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18 Jan. '09 - Chuck and Jinni and I have been sleeping up in Room 7 because our room is sooooo cold. Our room / office is in the old horse stable building, and there is no heat in there. We have a space heater going, but when it is in the minus-degrees outside, like it has been lately, the space heater just can't keep it warm enough to sleep in there. Anyway, all the guest rooms have their own heaters and are nice and toasty warm, so we have been sleeping upstairs. A few little interesting things have happened, like....one night I heard Jinni shifting around in her bed, like she does when she is being annoyed. Then I heard her say, "Stop it. That's my blanket." Then she went back to sleep. I asked her about it the next morning and she said someone kept pulling off her blanket, she did not know who it was. One night, Jinni and I had gone to bed, but Chuck had stayed up to watch a football game. About 11pm, I heard the bedroom door open, close, and footsteps shuffled into the room, but nobody got into the bed. I looked, expecting Chuck, but no one was there. Chuck finally came to bed about midnight and I asked him if he had looked in on us earlier and he said he hadn't. Well, somebody did! The next morning, there was alot of knocking going on in the room. There was a knock on our headboard, on the wall across from my side of the bed, and on the wall next to Chuck's head. It sounded like one, loud rap with knuckles on wood. Chuck also said he heard some noise on the third floor like something heavy being slid across the floor up there. Last Saturday, I was talking to Cindi on the phone and she made a comment about poopy baby diapers, and I heard a woman say "There's nothing I can do about that." It was really clear, but Cindi did not hear it, so it was only on my end. I don't know if that was paranormal, but it was definitely not-normal. We have had voices in the phone before, but not that clear.
20 Jan. '09 - Last night there was a team of four ladies who are part of a paranormal investigation team from Illinois. They had some interesting personal experiences. They heard knocking on the walls and sounds of someone walking around in the hallway, when they were all in Room 6. They used their pendulum to ask questions and it was reacting well. They took pictures throughout the night, but the ones they took during and right after the pendulum sessions were full of orbs and they were very impressed by this. Something that I noticed was that about 8pm the ladies and I were talking in Room 6, along with Doug, another investigator from near Chicago, and we were sitting near the hallway. At one point I heard the sound of someone coming up the stairs but no body came up. Another time I heard footsteps in the hallway, down toward Room 7, and I looked and saw nothing, but the sounds were there. Then, in the area where Doug and I were sitting, the temperature dropped suddenly and Doug broke out in goosebumps on his right arm but not on his left, his right arm being the one near me. I got so cold I started shivering. This lasted for about a minute then it warmed up. I wonder who it was that was standing there listening to us talk.
Doug told me a story of something that happened the last time he was here with a friend: They were staying in Room 5, with Doug in the big bed and his friend in one of the twin beds in the adjoining room. About 1:15am, the friend started yelling at Doug for shaking his bed, thinking Doug was playing a trick on him. But Doug answered that he was over in the other room. When the friend realized that it was not Doug, he jumped out of the twin bed and ran over to the big bed with Doug. He would not go back to sleep alone. He said the mattress of the twin bed was actually picked up at the foot and dropped several times. As long as he thought it was Doug, he was just annoyed. But when he found out it was not Doug, it really scared him. He spent the rest of the night on top of the covers of the big bed and would not go back to the twin bed. I've never heard of anything so violent before, I'm guessing Harold really wanted to get this guy's attention!
3 Feb. '09 - Not much has happened lately. We have moved back to our room downstairs because we have had requests for Room 7, and the weather has been warmer anyway. Most of our guests have been staying in the outer, non-haunted rooms, and the ones upstairs have not reported anything unusual. But a few things have happened just recently. On Sunday night, after the Super Bowl game, I saw two orbs zoom out of the bedroom / office, headed toward the door. One was really little and was really moving, the second was about the size of a cotton ball and was taking it's time. Both flight paths went low over the desk and were lit up by the desk lamp, which is why I saw them. The game was over, I guess it was time to go. That night there was alot of knocking, tapping, shuffling, popping sounds coming from the desk area. Johnny has not been doing this for some time, so it was nice to have him back again. Last night, Chuck was putting some wood into the wood burning stove in the Keeping Room, and he heard a loud thump over his head. He said it sounded like something heavy had landed on the floor in Room 8. All the cats and people were accounted for, nothing was out of place in the room, so what made the noise?
8 Feb. '09 - A group from the Supernatural Research Society of Iowa was here last night and got some good results. We used some dowsing rods to ask Yes and No questions of Harold, Curtis, and Amanda. It worked pretty good. I had not done that before. They also had their own version of a telephone to the dead which worked pretty good. Harold and Markie were able to figure out how to use it, since it was different from what they are used to using, and we also heard some children giggling, which was really fun to hear. One lady took several pictures of me with the rods and in two of the five pictures, there is a shadow by my side, but no body had moved in the room, so what caused the shadow? We asked on the 'box' and Curtis admitted to being by my side. The only personal experience that happened to a team member (that I heard about) is that one lady was sitting in rocking chair in Room 5. She was just sitting with her eyes closed, listening, when she heard a sound like cellophane crinkling behind her head. She thought we had plastic over the windows and the wind was rattling it, but when she looked, there was no plastic. So she asked whoever made the noise to do it again. Immediately, the crinkling sound came again, louder, and from the window on her left. Again she could not find an explanation for the sound. When she reviewed her video recorder she saw a little bitty orb fly out from behind her chair and out the door. When they asked at a 'box' session who that was, Harold said it was a child playing. The group said they would post results from their investigation on their web site at www.srsoi.com . You can also see the video on Youtube.com... search Mason House Inn.
