As strong as it is, my interest in the paranormal pales in comparison to other Garden State residents who make it their official business to seek out and prove the existence of spooks all over the state. You'd think the number of legitimate New Jersey ghost hunters would mirror the number of legitimate Spanish-American war re-enactors, but check out an incomplete list of paranormal investigators in this state alone:

Garden State Paranormal Research
New Jersey Ghost Hunters
North Jersey Paranormal Research
South Jersey Paranormal Research
Garden State Ghost Investigations
Garden State Ghost Hunters Society
Spirit Searchers

Mark and John Bylancik, the son-and-father team who founded Garden State Paranormal Research, have been looking for ghosts in old hospitals, forts, cemeteries, and penitentiaries for years. This summer, they took it to the next level, forming their own group and website. They've already spent the night at Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania, a revolutionary war-era fort with a distinctly spooky history. The team will soon be visiting Eastern State Penitentiary, a paranormal training camp of sorts, where they'll be under the tutelage of the New Jersey Ghost Hunting Society's lead investigator.

Mark, 15, is still in high school, but he and his Dad are trying to differentiate themselves by attracting young people and forming school clubs. They'd like to be the state's only paranormal group created by and run for high school kids. Kinda like the Breakfast Club...as long as the breakfast is Booberry.

John hopes to attract more parent-kid teams. "Spending the night together in a haunted house or abandoned fort can be a very bonding experience," he said, channeling both Dr. Phil and Dr. Caligari. "I'm always happy to know where my son is on a Saturday night -- even if it's in the solitary confinement cell of an old prison, and especially if I'm running the video deck recording it all."

Whereas most kids choose to spend their 16th birthday party in public with very loud and visible friends, Mark's chosen a midnight soiree in December with five buds and (hopfeully) soft-spoken spirits in a confinement cell at Mt. Holly's Burlington Prison. Oh, did I say Burlington Prison? I mean THE PRISON!

If you're invited, keep in mind the bash is BYO-PSRD (Bring your own paranormal sensory recording device).

Actually, the GSPR has plenty of tech gear, including audio equipment, temperature gauges, and a brand spanking new 4-camera DVR. The cameras are outfitted with infa-red lights that can see in total darkness. It's an expensive hobby, like golf, but way cooler.

In addition to gathering evidence, the team is also committed to preserving locations with eerie histories. Fort Mifflin and Burlington Prison have been saved from demolition, but John gets wistful when he talks of the Essex Mountain Sanitarium. It was once located atop a mountain in Verona, but was demolished in 2002. To be fair, it can't be easy keeping these sites intact as places of congregation -- an invitation saying Come to my Bar-Mitzvah at the Essex Mountain Sanitarium! just doesn't have a nice ring to it.

What drives these guys (besides Dad's family-beaten 2000 Odyssey)? "We believe there must be something other than imagination behind all of the reports of paranormal activity," John says. "And if you strip away all of the things that can be explained, what you're left with is events that occur, are witnessed, and can't be explained...We want to help gather evidence that can be critically examined that may help provide answers."

But the biggest question remains: Have the dynamic duo ever run into evidence of a real ghost? The answer is a resounding "maybe." I'll let John tell the story:

"In Fort Mifflin, Mark got a sudden sharp pain between his shoulder blades that settled to a dull ache. We were recording at the time, and I marked the voice recording to listen back carefully to the previous few minutes of the recording. When we did, we believe we heard the word "help" on the digital recording. This happened in a place where a woman supposedly hung herself. The next day, the Fort curator was asking how things went, and we said we thought we got a voice in the girl's room. The curator then told us something that isn't in print and that we didn't know. The woman is suspected not to have hung herself, but to have been murdered, stabbed in the back. When we heard that, it was the sort of coincidence that makes you want to learn more, read more on the history, and investigate again."

On their site, Mark and John have posted full reports, videos and photos of their exploits, including readings of rapid temperature changes in a graveyard in response to questions they'd been asking. The guys are the first to say there could be a rational explanation, but also the first to admit they can't think of one.

"We've always been two guys that run towards whatever it is that most people are running away from. We're not easily spooked or superstitious," John says excitedly. "You say a place is haunted -- ok, let's prove it."

Where there's a will -- and a thermal image recorder -- there's a way. Happy Halloween!