The afterlife is an active, not-so-distant place, according to members of the Perry Hall Paranormal Research Society. Earlier this month, I sat down with them at a meeting at the home of B.J. Moylan, the organization's president.

Their mission is to collect and document evidence of the paranormal, Moylan said, but also to help the public come to terms with "activity" in their homes, businesses and churches.

Members are particular about their paranormal vocabulary. Buildings are not "haunted," they're "active," they said, and calling someone a "spirit" is a far more respectful than calling them a "ghost."

The organization takes investigation requests from anyone genuinely seeking their services. Whether they conduct a full-scale investigation, including specialized cameras, voice recorders and other equipment, is up to them. They never charge their clients for investigations, said Moylan.

"It's a tradeoff," he said. "We need places to investigate and hone our skills."

The data comes mostly in the form of electronic voice phenomenon, words from unseen beings captured on voice recorders, said Randall Keller, the organization's vice president. This year, he published a book about his experiences with EVP called Voices From Forever.

Keller talks about his views on EVP in an audio clip that I've paired with a collection of photos from the PHPRS website. None of the photos have been digitally altered, said Moylan, but all include something—from flashes of light to shadows in the perfect silhouette of an unseen human being—that members believe points to the paranormal.