24 Feb. '09 - Wow, what a weekend! We had a Ghost Hunt University class here on last Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning, when Chuck and I were making breakfast in the kitchen, I heard a man's voice behind me say "It's a snowy day!" I thought that was a strange thing for Chuck to say so I asked him to repeat what he said, just in case I misunderstood him. He said he did not say anything. I wonder who it was. Probably Curtis, it was a higher pitch than Harold. On Saturday night, the only person who had any activity was the lady in Room 8. She said she heard the hangers in her closet jangling for no observable reason. She had left one light on in the bathroom as a night light, and in the morning she found two lights on. She also had her fanny patted. She finally had enough and left early. During the Edison's Telephone to the Dead sessions, Harold asked for Kristin. He said he missed her and she needs to come home more often. We told him Kristin was afraid he would scare away her latest boyfriend. Harold said the other boyfriends were "freaks" and deserved to be scared away. We asked him if he liked Dan and he said "He's okay." Well, that's good. We told him to leave Dan alone when he's here and Harold said "It won't be scary." We asked Mary about the possibility of re-wallpapering the walls in Room 5 and she said "Leave it alone." She would not be in favor of any re-wallpapering or painting. (I wonder how many of my readers ever had to ask permission of a ghost to fix up a room?) We asked about painting Room 8, and they said to leave it blue. We asked about the 'box' that the SRSOI group had been using and Harold said it was different and difficult to use. Curtis thought it was okay, but Chris's is easier. (That's because they're used to it.) When Chris was playing back the EVP recordings, there is a spot where Chuck is talking about the Underground Railroad tunnel and just before Chuck says "go left" a man's voice says "go left", so that Chuck is actually echoing the spirit voice! Very interesting. I guess Chuck's told that story so often that Harold knows what he's going to say. On Sunday night, the lady in Room 5, Barbara, was reading my printed Journal aloud. When she read about the lights going on and off in the room, she said out loud "Harold, why don't you turn my lights on and off?". She immediately heard a knocking sound next to her. In Room 7 the little night light started going off and on for several minutes. When Barbara read about the shower coming on in the room, she said aloud "Harold, why don't you turn my water on and off?". She immediately heard another knocking sound near her. In Room 7 the shower water turned on and off and on and off for several minutes. The people in Room 7 were thrilled but did not know why these things were happening to their room! When Barbara decided to turn off the lights and go to sleep, the window shade at the end of the bed started to inch up and let in light from the street lamp. Then the shade started to shake in and out and finally got wedged all crooked in the window. Barbara said "If you break that shade, Joy will be mad at you." , and the shaking stopped but more tapping sounded. Barbara is a Case Manager for a paranormal investigation team from Indiana and Illinois, so I asked her for her opinion of whether the place is haunted. She said "definitely" but in a fun way, not scary. The people in Room 6 heard tapping on their headboard. They had been playing with Misty with a red laser light, she chased it around the room. But when they put the light away, Misty continued to chase something around the room and then she hissed and ran from the room like she was being chased! They thought it was really interesting.
11 March '09 - I was gone last week to Texas to visit my son Jeremy and his family. While I was gone, Chuck had a guest who was doing EVPs and he got some class A responses. He was really thrilled. Now that I'm back, Chuck and I are painting Room 8. It's still blue, but a lighter shade. Anyway, Monday we started, Chuck was in the room painting and I had gone into the laundry room to put the curtains in the washer. I can see the doorway to Room 8 from the laundry room. I saw a man standing in the hallway, looking into the room, watching Chuck paint. The man had dark pants and a light shirt and he was standing with his legs spread and his fists on his hips ("arms akimbo" stance). It was just a quick glance and my first thought was that Chuck had come out to get some fresh air, but then I realized that Chuck never stands like that. So I looked again and there was nothing there, of course. I went and asked Chuck if he was just out in the hallway, but he was still on the ladder where I had left him. It must have been Curtis. He wears dark 'trousers' and a light shirt. I hope he likes the new color. Tonight I got a call from a member of the SRSOI team that was here on 8 Feb. He said they got some great EVPs and is going to send me a DVD. They have also posted the evidence on their web site www.srsoi.com . Click on "Investigations" on the left side, and then on "2009", and then click on "Mason House Inn". I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing what they got. He said the place definitely has something paranormal going on, but it is a fun kind of thing and nothing evil or scary.
13 March '09 - I did receive the DVD from Kevin, and there are some interesting EVPs on there. There is some unexplained music and a woman humming. At one point, Chuck is talking about finding the Underground Railroad tunnel and just before Chuck says "go left" a man's voice says "go left". This is the same thing that happened with Chris Moon's EVP, but this would have happened before the session with Chris. Very interesting. He also included the 'box' session we did and we can hear the children giggling very clearly.
16 March '09 - The couple who stayed in Room 5 last Friday night said they were sitting on the big bed, playing a game, when they felt the bed move. They saw the end of the bed go down, like somebody sat down, and they saw the bed indent with a pressure in one area. It lasted for about 5 seconds and then it got up. They saw the indent let up and the bed shook like who ever it was got up. They looked at each other like "did you see that?", and, yes, they had both seen and felt it. Later that night, they both heard a rattling sound over in the twin bed side of the room. In trying to recreate the sound, they determined that it had something to do with the vanity drawer handles rattling. There was no explanation for it. The people in Room 6 that same night, heard a loud thump over their heads on the head board. They thought it was the people in Room 5 hitting the adjoining wall, but there is a large dresser and mirror on that wall and there is no way to hit the wall. They said they were asleep at that time anyway.
24 March '09 - Last Thursday night, there was a husband and wife and two teenaged girls staying in Room 5. The girls asked to try my pendulum, so I let them borrow it for the evening. They tried to talk to anybody who wanted to do it and the only one who answered was Mary. The girls were happy to talk to Mary and they said they had a nice conversation. During the night, the two girls were in the twin beds and they heard footsteps walking around and around near them. One girl saw a glowing orb next to her bed, low to the ground. At first she thought it was her cell phone screen, but then realized that her phone was not there. About the same time, the lady in the big bed woke up and saw the shadow of a man standing next to the bed. He was wearing a 'baseball type' hat with a short brim. It lasted a few seconds and then he faded away. Then she saw the shadow of a woman, also standing next to the bed. She could see the shadow was wearing a long dress or skirt. The shadow turned and walked through the wall. The lady said she had heard the walking-around sounds coming from the girl's side of the room, but thought it was the girls. The husband slept through the whole thing, but later admitted that he had smelled a perfume that he had never smelled before. He chalked it up to something new his wife was wearing, but she said she was not wearing any perfume.
