IT’S A LOCKDOWN SHOCKDOWN AND WE HAVE THE KEY... EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS
“30 East Drive is my one scary stand out moment, so far”
100 AM I PSYCHIC APPS TO GIVE AWAY, BUT HEY!
Katrina Weidman
“The Boys are back in towns, HAUNTED towns”
Tennessee Wraith Chasers
HAUNTED HUNTS:
Are they the answer to the UK’s Paranormal TV problem?
CBB RUNNER UP
DEREK ACORAH “We knew he’d finish 4th, a medium told us, we’re joking of course”
WE’RE GUESSING YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT!!
GUEST EDITED BY
NICK GROFF PLUS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
THE MAGIC OF THE GADGET
IT’S GHOSTS OF SHEPHERDSTOWN’S
ELIZABETH SAINT
FACT OR FRICTION:
The Truth about the UK’s Most Haunted Location
THE CURSE OF JOHNNY FRANK GARRETT AND HIS FINAL DAMNING LETTER
CURSES - WITCHES - SNITCHES - NEWS - VIEWS - BOOS - MUSE & SO MUCH MORE
#DONTBENORMAL - BE PARANORMAL!
I am so delighted to be asked to be part of Haunted Magazine. You can see their passion for the paranormal in the way they prepare and design the magazine.
on my Boombox radio, talk about all things paranormal. As I grew older, my mind was hungry for answers to these questions I had from an very early age. Especially, what happens when we die?
When they asked me to write the editorial I said "what do you want me to write?", they said just write from the heart and say whatever you want", so here goes...
Shortly after recovering from my injury, I took a trip to California to visit my cousin, Justin. It was at his (haunted) house that I came in contact with negative paranormal activity for the first time. Those experiences were directly responsible for Justin and I furthering our research into ghosts and other spiritual entities.
I’ve been fascinated with the paranormal since childhood. At age eight, I fell from a tree and ripped my arm open on a chain-link fence right down to the bone. While telling my Mom, “I love you,” I began to lose consciousness. I recall floating, opening my eyes to an angelic peaceful feeling. There were a lot of faces that felt like spirits looking down at me. I slowly closed my eyes again and woke up in a hospital with the doctors putting my arm back together. My Mom’s quick thinking saved my life, and the hospital was able to keep me alive. Our journey through this world as human beings is destined from a young age. I always say that the unknown picked me for my quest in life. Having a near-death experience as a kid intrigued me even more to search out the supernatural. Looking back on it, I believe that this near-death incident may have been directly responsible for making me more sensitive to the paranormal activity that I experience today. I remember, at age ten, looking up at the stars at night wondering what else was out there in space; beyond what we know or comprehend. I became a film fanatic. I’d rent a movie a day; films like “Fire in the Sky,” “Communion,” “The Exorcist,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial“, “Alien,” “Pet Cemetery,” “Ghost,” etc. These movies fueled my fire to think outside the box to the possibility of other life forms out there in the universe. When I was a teenager, I mapped out how to get to Area 51 and would listen to Art Bell,
Years passed and I grew more eager to search out the paranormal. Through high school, my buddies and I would find haunted houses around the different towns trying to get as close as we could just for fun. I remember, one time, all of us approaching this house with serious fire damage that was reportedly haunted. We looked in the window and heard a loud sound erupt from inside the house. All my friends took off running, but for some reason, I stayed and kept looking in the window. That is when I knew I needed to investigate these creepy locations. When I was in college, I took a trip to all the haunted mining towns in Nevada evening driving as close as I could to the border of Area 51. I almost got in trouble by doing so, but it was worth fulfilling one of my childhood dreams. Throughout the first part of my life and career I’ve learned so much in the paranormal field, which has honestly changed quite a bit over the years. When we created Paranormal Lockdown, our mission was to discover something new within the field that had not been found yet. The idea of living at haunted locations for 72 hours gives our team a much higher chance of documenting amazing evidence of the unexplained.
zone. During the 72 hours of non-stop investigation, it allows us to utilize all kinds of new, innovative paranormal equipment and completely immerse ourselves at the location. Katrina and I expose ourselves mentality and physically to the energies haunting these locations. Because of this intense style of investigating, the evidence captured in one of our cases even led to us uncovering skeletal remains buried in a crawl space at the Monroe house in Indiana. I’ll never forget Katrina and Rob’s facial expressions when the owner, Eddie, and I unearthed the human remains. It was like we were in our own “real life” horror movie. It was an incredible moment in my career as a paranormal investigator having paranormal evidence lead to discovering legitimate skeletal remains. Tune in next season when we have more information about the bones and conduct a follow-up investigation. My second part of life is just beginning. I can only hope that what the future holds helps to discover a breakthrough in the paranormal and answer that question we all have… what happens when you die in this reality? I hope you enjoy the magazine, Paul and Andy have been filling me in with what and who is in the magazine and trust me, you are in for a treat. These guys know how to put a magazine together. Anyway, sit back, chill and enjoy the magazine. Oh, the boys told me I have to say this to end the editorial. #dontbenormal BE PARANORMAL!!
72 hours is such a crucial element to “Paranormal Lockdown.” We know that our chances are higher if Katrina and I force ourselves to be out of our comfort HAUNTED MAGAZINE
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HAUNTED MAGAZINE ISSUE 18
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Paul Stevenson @hauntedmagazine paul@hauntedmagazine.co.uk
CONTENTS
DESIGNER: Andy Soar @thehauntedguy andy@hauntedmagazine.co.uk GUEST EDITOR: Nick Groff @NickGroff_ WRITING TALENT: James Pykett Jayne Harris Clare Burrows Mike Covell Lee Roberts Leonard Low Richard Estep Jack Strange THANKS TO: Nick Groff Katrina Weidman Liz Saint Amy Bruni Mike and Doogie from the Tennessee Wraith Chasers Quest Red Destination America Bambos Georgiou Mychailo Kazybrid Haunted Hunts Derek Acorah Patti Negri Gwen and Francine from Team Nick Groff Dr Queer courtesy of Bambos Georgiou (script) & Mychailo Kazybrid (art) Copyright 2017 Katrina Weidman picture credit: Jen Pellack Elizabeth Saint picture credit: Ryan Brackin, Jay Silva, Justin Narragon HAUNTED ON THE WEB: www.hauntedmagazine.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/ HauntedDigitalMagazine www.facebook.com/ HauntedDigitalMagazine HAUNTED MAGAZINE. IN DIGITAL. IN PRINT. Haunted Magazine will return … soon Haunted Magazine is a Dead Good Publishing Ltd Production Company Number: 08446465 www.deadgoodpublishing.com
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05 THE LIFE OF PI... WITH LEE ROBERTS
Lee serves another slice of his paranormal life
08 ELIZABETH SAINT... EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
The magic of the gadget
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HAUNTED HUNTS... EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW New UK Paranormal TV, trick or treat?
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FACT OR FRICTION... 39 DE GREY STREET
The truth behind the most haunted house in Hull
21 THE LOWDOWN ON WITCHES...
The history behind the Curse of Urse
24 ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT... NICK GROFF 26 THE STRANGE WORLD OF JACK... **NEW WRITER ALERT** 28 KATRINA AND THE GRAVES...
An EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Katrina Weidman
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BEWARE THE WEARSIDE WEREWOLF
Dr Q and his Oddfellow on another adventure
36 THE STEP BY ESTEP GUIDE TO THE PARANORMAL
Richard Estep inside the Prison of the Witches
38 THE NICK GROFF Q&A
YOU ASKED THE QUESTIONS, THE ‘G’ ANSWERED THEM
42 PYKETT’S GUIDE TO HAUNTED NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
The sad tale of Bessie Sheppard
44 GHOSTS OF SHEPHERDSTOWN
A town full of ghosts, what’s that all about?
46 DEREK ACORAH... EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
From Celebrity Big Brother to Haunted Magazine
50 TENNESSEE WRAITH CHASERS... EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Mike and Doogie spill the paranormal beans
56 JOHNNY FRANK GARRETT... GUILTY OR INNOCENT?
Including his final damning letter
62 AM I PSYCHIC?
A new APP that tells you whether you are or not
64 THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT AMY... EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
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ANOTHER EXCLUSIVE PARANORMAL NUGGETT FROM THE LIFE OF LEE ROBERTS, DOCUMENTING HIS JOURNEY IN THE PARANORMAL WORLD FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. HONEST AND OPEN INCLUDING THE HIGHS, THE LOWS OF A LIFE IN THE PARANORMAL WORLD AND OUTSIDE OF IT.
