If you have had an experience with the paranormal or want to, this is the place for you. You will find ghost stories,unexplained pics, inexpensive ways to investigate a haunting, ghost hunting tools and equipment for your everyday Ghost Hunter. No fancy equipment required. Spirits and the whole "after life" has been questioned for centuries. Lets see if together, we can't come up with some answers. Take a haunted ghost tour with me to Goatman's Bridge! Evil never was so kind.
Behind Every Cloud is a Kindred Spirit (BECKS)I lost my grandfather when I was 17. I had a VERY difficult time getting over it. How could I still communicate with him? I loved him so much I didn't think I could live without him. I read everything I could get my hands on to do with the "afterlife" and that started it all...the love of Ghost Hunting and the Paranormal. I have been researching the paranormal for over 37 years!! It is my way of staying in touch with my grandfather. Being a Ghost Hunter is not always as exciting as it seems on TV. Many nights I have sat in the dark and not a thing happened. BUT it is those times you DO get that one voice, that one explainable picture or have an experience that sends chills down your back that makes it sooo worth it all!!! My purpose of this blog is not to make people believe in ghosts but maybe to open their minds just a little bit... I LOVE this crazy thing called Ghost Hunting. It is as much a part of me as breathing. I am just a girl that refuses to accept we can't still contact our loved ones after they die. My grandfather won't let me.
If you have not stayed at the Congress Hotel in Chicago....you should!!! It is reportedly the most haunted hotel in the city. I was lucky enough to get a room at this hotel to do an investigation as a Christmas Present from my boyfriend and I loved every minute of it!!! I was also lucky enough to have one of my FAVORITE paranormal groups White Dog Paranormal to meet me there. We had a great time!
Ok....I know, you guys don't care about all that....you just want to know if we saw any GHOSTS!!!
First here is a little bit about this wonderful place. It was built to help house visitors of the World Fair in 1893. It was also owned at one point by the one and only Al Capone. Supposedly the most haunted floors are the 4th and the 12th(I stayed on the 12th). Some of the spirits roaming this place is none other than Al himself along with a mother and two sons, whom supposedly was waiting for the arrival of her husband and when she found out he wasn't coming, she through her two boys over the 12th floor balcony and then jumped herself. Then there's Peg Leg Johnny, a hobo that was murdered in the hotel. And the MOST HAUNTED ROOM OF ALL #441. YES, I did request to stay in that room but was told the whole 4th floor was closed! Of course, we had to go check it out ourselves and found that the 4th floor was completely dark! Did we leave......of course not!!! We just sat down in the floor, in the dark and started conducting an EVP Session.
The very top of the creepy stairwell
Creepy stairway
Stairwell
When you start asking questions about the spirits that haunt the hotel you will find out quickly that some of the people DON'T want to talk about it, but a couple of the bell hops were willing to share their stories. We were lucky enough to meet Johnny the late night security guard who has worked at the Congress for about 18 years. At first, he wasn't willing to talk, but he couldn't resist my Texas accent!!! LOL He eventually warmed up to us and took us on a tour all around the hotel and to places we normally wouldn't have access to. THANK YOU JOHNNY!!!! He told us story after story of paranormal activity. Even as recent as the week before we were there, of people leaving their rooms claiming things were moving, they were touched, etc.
After we left Johnny, we investigated on our own. Yep...you guessed it, we went places not many people could or WOULD not go. We had a lot of activity in a little stairwell we found behind an unmarked door. Be sure and watch the video I am posting of that session. You DON'T want to miss it!!!
Well we lost a good didn't we? Burt Reynolds, good looking, smart and funny. What more would you want in a guy right?
One of my all time favorite movies was Smokey and the Bandit. Boss Hog and Sally Field....I still laugh out loud just thinking about this movie....and that black Trans-Am!!!!! I'll get back to you guys later...I have to go watch Smokey and the Bandit! LOL
I wanted to dedicate this week's blog to Burt and say he will be greatly missed. I hope that Burt will pay me a visit if he wants to say "hi". Lord knows I have plenty ways for him to communicate with me. lol So, Burt if you are reading my blog, this is your invitation to say "Hi" to me in anyway you can from the "other side" or show me that shadow of the Black Trans-Am and I'll know it's you. LOL
Below is Burt's abandon ranch and guess what? He had a mausoleum built for he and his family and it was just abandon. That's a little creepy. I mean, I don't think I would want to be buried in a place that was made for someone else's body. Know what I mean??? If they had sold the property to someone else.