29 March '09 - On Friday evening, I was in the dining room, and I could hear what sounded like a cat running back and forth in the hallway upstairs. All our cats were accounted for downstairs. Chuck and I went up and looked around just in case, but did not see anything. But after we went back downstairs, I heard it again. Kristin and Dan arrived for the weekend, and on Saturday morning, Kristin said she heard running sounds in the hallway outside her room. She said it sounded like a cat or little children feet running around and around and back and forth, this was about 6:30am.
4 April '09 - The people who stayed in Room 5 last night, had used the pendulum and got really good results. Then during the night, they heard the sound of footsteps in their room. They saw shadows moving around the room that they could not explain. They were thrilled and want to return soon.
5 April '09 - Last Thursday, I was up on the third floor, cleaning, when I heard shuffling footsteps at the bottom of the staircase on the second floor landing. They went back and forth down the hallway and then around and around on the landing. I thought Chuck was looking for me, but he knew where I was and I never saw anybody, but the footsteps kept going for several minutes. Later, I asked Chuck if he was on the second floor at that time and he said he had been on the computer in the office the whole time I was upstairs. I wonder if Mary was upset that I was on her floor. Last night, the people who stayed in Room 5 had used the pendulum, but did not have much success. They did get some good, bright orbs in their pictures. Later that night, one of the men felt like he was being squeezed in a hug and got really dizzy. The room got really cold, then the bathroom door opened and slammed shut three times. The curtain at the end of the bed was waving in and out for a short time too. They asked for some knocking sounds but did not hear any. However, there was knocking sounds in Rooms 4 and 6! Harold's doing it again. Doing as asked, but not where asked. He's so funny.
13 April '09 - Saturday night the Carroll Area Paranormal Team (CAPT) was here for another investigation. There was alot of interesting activity. The Team set up their equipment in the dining room and then live streamed their IR cameras and audio investigation over the internet. One member of the Team, Mark, has psychic ability, and he said he could see a man walking back and forth between Rooms 4 and 5. The man was tall and thin with sunken cheeks and a white beard. He was wearing a dark suit and white shirt. This is a very good description of Francis (Frank) Clark, and historically correct too. Originally, what is now Room 4 was the dressing room for the 'twin bed area' of Room 5. The owners before us put up the wall to make two rooms, but when the Clarks lived here, it was one room. Mark did not know this. During the investigation, Paul and Mark were in Room 7 and they were asking who was in the room, and Mark heard the name 'Daniel'. So they started asking questions of Daniel and the little emergency night light, which is plugged into the wall by the bed, started blinking. So they told Daniel to blink the light for yes and leave it steady for no, and they were asking yes and no questions and the light was blinking in response to the questions! This actually sounds like something Harold would do, but we will ask at the next GHU in May. When the Team was in Room 5, they talked to Julia and the camera in that room was going crazy with interference to the point of whiting out for long periods of time. But once the team left the room, the camera was fine. A psychic who was watching the show on the internet thought that Julia was angry and was collecting energy in order to manifest or do something to get the men out of her room. The psychic could see a slender young woman in her early 20s with long dark hair, standing by the vanity table in that room. This is a good description of Julia as seen by other visitors who have seen her. The psychic also got the name Carl Knap, and he wants his money back. When the Team was all in the dining room to take a break, two of the men heard footsteps upstairs in Room 4, but no one was up there, we were all in the dining room together. I saw a small dark shadow standing in the parlor, I think it was a child that had followed us downstairs to see what we were doing. A few minutes later, Chris, Paul, and I saw the shadow of a tall, thin man standing in the parlor. Then it zoomed out of the room really fast! All three of us saw it. Chuck and I went to bed about 11pm and the Team continued their investigation till about 4am. Early in the morning, I heard a scream come over the intercom we have in Jinni's room. It was a very eerie high pitched scream/screech that lasted about 4 seconds and made the hairs on my neck stand up. Chuck heard it too, he jumped in his sleep but did not wake up. I looked at the clock and it was 3:22am. Jinni heard it too and she got out of bed and I heard her walk around the room and then get back into bed. In the morning I asked her if she heard a noise during the night and she said she thought it was the intercom screeching like I was paging her. That's why she got out of bed and walked over to the intercom but I did not call so she went back to bed. So she did hear it but it did not scare her, and it was not her making the noise. I asked the Team if they heard it, but they said they were outside taking a break at that time. They will review their recordings and let me know if they picked it up. They are going to let us know what evidence they collected during their investigation. It will be posted on their web site at www.carrollareaparanormalteam.com . (They sent a video clip of a "transparent figure walking in front of the camera". It's really interesting!)
17 April '09 - Wednesday night, I was sitting in the dining room and watching Ghost Hunters on TV. One of the investigators said "Do something to prove you are here. Make a noise I can hear to prove your presence." And just then there was a loud THUMP in the foyer hallway behind me. It sounded like something heavy hit the floor or a fist on the wall or something like that. Misty was laying on the floor by my chair and she jumped up and looked in that direction too, so I know she heard it too. At first I thought Tiger had jumped off of something high up, but he was not in the foyer (I later found him asleep on my bed), and I could not find any explanation for the sound. I guess someone was responding to the TV challenge. That same night, I heard a tapping sound coming over Jinni's bedroom intercom. And then I heard a man's voice say "Mark?". It was a question, like Harold or Curtis was looking for Mark in Jinni's room! She never woke up, but she did shuffle alot in her bed for several minutes after that. We had no guests in the house that night, and Chuck was at work so I know it was not him.
