"Then don't call it the Witch House anymore," said Eric Fraize, the self-proclaimed "Witch King of Salem," who represented the paranormal group at the meeting. "Call it the 'Jonathan Corwin House.' You can't have it both ways. ...”

A similar spirit search proved to be good business for Salem's landmark Hawthorne Hotel, which was visited by the reality TV show "Ghost Hunters" more than a year ago.

"When people call to make reservations, we ask how they heard about the hotel," said Juli Lederhaus, general manager of the Hawthorne, which opened in 1925. "Lots of people tell us they saw us on 'Ghost Hunters.'"

For the record, "Ghost Hunters" failed to find any ghosts in the Hawthorne Hotel.

Tom Dalton writes for The Salem, Mass., News.