goggles

One of the first paranormal techniques in Josh’s investigation was something I hadn’t used before.

The investigators put on red goggles as part of what they called a Delo experiment.

The idea seemed to involve exposing the person to red visual stimulation while also doing an Estes-style session or other sensory experiment.

The claim was that the red light could affect the brain and potentially make paranormal experiences more intense.

And this immediately created a problem for me.

If the technique encourages hallucinations...

Why would I use it to look for ghosts?

I don't want my brain creating things.

I want to know whether something external is actually there.

If I deliberately place myself in a condition that makes visual hallucinations more likely and then see a mysterious figure, I’ve made the evidence weaker—not stronger.

It might be a fascinating psychological experiment.

It just isn’t the kind of paranormal evidence I’m looking for.

The Paranormal Equipment Comes Out

The investigators had plenty of equipment.

There were REM-style devices.

A K2 meter.

A music-box-style motion detector.

An Alice box.

Voice-recording equipment.

And a Panasonic DR60 recorder.

That last one is a device I personally wouldn’t use as paranormal evidence.

I prefer ordinary digital recorders that anyone can purchase.

If a strange voice appears on a simple recorder and I can eliminate people, televisions, radios, and environmental sounds, I'm much more interested than I am in equipment already famous for producing unusual audio artifacts.

The simpler the recording chain, the better.

Spirit Talker at the Hawthorne Hotel

The investigators also used the Spirit Talker app.

We’ve been testing Spirit Talker ourselves.

Rather than using it once in a haunted room, receiving a creepy word, and declaring success, I want to know whether the app performs differently in haunted and non-haunted locations.

So we’ve been asking standardized questions and tracking the results.

Did the answer make sense?

Was it relevant?

Was it random?

Was there no answer?

And so far?

I haven’t seen a dramatic difference between haunted locations and control locations.

Ghost Tube has given us similar results.

That testing isn't finished yet, so I’m not making a final judgment.

But this is exactly why controls matter.

If an app says creepy things just as often in an ordinary hotel room, park, or house as it does in Gettysburg or Salem, then “creepy answer” isn’t very strong evidence of a ghost.

How Does Spirit Talker Actually Respond?

Paranormal apps often claim that spirits manipulate environmental or electromagnetic information to select words.

Whether spirits are actually doing that is the million-dollar question.

What we can observe is that electromagnetic sources can influence some of these devices.

Phones.

Magnets.

Electronics.

Environmental changes.

So if an app responds after detecting a change, we still have to ask what produced that change.

A ghost?

A cell phone?

Nearby wiring?

Wi-Fi equipment?

Something else in the hotel?

This is why I don't consider a paranormal app producing a word to be evidence by itself.

Then the Lights Flickered

During the investigation, the lights in Room 325 flickered.

Immediately, this became potential spirit communication.

The investigators asked whether the ghost was manipulating the lights.

And this is exactly where I become the boring person at the paranormal party.

Because I spent more than twenty years working in a hotel.

Hotel lights flicker.

Especially in older buildings.

Wiring ages.

Bulbs fail.

Fixtures develop problems.

Electrical systems behave strangely.

At the hotel where I worked, there were hallway lights that flickered so frequently I could have made a ghost-hunting channel without leaving work.

A light flickering at an old hotel does not immediately make me think:

Ghost communication!

It makes me think:

Maintenance request.

Could the Flickering Still Be Interesting?

Absolutely.

If the light flickered once randomly?

Not very impressive.

But imagine asking:

“Can you turn the light off?”

And it goes off.

Then:

“Turn it back on.”

And it comes on.

Then you repeat that ten times and the responses consistently match the commands.

Now we're getting somewhere.

Random flickering is an electrical event.

Repeatable intelligent interaction would be something worth investigating.

The important part is repetition.

Our Hawthorne Hotel EVP

This is where our own investigation became especially interesting to me.

While staying at the Hawthorne, we captured an unusual sound that appeared in two different recordings.

It was on our dedicated digital recorder.

And it was also captured by the audio track on our video.

That matters.

Normally, if a strange sound only appears on one recorder, I have to consider whether the device itself created an artifact.

But when the same sound appears independently on two recording systems, that explanation becomes less likely.