26 April '09 - Last night, the CAPT group posted their 'reveal' on a live internet show that Chuck and I and several others watched. They had some really good EVPs and showed the video of the transparent figure. It was really interesting! They got the name ,Carrie, and thinks it has something to do with the portrait of the two little girls in Room 4. During the show, Chuck and I were in the dining room watching it on the lap top and we both heard footsteps and thumping sounds coming from upstairs. I went and checked to see if our guests were back, but there was nobody there. Jinni was in bed and all the cats were accounted for, so it was none of them. I wonder if they heard Chris Warneka's voice and it got them stirred up. This often happens with Chris Moon's voice when he is on TV or the radio shows. Then, this morning, I was setting the dining table for breakfast, and I saw a dark shadow move past the front door window and it blocked the light as it passed. Smokey, one of our cats, was about to go into the foyer, but she suddenly crouched and hissed and then ran the other way. She has never acted like that toward a guest, so I knew she had seen or sensed the shadow too. This is the second time in a week I've seen the shadow. A few nights ago, Chuck and I were talking to our son on the laptop in the dining room, and I could see into the parlor. At one point, the window on the right was darkened by a tall dark shadow as it glided through the room toward the foyer door. Now I saw it glide across the foyer into Room 1. I wonder if it knows the tavern has been closed for years.
2 May '09 - Last night I heard the back staircase door open and shut. I looked at the clock and it was 2:11am. There were no guests in the Inn, Chuck and Jinni were both asleep. About an hour later, there were two knocks on our bedroom door, Chuck jumped but did not wake. About 1/2 hour later, there were two knocks on the closet door right next to Chuck's head. That woke him up! When we got up in the morning we found the napkins on one of the dining room tables had been shredded to bits. This is the third time this has happened this year, and it is always on that particular table. The napkin pieces were all on the table, nothing on the floor or chairs. Then, we gave a tour to some school kids, and the bed in Room 7 looked like someone had been laying on it. The pillow had been moved down and there was a head imprint on it and the quilt had been rumpled. What a busy night it had been!
11 May '09 - This past weekend we had a group here ghost hunting. Things started happening right away. Just after the first couple checked in, they went upstairs to their room, and I was still at the check-in desk. I heard a man say "I need some help." It was very clear and very near. But I did not see anyone there. I wonder if an invisible guest was trying to check in. Later, in the dining room, Chuck gave his presentation about some of the things that go on around here. During his talk, we all heard loud thumps and banging coming from the second floor, above our heads. All 20 guests were in the dining room, Jinni and the cats were all in my bedroom, nobody was upstairs, but we all heard it. At one point, Chuck got really cold and one lady took his picture and there was a black shadow floating right in front of Chuck. It was about 2 feet long and obscured the wall behind it. I hope she emails the picture to me so you can see it. At one point, I saw the shadow of a cat run under the east dining table and one lady said she thought she felt a cat against her leg, but like I said, all the cats had been closed in my bedroom. Then, during the group's hunt, several of the people had pendulums and divining rods and were getting good responses from them. At one point, one of the ladies had her pendulum on the second floor landing and it started making huge swinging circles. She was standing right where the vortex is reported to be. One woman used the pendulum to talk to a young Civil War soldier named James. She said he had died of his wounds in the parlor area. He was about fifteen years old and he was Confederate. Another person went outside and took a picture of the Inn and in one of the Room 5 windows, there is a figure of a man in a black suit standing there and looking out the window. Nobody in the group was wearing a black suit and nobody was in that room at the time. That's another one I hope she emails to me. During the night, some of the people heard talking and footsteps in Room 6 but nobody was in there at the time. Later, the same people heard a woman singing in Room 6, at 12:38am, but the people in there were all asleep at that time. The people in Room 8 said they found their door locked when they did not lock it. And the people in Room 4 said they heard thumping and rustling sounds coming from the attic above their ceiling. They thought it was somebody up there, but there is just storage up above that area, nobody was up there. All in all, it was a busy night and they want to come back again soon.
18 May '09 - We had a GHU this past weekend and found some answers to some questions. During the day, the people in Room 5 found the doctor's equipment interesting and later found one of the instruments swinging wildly. They stopped the swinging and tried to get it to swing by stomping around and shaking the floor and opening and closing doors. The windows were not open and the air conditioner nor fan were on. They could not get it to do it again. He came downstairs to tell us about it and some of us went up to see, and as we entered the room we could see that it was swinging again. We were all amazed. Later, the people found a rock sitting on their bed. Nobody knew how it had gotten there. During the 'Box' sessions we found out that Ty had set the instrument to swinging as a prank and Amanda admitted to putting the rock on the bed. She thought it was funny. Curtis admitted that it was he who said "I need some help" last week. He said he was just messing with me and pretending to check-in. Amanda said she did go to church with us for Jinni's Confirmation and that she wore a white dress with purple flowers and green leaves. (Jinni had said it was a dress with purple flowers on it. Whenever we took a picture of Jinni, there were orbs around her including Amanda's orb. In the picture to the right, the arrow is pointing to Amanda's orb.) Harold said it was he who was looking for Mark in Jinni's room, but Mark was not there. He also said it was a spirit named Andy who walked in front of the CAPT camera and made the transparent figure. Andy was "just passing through". To read the transcripts of the two sessions, click here. During the nights, Harold kept Chris Moon awake for two nights with his tapping and walking-around sounds. The people in Room 8 heard someone walking around over their heads, but it is just storage up above that room. The man in Room 6 felt something heavy on his legs and could not even turn over it was so heavy. Harold said there were 8 spirits on the bed with them. They must have been on him. The next GHU is August 8 and 9, come join us, you never know what will happen.
3 June '09 - Not much has been happening around here lately. A few nights ago, I heard the back staircase door open and close. I looked at the clock and it was 4:35am. I waited for the knock on our bedroom door, but nothing else happened. It has been very quiet. I wonder if they got tired out after so much activity earlier.