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hroughout my teen years I flirted with the paranormal and the idea of investigating more, like most people I experimented with Ouija boards in the old school theatre that had a story attached to it of an old school teacher haunting the place. I loved the idea of Ghost Hunting but at that age I was more interested in football, girls and more football. I was always the one that started telling Ghost Stories to my mates to try and scare them and I also found it a great way to get the girls to come closer as they wanted protection or to hide their faces from the scary stories. Please note any single Ghost Hunters that this technique doesn’t work all the time and sometimes it back fires, It often resulted in big Fred Turner grabbing me for a hug rather than one of the girls. At 18 I decided I needed to take my paranormal fascination to another level, how hard could this be? What would I need? And where would I go? Like most things you have to start at the bottom, the basics and work at it, the best tool you have on a ghost hunt is yourself and your instincts and they only improve with experience. I decided that for me to capture anything I would need some recording equipment, I borrowed my Dad’s old VHS Camcorder, yes we are in 1994 people, Sony Digital Camcorders were not about then and Facebook live was not even thought. I also took a small
camera with me, when I say small, it was actually HUGE, and if there were any ghosts they would probably flee with the sound of the camera winding on to the next negative.
The next question to be answered is where would I go? I had very little money at the time, still don’t to be fair, and I wasn’t comfortable asking locations if I could explore for ghosts and for free. So the local graveyard it had to be. Where better to hunt for Ghosts than in an area surrounded by dead bodies. Now I think about it, although most associate grave yards with spooks and ghouls, if you was a ghost, would you haunt a graveyard? Or would you go to somewhere more familiar or somewhere you’ve always wanted to go? Like I said earlier instincts improve with experience and at that time my instincts were way off. I spend around 4 hours wandering around the local graveyard, calling out “is anybody there”, “can you show yourself”. I’m not sure what I would do if someone actually did show themselves that would have probably
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been the end of my paranormal investigations right there and then. I think being eased in gently was a good move. I did get a bit of a scare when a homeless man jumped out from under a bush, he probably thought I was a ghost, or the bottle diamond white he had been drinking was the best stuff he had ever purchased. The night was unsuccessful in terms of gaining evidence for the afterlife, but a huge success in terms of educating me on what is needed to explore a dark damp area for spooks. I repeated this six, seven times before I began getting very, very bored. Remember there was no social media about back then, not even a website I could blog my experiences, this was just purely the darkness and me, and all I had to show for my nights in a graveyard was pictures of gravestones and hours or video footage of a black screen, I had no night vision back then! The time had come to step it up a little, approach local building that was supposedly haunted and ask if they would like me to investigate for them, surprisingly most were more than happy to let me in, another sign or the times, nowadays I would be asked to pay hundreds or pounds to gain access to the smallest of venues, back then the paranormal and ghost hunting was not the big business it is today, there were very little out there doing it and most venues had never heard of it let alone thought of the income it could and would generate them in the future.
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At this time I worked as a life guard at my local leisure pool, whist most just saw this as a job at a leisure centre I had to look into it further; if I was spending 8-9 hours a day here I wanted to make the most of it. What was here before? What was the building build on and could it be haunted? Like most buildings it had its stories, rumours of hauntings, and areas staff didn’t like to go. I used my down time in those exact areas to see if there was anything. My mind was always thinking about the paranormal, it was an obsession, even when sat at the side of the pool I would be thinking where I could go next, how I could improve.
One of the first all night investigations I conducted was The Bentinck Miners Welfare in Kirkby in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire. It was a venue I would get great success with years later with a team, but at this time I was alone with just my camera and VHS recorder. When I say alone, I had the 1st floor area; the function room to myself, downstairs however was around 50 people watching an Elvis impersonator with a Bingo break. Noise pollution was off the chart, I wasn’t able to ask for
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any knock, taps or bangs as all I got back was a chorus of jailhouse rock or someone shouting BINGO! The floor was either very thin or the ghost I was recording was Elvis playing bingo, I had very little experience but enough to tell me it was the 1st option. Again I got very little evidence from this venue at the time but it helped me grow my experience and know that to get better evidence I would need to expand and grow, not only my equipment but a team. Over the next 10 years I carried on doing solo investigations when I could, the real world was catching up with me and priorities changed, I became a Dad to my daughters, Faith and Millie in 1995 and 1998, split from their mum, left my job as a lifeguard and join Nottinghamshire Police as a Police Constable. All this took me away from my hobby as a ghost hunter and over this period I did very little in terms of investigating other than the odd night here and there. In 2002, the same year I joined the police, I began dating Mary-Anne, I had known Mary-Anne for many years, and she had been the girlfriend of one of my best friends for quite a few years. She was single and so was I, much to the annoyance of my friend we began seeing each other, well we tried to keep it a secret to begin with as we knew it wouldn’t go down to well, but it had to come out in the end. I ended up with a black eye for my troubles but she was worth it. Mary-Anne was soon to point out “I don’t want to get married and I don’t want children”. I was fine with this as I wasn’t looking for marriage and I already had by daughters, I could cope with that. 2006 was a huge year for me, MaryAnne and I got married, a few month later Mary-Anne fell pregnant with twins (remember her quote earlier) and in all that I started my first Paranormal Investigation team. I felt the time was right to start taking the paranormal a little more serious, spend a little more time on my hobby and to try and get maximum impact I wouldn’t be going it alone. I asked family and friends
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if any of them had an interest in the Paranormal, to my amazement I had quite a few that came forward. I tried to keep the team a close nit one, people I knew and trusted, but also a few that had special skills. Mary-Anne had an interest in the paranormal, my sister and her husband, my uncle and his partner and a couple of friends. I also brought on board a retired couple, I had never met them before but they saw me advertising on Facebook, even then Facebook was new but a very powerful tool. The lady, Monica, was a psychic artist, and her husband a keen paranormal investigator, I also had a couple of local clairvoyants that wanted to join us too from another team. We called the team The Ashfield Paranormal Investigation Team, TAPIT for short.
I first job was to get locations to let us in for the night, this was harder than before, I was not just a solo investigator wanting access, now I had a team of 8-10 people, 3-4 digital cameras with night vision, EMF meters, Ouija boards and more. Locations were starting to get wise that they could charge for us to have access so I chose who I asked wisely. Our first investigation was The Palace Theatre in Mansfield, they were holding a play all about local ghosts, so what better way to publicise this than invite the cast to join us on an investigation. To my amazement they accepted. We purchased some black polo shirts and got our logo printed on the chest, I think this just made us stand out and feel more professional. Looking back on this investigation now makes me smile. Most there had never conducted a paranormal investigation before, and that was just the team let alone the cast of the play. People running up and down the aisles of the theatre seats, people screaming as they were
plunged into darkness and I will never forget the team going into a dressing room and the door slamming behind us, I could see some of them were thinking “what the hell am I doing here”. It was great fun, but that was it, fun, if we were to progress this we needed locations to let us in alone so we could conduct experiments without others around. As a Police Officer at the time I had access to over 3,000 other officers and staff via the in house email system. I sent out an open email asking if anyone had access to buildings or has a property that they wanted investigating. We had an officer come forward that explained his parents lived in a small village and their house was actually the old police station, court house and cells. This was spot on and exactly what we were looking for. His parents were only too happy to let us in for the evening while they went out to the pub. Luckily I was a Police Officer so they trusted me, I’m not sure they would just let anyone in. It was through my work as a Police Officer I found a location on my local beat that I knew from growing up, I never thought they would let me in there in a million years. It was through an alarm call out to Wollaton Hall in Nottingham. As you can imagine I
was racing to get there first, loved going to locations like that in the dark, locations not many experience after dark. On arrival I was met by the assistant Manager Mick, someone that would become a close friend and someone I work closely with today. We walked around the location together, checking each room one by one, all the time Mick was telling me of ghostly tales of the great hall. I explained what I did and we began discussing the possibility of doing a night there with staff members so they could experience a Ghost Hunt. I jumped at the chance; it was dream of mine to work in such a grand location and one which had so many ghost sightings. I few months later I ran a staff night there with my team, it was the first event I had hosted and loved it, the staff really enjoyed their night at the hall and I was then asked to host the 2006 Halloween event at Wollaton Hall. It was an honour and I was so excited, this year celebrates the 10th anniversary of me working with Wollaton Hall, having run dozens of events there since that first one. I am privileged that Wollaton Hall was the first, the flag ship location for my events to come and they stuck by me through a very trying time that was just around the corner.
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The Wollaton Hall event made the local press as it was the first of its kind in a location like this in Nottingham, so many people were excited about it and wanted more. My name as an investigator was getting more and more well-known, I had people ringing, emailing and texting me asking for my services to run events at their location and also to go and have a look at their hauntings at their home. From someone who had started out walking alone in a graveyard I was now in demand. In July 2007 I received a call from a young lady who said she was the personal assistant to an Anwar Rashid, he owned and lived in a location in Nottingham and was having some problems with ghosts. When I asked what the property was called, she said Clifton Hall. I arranged to meet up and discuss what the problem was, little did I know I was about to embark on my biggest investigation yet and one that would propel me into the media spotlight worldwide.
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ELIZABETH, PATRON SAINT OF THE
PARANORMAL INTERVIEW WITH GADGET GIRL ELIZABETH SAINT
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he Paranormal is full of saints & sinners, the good guys, the bad guys, the losers, the winners, the believers, the debunkers, the moaners, the groaners, the screamers, the dreamers, the psychics and the side-kicks. That’s the beauty of the paranormal, it’s full of people from all walks of life, it’s not some kind of select club just for the rich, the famous, the experienced and the powerful. Not many magazines get to interview a Saint, let alone a living, breathing one. We were delighted to spend time with Elizabeth Saint, paranormal investigator BUT much more than just that, read on and you will find out!
