What One Man Dedicates His Life To Would Give Most People Nightmares

Over the past few years, podcasts have been growing more and more popular. The proliferation of smartphones, and fast LTE networks has made it possible for people to get their podcast fix anywhere. It”s not just news and investigative journalism in the world of podcasts, either. There are shows on pretty much every topic imaginable.

Our guest today, on ViralNova hosts one of the most well-known podcasts that focuses on the spooky and paranormal. Please welcome Jim Harold.

Thanks for being with us today Jim. Let”s dive right in. How and when did you get into the world of the paranormal?

I guess it goes back to when I was a kid and watched TV shows like In Search Of… with Leonard Nimoy. I”ve always believed that there”s something more out there. It wasn”t until about 2005, that I really did anything with my interest. That”s when I started my first program, The Paranormal Podcast. I guess that makes me a podcast pioneer.

Was there a specific incident or experience in your life that turned you into a “paranormal” believer?

Not really. I think it was those TV shows, like I said, plus I”d heard many family stories of strange and unusual events and I filed them in the back of my mind.

How would you define the word “paranormal”?

I have a broad definition. I think it”s anything that we can”t explain with standard science. I have a “big tent” philosophy. I”m interested in everything from UFOs to ghosts to bigfoot. Does it mean I believe in every single paranormal claim? No. Do I think there”s something to some of the claims? Absolutely.

What specific area of the paranormal are you most interested in?

It has to be the afterlife. Maybe all of us don”t see UFOs or bigfoot or even ghosts, but I”m here to tell you we are all going to die. I wonder what lies behind beyond. Some say nothing, I tend to believe otherwise. In my view, it is THE great mystery.

Have you ever had any paranormal experiences in your personal life?

I don”t think that I”m particularly sensitive to these kind of things even though I have an intense interest. So, nothing dramatic like seeing a full-body apparition, but I”ve had some experiences. I believe I received an after-death communication from my late brother, and there have been a couple of cases where I felt I narrowly missed death. I “coincidentally” wasn”t someplace I would have usually been, and had I been there, that would have been it. I think something or someone was protecting me.

What led you to want to start your successful paranormal podcasts?

I found out about podcasting way back in 2005, and I was a frustrated broadcaster. I went to school for broadcasting, but ended up working on the business side of media. To scratch my itch, I thought I would try this as a hobby never knowing it would end up as a career. The paranormal was an obvious topic because of my interest which predated the whole paranormal craze. Funny thing is, the more I learn about it, the less I know, if that makes sense.

You”ve also written a few books on the topic of the paranormal. Could you tell us about those?

Yes, I have a series of three books of true ghost stories based on my Campfire podcast. These are stories told to me over the last several years by my listeners. I pick the stories that I believe are the most sincere and striking for the books. Each has about 70 stories in it, and they are available in e-book and paperback. You can find them by going to jimharoldbooks.com, which will take you right to my Amazon page.

If you could have any paranormal mystery completely solved for you, which would it be?

I hate to be a broken record, but it has to be the question of whether we survive death.

Where do you see the field of paranormal investigation going in the next few years?

This is a source of frustration for me. I do feel sometimes that we are just spinning our wheels. I”m not a paranormal investigator per se, so I may be unqualified to say this, but sometimes I think the TV shows and so forth are a bit cartoon-like, and that taints anyone interested in this stuff. That”s why I try to take a serious look at the topic. Someone called my podcasts “NPR meets the paranormal.” I like that description.

If you were talking to someone who was skeptical about the paranormal, what example would you give to convince them?

I would just say look back in your life experience, and recall inexplicable things that have happened to you or people that you trust. Take a fair look at these experiences and ask yourself if there could be an explanation beyond mainstream science. Look, I”m not even saying that the majority of paranormal claims are true. I”m just saying that there are enough accounts from trustworthy people to justify taking a serious look at these events. In 1900, standard science didn”t know about DNA. That didn”t mean it didn”t exist, it just meant that it hadn”t been detected yet. I wonder if the same might be true for the paranormal? Are these phenomena something that future scientists will have the technology and techniques to understand?

What is a paranormal occurrence that most people could point to in their everyday lives?

So many times, I hear stories of people who”ve had a hunch or premonition about something going on with a loved one. For example, when a close relative dies and someone clear across the country picks up on the fact that something is wrong. I bet that most people reading this know of such an experience in their families. I think there”s a golden thread that attaches us to those we love and that it goes beyond all current explanation and logic.

Thank you again for being with us today Jim. Is there anything else that you”d like to share with our readers?

Before we go, I”d like to thank you and ViralNova for the chance to visit with your readers. Everyone can find my free podcasts, The Paranormal Podcast, Campfire, and The Paranormal Report, on iTunes, jimharold.com, and wherever fine podcasts are heard. I invite them to tune in. Thanks again, Mike! It was a blast!

For more from Jim Harold, make sure to follow him on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out and subscribe to his podcasts on iTunes.