Paranormal Lockdown – St. Ignatius Hospital – S02E04

Related image St. Ignatius Hospital in Colfax, Washington built by the Sisters of Providence in 1893 was the only medical facility in the area. And during the 1918 flu epidemic, the halls were filled with the sick and dying. After it’s use as a hospital it became a facility for the mentally ill. It was abandoned in 2003, but staff members claim they heard screams, saw apparitions and felt the presence of others.

Nick and Katrina meet with Valore, the Colfax Executive Director, and Duane, a former employee of the hospital for 16 years. At the start, Valore explains they just saw an apparition walking the halls. They continue up to the third floor, specifically room 311, where Rose used to live. Katrina says she has problems concentrating in that room and wants to leave.

In the sitting room off to the side, we get an odd story about Valore giving a tour where visitors claim they saw a hand on the window.

Moving on, the head to the morgue. Valore tells the tale of a man who fell down the elevator shaft and died. Oddly, the elevator no longer works, so they have to exit the main building to get to it. Valore hasn’t done much in the way of upkeep so the morgue literally smells like death. It’s a putrid mess with debris and garbage strewn all over. Things are piled high and deep. Valore points out she heard voices and has been touched.

For Night one, Nick and Katrina walk the halls to get a sense of the building. The place is a wreck. The walls and ceiling are crumbling and paint is falling off. They also discover the building is riddled with bats. However, they forge ahead to room 311 to make contact with Rose. Using the Geobox they get the words, "Go away". When Nick asks who’s scratching people, they get "Rich".

For Day 2 they head to the morgue. Nick decides to climb into the bottom of the elevator shaft. He gets the word, "your voice", and then a scream, followed by "give you a warning" and another scream. The session is concluded with "Watch out".

They head upstairs to ask who might be hurt in the elevator. At the end of the hall, a mysterious plume of dust appears, like a fog machine was turned on. Nick races down the hall to see it leads to the sitting room where Valore claims people saw a hand on the glass. As they bring the day to a close, there is a loud bang and Nick says something was thrown.

For Day 3, Nick uses the spirit box and are told to go to the third floor. Once there, the box spews out all manner of words. Nick claims to hear "Illness" and "Fever" along with the name of Rose. Katrina takes the Spiritbox to Rose’s room and asks if she can come in. From here, they split up with Katrina on the first floor and Nick on the third. Katrina then says the spirits should point out their pain on Nick. It should come as no surprise that Nick immediately says he has pains in his back. Nick then lays down on a bed and basically falls asleep. Katrina and Rob have to go get him wherein Nick says he’s lost time.

For the finale, Nick and Katrina present Valore with their evidence and make a comment about Rich. Valore immediately knows who it is and shows a picture. She even says Rich was a great guy. However, Rich is supposed to be the one scratching people.

Further, from the thousands of patients, and without a last name, Valore just happens to know who the spirit was referring to and happens to have a picture handy? How shockingly convenient. What are the odds? The word setup comes to mind.

Putting that aside, what is the evidence? We have bats which would account for the screams, scratches and black mass seen moving around. The hand in the window Valore describes sounds like a prank. With enough words thrown out by the Spiritbox and Geobox, you’re bound to get something interesting. There is a big sell on a haunted elevator, and phantom pains by Nick are not evidence.

The interesting item is the plume of dust from the third floor, but that could have been a bat or bird leaping up. But, since it’s next to where they supposedly saw the "ghostly hand", it comes across as another prank. Then again, it could just be more crap falling from the ceiling.

So much of this feels like parlor tricks to sell this haunted tourist attraction.

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Paranormal Lockdown – Oliver House – S02E03

Related imageThe Oliver Estate sits on 54 acres of land in Massachusetts and was built by Peter Oliver in 1769. The house was used as part of the Underground Railroad and has connections to the Sons of Liberty. It’s located on former Native American land, the tribes were victims of a plague that swept through in 1675. The house was also occupied by the Sproat family, who lost three of their children to illness. The township of Middleboro currently owns the estate and use it as a tourist attraction.

As soon as Katrina see the house she says something is off and they’re being watched. They meet with Leilani who directed the project to save the house. She wants to know if the house is safe for visitors.

On the tour, Katrina says she feels layers of people. Upstairs, she glimpses little feet in the adjacent room and that something is holding her hand.

Downstairs they are shown the entrance to the Underground Railroad and the false room where the Oliver family would have hidden during the turbulent times of the Revolution.

For Day 1, as they set up their equipment, Nick sees something out of the corner of his eye. After following, he feels static energy on the stairs and then a hand reaching for his neck. The Geobox comes through with the words, "I’m here" and Nick feels as though something is pushing him while on the stairs. This leads them to the basement where they get the word, "Shh" twice. At the end of the night, Katrina feels as though something woke her up and she expected to find someone down by her feet.

