is one of the most haunted hotels in the nation.  KSAX went inside to find out why.

“It operates today as it did in 1900,” Owner Kelley Freese said.

The Palmer House stands today as it did more than a century ago.  As the first building in Sauk Centre to have electricity, it was a destination for many, and Freese said some of those guests haven’t left.

“The activity has really been intense in the kitchen, and there’s a man that walks around in the dining room that several of us have seen,” Freese said.

The man she sees isn’t real.  He’s an apparition.

“You go there only to find nobody’s there,” she explained.

Paranormal investigators come from all over

 to investigate this haunted hotel.  KSAX investigated.  As we walked up the stairs it got colder even though no windows were open and there’s no air conditioning.

“There’s just no way to explain it,” Freese said.

The cold turned into almost a breeze when Freese turned on the antique phonograph, playing old music.

Many experience the unexplained during their time in the hotel.  A guest took this unaltered picture, not realizing what they captured.  In the picture there’s an image of something floating in the window’s reflection in the mirror.

In some of our video, a dot of light appears out of nowhere.  It’s a light anomaly, which is an unexplained source of light, dancing around in from of the same window.

“That could be a person,” Freese said as we described what we were seeing.

Freese said a light anomaly is one of the most concrete pieces of paranormal evidence caught on camera, because much of the activity comes when you least expect it.

“Books have come flying off the shelf in the pub,

” Freese recalled.  “Literally off the bookshelves, over the top of the table and land on the other side of the room.”

“A lot of people get touched.  I’ve had my hair pulled and my arm yanked back,” Paranormal Investigator Lisa Lee said.

Another source of evidence is sound.

“We’ve heard voices,” Lee explained.  “We’ve heard dogs barking in the basement.”

“Could you tell me what your name is,” Sherry Johnson said, speaking to a little girl no one could see.

Johnson used a modified radio to pick up sound during our investigation.

“Spirits can use the voices and the words already in our airwaves.  They can answer our questions by pulling those words out and sending them out through the radio,” Johnson said.

While sitting in the playroom, Johnson spoke with the spirits of children.  We heard a quiet voice say one word, “nervous” through the radio.

Johnson and Freese have heard more voices caught on tape in the hotel’s basement.

“Do you recognize anyone in the room,” they asked.  A voice from someone no one could see responded, “Kelley.”

More often than not the presence of ghosts or spirits is a feeling, but sometimes when you least expect it the guests you can’t always see in the Palmer House will surprise you; whether it’s an apparition, a moving object, or a voice telling you to leave.

This was taken from ksax-tv krwf-tv and is copyright by the articles owner

 according to a group of ghost-hunting paranormal investigators.

Everything Paranormal of New England said it detected the spirits of a singing woman and a very angry Native American on the playhouse property.

The good news?

“They’re not going to hurt anybody,” said the group’s founder, Renee Alling.

She and her team, which has investigated several historic homes across New England, scoured the playhouse with infrared cameras, electromagnetic detectors, and audio equipment last month.

She recently presented the evidence to playhouse owner Michael Guptill.

He wasn’t surprised by the findings. He said the playhouse property, which has been in his family since the early 1600s, was the site of the “Salmon Falls Massacre.” A group of Native Americans burned down a home, killing several of his ancestors.

Alling said an audio recording in a former slaughterhouse next to the playhouse picked up a Native American spirit. The group asked if the spirit burned down the home during the massacre, instructing it to knock once for “no” and twice for “yes.” Alling said the recording picked up two knocks.

“It was the strangest thing,” she said.

The voice of a singing woman was also recorded;

 Guptill said it likely belongs to his now-deceased grandmother.

Another piece of evidence was a photo taken inside the playhouse. Alling said the photo contains an “orb” of energy indicating a spirit trying to manifest itself.

Guptill was enthralled. When the paranormal group contacted him about collecting evidence, he agreed because he said it sounded fun and reminded him of the movie “Ghostbusters.”

He said he has an “open mind” and “believes in things you can’t see.”

He is currently preparing for the playhouse’s season opener June 24 — a performance of “Cinderella.”

