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It isn’t Halloween, but it's always spooky o' clock in the home of paranormal investigator Rebecca Galentine (33), who has spent years collecting thousands of supposedly haunted items, which decorate her Victorian house.
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Her Connecticut home is filled with cursed dolls, a bag of a child's teeth, previously used coffins, doors from a psychiatric hospital reputed to be haunted and gently used toe tags, which are kept in drawers throughout the house.
Rebecca's fascination with the paranormal began in childhood when she explored haunted and abandoned buildings in her hometown in Pennsylvania, and eventually made a career out of it as a paranormal investigator, with her partner Josh Rawson (32), who shares her creepy home.
Rebecca, who has more than 800 000 followers on TikTok, has been accused of being obsessed with death, but she sees herself as a “custodian of stories” and a “keeper of lost things”.
"I have deeply personal pieces that feel like they have a soul. It's not driven by value - each piece came from a person who lived and it represented them as a person,” she says.
"There's so much personal history from people who lived normal lives that have essentially been wiped from history. The only way they can be remembered is by saving these things."
She enjoys sharing unusual aspects of grief, because “grief is like a roller coaster”, with highs and lows.
"Like the woman who married her husband after he passed away. At first, this is unusual. But who are we to judge people for their grieving process?"
Her creepy collection is sourced from auction houses, flea markets, antique shops and people who don't want the items in their homes.
“We have an allegedly haunted wheelchair from a hospital. The person who gave it to me didn't want it in their house.
"I bought a memorial piece for a baby who died in 1906, for $8 (R144) at an auction. I also have a chain of human hair from a guy who was in prison for murder - he made the chain from his victim's wife's hair."
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Her collection includes a portrait of a little boy whose teeth are in a bag attached to the picture frame.
“Things like hair and teeth are seen as gross nowadays, but they weren't always seen this way. It used to be sentimental; the parents would save things and put them on display in the living room.”
Despite the reputation of her "haunted" collection of items, she finds her home calming.
"There's a mutual understanding, like, 'this is your space to exist, you're welcome here'. If you treat the items with respect you can cohabit with them - although there's a period at the start where they're settling and things do happen from time to time."
"I don't believe the paranormal is something we should fear or ostracise. They were people like us and we should respect them as such. It's just one facet of who I am as a human being - I'm a keeper of lost things and a custodian of stories."
SOURCES: MIRROR.CO.UK, DAILYMAIL.CO.UK, DEXERTO.COM