27 June '09 - My Dad and Mom visited for two weeks and stayed in Room 1. During one afternoon nap, my Dad heard the front doorbell ring "Ding-Dong" and he jumped up to see who was at the door.....nobody there. A few minutes later it happened again....nobody there. My Mom asked why he kept jumping up and looking out the bedroom door and he told her he had heard the doorbell. She said she did not hear any doorbell and besides, the front door bell does not go "Ding-Dong", it plays Westminster Chime. And, you can't hear the doorbell from inside Room 1 because the chime is in the dining room. Harold must have been messing with him. That night, I was awakened by the sound of the little dinger bell ,"Ding-Ding", that we have in the front foyer. I looked at the clock and it was 2:35am. I thought, I can't hear the dinger bell from the foyer in our bedroom, with the fan running too. Just then I heard it again and it sounded like it was coming from the Keeping Room, a little closer. Then it did it again right outside our door. We had no guests in the house, but I looked anyway, nobody there. I went back to bed and heard it again right outside our door. I said out loud "Okay, very funny, you made me look, ha-ha, you got me. Now stop." And it did not do it again. The next night, the people in Room 6 said they heard footsteps, like boots on a hard wood floor, above their heads on the third floor. The footsteps walked back and forth for several minutes and then it stopped. They thought our bedroom was up there, but there is just storage up above that room and our bedroom is not on the third floor anyway. They were excited that they had heard something, but wished they'd known at the time that it wasn't us. It would have been more exciting instead of annoying.
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20 Jan. '09 - Last night there was a team of four ladies who are part of a paranormal investigation team from Illinois. They had some interesting personal experiences. They heard knocking on the walls and sounds of someone walking around in the hallway, when they were all in Room 6. They used their pendulum to ask questions and it was reacting well. They took pictures throughout the night, but the ones they took during and right after the pendulum sessions were full of orbs and they were very impressed by this. Something that I noticed was that about 8pm the ladies and I were talking in Room 6, along with Doug, another investigator from near Chicago, and we were sitting near the hallway. At one point I heard the sound of someone coming up the stairs but no body came up. Another time I heard footsteps in the hallway, down toward Room 7, and I looked and saw nothing, but the sounds were there. Then, in the area where Doug and I were sitting, the temperature dropped suddenly and Doug broke out in goosebumps on his right arm but not on his left, his right arm being the one near me. I got so cold I started shivering. This lasted for about a minute then it warmed up. I wonder who it was that was standing there listening to us talk.
Doug told me a story of something that happened the last time he was here with a friend: They were staying in Room 5, with Doug in the big bed and his friend in one of the twin beds in the adjoining room. About 1:15am, the friend started yelling at Doug for shaking his bed, thinking Doug was playing a trick on him. But Doug answered that he was over in the other room. When the friend realized that it was not Doug, he jumped out of the twin bed and ran over to the big bed with Doug. He would not go back to sleep alone. He said the mattress of the twin bed was actually picked up at the foot and dropped several times. As long as he thought it was Doug, he was just annoyed. But when he found out it was not Doug, it really scared him. He spent the rest of the night on top of the covers of the big bed and would not go back to the twin bed. I've never heard of anything so violent before, I'm guessing Harold really wanted to get this guy's attention!
3 Feb. '09 - Not much has happened lately. We have moved back to our room downstairs because we have had requests for Room 7, and the weather has been warmer anyway. Most of our guests have been staying in the outer, non-haunted rooms, and the ones upstairs have not reported anything unusual. But a few things have happened just recently. On Sunday night, after the Super Bowl game, I saw two orbs zoom out of the bedroom / office, headed toward the door. One was really little and was really moving, the second was about the size of a cotton ball and was taking it's time. Both flight paths went low over the desk and were lit up by the desk lamp, which is why I saw them. The game was over, I guess it was time to go. That night there was alot of knocking, tapping, shuffling, popping sounds coming from the desk area. Johnny has not been doing this for some time, so it was nice to have him back again. Last night, Chuck was putting some wood into the wood burning stove in the Keeping Room, and he heard a loud thump over his head. He said it sounded like something heavy had landed on the floor in Room 8. All the cats and people were accounted for, nothing was out of place in the room, so what made the noise?
8 Feb. '09 - A group from the Supernatural Research Society of Iowa was here last night and got some good results. We used some dowsing rods to ask Yes and No questions of Harold, Curtis, and Amanda. It worked pretty good. I had not done that before. They also had their own version of a telephone to the dead which worked pretty good. Harold and Markie were able to figure out how to use it, since it was different from what they are used to using, and we also heard some children giggling, which was really fun to hear. One lady took several pictures of me with the rods and in two of the five pictures, there is a shadow by my side, but no body had moved in the room, so what caused the shadow? We asked on the 'box' and Curtis admitted to being by my side. The only personal experience that happened to a team member (that I heard about) is that one lady was sitting in rocking chair in Room 5. She was just sitting with her eyes closed, listening, when she heard a sound like cellophane crinkling behind her head. She thought we had plastic over the windows and the wind was rattling it, but when she looked, there was no plastic. So she asked whoever made the noise to do it again. Immediately, the crinkling sound came again, louder, and from the window on her left. Again she could not find an explanation for the sound. When she reviewed her video recorder she saw a little bitty orb fly out from behind her chair and out the door. When they asked at a 'box' session who that was, Harold said it was a child playing. The group said they would post results from their investigation on their web site at www.srsoi.com . You can also see the video on Youtube.com... search Mason House Inn.
