Tonight at the Roanoke Library

Yup, I'm one of the Ghost Gals. Hope to see you at the Roanoke Library tonight.

ParaQuest 2011

Last weekend us Ghost Gals spent a day in Lynchburg attending a paranormal conference called ParaQuest hosted by the Seven Hills Paranormal group. It was a full day event filled with speakers focusing on different elements of the paranormal.

The first session I attended was entitled "Near Death Experiences" with Debbie Carvelli.



For over a decade a friend of mine kept telling me I simply MUST meet Debbie who is an intuitive. At that time she was a teacher at VWCC. I never contacted her and she eventually moved to Williamsburg and my friend moved to Florida. So naturally as soon as I saw her I introduced myself and told her what my friend had said. She held my hand and told me someone had told her that there was someone she had to meet that day. If I was the person, I don't know why because I didn't "feel" anything when I held her hand. Her session was quite interesting and I did come away with the title of my next book which is going to be about the paranormal.

Next up was Pat Bussard speaking about "Death and Burial Customs in the Victorian Era." I found the practice many folks of that time had of propping up their dead loved ones and posing them for a family portrait pretty gruesome. Some of the superstitions she mentioned are ones that I was taught such as grabbing a button and holding it until the funeral procession passes. Why? I still don't know. I just continue to do it.

A very entertaining speaker was Alpheus Chewning who runs a ghost tour in Virginia Beach.



I should have known he would be good just by the top hat he was wearing. He spoke of how people faked spirit photos in the early days reusing the glass negatives and superimposing a new photo with it. Even Mrs. Lincoln was fooled and swore Abe was looking over her shoulder. PT Barnum debunked the practice but some folks will believe what they want to believe so ignored him.

I'm sure you all heard of the Fox Sisters and their ability to communicate with the dead via rapping. They became famous but oddly enough when they were strapped to chairs and restrained they weren't able to communicate. They said it was because the spirits were angry but of course it was really because they were using their toes to make a snapping noise. Eventually one of the sisters admitted their hoax but again, people didn't want to believe it.

Mike St. Clair from VIPER, a local paranormal group, covered modern "Hoaxes and Fakes."



Lord knows there are plenty of those -- just Youtube poltergeist activity and a bunch will pop up. Mike debunked a couple and even created his own "poltergeist" video. Good stuff there, haha! Unfortunately some folks fake activity so they could become "popular" which makes it bad for the rest of us who truly do capture legit evidence. One word to the wise, if any group offers to investigate your premises for a fee, and/or promises to rid you of the activity, run!

By far the most interesting session of the day was hosted by Beth Brown and entitled "Civil War Ghosts of Virginia." Beth lives in Richmond, has a couple of books out, and has investigated many Civil War sites. She introduced us to locations this Yankee had never heard of before, but now wants to explore. You can investigate national park spots during the day free, but if you want to go after hours you must get permission and be prepared to pay a hefty overtime fee for the park ranger who will accompany you. Beth showed a video of Cold Harbor where she captured the 1:00am "mist" which is supposed to be soldiers walking through the forests. I couldn't find it on-line but it was quite eerie. If you don't want to pay big bucks to explore battlefields Beth recommended going as soon as the parks open so you will avoid the crowds.

Beth relayed a story how one spirit answered, "now or then?" when asked what year it was. When I told her my personal experience of a spirit in my house who answered, "This year!" to the investigator's question of what year was it, her eyes widened and she asked me, "Why in your own house?" Because I have too, was my response. She and others will understand when the book is finished...after the mystery is solved.

All in all it was an informative and fun day. I met some interesting people that I share common interests with and I look forward to next year's event. One friend of mine posted on Facebook saying he thought it sounded interesting, but he would be skeptical. My response was, "We're all skeptics, until we're not..."

Paranormal Investigation Documentary

My daughter produced, wrote, shot, edited and narrated this ten minute mini documentary on paranormal investigating for her media class. She rocks...



*If you're interested in having a residence or other location investigated for free, contact me directly, NOT "Spirit Watchers!"*

Orbs?