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ELIZABETH SAINT is an American Actress, Model, Electrical Engineer, Paranormal Investigator and Television Personality from Destination America’s Ghosts of Shepherdstown. After graduating high school, she signed a two-year contract and moved to New York City to pursue a high fashion modelling career. After a few years, she decided to go back to college to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with a concentration in Electrical Systems Technology. As an Engineer, Elizabeth has been awarded many professional opportunities, and one in particular that led her to start working for the Department of Défense. That job is what moved Elizabeth down to the Washington D.C. area six years ago. Because of an increase in unexplainable experiences in her apartment at that time, she was determined to get more involved in the paranormal field. In her search for a local team of investigators she found Maryland Paranormal Research® and immediately started taking on residential cases as a technician and investigator. Prior to working with MPR, Elizabeth had always demonstrated a sensitivity and fascination with the supernatural dating back to the manifestations and activity she first experienced in her childhood home growing up in south Jersey. She enjoys her creative outlets as well with a passion for acting and film which also extends to her love of technology. After investigating Shepherdstown, West Virginia in 2015, Elizabeth was inspired to start creating her own paranormal equipment to use on investigations under the name Ghostly Gadgets. Her first prototype, the E-Box, was seen
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on Destination America’s first season of “Paranormal Lockdown” at Franklin Castle in Ohio. You can spot a lot of her new devices on season 2 of “Ghosts of Shepherdstown.”
So, who is Liz Saint, start from the beginning and tell us about yourself? I grew up in South Jersey adopted at birth by two amazing individuals, my parents, Charles and Patricia. I’ve always been a tomboy at heart - grew up playing a lot of sports and video games. Basketball, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse and golf were my focus. I was pretty dead set on either being an astronaut or magician one day. I was fascinated by anything mystical, fantastical and unexplainable. Which, of course, included an adolescence surrounded by any books I could find on space, extra-terrestrials and the paranormal.
You are probably the first person that I have interviewed who has actress, model, and electrical engineer on their CV, it’s quite a varied mixed bag. Can you elaborate, please? I was definitely a lover of technology from the very beginning. There are times I still miss my first black and white Macintosh computer with the old floppy disk drives. Computers and coding always came natural to me, but it was never something I thought would be incorporated into my life as a career. I actually started college as an art major with a concentration in graphic design as it’s always been a hobby. About a
“My father told me from a young age to “love what you do,” and it has become a mantra for me ever since. I love the paranormal... I love film... I love technology... and most of all I love being a Mom.”
month into my schooling, I received an offer to be a high fashion model in New York City and decided to withdrawal from classes to pursue it. Film and the arts have always heavily influenced me in my life. I’ve been a free spirit in that way. However, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the direction everything was taking. After a couple years, I moved back home and went back to school for the only thing I knew I was good at computer programming. I was required to take this introductory to electronic circuits class, and I fell in love which led to immediately switching my major to Electrical Engineering. There’s always been these different sides to me, and I learned early on that I felt so lost any time I didn’t incorporate all the aspects of what I loved into my life. My father told me from a young age to “love what you do,” and it has become a mantra for me ever since. I love the paranormal… I love film… I love technology… and most of all I love being a Mom. I, honestly, cannot imagine my life without any one of them. There were times in my life where I would try to just focus on one thing, and I found myself incredibly depressed. The truth is, none of us are just one thing. We all play multiple roles. We all have things we are passionate about. Any time someone tells me I’m taking on too much I just smile. Because in my mind I know I am not only pushing myself to my true potential, but truly happy as well. I will leave this reality knowing I didn’t give myself excuses for why I couldn’t do something.
Why did you get involved in the paranormal, did something happen in your childhood or at a later stage in your life to make you question and seek out answers? My experiences with the paranormal started around 4-years-old. I would see and hear spirits on a regular basis which oftentimes extended to, for lack of better knowledge, communications in my dreams from deceased loved ones and more darker entities. I was a sleep walker growing up which I think added to those interesting states of consciousness, but overall, I’d say it was quite traumatic for me as a kid to experience these things I didn’t quite understand.
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It left me incredibly introverted for a large portion of my life which I think would surprise most people. I never felt as though I could talk about it, and I knew I had a big imagination so there was a part of me that constantly questioned my sanity. I think sometimes that was the Engineer in me. As a result, I became very good at ignoring these experiences. I still avidly researched and sought explanation for them, but refused to engage in the constant demanding of my attention from something I didn’t understand. It wasn’t until I moved down to the Washington D.C. area for an Electrical Engineering job with the Department of Defence that all of that changed. I moved into an apartment that started to kick up a lot of activity from what I perceived to be a rather unstable entity. It started off rather small with waking up in the middle of the night
“I feel I’ve come a long way since then. In Season 2 of “Ghosts of Shepherdstown,” you see a lot more of my designs such as the ComSphere, GTS Device, XBoss Motion Detector, Pandora’s Box, and Infrared Ultrasonic Barrier to name a few.” seeing him standing in the doorframe of my bedroom. I tried to initially, like I’ve done so many times before, ignore it. However, over time, these sightings escalated to reoccurring nightmares. The final straw for me was when I was taking a shower. I laugh at this now, but it’s definitely not a time you want to experience any kind of paranormal phenomena. I mean, there you are completely vulnerable and butt ass naked! So, I’m going about my business and all the sudden I start to hear these heavy footsteps come into the bathroom. It sounded like a man wearing boots. My first thoughts: Someone has broken into my house and silently killed my dog, because she is normally quite noisy with strangers and I don’t hear her at all. Then, I started swearing up and down that I locked the front door so how could someone get in?! Not to 10
mention, this is the middle of the day so the last thing on my mind was any kind of unseen spirit. I froze in that moment and just waited. The footsteps started getting closer and closer to the shower, and just as soon as I thought this couldn’t get any scarier this man started whistling a toon. I’m not kidding you! It was like something straight out of a horror film. The footsteps and whistling stopped right on the other side of the shower curtain. In that moment, I said to myself “OK Elizabeth, let’s hope those old Kung Fu skills will come in handy or you have some latent superhero ability you don’t know about!” I counted down from three to pull back the curtain. I could feel and hear him breathing on the other side. 3-2-1… pulled back the shower curtain ready to pounce and… nothing. There was nothing there! To make matters worse, my dog, Riot, comes scurrying around the corner just so happy to see me jumping up and down licking my feet. Long story short, I had enough and found a group called Maryland Paranormal Research comprised of a lot of members that were either prior military or worked for the government so I fit right in. It was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life.
I guess the interest in electrical engineering has led to you designing paranormal gadgets, what is the key to a paranormal gadget, is it looks, appearance, performance, and what HAUNTED MAGAZINE
is the BEST gadget that you have designed and which gadget do you wish you had invented? After filming Season 1 of “Ghosts of Shepherdstown,” Nick asked me to create something for his new show he was working on, “Paranormal Lockdown,” knowing of my Engineering background. I was super excited, but kind of angry at myself at the same time. I had been investigating for years, and it never had dawned on me until that moment that I should create something on my own. It was the perfect opportunity to start experimenting. My first design, the E-Box, was shown on the Franklin Castle episode. I played around with capacitive sensing so it would give a simple response of Yes, No, Hello or Goodbye depending on which corner of the box was approached. The idea was to communicate with the child spirits at that location so a wooden box seemed harmless enough, but, to be honest, if you have ever watched that episode the voices that come out of it are quite terrifying. No child would want to play with that thing! On a positive note, I feel I’ve come a long way since then. In Season 2 of “Ghosts of Shepherdstown,” you see a lot more of my designs such as the ComSphere, GTS Device, XBoss Motion Detector, Pandora’s Box, and Infrared Ultrasonic Barrier to name a few. I’m constantly playing around with new concepts and creating new prototypes. I’ve
been working with Nick for three years now, and more recently implementing new devices and larger experiments into upcoming “Paranormal Lockdown” episodes. It’s my favourite work to date, and I can’t wait to share it with everyone!
