This was the result of an interview Jeanine had with a UT journalism student:
Q&A with Jeanine Plumer
Jeanine Plumer has dedicated the last two-and-a-half
decades to searching for — and publicizing — Aus tin’s
supernatural history. Throughout her career, she’s
appeared on ghost-hunting TV shows (“My Ghost Story,”
“Monumental Mysteries”), led walking tours around Austin
and experienced countless supernatural occurrences of her
own.
When she first moved to Austin in 1987, Plumer
originally set out to offer “Weird History” walking tours
around the city, but the more research she
conducted, the more ghost stories popped up.
Deciding that she couldn’t let these stories go untold,
Plumer created Austin Ghost Tours, a company that
provides walking tours to haunted buildings and sites
around the city. Over the years, she’s learned
important lessons, like who is really curious about
ghosts and who just feels like they’re being haunted.
Founder and owner of Austin Ghost Tours reflects on why she isn’t scared of ghosts
by Mimi Calzada
Ghosts and hauntings make most people scared. How do
they make you feel?
I don’t pullote my mind with crap, so curiosity. Everything
that happens is a piece to a puzzle, because we call this
ghosts, but we don’t really know what’s happening. I don’t
know that I’ve ever been afraid.
How do you respond when someone brings demons
into the conversation?
When people say, “I feel like it’s a demon,” I’m out. I don’t
believe in demons, I think the demons are in you. I got a
call from a person who was hearing voices and
vibrations, which is very common. He had people come
in and verify that it was the air conditioning fan. He also
was having things moved around his house, and he felt he
was touched. But he was so intense and so disturbed about
all that I said, “I can’t help you.” Anything that isn’t lighthearted curiosity, I stay away from.
What does your business look like in
September and October compared to the rest
of the year, and which crowd do you prefer?
It’s a whole different beast. During Halloween,
it’s people who are doing something specifically
for Halloween like people going to see Christmas
lights. But the rest of the year, you get people
that are genuinely curious, they love ghost stories
as a way to learn history. I definitely prefer the
non-Halloween crowd. There’s less drinking and
more genuine questions. We tell the truth so we
don’t have a lot of blood and gore, and we’re not
going to so that’s more of a Halloween thing. What’s your most memorable supernatural
encounter?
When I first started the business in 1996, I got a call
from a family living in Houston — a husband and a
wife and two small children. They were upset
because their children’s toys were turning on and
off, they were hearing knocking on the walls and
their bed was shaking at night. We were sitting in
the living room and I said, “Relive what happened
so we can see if speaking about it causes a reaction.”
When the man said, “I really believe it’s a
little child,” the fuse box outside exploded and all the
kitchen appliances turned off and on. Looking back
at the video I took, there was this big white round
mist that was following me from behind. That was
crazy.
Why do you no longer appear on ghost-hunting
TV shows?
They make stuff up. I’m 100% sure there’s
something going on that makes no sense whatsoever
and we don’t know what to call it, but, by not telling
the truth, they’re muddying the waters and
dishonoring people we care about.
Your original plan was to do historical walking
tours around the city, but the ghost stories just
wouldn’t leave you alone. Are there supernatural
energies everywhere in Austin?
There are locations that have more residual
energy — hospitals, nursing homes, theaters. But a
lot of people have personal things happen, and those
happen in their homes, but they’re not haunted
homes. So, therefore, it could be anywhere.
What equipment do you use to communicate
with the dead?
The biggest antenna is you. When someone wants to
connect, it’s mostly a lot of sound. So if it’s raining
outside and the rain hits something aluminum, that
sound that comes from that can take on intelligent
words and sometimes conversations. Same thing
with your phone. If you’re talking on the phone,
sometimes it’ll be staticky and you can hear voices,
and they’re saying things that are relevant to you or
the other person.
Since you started this business, how do you
feel about death?
I can’t wait for the next adventure. I don’t feel
sad when someone passes away. I’m sad for the
people who are living who can’t be happy for
that person. I’ve never had anyone come back
and say, “This is crap, I wish I’d never died.”
They often look like they did when they were at
their happiest. I’m not worried about it at all.
Ghosts seem like a
very simple way to
explain some very
complicated thing