I really don't know if orbs that show up in photos have anything to do with the paranormal or not, but many "ghost hunters" think they do. I find them interesting especially when they're captured in an eerie location, under clear weather conditions. My daughter sat down and looked at the 83 photos I took recently during the Salem Ghost Tour at East Hill Cemetery. She's convinced at least 15 of them contain orbs. I've posted a couple. You can decide for yourself. I would recommend clicking on the photo to get a better view.

If you look in the middle of the square headstone you'll see something...



Look to the left of the moon...



I call this the Orb Fruit tree...



Here and there...



And everywhere...



I had turned around quickly and snapped that shot after hearing a noise so it's a little blurry. Now this big bright orb in the left hand corner is really clear. Too bad it's the moon...

The Salem Ghost Walk

It looks like the girl saw a ghost!



Under an almost-full moon she and I took part in the 13th Salem Ghost Walk held this past pleasant Saturday night.



Rather than getting spooked the event actually was an "historical pilgrimage through Salem's East Hill Cemeteries." It started inside the newly renovated Salem Museum where we first met two ghosts from the Salem Flying Artillery. The gentlemen ghosts who both served in the Civil War reminisced about their time in uniform. Naturally it was filled with the usual anti-Yankee sentiments, which Salemites have been known to still express.



The next ghost we met was India Bradpher, a member of Salem's African American community. India recounted her pride felt towards her neighbors and husband in the then segregated city.



Next up was the ghost of Geroge Terrill, a physician, major and military leader who recounts his family's anguish in the Civil War as one son fought for the Blue and the other for the Gray. Notice the orbs?



The ghost of Andrew Lewis, a very popular Salemite as evidenced by having a middle school and a Fort named after him, told his story. I was particularly amused at how much the Lewises sounded like deadbeats. His family first came over to the states because his father felt the rent they were paying was too high so he wouldn't pay it. When the landlord came over they got into an altercation and Lewis killed him. It was "self-defense" but they fled across the ocean anyway. Another tidbit about Andrew Lewis' character came out when his ghost told the story of how they needed a minister for their local church. So Lewis placed signs, I think in Williamsburg, asking for one. The minister uprooted his family and took over the church in Salem but left because Lewis never paid him. Like father, like son.



Colonel Broad, a prominent banker and civic leader told the story of how Salem lost the railroad to Big Lick, now Roanoke. Their smugness did Salem in, and a little bribe from Roanoke might have helped secure the tracks. Wasn't Salem positive they were getting the intermodal recently? Hmmmm, some things don't change even many years later.



Figures the banker would have such an elaborate grave marker...



The ghost of Clementine Chapman told the tale of how she and her husband lost the fabled Lake Spring Hotel, all due to a curse. The beggar must have been Sicilian.



All the re-enactors offered authentic performances and were quite entertaining. Unfortunately some of the children in the large group we were in became a little bored and began asking their parents, "Where are the ghosts?" and "Can we leave now?" Even my teen became a little tired hearing Salem's history lesson and had to rest her weary bones.



Once the tour broke up I wanted to go into the other East Hill Cemetery, the not so grand one behind the Salem Museum where the blacks are buried. As you can see there's quite a difference between where Andrew Lewis and Mr. Board rest than where Ms. Bradpher does.







It was very dark and the hill was too steep to climb so we didn't explore much of this cemetery. I want to go back in the daytime and check it out more thoroughly. Meanwhile I did have a digital voice recorder going the entire time to see if I picked up any stray EVP's. Once I download it and check it out I'll report back.

Now, two strange things did occur. The first happened when we were in the Salem Museum listening to the first tale. I felt the floor vibrate, almost like a rumble. I looked around and no one else seemed to have felt it, no one except my daughter. We both looked at each other and when we went outside I asked her what she had felt. Besides a "creepy feeling" she did feel the same vibration I did.

I also did take various shots as we were walking through the cemetery. I kept hearing "noises" close by behind us when we trailed the group. I would turn and no one would be there so I whipped out my camera and just took some shots. Indeed I discovered quite a few of them had orbs. Actually there are so many shots that I haven't included them in this post as they warrant a post of their own. If I ever find some "spare time" haha, I'd like to put together a small video of them. For now I'll pick out the "best of" and post them in the next day or so.