You’ve kept on acting during your time as a paranormal investigator, is it sometimes good to take a break from one or the other and do something different? I try to do as much film as I can around being a paranormal investigator, conventions and the shows I work on. As an actress, there is always this emptiness I feel when I’m not on set. It’s my favourite creative outlet that stands apart from everything else. I’ve found those small breaks from each of my careers are oftentimes quite therapeutic and needed to keep me more balanced. And I’ll be the first to say that maintaining balance has always been my Achilles Heel. To be quite honest, there was a period of time where I seriously considered not doing it at all. Right after Season 1 aired in the States, people were quite brutal about that aspect of my background. Elizabeth Saint is an actress… she is just pretending to be sensitive and have these experiences… she is just doing this for her acting career… etc. I remember my biggest concern in doing Shepherdstown was that the paranormal for me was a very private part of my life. I investigated on the weekends with my team, and it wasn’t something many friends or even family members knew about. Furthermore, because the experiences we have in the paranormal are very subjective, I knew that any time I said that I was feeling or picking up on something people would automatically point out my IMDb page and conclude I was faking everything. Suddenly, a very beautiful experience working on Shepherdstown I started to question as possibly being the biggest mistake of my life. But you know what, as an investigator, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work with the police and consider the paranormal happenings of an entire town. That was pretty cool in my mind. I didn’t care whether or not it was going to be on TV. I just wanted to learn more. In the end, it’s like what are you going to do? All I can do is continue
being me and reassure myself that eventually people will see that I’m truly passionate about this field. The second I start letting other people dictate my life is the moment I stop being truly happy. And aside from that seriously focused face you see every week on Shepherdstown, I’m honestly an extremely happy person. I blame it on the eyebrows, but I smile a lot… I promise. ;)
What is Nick Groff really like? And could you describe him in three words? Nick Groff - Passionate, Down to Earth, and Innovative. Hands down, one of my favourite people in this world. He’s wild, but in the best of ways. He has a ton of energy, lots of personality, always thinking about the next ten projects he is working on, and one of the hardest working people I know. As an observer, he is someone I’m truly excited to see what he does in the next five to ten years not only within the paranormal field, but in his other endeavours as well.
You’re also a sensitive, is that sometimes difficult balancing it with being a Paranormal Investigator or does it help? I’ve definitely found it helps. Especially, walking around and just taking in a space before actually investigating. It’s probably my favourite thing to do. I can always go back with equipment to verify certain things, but if there is some energy or entity truly there to engage with I’d rather do it without all the distractions. I know it sounds contradicting to what you’d expect from a tech junkie, but the sensitive side has always kept HAUNTED MAGAZINE
me grounded to the idea of extreme possibilities. And those I’d much rather experience with my spirit body and not so much with my mind.
Have you ever been to the UK, would you love to investigate over here? And what advice would you give wannabee ghost hunters / paranormal investigators? I’ve been to the UK a few times, but more recently working with the director Steven M. Smith on the horror film “Howling” starring Tony Fadil, Hans Hernke and Jon-Paul Gates. I’m looking forward to coming back soon for another upcoming project of his. In my downtime, I’m not going to lie, I’ve investigated some of the locations we worked on. For upcoming paranormal investigators - do it because it’s your passion, stay true to yourself, and figure out a way you can contribute to this fast-growing field. Furthermore, know you are in good company of like-minded individuals all in the search of the same thing… that unknown truth. Never forget we are a team and, quite literally, all in the dark together.
Ghosts of Shepherdstown is now being shown in the UK (as part of #HauntedThursday on the channel Quest Red). Social media plays a massive part in the paranormal these days and the UK are loving the show, have you got a message for your UK fans? I’m completely humbled by the support we have received from the UK. In my opinion, all of you on social media and readers of Haunted Magazine along with #HauntedThursday on Quest Red are truly what has made GoS internationally successful. It’s amazing to get the opportunity to share our documented experiences in Shepherdstown with our friends across the pond. Maybe there is a town over there we can head to next?!
Elizabeth Saint x 11
HAUNTED HUNTS… A NEW GHOST HUNTING TV SHOW OR RHYMING SLANG TO DESCRIBE PEOPLE IN THE PARANORMAL?
A NEW PARANORMAL TV SHOW is always around the corner, every month there’s a new one popping up, normally from our USA paranormal friends across the pond BUT can a UK show ever make it on TV over here in the UK. Shows have tried, shows have failed. Is it a stigma, is it because of the show that shall not be named (whispers Most Haunted), is it due to the mistrust of UK channels, is it lack of money, is it for something else, truth is we simply don’t know. We caught up with the Haunted Hunts team who are trying to break down the ghostly doors of UK Television and give us a paranormal TV show different to what we already have. We asked the questions that matter and then some questions that probably didn’t.
SO, THE HAUNTED HUNTS, WHO, WHY, AND WHEN WAS THE HAUNTED HUNTS BORN? START FROM THE BEGINNING… DANNY: OK, so where to start... I guess the best way to describe The Haunted Hunts is that we are a little different from the average paranormal team. First of all, we are all still quite young, with the youngest being Connor at 22, myself being 27 and we range up to 35. Secondly, I don’t believe the majority of us, other than Sian, came into this as believers as such, which is why our show is called ‘Search for The Truth’’. We started up to find out if ‘hauntings’ were real or if it’s just people’s imaginations etc. We began back in 2012 as a research team, we spent a lot of time heading out to paranormal events and other groups investigations. Then in 2014 The Haunted Hunts public investigations were born with the aim being to bring something different to the public. Instead
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of your mediums, table tipping, dowsing rods, mirror scrying etc.... we wanted to bring a more scientific approach to things, something that would target a more sceptical audience, as many of us began on the more sceptical side of things. We also felt many of these methods (as mentioned above), were very outdated. With the Americans clearly taking things to a far more advanced level, we wanted to bring our own modern way of working to the table, using locked off cameras and tons of touch activated equipment on investigations. With 2 of us having worked in television before, the aim was always to try and bring our way of working into the TV side of things and that is where we are at now.... a huge adventure awaits.
SCARIEST LOCATION THAT YOU'VE BEEN TOO AND EXPLAIN WHY? DANNY: For me it has to be Newsham Park Asylum in Liverpool, the entire location is
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completely unchanged from what it was and you can really get a feel for what it would have been like there years ago. I remember during one investigation we hosted there, we actually heard the sound of a man growling and walking down one of the empty corridors when no one was there! Freaky! SOPHIE: Mine would have to be Newsham Park Asylum due to the sheer size of it! I wouldn’t want to be lost on my own in there, you’d never know what was around the corner! SIAN: I think it has to be Tatton Old Hall in Cheshire, a very strange place. I just didn’t know what to expect and the atmosphere there was quite scary. CONNOR: For me, I think the scariest location would have to be Newsham Park Asylum. My reason for this is because it’s so huge, so dark, just you and your trusty torch. Although I am sceptical and look for scientific explanations wherever we go, I have to
admit that Newsham Asylum is incredibly eerie and that there is more to that place than our human eyes can see.
YouTube content which is very interesting and with a little bit of funding and some luck, I’m sure these would go a long way.
"WE SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH. WE TRY TO DEBUNK AS MUCH AS WE CAN RATHER THAN JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS."
AND HAVE YOU ALTERED YOUR PARANORMAL PERCEPTION SINCE YOU FIRST STARTED INVESTIGATING? ARE YOU SCEPTIC / BELIEVERS?
- CONNOR BECKI: That’s a tough one as different locations can be scary for different reasons. Lancaster Castle was probably the most unexpectedly scary place for me. What happened down in the Well Tower will stay with me for a long time! 3 objects & pieces of equipment being simultaneously touched or moved in different parts of the dungeon just after we had lit a black candle & called out to the Pendle Witches, was pretty damn scary! We then caught an EVP of a female voice at the same time.
SO, YOU'RE ON TV AT HALLOWEEN, WHY DO YOU THINK THERE'S NOT MANY HOME-BASED UK PARANORMAL SHOWS ON TV IN THE UK? DANNY: Yes ‘Search for The Truth’ starts on October 24th on SKY channel 117 (134 in Wales) Freeview channel 7 (8 in Wales) & Virgin Media 159. Series 1 is 6 half hour episodes and they are on every Tuesday for 6 weeks with 2 repeats a week. Having worked in television previously, I think the UK market is very different to the likes of America and less channels over here are willing to take a risk on things like the paranormal. I also think since a certain British paranormal show have been caught out many, many times... the British audience have become more sceptical of paranormal TV. I think we also have to take in to consideration that the budgets behind these shows are huge in America with the likes of ‘Ghost Adventures’ working with huge amounts of funding, something we unfortunately don’t have over here. It’s a real shame as we know of numerous teams that have
SOPHIE: I am a believer now based on the things I have witnessed over the years. I always believed there was a possibility of something being there but didn’t have the 100% evidence that I needed. I now believe I have found that evidence.
little bit of quirkiness and cheek (especially camera man Steve, Connor & myself) which keeps us all on our toes. We are modern and I think that’s what is needed in British paranormal and hopefully this will come across on screen. SOPHIE: I think another thing to point out is our technique. We’ve seen many teams calling out ‘touch the K2’ or ‘touch the REM pod’ but how on earth would someone from say 1622 know what a
SIAN: I am a believer due to what I’ve experienced, however I’m always looking for other answers when something happens. DANNY: Yes, I have, from starting out as someone just trying to find out the truth, I have to admit that I have seen things and heard things that have terrified me. I think the best part of the evidence we, as a team can call 100%, is that we’ve literally gone through every possible explanation and some of these things just cannot be explained. That probably scares me more ha-ha! CONNOR: I’m definitely still sceptical whenever I go to a new place but there are things which I have witnessed which I cannot explain! I have tried so hard to try to explain them! Very frustrating our job! BECKI: I’m now a believer (can’t help being now, after what we’ve witnessed) but I will always have a sceptical edge... paranormal conclusions are usually my last conclusion. If I can debunk something, I will. I’m fairly rational and only accept clear, concrete evidence & things I have witnessed myself.