It means there probably was an actual sound in the environment.

Now...

Was the sound a ghost?

I still can't tell you that.

Maybe it came from elsewhere in the hotel.

Maybe somebody made a noise we didn't notice.

Maybe there was another ordinary source.

But having it appear on two separate recording systems makes that particular Hawthorne EVP more interesting to me than many others we've captured.

“Dead or Alive?”

During Josh’s investigation, the team attempted to use their recorder to communicate with whatever might be in the room.

They asked questions such as:

“Are you dead or alive?”

and interpreted some of the audio as possible responses.

One supposed answer sounded like:

“Dead.”

Another response was interpreted as answering a question about whether the lights were being manipulated.

Some of these responses were extremely faint.

And that creates the same problem we always encounter with EVP analysis.

How much are we hearing because somebody told us what it says?

Be Careful With EVP Subtitles

One alleged response was interpreted as something like:

“Yes, sir.”

I couldn't hear it clearly.

And this is why I try not to immediately tell viewers what I think an EVP says.

Once the words appear on screen, you've primed the viewer.

Your brain starts searching the sound for those exact syllables.

Play the same clip without subtitles and suddenly people hear ten different things.

That's why I prefer:

“What do you hear?”

Let viewers respond independently.

If dozens of people hear the same phrase without being told what to listen for, the audio becomes considerably more interesting.

A Different Kind of Spirit Box

The investigators later used another piece of equipment that initially looked unfamiliar to me.

After watching for a while, it appeared to be another type of spirit box.

And spooky cats, you already know my opinion about those.

Traditional spirit boxes scan radio frequencies.

Radio stations contain voices.

Therefore:

Hearing voices from a device scanning radio stations is expected.

The question isn't whether voices appear.

The question is whether we can demonstrate that those voices came from somewhere other than radio broadcasts.

My Faraday Cage Experiment

That's why I've started experimenting with a Faraday cage.

I made a simple one from aluminum foil.

Fancy?

No.

Pretty?

Definitely no.

Effective?

Surprisingly, yes.

It took several layers of foil with no major gaps, but once the spirit box was properly enclosed, the radio voices disappeared.

Our phones also lost their signals inside it.

That's exactly what I wanted.

Now comes the interesting experiment.

Take that working Faraday cage to a supposedly haunted location.

Put the spirit box inside.

Ask questions.

If the radio stations are blocked and we still receive clear voices responding appropriately?

That would be far more convincing.

The Accidental Spirit Box Control at Sea

We also accidentally performed another interesting control experiment while traveling by ship.

Far out at sea, there weren't nearby radio stations for the spirit box to pick up.

And guess what happened?

No voices.

That was exactly what I expected.

Now I want to repeat that under controlled conditions using the Faraday cage at haunted locations.

Because if ghost communication disappears whenever radio broadcasts disappear...

Well...

That's useful information.

Maybe not the information spirit-box manufacturers want, but useful nonetheless.

Someone Knocked on the Hotel Door

Later, the investigators heard what sounded like a knock at the door.

That understandably startled them.

A mysterious knock during a ghost hunt at one of Salem's supposedly haunted hotels is wonderfully creepy.

But the first thing I would have done?

Open the door.

Immediately.

Check the hallway.

Hotels contain people.

People knock on doors.

Guests close doors.

Housekeepers move around.

Elevators operate.

Sound travels strangely through hallways.

And in old hotels, a door somewhere else closing can sometimes make your own door move or vibrate.

If you wait several minutes before checking, you've lost the chance to investigate the ordinary explanation.

Hotel Doors Move

Air pressure is another possibility.

When doors open and close elsewhere in the building, pressure changes can make doors shake.

Elevators can also affect airflow.

Heating and cooling systems move air.

So a hotel door moving slightly doesn't automatically mean somebody invisible touched it.

Again, the paranormal explanation should come after the normal ones.

Not before them.

Shadows and Things Moving in the Corner of Your Eye

The investigators also became increasingly aware of shadows and movements around them.

This happens to me too.

Especially when I'm alone.

And I've actually started recording some of these experiences at home because I'm interested in the psychology of hauntings.

I'll hear something.

I'll see movement.

I'll become convinced for a second that someone is there.

Then I investigate.

