It's That Time of the Year...

This weekend I was sitting with friends, watching a slew of paranormal shows. Former ghosthunters themselves, they commented on how pervasive paranormal shows have become. Where once, shows like "Haunted History" and "Haunted Travels" and the occasional "Haunting in..." were the only ones, now they are a dime a dozen. We wondered if it was a good thing, in that the public was now used to seeing them. Does this make them more likely to believe it?

I was reading through this blog and smiled. I had a good time as a ghosthunter. I enjoyed visiting the historic sites and talking with folks. Sometimes I miss it.

I figured, I might as well revive this blog a bit. Post the case histories, maybe a few EVPs I caught over the years...who knows?

DCMAG Has Folded

Well, it's official. The group I've been hunting with for years, DCMAG, has folded. It was inevitable and it was time. So many ghost groups don't last very long for the usual reasons such as time, egos, apathy, member attrition, boredom, burnout--even the best of them it seems. I've seen and experienced it before with the Ghost Hunters of Baltimore. DCMAG was no different.

I'll be honest. After the members' recent trip to Ireland in November (I didn't go this year), there was a split. A split in both how people felt about each other as friends and colleagues, and a split in viewpoints about the group itself and the direction it was going in. Frank has started a new group, adventuremyths.net, and Al has turned his attention to his interest in other aspects of the metaphysical nature of the paranormal/supernatural. I really do wish them both the best of luck in their new pursuits.

Me? I'll still post accounts and interesting tidbits about ghosts and the paranormal, but after 4 years, my days as a ghosthunter doing investigations are done. To everyone I've worked with during investigations, it's been a pleasure and a privilege.

I can't say that I'm not relieved. It spared me from resigning, as I was going to do a few months ago after the Pry House investigation. I had been telling my husband and friends that I was going to drop the group for quite a while now. Those who really know me, know this. While I am sad that it is gone and will miss everyone a lot, it's okay as I now have more time for my art and writing.

Maybe I'll even learn to play a mean guitar...

Manassas: Ben Lomond

We recently had the pleasure of visiting the Ben Lomond House in Manassas, Virginia. About 2 mi. from the Manassas Battlefield, the Ben Lomond House was built in 1832. "Ben" is the Gaelic word for "mount/mountain", and is named after a place in Scotland (Mount Lomond). The staff have had some experiences: voices, noises, a music stand being turned and also found dismantled. I did a basic history report, but we all went in a little blind for this one. The house is being restored and they're also about to do an archaeological and grounds survey soon as well. Exciting! As it was used as a field hospital during the Civil War, they have also preserved graffitti on the walls that many of the soldiers left.

We got some good EVP there. For one of the best ones, I was standing near a fireplace by myself across the room from the guys as Al asked questions, but my recorder was the only one to get it--a response to one of Al's comments. An interesting thing is that Al said that he felt that the ghost was that of an older man--too old to have been a soldier at the time, at least in his 50s with gray hair and moustache. The curator told us at the end of the evening that a 65-year old soldier from Georgia did die in the house and it's noted in papers in Duke U. because of his age and not common knowledge.

The house is maintained by Prince William County and is open to visitors during normal hours.

Ireland: Leap Castle

I watched the episode of Ghost Hunters on SciFi last night where they visited Leap Castle in Ireland. Above are photos of the famous oubliette in the Bloody Chapel and the door to the elemental's corridor that I took during my visit there with DCMAG and the knowledgeable Barry Fitzgerald in 2004.

I'll go more into the experience that is Irish ghosts when I talk about Ross Castle (brrr). Leap has had quite a history in terms of the paranormal. A bloody past, a lady of the house who tinkered around with calling forth things that she shouldn't have, and God knows what else, but Leap fits the criteria for a haunted place. We didn't have anything unusual happen during our 2004 visit, but the 2003 visit was more eventful. You can read Al's account of that first trip to Leap here.

More photos and info about Leap and our experiences are available here.

Today's the Day!

It's Halloween! Get your ghoul on!

Have a safe and happy Halloween everyone!

In the Washington Times

Hey, we're in the Washington Times today!

Those types of articles are always so much fun to do.

Pry House Field Hospital Museum

Last night we investigated the Pry House Field Hospital Museum. On the grounds of the Antietam National Battlefield and operated by the National Park Service, we had the privilege of being able to investigate it as part of an annual event with WFRE radio. I'll just say that one of the radio staff truly got a taste of what rookie "step duty" is really like, lol. Thanks man, you were a trooper.

