Sunday, August 29, 2010

Why alcohol or drugs are harmful for investigations



Abel Garcia

Tampa Bay Paranormal Examiner

August 26th, 2010 3:37 pm ET

Problems related to alcohol and drugs

The consumption of alcohol can lead to severe problems such as alcohol abuse or psychosis (hallucinations) in which can be negative for investigators or researchers (Larson, 2010). A person that is intoxicated or in withdraw can suffer the effects of psychosis even 12 hours after the last alcoholic beverage (Larson, 2010). According to the World Health Organization it is estimated that 76 million people in the world suffer from an alcohol disorder (About Alcohol Abuse, NA).

The abuse or use of amphetamines and cocaine lead to a drug induced psychosis which last a few days (Psychosissucks, 2006). The drug’s amphetamines and cocaine is characterized by hallucinations, delusions, memory loss and confusion (Psychosissucks, 2006). Other drugs like marijuana leave a person vulnerable to psychosis depending on the abuse or vulnerability of that person (Psychosissucks, 2006). The use of drugs leaves a person vulnerable to a withdraw psychosis in which the person will hallucinate while in withdrawal.

Remaining in control while investigating or researching

The use of alcohol or drugs while in a highly persuasive environment such as paranormal investigations or research sites leave a person extremely vulnerable to “Power of Suggestion”. While under the influence an investigator is at a higher chance of falling victim to the “Power of Suggestion” due to being impaired. The investigator or researchers always need to maintain a clear state of mind to make accurate judgment calls, be able to logically collect data and maintain creditable collection methods.

Reference

About Alcohol Abuse (NA) Alcohol Abuse Statistics, Retrieved August 24, 2010 from www.about-alcohol-abuse.com

ehealthforum (NA) Why Does Alcohol Cause Hallucinations Even Hours Later?, Retrieved August 24, 2010 from eheathforum


Larson, M.F. DO (2010, July 19) Alcohol-Related Psychosis, Retrieved August 24, 2010 from http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/289848-overview

Psychosissucks (2006) Substance use and Psychosis, Retrieved August 24, 2010 from http://www.psychosissucks.ca/epi/substanceuseandpsych.cfm

Saturday, August 28, 2010

'Ghost train' hunter killed by train in North Carolina



By Phil Gast, CNNAugust 28, 2010 2:38 p.m. EDT

Read more about this story from CNN affiliates WSOC and WCNC.

(CNN) -- The facts: On August 27, 1891, a passenger train jumped the tracks on a tall bridge near Statesville, North Carolina, sending seven rail cars below and about 30 people to their deaths.

The legend: On the wreck's anniversary, the sounds of screeching wheels, screaming passengers and a horrific crash might still be heard. You might also see a uniformed man with a gold watch.

Shortly before 3 a.m. Friday, on the 119th anniversary of the Bostian Bridge train tragedy and at about the same time, between 10 and 12 ghost hunters were on that approximately 300-foot long span.

They were hoping to hear the sounds of the crash, and perhaps see something.

Instead, a real Norfolk-Southern train -- three engines and one car -- turned the corner as it headed east to Statesville, about 35 miles north of Charlotte, authorities said.

The terrified "amateur ghost watchers" ran away, back toward Statesville, trying to cover the nearly 150 feet to safety, said Iredell County Sheriff's Office Capt. Darren Campbell.

All but two made it.

Christopher Kaiser, 29, of Charlotte, was struck and killed, said Campbell.

A woman who witnesses say Kaiser pushed to safety fell about 30 to 40 feet from the trestle and was injured. Her name and condition were not known Friday night. She was being treated at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

"There was no way out, said Campbell. "They almost made it."

The engineer of the train, which was traveling at its customary 35 to 40 mph, hit the horn and "stopped as fast as he could," Campbell said.

Campbell, 38, is from the area and has heard all the stories, although he said he knows of no one who has ever seen or heard the "ghost train."

On the 50th anniversary of the Bostian Bridge incident, a woman said she witnessed it all again. In 1991, hawkers sold T-shirts and other memorabilia, and there were an estimated 150 people waiting for the train, according to the Charlotte Observer.

There are occasional reports of railroad crossing arms dropping without cause, Campbell said.

The ghost trip on the anniversary has become an annual tradition of sorts.

A woman who did not want to be identified, but who was part of the group of onlookers, told CNN affiliate WCNC, "We were there looking for what people say happened. You hear the train wreck or hear people screaming. We were just watching."

Kaiser's mother said the family was too distraught to talk about the incident, WCNC said.

Campbell said most of the ghost hunters, who were from out of town, have been interviewed. Many fled because they were trespassing on railroad property, he said. Campbell said there were no patrols near the bridge early Friday.

Although the investigation is continuing, Campbell said the incident appears to be an accident.

At least two blogs that cover the phenomena, N.C. Ghost Guide and CreepyNC.com, detail the 1891 wreck's legend. While accounts vary somewhat, the man with the gold watch reportedly was first seen on the first anniversary.

According to CreepyNC.com, Hugh K. Linster was a baggage master for the Asheville-bound train that crashed into Third Creek that August of 1891.

"Hugh Linster never made it to retirement," the blog reads. "His body was found in the wreck having been killed immediately upon impact with a broken neck."

One year later, a group of people at the bridge said they saw a man in a railroad uniform, holding a watch.

He vanished before their eyes, legend has it.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Brumder Mansion



This case report comes from Wisconsin Paranormal

  • Location: Sturgeon Bay, WI
  • Date: 01.29.2010
  • Time: 21:50:00 – 01:39:10
  • Weather: (outdoors) 9ºF (indoors) 72ºF
  • Investigation Type: Residential / Indoor
  • Investigators: Jay, Allen, Jackie, Katie E.
  • Classification: Confidential

Details: WPI was called on January 19, 2010 by client who was very concerned about what was happening in the place of residence. We were asked to investigate as soon as possible. Client was looking for some kind of validation for the unexplained things that was being experienced.

Claims: A black mist shadow (referred to as the shadow man) pushed client up the stairs and utters deep whispers throughout the residence. The shadow moves up and down the stairs. Also the shadow resembles a dog, but without any eyes, nose or mouth. Client gets nudged/poked on the back, right side of the waist. The friend of client also saw the shadow mass. Faulty electronics and the kitchen sinks water coming out scalding hot.


Findings: WPI did have a couple personal experiences that remain questionable, still, we did not capture any paranormal evidence in our photos, DVR cameras, roaming HD camera or Digital Voice Recorders. The personal experiences were not good enough evidence to use in the report.


Conclusion: WPI feels that with the lack of data gathered, this residence is hard to validate any claims of paranormal activity. WPI has scheduled a follow up investigation in March ’10 to investigate longer hours.


RELATED POST: ClICK HERE

Get to Know your Ghosts - Residual Haunt



Article from: taps.com


Written by Jason Hawes

The most common style of a human haunting is a residual haunting. A residual haunting is like having an impression made in time. The entity may seem to be lost in a time warp. The spirit really isn't even there, only the energy is.

In most cases people may here screaming or crying due to the violence factor that may have caused this traumatic event to happen. People may also hear the sounds of footsteps walking on the stairs or through hallways.

Typically the repeated event is whatever the person who left the energy behind did often or an significant event that they remember happening to them. It is almost like it the energy has become part of the dwelling that they once occupied on an every day basis. These haunting styles always seem to happen in the same place every time.

There is usually very little you can do on this style of a haunting except make the family who is having these problems understand what is going on and explain to them that they are in no danger due to the energy not being controlled by the person who left it behind.

There is no actual entity present in this style of haunting, and the energy that was left behind is just like a video playing the same scene over and over again. Even though it is not aware that people are there, it can still be a scary and emotional situation to the people who have to deal with it happening in their home.

It may happen every night or every week or even every year. It is the most frequent haunting investigators will come across in their cases. An investigator will tell you there is nothing they can do about this style haunting and they are correct. People need to either except what happens and learn to deal with it, or move on.

Review: Attached on para-x.com

I listened to Attached for the first time last night, and I was very impressed.

The show airs on www.para-x.com, and I highly recommend it!

The show informs you about what things can attach itself to you and how to handle those situations.

Last night's show was on Elementals, and I found it very inspiring. So much so that I am going to work on an article about Elementals.



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Friday, August 20, 2010

Ghost Hunting Etiquette 101


This report comes from www.yourghoststories.com



Article by special contributor Danielle Lee

The image and perception of a ghost has taken on so many attributes and illusions over the centuries that it is difficult to distinguish the difference as to what is and what isn't a true haunting.

For some, a ghostly image may be that of a glowing translucent figure that ominously floats from one room of a house to the next, apparently searching for something or someone, unaware of their own demise. For others, poltergeists are demonic or evil entities that spend their eternal days and nights thinking of ways to torture, frighten and manipulate the innocent human beings that happened upon unfortunate territories. The notion is foolish to skeptics who think that a phantom could be nothing more than a person covered with a white sheet, moaning and rattling some chains to disturb the naive and imaginative….

There are many misconceptions about ghosts and the afterlife. Many perceived ghostly activities can be explained quite readily by logic or reason. Residual energy is a definite contending culprit when deciding whether or not there is a spirit prevailing in the area. There are also many other explanations that need to be explored before determining whether a house, location or person, for that matter, are haunted.

Ghost hunters are brave, intellectual and pioneering paranormal scientists and explorers, they courageously enter the domain of a suspected paranormal haunting. They explore locations armed with various technical and instrumental elements, such as cameras, thermometers, EMF detectors, voice recorders and more. Although these well-intentioned individuals are honorably seeking the perplexing truths to the existence of the afterlife, some are lacking knowledge and etiquette in a few essential and spiritual areas.

The first and most important step of ghost hunting is diagnosis. Is it or isn't it a real ghost? Many questions must be asked of the witnesses to determine if the strange activity or experiences are truly those of a ghost. Residual energy haunting can be determined simply by asking the homeowner, tenant or witnesses if the paranormal experience consisted only of feelings and emotional sensations. Residual energy does not manifest physical consciousness, malevolence or aggression.

