Ghost hunter comes to town
BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

JACKSON - If you're looking for a ghost in the Jackson Library, Oct 5 at 7 p.m. may be the time to find out how to track one down.

At that time L'Aura L. Hladik, founder and director of the New Jersey Ghost Hunters Society, will speak about "Paranormal Investigation."

Librarian Jo Anne Morales said Hladik's interest in the paranormal goes back to her childhood with her own experiences living in a haunted house.

Topics to be covered in Hladik's talk include what are ghosts, why there are ghosts and how does one investigate the paranormal. Those who attend may be able to see ghost pictures and hear ghost voices. They may also learn about haunted sites in New Jersey.

Hladik has been ghost hunting since 1993.

In 1998 she founded the New Jersey Ghost Hunters Society, which now has more than 380 members statewide. Paranormal investigative professionals are dedicated to research and documen-tation of paranormal events and hauntings.

In addition to hunting ghosts in New Jersey, Hladik has also hunted for ghosts in Savannah, Ga,, St. Francisville, La., at the Myrtles plantation, New Orleans, Beardsley Castle in St. Johnsville, N.Y., Gettysburg, Pa., Bachelor's Grove and Resurrection Cemetery in Chicago, and Nashville, Memphis and Chattanooga, Tenn.

Hladik's interest in the paranormal began in childhood when her dad introduced her to the television show "The Twilight Zone" and she later finished eighth grade while living in a haunted house.

According to her Internet Web site, Hladik remembers the terror of running through Phoebe's bedroom, then a private dining room of the Wedgewood Inn, today known as Jimmy's Haunt in Morristown.

She is working on a book of her favorite investigations and currently has two investigations published in the "Encyclopedia of Haunted Places" by Jeff Belanger. Hladik has written articles about Ringwood Manor and the Antoine LeBlanc murders for New Jersey History's Mysteries.

Coincidently, her great-grandmother owned one of the wallets made from Antoine LeBlanc's skin.

To register for the Oct. 5 program call the Jackson Library at (732) 928-4400.