There’s no mistaking that we can talk to the dead. Many of us find ourselves holding one-sided conversations with loved ones that have passed on. Every time I use my deceased grandmother’s favorite mixing bowl, I tell her what “we’re” making in it. Whether she can hear me or not is a question that no one can answer, but I like to imagine her right there with me, as if we’re cooking together like we used to when she was still alive.

Now, what if I told you that some people claim the dead can talk back, and actually be recorded on tape doing so? It’s called Electronic Voice Phenomena, or EVP, and for every skeptic there seem to be ten firm believers. Those believers say that recording EVP is not only possible, but relatively easy as well – something that just about anyone with a few simple and inexpensive pieces of equipment can do. The Internet is full of actual EVP examples, some of which are positively bone-chilling. But are they for real? Here, an explanation of exactly what EVP is … and how you can listen to the dead for yourself.

What is EVP?

In a nutshell, it’s a recording of a voice – or what sounds like one, anyway – with no apparent physical source. True believers contend that the sounds come from some sort of paranormal being, i.e. ghosts, but skeptics argue that the sounds either come from television or CB radio interference or are simply clusters of static and white noise that are imagined to be something they’re not. So how can people believe that a spirit – an entity lacking in vocal cords – can actually have a voice? The theory goes that EVP is not actually a physical “voice” so much as a magnetic image imprinted onto a tape; it’s the energy that a spirit brings and leaves behind being picked up, not the voice itself.

According to Sara Estep, who in 1982 founded the American Association: Electronic Voice Phenomena, there are three categories for rating EVP: Class C, where the voices are whispery and nearly unintelligible; Class B, where the voices are a bit louder and clearer but in lower tones and still difficult to understand; and Class A, where the voices are perfectly clear, can be heard without headphones, and transferred onto other tapes.

The voices are only heard upon playback of the tape, not while the taping itself is going on, and are normally limited to one or two words or short phrases. They may speak in a variety of different languages, some grammatically incorrect, much like living people do. Some of the examples available are clearly distinguishable as men, women, or children; others are not. Regardless, they’re all interesting to listen to.