24 Feb. '09 - Wow, what a weekend! We had a Ghost Hunt University class here on last Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning, when Chuck and I were making breakfast in the kitchen, I heard a man's voice behind me say "It's a snowy day!" I thought that was a strange thing for Chuck to say so I asked him to repeat what he said, just in case I misunderstood him. He said he did not say anything. I wonder who it was. Probably Curtis, it was a higher pitch than Harold. On Saturday night, the only person who had any activity was the lady in Room 8. She said she heard the hangers in her closet jangling for no observable reason. She had left one light on in the bathroom as a night light, and in the morning she found two lights on. She also had her fanny patted. She finally had enough and left early. During the Edison's Telephone to the Dead sessions, Harold asked for Kristin. He said he missed her and she needs to come home more often. We told him Kristin was afraid he would scare away her latest boyfriend. Harold said the other boyfriends were "freaks" and deserved to be scared away. We asked him if he liked Dan and he said "He's okay." Well, that's good. We told him to leave Dan alone when he's here and Harold said "It won't be scary." We asked Mary about the possibility of re-wallpapering the walls in Room 5 and she said "Leave it alone." She would not be in favor of any re-wallpapering or painting. (I wonder how many of my readers ever had to ask permission of a ghost to fix up a room?) We asked about painting Room 8, and they said to leave it blue. We asked about the 'box' that the SRSOI group had been using and Harold said it was different and difficult to use. Curtis thought it was okay, but Chris's is easier. (That's because they're used to it.) When Chris was playing back the EVP recordings, there is a spot where Chuck is talking about the Underground Railroad tunnel and just before Chuck says "go left" a man's voice says "go left", so that Chuck is actually echoing the spirit voice! Very interesting. I guess Chuck's told that story so often that Harold knows what he's going to say. On Sunday night, the lady in Room 5, Barbara, was reading my printed Journal aloud. When she read about the lights going on and off in the room, she said out loud "Harold, why don't you turn my lights on and off?". She immediately heard a knocking sound next to her. In Room 7 the little night light started going off and on for several minutes. When Barbara read about the shower coming on in the room, she said aloud "Harold, why don't you turn my water on and off?". She immediately heard another knocking sound near her. In Room 7 the shower water turned on and off and on and off for several minutes. The people in Room 7 were thrilled but did not know why these things were happening to their room! When Barbara decided to turn off the lights and go to sleep, the window shade at the end of the bed started to inch up and let in light from the street lamp. Then the shade started to shake in and out and finally got wedged all crooked in the window. Barbara said "If you break that shade, Joy will be mad at you." , and the shaking stopped but more tapping sounded. Barbara is a Case Manager for a paranormal investigation team from Indiana and Illinois, so I asked her for her opinion of whether the place is haunted. She said "definitely" but in a fun way, not scary. The people in Room 6 heard tapping on their headboard. They had been playing with Misty with a red laser light, she chased it around the room. But when they put the light away, Misty continued to chase something around the room and then she hissed and ran from the room like she was being chased! They thought it was really interesting.
11 March '09 - I was gone last week to Texas to visit my son Jeremy and his family. While I was gone, Chuck had a guest who was doing EVPs and he got some class A responses. He was really thrilled. Now that I'm back, Chuck and I are painting Room 8. It's still blue, but a lighter shade. Anyway, Monday we started, Chuck was in the room painting and I had gone into the laundry room to put the curtains in the washer. I can see the doorway to Room 8 from the laundry room. I saw a man standing in the hallway, looking into the room, watching Chuck paint. The man had dark pants and a light shirt and he was standing with his legs spread and his fists on his hips ("arms akimbo" stance). It was just a quick glance and my first thought was that Chuck had come out to get some fresh air, but then I realized that Chuck never stands like that. So I looked again and there was nothing there, of course. I went and asked Chuck if he was just out in the hallway, but he was still on the ladder where I had left him. It must have been Curtis. He wears dark 'trousers' and a light shirt. I hope he likes the new color. Tonight I got a call from a member of the SRSOI team that was here on 8 Feb. He said they got some great EVPs and is going to send me a DVD. They have also posted the evidence on their web site www.srsoi.com . Click on "Investigations" on the left side, and then on "2009", and then click on "Mason House Inn". I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing what they got. He said the place definitely has something paranormal going on, but it is a fun kind of thing and nothing evil or scary.
13 March '09 - I did receive the DVD from Kevin, and there are some interesting EVPs on there. There is some unexplained music and a woman humming. At one point, Chuck is talking about finding the Underground Railroad tunnel and just before Chuck says "go left" a man's voice says "go left". This is the same thing that happened with Chris Moon's EVP, but this would have happened before the session with Chris. Very interesting. He also included the 'box' session we did and we can hear the children giggling very clearly.
16 March '09 - The couple who stayed in Room 5 last Friday night said they were sitting on the big bed, playing a game, when they felt the bed move. They saw the end of the bed go down, like somebody sat down, and they saw the bed indent with a pressure in one area. It lasted for about 5 seconds and then it got up. They saw the indent let up and the bed shook like who ever it was got up. They looked at each other like "did you see that?", and, yes, they had both seen and felt it. Later that night, they both heard a rattling sound over in the twin bed side of the room. In trying to recreate the sound, they determined that it had something to do with the vanity drawer handles rattling. There was no explanation for it. The people in Room 6 that same night, heard a loud thump over their heads on the head board. They thought it was the people in Room 5 hitting the adjoining wall, but there is a large dresser and mirror on that wall and there is no way to hit the wall. They said they were asleep at that time anyway.
24 March '09 - Last Thursday night, there was a husband and wife and two teenaged girls staying in Room 5. The girls asked to try my pendulum, so I let them borrow it for the evening. They tried to talk to anybody who wanted to do it and the only one who answered was Mary. The girls were happy to talk to Mary and they said they had a nice conversation. During the night, the two girls were in the twin beds and they heard footsteps walking around and around near them. One girl saw a glowing orb next to her bed, low to the ground. At first she thought it was her cell phone screen, but then realized that her phone was not there. About the same time, the lady in the big bed woke up and saw the shadow of a man standing next to the bed. He was wearing a 'baseball type' hat with a short brim. It lasted a few seconds and then he faded away. Then she saw the shadow of a woman, also standing next to the bed. She could see the shadow was wearing a long dress or skirt. The shadow turned and walked through the wall. The lady said she had heard the walking-around sounds coming from the girl's side of the room, but thought it was the girls. The husband slept through the whole thing, but later admitted that he had smelled a perfume that he had never smelled before. He chalked it up to something new his wife was wearing, but she said she was not wearing any perfume.
29 March '09 - On Friday evening, I was in the dining room, and I could hear what sounded like a cat running back and forth in the hallway upstairs. All our cats were accounted for downstairs. Chuck and I went up and looked around just in case, but did not see anything. But after we went back downstairs, I heard it again. Kristin and Dan arrived for the weekend, and on Saturday morning, Kristin said she heard running sounds in the hallway outside her room. She said it sounded like a cat or little children feet running around and around and back and forth, this was about 6:30am.
4 April '09 - The people who stayed in Room 5 last night, had used the pendulum and got really good results. Then during the night, they heard the sound of footsteps in their room. They saw shadows moving around the room that they could not explain. They were thrilled and want to return soon.
