More and more paranormal awards seem to be appearing every year. There are awards for investigators, psychics, podcasts, authors, events, haunted locations, content creators and almost every other part of the paranormal community.

In many ways, this is a positive development. Paranormal researchers and creators often work for years without receiving much recognition from the mainstream. An award can make people feel that their time, effort and passion have finally been noticed.

Winning feels good. It can boost confidence, attract new followers and create opportunities. However, awards can also leave people feeling disappointed, excluded or overlooked. Losing may hurt, and those who were not nominated at all may feel even worse.

Paranormal awards can bring people together, but they can also create competition and resentment in a community that is already divided by strong personalities and different beliefs.

Why Winning Feels So Good

Most people involved in the paranormal world do not earn large amounts of money from their work. Investigators spend their own money travelling to locations and buying equipment. Writers spend months researching books and articles. Podcasters, filmmakers and content creators may devote hundreds of hours to projects without knowing whether anyone will notice.

Because of this, receiving an award can feel deeply personal.

A winner may see the award as proof that their hard work mattered. It can feel like recognition from friends, colleagues and the wider paranormal community. Even a nomination can give someone confidence and encourage them to continue.

Awards can also help smaller creators gain attention. Someone who has never appeared on television or built a large social media following may suddenly reach a new audience. A nomination can introduce people to an investigator, author or podcast they may never have discovered otherwise.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying that recognition. People should be allowed to feel proud of their achievements.

When Losing Feels Personal

The difficulty is that awards create winners and losers.

People may say that being nominated is what matters, but losing can still feel disappointing. A nominee may have spent weeks encouraging supporters to vote, attending events and hoping that their work will be recognised. When another name is announced, it can be difficult not to feel rejected.

This feeling may be especially strong when the winner appears to have a larger following, stronger connections or a better promotional campaign. The person who loses may begin to question whether their work was good enough or whether the result was fair.

Sometimes disappointment turns into anger. People may criticise the winner, accuse organisers of favouritism or argue about voting on social media. Friendships can become strained, particularly when nominees expect people they know to vote for them publicly.

An event designed to celebrate the community can quickly create tension instead.

The People Who Were Never Nominated

Those who are not nominated may feel even more excluded.

A paranormal researcher may have worked quietly for years, supported events, investigated important cases and helped other people in the community. When they see familiar names repeatedly appearing on nomination lists, they may wonder why their own work has been ignored.

This does not always mean that the awards are unfair. Organisers may simply be unaware of certain people or projects. However, being overlooked can still hurt.

The growth of paranormal awards can make this feeling stronger. When there are only one or two award events, not being included may seem unimportant. When new awards appear constantly and the same groups of people continue to receive nominations, others may feel that they are not truly accepted by the community.

Social media can make the situation worse. Winners and nominees naturally share photographs of trophies, certificates and ceremonies. While this is understandable, those who were not nominated may feel as though everyone else is being celebrated except them.

Awards are supposed to recognise people, but they can unintentionally make others feel invisible.

Are There Too Many Paranormal Awards?

The increasing number of paranormal awards raises another question: when does recognition lose its meaning?

we are paranormal magazine predict more awards to start in the future, from different teams and people.

New awards can create more opportunities for different people to be celebrated. They can highlight local investigators, independent creators and specialist areas that larger events may overlook.

However, when awards appear too frequently, audiences may struggle to understand which ones are respected and how they differ from each other. Some awards may have clear judging standards, while others may be little more than online popularity polls.

There is also a risk that awards become promotional tools. Organisers may use nominations to attract attention, sell tickets or encourage nominees to advertise the event to their followers. In some cases, winners may be expected to purchase trophies, certificates or promotional packages.

None of this automatically makes an award dishonest, but the process should be transparent.

People should know who organised the awards, how nominations were chosen, who judged the categories and whether money or sponsorship played any part in the process.

Popularity Does Not Always Mean Quality

Public voting can make people feel involved, but it often rewards the largest audience rather than the strongest work.

A well-known investigator with thousands of followers will usually have an advantage over someone producing careful research for a much smaller audience. A popular podcast may receive more votes than a lesser-known programme, even when the smaller production is more original or better researched.

This can turn awards into a test of promotional ability.

Nominees may feel pressure to post constant reminders, contact friends for votes and compete for attention. Those who dislike self-promotion may be placed at a disadvantage, while highly visible personalities dominate the results.

Popularity is not necessarily a bad thing, especially in categories based on entertainment or audience choice. The problem comes when a popularity award is presented as proof of expertise, accuracy or credibility.