WHAT MAKES THE HAUNTED HUNTS DIFFERENT FROM THE REST? DANNY: To put it simply, we are young, fresh and to be completely honest, we are just normal people which you don’t always get in this field! We all bring our own little something to the table, a
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K2 meter was? Sometimes you have to simplify things and think outside the box. CONNOR: We search for the TRUTH. We try to debunk as much as we can rather than jumping to conclusions. We also use specific techniques to try and get a response, for example, we never call out to ‘spirits’ or ‘ghosts’. Just think, if you died but didn’t know, would you respond?
DO YOU THINK SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYS A MASSIVE PART IN THE PARANORMAL THESE DAYS? DANNY: Yes ABSOLUTELY! Without social media, I think it would be impossible for the paranormal hype to survive.
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The likes of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are all key to keeping people up to date with investigations, evidence etc. and of course with Facebook Live you can really start to bond with your audience. Unfortunately, we don’t get too much time to go on social media but we are kept up to date with everything via our management team.
IF YOU COULD INVESTIGATE ONE LOCATION THAT YOU'VE NOT HAD CHANCE YET WHAT WOULD IT BE & WHY?
SIAN: Social media plays a huge part these days, however, like everything else on social media you get good and bad.
SIAN: There’s so many, I think it would have to be an adventure to another country to one of the most haunted areas, I just can’t choose.
CONNOR: Yes! So much, I love it! I don’t think The Haunted Hunts would be so popular without it’s expansive fan base and all the support we’ve had is phenomenal. We have used social media to show evidence to thousands of people of what we have captured on both camera and EVP (electronic voice phenomenon).
OUT OF HAUNTED HUNTS, WHO IS: • THE MOST SCARED: Danny (agreed by all apart from Danny) • THE MOST SCEPTIC: Connor & Becki • THE BIGGEST BELIEVER: Probably Sian • THE CALMEST: Sian ‘Made of Steel’ Rogers • THE FUNNIEST: Danny • THE BEST LOOKING: Depends who’s looking although Connor considers himself to have this role!
CAN YOU EACH DESCRIBE EACH OTHER IN ONE WORD SIAN: Danny - serious, Sophie organised, Becki - truthful, Connor - sceptical CONNOR: Danny - jumpy, Sophie happy, Becki - cool, Sian - collected SOPHIE: Danny - drama queen, Becki - late, Sian - mellow, Connor - chilled BECKI: Danny - funny, Sophie excitable (usually because she’s hopped up on sugar!), Connor enthusiastic, Sian - calm DANNY: I think we’ve all been far too nice to each other so I won’t say.
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CONNOR: For me it would be Manchester Castle because it’s steeped in mystery and from what I’ve heard, it’s extremely haunted. However, I’d like to investigate to make up my own mind.
SOPHIE: I’d love to go to America to investigate some of the most haunted places over there. DANNY: Probably the Catacombs in Paris although America is a MUST. BECKI: I went to university in York so I’d love to go back and investigate some of the supposedly haunted buildings like the ‘Golden Fleece’ pub or the ‘Snickleway’ pub. Also, I’d like to go down to the Jamaica Inn in Cornwall as I’m fascinated by the history of the place.
SOPHIE: I believed that there was something there as a child and I became more and more interested in it as I became older. It had always interested me which made me want to go on investigations and watch TV shows to see what was real and what wasn’t. BECKI: I’ve always been fascinated by the paranormal & stories of hauntings but had never experienced anything for myself so was also quite sceptical and dubious of what other people had reported. Dan took part in some investigations and told me what happened. I trusted him so wanted to experience it for myself & so went along with him on one and got hooked really. It was just natural that I joined him when he decided to create his own team. CONNOR: It was with Danny and the rest of the team at Stanley Palace in Chester. We had knocks, disembodied footsteps, touch activated equipment going off, it was awesome! From then on, I was hooked!!
HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU FIRST EXPERIENCED THE PARANORMAL, CAN WHAT IS NEXT FOR THE HAUNTED YOU EXPLAIN WHAT IT WAS AND HOW HUNTS? YOU FELT? TEAM: It’s a very interesting SIAN: I was very young, we had stuff going on in the house where I was brought up in North Wales. I used to go with my dad from around 11 years old to houses which were experiencing paranormal issues and I have experienced many things during this time. When my dad died, I no longer wanted to be involved in paranormal investigation so I distanced myself away from it all. Then I met a lady where I was working around 2007 and she mentioned that her and some friends were going on a paranormal night, one person dropped out a few days later and she asked if I wanted to go. I was a little apprehensive but I thought I would go and that was me back into it. DANNY: I witnessed something when I was 17 in a friend’s house which is probably what sparked off my interest in the paranormal. The sound of someone running up and down the stairs just meters away from me whilst no one else was in the house. This was very strange and shortly after I began researching the paranormal.
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question because we simply don’t know. We are very new and especially in TV terms, we’ve been very lucky to get a TV contract in the first place and have such a great team behind us who have all worked in the industry for some time, without them this wouldn’t be possible. Hopefully the public will have some idea what we are about after series 1 and if people enjoy ‘Search for The Truth’ then we’ll look to bring out another series or 2. The aim of course, is to become the number 1 British paranormal TV show but that doesn’t happen straight away, it takes time and effort but we all believe in what we are doing here at The Haunted Hunts and with the right support behind us, then hopefully we can bring British paranormal into a new era.
WHATEVER YOUR VIEWS ON PARANORMAL TV SHOWS, SURELY, IT'S TIME TO GET BEHIND A DIFFERENT UK ONE? HEY YOU NEVER KNOW, YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY ENJOY IT!
THE TRUTH BEHIND HULL’S “MOST HAUNTED HOUSE”
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t was well over a decade ago when I first began researching the paranormal. My idea was simple. If ghosts are the spirits of dead people then somewhere in the history of these locations there must be historical evidence of those people residing at or dying in these properties. A typical case study for me will include months of research, and I mean months! I start off by visiting the local studies libraries, then local archives, before hitting national archives. Here in my hometown of Hull I visit the Hull History Centre, spending time in their archives and local studies, before heading to the Hull Heritage Centre, at Carnegie Library, before hitting the Hull Reference
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BY MIKE COVELL Library, then take a train to Beverley to the East Riding Archives. After that I consult the National Archives and British Library, then target the online historical sources. A typical historical write up of a location will include entries from trade directories, polling books, burgess rolls, electoral rolls, census, births, marriages, deaths, baptism entries, rent books, bench books, post office books, old maps, old plans and many other sources. These provide a timeline of events, which are then cross referenced with historical newspapers, magazines, journals, books and periodicals. Needless to say, this thoroughness at over 160 locations across the UK has presented me with thousands of sources, hundreds of timelines, HAUNTED MAGAZINE
and actual historical evidence of historical events at allegedly haunted locations. This work has seen me gain attention, and throughout the years I have appeared on Most Haunted, Most Haunted Live, Paranormal Lockdown and numerous radio shows, television shows, podcasts, and in newspapers and magazines around the world. I have advised on numerous “ghost hunts” and “Paranormal investigations” with groups across the UK and much further afield, and spent the night in abandoned castles, ruins, burial grounds, old churches, shops, pubs, clubs, and more, and worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, even lecturing for The Ghost Club, the oldest paranormal group in the world.
My story on this case begins a week after Most Haunted Live aired on Halloween 2015. I was walking through my home town after dropping the children off at school when a gentleman approached me on Holderness Road in East Hull. This gentleman had been on several of my events, bought my books, asked me to sign them, and even offered to take me out for a drink on several occasions. He said that he loved the recent Most Haunted Live and really wished he had access to a haunted house like 30 East Drive. His reason, he stated, was for the money it must make. The following week I bumped into the same gentleman, now wearing a t-shirt emblazed with his new paranormal groups name spread across the back, and the term “The Boss” across the chest. I giggled a bit; I’ve been in this game a long time and still don’t have a personalized t-shirt! He approached me and told me that he had teamed up with two men to open “Hull’s Most Haunted House.” He told me the address and I informed him that despite having an interest in Hull’s haunted properties for over 30 years, and researching them on a daily basis for the past decade, I had not seen nor heard of this property. He claimed to have researched the property, and that all the people that had researched it had hit a brick wall! I did not, however, research it, as other matters arose, and I jetted off on other adventures, including filming with Vice TV, BBC, ITV, Travel Channel, and meeting Nick Groff and Katrina Weidman on location for Paranormal Lockdown. I did, however, note that numerous social media events pages appeared all promoting events at the property, and making rather dubious claims. Stories of
suicides, murders, and deaths, filled column inches; reports of paranormal activity by past and previous tenants were put forward as evidence, and false history of it being a funeral parlour, coffin maker, and hostel were put forward by groups, some of which charged £69.99 per person for a night in the venue. Immediately I was inundated with messages from across the country wanting to know more. At this time, I decided to investigate the claims behind the allegedly “Most Haunted House in Hull” or in some cases, the country. So, with the stories in mind I headed for the multi-million-pound Hull History Centre to research and investigate 39 De Grey Street. Here is my journey.