There's going to be one more tour held on Tuesday night (hope your weather will be as beautiful as ours was) which will have an additional ghost of a gravedigger. If you take any photos let me know if you pick up any orbs too. I thought the tour was enjoyable and it sparked my interest enough to visit the cemetery another time...in the daylight.

Sandusky House EVPs

After the presentation by L.B. Taylor, my friend and I decided to check out Sandusky House and walk around the grounds a bit. I took a lot of pictures. I didn't get anything paranormal but did fall in love with the look of this tree. I felt like it had a face and was watching me.



I had taken my digital recorder with me hoping we'd get an opportunity to slip away and check things out a bit. It wasn't an "official" investigation or anything like that, but I had a feeling since I was a Yankee, I might attract some Confederate spirits or even some Yankees. I've been pretty lucky with capturing EVPs anywhere I go. Sometimes I'm referred to as spirit bait and Saturday was no different.

It's been my experience that spirits want to be heard, or join in the conversation when they think someone can feel or see them. That's why some of the best EVPs I've ever gotten have been with them just talking in the background while I'm or a partner are talking. Some are intelligent spirits, not meaning they're "smart" but that they're interacting in real time with me. Others are residual, meaning they're replaying their lives over and over again and what comes through sometimes has nothing to do with any questions I ask. I think I had both kinds on Saturday.

After you watch the video you'll see what I'm talking about. I believe an instance of intelligent spirits occurs during Clip 9. I'm drawn to an area of the yard near the yucca plants when I discover I'm about to traipse through poison ivy. I felt something calling me there but I say aloud I'm not going there. Mandy thinks I'm talking to her, but I'm not, I'm talking to the voice in my head. On playback there is a voice telling me to "come" and when I say I'm not going, there's a "you got to." I believe an instance of residual haunting occurs during Clip 4 when a voice declares, "My girl...how dare you."

It took me a while to create the video because I have no clue what I'm doing using Windows Movie Maker, clearly an inferior editing program. I'm used to editing from two decades ago, on real video equipment, where I was able to trim and dissolve and extend and slow-mo, etc. without pulling my hair out. My daughter helped me a great deal until she began to pull hers and then my hair out. I guess I'm not only a slow learner but can also be exasperating, especially when I snap my fingers telling her there's where I want a cut to go. Hey, when I was a producer that's what I used to do and none of my editors ever found it offensive.

Anyway, I finally put together something and figured out how to upload it to Youtube. It's 6:35 minutes long and contains 15 clips of multiple EVP's. I put some pics on it and titles of what I think I hear, or ? marks when I hear whispering but can't make out what they're saying. My daughter helped a lot because her hearing hasn't been damaged yet from standing next to speakers at rock concerts, or singing in a band, or getting old. I'm sure others will hear something different than what I hear and if you do let me know. The video is best listened to with ear or headphones. None of the audio has been enhanced or altered and I apologize for my big mouth talking loudly during certain parts. I can assure you if this had been an actual investigation this would not have happened.

Sandusky House I

On Saturday I took a trip to Lynchburg to visit the historic Civil War site, Sandusky House to hear author L.B. Taylor speak. Taylor is best known as the author of about 45 books -- 21 about Virginia ghosts, including "Haunted Virginia." He's also a well-known speaker on the paranormal circuit.



I went as a guest of a friend who is a member of the Seven Hills Paranormal Society. I had met Mandy a couple of years ago when we were part of a local Roanoke investigative group that has since disbanded. We still perform investigations along with another member, but do not have an "official" group. I've thought about joining Seven Hills, but it's just too darn far away.

Anyway, when we arrived I was surprised to see how many local paranormal investigators there were. I soon found out it was a meeting for the National Paranormal Coalition. I felt like I was at a ghost convention with light snacks. Definitely an eclectic mix of folks.