Anyway, below is a video of some boys that was roaming the property. And then, because Burt was really good at making us laugh, I included a couple video's that I thought really shows his personality and have one more laugh in his honor. RIP Burt.
I thought I would re-post this because I love this cemetery!!!! And every time I visit it, it stills just sends a little chill down my back. I it just like looking at a field of coffins!!!
Anyway, enjoy the post and if you know anything about these kind of "markers" or grave tombs, please I would love to know more about them.
So, I need your help. I went to visit my brother in Arkansas this past weekend and we did a little ghost hunting around where he lives in Kingston, Arkansas. We came across the Mc Broom Cemetery that sits up on a hill all by itself.
In all the years of investigating cemeteries, I have not ever ran across one like this. It had several grave markers that were shaped like coffins. Some little, some big, facing all different directions. The earliest settlers had their feet pointing toward the east and the head of the coffin toward the west, ready to rise up and face the "new day" (the sun) when "the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised" or when Christ would appear and they would be reborn. So, I really don't understand the way these people were laid to rest. hhuummm I really feel the coffin markers are the actual size of the casket and the body inside...that was laid to rest beneath them because the baby's were very small and the adults larger.
I am very curious about these "coffin" shaped tombstones. The best I can find out is that back in the 1700's the stone coffin marker was set on top of the actual casket. I wish I could read the dates on the tombstones, but they had all eroded over time. I just think it is odd that I have been in some really old cemeteries and NONE of them had these kind of tombstones.
If you know anything about these coffin shaped tombstones I would LOVE to know about them. I posted several pics of this really "cool" cemetery.
So, what do you think? Aren't these really "creepy"? You should see them at night! lol
We all love old haunted hotels, right? We book a room with the hopes of seeing at least one ghost or have some sort of paranormal encounter. Well, the Ben Lomond Suites Hotel in Ogden, Utah has at least six! The hotel has been around in one form or another for more than 200 years! Don't you just love hotels that have been around for hundred's of years? I always think about the walls. I know, I know....the walls right??? But I do. I think about what the walls must have seen over the years and if they could talk what would they tell us. Would they say..."hey, I remember the day that a man shot his wife and blood splattered all over me!" LOL Ok....that's a little weird...but you get what I mean.... :)
Mr. Ben Lomond
Trains, trains and more trains that's all Jay ever thought about. (kinda' like us ghost hunters, all we ever think about are ghosts and more ghosts. LOL) Anyway to say that Jay LOVED trains was an understatement. His life long dream was to travel to west Utah to stand on Promontory Summit, where back in 1869 a ceremonial golden spike was driven in to link the United Pacific and Central Pacific rail lines, creating the first transcontinental railroad.
After thirty-five years with the same company, Jay retired and the next spring started on his DREAM vacation to travel across the nation by rail. His last stop would be on May 10, the anniversary of the date on which the fabled spike had been driven, when there would be a reenactment of the ceremony, including two steam engines meeting nose to nose on the same track.
He had been on the train headed to the Summit for quite a long time, when Jay welcomed a much needed break to spend a couple nights in a REAL BED in a luxury hotel in Ogden, the Ben Lomond Suites.
In 1891, E.A. Reed built a four-story hotel, which he named after himself, at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Twenty-fifth Street. A. Perry, the president and cofounder of the Ogden Bank, felt that with a rapidly growing city like Ogden it needed a first-class hotel, so in 1926 he formed a corporation with three hundred stockholders to purchase the Reed Hotel and completely remodeled it. Included in the remodel would be an eight-story L-shaped tower with 350 guest rooms attached to the rear of the original hotel.