Reasonable reasons for any odd activity. High concentrations of magnetic fluctuations due to ley lines or man-made technology can create false readings on instruments, as well as alter human perception.

In the event a real haunting, a determination must be made whether actual physical or communicative contact has been made. True ghosts will try to the best of their abilities to make contact of some kind, whether it be by moving items around the area or attempting to address the living while they are in a partially awakened or sleep state. Apparitions, orbs and audible sounds are all common forms of a ghostly presence trying to make themselves known. Often, they will become frustrated or provoked into more assertive attempts to make their points obvious. By poking, pushing or scratching, they prove they do not wish to be ignored.

It would be wise to obtain information pertaining to the history of the home and it's former residents as to better understand what type of activities, negative or positive may have gone on in the home. Better yet, an honorable and experienced empathic psychic medium can be a very valuable asset to the ghost hunting team. These individuals are specifically tuned into paranormal anomalies and would be able to distinguish what the spirit wants and needs more effectively.

Once the ghost hunter has determined whether or not it is in fact a true haunting, the next step is to attempt to make contact. Almost all ghosts have a message to get across. The messages are often relatively clear. The most common of messages are either 'hello' , 'help' or 'get out'! All of which the ghost hunter or home owner needs to acknowledge and value. If not, the entity will simply continue voicing it's displeasure with your presence.

One way to attempt to make contact with the wayward soul is to simply speak to it aloud and then allow them to respond. Since we humans cannot usually hear their response, a tape recorder is a good way to capture electric voice phenomena or EVP. Due to the high density of our dimension, the living are often unable to audibly distinguish voices or sounds created in another dimension that is less dense. An ordinary cassette recorder is somehow able to archive a spirit's voice to manifest. This auditory strategy may support the living and the dead in conversation.

Etiquette is of the most utmost importance when physically and verbally approaching a deceased human being. No matter who officially pays the mortgage and holds the land title, the spirit believes that this is their territory. A ghost hunter, and home owner, must be respectful towards the ghost and their predicament or the investigator is bound to get an adverse reaction or none at all. It's important to be polite and verbally state your purpose immediately upon approaching the location. Asking the deceased individual's permission to enter the premises or to take photographs is a great way to show them they are being respected.

One has to anticipate what the ghost may be feeling. They are obviously confused, scared, lonely or defensive. An example of how best to learn to appreciate and anticipate the spirits feelings and reactions is that of a frightened animal. If you approach a confused and terrified cat aggressively and abruptly, what can you expect? Well, obviously the petrified feline will either run away or attempt to hurt you in defense. It's their natural and instinctive reaction to your assumed invasive presence. An animal has no way of knowing your innocent intentions because they are incapable of understanding or reading your mind.

A ghost isn't much different, the lines of communication are crossed as it is and they don't have the full understanding of where they are or what's happened to them. They're simply reacting with instinct when wondering why this person with strange instruments is intruding in their home!

In saying that, we mustn't underestimate their intelligence either, we must simply try to understand and gently coax them into submission. Your advance and attitude towards them is the most important aspect of the experience. Fear is also a factor, if your disposition is that of terror, panic or hysterical behavior, they may feed off of that energy. They can themselves become afraid and unresponsive to your requests.

In their realm, they have very little control of their existence. They wander aimlessly and confused through a foggy existence, wondering what to do next. A human soul can sometimes be tormented by memories of a terrible past. They may be reliving a painful and traumatic event over and over. So when someone comes into their fragile world, poking and prodding, they may lash out to protect themselves. Or worse yet, they may be the type that feels empowered by the fact that they can manipulate or control a living person again. This is usually when a haunting can become dangerous and terribly frightening.

One of the most important things to remember is that this literally used to be a flesh and blood human being. A being's personality, as well as your own, will continue into the next realm even though your tangible body does not. These entities, when alive, had families, jobs, memories and emotions. They had loved ones and were loved by others. Quite distressingly, some of these souls are bound to this limbo for a potentially horrible and tragic reason. Try to have empathy, consideration and compassion for the state that they are in.

A good point to remember when beginning your ghost hunting adventure, you'll catch more flies with honey. So enter their home with respect, gratitude and a polite disposition and you may end up with a very cooperative spirit, hence some very good photographs.

Copyright Danielle Lee 2008 All Rights Reserved

Related Posts:

Investigation Safety


Article from: taps.com



Written by Steve Bartnicki

I am going to relate a story to you that happened to me and why everyone needs a safety plan to protect themselves during investigations. Now I am not talking about protecting yourself from otherworldly things. I am speaking of protecting yourself from the living, breathing, bad elements we could confront anywhere in today's society while on an investigation.

While Janet and I served as Regional Directors for another paranormal group, we conducted an investigation in Portsmouth, VA. The investigation itself was completed with no problems. It was about 1 am and the team made plans to get a late night bite to eat. It was raining so I decided to go get the truck and pickup my wife so she didn't get soaked. I started to meander to my vehicle with 2 other members, while everyone else was still standing outside the residence. We crossed the street to the parking lot.

Now I will mention that Portsmouth does have its "seedier" areas. This was not one of them. As we reached the parking lot, the woman who was walking with us overturned her equipment case. The other male and I stopped to help her but he said, "I got it Steve" and I proceeded to my truck which was about 25 yards away. As I rounded the vehicle next to mine, I looked and saw someone sitting in my truck.

Adrenaline is a funny thing. My only thought was that someone was in my vehicle trying to steal it. To say I became angry is an understatement! I yelled some "four letter" explicative’s at the culprit and proceeded to rip him out of the vehicle. The first time the thought went through my mind that he might have a gun was when I had him by his collar. That was way too late and if he did have a gun, I probably wouldn't be here writing this today. What he did have was a knife.

Instead of backing off when I saw the knife, my thought was there isn't enough room between these two trucks. So...I started to drag him at arms length to a more open part of the parking lot. I yelled to the other male to call the police. The culprit was swinging his knife wildly trying to turn me into a pin cushion. Why he didn't just stab me in the arm, I will never know. As I was dragging him, I stepped on a ketchup pack (which I didn't find out until later why I slipped) and between the ketchup pack and the rain I hit the asphalt.

Thankfully, when I yelled to my team member he sent the female member back to the residence to call the police while he came to help me. He arrived just as I fell and when the culprit saw that there were now two of us...he fled. I am eternally grateful to Terry who has since moved on to DC Metro Area Ghost Watchers (DCMAG). He probably saved my life and I had just met Terry for the first time that night!

Now of course everyone ran to the parking to make sure everything was okay. People were saying, "Boy Steve you were brave." NO...STEVE WAS STUPID! I could have been killed! The police eventually arrived and took statements. We investigated the truck for missing items, cleaned the broken glass out and discovered that the thief had caused some pretty good damage to the steering column and we couldn't start the truck.

Everyone left us standing there to go eat, including this particular group's Director, except for...you guessed it Terry... and also his friend (and now ours), Al Tyas who now serves as the Director for DCMAG. They even graciously offered us money for the tow truck if we didn't have enough. Had Terry and Al not stayed behind and then drove us home behind the tow truck, we would probably still be standing there in Portsmouth.

So where did we all go wrong in this tale...

  • #1: We did not all leave together. This wouldn't have stopped the thief from breaking into my vehicle, but my guess is if he saw 10 people walking toward the parking lot...he would have bolted on his own accord!
  • #2: I should never have approached the vehicle. So what if he stole the truck, that is why we have insurance.
  • #3: I found out later that even though we weren't in a "seedier" area of Portsmouth, there was one about 3 blocks away. Make sure you know your investigation location. I know this isn't always possible...but my recommendation would be to do your best. I would not have parked were I did had I known about the rift-raft located just a few blocks away.
  • #4: Like they say in that navy flight movie with Goose and Maverick...never, ever leave your wingman! If for some reason, something unfortunate does happen. Stay with your teammates! Don't leave them stranded and hope someone else will help them out. This could be a simple as a vehicle breakdown. Ever been on a long dark road and your car quits? Not fun if it is just you! Best said...Put yourself in their shoes.

I would again like to give my heartfelt thanks to Al and Terry for staying with us through the whole ordeal. I, also, hope everyone can learn from the stupid mistakes made that night in Portsmouth, VA and prevent something like that from happening again. If your group doesn't have safety guidelines...MAKE THEM NOW!

On a lighter note...there were two known psychics at the investigation. You'd think they would have seen it coming :-). Happy hunting and take care Y'all!

Review of Positively Psychic on Para-x.com

This weeks episode of Positively Psychic on www.para-x.com was amazing.

The guest on the show is an expert at reading Runes.

As part of the show, I had a Rune reading, and the answers given to me were right on the money!

The hosts of the show, sadly are going to be leaving para-x, to form their own network. I will post more details as they are made avaiable.

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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Paranormal Insight Internet Show August Schedule



18th John Forster - Haunted Cornwall
22nd Steve Parsons - Parascience
29th Ruth Deery - Kilarney paranormal

A

These shows stand to be great so please come show your support and listen live on www.liveparanormal.com

Every sunday 5pm till 7pm eastern tats 10pm till 12 am uk time

Monday, August 9, 2010

Case Report: Historic Building in Wausau


Here’s a case report from WPRS. To read the case report, please click on the link.

Historic Building Case Report

Case Report: Shepherd & Schaller Sporting Goods


Here’s a case report from WPRS. To read the case report, please click on the link.

Sporting Goods Case Report


RELATED POST:
Report # 2

Photographic Analysis: Orbs - Lens Flare


Article from: taps.com

Written by Randy Madera


Flare has been the bane of photographers since the first days of photography. Reflection of light can create many circular flares. However, it isn't light reflecting off an object, it is the reflection of light within the lens itself.


