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For this episode, Katye, Heather and Dillon go to Yorktown Memorial Hospital to investigate the spirit of a nun who still inhabits the chapel, apparitions, and claims that people are being touched by a doctor who sexually harassed the staff. There is also the spirit of Tommy who died of a heroine overdose on the ramp leading into the emergency room. His "friends" dropped him off, or rather tossed him aside. Unfortunately, the bell to call for help was broken and he died before he could get anyone’s attention. All totaled 2,000 people died at the hospital.

After the trio is dropped off and reads the history of the place they get settled for the night. As with other investigations they hear loud bangs right before calling it a night. Unfortunately they don’t hit the ground running and check out the source of the noises.

For the first part of the real investigation the head to the Chapel where the spirit of Sister Maria is said to be. Odd for a Sister to linger in a hospital after her passing, but the group tries to communicate with her and specifically asks if anyone knows about Lauren, Katye’s sister who passed away from cancer a year ago. At that moment Heather says she hears voices and this is followed by a loud bang. This causes the group to scatter like a scene from a cartoon and in seconds they’re all headed in different directions. Yet again, people go to a location claiming they want to make contact and even speak to a loved one, but when something happens and they quite possibly get a sign of communication, they lose their minds and run like a bunch of damn fools! As expected, Katye is saying she doesn’t want to be there. It’s basically the start of day two and wants to go home. Why the hell did she even come in the first place?

Miracle of miracles, they screw up enough courage to track down the noise and think it might be coming from the basement. When they get down there they find what appears to be a metal cage or cell, a body bag and some shackles on the wall. What the hell is that all about? What is that doing in the basement of a hospital?

Again, Heather claims she hears voices and there is another loud bang. Not surprisingly they take off.

During the light of the next day they go back to the basement and find the room of the old caretaker who apparently took off one day and never came back. Her clothes are still in the closet. They don’t actually find much and head over to the emergency room where Tommy is said to have passed away. Dillon takes a bell he found in the basement and hooks it up so Tommy can ask for help. He wants to give Tommy some peace. For a guy that’s a skeptic, that’s a pretty compassionate gesture.

Next up is the Operating Room where the doctor was said to harass the staff. The surgical tools are still dirty from the last operation and for some reason there is a large jar full of teeth. Was he another one of those doctors performing experiments on unwilling patients?

As Dillon lies down on the surgical table they hear a loud bang and Heather feels something touching her. They search for a cause and end up on the ramp where Tommy passed away. To try and calm themselves they speak to Tommy and show him how to use the bell. Dillon says to ring it and they’ll come for him. While taking pictures they ask for Tommy to show himself so they can see him.

When they get back to the main hospital they have two amazing photos. One shows what appears to be a face right where the new bell has been installed. The other appear to be a face balancing on the end of Dillon’s hand. I usually disregard photos because of lens flare, dust, poor lighting, matrixing and people shaking it, but holy hell, these two photos are unreal. They’re both in the same style, with the same colors for the head and look to be two distinct faces and heads. Quite honestly I’m stunned.

But Heather has a different take on the matter and thinks they’ve conjured up something evil. It should come as no surprise that yet again, she and Katye are coming unglued and want to leave. Katye won’t even look at the pictures, won’t discuss Tommy and keeps saying she wants to leave. If I got pictures like that, I would be running back to that spot so fast there would be nothing left of me but a vapor trail. I’d be snapping pictures like a fool to see what I could capture. Yet another wonderful opportunity wasted!!

There are still parts they need to investigate so they make a trip to the nursery. The room is littered with old, rather creepy looking dolls. While looking around there is the distinct ring of the bell that Dillon installed for Tommy. Sadly, he’s the only one that wants to go investigate. Heather and Katye are ready to curl up in a ball and cry. Seriously, that sounded just like the bell Dillon put in. It wasn’t a bang and it wasn’t just a simple sound, it sounded like the full ring.Again, that is amazing! Too bad the others are lagging so far behind. Finally, they get to the ramp, but Heather and Katye won’t take pictures and don’t even want to acknowledge what happened. They keep saying "Goodbye Tommy" and want to run away. Dillon is the only one who’s interesting in trying to capture some evidence of Tommy.

