Ghostock 4: A Hair Raising Experience
2-7-2007
As many of you know, last weekend I attended Ghostock 4 in Savannah, GA. It was the most fantastic event I have ever had the pleasure of attending. The main event of the weekend was going on a Ghosthunt investigation. This occurred last Friday night.There were 14 different places to explore. After everyone got assigned to a specific location and team leaders were selected, the fun began.
I got assigned to a team investigating a local haunted restaurant called,” The Olde Pink House”. This restaurant was rumored to be haunted by the Ghost of James Habersham; a colonial statesman and the acting governor of Georgia from 1771-1773 and also other unknown entities. My specific investigation started at midnight and ended at 3:30 AM .
We started out by interviewing the management of the restaurant. Several employees had stayed at the restaurant overtime so they could talk to us and of course, let us in and lock up after woods.
They informed us that woman diners have been mysteriously locked in the ladies room on occasion. Also, that dishes have flown off counters, tables and chairs have moved by themselves and pictures on the wall have been moved upside down at times. Most of this activity occurred in a special dining area called, “The Purple Room”. They also stated that many of their employees refused to go into the wine cellar downstairs because of strange noises that they have heard and unexplained cold spots that appear suddenly. After we took notes, we started the investigation.
We split up into 3 smaller groups and part of the team got assigned to the ladies room, part to the wine cellar and the other part to the Purple room. . We rotated the groups until everyone got a chance to investigate each of the haunted areas.We used video cameras, digital cameras, EMF readers and voice activated tape recorders. Most of the members of my team were experienced investigators. I was happy about this since I felt that I could learn alot since this was my very first investigation.
During our first visit to the purple room, we set up a video camera and left the room to take random pictures of other parts of the restaurant. When we came back, the video camera had turned itself off stating that the tape was full when it really was not and had nothing on it. They explained that this frequently happens during Ghost Hunt investigations. Apparently, the entities cause the equipment to malfunction. We set up the camera again and this time, it recorded a video.
In the ladies room, we used the EMF readers and it went crazy in certain parts of the ladies room. It is believed by many that quick changes in electro-magnetic fields indicate spirit activity. We all got chills up and down our backs while there. We asked the entity questions hoping that the voice activated voice recorders would pick up the answers. Tape recorders can usually pick up voices that cannot be heard by the human ear. These are called EVP’s (electronic voice phenomenon).
In the wine cellar, we sat down, turned off the lights and used the activated voice recorder to ask the entity questions. One of the groups said they heard a whisper but could not make out what it said.My group leader said she felt something touch her head. I quickly pointed my camera at her to try to take a picture. It would not work. As soon as we left the cellar, the camera started working perfectly again. My leader explained that this frequently happens during Ghost Hunts especially when the entities are nearby. I guess the entities do not want to have their pictures taken.
After each group had investigated all of the locations, we all met in the Purple Room for a while. We set up the video camera again and tried to talk to the entity. We closed all of the curtains so no light would come in from outdoors. We noticed several small ball of lights come from the fireplace area and return quickly to the place they came from. The fireplace did not have a fire going at that time. We actually got these to appear on the video camera. The team members explained to me that sometimes entities appear to people in this form.
We left the restaurant around 3:30 AM and thanked the employees for their hospitality. The next day, everyone checked out their pictures, videos tapes and tape recordings. We found several voices on the tape recordings. One said, “GET OUT’. The investigators told me that this is a very common recording to get. Another said, “HELP ME”. A third one said, ” The Doctor is in.”.
We played these recording for the people attending the conference on Sunday morning. We also had several orbs in our pictures that showed clear movement and a clear rings around them. Usually these kinds of orbs are positive orbs however they may also have been dust particles. We also projected these pictures for the audience.Lastly, we also showed the audience the video tapes with the moving ball of lights.
On Sunday morning, all of the investigation groups also presented their findings. It was so amazing listening to what each group found. One of the other teams actually got a video of an entity going up the stairs of a basement. Patrick Burns, show host of Haunted Evidence, was blown away by this video. He had never seen one this clear. Everyone was just astounded. Some of the others groups got great EVP’s. One of the female investigators got a full face in a picture that she took while investigating the Haunted Lighthouse in Savannah.
In addition to the investigations, we also got to listen to some great speakers. Some of them have also authored books on Ghosthunting. They gave us some great tips and shared a lot of great stories with us.
One of the speakers was Dr. Hans Holzer who has had over 40 years experience in GhostHunting. Another set of speakers were the Ghost Chicks which have a profile on MYSPACE and other social network sites. They gave a great presentation of Poltergeists.
Here are a few pictures. Here is a picture of Patrick Burns and I:
Here is a picture of Steve from Ghosthunters and I:
Here is a picture of the Ghost chicks and I
Lastly, here is a picture of Patrick’s wife, Pamela and my roommate, Tracy.(Moonlight Poetess)
In all, I had a blast last weekend and can hardly wait to attend the next Ghostock in Sept. 07.