Meet Italy’s Ghost Hunters

4 minute read

Not far from Milan, in the bedroom of a haunted house, the ghost hunters were holding a séance. “If there’s someone here,” they called into the darkness, “can you please give us a sign?”

Photographer Barbara Leolini had gone alone into the kitchen to load a new spool of film into her camera, when suddenly, unmistakably, a chair scraped along the floor near her. Everyone heard it.

“I was freaking out,” she tells TIME. “I slept with the lights on for two weeks. We were all there. You just have to believe it.”

It was her very first ghost-hunting trip. Even if she’d been skeptical at first, Leolini now insists on the existence of the paranormal. And she is far from alone—according to a study by Italian magazine Focus, 76% of Italians believe in ghosts, and half of them claim to have seen spirits of the deceased with their own eyes.

The high figure, she presumes, comes from a culture of superstition and Catholic influence. “People believe in the weirdest stuff,” she says. “Maybe we want to believe that after death, there is something more.”

Ghost-hunting, like bird-watching, is motivated by the desire to experience and prove the existence of the supernatural, rather than capture or scare it away. Across Italy, groups like the Ghost Hunter Team (GHT) visit cemeteries, abandoned warehouses and old buildings to collect evidence.

It’s more than just a hobby. Leolini was impressed by the intense passion of those she followed, some of whom had been hunting for as a long as a decade. She noted that ghost hunting demands courage, patience and dedication. “You also need a sense of humor,” she says, “because otherwise it’s just too heavy. I was really scared at certain points.”

Enthusiasts conduct thorough research before venturing to far-flung sites in the middle of the night. They also invest large sums of money on equipment designed to detect potential hoaxing devices, read changes in air flow or energy fields, and even record electronic voice phenomena. According to a member of the GHT, a complete basic kit costs about 4,000 euros—more, of course, if you want the very best.

See the Tools Used by Ghost Hunters

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The Natural EM Meter detects radio/microwaves and changes in extremely weak static (DC or “Natural”) electric and magnetic fields. It is so highly sensitive that it will detect the presence of body parts. What makes this unit so useful for paranormal work is the audio tone which alerts the user to activity in the vicinity of the meter. Several meters can be placed throughout a location unattended to track the movement of activity.Barbara Leolini
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The K2 meter is a popular, easy-to-use tool to detect spikes in electromagnetic energy. These spikes are indicated by the multicolor lights at the top of the meter, which may signify activity or communication from spirits from the other side. It’s widely used by professional ghost hunters.Barbara Leolini
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IR (infrared) thermometers capture the invisible infrared energy naturally emitted from all objects. Infrared radiation is part of the electromagnetic spectrum which includes radio waves, microwaves, visible light, ultraviolet, gamma, and X-rays. Any object warmer than absolute zero emits energy somewhere within that range. If something invisible to the naked eye gets in between the IR heat signature you will get a colder temperature reading.Barbara Leolini
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Black light, also known as UV light, is used to aid in the detection of hoaxing devices sometimes found in a suspected haunted area. When used properly, this light is capable of revealing thin laser lights, fishing lines, holograms, transparencies, and other devices sometimes used in ghost hoaxes.Barbara Leolini
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Within ghost hunting and parapsychology, Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) are sounds found on electronic recordings that are interpreted as spirit voices that have been either unintentionally recorded or intentionally requested and recorded. They are sounds found on electronic and analog recordings ranging from knocking sounds, footsteps, and garbled noises or growls to distinct voices. They are usually only perceivable once a recording is played backwards.Barbara Leolini
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An infrared video light enables you to film in near and absolute darkness. It produces enough visible light to helps most cameras without night vision capability to get a picture while maintaining low light.Barbara Leolini
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A full-spectrum camera is important to paranormal research due to the fact that it will capture images that are invisible to the human eye. This camcorder has been modified to see the full light spectrum from IR and UV, as well as visible light.Barbara Leolini
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Walkie talkies allow communication with your ghost-hunting partners. If you are investigating a house and you have people scattered all over, they are essential.Barbara Leolini
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An anomometer, also called an airflow meter or wind speed meter, is a meteorological tool that tracks currents through a room for documentation and mapping of your ghost hunting location. The natural movement of air in a room can be calculated.Barbara Leolini

Determined to visualize the invisible, Leolini interviewed and took portraits of more than a dozen people with their own ghost stories to tell. One of her subjects, whom she was meeting for the first time, greeted her by saying, “Your grandfather, Simone, says hi.” Leolini’s grandfather had been dead for 15 years, and she could not fathom how her subject, a self-professed medium, could have known his name unless she’d communicated with him in the afterlife.

