Ghosts, ghosts & more ghosts

While at the resort spa, Rose had a lengthy ghosty talk with two staff members while getting her tootsies massaged. While the ghost of Caroline Stickney, (the "princess" and the person the hotel was built for) had always been encountered in her room (known as "The Princess Room") the staffers informed Rose that the princess roamed the entire hotel and liked to play pranks. This information came in handy later.

The TAPS crew were stationed in five different known haunted locations in the hotel. I was in a group of 14, way too large for effective ghost hunting, but you take what you get. We started in the south tower. We stood in a construction zone filled with sawdust and pieces of equipment. When the lights went out, a large grid of blue light dots (think astrological conservatory) were shined on one wall. We were told to stare at them and see if any would dim or go out completely. Frankly, I felt pretty convinced that the human mind's need to make something out of nothing would make this technique pretty questionable, so I focused on my K-2 meter (a device that lights up when met with electromagnetic energy (EM) and has been used successfully to communicate with the dead by having them light the lights in answer to questions).

Once we eliminated any man-made sources of EM, three of us made a triangle of our K-2 meters and they immediately lit up. We asked a few questions, determining that the spirit was a female and had been an employee there. The spirit was definitely moving around because I could put my meter in the exact same location as another person who just got their lights to all light up and would get nothing. It was somewhat interesting, but a bit benign.

The next location was the Presidential Wing. In the Reagan Room, Rose and I experienced a cold draft in a corner that didn't appear to have a source. The next location was the Ballroom that also didn't have much going on at the time. However, in both cases, I kept my audio recorder on, so until I review my recordings, I won't know if anything was there with us or not.

At that point, about 12:30 am, Rose gave up the ghost and went back to our room (Room 157) to go to bed. I kept going.

The next location was the north tower. After walking up a dark, narrow staircase, I was met with Chip Coffey, sitting on a metal chair in what appeared to be a small landing. This space was quite different from the other tower. It consisted of a large horseshoe hallway with very small rooms, each with a small closet. Chip suggested that these were probably staff lodging at sometime.

I walked the hallway without any incident, but when I made my way back to the landing, there was one participant who seemed to have some K-2 hits as she sat on the floor, so I parked myself next to a wall and watched as she got the entity to turn on the K-2 whenever she asked. Another man sat down next to her and they put a flashlight in front of them as well as on a windowsill. Chip arrived and got the entity to turn on flashlights as requested, including dimming them and popping them on and off at request. As we attempted to speak to the entity, one gal asked "Were those your eyes that startled me in the hallway a few minutes ago?" The entity flipped on a flashlight for yes. That gave me a chill based solely on the creepy factor. When asked to turn on both flashlights, the entity could do that also.

The last location was The Princess Room. It was a large room with a four-poster bed, a fireplace and plenty of seating. I sat at the vanity table toward the corner. Everyone put out K-2's and recorders and started asking questions. Well, nothing happened. It felt like our aristocratic lady of the manor was not interested in answering our silly questions. Remembering Rose's encounter with the staff at the spa, I asked to the darkness "Do you walk through the entire hotel?" and every K-2 on one side of the room lit up to the red, the highest light. Several more questions were asked with no response. A man and woman had parked themselves on her bed. The woman asked, "Do you mind that I'm on your bed?" and there was no response. Then the man asked the same question and several K-2's went off at once again. He got off the bed. It seems that this turn-of-the-century woman didn't like a strange man in her bed.

I came back to our room at about 2:15, wiped. The light in between our two beds was on and I thought Rose was asleep. She rolled over and said, "I think there's something in here with me." Not that I didn't take her seriously, but I had sort of had my fill of encounters at that point. "Why do you think that?" I asked. "I've heard shuffling noises on your side of the room as if something is being moved." I thought that was interesting, but suspected sound transfer from another room.

Once I turned on the bathroom light, Rose turned out the nightstand light. I went in the bathroom and brushed my teeth, then came out to get my nightgown out of my luggage. While standing in front of my luggage, the main overhead light to the room was switched on. I turned, thinking that Rose had gotten up, but she was still in bed. I was amazed. I got in my nightgown, turned off the bathroom and main light and felt my way to my bed. Once in bed, I looked into the darkness and watched as something floated around the room, shifting the natural dynamics of play of light and dark in the room. Just as I was about to close my eyes, the main light in the room flipped on again. If I had had an ounce of energy left, I would have turned on some meters, but I got up, walked to the light switch and turned it off. Before I got back into bed, I stood at the end of my bed and said, "We're tired and we need our sleep. Please stop playing with the light." Then I fell into bed, and to my knowledge, the lights stayed out.

The next morning, when I came out of the shower, I was surprised to see that my mattress (a very heavy mattress) was about six or seven inches askew on the box spring. Could this have been what Rose was hearing before I came back to the room. Since I was so tired and got into bed in the dark both times, it's possible. I sleep like the dead, so it is unlikely that I could have tossed and turned enough to have moved that heavy mattress that much.

But wait, I'm not done. On the trip back, we stayed at the haunted hotel I had stayed at years ago in Newtown, PA. Guess what? Absolutely nothing happened.

On the last day of the trip, we went to Eastern State Penitentiary, the oldest prison in the country. From an historical standpoint, it was fascinating, but it is also known to be very haunted, so much so, that when they developed their audio tour, they included a segment on the ghosts of Eastern State. Although there were a few tours running around, I tried to use any quiet time I could find to try some EVP. How paranormally active is this place? Well, Rose began reviewing audio tapes in the car on the drive home and discovered that at 11:30 am, I had asked if someone could make their presence known and a man's voice clearly cries out as if standing on one end of our hallway. We did not hear this, by the way. Again, I haven't had a chance to review my audio tapes yet, but there were a potential two more responses received at Eastern State and we were only there for about two hours. I can only imagine how active that place is at night and how much you might get if you were there all night.

So, all in all, a successful trip, both in terms of interactions with both the living and the dead. Thanks for all who have been patiently awaiting my post. I hope it was worth it.