If light enters a lens at certain angles (these angles are dependant on the type of lens being used), it can bounce between the various elements of the lens instead of passing cleanly through them, causing bright spots we know as flare. The more complex the lens (for example, a zoom lens is more complex than a fixed focal length, or "prime" lens), the more lens elements it has. Some lenses can have eight or more elements within them. The more elements a lens has, the more potential it has for light to bounce around between the elements, causing flare. If the lens is well-manufactured, it will be less prone to flare than a cheaper, more poorly-manufactured lens. Expensive lenses are often made with low-dispersion glass and various types of coatings to reduce flare and other aberrations of light. This is why professional photographers are willing to pay high (even exorbitant) prices for high-quality lenses. The small-diameter lenses used in consumer and prosumer-grade cameras (both film and digital) are particularly vulnerable to flare despite having fewer elements than a professional lens. Because they have a smaller diameter, they can't deal with light from certain angles as well as a large-diameter professional lens can.

Flare can appear as one or two spots, and they may not appear to be emanating from any particular source because the source may be outside the picture frame. Also, different lens elements add their own color to different flare spots within the same picture (usually blues, reds, oranges, yellows and greens). This is due to the composition of individual lens elements and/or impurities in them.

Flare often appears as semi-transparent, but can also appear as fairly solid. If the camera moves as the photo is being taken, a solid spot of flare can appear to have a blurred trail behind it like "someone just threw a ping-pong ball across the screen." Whether flare appears solid or semi-transparent again depends on the type of lens and camera angle. Even the slightest shift in camera angle can make a flare disappear and reappear. That's why "orbs" can appear in one shot and disappear in the next, even when the photographer doesn't think he changed camera angles.


Dust can also appear to be orbs in photos with even a small amount of backlighting. The backlighting illuminates the dust, making it noticeable in the frame. Although dust particles are not round, they are always extremely out of focus, making them appear round. The "roundness" comes from the round aperture of the diaphragm, which controls the amount of light striking the focal plane from the lens. Interestingly, some video cameras have diamond-shaped or other odd-shaped diaphragms and can give dust or flare a diamond or odd-shaped appearance. I have seen many videos of purported UFOs with a flattened diamond shape that are obviously diaphragm images. Auto-focusing lenses are notorious for producing these images as they "hunt" back and forth trying to lock focus on a distant object. The flattened diamond shape really makes the object (often the sun, a star, or an aircraft) appear to have a "flying saucer" shape, although the points of the diamond never change their orientation (that's the tipoff).

As far as orbs being "collections of energy," I doubt that film or digital cameras can record energy other than visible light. If they can, then energy should appear in a lot of everyday photos since we're surrounded by energy (electrical, solar, etc.). Unless modified, cameras can only record visible light. Visible light is actually a narrow band of energy on the electromagnetic spectrum. That spectrum includes infrared, ultraviolet, radio waves, microwaves, x-rays, gamma rays and other cosmic rays. You have cameras that can detect infrared (heat) energy, but these are modified to record that type of energy. The same applies to radio-telescopes, x-ray radiography, and other devices that are specially-built to detect those types of energy. But regular cameras, like our eyes, can only detect the small band of energy in the visible light spectrum.

I hope this has added a little more to the knowledge of photographically-induced orbs. Bottom line is, I haven't seen anything yet on your show that I haven't seen in the hundreds of thousands (maybe even millions) of photos I've examined in my 32-year career. That does not mean, however, that we will never capture something of paranormal significance. Every photo contains a vast amount of data that can be analyzed. The trick is to know how to analyze the photo and recognize something "unusual."

Ghost Hunting Southern Style August Event



Time: August 14 · 10:00pm - 11:30pm

Location: www.paraxvision.com

We will have a special guest Dan Guthrie from Pampa Paranormal on the show this Sat August 14, 2010 at 10pm CST. Dan has a great team and a lot of knowledge to share with us and all of you so we hope you will tune in with us via internet at www.paraxvision.com.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Ruth's show on liveparanormal.com



liveparanormal.com

I give Ruth's show..........

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Para X Radio Schedule



Here's the Para X Radio Schedule.

Schedule

Review of Paranormal Insight show on liveparanormal.com

Live Paranormal

I give Paranormal Insight........



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Local haunts - Frank Lloyd Wrights Taliesin House



August 6, 12:40 PM Central Wisconsin Paranormal Examiner Kathie Kessler

Frank Lloyd Wright, one of America's premier architects, was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin on June 8, 1867. He attended Madison High School and his summers were spent on his Uncles farm in Spring Green. This is when he first began to realize his dream of becoming an architect. In 1885 he left Madison without finishing school and went to work for Allan Conover, the Dean of the University of Wisconsin's Engineering Dept.

Wright had one main influence, Louis Sullivan and went to work for him. While working for Sullivan he met and married Catherine Tobin and the two moved to Oak Park, Illinois, where Wright built the family home and eventually raised five children.

In 1909 after eighteen years in Oak Park, he left his home and moved to Germany with a woman named Mamah Borthwich Cheney, when they returned in 1911 they moved to Spring Green to claim land that was left to him by his family.

In Spring Green, he constructed Taliesen, which means “Shining Brow” or “Radiant Brow”, in his family's native Welsh language. The house was positioned on a hill that was a favorite spot of his as a child.

Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney moved into Taliesen shortly after Christmas in 1911. Mamah was said to be a very headstrong woman and often fired servants for trivial offenses. This is what is said to have happened to a manservant from Barbados named Julian Carlton, whom Wright had hired just two months earlier. On August 15, 1914 while Wright was in Chicago completing Midway Gardens, Carlton returned to the house with a vengeance.

Carlton poured gasoline around the dining rooms where Mrs. Cheney and her children were having lunch. He set fire to the rooms and then ran in with a hatchet and killed seven of the nine people present, including Mrs. Cheney, her two children, John and Martha; Thomas Brunker, the foreman; Emil Brodelle, a draftsman; David Lindblom, a landscape gardener; and Ernest Weston, the son of the carpenter William Weston. Carlton survived by hiding in the unlit fireplace but died in jail six weeks later.

Firefighters took the burned and dying victims to a cottage on the property called Tan-Y-Deri, and it is around this cottage that the ghost of Mrs. Cheney has been seen over the years. She is usually dressed in a long white gown, and though she seems to be a peaceful presence, she seems lost and not at rest.

Witnesses say doors and windows will open on their own. Lights will be turned on or off when no one is present. At night the property will be closed up and locked by the staff, only to be found the next morning with everything wide open.

Wright eventually rebuilt the living quarters, naming it Taliesin II, but they were also destroyed by fire on April 22, 1925.

You can read more about Taliesin here

Saturday, August 7, 2010

New Episodes Of Ghost Hunters



new episodes of Ghost Hunters start August 25th! SyFy Imagine Greater! :) Be sure to mark your calendars!

Loretta Lynn - Lynn Calls In Expert To Tackle Mansion Ghosts



Found on Paranormal News Central

Originally found on contactmusic.com

19 September 2008

Lynn Calls In Expert To Tackle Mansion Ghosts
Country legend LORETTA LYNN has called on celebrity ghost whisperer JAMES VAN PRAAGH in a bid to rid her haunted mansion of spooks.

The singer has had enough of the spirits that haunt her sprawling Tennessee home, but spirit talker Van Praagh was only able to confirm the place is riddled with ghosts - before he darted for the door.

In a chilling segment on U.S. news show The Insider, Van Praagh told Lynn he could see "blood everywhere," adding "I think people were killed here."

And now even Lynn is thinking about fleeing the mansion after her guest refused to spend the night - as planned.

He says, "I was going to stay the night but when they (spirits) said, 'Get out,' I thought, 'I should probably get out...' It feels like I'm in somebody's place and they don't want me to disrupt it."

Nicolas Cage - Cage Spooked By Haunted Home



03 September 2008

Found on Paranormal News Central

Originally found on contactmusic.com

Actor NICOLAS CAGE's home in New Orleans, Louisiana has him so spooked he refuses to sleep there, despite paying nearly $3.5 million (GBP1.9 million) for the estate.

Cage bought the legendary LaLaurie Mansion last year (07) - reportedly the most haunted home in the historic city, constructed during the 1830s.

He says, "(It's) in the Vieux Carre - which is called the French Quarter. It's a very notorious house, it's a very famous house - meaning it's allegedly the most severely haunted house in the United States of America... that's what they tell me. So at any given moment, I have five or six ghosts surrounding the house, all looking up at this haunted temple, and I'm in there.

"We'll (my family) come over and have dinner there but nobody sleeps there. I will sleep there, I will at some point - but I'll be alone when it happens... I try not to have a narrow mind about things."

But the actor - who was aware of the legend before making the purchase - insists he's respectful of his haunting guests.

He adds: "(I've gotten) five or six requests from parapsychologists' groups to come into the house, and I won't let them in - because of respect. If there's something in there, I don't want them being exploited."

Supernatural Cleaning Methods



Found on Paranormal News Central

Originally From New York Times

By JOYCE WADLER
Published: October 29, 2008

THE chill of autumn has arrived, and it’s time to make your home cozy and snug. Replace those broken shingles, seal the window frames, start the water boiling and throw in some scented nutmegy things, or a rabbit if you’ve been disappointed in love.

But what to do about that ghost that has been making such a racket, scaring the guests and making it impossible to sleep? Sure, you can kid yourself that it’s a squirrel on the roof or a rattling pipe or a fog that comes up from time to time. (On Narragansett Bay? Sure, pal, that’s credible.) But eventually, when guests and family members become truly frightened, something must be done.

Such was the case with Kathleen Whitehurst, an artist in Arnaudville, La., who scoured the countryside to salvage materials with which to build her home and guest house, the picturesque l’Esprit des Chenes. Visitors complained of creaking stairs, sounds in the night. Some fled in terror. Finally, Ms. Whitehurst called in a specialist.

“She came all the way from Arkansas,” Ms. Whitehurst said in a telephone conversation. “She sat on my couch, and within 30 minutes she says, ‘Yes, you do have a ghost in your house.’ She goes into a trance, she came back to her body, and said, ‘He’s a Baptist minister, wearing a white robe, and he’s roaming the house.’ ”

The reason for this problem, incredible as it may seem, was recycling. Ms. Whitehurst had found three Gothic windows in a junk pile at a demolished church, and the ghost had come along with them. The specialist did what is often recommended in these cases, asking Ms. Whitehurst and two friends to make a circle with her around the lost spirit, and tell it, sympathetically but firmly, that it was time to move along.