The Pry House, built in 1844 by Philip Pry, is a brick Federal-style house that sits on a hill overlooking the fields below. It was used by Gen. McClellan as his headquarters during the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, the bloodiest day of the Civil War with over 20,000 casualties and injuries. Many of those injured soldiers were brought to the Pry barn, which was used as a field hospital until that December. Maj. Gen. Israel Richardson was mortally injured by a ball from a spherical case that struck him in his side. He died at the House on Nov. 3. It changed hands only about 2 times before being acquired by the NPS in 1974. The house was damaged by a fire in 1976 and restored to its 1862 layout and appearance.

Sightings associated with the house have been mostly the apparition of a woman in 19th c. clothing--seen by firefighters, and workers. The legend has always wondered if it was Mrs. Richardson, who tended to her dying husband, but the museum director's son saw her once and described it as looking like the woman in the picture downstairs--Mrs. Pry.

I can tell you one thing though...I have never been at a location that made me feel as off-balance, out of breath, woozy, and dizzy as that one. I usually get "symptoms" at haunted locations, such as lightheadedness and that stuffy, "thick" feeling. I felt "off" the whole time and didn't feel okay again until after we left.

The Pry House is a fantastic museum to find out more about Civil War field hospitals. I was in the dark reading the displays with my flashlight and they were pretty fascinating. Medical care concepts we're familiar with now such as triage came about as a result of the Civil War.

When working at historic sites, you have to be very careful of the objects within, as many are priceless, and know what can/can not be photographed (artifacts, office equipment...). You also have to respect any restrictions, such as no-go areas, and the location itself--as you do not want to damage it in any way. Historical site cases are always such an honor to be able to do, and for a history-lover like me? Pure bliss.

History Reports

One of the things that I do before I go on investigation is prepare a history report. It's literally the history of the location with any supporting info about it. I also write any questions that I have that the information has made me ask. Those questions are the things that I try to figure out or ask the owners/caretakers while there. At the last one, a historical society rep was there, which was fantastic. Not only was she able to answer all of my questions, but was able to provide me with other info as well.

I also document the legends or hauntings associated with the house as well. Once again, separating fact from fiction. You'll find that you can debunk a legend sheerly upon the impossibility of it historically.

I think that I'm also going to start a construction era-specific checklist of things to look for in particular-style buildings (Italianate, Georgian, Victorian, etc.), since the other thing that I do while there is to check out the walls, floors and the way the house was built/renovated. It might make my life a little easier. Construction tells a lot--as in , was it slave-built? Were there original features such as ovens or coal hatches that are no longer there? It's like having a piece of a much bigger puzzle.

THAT Holiday

Oh yeah, it's coming!

For a ghosthunter, Halloween marks the time of year when everyone has spooks and haunts on the brain. I enjoy it because it means that the networks trot out their best (and not-so-best) paranormal documentaries and shows. I love "A Haunting...", for instance. Any of those "haunted places"-style roundups? I'm there parked in front of the TV in a cushy chair. If you've read my earlier postings, you already know what I really think about the average "Hollywood-ized" paranormal show (don't get me started on "Ghost Whisperer"), but the documentary, real ones? Love 'em!

Sure, I have a preference for the more true events ones, but I understand the pure entertainment value of others. What are your favorite ghost and hauntings shows?

Tomorrow the group's doing a local radio show and they're tracking us live during an investigation. I'll let you know how that goes!

Response

I recently got a response back about the Waldorf investigation in my comments section about it. Look, I wasn't there that day (on the 3rd investigation), so perhaps there really was a misunderstanding on someone's part. If so, to be truly fair, I think both sides of this story should be heard and I hope they'll read this again to know that it was:

"I know the incident being referred to. It involves a light bulb box being moved to a room with a black light. To be fair, I never claimed that the ghost moved ANYTHING. I asked who moved it and how it got there. That night, during the investigation, I walked through the kitchen and threw out a sandwich bag when I saw the box that had been moved. I picked it up and then dropped it back on the couch. I was being watched by and was speaking to one of your staff the whole time. And F. was like 6 feet behind me. Faking something would have been near impossible and would have just made me an a** and been a waste of your time. We still have things happening here on a regular basis and are VERY thankful to A. and crew for setting our minds at ease. I just wish you all had talked about this with us up front. We both feel very bad and a bit awkward that you guys think we are flakes."

There's always another viewpoint and I thought their side should be told. Thanks to them for sharing it.

Leesburg Questions Answered

I can now answer my questions from my earlier post about Glenfiddich:

1. What's the timeline of ownership? Harrison>Owner X>LeHaye>Miles (current owner)
   
2. We will be there during the anniversary of this alleged ghost's death. Will something happen? It did.
   
3. Is there more than one? We don't believe so and the haunting's consistent.
   
4. The young woman whose diary was found, how does she fit into everything? Virginia "Jenny" Miller was a houseguest of the Harrison's and was fond of Col. Burt, who was a guest of the Harrison's as well. She kept him company after he was brought back injured.
5. The footsteps are regularly heard on Sundays. What's the significance? Actually, it doesn't match either the Battle or his death date as the 21st (in 1861) was a Saturday and the 24th, a Tuesday.
   

