I Do Believe in Ghosts: Paranormal Investigations in Macomb

Some people get their thrills from bungee jumping. Sue Ziel hunts ghosts.

A Macomb Township resident, Ziel traces her fascination with the paranormal back to childhood. 

“My dad lived in a house that he and my stepmom were redoing,” Ziel said. “There were some instances that happened there that always kind of fascinated me. I think there was always just this curiosity about ghosts. It goes back to childhood fears of ghost and goblins.”

A teacher by day, Ziel is a member of the South East Michigan Paranormal Society, a group created by Ziel’s longtime friend, Scott Morgan, to investigate paranormal activity in southeast Michigan.

“It can creep you out like no tomorrow,” Ziel said of participating in the group’s investigations. “I try to be brave. The whole thing is just fascinating. It takes your childhood fears of being in the dark and ghosts, and as an adult, you put yourself in that situation, sit in the dark and ask for something to happen.”

Although Ziel only joined SEMPS two years ago, Morgan created the group in 2007, with the first investigations being no more than a few people camped out in a cemetery with cameras and audio recorders.

However, as the group grew, it expanded its investigations to private homes, historical locations and businesses–free of charge to the owner.

While both Ziel and Morgan admit the group’s investigations carry a certain thrill, Morgan said paranormal investigation is not an activity for the impatient.

“It can be extremely boring,” Morgan said. “For every hour of video you record, it takes two to 2 1/2 hours to go through and play it back. It’s very tedious work if you have 70-80 hours of video. It’s painful.”

Comparing the practice to watching a pause screen for hours on end, Morgan said he much prefers tracking the audio captured during investigations and leaves the video watching to Ziel.

“It’s like watching a scary movie,” Ziel said. “I love it. You don’t know what’s going to happen. I actually like watching it, and I find it fascinating.”

No two investigations are the same–even if they take place in the same location–and Morgan said in terms of capturing something on tape or audio, “It’s all luck.”

“It’s having the cameras in the right place at the right time,” he said.

As far as determining where those cameras will end up, Morgan said investigation locations are decided through a combination of group research and tips from local homeowners and businesses on the SEMPS website and Facebook page.

While tips can still be posted on the SEMPS Facebook page, Morgan said the group is taking a short recess from investigations to allow members to focus solely on another project: a film.

“It’s based on some facts and the facts are experiences that either I have had or my team or homeowners have experienced,” Morgan said. “A lot of it is fiction, but the two major locations (in the film) are really haunted, and that makes it even more fun.”

The hope is to keep the film as local as possible, and Morgan said locations with a history of paranormal activity in the tri-county area are still being sought.

“We want to fill the film up with paranormal,” Morgan said. “We want something very entertaining to people.”

Morgan added if anyone knows of a local "haunted" location, he encourages them to post that tip on the group's Facebook page.

And as for those who consider ghosts and paranormal activity rubbish?

"Everything about ghost hunting is a theory," Morgan said. "Everything about the paranormal is a theory. No one knows exactly why they’re here. Until you sit down and put it on Oprah Winfrey, that is the only way; as of the technology now, that you are going to know. You can't convince someone of it. Many say they don't believe, but they won't go on an investigation either."