For Day 2, Nick wants to investigate the woods. He and Katrina both feel there is something ominous about them and feel watched as they look around. Rob, the camera man, says he hears drums as they try to make contact.

That night, Katrina goes back to the nursery where Nick brings out the 3D mapping software. Like the previous episode, a small figure appears and moves close to Katrina.

For Day 3, Nick brings out an Infrasound generator which sounds like a gas powered generator. This is supposed to help the spirit energy and Rob claims to smell gunpowder as soon as it was turned on. The Geobox gives them the word "upstairs" as well as "something is dead" and "all the spirits". Nick claims to see a black mass moving around and both he and Katrina hear footsteps and bangs.

Nick sets up another 3D mapping experiment to make contact with the Sproat children. As he stands in the hall, a small figure appears to latch itself to him and climb up his body. Nick explains he is overcome with emotion and feelings.

Katrina notes there is a black anomaly on the screen which Nick decides to follow. Katrina heads toward the kitchen and ultimately outside claiming she has an emotional connection to the land.

At the end, they meet with Leilani and confirm the house is haunted. Nick has no doubt, but says it’s not malicious. Katrina says the woods are tried to the activity and hold in the emotions.

It’s a rather firm conviction even though most of the evidence is personal experiences. Most of it stems from the 3D mapping which has a track record of producing small stick figures. A lot of influence comes from the Native American land, which has become the fall back story these days.

And it’s better to have a haunted tourist attraction than just a tourist attraction.

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Paranormal Lockdown – Shrewsbury Prison – S02E02

image For the next outing of Paranormal Lockdown, it’s off to Shropshire, England to visit the Shrewsbury Prison. Established in 1793, it doubled it’s original capacity and was the site of numerous public hangings with bodies buried in unmarked graves. Some of the hardened criminals were those who failed to pay their taxes and stole bread. The prison closed in 2013 and is now a tourist attraction. Some of those tourists feel they hear cries and feel the hangman’s noose around their necks.

Katrina and Nick meet with Steve, a former prison guard turned tour guide. As we start  the tour, Katrina admits that prisons freak her out and make her uncomfortable. Steve begins to tell stories about his time there, when there is a loud bang from one of the cells doors. This is quickly followed by another. Steve doesn’t pay much attention and says it happens all the time.

They enter cell 441, where Katrina says she feels a heaviness in her chest. Steve confirms there was a suicide in the cell. He further explains that C Wing is for the women and several people claim to see a woman walking to the hanging room. When they enter that room, there is a noose hanging down and Steve states a little boy commented about the bad man in the corner which no one else could see. As Steve talks, Katrina says she has a pain in her neck and shoulder, alluding to being hanged.

For night one, Katrina says she sees a shadow figure down by their equipment. There is another loud bang as Nick tries to get the spirits to follow him into the hanging room. This doesn’t produce results, but a few minutes later, Katrina takes a tumble down the stairs. Nick tries to put forth the idea that Katrina was pushed, but she shrugs this off.

As the night comes to an end, Nick puts out his recorder and in the morning claims there is a voice saying, "Nick! Get up!"

For night two, Katrina starts off with another tumble as she enters the cell. Katrina may think the prison is trying to kill her, but wandering around in the dark has it’s dangers.

Nick heads down to the tunnels while Katrina is on the first floor in A Block. There is another loud bang and a crash. As Nick is setting up to record the area, they hear footsteps.

For day three, Nick brings out the Geobox and heads for a cell. He hears pops and cracks come through and takes these to mean words. As he stands outside the cell, there is the sound of another door closing. Nick feels this is leading him to the hanging room. Once there, he feels pain in his neck and shoulders, the same as Katrina did. But this time we are treated to a swinging noose.

For the final night, it’s back to the hanging room to unravel the mysteries of the swinging rope. Almost immediately, Katrina feels something tug at her back. In the video replay it looks like a bunched up section of her jacket comes free.

Nick brings out a 3D mapping program and discovers there is a figure close to Katrina. In response, Katrina says that area feels cold. Soon, it appears the little stick figure is reaching out for Katrina’s hand. This setup looks quite similar, although more detailed, than the hacked up Kinect camera that Zak uses.

Of course, it would have been better if Nick hadn’t said anything and then judged if Katrina felt anything. As it stands, he’s clearly leading her.

What sort of evidence does this give us? We have a lot of bangs in a 200 year old prison. Not really a shocker. Further, every sound, bang, and door slam happens way out of camera shot so it’s hard to get excited over that. Sound clearly carries in a place like that so who knows if it was even a door.