Leolini also photographed notoriously haunted locations around northern Italy, each with an unsettling history. Her project, Echoes, is a combination of portraits, eerie landscapes, abstract mood images and investigation photos provided by the GHT. All of her own photographs were taken on an old Olympus point-and-shoot camera that cost five euros at a flea market, using special effects film handmade by Revolog.

“I was looking for a moody, magical film that could help me find the right feeling for the story,” says Leolini. “And when you shoot this kind of film on a point-and-shoot, you don’t have any control at all beyond pressing a button.”

The result is a series of images bathed in a dreamy palette, with mysterious details that invite viewers to question how they may have occurred.

Echoes, which Leolini completed as her diploma project for the Danish School of Media and Journalism, is just the first chapter of a wider project on paranormal beings. Her next work will focus on witchcraft.

Perhaps there is no concrete proof that the invisible world exists, but for Leolini, there’s also no concrete proof that it doesn’t. “Facts are the sole criteria of reality,” she says. “In the absence of facts, the wise man suspends his judgment.”

Barbara Leolini is a photographer based in Florence, Italy.

Jen Tse is a photo editor and contributor to TIME LightBox. Follow her on Twitter @jentse and Instagram.

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Mental institution, Colorno, Parma. Every night, ghost-hunting groups head into abandoned warehouses, old buildings and cemeteries looking for ghosts. They often bring along electronic equipment that they believe helps them locate ghostly energy.Ghost Hunter Team (GHT)/Barbara Leolini
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Milan, May 2015. Many ghost hunters believe that strong support for the existence of ghosts can be found in modern physics. Albert Einstein proved that all the energy of the universe is constant and that it can neither be created nor destroyed. What happens to that energy when we die?Barbara Leolini
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Roberto Ferrari, 46, has lived for ten years in a small cottage outside Milan with his family. "My son William used to fall asleep in our bed, and I used to carry him back to his bed. Once when I came back to my room, I found my son's favorite puppet—a big rabbit—inside my bed, perfectly placed in the middle of my pillow. My wife, Simona, and the puppet were covered to the neck with the sheet. I was sure that when I left the room, because of the hot night, the sheet had been at the bottom of the bed." After some research, Ferrari discovered that a girl named Angela had died in their house from a dog bite in 1961. He considers Angela a provocative spirit who makes fun of his skepticism.Barbara Leolini
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Villa De Vecchi, Como, Italy. In the mountains east of Lake Como stands a beautiful Baroque villa abandoned for decades. Legends say that Count Felix de Vecchi built the stunning residence for his family in the mid 1800s, but committed suicide a year before it was finished, after he returned home to find his wife murdered and his daughter missing. The count's brother inherited the home but his family abandoned it generations later, and it is said to be haunted today. Rumor is that outside the villa gates, one can hear the sound of a piano.Barbara Leolini
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Limbiate, Milan, 2015. Ghost hunting isn’t so different from bird-watching. In fact, there is no hunting whatsoever: the aim isn't chase away or capture the ghost, but mostly find proof of its existence.Barbara Leolini
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Olivia Callender, 26, comes from a family of gypsies that has had many experiences of supernatural phenomena. "I went to England with my mother, to visit family. We were staying at an old cottage. When we arrived, the guy at the reception said: “One of the rooms is haunted.” When I entered the room, there was a strange feeling, especially by the bathroom. We unpacked, ate, and then we went to bed. My eyes were closed and suddenly the room got incredibly cold. I could feel something at the bottom of a bed, and a sort of whispering. I could feel this incredibly cold thing come up and sit in front of my face, and after a while it went away. The spirit was trying to communicate with me.Barbara Leolini
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Trezzo sull'Adda, Bergamo, Italy. They say that this castle hides a big treasure that belonged to Federico Barbarossa, king of the Holy Roman Empire in the second half of the 12th century. It is believed that the ghosts of Barbarossa’s army still protect the treasure. In the castle, prisoners of war and unwelcome guests were thrown into wells. Others were tortured. Legends say that the castle is also haunted by the ghost of Bernabò Visconti's daughter, who was kept in the dungeons because she fell in love with the stableman.Barbara Leolini
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The GHT has five members: Daniele Piccirillo, psychic; Daniele Menegaldo, project coordinator technician; Mirko Barbaglia, founder of the GHT and electronic voice phenomena (EVP) specialist; Luca Guariglia, co-founder and videographer; and Andrea Barbaglia, informatics technician.Ghost Hunter Team (GHT)/Barbara Leolini
