Ghostock 4: A Hair Raising Experience

Ghostock 4: A Hair Raising Experience
2-7-2007

As many of you know, last weekend I attended Ghostock 4 in Savannah, GA. It was the most fantastic event I have ever had the pleasure of attending. The main event of the weekend was going on a Ghosthunt investigation. This occurred last Friday night.There were 14 different places to explore. After everyone got assigned to a specific location and team leaders were selected, the fun began.

I got assigned to a team investigating a local haunted restaurant called,” The Olde Pink House”. This restaurant was rumored to be haunted by the Ghost of James Habersham; a colonial statesman and the acting governor of Georgia from 1771-1773 and also other unknown entities. My specific investigation started at midnight and ended at 3:30 AM .

We started out by interviewing the management of the restaurant. Several employees had stayed at the restaurant overtime so they could talk to us and of course, let us in and lock up after woods.

They informed us that woman diners have been mysteriously locked in the ladies room on occasion. Also, that dishes have flown off counters, tables and chairs have moved by themselves and pictures on the wall have been moved upside down at times. Most of this activity occurred in a special dining area called, “The Purple Room”. They also stated that many of their employees refused to go into the wine cellar downstairs because of strange noises that they have heard and unexplained cold spots that appear suddenly. After we took notes, we started the investigation.

We split up into 3 smaller groups and part of the team got assigned to the ladies room, part to the wine cellar and the other part to the Purple room. . We rotated the groups until everyone got a chance to investigate each of the haunted areas.We used video cameras, digital cameras, EMF readers and voice activated tape recorders. Most of the members of my team were experienced investigators. I was happy about this since I felt that I could learn alot since this was my very first investigation.

During our first visit to the purple room, we set up a video camera and left the room to take random pictures of other parts of the restaurant. When we came back, the video camera had turned itself off stating that the tape was full when it really was not and had nothing on it. They explained that this frequently happens during Ghost Hunt investigations. Apparently, the entities cause the equipment to malfunction. We set up the camera again and this time, it recorded a video.

In the ladies room, we used the EMF readers and it went crazy in certain parts of the ladies room. It is believed by many that quick changes in electro-magnetic fields indicate spirit activity. We all got chills up and down our backs while there. We asked the entity questions hoping that the voice activated voice recorders would pick up the answers. Tape recorders can usually pick up voices that cannot be heard by the human ear. These are called EVP’s (electronic voice phenomenon).

In the wine cellar, we sat down, turned off the lights and used the activated voice recorder to ask the entity questions. One of the groups said they heard a whisper but could not make out what it said.My group leader said she felt something touch her head. I quickly pointed my camera at her to try to take a picture. It would not work. As soon as we left the cellar, the camera started working perfectly again. My leader explained that this frequently happens during Ghost Hunts especially when the entities are nearby. I guess the entities do not want to have their pictures taken.

After each group had investigated all of the locations, we all met in the Purple Room for a while. We set up the video camera again and tried to talk to the entity. We closed all of the curtains so no light would come in from outdoors. We noticed several small ball of lights come from the fireplace area and return quickly to the place they came from. The fireplace did not have a fire going at that time. We actually got these to appear on the video camera. The team members explained to me that sometimes entities appear to people in this form.

We left the restaurant around 3:30 AM and thanked the employees for their hospitality. The next day, everyone checked out their pictures, videos tapes and tape recordings. We found several voices on the tape recordings. One said, “GET OUT’. The investigators told me that this is a very common recording to get. Another said, “HELP ME”. A third one said, ” The Doctor is in.”.

We played these recording for the people attending the conference on Sunday morning. We also had several orbs in our pictures that showed clear movement and a clear rings around them. Usually these kinds of orbs are positive orbs however they may also have been dust particles. We also projected these pictures for the audience.Lastly, we also showed the audience the video tapes with the moving ball of lights.

On Sunday morning, all of the investigation groups also presented their findings. It was so amazing listening to what each group found. One of the other teams actually got a video of an entity going up the stairs of a basement. Patrick Burns, show host of Haunted Evidence, was blown away by this video. He had never seen one this clear. Everyone was just astounded. Some of the others groups got great EVP’s. One of the female investigators got a full face in a picture that she took while investigating the Haunted Lighthouse in Savannah.

In addition to the investigations, we also got to listen to some great speakers. Some of them have also authored books on Ghosthunting. They gave us some great tips and shared a lot of great stories with us.

One of the speakers was Dr. Hans Holzer who has had over 40 years experience in GhostHunting. Another set of speakers were the Ghost Chicks which have a profile on MYSPACE and other social network sites. They gave a great presentation of Poltergeists.

Here are a few pictures. Here is a picture of Patrick Burns and I:

Here is a picture of Steve from Ghosthunters and I:

Here is a picture of the Ghost chicks and I

Lastly, here is a picture of Patrick’s wife, Pamela and my roommate, Tracy.(Moonlight Poetess)

In all, I had a blast last weekend and can hardly wait to attend the next Ghostock in Sept. 07.

My Nov. 5th GraveYard Ghost Tour

My Nov. 5th GraveYard Ghost Tour
1-1-2007

I promised when I wrote the blog about my trip to the V last November that I would write another one concerning the Graveyard Ghost Tour that I attended in Charleston, SC that weekend. Well, I never wrote the second part of the trip blog because sadly, orbs did not appear in this set of pictures. The tour I went on is described on this site: Graveyard Ghost Tour. Here are the pictures I took that night:

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

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Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Personally, I did not see anything unusual in these pictures. If anyone notices anything out of the ordinary. please let me know.

The Paranormal part of my trip: Part 1

The Paranormal part of my trip: Part 1
7-27-2006

As most of my Paranormal related friends know, Charleston, SC is one of the most historic and haunted cities in America.