5 April '09 - Last Thursday, I was up on the third floor, cleaning, when I heard shuffling footsteps at the bottom of the staircase on the second floor landing. They went back and forth down the hallway and then around and around on the landing. I thought Chuck was looking for me, but he knew where I was and I never saw anybody, but the footsteps kept going for several minutes. Later, I asked Chuck if he was on the second floor at that time and he said he had been on the computer in the office the whole time I was upstairs. I wonder if Mary was upset that I was on her floor. Last night, the people who stayed in Room 5 had used the pendulum, but did not have much success. They did get some good, bright orbs in their pictures. Later that night, one of the men felt like he was being squeezed in a hug and got really dizzy. The room got really cold, then the bathroom door opened and slammed shut three times. The curtain at the end of the bed was waving in and out for a short time too. They asked for some knocking sounds but did not hear any. However, there was knocking sounds in Rooms 4 and 6! Harold's doing it again. Doing as asked, but not where asked. He's so funny.
13 April '09 - Saturday night the Carroll Area Paranormal Team (CAPT) was here for another investigation. There was alot of interesting activity. The Team set up their equipment in the dining room and then live streamed their IR cameras and audio investigation over the internet. One member of the Team, Mark, has psychic ability, and he said he could see a man walking back and forth between Rooms 4 and 5. The man was tall and thin with sunken cheeks and a white beard. He was wearing a dark suit and white shirt. This is a very good description of Francis (Frank) Clark, and historically correct too. Originally, what is now Room 4 was the dressing room for the 'twin bed area' of Room 5. The owners before us put up the wall to make two rooms, but when the Clarks lived here, it was one room. Mark did not know this. During the investigation, Paul and Mark were in Room 7 and they were asking who was in the room, and Mark heard the name 'Daniel'. So they started asking questions of Daniel and the little emergency night light, which is plugged into the wall by the bed, started blinking. So they told Daniel to blink the light for yes and leave it steady for no, and they were asking yes and no questions and the light was blinking in response to the questions! This actually sounds like something Harold would do, but we will ask at the next GHU in May. When the Team was in Room 5, they talked to Julia and the camera in that room was going crazy with interference to the point of whiting out for long periods of time. But once the team left the room, the camera was fine. A psychic who was watching the show on the internet thought that Julia was angry and was collecting energy in order to manifest or do something to get the men out of her room. The psychic could see a slender young woman in her early 20s with long dark hair, standing by the vanity table in that room. This is a good description of Julia as seen by other visitors who have seen her. The psychic also got the name Carl Knap, and he wants his money back. When the Team was all in the dining room to take a break, two of the men heard footsteps upstairs in Room 4, but no one was up there, we were all in the dining room together. I saw a small dark shadow standing in the parlor, I think it was a child that had followed us downstairs to see what we were doing. A few minutes later, Chris, Paul, and I saw the shadow of a tall, thin man standing in the parlor. Then it zoomed out of the room really fast! All three of us saw it. Chuck and I went to bed about 11pm and the Team continued their investigation till about 4am. Early in the morning, I heard a scream come over the intercom we have in Jinni's room. It was a very eerie high pitched scream/screech that lasted about 4 seconds and made the hairs on my neck stand up. Chuck heard it too, he jumped in his sleep but did not wake up. I looked at the clock and it was 3:22am. Jinni heard it too and she got out of bed and I heard her walk around the room and then get back into bed. In the morning I asked her if she heard a noise during the night and she said she thought it was the intercom screeching like I was paging her. That's why she got out of bed and walked over to the intercom but I did not call so she went back to bed. So she did hear it but it did not scare her, and it was not her making the noise. I asked the Team if they heard it, but they said they were outside taking a break at that time. They will review their recordings and let me know if they picked it up. They are going to let us know what evidence they collected during their investigation. It will be posted on their web site at www.carrollareaparanormalteam.com . (They sent a video clip of a "transparent figure walking in front of the camera". It's really interesting!)
17 April '09 - Wednesday night, I was sitting in the dining room and watching Ghost Hunters on TV. One of the investigators said "Do something to prove you are here. Make a noise I can hear to prove your presence." And just then there was a loud THUMP in the foyer hallway behind me. It sounded like something heavy hit the floor or a fist on the wall or something like that. Misty was laying on the floor by my chair and she jumped up and looked in that direction too, so I know she heard it too. At first I thought Tiger had jumped off of something high up, but he was not in the foyer (I later found him asleep on my bed), and I could not find any explanation for the sound. I guess someone was responding to the TV challenge. That same night, I heard a tapping sound coming over Jinni's bedroom intercom. And then I heard a man's voice say "Mark?". It was a question, like Harold or Curtis was looking for Mark in Jinni's room! She never woke up, but she did shuffle alot in her bed for several minutes after that. We had no guests in the house that night, and Chuck was at work so I know it was not him.
26 April '09 - Last night, the CAPT group posted their 'reveal' on a live internet show that Chuck and I and several others watched. They had some really good EVPs and showed the video of the transparent figure. It was really interesting! They got the name ,Carrie, and thinks it has something to do with the portrait of the two little girls in Room 4. During the show, Chuck and I were in the dining room watching it on the lap top and we both heard footsteps and thumping sounds coming from upstairs. I went and checked to see if our guests were back, but there was nobody there. Jinni was in bed and all the cats were accounted for, so it was none of them. I wonder if they heard Chris Warneka's voice and it got them stirred up. This often happens with Chris Moon's voice when he is on TV or the radio shows. Then, this morning, I was setting the dining table for breakfast, and I saw a dark shadow move past the front door window and it blocked the light as it passed. Smokey, one of our cats, was about to go into the foyer, but she suddenly crouched and hissed and then ran the other way. She has never acted like that toward a guest, so I knew she had seen or sensed the shadow too. This is the second time in a week I've seen the shadow. A few nights ago, Chuck and I were talking to our son on the laptop in the dining room, and I could see into the parlor. At one point, the window on the right was darkened by a tall dark shadow as it glided through the room toward the foyer door. Now I saw it glide across the foyer into Room 1. I wonder if it knows the tavern has been closed for years.