For their final night, they try and confront their fears and head back to the basement. This lasts all of 30 seconds because as soon as they hear and bang it’s a free for all. Heather runs so fast and in such a panic she actually hurts herself. She tears her jeans, hurts her arms, falls down the stairs and quite literally falls on her ass. What the hell is wrong with these people? They’re actually getting tangible evidence and all they can do is run away.

And that’s it for them. No more investigating, no more looking around, no more trying to gather evidence. They just want to cower in the corner and run away in the morning. As Heather admits, she just about took off the night before. Yeah, okay, where the hell are you going to go?

Despite the idiotic behavior of Heather and Katye, this episode was awesome! Those two pictures have me baffled and I would love to see the originals. I have no idea if they’re evidence or just glitches, but they are certainly worth looking at some more. And what about that bell? How the hell did that happen? That sounded like the real deal to me. It didn’t "sort of, maybe, kinda" sound like the bell Dillon put on, it sounds exactly like it. Exactly the way Dillon turned it when showing Tommy. They truly had some interesting things going on. I really wish the other two would have been able to keep it together and actually investigate the place.

I’ve never heard of this place before but I’m seriously intrigued.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Stranded – Burn Brae Mansion – S01E04
• Paranormal State – Do Bad Things – S05E10
• Ghost Adventures – Tuolumne Hospital – S08E03
• Stranded – 3 Valley Lake Chateau – S01E05
• Paranormal Lockdown – St. Ignatius Hospital – S02E04
• Paranormal Lockdown – Shrewsbury Prison – S02E02
• Paranormal Lockdown – Waverly Hills Sanatorium – S02E05
• Ghost Adventures – Albion Normal School – S15E09
• Ghost Adventures – Hotel Metlen – S13E07
• Ghost Adventures – Yorktown Hospital – S04E21

 A Letter From Josh Gates

If you recall from this episode, Shannon has a few bad moments and becomes increasingly distressed and frightened as the investigation progresses. We find her in tears more than once and she soon gets to the point where she can’t continue.

Josh put out a letter explaining his views about the episode and in essence says we shouldn’t just someone in that situation since we are sitting comfortably at home and don’t have the benefit of using all our senses, we can’t feel what it’s like to be there and we don’t have the investigative equipment.

That is a fair assessment and a good point. We don’t know what it’s like to be in that situation at that time and to experience what they feel.

However…

My frustration over Shannon and people like her is their reaction to something they asked for. They auditioned to be on a show about investigating the paranormal. They knew they would be isolated in a location for several days. They claim they want to experience the paranormal and to find something. Yet, when they get what they ask for they fall to pieces. If you go looking for the paranormal and find it you should be excited. Sure, you may be scared, but screaming that you want to leave just doesn’t fit. These aren’t seasoned investigators, but they know what they’re getting into. If you’re going to run screaming from the paranormal why are you out there looking for it?

The frustration comes from being handed such a wonderful opportunity and it’s treated so poorly.

As the saying goes, be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Josh Gates and Erin Ryder on the Radio
• Destination Truth S04E14 – Ghosts of Antarctica
• A season of being Stranded
• Stranded – Star Island – S01E01
• Destination Truth: Season 1 – Finally on DVD!
• What’s with all the secrecy?
• Interview with Josh Gates of Destination Truth
• Paranormal Challenge – Linda Vista Hospital – S01E10
• Stranded – Burn Brae Mansion – S01E04
• Paranormal State – Return of Six

First of all, this episode was awesome! It was the most exciting and nerve racking one so far. There were plenty of chills, scares and tense moments the entire way through. The trio was great to see in action and they immersed themselves in the experience! Let’s not dismiss the awesome driver who shows up in what looks like a dumptruck or work truck, whisks them through the night to the hotel, drops them off, then turns and leaves. Could this look any more like the start of the Shining? And right as they walk in the door, the resident cat scares the crap out of them!

For this episode, Princess (the skeptic), Yarc and Steven (the believers) head to British Columbia to investigate the 3 Valley Lake Chateau, a beautiful hotel nestled up against the mountains and fronted by a beautiful lake. It started as a small 20 acre hotel, but has grown to sprawling, albeit confusing hotel with well over 200 rooms. The picturesque scenery is deceiving because this is supposed to be a hotbed of paranormal activity. There are claims of footsteps, conversations, doors open, dark figures roam the hall and in Room 328 there is a dark haired woman appears at the foot of the bed and screams at visitors. The reasoning behind this activity is a little unclear, but as we soon find out, there are indeed things that go bump in the night.