Cat.

Car headlights.

Reflection.

Heating system.

Object settling.

Nothing paranormal.

The fear is real.

The experience is real.

The explanation just isn't a ghost.

That distinction fascinates me.

Why Do People Think Ghosts Don't Know They're Dead?

Something else in Josh’s investigation made me wonder.

They repeatedly talked to the spirits as though the ghosts might not realize they were dead.

This idea appears constantly in paranormal television and ghost hunting.

But where did it come from?

If ghosts exist, why would death automatically make someone confused about their condition?

Why would someone remain inside a hotel for three hundred years wondering why nobody is answering them?

Maybe some ghost lore says this.

Maybe Spiritualism helped popularize it.

Maybe paranormal television just repeated it until it became accepted ghost-hunting procedure.

But it's another assumption worth questioning.

We shouldn't build entire investigations around ghost rules nobody has demonstrated exist.

Comparing Their Hawthorne Investigation With Ours

Watching Exploring With Josh investigate the same hotel was fascinating because our experiences were different.

They had:

• Flickering lights
• Possible recorder responses
• Spirit-box voices
• A mysterious knock
• Strange shadows and sensations

We had:

• The bizarre elevator experience
• A generally quiet investigation
• No woman in white
• No crying babies
• Some interesting EVPs
• One audio event captured simultaneously on two separate recording systems

Which investigation had better evidence?

I don't think either of us proved the Hawthorne Hotel is haunted.

But personally, I'm more interested in the sound we captured on multiple devices than I am in a flickering hotel light.

Was Exploring With Josh Faking Anything?

I didn't see anything that made me think that.

And that's important.

A peer review isn't the same thing as accusing someone of fraud.

Someone can sincerely believe a flickering light is paranormal while I believe the building's electrical system is a better explanation.

Someone can sincerely believe a recorder captured a ghost while I hear an ambiguous sound.

Different interpretations don't automatically mean someone is lying.

My goal isn't:

“Look how stupid this ghost hunter is.”

My goal is:

“What happened, what else could explain it, and how could we test it better?”

That's much more useful.

Is Room 325 Really Haunted?

Based on this investigation alone?

I'm not convinced.

The lights could have an electrical explanation.

The door knock could have come from hotel activity.

The recorder responses were too ambiguous for me.

The spirit-box voices came from equipment capable of receiving human voices anyway.

But that doesn't mean nothing strange ever happens in Room 325.

It means this particular investigation didn't demonstrate a paranormal cause.

There's a difference.

Is the Hawthorne Hotel Haunted?

After staying there myself and watching another investigation?

I still don't know.

And I’m perfectly comfortable with that answer.

We experienced one strange elevator event that I can't explain confidently.

We captured an audio event on two separate recording systems.

Other guests have reported unusual experiences.

There are stories associated with Room 325 and the sixth floor.

But none of that gets us to:

Ghosts proven.

Not yet.

Why I Still Recommend the Hawthorne Hotel

Ghosts or no ghosts, I loved staying at the Hawthorne.

It's a beautiful historic hotel right in Salem, and if you're interested in spooky history, you couldn't ask for a better setting.

You can spend the day wandering around Salem learning about the witch trials, visiting historic locations, checking out all the wonderfully strange shops, and then return to a hotel with its own collection of paranormal stories.

And maybe your elevator will eat some tourists.

Probably not.

But keep an eye on it.

Final Verdict: Haunted Hotel or Old Building Doing Old-Building Things?

Did Exploring With Josh capture proof that the Hawthorne Hotel is haunted?

I don't think so.

The flickering lights are easily explainable.

The spirit-box responses have the same radio contamination problem all traditional spirit boxes have.

The recorder responses weren't clear enough for me.

And the knock at the door wasn't investigated quickly enough to eliminate another guest or normal hotel activity.

But I enjoyed watching the investigation.

More importantly, it gave me ideas for improving my own paranormal experiments.

That's exactly what I want these peer-review videos to accomplish.

I'm not here to tear down other investigators.

I'm here to ask:

What worked?

What didn't?

What could have caused this?

And how can we design a better experiment next time?

Because somewhere between believing everything and dismissing everything is the interesting part.

That's where I want to investigate.

Stay spooky, cats.