Because every story deserves to be told, even the ones buried in silence.
As I finish editing the first part of Season Two of Chris & Greg’s Haunted Road Trip, I’m reminded that sometimes a haunting isn’t just paranormal, it’s unhealed trauma echoing through time.
We’ve all met that one ghost. Moaning in the attic. Flickering the lights. Refusing to move on. But what if they’re not just haunting, what if they’re hurting?
I believe in listening to the voices most people overlook. Some of those voices come from the living. Some come from the margins. And some come from the shadows—ghosts of people, places, and truths that were never given space to speak.
We don’t strive to tell ghost stories.
We strive to tell their stories.
Because behind every haunting is a history.
And behind every flicker of light is a cry for compassion.
Why Hauntings Are Cries for Compassion
Ghosts aren’t always malevolent. They’re often misunderstood echoes of grief, injustice, or silence. They don’t linger to scare us, sometimes they just want to be seen. To be remembered. To be heard.
Sometimes the scariest thing isn’t the specter in the shadows. It’s the story we never allowed to be told.
When we reframe hauntings as cries for compassion, we shift our role from exorcist to witness. We stop asking, “How do I get rid of this?” And start asking, “What truth is trying to surface?”
This is the at heart of what Greg and I do: To create spaces where the haunted and the healing can coexist. Where storytelling becomes an exorcism for the soul.
Lessons from Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum & Central State Hospital
In our travels, we’ve walked through places where the air itself felt heavy with sorrow, where trauma and negative energy took on physical form, or left imprints so deep it scarred us forever.
During our investigations at Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum and Central State Hospital, we didn’t just chase shadows—we bore witness.
These weren’t just haunted buildings. They were archives of suffering. Of lives institutionalized, erased, and forgotten. The walls carried the weight of forgotten voices. Hallways echoed with loss of autonomy and dignity. Silence wasn’t peaceful, it was punishment.
We didn’t just ask, “What happened here?”
We listened for the deeper question: “Whose story is still echoing through these walls, waiting to be heard?” And the spirits answered, not with screams, but with longing.
Longing to be remembered.
To be understood.
To be honored.
The Ghosts We Carry
Let’s be honest: many of us are haunted. Not by apparitions, but by memory. By the systems that failed us. By the identities we had to fight to express. By the grief or trauma we weren’t allowed to name.
For queer folks, for marginalized communities, and for anyone who’s ever been deeply scarred —without permission, without provocation—hauntings aren’t fiction. They’re lived experience. We carry the ghosts in our bodies. In the way we flinch at certain words. In the way we shrink ourselves to fit. In the way we search for belonging in places that never made space for us. And sometimes, in the way we let grief take up permanent residence.
So when I say “ghosts need therapy,” I’m really saying:
Everyone deserves to be seen.
Everyone deserves to heal.
Even the ones who flicker at the edges.
And especially the ones who were never given a voice.
How to Live with Your Own Haunted Ghosts
Not every ghost wears a sheet.
Some wear shame.
Some wear silence.
Some of our ghosts wear the armor we built just to survive.
Exorcising our own haunted ghosts isn’t about banishment, it’s about integration. It’s about understanding and honoring what shaped us, naming what hurt us, and choosing what no longer belongs.
Here’s how we can begin:
· Name the ghost.
o Is it a memory, a belief, a voice that doesn’t belong to you?
o An unnamed trauma, or a grief so deeply etched it refuses to release you?
o Naming it gives it form and with form, the power begins to shift.
· Witness it without judgment.
o Not every haunting needs to be fixed.
o Some just need to be seen.
· Speak it aloud.
o In therapy, in community, in ritual, in play—give it language.
o Let it breathe.
· Choose what stays.
o Not every ghost is toxic.
o Some are ancestors.
o Some are protectors.
o Some are ready to rest.
Healing isn’t linear. It’s layered, and it starts with listening to your own ghosts.
This isn’t a one-time ritual. It’s a lifelong practice of compassion, for yourself and for the stories you carry.
A Different Kind of Exorcism?
What if exorcism wasn’t about banishing the ghost? What if it was about meeting it with truth, tenderness, and curiosity?
When we investigate a location, we don’t only look for signs of spectral activity. We listen to the ones that were silenced. We try to bring to light what has been pushed back into the darkness. To name, to witness, keeping in mind that healing begins with acknowledgment.
And where healing begins not by casting out the ghost, but by asking what it came to teach. Because sometimes, the ghost isn’t the scariest part. It’s the part of us that was never allowed to feel. The truth that was buried.
So next time your house creaks at midnight, ask yourself:
Is it haunted… or holding onto pain that was never given space to heal?
The Importance of Support
While this post explores emotional healing through metaphor and storytelling, it is not a substitute for professional mental health care. If you’re struggling with trauma, grief, or emotional distress, we encourage you to seek support from a licensed therapist, counselor, or medical professional.
We believe in the power of stories to heal, but we also honor the importance of clinical care, community support, and safe spaces for recovery.
You deserve to be seen.
You deserve to be supported.
You deserve to heal.
About the Author
Chris Surrett-Forgach is the co-founder of Arise Entertainment and brings over 30 years of leadership in banking and technology to the world of storytelling, streaming, and game design. After decades spent building trust, driving transformation, and leading organizations, Chris now works to help others show up with confidence and authenticity—creating space for bold stories, joyful connection, and shared fun through inclusive content and original board and card games. Whether developing campaigns, shaping voiceovers, or advocating for mental health and marginalized voices, Chris leads with authenticity, purpose, and heart.
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/@AriseEntertainment
Game Storefront: https://ariseentertainment.shop
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