There’s no word from the spirits if they will be in attendance.

Everything Paranormal will conduct its next investigation this weekend at the 1802 House Inn in Kennebunkport. The group details its findings on its website, www.everythingparanormalnewengland.com.

This was taken from fosters.com and is copyright by the articles owner

EMERADO, North Dakota –

It all started with some surveillance video. Bar owner, Brent Aspinwall says it felt like someone tugged his shirt. A close-up of the image on tape, some say, looks like a person that they’ve named “Cowboy.” There have also been other incidents.

“I saw a figure by the dart board.

It was quick and fast. It was an older man with dark rimmed glasses and a hat that snapped in front,” said Penny Sorteberg, a resident of Gilby.

Brock McAdam, another Gilby resident said, “All of a sudden I heard a tap on the bar, and I got chills and my hair stood up on my arms and just got cold all of a sudden.”

It all led to an investigation

by a group of spirit world enthusiasts, who were on hand this week to reveal their findings to bar patrons.

“Based on what we have collected, I would have to say you guys have some paranormal activity,” said Nick Guse of Dakota Paranormal Investigators.

They supposedly recorded the sounds of silverware moving by itself, and there was a strange occurrence by that ghost named Cowboy.

“I said hey, if you’re here come sit on my lap and then I said to Nick… I’m feeling like I’m having a cold feeling… sensation on top of my lap,” said Kelly Moraghan, also of Dakota Paranormal Investigators.

“I was pointing the thermometer and it went to about 65 or 66, and I said can you get it to got to 60 to prove that you’re here. And it went to 60 and it stayed at 60,” said Guse.

The Dakota Paranormal Investigators say they’ll continue to research what’s going on here. Bar employees also say there have been several incidents where a water faucet in the bar, which they say just seems to turn on by itself.

This was taken from WOAI.com and is copyright by the articles owner

This Northants Haunted production takes us to the ancient market town of Oundle about 80 miles north of London along the River Nene in Northamptonshire, England, population 5,345.

We first discover that Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned at Fothinghay Castle nearby Oundle where she was tried and executed by Queen Elizabeth I.

The story goes that when the grand castle fell into ruin and was torn down, the staircase and part of the masonry was moved to and used as part of the building materials at The Tablot Hotel.

The paranormal investigators are now looking into hauntings at The Tablot and clues to any connection with the 40-something Mary Queen of Scots

This was taken from Examiner.com and is copyright by the articles owner

Odd things are happening at the Deep River Public Library.

Staff member Pam Ziobron was working by herself late one Saturday. She had shut off all the lights except for the one at the circulation desk, where she was standing, when she had a strong sense that she wasn’t alone.

“It was just a feeling. … It was just so light and airy, like a female coming down the stairs. It was very, very real,” Ziobron said.
Since 2004, ghost hunters and mediums have spent time in the Main Street library to investigate these strange occurrences in what was the home of a prominent Deep River man 100 years ago. Another paranormal investigation agency will try to capture what library employees have been feeling and hearing for years. Full Spectrum Ghost Hunters of Plainville plans to conduct a paranormal investigation May 8.
Of the previous mediums and ghost hunters, some have concurred that they’ve also felt the presence of ghosts. Others have been able to capture more information.

Ghost hunter John Zaffis, nephew of famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, approached the Main Street library in 2004 about conducting an investigation. He felt the presence of two females, one in her teens and one in her 50s, in the library reference area that used to be the residence’s kitchen. The original wood-burning stove that was manufactured in 1877 by Fuller, Warren & Co., in Troy, N.Y., is still there. According to the Valley Courier newspaper, Connecticut Paranormal Research & Investigators of East Haven captured a spirit in photos two years ago.

Susan Oehl, the library’s assistant director, was eating her lunch and was the only person on the upper level when she heard a sound in the next room.

“I heard distinctly a woman clearing her throat,” Oehl recently recalled. When she went to check, no one was there.
The possibility of ghosts has contributed to the lure of the library and of Deep River’s quaint Main Street, said Ann Paietta, the library’s director. The house was built in 1881 by Richard Pratt Spencer, who owned a manufacturing company that dealt with the ivory trade, served as treasurer and president of the Deep River National Bank and was a state senator.