FUNERAL PARLOUR
One of the claims made on numerous paranormal events pages about the property is that it was formerly a funeral parlour, to be honest, as a local historian I get this theory on hundreds of Hull properties, fortunately, this can be researched and proven with a quick look through the available resources in the archives room at the Hull History Centre, a chilled climate controlled room that helps preserve the documents. To the left of the desk stands a bookcase full of big red leatherbound books, which have names and dates along the side. These are Trade Directories, which were issued annually between 1790’s and 1968. They feature street listings, surname listings and trade listings. Immediately visiting the section for De Grey Street, I logged the information before moving onto HAUNTED MAGAZINE
the next edition. I discovered that the earliest mention in the trade directories of Hull was Lee James, listed in the 1888 Atkinson’s Trade Directory of Hull as being an organ builder. Searching through the years I came across no such record of a funeral parlour at the property.
ORPHANAGE
Another claim made about the property is that it was an orphanage. At the beginning of each trade directory there are numerous entries for buildings that cover schools, colleges, hospitals, prisons, public buildings, and orphanages. Not one entry for an orphanage was found for the entire run of De Grey Street. This was further backed up by the alphabetical street directory entries, and cross referenced with the alphabetical trades listing. Of course, some people would argue that the property as an orphanage was missed out, so I headed over to the computers and checked out the British Newspaper’s Online website, a subscription based website that holds thousands of editions of thousands of British newspapers. Several of these cover Hull and East Yorkshire, but a search failed to turn up any sign of an orphanage. During the Victorian period, many Victorian Orphanages were in need of finance, these were helped along by subscription funds and fundraisers. These were a part of public record, you can, using the historical newspapers, go back hundreds of years and find out who gave how much money to which establishment. None of these records feature an orphanage on De Grey Street. 17
HOSTEL The claim that the property was a hostel dates back a year, but again there was no evidence of this. From the late 1890’s the trade directories showed John Hardaker, a furniture remover, based at the house. He eventually passed the house down to his son, Herbert Hardaker, who is listed here in the early 1900’s. Herbert was also a furniture remover. Cross referencing these names in the electoral rolls, which are produced annually, I also found the Hardaker’s residing at the property, but no sign of a hostel. The Hull History Centre also holds records of voters in records called “Electoral Rolls.” These were records of people eligible to vote and were recorded annually. The electoral rolls showed that no such organization existed at the property, but it did give a clear picture of who lived there over the years. This will become important later on.
SUICIDES
Suicides in the Hull district can be researched in three ways. The historical newspapers showed news of suicides, autopsies, and inquests. They featured names, addresses, ages, and other vital information about the properties, but no entries for 39 De Grey Street could be found in these newspapers covering news of suicides. At the East Riding Archives, in Beverley, the coroner’s records can be viewed upon request; all you need is a name and a date. Similar records can be searched at the Hull History Centre with the same information. We know, from the trade directories of Hull in the 1930’s, cross referenced with the electoral rolls of the same period, that the house had now moved into the hands of the Hart family. 18
MURDERS
Researching murder cases is always a tough task, on account of the files being sent all over the place. In several cases the official files have vanished altogether. Luckily, we can bypass these files for the time being, and instead search the historical newspapers. During the time that De Grey Street has been present the city has been covered by numerous newspapers, giving overlapping coverage. These newspapers included The Hull Packet, (1787-1886), Eastern Counties Herald (18381884), Eastern Morning News (18641929), Hull News (1852-1929), Hull Times (1857-1984), The Hull Daily News (1884-1930), The Hull Sentinel (1928-1963), and of course the Hull Daily Mail (1885-present). None of these newspapers featured any such murders taking place in either the property, or on the street. Compare this to the lesser known murder cases in Hull, such as the Hentig family, which was covered locally and nationally, Emma Starkey in 1871, was covered locally and nationally, and Mary Jane Langley’s murder which had international press coverage. The files of the Hull Watch Committee, at the Hull History Centre, coupled with the card index, and numerous books available through Hull Library services all fail to show a murder being committed here. I didn’t stop there, as an historian I have access to thousands of historical newspaper archives locally, nationally and internationally, including historic local and regional newspapers, national newspapers such as historical editions of The Times, The Daily Mirror, and The Express, and unlimited access to American, Australian, and New Zealand newspaper archives. These HAUNTED MAGAZINE
archives have been invaluable when researching other local murder cases, as they catered for millions of ex-pats, who had moved from England abroad, and as such murder cases were always featured in these newspapers. Despite this none of these newspapers featured any such stories about a murder on De Grey Street.
DEATHS
With the claims of suicides and murders being ruled out it was time to tackle the deaths. Again, these are registered, the property was there from 1881, when records were kept meticulously by the local authorities, the board of health, the Hull Corporation, the City Registrar, the Hull Watch and the Hull City Police Force. All of which are available at the Hull History Centre in the archives. Furthermore, the obituaries in the old newspapers used to carry names and addresses of the deceased, searching these records of births, marriages, deaths and obituaries failed to turn up any such case of a death taking place at the property. There were entries in the records, however, for marriages during the Hart family owning the property in the 1930’s, when Mr. Hart’s daughter, Marjorie Hart, married Charles Harold Blanchard in 1936, and Mr. Hart’s son, Leslie, married Kathleen Pullen in 1938.
PEOPLE REFUSE TO LIVE THERE
A wide range of records are available to researchers that enable them to research their property. I always start with the trade directories. I then cross reference with the electoral roll, burgess roll and polling books, all registers that required voters to be listed. I then cross reference these
entries with the census, a nationwide headcount that took place every ten years, and then with birth, marriage and death records. Finally, I cross reference the names through the old Kingston Communications Telephone books, and then consult the newspapers. With this in mind the records provide two or three entries per year for the house, sometimes more, and all of these records showed that the only time the property was vacant was in 1930, when the Hardaker family put the property up for sale, and the Hart family purchased it. As mentioned earlier the names on the electoral roll were noted, and in the meantime, I began to make contact with those who lived there. I traced five individuals who resided at the property that I had found on the electoral rolls, and through emails, social media and telephone conversations, we talked about their time at the property. Not one of the individuals had experienced anything that one could consider paranormal. Furthermore, I spoke with neighbours on the street who had resided there for many years, and none of them had heard of the property being haunted.
THE PROPERTY CANNOT BE RESEARCHED One of the most interesting claims is that people have tried to research the property but failed to find any information. In researching the building, I spent a morning at the Hull History Centre and an afternoon in various digital online archives. It gave me a timeline of people, events, names, businesses, and other information on the property, including a lovely description of the house when it was put up for sale in November 1930.
The sale was handled by W. N. Lewendon and Sons, and was listed as having an Entrance Passage, 2 Living Rooms, Kitchen, Tiled Dairy, 4 Bedrooms, Bathroom, and W.C., outside W.C., and the usual Domestic Offices. The sale advertisement states that the Brick Building comprises a 4-stall stable, with a 2 storey furniture repository over, with a large open yard with double door cart entrances from De Grey Street and Maple Street. It was described as being well built and is eminently suitable for a furniture remover, garage proprietor, builder or any other person requiring good yard or storage space, and will be sold with Vacant Possession. Interestingly, when I approached a couple of groups who had visited the property and asked where they carried out their research they all answered that they “Googled the property.”
THE MAPS
Maps of the area show the development of De Grey Street from the 1880’s when the 1888 map shows the street but very few properties. The later maps show development as Hull began expanding past its boundaries to the north along Beverley Road. It appears that the property has no sinister dark history, but it does have a history, you just have to know where to look, and what tools and services are there to help you. For me, as an historian, the facts are equally, if not more, exciting, than the silly claims made up about the properties history, a property that has had real people, real events, and a real history that is part of the cities fabric. HAUNTED MAGAZINE
CONCLUSION
With the history failing to support any of the erroneous claims that have been linked to the property, it is easy to see why people are upset and angry about paying extortionate prices to stay in what was essentially nothing more than a bog standard run of the mill late Victorian terraced house. A house like any other on the street, but, with clever marketing from those involved, now has an almost legendary status, but it is not the first time. In Hull, we have had several properties such as this, which unscrupulous groups and individuals have created nonsensical false histories to support alleged activity. From the twine factory which it was claimed had been used to make ropes for public executions, to the shop on Ferensway, that it was claimed was a mortuary, to the tallow mill said to have been built on a plague pit. One only has to go back through the actual historical records to ascertain the truth, to separate fact from fiction, and to avoid the pitfalls of what are essentially nothing more than tall tales. The story, however, does not end there. When I first revealed that the history had been made up, in an article in the Hull Daily Mail, I received threats from paranormal groups and individuals with a vested interest in the property. This at least shows me that it is not the dead that we should fear......but the living.
ABOUT MIKE
Mike Covell is a local historian and author who was born, bred and is based in Kingston upon Hull. He currently runs Amazing Hull Tours, and is a published author with Creativia Publishing. He works freelance for the Hull Daily Mail, and has appeared as an historical advisor on Most Haunted, Most Haunted Live and Paranormal Lockdown. He has lectured across the British Isles on topics such as history, WWII, “Jack the Ripper,” Ghosts, and true crime, and to date has published 15 books, with another 15 due!
