Since the inception of the popularity of Ghost Hunters, paranormal teams have sprung up around the country seeking answers, proof, and for some thrills and excitement. For those serious about the field of paranormal research it’s anything but exciting nine-five percent of the time.
I entered the field as research for a novel I was working on. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in the existence of spirits and/or residual ghosts, it was simply that I had no knowledge of how investigations were conducted and the equipment used. I was fortunate in teaming up with several great teams that had both the experience and knowledge to teach me the fundamentals of conducting an investigation as well as equipment and most important of all, at least to me, debunking methods. For the next year I traipsed around graveyards, private residences and businesses seeking that elusive proof that something was there. Something beyond our normal senses that we could not see or hear but felt.
As an author, and in particular an author of paranormal murder mysteries I have a vivid and wild imagination. And if that wasn’t enough, I’ve also participated in psychic experiments that at times amazed even me with their accuracy, and I’ve worked once as a medium. Only once. So feelings for me, impressions and things I hear or see have to be analyzed very carefully. Psychic imprint? Voice from beyond? Or merely just my overactive imagination? For those reasons I took the role of debunker in my paranormal investigations. And in all my traipsing around to alleged haunted sites only one still “haunts” me.
I received an email from the mother of a young man who was experiencing weird things within his home. He and his wife were seeing things and hearing things. Several times the noted seeing the dark shape of a man standing at the top of the landing to the second floor. And the wife was becoming ill, both physically and emotionally. Their 9 month old little girl was also experiencing severe illnesses. The couple had become so afraid of their own residence they no longer wanted to live there.
The area was interesting as it’s in a small community that reported has a lot of paranormal activity. There are also a lot of Indian mounds in this area. And tales of spirits and ghosts abound. One of the more interesting is the bride. A woman walking to the church that has since burned in her wedding dress. The groom was killed in a car wreck on the way to the wedding. Supposedly once a year she walks from her home to the church. Many people have reported seeing this, but unfortunately as is the case 99 percent of the time no one had any real proof. There was a huge pasture across the road from the house, and we learned that it had been an old graveyard. When the owner purchased the land he had bulldozed all the headstones into one area and cleared it for pasture. Of course, this is illegal, but since no one complained he was allowed to do it, and even if someone complained now the statute of limitations has passed, and headstones are gone and no one would ever be able to match them even to a gravesite.
The house and farm were also interesting as my history research showed the last three adult males that had lived in this house had committed suicide. Two within the home, and one shortly after leaving the home. And the young man and his wife were experiencing suicidal thoughts.
Myself and several team members of a paranormal group make a preliminary investigation, meeting the home owners, touring the property and gathering additional history. We spent a couple of hours taking notes and talking to the homeowners and their friends. We toured outbuildings and last, but not least the barn. We all hated the barn. None of us felt good there. We felt unwelcome to say the least, and all experienced cold chills and a feeling of trepidation. Not a good place, and not one we wanted to be in for a long period of time.
Several things happened during our initial walk through of the home. First, the majority of our battery operated equipment died. Now, all good paranormal investigators know that isn’t a sign of paranormal activity, however, it was rather unusual. Fortunately, we had electricity. We proceeded to set up our equipment, and continued our walk through of the downstairs and upstairs. The young man pointed out several pieces of antique furniture, one from Africa that his parents had brought back from a trip. He stated the activity increased after that particular piece of furniture was placed in the home.
The second weird thing occurred in the nursery. I was walking through with another investigator when we both reached the same spot near the crib. We both experienced the same thing, and our reactions were similar which was to start rubbing our arms and body as we both felt as if we had walked through a huge spider web and had webbing all over us. Neither of us had ever experienced that before, nor have I experienced it since that time.
We spent the night in the house, and I hate to admit it, but none of us were brave enough to go the barn after dark. We didn’t like it in the daylight, and we were pretty sure we weren’t going to like it after dark. The young couple left, preferring to spend the night at a friend’s house.
We checked our audio in the early morning hours and found we did indeed have a couple of suspicious whispers. One that said “go upstairs” and one that said “help me”. We had nothing on film, and decided to explore the upstairs a little more. We found two small doors that lead to sort of an attic storage space, and what we found there we concluded was probably the cause of many of their health and psychological problems. Toxic mold.
We finished the stay, and reported our results to the homeowner the next morning. They called in a team of mold experts and sure enough that mold was toxic and was most likely the cause of most of their physical illnesses as well as part of their psychological problems.
However, there was still the EVP’s, and what several of us had experienced which left of us wondering if the mold was the only problem there.
A month or so later I received another call from the young man. The mold problem had been corrected, but they were still experiencing things in the home. I went back, this time with just Coby as most of the team I worked with lived four to five hours way. Once again, all battery equipment failed. No problem, we still had electricity. I set up a camera in the bedroom that would also video into the nursery, as those seemed to be the areas were most of the activity was present. I checked the film later, listening to the audio as I watched. This time I got chills because they words were plain, and they were directed at me. A woman starts to speak and a man says “hush, the blonde is back. She can hear you.” Of course, I couldn’t. The camera evidently could, but I couldn’t. Nothing else occurred while we were there.
This was my last trip to this house, as the young couple had moved out, preferring to live somewhere else and the farm was being sold. I often think about this place, and the fact that the entities there could actually see, hear and talk about me. So I’m left wondering, could I have done more? If I’d found a way to reach them could I have learned who they were, and why they were there? I understand that the barn, outbuildings and perhaps even the house have now been bulldozed. And if this was their home also, where did they go?