He lived in the house, until his death in 1910, with his second wife and their three children. The house was built with the Deep River in its backyard and now faces the many shops, banks and restaurants that line the main road.

The library association bought the house in 1930 and, although a few additions have been made, the building is mainly an original, including the damp basement’s exposed brick and fieldstone, stained-glass windows and wood moldings.

The ghosts have appeared only in the old parts of the building, Paietta said.

“This is the area where people love,” she said, standing in the attic. “They feel, sense things.”

Michael Dionne, founder of Full Spectrum Ghost Hunters, said that about 1 percent of the cases he investigates are paranormal. One way to detect ghosts is by gauging the electromagnetic fields in the room, but everyday items, such as electronic gadgets and rainstorms, can create electromagnetic fields, he said.

“If you’re sensitive to the electromagnetic fields, you can get anything from skin irritations, nausea, paranoia, hallucinations,” Dionne said.

He and his group of paranormal investigators will set up electromagnetic-field detectors throughout the library and — accounting for electrical boxes on the property, the weather and other factors — will read the detectors to determine if there are electromagnetic fields in the building.

“If I’m in the middle of a hallway and there’s [a zero reading] on my walk through and later in the night it’s at a 40 or 50 [reading] and there’s nothing on, that basically tells you there’s something that’s just unexplainable,” Dionne said.

After the walk-through, the group will listen to recordings and see if any inexplicable sounds were picked up.

Paietta said the library has more going for it than the rumors of a ghost, but, she added, “It’s fun. It enhances the library.”

This was taken from Hartford Courant and is copyright by the articles owner

Submitted photo - This historic home in Harpers Ferry is known as the Booth House and the ‘Haunted Cottage.’ Its new owners are creating a museum on the history of ghost hunting and offering classes on the subject.

HARPERS FERRY – A Harpers Ferry home is slated to become the site of a new paranormal history museum and research center – called the “Haunted Cottage” because of mysterious occurrences there through the years.

“We’ve heard footsteps. We’ve had objects disappear, and reappear later,” said Vince Wilson, head of the Harpers Ferry Society for Paranormal Research, and the guide of an international organization called the Paranormal Investigators Coalition.

Wilson said the museum – which already is partially open – will be located in the cottage, also known as the Booth House.

The property previously belonged to the family of John Wilkes Booth, who stayed at the site while visiting the area in 1859 to witness the hanging of famed abolitionist John Brown, Wilson said. At least 12 deaths have reportedly occurred in the home, he added.

The property’s history piqued the coalition’s interest, said Wilson, a professional paranormal investigator who has written three books about how to undertake such investigations. He said the coalition previously had an office space in Baltimore. “But it wasn’t haunted, it was just an office we worked out of,” he explained.

The group members also leased the Booth House in Harpers Ferry, and as they learned more about it, Wilson said their interest in the home grew. When the structure went up for sale, they immediately purchased it.

The building is home to a library on paranormal activity that contains nearly 500 volumes on ghosts and the science that surrounds their study, he said. Training sessions are held each week to help budding paranormal investigators learn more about the field.

Wilson said the courses range from “ghost hunting 101,” to sessions that focus on specific topics, including the use of photography in paranormal investigations.

Wilson said knowing the ins and outs of the trade is important for those who are about to undertake an investigation. These tips often do not come across in the television shows that have recently raised the profile of ghost hunting and turned it in to a popular endeavor.

“We try to use common sense techniques … lowest common denominator techniques,” he said.

Part of the investigative process is realizing that if a story sounds like it’s not true, chances are it probably isn’t, he said. Those who are listening to a possible ghost story should consider whether it sounds similar to others that they have heard before. A story about objects moving around or apparitions appearing, he said, is far more likely to be real than one about a ghost watching the History Channel to find out how the Civil War ended.

Wilson said it is not uncommon for investigations to prove that a ghost story was false.

“We estimate that about 90 percent of the investigations that we’ve gone to over the course of a year are debunked,” Wilson said.