Taylor gave an interesting talk complete with slides and anti-Yankee jokes, always a crowd pleaser in the South. He explained how he first got started on ghosts -- he was working freelance for a NY publisher compiling ghost stories. When he realized so many of them came from Virginia, especially Williamsburg, he approached the publisher about compiling a book on just Williamsburg. The publisher poo-pooed him saying it was too much of a niche market and it wouldn't sell. He travelled to Williamsburg and went into a couple of the many shops there and asked them if they would be willing to carry a book on Williamsburg ghosts. Many expressed interest. Figuring in the large number of tourists that visit there he decided he would write the book and publish it himself. The rest as they say, was history.

He has a new book coming out, not self-published, "The Big Book of Virginia Ghost Stories" which is a compilation of the "best" ghost stories. I purchased a preview copy and he signed it, "hauntingly yours." The signed copy has taken a place next to all the other signed book copies I've gathered -- another reason why I'm not a fan of E-Books. What's an author going to autograph, my screen? He spoke with me about getting published, offering the story we all heard about Mark Twain and how it took him 50 rejections before he got picked up. I swear that number gets higher and higher each time I talk with an author. He told me to never give up and keep writing. I told him I haven't sent anything out yet and hoped I'd have better luck than Twain! He was entertaining and the biggest surprise was that in all his years following up leads he's never had a personal paranormal experience himself.

Afterwards Mandy and I decided to check out the grounds and house. Just for yuk-yuks I brought along my digital recorder to see if I could pick anything up. I figured a Yankee walking around there might attract some spirits. I was right. I'm putting together a "best of" clip reel with some photos (nothing paranormal) of the house and property. When I finish I'll post it on Youtube and here. The most prevalent phrase captured over and over again is, "I'll kill you." Stay tuned.

The Possum and the Mist

The only things that disturbed the pond the night before last was the possum...



and this "mist" which wasn't seen by my naked eye but was captured by the game camera as I held it up after I heard a noise and asked if there was anyone there...

Paranormal Photos I

Since my brain has turned to slush and I can barely muster an original thought, nor put two sentences or two words together, I turn to some quick video editing to keep my creativity juices flowing. I'm sick of all the snow shots I've taken (after a while they all seem to look the same) so I went with some of the "paranormal" shots I took instead and created a brief montage:



I hope my brain begins to thaw out soon...

More EVP's

Since I'm snowbound and bored I finally got around to uploading two more EVP's that we had picked up from way back in September.

The first two EVPS were not taken during a "session" but rather just "showed up" during an investigative dig while we had our digital recorders running. In this one, EVP 3, you can hear a lot of "whispering" going on but the clearest section to me was "It's not what you think" which I believe was in direct response to our pondering why the property is so active.



In EVP 4, you will hear me speaking about an e-mail address and then shortly thereafter it sounds like someone saying, "F You."



As far as I'm concerned, this one is still the creepiest of the ones we picked up that day and it was captured during a very brief session.



Creepy, eh?

Who's At My Door At 4:40am?

When your bell rings at 4:40am during a rainy dark night you just know it could be nothing good. When it happened to us last night my husband quickly put a pair of pants on as I cautioned him, "Do not open that door!" I reached for the shotgun and lay it next to me as I loaded my .38. Through the closed door, no one would answer my husband's question, "Who's there?" I pushed aside my blinds in the bedroom and saw there was no vehicle in my driveway, or out on the street. It was pitch black and pouring out there, and there was no way I was letting my husband go to check it out. I've seen Clockwork Orange and enough crime movies to know that once that door is opened even a crack, it could be pushed in quickly and a home invasion is inevitable. Instead I called the police.

It was a weird night to begin with. I was having a hard time falling and staying asleep. I kept hearing strange noises. I might have been a little spooked from earlier in the day when my daughter and dog heard "someone" come out of the spare room in the basement and walk to the laundry room. When I went to check, after she had screamed, I found no one. Even the dog heard something because he was checking on it before I got down the stairs, and he never goes into the laundry room. "The house is settling," I said, but that wasn't good enough for the girl so she ran upstairs.