The newly remodeled hotel rechristened Bigelow Hotel opened instantly to being ranked as one of the top hotels in the state in 1927. In 1933, Marriner S. Eccles, another Utah banker, purchased the Bigelow and added a two-story penthouse, and changed the name to the Ben Lomond Hotel. For more than 40 years it remained a city favorite. After 40 years, and changing hands many times, the
Radisson chain in the 1980's purchased the property and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
Jay was so glad to be in a hotel, he decided to pamper himself and stay in one of the condo's at the hotel located on the upper floors. Room 1102. Once inside he showered and feel asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.
Jay awoke the next morning a new man. Ready to take on the sites of Ogden and particular the things having to do with the railroad...off he went. After a long day of site seeing, Jay decided he needed a nice, long, hot bath. Yes, that's what he needed! As he opened his condo door, he immediately knew something was wrong. Water was already running in the bathroom!!!!!! He rushed in and sure enough, the water was running in the bathtub. Thank goodness the drain was open! With a little confusion....had he leave the water on or had house keeping been in and left the water running.... oh well....no real harm done. So he pulled the drain pug up so that the water would fill up in the tub. In just a few minutes, Jay got in and leaned back to immerse himself into relation! Drifting back on his perfect day.....all the sudden he feels something pushing on his back. Was he imaging things???? Then not 10 seconds later...he felt invisible hands grab his arms and hands as to pull him out of the tub. SOMETHING or SOMEONE wanted him OUT of the tub!!!! He took the hint....he jumped out and dried off and laid on his bed trying to figure out....what just happened??????
Stories like Jay's are frequent at the Ben Lomond Hotel. Rumor has it that a women on her honeymoon drowned in the tub in room 1102. No known dates or names have been given to this story, but ever since, people have experienced coming into their rooms and the water is running, feeling hands on them in the tub and sometimes trying to PUSH THEM UNDER!!!!
Another spirit is said the be the drowning victim's son who after coming to the hotel to pick up his Mother's things decided to stay in the room right next to the room where his Mother drown.......room 1101. Overcome with despair.......he committed suicide.
Mary Eccles
Reports from the hotel staff include, phantom voices coming from both rooms when know one is staying in them. The housekeepers report that sometimes after making the beds, they turn around and there are indentions as if someone is laying on the bed. And there's another room that seems to be giving the hotel staff trouble.......room 1106. Legend has it that a Mother checked into room 1106 to wait for her son to return from World War II. Upon learning of his death, she stopped eating and starved to death in that very room. The desk clerks say that they will get phone calls from that room and when they answer the line goes dead.........not to mention.....know one is checked into that room.
Mary, Eccles's first wife whom he was married to when he bought the hotel, is said to roam the corridors, the fifth floor, the top floor and in the elevators. They say you will know it's Mary because you will smell her lilac perfume. Another spirit is said to be that of a sixty-five year male clerk that was stabbed to death late at night while being robbed in 1976 by a fifteen year old boy. Although he has not been "seen" he is felt by turning on the music in the foyer and fiddling with the phone cords.
Other sightings and experiences include, a female apparition on the third-floor gymnasium, guests in room 212 have felt hands pushing them, cold spots, footsteps, doors opening and closing by themselves, elevators acting up and stopping randomly at the fifth and tenth floors when know call button has been pushed.
So, if you DARE to stay at the Ben Lomond Hotel, don't take a bath....I suggest a shower!!! LOL
I don't think you would find it to hard to believe, that a portal might exist in the basement of a hospital, right? And think about all the emotions tired to a hospital....sadness, anger, joy and confusion are just some of the emotions that may tie spirits to a location. And this Texas Hospital may have just MORE than emotions tired to it. I believe there is actually a Portal in the basement.
Now, sorry I can't say at WHAT hospital this picture was taken at because I had to sign a "non-discloser agreement" with the hospital. But I can tell you it is one of the "older" hospitals in Sherman, Tx. It is a fairly large hospital and it has strong ties to Choctaw Nation. It does have an interesting past on how it got its name. If you do a little digging it won't take you long to figure it out.
I did this investigation many years ago. The night I was contacted, I was told about tons of paranormal activity which included: things moving by themselves, voices, lights going on and off in vacant rooms when no one was present. The employees of the hospital had even said, they thought there could be "a portal" somewhere because of all the apparitions they had seen. Some of the employees were starting to get a little "freaked out."