So far, however, the ghost sightings at the Booth House have not been able to be debunked by Wilson and his colleagues. People have turned off the lights, only to return later and find them back on again, he said. Another time, the remote control for a television was somehow moved from one part of the house to another, its batteries removed and scattered around.

Wilson said the house gives investigators a place to try out their skills, noting that the space can be rented out by other ghost hunters seeking to try their luck on their own. The home can be used for birthdays, weddings and overnight paranormal investigations.

A museum is in the works on the property to show the progression of ghost hunting over time. Degrees of interest in the topic have been around for centuries. The official field of paranormal investigation came in to being nearly 120 years ago, he said.

Wilson himself began testing out his skills in the field 11 years ago, visiting bridges and taverns that were reportedly haunted.

“I was going on these little adventure tours with a friend of mine,” he explained.

Wilson said the duo started applying scientific principles to their research. He used what he learned to write the book “Ghost Tech,” and later “Ghost Science” and “Ultimate Ghost Hunter.”

“It’s my career of choice,” he said of his vocation in paranormal investigations.

What he’s seen through his work in the field has left him with a clear opinion on ghostly activity.

“We think that ghosts are an imprint on the environment,” he said.

Now, he’s hoping that he and others will be able to use Harpers Ferry’s Booth House to teach a new generation of ghost hunters about the history of the field, and the skills needed to be successful.

This was taken from journal-news.net and is copyright by the articles owner

Michael Rambacher and Cassidy O'Conner working a recent site.

Paranormal investigators Cassidy O’Conner and Michael Rambacher were called out to Buffalo, NY, January 13, to assist with a possible case of demonic possession being studied by the Western New York Ghost Hunters.

The story now direct from Cassidy:

As cold as it was, my associate Michael and I braved the weather, as well as the windy awful roads to do the work tonight.

As we drew closer to the property, we discussed the case in great detail. Earlier in the week I was contacted by a local paranormal investigative group for help, for they had run into something they had no idea how to deal with. With all their gadgets and gizmos, they came up with the conclusion that they may have a demonic presence in the home being investigated.

The home in question was a lower apartment in a double rented house. A woman named Lisa occupied the downstairs apartment, along with her two dogs and a cat. She is single, and spends a lot of time with her girlfriends in a social bent while on her pursuit for Mr. Right. She was not a very spiritual woman until she moved into the apartment.

Her upstairs neighbor, Joanne, another single woman, was a very spiritually oriented person.

Joanne would come down stairs to see Lisa and talk of her conversations with the other side. Lisa was fascinated, but did her best to stay away from that line of thinking.

Photo: Cassidy O’Conner and Michael Rambacher working together at a site investigation in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Joanne would tell of seeing many spirits in Lisa’s apartment. Lisa dismissed her upstairs neighbor’s tales of presences in her living space, until she stopped sleeping at night, and experienced moving objects.

Lisa lived with the odd circumstances for several months until she was so terrified to be in her apartment due to voices, strange sounds, and her granddaughter seeing a very vivid image of a man roaming throughout her home.

She called in Western New York Ghost Hunters in to do an investigation on the apartment and maybe give her some answers. While conducting the work, one of the investigators was using a tool known as a “Shack Hack” ( a hacked AM/FM radio that skips frequencies and provides for communication).

A very nasty conversation started with an entity that went by the name of Melchom. This entity also responded with answers of “we are the soul takers” and confirmed to the boys that it was in fact a demon.

Now, not being members of faith or ordination, or ever studying demonology, the boys were at a loss on how to proceed. They did not know how to deal with this problem, so they contacted me for advice. I asked them to forward my contact information to the woman, and if she needed my help, she would contact me when she felt comfortable to do so.

Within 24 hours, I got the call.

Lisa explained the situation to me and asked for the help. She simply wanted to sleep, and was getting to the point where she would no longer return to her apartment. So, tonight, Michael and I went in.

When we got to the apartment, we were greeted with hugs and relief.

My associate and I did a few standard checks with a couple pieces of equipment and sat down in the living room to explain to her exactly what was going to be done. During our explanation, her dogs became very uneasy, began to growl and yip from the other room. The woman upstairs began to pace, almost as if she knew what was happening below her. The energy in the room was changing, as it often does in cases involving more negative entities.

