Nation and Sage Harrington’s ghost hunting gear costs far more than a simple allowance can cover.
“This is a trail cam, but we use it to hunt in houses just to see what we can’t see. Sometimes cameras can catch what we can’t see,” Nation explains while laying out gear on an overturned container inside of a long-abandoned house on Kanesatake Mohawk Territory, an hour’s drive west of Montreal.
“A thermal laser,” the 12-year-old adds, pulling a device out of his backpack. “We point it around, and if it jumps dramatically, there’s something there.”
Then, out comes a bell, an electromagnetic detector, and their newest gadget – an infrared camera. All necessary tools when trying to pull off a legitimate ghost hunt.
Sage, soon to be 11-years-old, asks questions out loud while using an frequency-monitoring app that crackles with static.
“Is there someone here with us?” she says. “Is there someone here with us right now?”
She tries a few times, then finally – a response: “I’m right here.”
But the mystery of who – or what – occupies the property has endured for decades.
And that’s precisely why the siblings dubbed the Harrington Ghost Hunters are out prowling under a full moon: they want to find out.
“It’s very fun to do with the whole family,” Sage explains. “It’s not as fun to do it alone – it’s kinda boring and kinda scary to do it alone.”
“It’s a family channel for ghost hunting,” Nation adds.
Since 2016, the preteens have visited haunted locations across Quebec and Ontario with their parents, Alan and Nicole, hoping to make contact with the supernatural.
They film their excursions and upload them to a Facebook page called “H.G.H.”
The COVID-19 pandemic, however, is forcing the siblings to venture out on paranormal patrols closer to home.
“One day, I’m really hoping that we can stay at a haunted prison, hotel, or anything for overnight,” Sage tells APTN News. “That’s what I really want to do.”
“We should do the most haunted hotel,” Nation says.
They may be young, but these kids don’t scare easily. While Nation is the “gear guy,’ Sage is the communicator – often using her apps to connect with spirits.
“[it’s important] to make sure they’re comfortable with us, to make sure they understand us,” she says.
“That we’re not invading their spaces,” Nation adds. “Because sometimes when we do –”
“—they can get mad at us,” Sage chimes in, finishing her brother’s sentence. “And follow us all the way home.”
At the end of every hunt, the siblings lay down tobacco in thanks, followed by a smudge to clear potentially negative energy.
After that, the siblings hold a post-mortem – so to speak – to assess, analyze, and myth-bust whatever spooky information they’ve collected.
They’re hoping once the pandemic dies down, their Facebook videos will once again pick up.
“We love heebie-jeebie stuff,” Sage says.
