The floor creaks, there’s a chill in the air and you’re almost certain you’re not alone. It’s that time of year when we tend to spook ourselves with thoughts of spirits, ghosts and ghouls. So we enlisted five Torontonians who search for the spooky to find out what it’s all really about.

MIKI CORAZZA, fourth generation psychic & medium
When did you discover your gift?
Around age six when, instead of dolls, I would play with people that no one else could see except my mother and grandmother, who were also mediums.
How does a crystal ball work?
It is a psychic tool that conducts vibration and vision. The client touches one side, and the reader the other, so we are the only ones seeing shapes and scenes.
Misconceptions:
We are always reading people’s minds, we always have a message of doom and we are 100 per cent accurate. I’m only human, and nothing is perfect, but I will give you the best 98 per cent.

PAUL SILLIPHANT, paranormal investigator
How has a spirit made its presence obvious to you?
I’ve been touched, heard messages, had objects thrown at me and I’ve seen apparitions. I’m lucky and honoured that what is out there trusts me.
What buildings do you still want to investigate?
The Gooderham and Worts Distillery, the ROM, Gibraltar Point Lighthouse and a personal location is the Guild Inn in Scarborough.
Misconception:
There is a difference between a paranormal investigator and a ghost hunter. We aren’t just looking for an experience. We look for evidence to try and prove or disprove if it is paranormal activity.

URSULA DARBY, psychic medium
When did you discover your gift?
I started seeing and hearing people in spirit from age five, often being woken in the night, and their visits have not stopped to this day.
What is a reading like?
I give evidence such as names, dates, personality characteristics, your relationship to them, how and where they spend their time with you in the present moment. I have spoken nine languages during readings, though I only actually speak English.
Where can people meet you?
I will be delivering messages from spirits to an audience at U of T, Oct. 24. 

SARAH DELANY, wiccan
When did you first hear about pagan witchcraft?
Teenage girl in the ’90s, what can I say? But I also found a book in my boyfriend’s mom’s room, started reading it, and it just made sense.
Misconceptions:
We do not worship the devil and we can’t turn children into mice.
How important is Halloween?
Oct. 31 is the Sabbat we call Samhain. It presents an opportunity to celebrate the cycle of death and rebirth. This is the time when the veil between our world and the spirit realm is thin, so it’s the perfect time to make contact with the dead. It’s kind of our New Year’s. 

PAUL PACIFIC, mentalist and mind reader
What is a mentalist?
I do stage shows, I read people's minds, I do a little bit of hypnosis and I influence people's thoughts. I often work in the same venues as psychic fairs. 
Memorable moment from a performance:
One time I did a show for a Japanese company and it didn't occur to me that many of the employees were Japanese and couldn't speak English. When I have the audience think of a word, I prefer if they think in English. So in this case, I had one participant think of a picture of a flower on a table and I mentally perceived that instead. That was a good way around the language barrier. 
Biggest misconception?
Some people think that what I do is the work of the devil and that I sold my soul to do this type of thing. This has nothing to do with any dogma whatsoever, it's just fun!