“All of a sudden, you could feel the electrical energy moving — it was so intense that all the hair on the back of my neck and hands was standing up,” Ms. Whitehurst said. “And when she said the final words” — Go, go! — “we got that zapped feeling. And he went up, and he’s never been back since.”

You don’t believe in ghosts? Then you are either tragically out of step with the times or possibly a slovenly spiritual housekeeper looking for an excuse to avoid tidying up. A recent Google Internet search for getting rid of ghosts yielded nearly two million hits. By comparison, a search for cleaning rain gutters yielded 191,000.

In a Harris poll last year of 2,000 adults, 41 percent said that they believed in ghosts. Although the National Association of Realtors says that it is not the legal obligation of a real estate agent to tell a prospective buyer about alleged haunting, many agents, like Diane Ragan of Keller Williams Realty in New Orleans, feel that if they hear of something that may distress a buyer, they have the duty to pass it on.

“Just last week I got a call from a past client who was calling for a friend who’d leased a place and wasn’t happy because it was haunted,” she said. “He wanted his deposit back. I told him the best thing his friend could do was plead his case.”

Can These Stubborn Spiritual Stainbuckets Never Be Removed?

Before attempting to cleanse a household of ghostlike sounds and scents, the homeowner must first determine whether such sounds and scents are actually of the other world. Happily, there is no shortage of instruction manuals on the subject. One, an e-book called “Is My House Haunted? A Practical Guide,” was written by Bonnie Vent, the medium who founded the San Diego Paranormal Research Project. Those who dismiss the paranormal may wish to check out her Web site, sdparanormal.com, and read the transcript of her conversation with the comic George Carlin, which occurred after his death. (Few were as skeptical of the afterlife as he.)

Ms. Vent’s guide, which costs $7.97, contains a paranormal activity log in which to record such things as electrical devices going on and off, unexplained noises and cold and hot spots. It lists common misconceptions, including the notion that “paying someone to spread lotions and potion all over the house” will make the spirits go away.

“What does work? Communication!!!” writes Ms. Vent, who is one of those people who is paid; her cleansing services cost $125 an hour. “This does not necessarily mean that they will leave, but you should be able to work out a livable situation.”

She also offered a word of warning: “There are people who will take advantage of others by using holy water, burning sage and spreading salt around the perimeter of the house. Spirit people are people — these things have no effect in the long term. You really have to get to the root cause.”

Also, as His Intimates Knew, Uncle Fred Never Flushed

With ghosts so plentiful, it is reassuring to note that most haunting sites, even those with logos dripping blood, take their responsibilities seriously, reminding homeowners concerned about paranormal activity that they should first seek more mundane reasons for strange activity. The tools may include tape recorders, video equipment and infrared photography. Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, the stars of the “Ghost Hunters” program on the Sci Fi Channel, have been helped by their expertise as plumbers.

“We had one case, somebody’s dead uncle Fred was a plumber and they thought that he was giving them a sign because every morning at 2 a.m. their toilet would flush,” Mr. Hawes said. “Come to find out, they would go to bed at about 11 at night and they had a leaky flapper in their toilet. Eventually, after two or three hours, the toilet would drain down enough that the fill valve would kick on, so it would sound like the toilet would flush.”

Any other examples?

“We dealt with a case where a guy was actually seeing apparitions in his house,” Mr. Hawes said. “It was happening only to him, nobody else was having problems. We found out he was on two medications, including an older one his new doctor didn’t know about, and they were making him see things.”

Mr. Wilson added: “Another reason we knew it wasn’t paranormal was the things he was seeing made no sense. There were grotesque things: flowers wandering across the room, faces turning inside out. Paranormal activity isn’t like that. Seeing flowers turning inside out indicates medical or drug problems, not a person without a body walking around your home.”


For Minor Hauntings, Do It Yourself

Many hauntings are so slight that the homeowners may feel equipped to handle the problem themselves. This was the experience of Leslie Castay Burkey, a onetime Broadway actress, and her husband, Bryan Burkey, a commercial photographer, who bought an old New Orleans home from the estate of a deceased couple a few years ago. The lady of the house, Ms. Burkey had heard, was “tough, cold and devoted to the house above everything.”

Problems began with the restoration of the former master bedroom. Ms. Burkey spoke of bad odors and lights going on and off. Her husband recalled “a definite presence.”

“When we started ripping stuff out, it was like the house was saying what are you doing, and would get really persnickety,” Mr. Burkey said. “When we started to take up the carpet and put down a wood floor, all sorts of things went crazy.”

Incredible! How could anyone have anything against a wood floor?

“What we heard was she had a white carpet in that bedroom that she was very much in love with,” he said.

White carpet — the decorating equivalent of falling in love with a married man, an enterprise doomed to failure and heartbreak.

The couple’s solution, which proved effective, was to cleanse the home with sage they bought at Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo in the French Quarter.

“The salesperson suggested you burn it and carry it through the house, especially through the doors and windows, and make your own incantations telling the spirits they were free to leave,” Ms. Burkey said. “A friend of mine in Connecticut got the idea she should do it in the shape of a pentagram, but that was too black magic for me.”

The Shock of a Mao Jacket Might Have Killed Him

Guy Clark is an interior designer who restores and sells old properties. Spirits do not trouble him. His current home is a stone house in Bullville, N.Y., which was once owned by the makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin, who died in 2002. As he was lying in bed shortly after he took possession, Mr. Clark had a vision.

“I opened my eyes for a second and someone passed over my head through the window in a blue cabana suit, blue shorts and a shirt, like what people wore in the ’60s,” Mr. Clark said. “You can’t make these things up. I didn’t know the man, but I think it was probably Kevyn. He was airlifted out of his front yard and passed away from a brain tumor.”

How did Mr. Clark deal with the spirit?

“I said: ‘O.K., this is my house. If you need anything, I’m here, but you don’t live here anymore, move on.’ ”

However contradictory the message, the ghost apparently understood, for Mr. Clark never again had a problem.


Enough! Now, Let a Hardened Realtor Set the Record Straight

“I’ve had two properties that fall into that category,” said Judy Moore, a broker with 23 years of experience who works with ReMax Landmark Realtor in Lexington, Mass.

“The first one was the former parish house where the priest stayed, and it came up at the closing. The home’s owner said, ‘I just want you to know that there is a priest who haunts this house,’ and went on to tell the story that she grew up in the house, and one time her sister had makeup on top of the dresser and he swiped them off. I was horrified. The buyer could have just said, ‘That’s it, I couldn’t live there’ — but he was a creative type; he was fine with it.

“The other time was really freaky. This is a house that never did sell. It was built in the 1600s, nobody was living there. The first thing that happened when I walked in, my electronic tape stopped working, and I had the funny feeling that there were spirits in the house, and I don’t imagine these sorts of things. I was staging it, there were things that would move, but the worst thing — the really freaky thing — I was putting some dried flowers on the end of this old table and I saw something on the table that was bright red but watery. It looked like blood, but it was too thin, everything on the table was dry. That was the creepiest thing that has ever happened to me in this business.”

Suddenly, a Reporter Is Aware of Her Psychic Gifts

It should be noted that when the New England real estate agent mentioned above was reached on her cellphone, it was about 6 in the evening.

“So, are you driving down the Mass Turnpike in pitch-blackness?” she was asked in an attempt to set the mood.

“Oh my God — how did you know?” Ms. Moore said.

October After October, Reporters Trudge to His Door

Joe Nickell, the ghost hunter for the magazine Skeptical Inquirer, has a doctorate in English literature from the University of Kentucky and was once a professional magician. He has, he says, been investigating stories of ghosts for decades.

Ever catch one?

“I have not.”

One common reason that people believe they see ghosts is that they are experiencing lifelike dreams, Mr. Nickell said. This is why such visions often occur at bedtime. Also, many people enjoy the notion of being haunted.

“Unfortunately, most people are looking to have their beliefs confirmed, so they bring in ghost hunter types who believe they can get an electromagnetic field meter from RadioShack,” he said. “They go into a place and the meter starts going off, whereupon they think they are detecting a ghost. First of all, there is no evidence ghosts exist. Second, there is no evidence that if ghosts exist, they are electromagnetic. These people have no knowledge of microwave towers or faulty wiring in the house or other sources of electromagnetism. It’s just too silly for words and it oughtn’t be featured on major television shows. It’s an embarrassment.”

Give us an example of someone who was tricked.

“A young mother called me once very concerned about the possibility of ghosts,” he said. “She was getting strange photographs — a sort of curvy stripe, very white and bright. They have since begun calling those ectoplasmic strands. I looked at her camera. Her wrist strap was dangling. The flash was reflecting back the wrist strap, and it produced a great number of these.”

Frankly, the Believers Tell a Much Better Story

Brenda is a social worker with a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She lives with her husband, two young children and four ghosts (two adults, two children) in a 99-year-old house in Altoona, Pa. (After receiving death threats when she went public about her home, she prefers that only her first name be used.)

The odd happenings in her household began when her daughter, Anna, 6, was a toddler. Anna sometimes laughed and giggled when nobody was around. “I figured it was an imaginary playmate,” she said. “I was not really thinking paranormal.”

About this time the name Katie would just pop into her head for no particular reason, she added. “I was potty training Anna, she was sitting with her book. I stepped away for five minutes and I hear her fighting with somebody, saying, ‘It’s mine, it’s mine!’ I turned to go back, the book was levitating above her head like it was being held up by somebody a little bit taller.”

“That book was huge, a big Christmas flip book,” she continued. “She said, ‘Mommy, mommy, I’m sharing! I’m sharing with Katie!’ Then it clicked. I’m trying to remain calm because we’re potty training and anything can throw that off. I said, ‘Anna, who’s Katie?’ She said just a little girl who lives here.”