Michael started to remove his pieces from his bag, when the statue of Arch Angel Michael was brought out and set on the table I immediately got struck with a dizzy feeling. It did not like us there, and in my opinion was packing its bags when we walked through the door; for the demonic do not seem to appreciate us very much.

He placed the pieces as they were meant and lit the incense in his ancient Mayan Bowl. We began to move to every corner of every room and bless the home. Lisa and her girlfriend gave a hand with the blessing and began to feel better with every room completed. We finished the blessing, and talked for a while. Michael and I shared a few stories and assured her that she no longer had to be afraid anymore. We also gave her advice on how to handle this kind of issue in the future.

The woman explained that she was ready for a full nights sleep, thanked us, and we went on our way.

You know, in doing this work, the most rewarding thing is putting peoples lives back together. Helping others to maintain a normal lifestyle, and take away the chaos placed upon them. Whether it be from their environment, their history, or coming in contact with pure evil. We are here, to do the work, because it is our life’s duty, and we are blessed to have the gift, and share it with others.

This was taken from examiner.com and is copyright by the articles owner

One former prison that sees a lot of paranormal activity is the former Derby Gaol, now owned by ghost expert and historian Richard Felix.

It was built in the 1750s on a traditional and very busy execution site. As a result, death and suffering were associated with the building right from the start.

England at this time was experiencing a massive crimewave caused by terrible poverty and cheap gin which large numbers of the population were addicted to.

The gap between rich and poor was immense and the ruling classes were not about to let the peasants get their grubby hands on the family silver. If you were poor and committed a crime you could definitely expect brutal punishment.

More than 260 crimes carried the death penalty. A 12 year-old who stole a handkerchief was just as likely to hang as a highwayman who committed murder.

Therefore, the vast majority of the poor souls who entered Derby Gaol had a rather unpleasant appointment with the hangman.

As if the prospect of the gallows was not terrible enough, condemned inmates had an additional fear which caused them great anguish. Their bodies were often handed to the surgeons to be dissected and examined (and then put on public display as a warning to others).

In these more religious times it was firmly believed that your soul could not enter heaven if your body had been dismembered.

This belief could be a contributing factor as to why some spirits stay on the earthly plane and refuse to “cross over”.

Today, Derby Gaol is regularly visited by paranormal investigators and interested members of the public. Many have witnessed unusual and sometimes quite scary activity within the building.

Even an experienced investigator like Richard Felix has been frightened by close encounters of the paranormal kind. He was once confronted by a grey haze in the shape of a man, who glided straight past him before disappearing at the end of a corridor.

A builder was once working in one cell when the heavy door slowly closed by itself, locking him in. He also experienced feelings of nausea – a common experience in haunted locations.

No rational explanation could be found.

In fact, many people visiting Derby Gaol begin to feel sick and have to leave. Some feel that they are being suffocated or strangled.

Hanging

People also claim to have seen two young men hanging from a beam, their bodies slowly rotating.

A similar vision has been witnessed in the Day Room where a visitor noticed a man hanging from a doorway. He thought that this was a very convincing stunt by an actor but was shocked to discover that nobody else had seen the hanging man.

Could these frightening visions be somehow conjured up by the building’s long association with death by hanging?

One particular scary figure has been encountered lurking in a doorway of Derby Gaol.

He has been described as an evil-looking bald man wearing a kind of leather garment or apron. I remember reading that when prisoners were flogged, the jailer would wear a leather apron because it was easier to wipe off blood.

This leather-clad bald man has also been seen to walk through a wall.

Another strangely dressed figure, a woman in a large fancy hat, was seen to walk down a corridor and through a door to the outside. The witnesses followed her outside to be confronted by freshly fallen snow – and no footprints!

Derby Gaol seems to be full of strange ghostly people.

A man in a long scarlet coat is sometimes seen acting as if he is looking for someone. A “terrified-looking” blonde woman was witnessed lying on a bed, a dark figure seeming to menace her.

