The Confessions of a Ghost Hunter

Interview with Paranormal Investigator Ray Santiago

Also known as Paranormal Ray

Introduction

Ghost hunting isn’t just about EMF readers and cold spots. It’s about energy—how you sense it, carry it, and protect yourself from it. For Ray Santiago, also known as Paranormal Ray, this life didn’t start with tools and tech. It started in childhood—playing in a family basement, unaware a priest was buried beneath the soil. Days later, a black mass appeared right where they’d been.

The attic wasn’t any quieter. Eyes watched from a dark closet, and a hand silently waved him toward it. As he got older, lights would flicker out without reason. Photos would capture things that weren’t visible in the moment—transparent hands, pieces of faces. He wasn’t afraid. He was curious. And that curiosity turned into a lifelong path.

In this interview, Ray shares what it’s really like living between worlds—from a lifetime of encounters to the tools he’s come to trust in the field.

Feral Root Essentials: Ray, let’s start with a big one—what drives someone to willingly walk into haunted places?

Ray Santiago: Honestly? I was never given a choice. Paranormal experiences were a part of my life from day one—things most people don’t see, I saw before I even understood what they were. Ask anyone that’s ever experienced it… it changes you.

For me, it was never about thrill-seeking. It was about needing to understand what was happening around me. The first time you feel that kind of energy—real energy—it shifts something in you. Ghosts, the unliving, whatever you want to call it… they’ve always been there. The stories go back centuries, and I’ve got nothing but respect for the history—but for me, it’s not about legend. It’s about the energy that still lingers. What’s left behind. That’s what I’m walking into.

FRE: You’ve walked into some of the most famous haunted locations in the world—Gettysburg, Tombstone, the Stanley Hotel, and beyond. What do those places have in common?

Ray: Stillness. But it’s not empty. It’s waiting. There’s a pressure in places like that. You feel it in your chest, before your gear ever lights up. These aren’t just haunted—they’re holding something. Pain, memory, unfinished business. That’s what makes them worth respecting.

FRE: But you’re not just a ghost hunter. You’ve been to places in the Caribbean most people only see on travel shows. What’s the connection between those experiences and the paranormal?

Ray: Walking through Rose Hall in Jamaica, or standing inside the crumbling cells of Old Havana’s prison ruins—that kind of energy? It grabs you. Same with the sugar mill ruins in St. Thomas, or the underground vaults in Barbados. You don’t stroll through places like that. You move with purpose. You listen. You stay sharp.

Those places demand presence. They hit you in the chest, just like any haunted hotspot in the U.S. That intensity—it forces you to be here, now. You can’t fake it. You either tune in, or you miss what’s really happening.

FRE: What’s one thing you always take with you when you’re headed to a haunted location?

Ray: I carry a talisman that was given to me when I was a kid. A medicine man my family trusted rubbed ash on my forehead, whispered something over me in tongues, and handed it to me. When he finished, he simply said, “This will protect you.” Then he hugged me. That was the last time I saw him. We moved not long after, but that moment stayed with me.

I don’t carry it for luck. I carry it because it’s tied to something ancient—older than me, older than this work. That talisman grounds me before anything else. Oils, jars, ritual tools—they all serve a purpose. But that piece? That’s protection on a level you don’t question.

FRE: What about after? People always ask, “Do spirits follow you home?”

Ray: They absolutely can. And if you’re not paying attention, they will. That’s why I don’t leave a location without locking things down. I reset everything—spritz, salt, grounding work. I don’t just cleanse—I shut the door. I let whatever’s there know, straight up: “You don’t come with me. You stay here.”

You don’t ask nicely. You don’t hope. You command. Because if you don’t take control, something else will.

FRE: Ever had a moment where you second-guessed going in?

Ray: A few. And when I do, I trust that feeling. I’ve walked away from places that felt too personal—like something there already knew me. This isn’t a game. If your gut says no, you listen.

FRE: What’s one thing people misunderstand about ghost hunting?

Ray: That it’s all theatrics or fake fear. It’s not. It’s real work. Emotional, mental, energetic. You’re stepping into spaces full of history, death, and leftover pain. If you’re not grounded, it’ll eat at you—fast.

FRE: And what would you tell someone thinking about getting started?

Ray: Don’t go in without respect. Don’t go in without protection. Start by cleansing your own space and your own energy. Then build your toolkit. Oils, spritz, jars—whatever anchors you. You’re stepping into the unknown. Act like it.

Final Words

These aren’t just ghost stories—they’re lived experiences. Ray Santiago has walked through the shadows and come out stronger, grounded by tradition and protected by purpose. The tools he uses? They're not theory. They’re field-tested essentials.

Carry What Ray Carries

Ray: I don’t head into haunted places empty-handed. I bring what’s been through it with me—tools I trust, built for real energy and real encounters. If you're going to step into a place that remembers pain, protect yourself like it matters. Because it does.

• Classic Protection Roll-On Oil – for warding off what tries to cling
• Palo Santo Spritz – for clearing what lingers in the air and the unseen
• Spell Jars & Paranormal Kits – to hold the line between you and what’s waiting

• Follow Ray's investigations: @paranormal.ray