A month or so later, on a Saturday morning when Brenda was doing some dishes, she heard giggling and footsteps around her and saw the girl ghost.

“She had blond hair parted down the middle, the first piece tucked behind her ear like Marcia Brady,” Brenda said. “She was neat as a pin, in a little calico print dress that had a pinafore, off-white, all starched, kind of like Laura Ingalls. She had some kind of stockings, boots — that’s how long I had to notice what this girl had on. And a Peter Pan collar.”

Brenda said she had been doing the dishes, but could she have fallen asleep? There is this dream state an expert mentioned.

“No, no, absolutely not,” Brenda said. “The skeptics will pull out every little piddling thing they can. There is no gas leak, we are not sipping gas methane, our furnace is cleaned faithfully.”

Brenda now feels it is time for her spirits to be on their way. She has dutifully told them to go to the light. She has tried burning white candles for purity. She even had the people from “Ghost Hunters” in, appearing on their first season. How about sage? Did she try sage?

“I actually have a friend who is a Reiki master who said she would do a house cleansing,” Brenda said. “I would rather have somebody come in to guide them.”

Ever Notice a Spirit Never Washes A Dish or Takes Out the Garbage?

The meticulous housekeeper has by now noted that as with so much else, the world of the paranormal is specialized. Ghost hunters often call in others to rid a home of ghosts: so-called house cleaners, perhaps, or, in some cases, demonologists.

Patty A. Wilson, 43, the author with Mark Nesbitt of “The Big Book of Pennsylvania Ghost Stories” and a founder of the Ghost Research Foundation, is both. Ms. Wilson, who says she has been sensitive to the paranormal since childhood, kept quiet about her gifts for much of her life.

“I didn’t want to be the crazy lady in the caftan,” she said.

The time for homeowners to call for professional intervention, said Ms. Wilson, who does not charge for her services and is suspicious of those who do, is when they feel frightened or threatened.

One such case she had, she said, involved a Penn State student who had written an article about Ms. Wilson for the college newspaper. The girl called her about five or six years ago in an agitated state, saying that the house she was renting with several other girls was haunted by an “obese, overweight black shadow figure,” she said.

“He was kind of aggressive, stepping out into the hallways in front of them so they would have to walk through him,” Ms. Wilson added. “He physically touched two of the girls. One was sitting on her bed in her underwear. She jumped up screaming, so he let her alone. He also seemed to be around them when they were unclothed.”

Talk about your unnatural acts! Are black shadow ghosts considered to be particularly dangerous?

“Some are very aggressive,” Ms. Wilson said.

She advised the young woman to do some research on the house, and it was discovered that it had once been owned by two spinsters. They had taken in a neighbor who died of obesity at age 23.

“I thought that kind of fit the bill,” Ms. Wilson said.

The house never did get cleaned. The college student’s mother moved her out of the house, and that was that.

Does Ms. Wilson recall her name?

“Marianne,” she said, adding that she was unable to remember her last name.

Where might she be now?

“She joined Barnum & Bailey, in publicity.”

“Ghost stories are not neat and clean,” she added. “Everything doesn’t always get pigeonholed properly. They’re real stories about real people.”
After intense corporeal, electronic and audio investigation, Marianne, whose last name is Ways and who did local publicity for the circus as a college intern, is tracked down. Now 28, she works as an associate booker at the Comix comedy club in Lower Manhattan.

She tells a story that confirms much of Ms. Wilson’s. Her roommate did see the shadow of an obese man, and he did pop up as the roommate was coming out of the shower.

Ms. Ways never saw the dark shadows herself, but she sometimes heard weird noises and footsteps, and felt as if someone had broken into the house when no one was there, and it frightened her. One day when she was feeling especially anxious, she asked the person who lived in the adjoining apartment if anything weird had ever happened there.

“You mean, like, is it haunted?” the woman said.

Did Ms. Ways ever try to get rid of the ghosts?

“No,” she said. “I just left.”

Do Not Be Fooled by Cheap Imitations

THE concerned homeowner will know by now that there is dispute about how best to rid the home of spirits. Some tools that the uninitiated might feel would be effective are not. The Ouija board, for example, is considered by many to be a magnet for spirits, the equivalent of spreading a trail of crumbs if you are plagued by ants.

Megan Hoolihan, 28, manager of Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo, has studied the occult for 18 years and seems to take her calling seriously. She says many people in the South believe sage has cleansing properties.

“I recommend making a mixture of powdered sage, holy water and cedar oil, some water from a church or that has been blessed by someone.”


What if you’re an atheist?

There may be something to this occult stuff, because suddenly the reporter feels a deep chill.

“Cedar oil has cleansing properties,” Ms. Hoolihan continued, ignoring the question. “You can also use lavender oil or violet oil. The smells are soothing; it’s a comfort.”

A bunch of sage costs about $9 at Marie Laveau’s. Couldn’t you use the stuff from the supermarket instead?

“You can use it; I don’t recommend it. It’s the same family, but not the same plant. The sage we carry is white sage or gray sage, and is grown organically.”

Fear Of Haunted Hotel Has Marlins Bunking Up In Milwaukee



Found on Paranormal News Central

From Yahoo Sports

Thu. May 14, 2010

There are any number of things to fear when visiting the fine city of Milwaukee.

Among them: Ryan Braun in the batter's box, a cholesterol increase by simply entering the city limits and being publicly shamed by that noisy delivery guy for not living his supposed high life.

If you're a visiting baseball player, you can also add one more fear to that list: Being harassed by ghosts while staying at The Pfister, a luxurious 116-year-old hotel that's said to be haunted.

According to the Palm Beach Post, "at least two pairs of Marlins" shared a room during this week's series against the Brewers because they're scared of the ghosts that haunt The Pfister.

Though the paper doesn't identify the spooked players, it's a well-known legend that The Pfister is often visited by the spirit of Charles Pfister, who founded the hotel in 1893.

Here's a primer on the hotel's scary story from AllStays.com (and I should mention that the photo above isn't of The Pfister, but just a stock AP photo that came up when I searched the archives for "haunted hotel"):

Pfister still visits to ensure that his guests are well taken care of at his "Grand Hotel of the West." A "visitor" has been spotted surveying the lobby from the grand staircase, strolling the minstrel's gallery above the ballroom, and passing through the ninth floor storage area. He is always described in roughly the same terms: "older," "portly," "smiling," and "well-dressed." Upon seeing a portrait of Charles Pfister, witnesses swore that it was the man they had seen.

The Post reports that several pro players in the past have been scared, with the most famous incident coming when then-Dodger Adrian Beltre(notes) went to bed while brandishing his bat for protection. (The Dodgers no longer stay at The Pfister while in Milwaukee.) Another run-in came last summer when the iPod of Minnesota's Carlos Gomez(notes) kept vibrating even after the outfielder repeatedly made sure it was turned off.

No Marlins reported any paranormal activity or sightings of Pfister during the stay, though it was the subject of some jokes among the young Marlins team.

"Every time there was a noise, JJ would yell, ‘It's the ghosts,''' said pitcher Dan Meyer(notes), who had separate but adjoining rooms with staff mate Josh Johnson(notes).

However, it is worth noting that Florida did get swept by the Brewers this series so maybe The Pfister has become part of Milwaukee's homefield advantage.

(And here the Yankees thought they were the only team with ghosts on their side.)

A big BLS head nod to NBC Miami for the redirect.

UPDATE: Stew pal Lisa Swan of Subway Squawkers sends along this interesting tidbit:

"There is another reason to fear the Pfister hotel — it's been the location of not one but two baseball fights between teammates. And one of them killed the Yankees chances' in the 1974 season.

"In the '74 Pfight, the Yanks had two games left and were one game behind Baltimore. After reserve infielder Bill Sudakis and backup catcher Rick Dempsey brawled in the hotel lobby, Bobby Murcer tried to break up the fight, and ended up getting his finger broken. That also broke the team's playoff hopes that year — the Yanks lost the next day without their best player in the lineup.

"In the 1998 phistercuffs, Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitchers Marc Wilkins and Jeff Tabaka got in fight — apparently over a card game — and Tabaka ended up on the DL with a fractured jaw."

Note About Reporter Chicks



The 2nd half of season one is coming SOON! ALL NEW EPISODES including Freestone County Historical Museum, Catfish Plantation, Haunted South Pittsburg Hospital South Pittsburg, TN, Haunted Mortuary, Oddfellows Lodge and a hilarious blooper episode you don't want to miss! Thursdays at 8pm EST only on Para-X Vision :)

Friday, August 6, 2010

Paranormal State Television Show



Chip Coffey has posted on his blog, that Paranormal State will begin airing new episodes on Jan 16, 2011.

Radio Event Tonight



BIG night tonight on Fate Radio! First - Paravision Radio w/ host Jamie Standfird @ 7:00 PM EST followed by The Other Side (8:00 PM EST) with Denver Robbins & Lauren T. Hart, THEN GHOSTOLOGY w/ Brian D. Byers & Anna Marie Petroff Byers @ 10:00 PM EST! www.fatemag.com/fateradio

New Link Added



Check out this site.

ghosttour.com

August & October Events



Battleship NC Ghost Hunt with Ghost Hunter and GHI Cast Members


Friday, August 20, 2010 at 6:00 PM - Saturday, August 21, 2010 at 2:00 AM (ET)
Wilmington, NC

Spend a night on the Battleship NC with Donna Lacroix, Paul Bradford, Ashley Godwin, and Brandy Green all from Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International. Special guests Paul Browning and Research: Paranormal. Dave Jones from Para-X will be there to Live broadcast for paraxvision.com

www.d-mentdentertainment.com

TICKETS ARE LIMITED!! NO TICKETS SOLD AT THE DOOR! TICKET SALES END 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THE START OF THE EVENT! DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE OR YOU ARE GOING TO MISS OUT!!!

