Ghost Stalkers

Ghost Stalkers – Farrar School – S01E06

image John and Chad head to Farrar, Iowa to investigate a small school that is believed to hold supernatural energy and even potentially dangerous entities. The town currently has a population of only 30 people and the school has been a focal point during it’s history. But now, the school is reportedly home to some dark energies and other investigators have made the claim of seeing dark shadows and being pushed. Oddly, there is no reported events of death or tragedy in this place. From everything they can tell, this is a normal school that simply did it’s job to educate the young children of the area. So where did this legend of paranormal activity get started?  John has a couple of theories.

He thinks it may have started with the energy seeping over from the cemetery nearby. This was then coupled with paranormal investigators who used Spirit Boards to try and communicate with the dead. He believes this may have opened a gateway and something slipped through.

So what does the evidence reveal?

Chad is the first to take a solo tour of the school and as you might expect it’s riddled with him screaming out into the darkness and every bang, bump and creak from an old and abandoned building. At this rate, Chad is going to give himself a heart attack.

While investigating he feels he hears footsteps and someone whisper "God dammit Chad" into his recorder. He now feels he may have angered the spirit known as The Principal.

John is up next and he has a few surprises of his own. He sits down in the boiler room where a group of investigators supposedly were on the receiving end of some shoves from an unseen force while using a Spirit Board. John believes this sort of behavior has brought the entity into being. He feels cold spots repeatedly going back and forth over him. He hears some bangs and what he feels is a tap in response to him asking for a sign.

But, up on the third floor is where John feels he has his biggest encounter – with a dark shadow figure that appears out of nowhere. His sketch of the figure makes it appear to more of a female figure, but unfortunately we don’t get more than his sketch.

He also runs into trouble with his recorder. While in the school it no longer picks up his voice and records anything. All he can hear is static. When he steps outside the door to the school, it works as expected. Back inside, the recorder malfunctions again. What do we have here?

After all is said and done, they have a few interesting personal experiences but no tangible evidence. Do we really have a haunted school as John suggests? With a guardian spirit that watches over the school, but keeps the living at bay? Or is this simply an old school building, whereas with any old building, stories have been started and rumors have formed. Is this an example that people can convince themselves of events even when there’s no evidence to support them?

What do you think? Does the Farrar school have entities or residents with active imaginations?

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Ghost Stalkers – Wheatlands Plantation – S01E05

image We’re off to Tennessee to investigate the Wheatlands Plantation, a rather simple albeit a nice plantation house that hides some rather sordid tales. Before we get to whether or not this place has a portal, let’s just deal with some of the facts we do know. Or at least stand a good chance of being true.

The original house, built by Timothy Chandler burned down in 1824 and a new plantation was erected over the ashes. The new house was put together by Jim Chandler, but building a house on top of the ashes or a previous one isn’t always a good idea. Many problems would arise for the family and this house is no stranger to death.

First off the have the death of Big Tim, by his son Little Tim. In a drunken stupor the two men quarreled when the property was left to Little Tim. Ugly words were exchanged and Little Tim ended the conversation by beating his father to death with a fireplace poker. To matters worse, we have the story that no amount of washing, scrubbing or sanding can wash away the blood stains where Big Tim died. Once the area was clean, the blood pools would reappear.

Additionally, multiple people died in the upstairs bedroom. Several people who took residence in the room died within a few weeks. Coincidence or toxic mold?

The features of the land itself may hold a key to the paranormal activity. We have a large geode in the basement that is said to feed on and perhaps amplify the energy of the house. Next, we have the Indian burial ground in the back of the property. Yes, an Indian burial ground. It’s been awhile since we’ve had one of these to blame all our problems on. And finally, there is the running water from a nearby creek. The running water feeds all the energy and activity. Or so the unfounded claims go.