Quite literally on their first night there is a loud bang that startles them all out of bed. Unfortunately they are too tired to investigate. But it looks like they are in for an eventful stay.

And indeed it is. On the second day, Princess asks for a sign in a rather taunting tone. Next thing she knows the battery in her camera is dead and Steven says he hears footsteps above them. They go upstairs and find all the chairs turned over and the room is a complete mess. Was it left this way or did something just happen? This is Room 328 where the "shrieking woman" makes her appearance. As Steven lays in the bed and asks for a sign, Princess jumps off the small desk after hearing something. This is followed by even more footsteps and the sound of something else being knocked over. The team is overwhelmed and takes off for safer ground.

The next night the head to the Bellevue Wing where a guest reportedly hung himself. While there they cat makes another appearance which paralyzes them with fear! That cat is evil! Now, they begin to hear footsteps, but is that just more of the cat walking around?

For the next part the head to the pool area which has been made up to look like the deck of the Titanic. An ill fated choice to be sure. There are reports that a figure can be seen at the bottom of the pool and it actually grabs people. The trio decides to get into the pool to see what happens. Steven and Princess go first, but they didn’t last long as Steven bails out within seconds saying he felt something. Yarc and Steven head back in, but they cut and scrape themselves to pieces as they rush out of the pool after hearing some growling or grinding noise. After they gain their composure and bearings it turns out the noise is coming from a fan. A fan that goes off twice just to mock them. Is that fan having a short or did some unseen force turn it on? There could be a perfectly normal explanation for that one, but it clearly scares the shit out of them. Steven is bleeding because of his hasty retreat.

For the final night they go to the theater where there are reports of music and phantom performance that still goes on. As Princess asks for a sign and Steven goes on the stage, the lights come on right in front of him. In a mad dash he is out of there! We come to find out when they stomp and tap the lights go off. This might be part of the show, or it might be a short, but not paranormal.

As they do a final check of the pictures they took, Princess notices a shadow on the wall. There is a clear figure of something, but is this a shadow from one of them or is it the shadow of the "shrieking woman?" Either way they head back up there and demand to have a sign or they aren’t leaving. The room is very cold and then suddenly the elevator decides to show up. Why did it go back down when they are the only ones there? Either way, that is enough for Steven to feel something is telling them to go, only the elevator loses power and they get stuck inside. The elevator simply loses power or refuses to move for about 10 minutes, but then without anyone doing anything it powers back up and then go back downstairs.

Their driver, George said some places had power while others didn’t. Was this simply an inconvenient power glitch or was there something else at work? Either way, being stuck in the elevator in the dark with all that going on would be nerve racking to say the least! That alone could bring someone to their knees!

Just about everything they experienced in the hotel turned out to be a perfectly natural occurrence from the lights on the stage, to the fans going off, to the cat jumping out at them. But the elevator getting stuck was a little unusual, if not extremely coincidental. The timing of the fans was pretty interesting if nothing else. The footsteps might have been the cat, perhaps another animal. And the bumps may simply be the building settling. Room 328 being a complete mess was a little strange though.

I had a great time watching this episode. They debunked a lot of things, but there are still some events that seem a little odd. They have some evidence that is worthy of more investigation.

Paranormal or not, at night that place will scare the hell out of you and keep you on your toes. If nothing else, they need to address the wiring in that place!

Other Articles of Interest:

• Haunted Towns – Bisbee Arizona – S01E05
• Stranded – Burn Brae Mansion – S01E04
• Haunted Collector – Hollywood Haunted and Gold Rush Ghost – S03E10
• Ghost Adventures – Hotel Metlen – S13E07
• Ghost Adventures – Mizpah Hotel – S05E02
• Paranormal Challenge – Jerome Grand Hotel – S01E12
• Paranormal Lockdown – Statler City Hotel – S02E07
• Haunted Collector – Emmitt House Ghosts and Shadow Intruder – S03E05
• Ghost Mine – Mystery Train – S02E06
• Ghost Adventures – Hotel Leger – S16E05