Schedule as follows:

  • 5:30pm - Doors open early for people who purchased tix BEFORE July 15th, 2010.
  • 6:00pm - Doors open
  • 6:05pm - 6:45pm - Meet and Greet
  • 6:45pm - 8:45pm - Guest Lectures
  • 9:00pm - 2:00am - Investigate with Cast Members

battleshipghi.eventbrite.com

This event has been added to the blogs calendar

Divider Bar

Donna Lacroix - Andy Andrews - Tenney Gatehouse

Friday, October 15, 2010 at 6:00 PM - Saturday, October 16, 2010 at 2:00 AM (ET)
Methuen, MA

Spend an evening with Donna Lacroix and Andy Andrews at the Tenney Gatehouse in Methuen, MA. They will be joined by special guests Ce Ce The Huntress, and Mike Roberts from Research: Paranormal.

  • Doors open at 6pm.
  • 6pm-8:45pm - Meet & Greet/Guest Lectures
  • 9pm-2am - Investigate both floors and basement, plus the grounds alongside the guests.

The Tenney gatehouse is said to be haunted according to many who rented it, passing down the story of the monk who hung himself in the tower room and strange happenings near the gravestone of Father Nicholas Demetrius in the monks' cemetery that used to exist (but was moved) between the Tenney GateHouse and the Searles Building at 41 Pleasant. The area surrounding the castle now comprises Greycourt State Park where an amphitheater was built over the castle ruins and only a small portion of the courtyard remains. The park and its walking trails can be accessed from a path behind the Tenney gatehouse or from East St. at the St. Basil Seminary. The gate house, which was renovated revealing several hidden fireplaces, is now open to the public with free admission on Sundays from 1-3 p.m., and showcases memorabilia from the Revolutionary and Civil War time periods, along with old photos taken of the inside the mansion.

gatehousegh.eventbrite.com

This event has been added to the blogs calendar

Current Moon Phase & Weather



August 6th Moon Phase

august 6th moon phase 2

Moon in Gem

Lunar Geminis are usually pleasant, witty, and charming people. At home and with family, however, they can be moody and irritable at times. People with Moon in Gemini are always interesting people-they have a finger in every pie, are curious to a fault, and are generally well-informed.
Nervousness and worry are common traits with this lunar position. An underlying restlessness is common, and many Lunar Geminis need more stimulation than others. They usually read a lot, talk a lot, and think a lot with this airy, mutable position of the Moon.

Their homes are often a perpetual work-in-progress. They generally dislike housework, but are big on home improvement. Re-organizing their homes in little-and sometimes big-ways seems to keep them happy, as Lunar Geminis are easily bored by both routine and constancy. Often, this is a reflection of their inner world-"the grass is always greener..." applies here. Inwardly, Lunar Geminis are often unsettled. Moon in Gemini parents are generally more adept at handling the intellectual needs of their children than emotional ones. Others' complicated emotions, in general, can be difficult for Lunar Geminis to handle.

In their families, Lunar Geminis often take on the role of organizing get-togethers. They are at their best when they have plenty of things to do beyond routine.

Moon in Gemini people almost always have a way with words. They are clever and witty, and more often than not can be found chatting with others. They are sociable and friendly, and feel comfortable in crowds. Some pay too much attention to what everyone else is doing, and lose touch with what they really want to do. Generally, Lunar Geminis have a million and one projects going. They are impressionable folk, and their imagination is boundless.

Their openness to new ideas is admirable, although decisiveness and persistence take a blow as a result. Still, versatility and adaptability are some of the stronger traits of this position of the Moon.

When irritable, these people can easily become snappy. Their moodiness is complicated-this is not the same kind of moodiness you'll find with water sign moons, for example. Usually, difficult behavior stems from inner restlessness. Lunar Geminis want to do it all, and have trouble sticking to any one project.

When problems arise, the first instinct of Moon in Gemini natives is to talk things out. Their tendency to analyze can give them the appearance of emotional detachment. In fact, Lunar Geminis may be especially comfortable talking about their feelings, but feeling their own feelings doesn't come as easily. Those that don't take time out to really emote and understand their own needs may end up baffling others. Feeling misunderstood is common for Moon in Gemini natives. The only real solution to the problem is learning to get in touch with their own feelings.

The Twins


  • Modality: Mutable
  • Element: Air
  • Ruler: Mercury
  • Season: Spring

3rd Sign of Zodiac

  • Metal: Mercury
  • Stone: Agate
  • Color: Yellow
  • Anatomy: Hands and arms; lungs.

Comparison with the Gemini symbol, the Twins:

Geminis are said to have a dual nature, as symbolized by twins. This duality also represents exchange and interaction. The sign of Gemini is closely associated with exchange of ideas, communication, and trade.
The sign of Gemini is thought to be very adaptable and flexible, sometimes to the point of "being" two different personalities.

?

The glyph for Gemini depicts two lines joined together, showing the symbolism of the twins, and the duality of the nature of the sign.


Keywords: talkative, mental, adaptable, flexible, changeable, responsive, sociable, superficial

from CafeAstrology.com

august 6th 7 day forcast
august 6th 1041am dopplar

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Interview last night on Ghost Divas



Last night I tuned into Ghost Divas; a paranormal internet radio show on srnlive.com.

The Ghost Divas had several guests on their show last night; one of whom was Brian & Michelle Harnois (Check out the site he has listed on his twitter page theparanormals.org) formerly of Ghost Hunters AKA T.A.P.S.

Brian was there to state his side of a situation that has I guess being going on for awhile. (I did't know about it until last night.)

And that situation involves Donna L, also formerly of Ghost Hunters AKA T.A.P.S.

Brian said "I put up with six years of crap from Grant and Jason."

Apparently as for Donna L, according to Brian, she had made some unacceptable comments.

Brian, the Ghost Divas, and guests Jeff and Shannon Sylvia, spoke their side of the Donna L situation, as well as their opinions.

According to the coversation on the program, apparently, Donna L. told a few people she was dying of Cancer when apparently she doesn't have Cancer.

Note:The above statments are what was talked about on the radio program.

Also, Donna L. has apparently made statements that the Ghost Hunters AKA T.A.P.S. has faked evidence for their television show Ghost Hunters on the SyFy Channel.

Note:Again I do not know if this is true or not. My own personal belief is that it is not true.

A brief online search did pull up a couple of interviews with Donna, where she did make statements implying that certain evidence on the Ghost Hunter television show might have been faked.

All in all it was a very good show and an interesting interview.

If you are interested in listing to the Ghost Divas I highly recommend them. And you can tune in by going to srnlive.com

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Paranormal Radio, Ghost Divas



Make sure to check out Ghost Divas Radio Show on srnlive.com



Parental Warning

Upcoming Events & Video Clips



Donna Lacroix, former star of Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International on the SyFy Channel, visits us on the show to talk about her life, her plans, and what her future holds. Come listen and interact with Donna as she tells it in her own words!!
August 8 · 8:00pm - 10:00pm
para-x.com

Divider Bar

Research: Paranormal Tickets to the Battleship NC event are reaching a minimum! Come out August 20th and meet Donna LaCroix, Brandy Green, Paul Bradford, and Ashley Godwin from Ghost Hunters/Ghost Hunters International. Specials guests Research: Paranormal and Paul Browning!

Battleship GHI

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Mike Roberts Battleship GHIDustin Pari - John Zaffis - Mike Roberts Battleship NC WWAY newscast for the April 9th 2010 Battleship Event
See the video here

Divider Bar

News14 Coverage of Battleship NC Mike Roberts
Length: 0:34 See the video here

Divider Bar

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

August Event



Investigate in West VA with Dave Tango, Steve, and Amy on 8/27 or 8/28 at the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum!!!

Only Ghosts Stumble Off Of Bars Stool In Germantown



By Patrick Lee & Anne Spitza of the Journal Staff

Milwaukee Journal

Oct 26, 1984

Germantown -- The ghost stories about a tavern here called Yesterday are as thick and hazy as the mist in the graveyard across the street.

There are those who say the front door of the century-old saloon opens and closes by itself.

There is the barstool that was the favorite of a former owner, now deceased. It's reported that the stool frequently falls over of its own accord -- as if a drunken occupant were stumbling on it.

One story tells of the time another former owner -- the bar has had dozens of them -- returned to the locked tavern hours after closing time and found the place lit up like a jack-o-lantern, all the candles on the tables lit, the grill fired up, the blender whirring, the deep fryer roiling and the cooler doors wide open.

But there wasn't a living soul in sight.

It's possible, of course, that the only spirits in the tavern are the kind in frosty glasses with foamy heads.

Much folklore

"There's a lot of folklore, neighborhood gossip, stories passed down from teller to teller," said Tom Gibowski, 40, one of four brothers who now own the tavern at the crossroads of Maple Rd. and Highways 145 and 167.

As far as actual sightings, I don't know if we've had any in the two and a half years we've owned it," added Gibowski, who lives upstairs with his two daughtgers and brother Donald, 24.

But there are still first-hand acounts by dozens of independent witnesses of strange happenings with no explanation.

Tom Gibowski tells of counting cash from the register alone, leaving it on the bar for a second, coming back and finding it back in the register drawer.

Waitresses tell of perfectly stacked cases of beer sitting on a level concrete floor suddenly falling over.

Adjoining school


Customers tell of the knobs of the cigaret machine rattling in and out on their own, and of the jukebox spriging to life and choosing its own records.

Some say the poltergeist is the tavern's founder, John Berg, who built the saloon and an adjoining school in the 1880's at the crossroads once called Dheinsville.

The story says Grandpa Berg went to cut ice from the creek one winter's day and fell through. He died of pneumonia a few days later while laid out in the tavern. He's buried across the street, next to his wife Margaret, in the old churchyard.

John Berg's ghost, who is buried in the old Church Cemetery across the street from the Yesterday Tavern in Germantown, is supposedly one of the spirits to haunt the tavern.

Picture taken by: Anne Spitza

Yesterday Cemetery

There's a story, hazy in its retelling, that an owner heard a noise in the bar, came downstairs and found a white-haired old man behind the bar, dropping beer glasses onto the floor. The owner, a burly man, went for the old man -- and he vanished, leaving behind only the broken glass on the floor. The owner didn't stay around to clean up the mess.