Sunday nights are always tough to fall asleep to begin with, stemming from my earliest school days and the dread of Monday's arrival. Even the Benadryl didn't work last night and all the bangs and pings didn't help. I'm sure most of it was due to the heavy rain but the imagination works overtime during a sleepless night. Finally I decided I would just put the tv on and found a comedy, Naked Gun 2 1/2. I set the timer so the tv would turn off when it ended. I hoped I would be asleep by then. It ended at 4:30am and I did drift off to sleep. It was ten minutes after it ended and the house became dark when the doorbell rang. I wondered if someone was watching and waiting for all of the lights to go out of the house before they struck. I was dreaming of kissing a baby's foot when I was awoken. I looked at the clock and knew I was only asleep ten minutes and marvelled how I had gotten into a dream so quickly.

When the bell first rang I thought maybe it really didn't, but my husband woke up and the dog gave a, low grrrrrr! My bell has the habit of sticking in the on position and when it does there's a low hum in the hallway. The hum was there. The police arrived within ten minutes when I saw a flashlight hit my blinds. My husband went out to meet him. The cop never asked my husband who he was or for identification. That really bothered me. How did the cop know that it was my husband who called for help? Maybe my husband was the perp, who was pretending he was the home's resident, meanwhile me and my family were inside tied up. The cop never came inside either. I thought that was a major error in police protocol.

I checked the bell and sure enough it was stuck so someone had physically pushed it in. I mentioned to the cop that lately the neighborhood has become a victim of graffiti, such as gang tags that are springing up in great numbers behind the McDonald's down the corner. I've tried calling the leasing agent of the strip mall to request they be painted over but they never return my call. It started as one tag a couple of months ago and now there are too many to count. I agree with ex-mayor of NYC Guiliani who believed if you let the little things go like graffiti, the criminals think the neighborhood doesn't care and is rife for a takeover, so it's important to stop the crime immediately, no matter how small it may be. This is something that our neighborhood watch really needs to address at our next meeting.

Anyway, luckily there was no bad outcome, but I wonder if we were being "tested" to see how we could react. Would we be stupid enough to open the door a smidge to see who was there? Naturally I had the talk again with the kids about not opening the door, and my husband had the talk with me again about not keeping my gun loaded. This was the first time I had to load it quickly, and I didn't panic at all, but maybe he's right.

Today's going to be a typical lousy Monday...

****UPDATE*****

The Police are coming back...We found something...Someone did try to break into my house last night!

Message Received

I was awoken this morning to a sound of something hitting the bedroom floor. When I got up to check I saw a picture frame was in the middle of the room, face up. The picture was still on the shelf. This frame was a hand-made colored glass frame that once had a picture of my mother when she was a child in it. It stood for years on her fireplace mantle. During one visit to NY a couple of years ago, I found it in a box that was destined to go in the trash with her picture torn from it. My father didn't do it and I know who did. I took the frame and picture back home with me. The picture ended up in a Memory Box that I made for my mom.



Since then the frame rested against a photo of my mother and my two kids taken the year before she died. They all look so happy in that shot. I don't know why or how it was flung across the room, and am just glad that the frame did not shatter. I'm still scratching my head wondering how it landed face up.

Last night when I was cleaning out my dresser drawer I found an envelope addressed to my daughter from my father dated January 19, 2004. The note inside was brief..."Here is the present I promised you to get your computer. I hope you have a beautiful time with it. Love and kisses, Grandpa"

When I read the letter to my daughter she said, "Grandpa never lied to me. I miss him so much." The irony is not lost on me after yesterday's post. I feel like my mother and father have stopped by to let us know they're still with us even though they're no longer here. Maybe my mother was annoyed that my daughter said she missed Grandpa and didn't mention her and that's why she flung the picture frame to remind us she's still here too. Message received!