So, one night around 11:00pm (at the request from hospital employees) to see what was going on. After following procedure of signing in for security purposes, I began my investigation. For security reasons, I had to be assigned a security guard to follow me around the hospital.
Now, when your in a hospital you just can't walk around taking pictures and using EMF meters because you would scare people and the LAST THING a hospital wants is for it to get out that their hospital was HAUNTED!!!!! I could just hear me asking the patients in the rooms "excuse me....I know your sick and all...but do you have anything strange going on in your room.....like things moving on their own or seeing dead people?" lol Like that WOULDN'T STRESS YOU OUT!!!!!!!!So, trying to be discrete, I talked to several of the nurses and employees and they began to tell me about some of their experiences. One of the stories that they told me was the night before I was there, they had to move two patients out of a particular room because they both complained of a "little girl" bouncing a ball in their room. Now, this was two different patients that knew nothing of each others claims. One man said that he had a package of "chicklets" gum sitting by his bed and the box began to shake all by itself!!! It scared him so bad, that he requested to be moved IMMEDIATELY!!!! But the night I was there, they had already put another patient in the room so I could not go in. Dang it!!!
After doing some research, I found out that there had been a family, a father, mother and daughter all killed in a drunk driving accent and they were brought to the hospital. All were put on the same floor and the mother was placed in the room where these two patients had been, and both reported seeing a little girl bouncing a ball and playing. In this room is where her mom would pass away. Down the hall on the same floor, the father and little girl also died. So, I think that the little girl is coming down to her mother's room and playing.
Instead, the security guard and I started beneath the hospital, in the basement. You could go down to the basement of the hospital and actually go underneath where the floor was nothing but dirt and you could see the beams of medal and wood the hospital was built on. The hospital was built back in the early 1800's and had even been reported to have been built on an "old Indian burial". First, let me say, going underneath this giant hospital that looked so nice from the outside but below was nothing but dirt floor and wood, it really did feel like walking over sacred ground.
While down in the basement, there were some employees sitting around a table on break. I was asking them about some of the claims. They told me they believed the hospital was DIFFIDENTLY haunted! Not only did they believe beyond a shadow of doubt (no pun intended) this hospital was haunted, they believed there was a portal down underneath the hospital. They all would just have these creepy feelings and see shadows. I can tell you, I have interviewed many people but these four TRULY believed they had seen ghosts. One of the employees offered to show me around and share with me some of his experiences. I think there were four employees that night on break and all four brought up having a portal under the hospital.
Now, here is where it gets good. I wanted to take a picture of my "guide" so this was the first picture I took. I was really just taking HIS picture before we began our tour. By now, it's like 2:00am in the morning. Nothing interesting to take a picture of, just him standing in front of a solid concert wall. I blacked out his face and badge to protect him. He was standing in front of the concert wall right in front of the door that went into the underground part of the hospital. There was not a SINGLE thing on the wall......it was just a wall.
When I got finished and went back to review the evidence....I COULD NOT BELIEVE what I saw in the very first picture!!!! It looks like an "open ended tunnel"! You can see that it looks that you could just walk right through it and be outside. You can see how it appears to have the sun shining down on the other end. It also looks like "greenery" to the left of some stairs. Do you see that? Another thing, the little carts over to the left, I know this is hard to believe, but they weren't there! I took the picture, there was nothing there but a man standing in front of a wall. I drew a line above where I believe the wall was and I do remember seeing that big pipe going across, but that was it! Everything else in this picture WAS NOT THERE!!!
I sent this picture back to the hospital and ask if they knew if this could be a reflection of something? They were FLOORED!!!!! They just couldn't believe what was in the picture because of the employees watching us just before we went under the hospital. I ask them to please go down to where we were and see if they could see ANYTHING that might cause it to look like this. They sent me an email back saying there was nothing of ANY KIND that would have made this kind of a reflection or a reflection of any kind! And the carts were not there either! They could provide me with no reasonable explanation for this photo. And let me remind you, I was way underneath the hospital and it was around 2:00am in the morning. How could there possibly be light or sunshine? If you look close it looks like an open ended tunnel you could just walk through. You can see "the sun" or a light source shining down causing the ray of light to reflect on the bottom. It looks as if there is a stair walkway leading upward. You can see "greenery" all around the stairs leading up. And it almost looks like one of the old timey wheel chairs over to the left. Possibly, even some kind of maybe stone arch over to the left. This is AMAZING!!!!! Because there was absolutely nothing behind this man but a concert wall!!!!!
