Haunted Travel
Writing
Traveling to
haunted locations and producing articles about them is a fun way to earn a
living. A review of the place, the accommodations and the haunted
possibilities means good material to a travel writer interested in the paranormal and haunted places.
How To Begin
If haunted travel articles are what you want to write, then start small. If you've never done a travel piece or paranormal article, then begin by writing a series of three articles based on three places that are easy to get to, not too costly and open to having an article done. Check bed and breakfasts, museums, tourist attractions, libraries, graveyard histories and follow leads from area rumors and legends.
Do Your Homework
Once you've found three interesting locations, do your homework. Check the histories on each, the public records files and ownership registrations. Make sure you check with the local death records to find any deaths at the locations or mysterious circumstances, disappearances and reports of haunted-like activities. Remember to look up the histories of the structures themselves. Were they built atop anything else or have legends surrounding the construction? The architecture can sometimes hold clues about the history of the house. Research family names and
ancestry for those associated with the locations. Cross reference your research as you build your travel file.
Owner Interviews
When the haunted location is a bed and breakfast or motel or other hospitality business, the owners or management are usually quite keen on the idea of being interviewed. The article provides publicity for the establishment and the legend gets a public retelling. Prepare two lots of three questions. This will give you a nice mix to throw into the article as you write it. The first three should be about the history of the place and how they came to ownership. The second three are focused on the paranormal aspects of the location. Ultimately this will hook your reader first, pulling them into the background of the place and then revealing the unusual qualities.
The Advantage
A haunted travel piece has two lives ... at least. When you write your article, write one that focuses wholly on the location and its attributes and qualities. The other will include the paranormal aspects of the location and its history. This gives you a wider audience to pitch your article. Not only can you publish in haunting-based magazines or sites, but the travel-based article will be well suited to travel magazines and sites; brochure content and travel agency pamphlets. Both are original, yours--and salable. Holding back the paranormal aspects in the one travel piece, you can hit a larger readership that would include those who don't have an interest in the paranormal.
Haunted travel articles are fun to research and popular. By mapping out your stops to keep gas or other travel economical, you also have a good plan for timing your travel. Keep track of mileage and gas expenses or ticket stubs for your business records.
2011 © J Scheffler
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