The specter was said to resemble the photograph of John Berg, standing in front of his tavern, that still hangs on the bar's back wall.

Some say the ghost is that of a man who owned the tavern several years in the 1970's, when it was called the Longhorn Inn. He died shortly after selling it.

It's his favorite barstool that's said to fall over now and then. The urrent tenants have grown fond of the ghost. When, as a waitress claims, the hotdogs turn themselves on the grill, she just says, "C'mon, Ray, I can turn them by myself."

Barrels of beer


Tom Gibowski's brother James, 37, who's tapped hundreds of half-barrels of beer, tells of the time he went into the basement to tap a keg, screwed the tap in and went back upstairs to draw the suds. Nothing came out.

He went back into the basement, and found the tap unscrewed and lying next to the barrel. No one else had gone downstairs.

"I'm not one to really believe in the supernatural," he said. "I didn't believe it at first, but I begin to wonder that there's something to it myself."

Donald Gibowski says that late one night he was alone in the tavern, watching TV. He had cleared off the bar and put everything away about an hour and a half earlier. When he shut off the TV and turned to go upstairs to bed, he noticed a beer bottle sitting on the bar.

He assumed he had simply forgotten to put it away earlier. But when he went to grab it, "it was ice cold, as if someone had just taken it out of the cooler."

Time to leave

"And it looked like someone had taken a gulp out of it," he added.

A chill went up his spine. "I just left it there and went right upstairs."

Other times, he said he has felt someone standing behind him, turned and seen nothing. "Sometimes you sit there at night and wonder if someone's watching you," he said.

There are other stories -- psychics who've come into the bar and said the spirit is a woman, a customer who saw a woman dressed in white descend a staircase, the story that a former owner buried a pile of cash beneath the dance floof. (Tom said he crawled beneath the floor once and found only a concrete slab.)

There are stories that the tavern has doubled as a funeral parlor, a stagecoach stop, that there was a suicide here, that there have been ugly love triangles, that someone is buried somewhere under the present building. None have been substantiated.

Irene Blau, director of the Germantown Historical Society, said that as far as she knew, the place had always been a saloon, with a room in the back once used as a school

But that doesn't stop the stories from flowing as freely as the beer. James Gibowski actually likes the idea of having a haunted tavern.

"It's kind of neat," he said. "He keeps an eye on the place when we're not around."

Yesterday

Monday, August 2, 2010

Dustin Pari & Ghost Hunters & Ghost Hunters International



Alas the rumors were true- I've indeed stopped filming with both the GHI/GH programs. Let me address the questions I'm sure will surface: All is well between myself and the team members- I was asked back to film for both shows, but its just time to move on and pursue other ventures as I feel I am be guided to do. I miss the friends I made on the team and within production and wish them the best.

I've been enjoying being home with my family, doing the event circuit and working on a 3rd book with Mr FitzGerald. Most importantly I'm
developing a Christian Ministry which I am hoping will help change
lives and the world. I thank you all for your kind words,
Rock On and God Bless!

Summerwind Info from Wikipedia



Blog Owner's Note:Please note the following information came from Wikipedia. A site where you can sign up and then upload information or edit information that is all ready there. And you don't even have to have any proof or anything. You can just type in anything you want. So...take the following with a grain of salt.

Summerwind was constructed during the early 20th century as a fishing lodge. In 1916 it was purchased by Robert P. Lamont, who employed Chicago architects Tallmadge and Watson to substantially remodel the property and convert it into a mansion. The renovations took two years to complete, and led to the near total reconstruction of significant portions of the property.

Lamont remained in Summerwind for approximately 15 years, during which time the maids told Lamont that the mansion was haunted, but he did not believe them. However, he is then reported to have abandoned the property suddenly in the mid 1930s after witnessing an apparition in the mansion's kitchen. Local legend holds that he and his wife were eating dessert in the kitchen, when the door to the basement started to shake open, revealing the ghostly form of a man. Robert Lamont was reported to have taken one look at the ghost, and pulled out a pistol. The ghost swung the door shut and Lamont squeezed off two shots in its direction, before fleeing the residence with his wife. The ghost is said to be angelica.

During the 1940s, the property was sold to the Keefer family, who maintained the mansion, but never lived there on a permanent basis. Some accounts place the sale after Lamont's death in 1948. Others place it around 1941, prior to his death.

After the death of Mr. Keefer, his widow subdivided the land and sold it. However, the plot containing Summerwind reverted to Mrs. Keefer several times after various purchasers experienced financial difficulties and were unable to keep up payments. During this period there were no specific paranormal incidents recorded, but purchasers reported unease about the property, and it remained largely unoccupied.

After remaining vacant for some time, the house became the residence of Arnold and Ginger Hinshaw and their four children, who moved in during the early 1970s. It is from this time onwards that most of the haunting reports originate.

After taking up residence, the Hinshaws reported a number of strange occurrences, ranging from flickering shadows that appeared to move down the hallways and soft voices that stopped when they entered rooms, to unexplained electrical/mechanical problems and sash windows that raised themselves. They also reported seeing the ghost of an unidentified woman who appeared several times in the vicinity of the house's dining room.

Urban legend holds that after experiencing extended difficulties retaining workmen the Hinshaws decided to renovate the house themselves. During these renovations, Arnold is said to have removed a shoe drawer from a fitted closet and discovered a hidden recess behind it. In that recess Arnold discovered what he at first took to be the remains of an animal. However, because of the cramped entrance, he could not be certain of what he had seen. Later that day, he sent his daughter Mary into the recess to see what the unidentified object really was, only for Mary to discover a human skull and strands of black hair. No report of the find was ever made to the police and the veracity of the legend has never been determined. The body was reported to have vanished when Ginger's father and brother investigated the recess, several years later.

Within six months of moving into Summerwind, Arnold suffered a breakdown and Ginger attempted suicide. Arnold was sent for treatment and Ginger moved in with her parents in Granton, Wisconsin. The land, once again, reverted to Mrs. Keefer.

Years later, Ginger's father, Raymond Bober, announced plans to buy Summerwind and turn it into a restaurant with the help of his wife, Marie, and son, Karl. The Bober's attempts to renovate the house suffered from many of the same problems as the Hinshaw's attempt. Bober's son Karl; who traveled to the house alone in order to arrange estimates and pest control work, also reported a variety of unnerving events including voices and an apparent supernatural reenactment of the alleged 1930s Lamont incident.

At this time, workmen also reported feeling uncomfortable and complained of missing tools and other happenings. One example is that when they attempted to draw blueprints, the dimensions of the house would change, with some rooms producing larger measurements on some days than on others. Photographs taken of the same location, on the same film, were also said to show a single room as several different sizes. even if they were taken seconds apart, or to show furnishings that had been in the room when the Hinshaws had lived there, but which had since been removed.

After experiencing several apparently supernatural incidents, and a number of conventional difficulties, Bober abandoned his plans to convert Summerwind by 1979 (at which point the land again reverted to Mrs. Keefer) and instead applied for permission to operate a concessions stand nearby, but his application was turned down because of a problem with local ordinances.

Bober documented his experiences in Summerwind and published them in 1979, under the pseudonym “Wolffgang Von Bober”.

In November 2005 the Discovery Channel aired an episode of A Haunting about the Hinshaw's experiences when they lived at Summerwind.

After Raymond Bober relinquished the property it was sold one more time. but again reverted to Mrs. Keefer. In 1986, by which time the mansion had fallen into disrepair, Summerwind was purchased from the estate of Mrs. Keefer by a group of three investors. Later the land and the ruins was sold to a Canadian family, who live in Richmond Hill, Ontario. They report frequent unexplained hauntings.

There have been several largely unconfirmed reports by people who have investigated the house in its abandonment, often involving objects flying around, disappearing and reappearing, and photographs with odd shadows in them. Late night clandestine visitors have also reported that they have seen Summerwind mansion as it would have appeared in an earlier time. Subsequent visits then revealed the true run-down condition of the manor.

In June 1988, Summerwind was struck by lightning several times, resulting in a fire that destroyed much of the mansion. Today, only the house's chimney stacks, foundations, and stone steps remain.

According to accounts given by Bober, the events at Summerwind can be traced back to 18th century American explorer and writer Jonathan Carver, who Bober believed was haunting the site.

In his 1979 book, Bober claimed to have been contacted by Carver, who told him that he was searching the grounds looking for deeds to the northern third of Wisconsin, which were built into the footing of Summerwind 130 years after his death. They had been granted to him by Sioux Indians as a gift for settling a fight between two Sioux tribes that nearly led to war. Bober believed that Carver had wanted the past owners of the house to help him find the deeds, or to make way for people who would. Despite searching the house's foundations, Bober was unable to locate any sign that the deeds had been buried there.

The only connection between Carver and the house itself is that the house falls under the jurisdiction of the elusive deed. No other explanation was offered by Bober as to why someone would put the deed into the foundation of Summerwind.

In 1983, freelance writer Will Pooley contacted Herb Dickman, one of the men involved in setting Summerwind's foundations in 1916. Dickman said he had no knowledge of any foreign objects being built into the mansion's footings, or of any anomalies surrounding them.


Related Posts:Since there are so many stories in Summerwind, I am going to make a page just for them.

Ghosts Had A Favorite Haunt



This article came from the Milwaukee Journal.

Oct. 21, 1985

Haunted Heartland Series.

THE NAME "Summerwind" evokes a picture of a stately home, light, and airy, expansive windows open to the breeze. So it once was. But now this mansion, on the shore West Bay Lake in Wisconsin's Vilas County, is a dilapidated ruin, its windows broken, its roof rotted and its dormers filled with bats. Summerwind is the most notorious haunted house in Wisconsin......

The mansion was built in 1916 by Robert P. Lamont, who in 1929 became President Herbert Hoover's secretary of commerce. For years, it was the Lamont family's summer home, a quiet haven in the North Woods far from the hustle and heat of Washington D. C.