This morning when I went downstairs to work out on my bike I noticed my legs suddenly were too short to reach the pedals. When I looked at the number position I noticed it was now at the number 5. Yesterday it was at the number 3. I tried to unscrew the knob to loosen it so I could make the re-adjustment back to 3 but I can't budge it. When my husband first set it up he had to use a wrench to release it and when he tightened it, it's like he tightened the pickle jar so that I can't open it without him. I called him at work and asked him if he screwed with the bike last night or this morning. Of course, he didn't go near it. So I woke up the kids and asked them if they had ridden or changed anything on it. My son said the last place he would be found would be working out on a stationary bike and my daughter reminded me she doesn't even go downstairs. Strange. Who or what moved it? I don't know, and I don't get the feeling it's either of my parents, but they actually did me a favor because I find it more comfortable now to scoot down in the chair while pedaling. This gives me more room to place a book on my lap so now I can read while working out. Ten miles went like that! So thanks!

One more thing...could whoever hid them please return my Chromium Picolate pills? It's been two days since they're missing and now I'm beginning to wonder if someone is trying to tell me they're not good for me or something...

Sorcerer's Apprentice

When the kids got home from school yesterday I told them about the strange broom occurrence which one of my friends remarked reminded her of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."



I think that snippet is the best/only good thing Disney/Mickey ever did. If only I could get my broom to sweep the house that would be cool, and it would be even cooler if my toilet bowl brush would fling itself into the toilet now and then too.

Anyway, as I was relating the story, my daughter said that reminded her of what happened in her room yesterday morning. She said as she was getting ready for school her eyelash curler flung across the room and hit her in the leg. I asked her why she didn't tell me when it happened as she usually does, and she reminded me how chaotic yesterday morning was with all of us rushing frantically since we were all an hour late to get to wherever we were going. That's true, as I even forgot to tell her about the broom.

My son, the "scientific one" tried to debunk the broom fling by setting it up in different corners and tipping it over through the doorway to see where it would land. Never mind that something would have to "tip it over" in the first place to have it fall. No matter where he placed it, and how forceful he tipped it, he could not get it to fall into my room, replicate the position it landed, nor fly the distance it was found from where it originally stood. After a couple of attempts we all just shrugged our shoulders, placed the broom back against the wall and had an afternoon snack.

I think what's really the weirdest thing is that we are so nonchalant about these type of events. I sometimes wonder if anyone else would experience what we experience if it would cause them alarm. I guess we've become so jaded that our paranormal experiences are "normal," and as long as there's no harm done to us, there's no foul.

Tardy Wednesday

I hate when the alarm doesn't go off. Good thing I woke up suddenly to the miniature shaft of sunlight hitting my eyelid and noticed it was after 7, a full hour later than we usually wake up. The radio alarm was "on" but there was no sound coming from it until I smacked the knob. Time for a new clock. I've had this soothing sound/wave/rain/static noise clock since I was pregnant with my son 18 years ago. I guess I could splurge for another one.

It was a restless night. I fell asleep fairly early to a creepy Paranormal State episode. I don't even remember turning the television off but when I woke up at 11:30 from hearing a loud noise the house was dark. My husband jumped up, the dog grrrrrr'd, backing out of his "I'm scared and hiding between the bed and the fireplace next to the master's side place" and we turned the light on to see what the heck was up. On the floor near the foot of my bed the broom and dustpan was now laying. Previous to that location they stood in the kitchen leaning against the wall near the trash can. Although my bedroom is right off the kitchen it didn't make sense to see where the broom had landed. Even if it had fallen, for whatever reason, it wouldn't have fallen down the two steps into my room, turning around lengthwise and travelling about five feet, as much as it probably would have just fallen across the door frame.

My husband did the "turn on every light, check on the kids, walk though all the rooms, even the basement search" the same as he did the night before at 4:00am. The previous night we were both awoken to what sounded like someone taking a cup or glass and banging it on the kitchen table. Last night, like the night before, there was nothing to be found. We all went back to bed but I had a hard time falling asleep so began reading "Growing Up Haunted" which was probably not the best type of book to read when one is spooked.

I did finally fall back asleep only to be awoken again at 5:00 by another noise. This time I was the only one that heard it and didn't want to wake anyone up so I explored myself and found nothing. I attributed it to the wind. I fell asleep and then overslept. It's a tardy Wednesday.