An Award Is Not Proof of the Paranormal

Winning a paranormal award does not prove that ghosts exist, that a psychic has genuine abilities or that an investigation has produced scientifically reliable evidence.

It only means that a panel, organisation or group of voters chose to recognise a person or project.

A documentary can deserve an award for storytelling without proving every paranormal claim it includes. An investigator can be recognised for professionalism without having captured undeniable evidence of the afterlife. A psychic may be popular with audiences without having demonstrated their abilities under controlled conditions.

The phrase “award-winning” can sound authoritative, particularly when used in advertising. Audiences may assume the award was based on independent testing or expert judgment when it may have been decided through public votes or a small judging panel.

Awards can recognise contribution, presentation, entertainment and community work. They should not be treated as scientific validation.

How Awards Can Be Made Fairer

A responsible paranormal awards programme should clearly explain what each category is rewarding.

Categories for entertainment, research, community service and audience popularity should not all be judged in the same way. Public voting may be suitable for a “People’s Choice” award, while categories involving historical accuracy or investigative standards may require independent judges.

Organisers should also publish their nomination process and explain how conflicts of interest are handled. Judges should declare friendships, business relationships or financial connections with nominees.

It may also help to rotate judges and create opportunities for new names to be considered. Awards should not become closed circles where the same people nominate, judge and celebrate one another every year.

Most importantly, organisers and nominees should remember that awards affect real people. Celebrating winners does not require treating everyone else as unimportant.

Recognition Without Rejection

Paranormal awards can do a great deal of good. They can reward hard work, introduce audiences to new creators and give people a sense of belonging.

Winning can be a wonderful experience, and people should be able to celebrate it.

At the same time, losing can feel painful. Being left off the nomination list can make someone feel ignored, especially when they have devoted years to the paranormal community. As more awards appear, these emotions may become an increasingly important part of the conversation.

A trophy should not determine the value of a person’s work. Some of the most thoughtful researchers, ethical investigators and talented creators may never receive an award. That does not mean their contributions matter less.

The best paranormal awards will celebrate achievement without creating unnecessary division. They will recognise winners while respecting nominees, non-nominees and the wider community.

Awards should be a moment of appreciation, not a measure of who belongs.

Examples of Past and New Paranormal Awards

This is not a complete list, but examples of paranormal and paranormal-related awards include:

• GPN Paranormal Awards — recognising paranormal investigators, researchers, teams, creators, locations and community contributors.
• ParaPod Podcast Awards — awards covering paranormal podcasts about ghosts, UFOs, cryptids, psychics and other unexplained subjects.
• Higgypop Paranormal Entertainment Awards — public-voted awards held between 2018 and 2020 for paranormal television, investigators, online creators, locations and community contributions.
• Paranormal Experience Provider of the Year — a category presented through the regional Prestige Awards.
• The Golden Orb Awards — a newly introduced 2026 awards programme organised by NOX Project cic. The awards aim to recognise ethical, evidence-focused and meaningful contributions to paranormal investigation, research, innovation, storytelling and community support. Unlike a public popularity vote, submissions are assessed by anonymous independent judges using a points-based system. The first awards presentation is planned for September 2026, meaning it is an upcoming award rather than a past ceremony. EXTRA NOTE: You can also self nominate for the Golden orbs. So even if no one nominates you and feel like you would appreciate the recognition and fit the given categories, self nomination is perfectly acceptable. Also the ticket options to be able to come to the awards are very heavily subsidised for finalists. If they cant afford it they have the option to attend the 45 minutes where the awards are given out completely free!

Paranromal Magazines Ending Statement.

This article is not intended to bash paranormal awards or criticise their organisers, nominees or winners. infact we want you to check out these above awards and take part in the communitys, Awards can provide valuable recognition, create positive memories and help hardworking people reach a wider audience. Winning is understandably something to celebrate, and being nominated can also be a meaningful achievement.

Paranormal awards are currently attracting interest and discussion within the media and the wider paranormal community. With established ceremonies continuing and new awards such as the Golden Orb Awards being introduced, an article examining both the positive and negative sides of these events seems timely and fitting.

Discussing accreditation, judging, public voting, transparency and the emotional effects of winning or losing does not mean that paranormal awards have no value. It simply helps readers understand what the awards represent—and what they do not.

Winners should be proud of the recognition they receive. At the same time, those who lose or are not nominated should remember that an unofficial trophy does not determine the quality of their work, their credibility or their place within the paranormal community.

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