There is nothing paranormal about Katrina falling, even if Nick is trying to float she was pushed.

The voices Nick claims to hear sound like pops, clicks and buzzes that don’t even remotely sound like words.

For the big evidence, we have a swinging rope. While super cool and exciting, the camera is positioned so the top beam is just out of frame. The rope doesn’t swing in a natural way. It jumps from the spot we can’t see, not from the noose as if to simulate a hanging.

There is no doubt the prison is extremely impressive and no doubt lives were lost under some dreadful conditions. But do Nick and Katrina have solid evidence of a haunting? Evidence that is tangible and not "I think I saw something"? And not the sound of bangs in an extremely old building?

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Paranormal Lockdown – Monroe House – S02E01

image It’s time for a new season of Paranormal Lockdown with Nick and Katrina who visit the Monroe house in Hartford City, Indiana. The current owner, Eddie Norris, bought the house in 2006 to fix up and sell. But that idea hasn’t come to fruition as workmen have walked out and the house is rumored to have occult activity. Neighbors claim to see figures moving around and dark figures at the windows. However, the house itself does not have a history of tragedy.

As Katrina walks in, she feels complete oppression. As Eddie gives them a tour, Nick feels like he’s chocking and can’t get his breath. Eddie confirms the rumors of rituals in the house. Based on that, he had some people cleanse the house, but says it backfired. Eddie then shows one of the items they found under the house, a piece of jewelry wrapped in hair wrapped in a cloth. These are accompanied by some bones.

Nick asks Michelle Belanger for an assessment. She feels they might be part of a hex. When she puts the necklace on, she feels that it was used to bind someone, to stop them from talking.

For the first night, Nick and Katrina head to the basement where Katrina hears a gasp that unsettles her. There are also several knocks and bangs. Katrina says the house or space is angry, while Nick says the house is draining their energy.

For the second night, they bring out the Geobox. It runs into interference which Katrina believes is someone trying to stop the communication. At this same time, Nick feels he hears the words, "Satan was here" come through. This is followed by puddles of water on the floor that lead to the kitchen and more loud bangs. To Nick, this is classic poltergeist activity and brings more events such as the cabinets in the kitchen standing open and Nick sees a shadow figure standing behind Katrina.

Nick then brings out a new device called the portal, which looks like a speaker covered in Christmas lights. They very quickly get a whole series of phrases such as, the basement, need help, dig, shut up and finally, get out. With all of this going on, the floor begins to shake. As they dash outside, a security guard for the neighborhood confirms he felt the ground shaking as well.

For the final night, Nick heads down to the basement and Katrina tries her luck with wearing the necklace they found. She sort of wears the necklace as she feels it might bring something negative to her.

Nick has a heck of a time in the basement as he feels something clawing at his back and grabbing at his feet. He also sees something moving in the darkness before he gets grabbed.

They meet back up with Eddie and confess they don’t know what the haunting is or what’s causing it. Nick is clearly rattled and Katrina feels there is something negative, perhaps sinister about the place.

Four days later, they get a call from Eddie, and they both return to the house. They head down to the basement where Eddie says he was digging when the lights went out and he heard walking upstairs. But the big discovery are some bones buried in the dirt. Further, they appear to be human and they may have unearthed part of a skull.

We are left with a note that the bones are part of a police investigation.

This episode is interesting in that if you take a step back, the plot is very similar to an episode of the Simpson’s Treehouse of Terror.

As stated, there is nothing to suggest tragic events. The rituals are just rumor and always seem to come out when there is an old house around. About the only thing Nick and Katrina find is some water on the kitchen floor. Nothing they encountered in their sleep deprived state jumps to the end of the paranormal scale.

We have some cabinets swinging open, but there is clearly some sort of tremor or vibration, whether that be car, train or seismic, so that seems a pretty plausible explanation.

The puddles? Have a look at the ceiling and you’ll notice multiple tiles stained with brown. The ceiling leaks, ergo, water on the floor.

The necklace in the hair is unusual, but don’t go too far out on a limb. It’s not usual for people to give lock of hair as a keepsake. Further, it could have been kept with the necklace from a loved one. Going with the "that bitch won’t tell" comment from Michelle seems hasty.

Now, we have some bones in the basement, bones that might be human. We’ve seen tons of shows where human bones very quickly turn out to be animal. But if they are human, burying them mere inches under the soil, in perhaps the most inconvenient place, was a pretty terrible idea. Those could have “easily” been buried severl feet down considering the size of that dirt pile.

It’s not a surprise that Nick and Katrina feel drained after staying up all night and sleeping in crap conditions.

If we take the actual evidence they capture, it’s radio voices from a box that lights up, bangs, and puddles of water. I’m not entirely sure that makes this a cauldron of evil.

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