Ghostly Encounters: Documenting what’s on the other side

For Kerriann Flanagan Brosky, ghost hunting is a way of life.

But it wasn’t always that way.

Ms. Flanagan Brosky began her career as a writer and photojournalist with a keen interest in local history. While working for Newsday and other Long Island publications, she started writing about and photographing historic places in Huntington, where she lives, and soon began receiving recognition and awards from local historical societies for her efforts.

While conducting research at local sites, she occasionally came across a ghost story … or two … or three. Then one October, the Huntington Historical Society approached her and asked if instead of giving a presentation on straight history, she might share some of those ghost stories.  

“It was at Conklin Barn and it was standing room only,” recalled Ms. Flanagan Brosky in a recent phone interview. “At that point, I felt I was more established as a historian, so I put the idea of ghost stories on the back burner.”

But every year she continued to offer the ghost story program and every year, it kept getting bigger. Finally, Ms. Flanagan Brosky was convinced that ghost stories were something she should focus on in her writing. But she also felt that if she were going to do it right, she’d need help in the form of a paranormal investigator.

“I thought, where will I find one of those? The Yellow Pages?” she said.

It never came to that. At one of her presentations, Ms. Flanagan Brosky met Hampton Bays’ Joe Giaquinto — a computer programmer by day and a ghost hunter by night. The two joined forces and have been a team ever since.

On Sunday, October 23, Ms. Flanagan Brosky and Mr. Giaquinto will be at the Shelter Island Historical Society to talk about their ghostly work and explain how they go about the business of documenting haunted places. The stories of those places have been detailed in a series of books by Ms. Flanagan Brosky. The first, “Ghosts of Long Island: Stories of the Paranormal,” was released in 2006, followed in 2008 by “The Ghosts of Long Island II: More Stories of the Paranormal.” Her most recent book, “Historic Haunts of Long Island: Ghosts and Legends from the Gold Coast to Montauk Point,” came out in September 2015 and includes 30 stories — 10 each from the previous two books and 10 new tales.

“The idea was to show that Long Island is more than the Amityville Horror,” explained Ms. Flanagan Brosky who said that while the story of that infamous house did appear in the first book, she and Mr. Giaquinto really want to stress history — particularly Native American and Revolutionary War history — in their work. Incidentally, though Shelter Island is not represented in the books, several other East End locations are, including Montauk Manor and the Old House on Cutchogue Village Green.

Whether the hauntings occur in private homes or public buildings, each story begins with a history of the property and is rounded out by visits from Mr. Giaquinto and Ms. Flanagan Brosky who gather details by interviewing those who have lived or worked at the location. They record those interviews and use other tools of the trade, including photography, EMF (electromagnetic field) meters and something called a ghost box. This is basically a modified transistor radio that continuously scans frequencies that other worldly entities purportedly manipulate for audio remnants of broadcasts that form words or sentences. They also rely on Mr. Giaquinto’s ability as a medium to sense when a spirit is present.

“Joe can communicate with the other side. He has information that fits and often solves history,” Ms. Flanagan Brosky said. “People picture a lady in white with a bloody face. That’s not what it is. There’s a difference between ghosts and spirits. Spirits are with us all the time and pop in and out.

“What makes what I do work is people look at me and see I’m a regular person,” she said. “I’m a respected historian and I respect the fact of history first, ghosts second.”

Though her books were intended for an adult audience, Ms. Flanagan Brosky has been pleasantly surprised to find that kids, especially those in their early teens, have taken a strong liking to them and have learned some Long Island history along the way.

“There are so many stories on Long Island,” she said. “We’ve investigated over 100 places.”

When researching a site Ms. Flanagan Brosky explained that she’ll make an appointment in advance with the owner, and if it’s a building open to the public, she and Mr. Giaquinto will try to visit when the business is closed. She added that the interview and investigation process can take anywhere from two hours to most of a day, depending on the size of the building.

“Usually I have prepared questions,” Ms. Flanagan Brosky said. “I’ll ask the owners about the history first. A lot of times they give me more information and further research and I make sure it matches up.”

Mr. Giaquinto stations himself nearby during the interviews and stays alert to the presence of spirit activity. Afterwards, the team listens carefully to the recordings and views their photographs to see if something has shown up as evidence.

One of the East End stories included in the newest book is about Villa Paul, a popular Italian eatery in Hampton Bays, where Ms. Flanagan Brosky and Mr. Giaquinto captured some intriguing evidence.

“At one point when we were at Villa Paul, Joe said, ‘A dog just came in,’” recalled Ms. Flanagan Brosky. “He described it. People who had worked there said they had seen an apparition of a dog. Here I am talking and Joe, through his mediumship, had the dog that haunted the place come up to him.

“I thought the owner was going to die,” she said. “It made them realize they weren’t crazy and that Joe knew what he was doing.”

Ms. Flanagan Brosky and Mr. Giaquinto record their interviews not only so they can transcribe them later, but also in an attempt to capture EVPs (electronic voice phenomena) — sounds and words from the spirit world that can only be heard during playback.

One such EVP emerged from the Villa Paul interview. It happened during a discussion about a photograph taken by Cheryl Pensa, the restaurant’s owner. She had snapped a picture of the empty dining room to run in an advertisement and didn’t notice that a shadowy figure of a man appeared in the right hand corner of the image.

Ms. Flanagan Brosky explained that when Ms. Pensa’s daughter looked at the photo she asked, “Who’s this person?” Ms. Pensa responded that the restaurant was closed at the time and no one had been there.

“A couple days later, I was transcribing the interview at the point when we were talking about it and all of a sudden I hear a voice say, ‘I’m the photographer,’” recalled Ms. Flanagan Brosky.

When asked about her own belief in ghosts and whether it’s changed as a result of her personal experiences, Ms. Flanagan Brosky responded, “I was born and raised Catholic. I’ve always believed life does exist beyond this one… and communication is possible.”

“I know when my dad is around, or my late publisher,” she said. “The world is not that far away and they come and go. It’s comforting because they don’t leave you.”

After all these years, though Ms. Flanagan Brosky admits she’s no closer to becoming a medium, she has come to understand and respect the lives of those she feels she is documenting in her work.

“I’m not trying to become a medium, but I have taken workshops and classes to help the process,” she said. “When I’m working, I sense I know when someone is making sure it appears the way its supposed to be. It’s fascinating. If you had told me 20 years ago I’d be doing this, I’d say that’s insane.”

Which naturally leads to the question most ghost investigators probably get quite a lot. Did she ever find that she was truly terrified during the course of an investigation?

“The scariest thing we did was go in the woods off Sweet Hollow Road,” Ms. Flanagan Brosky said. “I was more frightened of the real people. That’s the part that can be scary.”

“Historic Haunts” book presentation and signing is Sunday, October 23 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Shelter Island Historical Society’s Havens Barn, 16 South Ferry Road. Admission is $10 per person. To reserve, visit shelterislandhistorical.org.