Derby Gaol also has more than its fair share of poltergeist activity. Cups, glasses and various ornaments have all moved by themselves – sometimes flying past the heads of shocked visitors and staff

This was taken from sundaymercury.net and is copyright by the articles owner

Ballachulish Hotel

A SERIES of spooky goings on at a Lochaber hotel has led to the launch of a ghostbusters group to seek out spirits in the area.

Jim Morrison and his fiancee Heather MacLeod are former employees of Ballachulish Hotel, where they and others have reported experiencing paranormal activity.

Staff and guests alike have spoken of apparitions and unexplained occurrences at the hotel, which dates back to the 1830s, and some even have photographs.

And now, after forming Ghost and Paranormal Investigators Scotland, the couple say they ain’t afraid of no ghosts and they’re the people to call if there is something strange in the neighbourhood.

The pair worked at the hotel in the summer and, following a spate of strange encounters during their time there, they felt the need to set up the new non-profit making organisation.

Jim Morrison (35), who is from Fort William but now lives in Kinlochleven, told the Lochaber News: “Both Heather and I have always been interested in the paranormal and had experienced paranormal experiences together so we thought we would get together to set this group up to do investigations and prove spirits exist.

“Our experiences happened when we both worked at the Ballachulish Hotel. When we started, other members of staff said they had experienced paranormal activity but we didn’t know whether to believe them until we experienced things for ourselves.”

Jim was a porter at the hotel, while Heather (44) was assistant housekeeper when they stumbled across strange goings on.

He recalled: “One day in room 112, I was helping Heather move a bed when we heard heavy footsteps coming along the corridor and stopping outside the door. But when I looked, nobody was there. Heather had experienced the same thing in the same room a few days before.

“On another occasion, I was in room 204 when the window which normally stays open twice slammed shut when there was no wind or anything to cause it. Then, when I looked over to the bed, there was an imprint on it as if somebody had been sitting on it. There would also be strange feelings in certain rooms like you were being watched.

“After we left the hotel we were watching a ghost-hunting programme on TV, which gave us the idea to set up our own group.”

Along with three others – Rob Price, of Fort William, and Natalie Milne and Jim Rogan, both of Aberdeen – the team will investigate people’s houses and other premises like hospitals, schools and hotels.

Their first probe will be in February at Old Inverlochy Castle. All investigations are free, though donations help buy equipment such as video cameras.

Gwen MacAskill, head receptionist at Ballachulish Hotel, said for some years guests have spoken of unexplained phenomena at the hotel.

She said: “There have been people who have mentioned things happening at the hotel.

“One guest who stayed a couple of years ago emailed us a picture he had taken in room 215 of what looks like a small boy standing beside the bed.

“One of our maintenance guys who has been here for 15 years has spoken of seeing the boy in the picture. People have mentioned just feeling things in a couple of rooms.

“In room 121, people say they have experienced seeing someone or feeling as though there is somebody standing in the room.

“Also in room 121, there was a driver staying a few years ago who was convinced he was being held on the bed by something and it wouldn’t let him go. He also said how he had heard children’s voices in the room. That room had been beside the children’s nursery when the hotel was first built.

“Other people have mentioned an old lady standing in corridors, while another time a member of staff was staying in a room while the hotel was closed when her partner heard footsteps coming down the corridor. When they looked, no-one was there and the hotel was closed anyway.”

A night porter reportedly heard the tinkling of ivories in the early hours of the morning. But when he entered the lounge he found the piano was playing – on its own.

Ms MacAskill has worked at the hotel for 15 years but hasn’t experienced anything untoward herself.

“It always happens to other people,” she laughed.

This was taken from lochaber-news.co.uk and is copyright by the articles owner

Is the Paramount Theatre haunted? While this image is not a true ghost image, there have been reports of strange goings-on within the historic Paramount, dating back to when the theatre was a bar in the 1970s.

During the Halloween season, haunted houses are a dime a dozen.

People can’t seem to help themselves. The truth and myth of Halloween are so tightly woven together that you need several new shows from the History Channel each year to disseminate them all.