Let’s also point out the very high RF readings that John gets in the cemetery. He puts down the measure and it continues to climb while he’s talking. Seems like high activity like that could make people feel strange and out of sorts. I don’t think that’s a portal by an means, but you shouldn’t just gloss over that sort of reading. This place may be a little on the toxic side for other reasons.

Knowing all of this and already feeling the house has a portal, Chad leads us off with his solo investigation. It should come as no surprise that he’s as jumpy as a cat and whips his head around at every little noise. He repeatedly stops his investigation to rewind the recorder to give us the chilling sound of what may be a breath on the digital recorder. But then again the sound is so faint and indistinct is could be anything you want it to be or nothing at all.

At the end of his turn, Chad becomes very emotional when asking about his pet dog that passed away recently. He asks if the dog is still with him and even following him around. While getting no response he starts to break down with sadness at the feeling of loss.

John then heads into the house and while checking out the different rooms asks the amusing question, "you want to talk? You want a drink? You want to fight?" Yeah John, get into it! Oddly, he may have received a response as shortly thereafter he has a painful feeling in his side. When he opens his shirt, it appears someone has been hitting and scratching him. Did Big Tim want to have a throw down? An odd injury, but did it come from the unseen forces? Or is this some sort of bug bite that has been scratched to the point of breaking the skin?

The evidence they collect is pretty meager. Chad has a couple of breaths on his recorder, feels the bedroom was ice cold and John has a slight injury on his side. Unlike the reports, they don’t hear chanting, or voices, the geode doesn’t manifest any sort of energy, nor do they see apparitions.

Is there a portal in this location? I don’t see any evidence to support that, but there is a lot of real energy flowing around there. Is that from power lines or perhaps some sort of natural occurrence? If someone is exposed to this for long periods of time what is the side effect? I don’t think we have a portal here, but rather some unusual energy that might make people hallucinate or perhaps even throw them off balance.

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Ghost Stalkers – Holmesburg Prison – S01E04

image John and Chad head to Philadelphia to visit the Holmesburg Prison to try their hand at locating yet another portal to the gates of hell. This prison is notorious for it’s riots, overcrowding, fights and for the murder of a warden and deputy warden. The prisoners staged a massive riot and used homemade weapons against their guards. Both men were killed in grizzly fashion. There is also an incident involving at least 4 prisoners who were cooked alive in the basement near the boilers. Story has it the men were locked down there on a hot day as the boilers were set to high. Both sides of the law were a little bit unstable.

As they hear talk of the murder and mayhem, their attention is brought to the Terror Dome which is a circular guard house that offered a view down each prison tunnel. The prison spiders out from this central hub, but John thinks it might be the other way around – the evil and negative energy is focused into the dome.

Like before, Chad starts off with the first solo investigation. And like before, it isn’t long before he’s screaming in terror saying something is out to get him. He’s on the verge of tears and every sound is confirmation they’re in the presence of an evil portal to the other side.

There are the usual bangs and clangs throughout the eerie and echo laden building and Chad’s experience reaches a fever pitch as he screams and jumps at the sound of a cell door and is so stricken with fear, he’s not sure which way to run. Before his solo investigation is over, he’s once again on the verge of hysterics. He may have even crossed over it.

For Jeff’s investigation he’s more calm and sedate like we normally see him. But that doesn’t last for long as he feels something reach out and touch him. He says it feels like the prison is still filled with people. The energy consumes him and soon he’s clutching his chest and stumbling while saying he feels like he’s having a heart attack.

Chad comes to his aid and helps him negotiate his way back out of the dark corridors. Once back at the RV things seem to settle down. But like before, the evidence is shockingly slight. As mentioned, there are the usual bangs one would associate with such an old and large building. They hear footsteps, but that could be anything. The big evidence, is of a cell door closing. Or at least what they feel is the cell door closing. It’s far too heavy to close on it’s own, so it must be the work of evil forces.