"What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." Right? Or at least you hope! That is why you have to sign a wavier before you ever go into Zak Bagans Haunted Museum in Las Vegas stating they will not be responsible for anything that you experience or becomes attached. Man, doesn't that set the mood? LOL
Ghost Adventures is the number one paranormal show on TV and it's host Zak Bagans, Lead Investigator and an executive producer is no stranger to the "stranger things" in life. With millions of fans watching weekly as Zak and the crew search for demonic entities and paranormal activity, Zak has came up with a way that you too could get up close and personal with haunted objects and have a chance to experience the paranormal all in one place for yourself.....a Haunted Museum.
Now, anyone who has watched Ghost Adventures knows there is A LOT of "questionable" things that happened to Zak and the crew. Is it fake? Is it staged? Look, if it keeps you watching for whatever reason it's great ENTERTAINMENT and I love any "ghost shows" of any kind!!! My DVR is full of nothing but shows to do with the paranormal, strange, weird, mysteries.....wait.....I think I see a pattern here?????? LOL I think I might be a "paranormal junkie". Lol Oh, back to Zak. I am not going to sit here and "dog" the show or say I believe EVERYTHING you see in their investigations is real, but what I will say is......his museum was awesome!!!
Ever since I heard Zak opened a Haunted Museum I have been dying to go! But I have to be honest, I was wondering how "corny" was it going to be or even was it really worth "all the hype" and money? You know, I had my doubts. Well, last month I got the chance to go when my boyfriend, Deak surprised me with a weekend in Vegas! I had know idea! He told me he wanted to do something special on our anniversary and he showed up at my house and we drove straight to the airport, and off we went. I know, right???
Now, when you first pull up to the museum it looks like a normal big house. Not a lot of flashy lights or anything like that, just a simple sign saying Zak Bagans The Haunted Museum. There is a very narrow driveway not at all like you would think. It is definitely a bit of a problem getting in and out. I guess I was thinking that you would pull up and it would be a huge parking lot or something with big flashy lights.....you know.....a little bit like Zak....the center of attention. LOL Well not at all. Anyway, there is an employee standing outside the museum having you sign a waiver before going in. When you first go in, you are stopped in a very small dark room with a video of Zak and the guys playing on a small tv screen and there are tons of haunted dolls lining the walls. I thought it was really cool and sat the mood for what was to come.
Now, I am not going to tell you everything about the museum and the way the tour is run, because that would ruin it for those of you who have not been yet. First, let me say, it is very cramped inside the mansion and it seems you are a bit "rushed through" on the tour. I think it is probably because there are so many rooms to see in a short time and also they are trying to get as many people through the museum as fast as they can. I believe the mansion has like 33 rooms and you go through 25 of them I think that is what we were told. Here's the problem, there is SOOOOOO MANY things crammed in such small spaces, and it is all really weird, bizarre and cool stuff you want to see, but you just don't get enough time to really check it all out.
And guess what? You can't take pictures!!!!!! I know right? Here you are among some of the MOST HAUNTED OBJECTS in the world and you can't take pictures. The very first room you come in, is kinda the waiting room before the tours start and has all the walls lined with haunted dolls. This is the ONLY room you can take pictures in so take a bunch!!!
Different rooms have different theme like objects. Like Hollywood horror film stuff and the Dybbuk Box supposedly being the most haunted object in the world!!!! Just super creepy stuff EVERYWHERE!!! And I will tell you, we had some people on our tour that was scared to death of different rooms and I wasn't sure they were going to be able to finish the tour but they did. Good for them. Before you go into each room, your tour guide will tell you a little about what you are about to see in the room and ask if you would like to "go in" or "not".? So, if you are uncomfortable with seeing any of the objects in the rooms, you don't have to go in. The tour guide will then step aside and let you go inside and I'm going to guess about 10-15 people at a time in the room and you have about 5-10mins in each room. Ok. Listen ya'll, if you are going to take the time, spend the money (And I do think it is a little pricey for the tour) on the tour .....don't NOT go in all the rooms!!!!! Your there to see all the cool, weird haunted stuff, right? So be brave when the tour guide is definitely trying to make you uncomfortable and freak you out a little bit or scare you before going into the rooms.....go see EVERYTHING!!!!! Even the smallest of the creepy stuff is cool.