2 May '09 - Last night I heard the back staircase door open and shut. I looked at the clock and it was 2:11am. There were no guests in the Inn, Chuck and Jinni were both asleep. About an hour later, there were two knocks on our bedroom door, Chuck jumped but did not wake. About 1/2 hour later, there were two knocks on the closet door right next to Chuck's head. That woke him up! When we got up in the morning we found the napkins on one of the dining room tables had been shredded to bits. This is the third time this has happened this year, and it is always on that particular table. The napkin pieces were all on the table, nothing on the floor or chairs. Then, we gave a tour to some school kids, and the bed in Room 7 looked like someone had been laying on it. The pillow had been moved down and there was a head imprint on it and the quilt had been rumpled. What a busy night it had been!
11 May '09 - This past weekend we had a group here ghost hunting. Things started happening right away. Just after the first couple checked in, they went upstairs to their room, and I was still at the check-in desk. I heard a man say "I need some help." It was very clear and very near. But I did not see anyone there. I wonder if an invisible guest was trying to check in. Later, in the dining room, Chuck gave his presentation about some of the things that go on around here. During his talk, we all heard loud thumps and banging coming from the second floor, above our heads. All 20 guests were in the dining room, Jinni and the cats were all in my bedroom, nobody was upstairs, but we all heard it. At one point, Chuck got really cold and one lady took his picture and there was a black shadow floating right in front of Chuck. It was about 2 feet long and obscured the wall behind it. I hope she emails the picture to me so you can see it. At one point, I saw the shadow of a cat run under the east dining table and one lady said she thought she felt a cat against her leg, but like I said, all the cats had been closed in my bedroom. Then, during the group's hunt, several of the people had pendulums and divining rods and were getting good responses from them. At one point, one of the ladies had her pendulum on the second floor landing and it started making huge swinging circles. She was standing right where the vortex is reported to be. One woman used the pendulum to talk to a young Civil War soldier named James. She said he had died of his wounds in the parlor area. He was about fifteen years old and he was Confederate. Another person went outside and took a picture of the Inn and in one of the Room 5 windows, there is a figure of a man in a black suit standing there and looking out the window. Nobody in the group was wearing a black suit and nobody was in that room at the time. That's another one I hope she emails to me. During the night, some of the people heard talking and footsteps in Room 6 but nobody was in there at the time. Later, the same people heard a woman singing in Room 6, at 12:38am, but the people in there were all asleep at that time. The people in Room 8 said they found their door locked when they did not lock it. And the people in Room 4 said they heard thumping and rustling sounds coming from the attic above their ceiling. They thought it was somebody up there, but there is just storage up above that area, nobody was up there. All in all, it was a busy night and they want to come back again soon.
18 May '09 - We had a GHU this past weekend and found some answers to some questions. During the day, the people in Room 5 found the doctor's equipment interesting and later found one of the instruments swinging wildly. They stopped the swinging and tried to get it to swing by stomping around and shaking the floor and opening and closing doors. The windows were not open and the air conditioner nor fan were on. They could not get it to do it again. He came downstairs to tell us about it and some of us went up to see, and as we entered the room we could see that it was swinging again. We were all amazed. Later, the people found a rock sitting on their bed. Nobody knew how it had gotten there. During the 'Box' sessions we found out that Ty had set the instrument to swinging as a prank and Amanda admitted to putting the rock on the bed. She thought it was funny. Curtis admitted that it was he who said "I need some help" last week. He said he was just messing with me and pretending to check-in. Amanda said she did go to church with us for Jinni's Confirmation and that she wore a white dress with purple flowers and green leaves. (Jinni had said it was a dress with purple flowers on it. Whenever we took a picture of Jinni, there were orbs around her including Amanda's orb. In the picture to the right, the arrow is pointing to Amanda's orb.) Harold said it was he who was looking for Mark in Jinni's room, but Mark was not there. He also said it was a spirit named Andy who walked in front of the CAPT camera and made the transparent figure. Andy was "just passing through". To read the transcripts of the two sessions, click here. During the nights, Harold kept Chris Moon awake for two nights with his tapping and walking-around sounds. The people in Room 8 heard someone walking around over their heads, but it is just storage up above that room. The man in Room 6 felt something heavy on his legs and could not even turn over it was so heavy. Harold said there were 8 spirits on the bed with them. They must have been on him. The next GHU is August 8 and 9, come join us, you never know what will happen.
3 June '09 - Not much has been happening around here lately. A few nights ago, I heard the back staircase door open and close. I looked at the clock and it was 4:35am. I waited for the knock on our bedroom door, but nothing else happened. It has been very quiet. I wonder if they got tired out after so much activity earlier.
27 June '09 - My Dad and Mom visited for two weeks and stayed in Room 1. During one afternoon nap, my Dad heard the front doorbell ring "Ding-Dong" and he jumped up to see who was at the door.....nobody there. A few minutes later it happened again....nobody there. My Mom asked why he kept jumping up and looking out the bedroom door and he told her he had heard the doorbell. She said she did not hear any doorbell and besides, the front door bell does not go "Ding-Dong", it plays Westminster Chime. And, you can't hear the doorbell from inside Room 1 because the chime is in the dining room. Harold must have been messing with him. That night, I was awakened by the sound of the little dinger bell ,"Ding-Ding", that we have in the front foyer. I looked at the clock and it was 2:35am. I thought, I can't hear the dinger bell from the foyer in our bedroom, with the fan running too. Just then I heard it again and it sounded like it was coming from the Keeping Room, a little closer. Then it did it again right outside our door. We had no guests in the house, but I looked anyway, nobody there. I went back to bed and heard it again right outside our door. I said out loud "Okay, very funny, you made me look, ha-ha, you got me. Now stop." And it did not do it again. The next night, the people in Room 6 said they heard footsteps, like boots on a hard wood floor, above their heads on the third floor. The footsteps walked back and forth for several minutes and then it stopped. They thought our bedroom was up there, but there is just storage up above that room and our bedroom is not on the third floor anyway. They were excited that they had heard something, but wished they'd known at the time that it wasn't us. It would have been more exciting instead of annoying.
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