The other day, a regular blog reader emailed me a link to a Las Vegas television station’s news item on the Goldfield Hotel. This feature was part of an ongoing series the station was doing to celebrate Nevada’s 150th anniversary of its statehood.

The story disappointed me. The gist of the piece was this: Evil spirits haunt the Goldfield Hotel. The reporter interviewed a few locals, but slanted everything that happens there to be bad. Even Elizabeth—the spirit of a teenage girl reputed to be victimized at the hotel—was said to be a malevolent presence! When I’ve visited the hotel, I’ve never encountered anything looking to harm me.

I’m not surprised by this coverage. Sadly, I’m coming to the conclusion that demons must get better ratings than nice spirits. One only has to watch some cable TV ghost hunting shows to know this. I have two concerns about this trend: that people think all spirits are bad and that an unsuspecting viewer may believe taunting the dark side is fun.

I believe both positive and negative energies visit our realm. We should protect ourselves from lower, unfriendly entities and only seek interaction with higher, more loving spirits.

Why? Because our well-being is affected by whom and what we surround ourselves with. Most of us wouldn’t choose to hang out with an unrepentant serial killer or someone who harms animals. So why would people court an evil presence that may be difficult to extract from their life?

For tips on discernment and how to protect yourself while investigating the paranormal, see my 2013 post ,“Is it safe to interact with a spirit?” and 2012’s post, “Develop your spirit radar: is that energy good or evil?