There is of course the on cue bang when Chad asks if this is a portal to hell. Take that for what you will. And finally, we have the chest crushing experience Jeff sustained. Did he experience something? Did dark forces reach into his chest? Did lunch come back with a vengeance? Did he really have an issue and he needs to see a doctor? I guess we’ll never know.

Once again we are to ask if this prison has a portal to darkness locked within it’s walls and does the Terror Dome contribute to and perhaps even focus this negative energy? Has the years of suffering and even death culminated in a gateway where evil can easily manifest itself? Was Jeff the victim of one of the prisoners or perhaps even a guard? Did Chad get confirmation to his questions as he was sitting in the vertex of a portal?

Or is this just a creepy and old prison that echoes and creaks in the night? Do the sordid stories of days gone by play tricks on the mind and body? Are these experiences what happen when you let your imagination get the better of you?

Without more evidence it’s hard to say anything sinister is going on here. Sometimes a dome is just a dome.

See more images of Holmesburg Prison

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Ghost Stalkers – Springfield State Hospital – S01E02

image For this episode Chad and John head to Sykesville, Maryland to visit Springfield State Hospital. It is yet another tragic tale of a facility set up to treat mental illness that ends up with overcrowding and stories of patients locked up for hours and perhaps days on end. The conditions reached a breaking point and the hospital was ultimately shut down. Now there are tales of spirit energy and patients that still roam the halls. Work crews hears hear moaning, while other feel a presence. The building has been abandoned for years so there are plenty of stories circulating around.

As they speak to Ivy, who knows an awful lot about a building she’s never been inside of, they hear stories of abuse and isolation and that some patients were left down in the steam tunnels below the building. As Chad and John look over the place, Chad is once again inflicted with pain from some unseen force. This happened in the first episode as well and they feel the encounter has left a scratch. They also take a quick peek down in the steam and tunnels and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t look like they built rooms down there. What the hell went on in this place? Did they seriously stick patients with mental disorders in tiny little rooms with dirt floor where they probably couldn’t even stand up?

There property also has it’s own cemetery, but sadly, the patients were simply buried. There are no markers to list their names. The best they got were numbers. That’s no way to be remembered.

John goes first on his solo investigation and hears knocks and what he thinks are moans. As I’ve said so many times, this is an old, rotting building, there are going to be bangs as the place settles over night. There could easily be moans as pipes expand and contract or doors creak on their hinges or birds settle for the night. It’s best to look for the simplest answer, not try to bend sounds to be the paranormal.

Chad is up next and right from the start he is out of his mind with fright. Every sound makes him jump out of his skin. Like before he near the point of hysterics as the walks around the building. This goes far beyond just being nervous, this almost the point of panic. In this state, every noise is going to sound like the devil reaching out to get you. You’re clearly going to see and hear things in the worst possible way. This really isn’t a good way to approach investigating the paranormal. And compared to John’s rather cool demeanor as he walks around the complex, it makes Chad seem ever more hysterical.

When it comes to evidence there are some odd sounds, but who knows if those are voices. The camera goes out in Ward W for both Chad and John. They interpret this as spirits building up energy to manifest. And that manifestation comes in the form of some black mass moving in front of one of the laser lights they have set up. People are doing some wacky things with Kinect devices. Who knows what we have here. I suppose you could say there is a figure moving between the dots, but to me it’s not really all that compelling. To be honest, there has been so much trickery and Tom foolery associated with these shows, that could just as easily be one of their crew wandering around. I’m gonna a bit more than a blocked out dot.

So the question remains, does asylum with it’s checkered past and abused constitute a location holding a portal where spirit energy can pass from one world to the next? I didn’t think this place was all that active. Oh, yes, it’s creepy as can be, but just because it looks the part doesn’t mean it’s haunted. I wonder how much Ivy and the start of Maryland are selling this place for? They’re brick buildings so it seems like you could do something with them. Fix it up and it would be a sweet haunted attraction. Oh wait, can’t do that. All that negative energy would make it haunted. Just ask Zak.

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