Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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Haunts are tricky game mechanics. It helps a lot to be prepared. The best place to start is by reading the rules in the Gamemastery Guide (PRD link).
Do you have specific questions?
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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People often compare haunts to traps, although there are some important differences.
One is that the primary effect of the haunt is a mind-affecting fear effect based on some spell. Often the spell is not normally a fear spell. For example, a haunt created by someone burning to death might use the Fireball spell for a basis. Since the haunt is mind-affecting, a zombie (or paladin) wouldn't take any damage, and neither would it set the building on fire again. But it's also still fire damage, so a druid with Resist Fire might come out barely singed. And the saving throw type doesn't change, so a rogue with Evasion might avoid it altogether. This is in the Gamemastery Guide, but not something many people know.
Second, there's a difference between diffusing the haunt with positive energy, and ending it. Diffusing the haunt before it goes off prevents all effects. Unfortunately, that also prevents the "show"; haunts are often used as a means to convey some of the story behind and adventure. By preventing it from going off, you're also missing out on plot exposition.
Note that you can only suppress a haunt before it goes off; the rules are quiet on what you can do against a haunt with continuing effects. Leave the area and wait for it to subside, then come back and try again perhaps.
Permanently destroying the haunt is often complicated, and requires actions listed in the "Destruction" entry of the haunt. It tends to involve laying to rest unquiet spirits, righting wrongs, or often enough, beating the adventure's BBEG.
Detecting a haunt before it goes off is not easy. You can use spells like Detect Undead but people rarely do that. You can't search for haunts like you can search for traps. You get just one chance: when the haunt goes off there's a Surprise check. Beat that Perception DC and get initiative 11+ and leave the Area of Effect.
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Note that you can only suppress a haunt before it goes off; the rules are quiet on what you can do against a haunt with continuing effects. Leave the area and wait for it to subside, then come back and try again perhaps.
Technically the persistent haunt will subside when it no longer has a target.
Some haunts are persistent, and their immediate effects continue beyond the surprise round into actual full rounds. Persistent haunts continue to trigger their haunt effects once per round on their initiative rank until destroyed or they no longer have a target.
For simplicity's sake I have run and seen this run as being able to continue to 'damage' the haunt after it activates and reducing it to zero hit points as neutralizing the haunt until it resets.
Detecting a haunt before it goes off is not easy. You can use spells like Detect Undead but people rarely do that.
Detect alignment spells of the appropriate type also specifically work, and these spells give the user a notice check with a -4 penalty.