Plus, it’s just plain fun to not only tell a story that takes place on a dark and stormy night, but to hear them. To willingly take that feeling of fright upon yourself.

Which brings up the subject of this particular haunting: Does the Paramount Theatre have a ghost?

Manager Scott Anderson thinks it does and the historic, aged theatre has even made the pages of the book, “The Nearly Departed: Minnesota Stories and Legends.”

“I believe there is a ghost here,” he said Tuesday.

Before we go much further however, we need to dip into belief vs. skepticism, subjects entwined with one another and seen weekly on shows like the SyFy Channel’s Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International.

Largely, the idea of something being haunted comes down to personal beliefs in the paranormal and possibly life after death. If you don’t have the latter, it’s hard to believe in the former.

The line between belief and skepticism becomes blurred when the first and possibly biggest hurdle is approached. Proof.

Much of what paranormal investigators claim to catch in pictures, video, or audio recorders can in some way be questioned. It’s the major problem in paranormal investigation.

There is no tell-tale way, no absolute way, to prove ghosts exist. Generally, you are forced to believe a person who has experience in the field, for whatever that’s worth because again, those who study this area tend these days to not be scientists.

With that in mind, you inevitably have to place a certain amount of trust in those who say a place is haunted. Sometimes, though, conviction in what a person has experienced is enough, and Anderson is no different. He doesn’t hesitate to talk about the Paramount’s ghosts.

In his time as manager of the Paramount Anderson has heard stories and had his own experiences. Nothing so fantastic as you might see in a horror movie, but experiences all the same that make you question what is out there.

Anderson isn’t a recent convert to the paranormal having already had an experience with his wife Janet before the two were married.

It happened when the two were getting ready for bed one night when Anderson rented an old farmhouse with some friends. The friends were in town on the bar scene leaving Scott and Janet in the house alone. It began almost as soon as the lights went out.

“We were alone in the house with two dogs and I remember sitting up and hearing very deliberate footsteps on each step,” he describes, pounding his fists on the desk to replicate the sounds of that night. “I mean, what was that. We knew no one was here.”

“We’re reasonably smart folks, and we do not make this stuff up,” he said.

Now, on to the Paramount. Anderson’s first hand experience in the matter came late at night when he was doing some work in the Paramount. Anderson places himself in the lobby.

“I’m an old rock and roller, so I was playing Steely Dan, and it was cranked way up,” he said. “I wanted to hear it in the lobby.

“Twenty minutes later I noticed that the sound system was barely audible. I went to the controller and noticed the volume was way down. I just turned around and said, ‘where are you. I know your there,’” he finished with a laugh.

It’s important to add, that on a soundboard, the sliders that control various sound components, can’t simply slide on their own. It requires a human hand to move them.

Anderson believes he has narrowed down who the haunting spirits may be. The first is the first manager of the Paramount, Karl Lindstaedt, when the old Park Theatre was rebuilt into the Paramount in the late 1920’s.

The second option is projectionist George Dorin, who worked at the Paramount in the early 30s.

It was with relatives of Dorin that Anderson was part of a second experience. He was with two cousins, great-granddaughters of Dorin, who were visiting the place that Dorin loved.

While talking with Anderson, both ladies took pictures, one with a digital and another with a film camera. When the woman with the digital looked at her picture of the moving clouds on the ceiling, she commented about a moon.

There is no moon that’s part of the projected clouds, so Anderson asked to look at the picture and seeing what many in the paranormal field describe simply as an orb, mentioned it must be the ghost of their great grandfather giving them a sign.

It passed until they were making to leave, and one of the women asked Anderson what he meant by the ghost.

There are other stories surrounding the paramount witnessed by several people over time including a bar manager who witnessed a freely spinning barstool, an apparition in a picture and the marquee that came on after it was turned off.

Does it bother Anderson that the Paramount may be haunted?

In all the stories of apparent paranormal activity there has never been reports of malicious actions. Anderson thinks he understands why they are still here.

“They loved the Paramount, like a lot of people do,” he said. “I think it’s pretty cool that they’re here.”

This was taken from Austin Daily Herald and is copyright by the articles owner