Upon Lamont's death, Summerwind was sold.....and sold again. The house has had a number of owners, yet is still known locally as the "Lamont Place." Nothing out of the ordinary ever happened there.....or did it?

For six months in the early 1970's, Arnold Hinshaw, his wife Ginger, and their six children lived at Summerwind. Within these few months Arnold was driven mad by ghosts and his wife attempted suicide.

From the day the Hinshaws moved into the house they saw vague shapes flitting down the hallways and heard voices mumbling in dark corners. And every evening while they ate dinner, the ghost of a woman the family called Mathilda floated back and forth beyond the French doors to the living room.

For a brief time Ginger wondered if they were all imagining these things; but after numberous unexplained occurrences, she decided they were not imagining things. These occurrences included: A new water heater broke down, but started working again before the repairman could be called: the same thing happened with a new water pump. Other appliances failed, too, thyen mysteriously fixed themselves.

Windows and doors that were closed at night were open in the morning. A heavy window in the master bedroom, without sash weights or pulleys, was difficult to raise. One morning Arnold closed the window and started downstairs. Remembering that he'd left his waller on the dresser, he returned to the bedroom. The window was open! He drove a spike into the window casing. The window stayed closed. Months later, the spike was removed with a crowbar, but no nail hole could be seen!

The couple hired subcontractors to undertake restoration projects in the house, but invariably the workers failed to show up, pleading illness or non-delivery of materials. A few told Ginger that they refused to work on that house.

The couple then realized that they would have to do the work on the hosue themselves.

One day they began painting a closet. A large shoe drawer was installed along the closet's back wall. The Hinshaw's rempoved it in order to prevent the paint from sticking. Behind the drawer they discovered a dark space. It aroused their curiosity.

Ginger got a flashlight and Arnold wedged himself into the openeing up to his shoulders. He beamed the light back and forth, then suddenly backed out of the opening. He was speechless -- a skeleton was jammed into the compartment!

Because there was a lot of plumbing and structural material in the way, Arnold couldn't squeeze far enough into the opening to be sure. The Hinshaw children then arrived from school, and their parents told them about the bones. Ginger said a bear had been trapped in the wall while the house was being built.

Their daughter, Mary volunteered to crawl into the space with the flashlight. Moments later she yelled that she saw a head of dirty black hair, a brown dried-up arm, and part of a leg.

The other children, thinking it was a game, wanted to see the bones, too. Each took a turn. And each emerged serious and quiet. Ginger made them promise to never say a word to anyone.

After the children skipped off, Arnold and Ginger speculated how the body had gotten there. Arnold suggested there may have been a murder while the house was being built and the body was dumped there. But the Hinshaws did not call the police, figuring nothing could be done about the crime since so many years had elapsed. Besides, most of the crew who had worked on the house and known about the crime would probably be dead anyway.

About this time Arnold began to stay up late and play the Hammond organ the couple had bought before moving to Summerwind. He always enjoyed playing in the evenings; it was a relaxing hobby. But now Arnold's playing became a frenetic jumble of melodies and chords, growing louder by the hour. Ginger pleaded with him to stop, but he said the demonds in his head demanded that he keep playing. Night after night, the family was kept awake until dawn by the awful music. The children were so frightend they huddled together in one bedroom.

Arnold soon had a breakdown, and not long after that Ginger attempted suicide. While Arnold was undergoing treatment, Ginger and her children moved in with her parents in Granton, in Clark County, Wisconsin. Ginger and Arnold eventually divorced. After Ginger regained her health, she married George Olsen. Her new life was happy and tranquil, and the days at Summerwind seemed only a distant nightmare.

But the past came rushing back.

Ginger's father, Raymond Bober, a popcorn vender, announced that he was going to buy Summerwind. He and his wife Marie would open a restaurant in the mansion and eventually turn it into an inn. They figured its beautiful North Woods location on a quiet lake would attract many guests.

Ginger was horrified. Although she had never given her parents all the details of her frightening experiences in the house, she begged them not to buy it. But Bober's mind was made up. He knew the place was haunted and said he knew who the ghost was -- Jonathan Carver! According to Bober, the 18th century English explorer was searching for an old deed to the land granted him by the Sioux Indians in return for negotiating peace between two warring nations. The grant supposedly took in most of the northen third of Wisconsin. The deed was locked in a black box and sealed in the foundation of Summerwind. Carver's ghost sought Bober's help in locating it.

But how did Bober know this? From communicating with Carver through dreams, hypnotic trances and a Ouija board, he claimed. At least thats what he wrote in his book "The Carver Effect," published in 1979 under the name Wolfgang von Bober.

Shortly after Bober bought Summerwind, he, his son Karl, Ginger and her new husband, George, spent a day inspecting the mansion. The group was just leaving the second floor when George spotted the closet at the end of the hall. He began pulling out drawers and looking behind them. Ginger begged him to stop.

George dropped his flashlight and asked what she was talking about. Until now, Ginger had never told anyone about the discovery of the corpse. Sitting in the kitchen later, fortified by hot coffee, Ginger told the entire story.

Undaunted, the men gathered lanterns and returned to the closet. Karl insisted on going into the space first. In a moment he backed out. It was empty!

Ginger's father and her husband also inspected the area. They saw pipe,s beams and insulaton.....but no body! Where had it gone? Who had removed it? Why? Or, had there ever been a body there in the first place?

Over Labor Day weekend Karl traveled alone to Summerwind. He had gone to get a repair estimate on the well and also to look for an exterminator who could rid the house of bats. He thought he might even trim some trees and tidy up the lawn if the weather was good.

It started to rain the first day and Karl ran upstairs to close a window. In the dark hallway, a deep voice called his name. The young man spun around. Karl saw no one. Perhaps it was a friend outside. Karl looked out a window onto the courtyard, but saw no one.

Karl closed the window and went downstairs. When he reached the living room, he heard two shots. A heavy caliber pistold, he surmised. Close by. Was someone hunting on the property? Karl started for the back door.

Once in the kitchen Karl found the room filled with acrid smoke of gunpowder. Someone had fired from inside the house! But an intruder could never have entered or escaped without being heard; the back door always stuck and had to be noisily pushed open or slammed shut. The other doors were all barred on the inside. Karl made a through search of the kitchen. He discovered two bullet holes in the door leading to the basement. But the holes were old ones that had been worn smooth on the edges! Karl left the house that afternoon.

In his book, Bober wrote that the original owner of the house, Robert Lamont, whome he called Patterson, had fired two shots at a ghost. But that had been decades ago.

Bober's attempts to renovate the house were as futile as those of his daughter. Workmen refused to stay on the job, complaining about being watched by evil eyes. Bober's wife, Marie, understood the complaint. She was always uneasy around the house. Everytime she sat in the sunny courtyard, she felt someone watching her from the windows of the master bedroom.

On one occasion, her husband found one of the windows open that he knew he had closed a few minutes before, but he never mentioned it to marie for fear of alarming her.

If the ghost of Jonathan Carver wanted help in locating his deed, why did he manifest himself in such diabolical ways? Bober explained that Carver did not want any improvements made in the property and that he resented anyone living in the house or renovating it in anyway.

The Bobers never attempted to stay in Summerwind overnight. Instead, they cooked and slept in a camper on the grounds. And Bober spent many days searching the basement and chipping away at the foundation in efforts to locate the black box containing Carver's deed.

Will Pooley, a free-lance writer, visited Summerwind in the fall of 1983 to gather facts. His research had revealed that even if Bober had unearthed Carver's deed, it would have been worthless. Not only had the British goverment ruled against an individual's purchase of lands from the Indians, it was also later determined that the Sioux had never owned land east of the Mississippi River anyway. In addition, although the original deed apparently was found in an old land office in Wausau, Wisconsin during the 1930's, historians argue that it is very unlikely that Carver ever traveled as far north as Vilas County. Thus, how could the deed have gotten into the foundation of a house built 136 after the explorer had died?

Pooley talked to dozens of local residents who had some connection with Summerwind. They revealed the history of the house.

Herb Dickman of Land O'Lakes helped pour the foundation for the Lamont Mont mansion in 1916; he recalled that the only thing they put in there was stone. There was no black box containing a deed. Dickman also lived in the house for three months after it was finsihed. He said nothing unusual ever occurred.

Gene Knuth, Resident of the area for over 60 years, told Pooley that children started calling the mansion haunted only after it had been abandoned and became dilapidated. It never had that repuation while it was occupied.

Carolyn Ashby of Land O'Lakes lived in the mansion as a child durning the summers in the early 1940's. She didn't remember any ghosts, but admitted that the place seemed spooky, especially at night, because of its many rooms.

Other neighbors told writer Pooley that the Bobers spent less that two full summers on the estate. After Bober abandoned plans for his restaurant, he tried to get a permit to operate a concession stand near the house, but local ordinace prohibited it.

There is some uncertainty as to whether Bober actually owned Summerwind. One area resident told Pooley that Raymond Bober had tried to buy the property on a land contract, but was unsuccessful.

Is the myster of the haunted house based on publicity and the deterioration of a once-magnificent home? Summerwin's neighbors think so. And they resent strangers tramping over their lawns and driveways and knocking on their doors. Today, even charted buses disgorge ghost-hunters on the grounds of the Lamont mansion.

What do the visitors see? Only the gray skeleton of a Victorian relic in a grove of pines. Yet, when winds whine through the shattered windows, and doors creak on rusty hinges, and bats fly low in a sullen sky, it's easy to believe that something lurks behind those weathered walls

But, of course, everyone knows there's no such thing as a ghost. A longtime area resident Gene Knuth remarked, "I don't beleive in ghosts -- but I've been afraid of them all my life."

From the book Haunted Heartland wrote by Beth Scott & Michael Norman.

Blog Owner's note:In the 1980's Summerwind was struck by lightening, and burnt to the ground. Only pieces remain standing.

Related Posts: Summerwind Part 1
Summerwind Part 2
Summerwind Part 3