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THE LOWDOWN ON WITCHES
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with leonard low t Osyth in Essex is an area where historical tragedy has bled into the town’s soul…the name Osyth comes from the daughter of King Redwald the 7th century King of East Anglia (599-624). The history of his reign is lost in time as the Vikings continual raiding on his territory burnt down the monasteries where documents were stored, what legend tells us is that She was a Godly person who put her heart into building a nunnery in the area. But the Norsemen invaders who terrorised this coastline, wreaked havoc on the town slaying poor Osyth and beheading her in the year 653. The town takes its name from her today.
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In 1582 a jail delivery to the Essex courts in March 22 brings ten dishevelled women, all in a sorry state, some have suffered in the jail in Osyth since April 1581, and all have charges of Witchcraft hanging over them. The roll delivery reads…Alice Hunt, Agnes Hearde, Alice Mansfeld, Elizabeth Ewstace, Margaret Grewell, Agnes Glascock, Johan Pechye, Alice Newman, Elizabeth Bennet and Ursula Kemp. Ursula Kemp was a young nurse maid and had some skill as a Healer. She was known to be able to remove curses and Hexes from those thought to have been afflicted by Witches. She was a likeable woman and recorded as a good mother to
The original jail in St Osyth where Ursula Kemp was thrown in April 1581. She would later be moved and judged at Chelmsford Court which was held at Colchester Castle. her son Tom. One day she proposed to help a pregnant neighbour called Grace Thorlowe. She had once cured her ill son seemingly by walking in and out of a door three times with an incantation; surprisingly and naively they thought she had cured him. She expected to be given the job of midwife for Graces next baby but her help was shunned for another midwife, harsh words were spoken between the pair and when the child was born it fell out its cradle and died. It was suspected a curse had been put upon it by Ursula.
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But others twisted accounts of Ursula and before long she was reported to Lord Brian D’Arcy of St Osyth Priory with a complaint about Ursula practicing Witchcraft. Brian D’Arcy was a big landowner here, a magistrate of the courts and a great Witch hater, Ursula was arrested and thrown into the Osyth jail with interrogation and with torture more names were added to the list of Witches. At the trial Ursula’s confused and terrified son was forced to testify against his own mother.
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Thomas was 8 years old and said in testimony that Ursula had kept 4 animals which were her familiars and spirits that carried out her evil magic. He described them as a grey cat called Tyffin, a black cat called Jacke, a Toad called Pygine and a White lamb called Tytley. His telling of his pets having actual names was doing his mothers trial no favours! Lord Brian D’Arcy suggested to the boy that “his mother let the animals suck blood from her
The locals of St Osyth were so scared Ursula was a Witch they made sure she couldn’t come out her coffin…. so they nailed her body into the coffin through her knee, arm joints and pelvis! body” his answer was muddled and confused but he did say proudly that “mum gave the animals beer and cake sometimes” It was said that Ursula had given an earthen ware pot to Alice Newman who was one of the other arrested Witches, the boy innocently replied “yes” to the question…they then erupted that “Alice had put a curse upon it to kill a man and his wife “
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Ursula was doomed from the mouth of her innocent son Thomas. She confessed to 12 other Witches, and once interrogated they all confessed, not knowing the seriousness of their supposed crimes. Ursula and 6 of the others were hanged as Witches at Chelmsford in 1582. But her story is only beginning…. In 1921 St Osyth, a building extension project to a Mr Bookers’ garden unearthed two strange skeletons… strange in a way they were actually found to have iron nails driven into the knees and elbows of the skeletons like rivets…pinning them into the ground! The locals of St Osyth were so scared Ursula was indeed a Witch they wanted to make sure she couldn’t come back out her coffin….so nailed her body firmly into the coffin through her knee joints, arm joints and pelvis! Mr Booker turned the new-found Witch Skeletons into a tourist catch, making postcards and charging fees to see them. This carried on until a strange fire burned his house down in 1932. The remains were then reburied on
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the site then again re exhumed in 1962 for a museum piece belonging to Cecil Williamson who ran “The Museum of Witchcraft” There she was a star attraction until the Museum was sold, Ursula was independently sold on to an eccentric artist called Robert Len Kiewicz and when he then died heavily in debt, Ursula became tied up in his legal possessions. Ursula was finally laid to rest by documentary maker John Moreland in April 2011. St Osyth council found a plot in unconsecrated ground and she was finally buried in a Wicker coffin. For a strange reason, she has no stone to mark her grave. Information for this piece was taken from the D’Arcy trial Documents 1582 in the National Archives…written in Latin.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
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icholas “Nick” Groff was born on April 19th, 1980, in San José, California. Raised in New England, he’s been fascinated with the paranormal since childhood, because of his passion for horror movies and some inexplicable experiences within his home and family. His strong vivacity led him to risk his own life twice within one year, he considers the first and gravest time a near-death experience that made him more sensitive to the supernatural. He then moved to Las Vegas, NV, to graduate with a BA in Film at the University of Nevada (UNLV). During his senior year he got engaged with his high school sweetheart, Veronique Roussel, who also was his partner during his first attempts of paranormal research in Nevada. As their wedding DJ, they hired Zak Bagans, who Nick befriended, afterwards the two of them told each other about their individual experiences with ghosts. Then, from working together as DJ and camera operator for weddings, they became a team of young paranormal investigators and in order to make a proper documentary about ghosts they needed to hire one more person. They chose Aaron Goodwin, who Nick had met years before during an UNLV film conference.
So, in 2004 the Ghost Adventures Crew was born, when, with no money but full of hopes, the three of them began to travel to the most haunted places in Nevada for their “Ghost Adventures: The Original Documentary” and later got the attention of critics and producers, which allowed them to create their own tv show on Travel Channel. “Ghost Adventures” was his first paranormal tv project, which he cocreated, co-hosted and executive produced for ten seasons (2008-2014). He’s had many experiences while filming it, the most important of which was when he saw the apparition of a woman at Linda Vista Hospital (Los Angeles, CA) that left a mark on him, definitively convincing him about the existence of the afterlife. He worked on many projects in different fields, from creating his own clothing brand, the “Phantom Collection”, to writing his autobiographic book titled “Chasing Spirits: The Building of the Ghost Adventures Crew” (2012). As a singer, he released in 2012 two music albums: “The Other Side” and “Spiritual War: Good vs Evil”. Through his production company, the Groff Entertainment, he produces some independent music artists besides of his tv projects. Among his past important film projects there are the movie he wrote and directed, “Malevolence” (2004), and the tv shows he executive produced: Travel Channel’s “Vegas Stripped” (2012) and Destination America’s “Ghost Stalkers” (2014). His dedication for sports and wellness led him to open his own gym and in June 2013 he launched the “Drive
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Health & Fitness” in Methuen, MA, which he co-owned until August 2015. In 2014, he was an “American Ninja Warrior” competitor and applied again for the 2015 edition, he also raced and won the Boston Spartan Race. On November 24th, 2014, he announced to no longer be a part of the Ghost Adventures Crew and launched the Nick Groff Tour, through which he organizes events to meet his fans and investigate with them in America’s most haunted locations. His new show “Paranormal Lockdown” premiered on March 4th, 2016 on D e s t i n a t i o n A m e r i c a , breaking the ratings records of the network, and was renewed for a second season and moved to TLC AND they came to the UK to do a special 100-hour Paranormal Lockdown at the Black Monk House, popularly known to us as 30 East Drive. Whilst there’s no official confirmation of Paranormal Lockdown season 3, we are confident that there will be. He also broke those records on June 2016 with “Ghosts of Shepherdstown”, a 6-part television event on Destination America where he was called to assist the Shepherdstown, WV, police department with his expertise in the paranormal field, and the second season of GOS has recently been shown on Destination America. Since 2012, he lives in New England with his wife Veronique and their daughters: Annabelle, born on December 2010, and Chloë, born on September 2014.
There was a creepy old doll with a little bell on its hat at his grandmother and aunt’s house in Nashua, NH. His aunt told him that it would walk around the house in the middle of the night; as a matter of fact, he heard the jingling of the little bell one time that he stayed overnight.
He’s fiercely competitive. There’s a benevolent spirit haunting his basement at home, protecting him. In life, it was an old disabled neighbour who was his friend until he passed away right after Nick moved from Las Vegas. As a kid, he was obsessed with horror movies, he’d do anything to watch them, but he had nightmares because of them and he often went to sleep on the floor of his parents’ bedroom. His wifer Veronique gave him the idea for the name of “Ghost Adventures”.
He’s half Italian, half Irish. His paternal grandmother and aunt were paranormal enthusiasts, they used to talk a lot about UFOs and Nick hung off their words. He almost lost the 2004 “Ghost Adventures” documentary footage because of a short circuit of his computer occurred while he was editing it. He filmed a short horror film while in college, in which
Veronique played the victim of a killer. The first time he saw a paranormal entity when he was a kid, it was a shadow figure standing still outside the French door of his kitchen. It was on an afternoon after school and he quickly ran away, waiting for his mother to return home.
