Patrick Burns found himself intrigued by ghost stories from the moment he started to learn to read.

"Like most children, I was reassured by my elders at an early age 'there are no such things as ghosts'. But I always found it curious that, if this was the case, then why were there ghost stories and books on haunted houses in the NON-fiction section of libraries and bookstores?"

His interest in the paranormal and ghosts got a gigantic boost when a resident of the home his deceased grandmother used to own called one day to say she had seen the ghost of his grandmother in the house.

"I recall the new owner of the house was Mrs. Darlington. She called my mom one morning, almost hysterical. She said she had been in the kitchen of the house that morning fixing breakfast. She turned around to find my grandmother standing in the doorway of the kitchen looking at her and after a few seconds her image just faded away. Mrs. Darlington had met my grandmother in life, so she recognized it to be her. However she described my grandmother as wearing a lavender-colored house coat or robe. My grandmother did in fact own a lavender house coat that she wore very frequently around the house, but Mrs. Darlington would not have had this prior knowledge."

After a normal childhood continuing to read about the paranormal, but with no paranormal experiences of his own,, Burns says he began to observe unusual phenomena around the time he turned 18.

"Its rather odd. Most people that have paranormal experiences report them starting at a very early age - usually before puberty. For me, it didn't start until I was an adult."

Among the most memorable experiences Burns recollects, was a visit one night from a phantom woman and small boy.

"I was, I guess about 25 years old at the time. I was sleeping on the sofa in the basement of my parent?s house one night. I slipped into a very, very deep 'delta' sleep. I recall waking up not abruptly, but rather quickly considering how deep I was sleeping. When I opened my eyes, I saw a woman and a small child standing there watching me sleep. First the woman turned and walked away, then the boy. As the boy turned, he looked directly at me and smiled. They both walked towards the furnace room and faded away. The entire episode probably lasted 10 seconds, so I didn't really have a chance to be scared."

Several years later, he in avertedly begun his hobby of paranormal research by "accident". Patrick recalls...

"At the time I was living in northern Wisconsin. One night at a party, some friends told me of the 'Paulding Spook Light' that appears nightly on a desolate road near the town of Watersmeet in Michigan's Upper peninsula. Once I had been told about this, I was already walking towards the door saying 'lets go!' We got out there, and sure enough - there it was; pulsating and glowing alone the edge of the trees a few miles from us. I was intrigued from the get-go. And I was literally 'haunted' by what I had seen for the next week. Finally I decided I had to see it again for myself. I abruptly hopped in the car one night at about 3:00 AM and headed up to see it - alone! I was scared out of my wits, but sure enough, it reappeared. I sat and watched it appear and disappear etc. for several hours. Then as day was beginning to break, I noticed something strange. I noted that the frequency it was appearing was increasing. This was in contrast to everything I had ever read about paranormal activity. It was supposed to peak in the early hours after midnight. Well, I decided to stay put and see what happened with day finally broke. To make a long story short, it was being caused by distant car headlights and tail lights - the highway wrapped around and was exposed thru the trees where it crossed a hill about 5 miles away. "

Patrick confirms feeling initial disappointment finding out the light was nothing ?paranormal? in origin, but that the paranormal investigator ?bug? had already bit him. He was convinced that with the large number of reported ghost sightings, that a certain percentage must be truly unexplained phenomena.

He headed south in 1996 to volunteer in the Olympic Games. The games left town, but he stayed behind. Eventually marrying a Georgia girl and starting a family; All the while continuing to feed his fascination with the paranormal.

In 1999, after several years of independent research, Patrick joined a group based out of Athens, Georgia called the Georgia Haunt Hunt Team.

"I learned a lot in my short time with the old Haunt Hunt Team. The groups founder, Cheri Moore Drake was my mentor. Sadly, she had some unfortunate events in her personal life that I believe forced her to put her paranormal studies on hiatus for a while."

"In the fallow period after the demise of the GHHT, I joined another group, but found them to be a little more 'political' in structure than what I was looking for. I wanted a group that was actively doing investigations on a regular basis, but was also loosely structured like the old GHHT without the politics."

He says that he also wanted to carry on the tradition of free memberships and an "open arms" invitation to any and all that wished to be a member, as had been the policy with the now defunct Georgia Haunt Hunt Team. It was then that he decided to strike out on his own and form Ghost Hounds.

Apparently, his vision was on target. In just four short years, Ghost Hounds has established itself as one of the top ten paranormal websites in the world, with over 2,400 subscribers world-wide and over 500,000 page views monthly. Ghost Hounds proudly lays claim to the title of largest paranormal research group in the south east United States.

In 2001, his group was featured in an Emmy award winning documentary for Turner Broadcasting. In October of 2003, Ghost Hounds conducted an investigation at haunted Anthony?s Restaurant in Atlanta, which was documented and broadcast by both CNN and Headline News as a feature story. He has been featured numerous other times on television, radio and in printed publications including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and National Review Online.

July of 2005 only underscored Patricks status as one of the paranormal communities most in-demand researchers. He was cast as a co-star in Court TVs new documentary series Haunting Evidence; slated to premiere on the popular cable network in June of 2006.

In addition to appearing in numerous programs and productions, Patrick is also a videographer in his own right. He is the producer, director, host and creator of Haunted ? an original web-based documentary series. His program has enjoyed accolades from his peers in the paranormal community and was recently nominated as ?Best Documentary? by Ghost Convention International in the Los Angeles area.

So what does the future hold for Ghost Hounds? "I'd like to see the Hounds continue to expand beyond the borders of metro Atlanta." Patrick says. "Its my hope to have Ghost Hounds chapters in other areas of the country, and even throughout the world."

When not chasing specters thru haunted houses, Patrick is a freelance video producer, a computer and technology enthusiast, a laser light show producer and avid SCUBA diver. He lives in the Atlanta, Georgia area with his wife Pam, and two sons.-http://www.ghosthounds.com