I found out during my trip that one of the reasons why it is so haunted is because for many years the city had little or no building codes. Therefore, new homes and buildings would be constructed over existing graves and cemeteries without the bodies being removed and buried elsewhere.

Another reason is because many neighborhoods have been declared historical sites and therefore existing construction can only also be kept up or restored but never torn down. A lot of people in the Paranormal field feel that spirits tend to hang out at places that were familiar to them during their lifetimes. Therefore that is why spirits stay in the same Charleston area where they once lived.

My first Monday in Charleston, I decided to schedule a ghost tour for my family. We went on the tour described on this site. Ghost Tour

As you can tell from the site, the tour is based on a book written by Julian Buxton, a former local college professor who grew up in a haunted house. The book’s name is, “The Ghosts of Charleston” and the book is described later on at this URL: Ghost Book This tour was a 90 minute tour. However, I will tell you the two best parts of it and then something that happened only to me.

In the first best part of the tour, they took us past the old jailhouse where most prisoners were kept and showed us the gallow area in the back yard. Here is a site with information and pictures of this jail. Jail Info She told us that public hangings were the norm in Charleston during the 18 hundreds and that these events were like public entertainment for the community.

Then she told us the story of Lavina Fisher. She was a very beautiful woman who was probably the first female serial killer. She and her husband operated a boarding house outside Charleston called, ” Six Mile House”.

When a solo boarder showed up at their door, Lavinia would spellbound the guy with her beauty and ask him many personal questions. She wanted to be sure that no one would miss the guy too much if he should turn up missing. If the guy was a good candidate, her and her husband would murder him and then confiscate all his belongings. They would sell the victim’s property in town for a profit and bury his body in the grounds of the boarding home. When they were finally caught, Lavinia went to the gallows dressed in her wedding gown. Just before she was hung, she asked the stunned crowd that if anyone had a message for the devil to let her know because she was about to meet him. Since then, her ghost has been seen in a number of locations, including the Old Jailhouse. Here is a picture I took of the outside of the jail.
In this tour, we were not allowed to enter the jail so I decided to schedule a tour inside this jail during my next night in Charleston. Stay tuned for part 2 of this story which I will write later.

In the next best part of the tour, we walked passed by a building called, ” The Wagner Building”, which was used to house offices in the old days but it is now currently a restaurant. You can find out more about this restaurant at this site: Haunted Restaurant . She told us the story of a cotton merchant who was having problems with bill collectors. He rounded up all the cotton he had and shipped it to another location hoping that it would be sold for a profit and he could pay off his debts.

It turns out that on the night the ship was to leave the port with his shipment, it caught fire and he ended up loosing everything he ever owned. This man’s office was on the third floor of this building which is now a restaurant. He decided to hang himself right there. He used wire to hang himself instead of rope and was decapitated.

Today, the decapitated spirit is seen by diners who frequent the third floor. Normally this floor is closed to the public however there are some local diners which request to be served dinner on this floor. The last time the apparition appeared, a new manager which had just graduated from college saw it. He was so frightened, he quit his job on the spot and went back to live in New Jersey with his parents. Here is a picture I took of the restaurant.

Now I will tell you the story about what happened to me while I was standing on the street looking up at this restaurant. Some of you may know that since I was 8 years old, I have had more then one close encounter with a Ghost. I do not know whether this would count as a ghost story, I will let you decide this.

As I just stated, while I was standing on the street, I felt that all of a sudden there was pressure on the back left pocket of my jeans. It was as though someone’s hand was pressing down on the pocket. I knew there were other people in the same crowd where I was so I did not panic. I however thought that it may be paranormal in nature. So, I decided quickly to take my own hand and without turning around, slap the pocket so I would hopefully trap whatever was causing the pressure on the pocket. I thought that if it was someone’s hand, I would slap it and find out who was doing it. Also, if it was an insect, I would also trap it. Well, as you might have guessed by now, there was nothing there to slap or touch. Right after my own hand slapped my jean pocket, the pressure disappeared. As I said, you guys decide whether this was a ghost or not. I invite your comments to this experience or any part of my tour.

The Paranormal Part of my vacation: Part 2

The Paranormal Part of my vacation: Part 2

7-30-2006

As I stated in the first part of my vacation blog, the second night I was in Charleston, I went on a Haunted Jail tour. This site here describes the tour: Jail Tour Description 1
There is a better description of the tour on this site: Jail Tour Description 2

Many apparitions have been spotted in this jail over the years and many times, ghosts have appeared in pictures taken by tourists at this jail. Other times, cameras have mysteriously malfunctioned while someone was in the jail trying to take pictures. Upon leaving the jail, the camera then starts to work normally again.

The tour guide told us that many tourist have also reported jewelry such as rings that they were wearing when they entered the jail mysteriously disappear from their hands while they were being worn. There have been cases where both earrings disappeared from women ears at once.

Here are three pictures taken by random people who have visited the inside of this jail. These pictures were found at: Jail Picture Site

I uploading them to my Photobucket account giving credit to this site as the source since I could not link the pictures from their site directly here.

Here is the first picture:

Here is the second picture:

Here is the third one:

My husband and I took as many pictures as we could while we were still inside the jail. It was a really scary place to be inside, especially since it was not well lighted. Here are some of our best ones. Ghost sometimes appear in pictures as full apparitions and other-times as orbs.

The following pictures have orbs which may be dust or may be paranormal in nature. I will let you guys decide this. For those of you not familiar with the concept of orbs, here is a good site that describes them:
Orbs

Here is the first picture taken by my husband:

Here is the second picture which I took:

Here is a third picture that I took:

Here is a fourth picture that I took:

Here is the last one that I took

Well, that sums up the Paranormal part of my vacation. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. I invite comments on the pictures and tour.