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Milan, Italy, 2015.Barbara Leolini
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Carola Iapicca, 24, was in a car accident. According to her it may have had paranormal causes. "My mom has frequently heard the sound of footsteps on the carpet in her bedroom, but she never saw anyone. Once she woke up with rosary beads in her hands. The day after, we went to the priest, who told us that it was a satanic necklace and took it from us. I thought the priest was crazy, but two days after, I got in a car accident with my sister and some friends. I don’t know what happened. I remember a curve and then nothing. My sister told me that when she came out of the car she found, as if someone had put it there, the satanic necklace that the priest had taken away from me."Barbara Leolini
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House hunting, Milan, 2015Barbara Leolini
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Trezzo sull'Adda, Bergamo, Italy. The goal of the ghost hunter is to find an instrumental evidence , scientific and conclusive of the existence of life after death. This picture have been taken by Mirko Barbaglia, founder of Ghost Hunter Team, during an inspection in 2011.Ghost Hunter Team (GHT)/Barbara Leolini
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Consonno, Lecco, Italy. An Italian entrepreneur, Count Mario Bagno, bought up all the land in the tiny northern Italian town of Consonno, kicking out residents and razing their homes. He hoped to build a "city of toys" for both Milan's elite and the city's many tourists. For this reason, Consonno was called “Las Vegas of Brianza.” In 1976, a few years into construction, a landslide wiped out the only road into town as well as Bagno's wacky dream. In later years, the aging Bagno tried to revive the town as a retirement community, but when he passed away in the mid-1990s, his estate let the area dwindle. Legend has it that the silhouette of a man appears on winter nights, accompanied by the barking of dogs. Barbara Leolini
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Emanuela Mitraglia, 60. "Once I went out of a supermarket and saw this little boy. He was on a dirty Motoretta bike. I remember I thought it was strange because he was alone in an underground parking area. Later I had this feeling of terrible anxiety, so I told my husband to go to the car and then I went to look at this boy. I spent some time speaking with him and then he disappeared. We are all between two worlds and those echoes I can hear are the reasons for my happiness.”Barbara Leolini
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Consonno, Lecco, 2015.Barbara Leolini
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Daniele Piccirillo, 36, psychic and ghost hunter, tries to get in touch with spiritual entities. "I believe there is more to ghosts than just wishful thinking or the quest for a spooky story to tell around a campfire. I believe there are a number of good reasons to, at least, be open to the idea that ghosts might well inhabit our reality. I believe in them not just because I am sensitive to their reality but, most of all, because after six years of investigations and more than 200 house huntings, I have come to the conclusion that there is a life more real than the one we live here.”Ghost Hunter Team (GHT)/Barbara Leolini
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Parco Sempione, Milan, Italy. Legends tell about the ghost of the Veiled Lady, a beautiful woman dressed in black and smelling of violets, who wanders among the trees of the park looking for men who can keep her company. Some people passing this park become attracted to this female ghost, so that they start to follow her. After a while, they arrive at a mansion. When they enter, the ghost starts to dance, and then removes her veil and reveals her face.Barbara Leolini
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Leonardo Borri, 28, believes that with the help of science and the supernatural, man can perceive and understand other energies. "There was this period when strange things happened in my house. Things were flying from one side of the room to the other. My brother, Bernardo, called it the “Presence.” At that time I was practicing magic. I decided to investigate these anomalies through a ‘phychomanteum’—a small, enclosed room with a chair, dim lighting and a mirror angled so as not to reflect anything but darkness, to communicate with spirits. In the mirror, I saw my face turning into the face of my brother. I discovered it was a poltergeist, which are said to bother only one person at time. That’s why I saw my brother‘s face."Barbara Leolini
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Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Italy. Legends tell about the ghost of Bianca Scappardone Visconti that, once manifested, would revive the gruesome scene of his beheading.Barbara Leolini
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Milan, April 2015. Ghosts are among the most widely believed paranormal phenomena. Cultures around the world believe in spirits that live in another realm after death.Barbara Leolini

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