Back to Leesburg

We made it back to Leesburg and the Glenfiddich House. Privately owned, the main portion of the Glenfiddich House was built in 1840 (it is attached to its original log cabin built around 1783) by Henry T. Harrison. Gen. Lee stayed there in 1862 as he recuperated from a wrist injury and it was the site of his war council while en route to Antietam. Thanks to the Historical Society of Loudoun County and Glenfiddich's owners, we were able to return on the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Ball's Bluff.

On 10/21/1861, the Battle of Leesburg/Battle of Ball's Bluff was fought and the commander of the 18th Mississippi Regiment, Col. Erasmus R. Burt, was shot in the right thigh and mortally wounded. Brought to Glenfiddich (then called Harrison Hall), he was laid in the foyer before being taken to an upstairs bedroom where he died 3 days later. His ghost has been seen and experienced by both the owners and their employees (the main building is used as an office).

Col. Burt has been heard regularly walking in the parlor on Sundays, cold rushes of air have been felt, sounds of the back door slamming although it has been locked, pacing in the hallway and even his apparition in the foyer have occurred. The owner and the employees have become used to him and coexist well with him, treating him as a protector of the house.

We had a full team this time and ran video, EVP, and took photos. We also tried a biofeedback experiment. That was interesting. We staked out the room Burt was brought into (and where a body impression's regularly seen on the bed) and I got comfortable in a chair. Let's just say that I was calm, but the feedback machine said otherwise and it would also spike when the UV flashlight was used on me. Go fig. The purpose of that experiment is to see if a person if possibly physically affected by a spirit's presence. Something new. We tinker sometimes. Experimenting is a good thing.

The most interesting was in the basement. It had a thick feeling, but that could've been due to the damp, mustiness of it. We noticed the floor had been redone. Turns out it was the former well/cistern. Duh. Of course! That's usually one of the first things I look for. In the back office, I stepped towards the center and my whole head tightened up and I swear, my ears started ringing and aching. When I left out of the office I was fine. We ran EVP later on in it and immediately after Al asked the spirit if it was comfortable having us there, upon playback everyone in the room clearly heard a voice say "NO." That was enough for us and a DCMAG first. After hearing that, we thought it was time to wrap up, LOL. No need to tell us twice, LOL. We spoke to the owner more about her experiences and packed up.

Having a historical society official on hand, many of my historical questions were answered. I still have some though:

1. The footsteps are regularly heard on Sundays. What's the significance?
2. Why is the Lynch House across the street so very haunted too?

Glenfiddich is privately-owned, but the public can visit many of Leesburg's haunted sites on the guided ghost tour, which is considered one of the best in the area.

Of Suites and Inns: Fairfax

Last night I was in Fairfax County. A contact of ours was staying at the beautiful Bailiwick Inn and invited us to come do an informal investigation. An informal for us is EVP and photos--very, very minimal. I'd even say it was a very informal investigation. Only 3 of us--not a full team--the contact, and another guest. You know how I feel about extras being there and this was no different--especially since the guest couldn't take it and whined and fretted and was scared of the dark. She asked me, "How can you take it (the dark)?" "You get used to it," I answered. This is why we don't like having extra tag-a-longs.

DCMAG has visited Bailiwick before years ago and you can read about it here. Built between 1800-1812, it was the residence of the Gunnell and Oliver families and in a key location during the Civil War--being across from the Fairfax Court House. The first Confederate casualty took place on its lawn. Our contact was staying in the gorgeous Antonia Ford suite on the top level. That wing of the house is older and many staff members have reported experiences there. The Ford suite is where medical instruments were found and it is believed that soldiers were treated there, including amputations.

It felt "thick" when I first went in, but that was the only time. Our EVP turned up nothing. Without further instruments or incidents, there was no way to tell anything more.

Just to show you how I'm more scared of the living, Al (our group leader) and I were going to the car and these very drunk guys were near the back of the lot. They noticed us and started yelling obscenities and approaching us. Al and I jumped into that car so fast that you wouldn't believe it. We didn't want to stick around long enough for them to get close!

Leesburg

Right now we are working on cases around Loudoun County in Virginia. We're about to go back to a previous investigation that we had to cut short as Al sadly found out a 1/2 hour into it that his dad passed away.