One of the rooms is filled with circus stuff and like this really large miniature circus display all made of wood. Of course, it is very old and I thought it was pretty cool. Not super creepy but I liked it. Unusual. There are lots of small hallways with crazy stuff all over the walls for you to look at. Stuffed animals, mannequins, dolls, skeletons, chairs, tables you name it, it's there. Let me tell you, there is NOT an empty space on the walls or lining the halls. This place is FULL of creepy, weird and haunted objects no doubt about it!!!!
So, let's talk about the Dybbuk Box. One of the most haunted objects in the museum that most people want to see. Before you go in they really build this one up. Of course, there is a lot of hype about the Dybbuk Box. A Dybbuk Box is a wine cabinet which is said to be haunted by a Dybbuk. A Dybbuk is usually a restless, usually malicious spirit that is believed to be able to haunt or even possess the living. The box gained notoriety when it was auctioned off on eBay with an accompanying horror story written by Kevin Mannis, an is the original inspiration for the 2012 film The Possession. Ok. The tour guide kinda leads you to believe that something "bad" could happen to you JUST for looking at the Dybbuk Box. For me, I couldn't WAIT to get inside!!!! Are you kidding me????? The WORLD'S MOST HAUNTED OBJECT is just a few steps in front of me behind a door.....OH HELL NO!!!!! I'M GOING IN!!!!!!!!!!!! They have the Box in a glass case in a pretty dark room. I can tell you, it looks just like a box in a glass case. LOL Now, did I feel scared or creeped out??? Feel a BAD ENERGY around??? No. Actually I thought I felt a bit more uneasy but I just didn't. I was a bit disappointed.....I thought for sure.....I would feel something bad or evil around. Nope. Not a thing.
Zak has done a good job at trying to make this an interesting tour when all you are doing is just walking from room to room in a very small space. I can tell you, there are a few surprises that will make you jump or scream!!! Just ask Deak!!! LOL
There is a room with a doll named Peggy. Now, Peggy supposed to be haunted and will move her head and talk to you. They have a spirit box set up so that you can try to communicate with Peggy. We tried to talk with her and asked if she could see us and we did get a response...."yes" but that was about all.
There's the stairs from the famous Demon House with dirt from that location and there is famous Jack Kevorkian's van where he would assist in suicides. There is a chair that sat beside Michele Jackson's bed when he died (ok....that's just creepy that you would even want that, but to each their own right .LOL). Charles Masions bloody handprint. This place just has to many things to mention.
The cursed objects and the energy of the house is definitely "different." With all this haunted stuff in one place how could there not be a weird vibe? I will tell you the place that I felt the most uncomfortable was at the staircase leading to the basement. As we were walking from room to room, we walked by a staircase that led to the basement or bottom floor. We weren't allowed to go down there but Zak had sat a doll on a chair in a doorway below. The tour said that its head moves and the eyes blink. For some reason, this doll just gave me the creeps! And we weren't even close to her, we could just look down at her from the second floor. But I swear I saw her blink!!! Like a couple of times. I didn't say anything because I was trying to figure out if I REALLY saw that or not. hhhuuumm As we were leaving, they take you to the gift shop which doesn't have a ton of things because it is in a pretty small room but as I was looking around Deak whispered in my ear..."I swear...I saw that doll down stairs blink!!!" I was like "no-way" and he said "yes I did" I DID SEE HER EYES BLINK I knew it!!!! He saw it to!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!!!!
So, should you go see the museum? Again, I didn't know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. It has some super weird and bizarre things in it. Some things you just have to ask yourself why?" LOL Hands down I would say MOST DEFINITELY go check it out!!!!!!!!!! It is something to see!!! And it is just a fun time if nothing else. :)
The video below shows the inside of the museum. It gives you a good look at some of the bizarre objects inside the mansion.
