Spooky Spottings

many thanx for your viewpoint on one of our forthcoming locations.

unfortunetly people tend to forget that to hold sole occupancy events in this country does not come free.
There is the little thing called Location hire, and of course in London, the location hire reflects the standard of living here i nthe capital.

you may have misread your source or a typo may have caused you to react so colourfully.

The event is not a talk, it is a 7 hour exploration into alleged paranormal activty associated with the building,a personal history tour, personal use of ghost hunting tools and guidence from professional paranormal investgators.

oh yes, all the team are volunteers, - remember - location hire, location hire, location hire!!!!

we at LPS do our very best to try to make this event as affordable as possilbe - if you were to research this area propery you would discover we are at the lower end of the market - some big companies charge £99!!!!!

so we hope you understand where we are coming from -

by the way all our events sold out last year, so people are prepared to spend £50 odd on a saturday night, as im sure you are aware, if one was to go out to a club, drink, meal - £50 pp goes no-where.

Hi,

Thanks very much for your comment. While I do understand where you're coming from, to me, it does sound like a huge amount of money. Especially when there are events like the tour I highlighed that are much easier on the purse strings.

I'm pleased that your events are selling out, I've simply shown readers the different events that are out there - one that costs rather a lot of money, another that doesn't.

With thanks,
Glitterbitch.

The cheap events are cheap for a reason. They generally involve one person walking you around perfectly accessible areas of the city in the cold, telling you information you could look up on the internet yourself. And they rarely last more than an hour or two.

All of us at LPS would love to be able to offer the events for free - or for less - but this is, as was said above, monetarily impossible. Some locations charge well into the thousands for a single night. As volunteers, our extensive team (ranging from parapsychologists, to psychics, to investigators) are all volunteers; all we get from taking part in the investigations is a chance to experience the locations and help members of the public indulge their curiosities.

It may seem expensive to you, but there is really no comparison between a full-night in an apparently haunted location, complete with the chance to try investigative equipment, seances, lone vigils and work with individuals who have decades of experience in many cases - and an hour or two trying to hear what a single individual tells you over a pocket tannoy. I've been on this kind of walk, and while they do have their place, undoubtedly, they are just not the same thing as a full investigation.

If you are charged £7 an hour by those folk running tours, and equate that to the seven hours we offer (plus free snacks and beverages throughout) the cost is really not all that different. Maybe a tenner?

The fact that we have so many repeat visitors on the investigations, and that so many people are prepared to pay the price listed (which is subject to a discount for larger groups) says a lot about both people's views of what we do, and where their interests lie. Never mind the rave reviews we have received in major publications, and the testimonials from people who have actually taken the time to attend an event before passing judgement.

Ultimately, we do this for the love of it, and I would advise you to actually put your precious money where your mouth is - and come and see what we do - but I fear your mind is already made up.

"I'm pleased that your events are selling out, I've simply shown readers the different events that are out there - one that costs rather a lot of money, another that doesn't."

I've quoted this line as it really seems to miss the whole point.

Comparing a 1 hour tour around, for example, the 'Jack the Ripper' murder sites, a walk which anyone could do for themselves, with having exclusive overnight access to a haunted location, with access to equipment and people who know about such things, is like comparing watching a local pub football team playing on a Sunday afternoon, with attending a Premiership match at a stadium. Essentially the same thing, from the outside (if you’re not a football fan), but I think most would agree, they're a rather different experience!

In a nutshell, you're NOT really comparing like for like, these are two very different experiences.

I still wouldn't spend sixty quid on it though.

Thankfully.

On how many nights out in London would you be able spend 7 hours in a venue while spending only £59?

I guess it all come down what you think £59 is worth in 2008.

£59 doing something new and different with people who are passionate about what they do versus £59 of shoes, £59 of concert ticket, £59 bottle of wine, £59 weekend flight, £59 gambling, £59 of groceries, £59 internet shopping, £59 in the pub, £59 of petrol...

£59 is £59.

It's all about perception of worth.

Having experienced this £59 "talk about ghosts" I know what £59 is worth and LPS is a fantastic £59 well spent! Anyone who has been on an LPS night would know.

Those saying £59 is too much.... enjoy those new shoes! ;o)

London Paranormal don’t charge £59 just to talk about ghosts, they provide detailed explanations from the extensive knowledge and experience they have. The people who pay to go along are encouraged to become as involved as they wish, hence becoming more hands on during the vigils and totally being part of the experience. I am sure the walks around London are good too and I would hope that whoever leads them also has the background knowledge of the locations - I have not ever been on one of these walks so I can’t say anything else about them - but even though they are cheaper - how involved are you? You may get to see the famous locations and get some info on the history , but it’s a walk so you cant be at these locations for long either, and finishing at a pub you would probably spend some cash there.

If there was no cost involved then the exclusive locations that LPS use wouldnt be available - as there is a charge for hiring the venue - which can be huge figures.

Ok so not everyone has much money to spend and people worry about the cost? But I agree it’s no more than you would spend on a night out in London anyway, and you can always do this, so it’s a different kind of night out with a different experience too.

Everyone involved in LPS do so because of the passion they all have for anything classed as paranormal and its good to be able to share this with other like minded individuals, the feedback is always good and many do keep in touch and are keen to know when and where LPS will be next time or in the future - and many do say that being part of the night makes all the difference to them - so you are getting a lot more for your night out and your money than on a walk around London.

Having read all of this, I would have to say that right now my main motivation for not shelling out £59 to go to a London Paranormal Society event would have to be that it would clearly be full of irritating whingers, as evidenced by the comments on this article.

Seriously guys, get over it. If you're happy that your night gets great attendance and repeat visitors, why get so pissy about people who aren't that interested? It almost sounds like you're a little bit insecure about the value that you're delivering with these events...

Well, it's more about giving a balanced argument, seeing as Sian wasn't prepared to.

The only insecurity I have relates to my thighs, personally!

Personally i think the best/most dangerous paranormal linked with paranoid experience you can havein London is to wonder around Whitechapel about 1am twatted on acid...