This privately-owned house is a gorgeous, antebellum Italianate-style house with quite a history. I'll tell you more about it after we re-investigate. Questions I have right now are:

1. What's the timeline of ownership?
   
2. We will be there during the anniversary of this alleged ghost's death. Will something happen?
3. Is there more than one?
4. The girl whose diary was found, how does she fit into everything?

I'm sure I'll have more questions after my return.

DCMAG Crew

Here's a group shot of all of us at DCMAG. Lew and Mike are missing. That's me stooping and holding a picture of Barry.

Left to right: Frank, Jonathan, Me (and Barry) Michael, and Al.

Hard Clients and Hoaxing

In July and August, we did an investigation at a private residence in Waldorf. When we take on private residence clients, we try to screen them to make sure that a.) they aren't nutcases, b.) they aren't nutcases, and c.) they aren't nutcases. We really do try to check it out and help if we can. We don't necessarily want to restrict ourselves to more high profile cases at more high profile places. We enjoy private residences too, but some folks can make it hard. The team has endured homes reeking overwhelmingly with smoke, clients bringing folks in to watch like it's a "Come see the ghosthunters party!" and other things, but this was a new one even for us.

The young couple said they were seeing things go by in the hall, that things were moving and/or reappearing in other places. They seemed genuine, and the hard thing about this gig is that we deal with the paranormal. Having seen and experienced some crazy stuff in the course of it, you can't just rule it out entirely after screening without a prelim. We checked the place out, came up with some theories such as activity possibly being linked to their toddler (since a lot centered on the playroom), even got what we thought was a decent EVP, and the team agreed to another follow-up. The second time, there was nothing at all to make me think it merited a follow-up. No EVP. No readings. No nothing.

The group decided to go back and I didn't, as I went out of town. I wouldn't have if I was here. I just didn't think it deserved a 3rd visit. While there, one of our group members saw the client move something and blame it on a ghost. What?!

Hearing that, we were well, pissed. What was their motivation? To try to trick us? Let's play the ghosthunters for fools? A cry for attention? Why?

We do not get paid for this, so when we do homes, we truly want to help. We legitimately love ghosthunting and really want to help folks out who really do have issues going on in their homes--and there are folks who have some crap going down in their households that affects their day-to-day lives. So hoaxers, don't waste our time, please. It's such a hard judgment call already. Don't make it harder.

Pareidolia

I was reading about pareidolia--which is the tendency for humans to recognize faces or other human traits in things like clouds or Mars landscapes or inkblot tests, etc.

It made me think a lot about how we as ghosthunters or paranormal researchers can be affected by this. Is that human-shaped? Does that orb have a face--see the eyes and smile (oh, that one drives me crazy)? How texture and reflections can make us believe we are seeing human-like things.

I remember on one investigation, we were looking at a photo. In the background was a large painting. Someone said "Is that a face?" and everyone started to seriously examine it (the photo). I took one look at it and said, "It's the reflection of the light on the surface of the painting." It had a golden matte look to it and I saw no face at all. I was kind of surprised when I felt my opinion was dismissed. I was the only one to call it that. What was wrong with me, right? LOL.

I don't know, the more that I do this, the more that I need claims to be more substantial. I'm having a hard time with the little things.

Ghost Footage Video--Hilarious!

The group leader of DCMAG forwarded me this YouTube video...

Although he didn't find it funny when this happened at an investigation, just to go to show that ghosthunters really do have a sense of humor, I think you will find it hilarious too.

Going on investigation tonight. Private residence.

Genetics & Ghosts

I believe that there's a genetic component to the ability to see and/or communicate with ghosts. So many people who can also have relatives or ancestors who could as well. I'm hoping to get in touch with some scientists or researchers in the future and discuss that possibility.

After all...why not?

Attachments, Children, & Imaginary Friends

There's something about kids, huh? In the same way that their infectious energy makes others gravitate towards and want to protect them, I believe it is the same with spirits.

A lot of times you will find that activity increases in a location with the presence of a new baby or child in the household. There's a theory that their emotional energy attracts spirits. I also believe that it is also a matter of loved ones coming back to watch over or visit with them, or the spirit of the household becomes protective of them--even though they are unrelated.

Here's a story for you. I had a great-aunt who passed away in the home that she shared with her son and his family, which included her great-grandchildren--both under 9 at the time. My cousin told me about how the younger one of the great-granddaughters would be having conversations with noone present and complained one day, "Tap! Tap! Tap! [Aunt's name] and her tap! tap! tap!" The granddaughter was mimicking my aunt's habit of tapping her fingers on the table.

Pay attention to the details of their descriptions of them and things being told to them. Are they looking up or relatively even with their own height? It could be the difference between an adult and a child. What is the child saying? Does activity seem to center around or on the child? These are things to look for. Sometimes those imaginary friends aren't so imaginary at all.