Halloween is Not Haunting Consumers

The recent financial meltdown that has sent consumers brown bagging, and the credit crunch that has taken a bite out of McDonald’s is not taking hard-core trick or treaters hostage. Consumers’ economic fears seem to be more haunting this Halloween than ghosts, but the paranormal industry does not seem to be impacted. Consumers interested in ghost hunting, paranormal television shows and things that go bump in the night span a wide demographic of race, age and income, and their wallets are open.

The Ghost Channel has seen a surge in traffic and affiliates this quarter, and Halloween may not be the only reason. The Ghost Channel, available exclusively online at GhostChannel.TV, offers a variety of paranormal content from comedies, documentaries, news, and live and taped investigations. With over a hundred shows available at any time, and an unprecedented number of shows in the contract stages, viewers are pouring in.

“Although we are still in our infancy, we have had overwhelming success this year as a result of the demand for our niche content,” says Chris Schauer, V.P. of Programming for the Ghost Channel. “Producers want an outlet for their shows without having to play the revenue game with the big networks, and our viewers love being the beneficiaries. “

An Internet poll of 507 consumers by WPP Group-owned Light Speed Research for Advertising Age found that nearly 80% of respondents have changed their buying behavior in the past few weeks. Some 70% of respondents said they are curtailing overall spending, and with more consumers staying at home, the Ghost Channel may benefit as consumers spend more time in front of their televisions, or in this case computers, for entertainment. Certainly the Ghost Channel serves a niche market, and the Writers’ Strike may have helped sales, but this market may also have been broadened by the variety of ghost related shows on television and cable networks, thus creating an even broader interest group across demographic segments.

The national cable television networks aren’t the only ones aware of the trend in paranormal and spiritual topics. The publishing industry sees the spiritual book niche as an answer to waning sales at a time when the nation is experiencing economic and political uncertainty, including the presidential election and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to data from Book Industry Trends, the number of copies of books sold this year is likely to fall by 0.7 percent, and growth projected to 2012 will be flat or less than 1 percent each year. However, Religious books had another strong growth year, selling 274.5 million copies, up 4.2 percent from 263.4 million a year earlier. This niche of books increased net revenue by 6.3 percent, to $2.58 billion.

Certainly publishers recognize where their profit lies, but in these times of economic uncertainty, perhaps merchandisers are not mining their segments deeply enough. It is possible that retailers are so focused on consumer demographics and broader interest groups that they are ignoring the niche market of ghost hunters and ghost enthusiasts. When asked about specific sales figures, Barnes and Noble publicist Carolyn Brown said books related to ghosts and the paranormal are combined within their New Age category. When marketers analyze sales figures from such a broad genre, it is easy to continue to base sales strategies on demographics and miss increased revenue potential.

Investigative Medium Laine Crosby, a Rockville resident who works primarily on crimes and historical investigations has an interesting theory, “I find that an increasing number people are attending lectures and ghost investigations as a means to search for comfort in these unstable times. If people do not have a religious upbringing, then many times they don’t know where to find answers, and they look to ghost investigations to prove there is something else out there.” If Crosby is correct, book retailers may be missing the mark by not sub-segmenting their genres of Religious, New Age, and Spirituality by including a separate sub-segment of paranormal books.

Baltimore-area publisher, Second Chance Publications, publishes only paranormal related topics and has not only increased the number of books they have published over the past year, but is now publishing CDs of Ghost Investigations. “Death is something everyone has to deal with in their life, and everyone is fascinated with it whether they admit it or not,” said Carol Nesbitt, Owner of Second Chance Publications. Also in our own backyard, national best selling author and Baltimore-area resident, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, has updated her Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft, and Wicca in time for the ghostly season.

The Paranormal Service Industry has not slowed down locally either. The #1 Ghost Tour in America as ranked by Haunted America Tour Company, the Pennsylvania-based Ghosts of Gettysburg Candlelight Walking Tours, has consistently filled their tours to capacity all season.

Crosby, has also found an increased demand for ghost lectures and dinner events. “I’m pleased that Maria and Jack Paladino, owners of the Cashtown Inn in Cashtown, Pennsylvania, invited me to give a dinner lecture on October 28th, certain it would be a full house on a Tuesday,” remarked Crosby. Crosby also noted her web site traffic has also increased over this time last year at InvestigativeMedium.com.

Randallstown resident Beverly Litsinger, president of the Maryland Ghost and Spirit Association, has seen an increase in her organization’s membership. “I have seen my share of economic fluctuations, but I haven’t seen this much interest in the paranormal in over twenty years,” said Litsinger, who is putting together events throughout the winter after receiving a barrage of emails from some of her more than 6,000 member state-wide group headquartered at marylandghosts.com.

It is apparent that ghosts are not scaring consumers this Halloween season, but ghostly entertainment is providing a needed diversion to financial and political woes. As Wachovia lies in hospice and WaMu’s funeral is still in consumers minds, Halloween may be the last holiday for celebration this year. There is no requirement to overspend, wait in crowded lines, or please relatives you don’t enjoy. Unless of course, they appear unexpectedly to say Boo.