He almost died when he was 8: he and his mom were waiting for his sister to end her swimming pool practice at a park outside the gym building, Nick ran to climb up a tree, but the branch that was holding him broke, he fell, his left arm hit a rusted chain-link fence below and was torn to the bone, he bled out. He barely remembers his mom helping him. He got quite a scar (it took fifty stitches inside his arm and fifty outside to pull his arm back together!) and the awareness of having had a near-death experience. Less than one year after this occurring he ventured to the woods near home, he was swinging on a rope when it snapped making him fall and hit his head on the rocks below but, although he was bleeding, he managed to walk home and his furious mother took him to the doctor’s office.
He ran the school radio and TV channel
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W H AT ’ S T H E D I F F E R E N C E ?
BY JACK STRANGE
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ou’re about to investigate a pub that has stood since the seventeenth century, where people have come and gone and left their mark: some angry, others happy. You’ve heard that a white lady has been seen stood in a window every morning during the month of May. You’ve also heard that glasses on the bar are said to move on their own accord, and not just because the person who’s been drinking from it is so drunk they’ve forgotten once again where they left their drink. Next week, you’re investigating an old abbey, where monks are still sighted walking through the ruins, disappearing through doors that aren’t there, and walking through walls, their bodies above ground. And the week after that, you’re at home in your new build, when you see someone walk from your kitchen and into the next room, as solid and alive as you and me. You follow that person, shouting, afraid that there’s an intruder. But the person vanishes before your very eyes. It’s the first time this has happened, and the man looks modern – no Victorian era ghosts here! Well, huns, I’ve got something to tell you: what you’re experiencing isn’t ghostly activity. It’s activity from all three astral beings: ghosts, spirits and poltergeists. You might be wondering what’s the difference. They’re all dead, after all, and they’re all their to be disturbed by your questions into the darkness.
But you’ll be wise to know that there is a difference between these three-unknown phenomenon’s. So, let’s go back to this formidable white lady seen at the pub window every day during the month of May. She’s seen at 9:05 am, no earlier and no later, and she steps backwards and disappears at 9:12 am, no earlier, no later. You can discount that this is just someone playing dress up, mainly because the pub does not have anyone living in it, and only opens at 11:30 am. Staff do not arrive until 10:00am. The white lady is seen wearing a dress from a different time period. Her hair is in a bun. She stares at nothing, her hand clutched to a necklace around her chest. She ignores you when you wave. She doesn’t smile at you. She doesn’t even look at you. Her eyes are fixed on something we can’t see.
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f such a thing exists, this is what we call a ghost. A ghost is what we know as paranormal activity. A knock when you ask? Must be a ghost. Your car keys disappearing only to appear where you looked earlier? Definitely a ghost. But instances like this are not due to ghosts. Why not? Because a ghost cannot interact with the modern day. A ghost is an energy stuck in a continuous cycle, unaware that their life as they knew it is over, that they died a long time ago, and that the world has moved on. Therefore, the white lady is only seen during the month of May: because May doesn’t end for this woman. Therefore, she
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S P I R I T -T H E N O N - P H YS I C A L PA RT O F A P E R S O N W H I C H I S T H E S E AT O F E M OT I O N S A N D C H A R A C T E R ; T H E S O U L .
GHOST - AN APPARITION OF A DEAD PERSON WHICH IS BELIEVED TO APPEAR OR BECOME MANIFEST TO THE LIVING, TYPICALLY AS A NEBULOUS IMAGE.
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Ghosts, Spirits and Poltergeists
A B O U T .
If it’s possible that poltergeists exist, then it’s possible they can become violent and angry. They tend to be made of a different emotional standard than spirits. Many people believe poltergeists latch on to those
And that’s the differences, my friends, between ghosts, spirits and poltergeists. At least, that’s what we’ve been led to believe. But who am I to tell you what’s what? After all, none of us are experts, are we? Except maybe Rylan! Jack Strange is an author and a writer from South Wales. He has two zombie apocalypse novels available to buy on Amazon. He also films an online ghost series called The Spirit Diaries, formerly known as Jack and Laura Ghost Series.
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A N D
T H R O W I N G
O B J E C T S
Poltergeists tend to be anything from spirits that move your keys, to being mischievous and tugging at your hair. A poltergeist knows where they are, and who is stood before them. They’re able to interact with you, and the surroundings around you, frightening you and spooking you out. A poltergeist may even be able to levitate an item, but I’ve never seen that happen.
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spirit is someone who has passed on, but they are willing and able to visit whenever they want to. A spirit doesn’t have to necessarily have died in the area. They don’t even have needed to have lived in that haunted manor house, or served behind the bar in that haunted pub. They have simply chosen to revisit.
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et’s move on to poltergeists. We’ve been conditioned to believe that a poltergeist will hurt us by throwing knives straight at our hearts, all whilst flooding the place and then burning it down with us tied to the floor. This is quite an extreme idea of poltergeists.
M A K I N G
The woman doesn’t know the pub has changed hands since she has been there. She doesn’t know you are stood watching her. She doesn’t know the world is potentially facing a nuclear war. She’s safe in her little bubble. Think of her as a recording: she’s just being played and rewound.
A spirit can be very similar to a poltergeist. They’re able to interact with you by knocking when you ask, speaking or moving objects. However, a spirit, unlike a poltergeist, is thought to be able to go wherever it wants to go. Unlike ghosts and poltergeists, a spirit can follow you from your house, down to your local shop, and help you put items into your shopping trolley. A spirit can sit next to you, and spend as long as they want watching the EastEnders omnibus, if they so wish to choose to do so.
And then she goes, disappears from our realm, only to do it all over again, exactly the same, the next day.
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going through changes such as puberty. They also believe that poltergeists have more of a tendency to go rogue. They’re the chavs of the paranormal world.
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P O LT E R G E I S T - A G H O S T O R O T H E R S U P E R N AT U R A L B E I N G S U P P O S E D LY R E S P O N S I B L E F O R P H Y S I C A L D I S T U R B A N C E S
stares at what we can’t see. Maybe there was another house stood where you’re stood right now. Or maybe she was waiting for someone to come back home. During the time of 9:02 and 9:12, she stands patiently.
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so, we put jayne harris and katrina weidman in a small office, gave them snacks, drinks and left them to it. we had one condition, for jayne to ask katrina some questions and for katrina to answer the questions that we asked her, YES, we know it’s two conditions but hey let’s not split paranormal hairs shall we. Jayne Harris in conversation with…Katrina Weidman
It’s the back end of 2017 and let me tell you that Sisters are most certainly doing it for themselves! But let’s not get too bogged down with the whole ‘Girl-Power’ thing just yet…OK maybe now we can! Zig-a-Zig-aaah. Katrina Weidman is a woman on a mission…to bring REAL, RAW paranormal investigations into your homes (well your TV’s at least!). Katrina took some time out of her very busy schedule to chat! J: Hi Katrina, thank you for taking the time to do this. First of all, in case anyone has been living on another planet lately…tell us who you are and what you do! K: I’m probably best known as a Paranormal Researcher and Investigator. I started in the field 11 years ago. I’ve been the case manager of The Paranormal Research Society, I’m Co-Founder of Atherton Paranormal, and have been hosting paranormal investigation TV shows (Paranormal State, Real Fear, and Paranormal Lockdown) since 2007. J: Pretty impressive CV so far! So where did you grow up? K: I grew up outside of Philadelphia in a very historic area where everyone seems to have a ghost story! J: Do you come from a family of paranormal enthusiasts? K: Yes and No. My Dad is very rooted in science so he’s more sceptical of the supernatural, but my mom is more open to the unexplained. There’s been a lot of unexplained experiences on my mom’s side of the family. Including multiple family members living in
haunted houses and having psychic abilities. On my mom’s side it was never a question of whether or not the paranormal existed. J: I guess having that balance of opinions is the best environment to grow up in when you’re looking to explore the supernatural. Over the years have you found other people to be generally accepting of your involvement in the paranormal or do some people think it’s unusual? K: It’s interesting because it has changed tremendously over the years. When I was younger I was kind of the weird girl if I brought it up. J: Yep I know that feeling! K: I would have sleepovers and at least one girl would go home crying because they were scared of my house (it was haunted). As I became a teen I could talk about it with my close friends, but that was really it, and it was still weird if I brought it up because most of them weren’t into it. J: Do you think societies views in general have changed over the years? K: Since I started in the field professionally there’s been a dramatic shift in views that I’ve noticed. I remember there were towns we went to during an investigation that would protest what we were doing. They didn’t want us there and had no issue making it known. There was a time I was working with a Jewish family and I was calling around the area looking for help and the Rabbi I spoke to scoffed at me and abruptly ended the call.
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Today it’s more accepting. I think that’s the best thing that has come out of the popularity of the paranormal TV shows. People who have had these experienced don’t feel so alone or like they can’t talk about it. Also, people who are non-believers seem to be a little more open to the possibility that something exists and are willing to hear/talk about it. Now when I’m on the road I’m generally met with more curiosity about the field vs judgements. J: I’m curious, if you weren’t a Paranormal Investigator and TV Host, what line of work do you think you’d be doing now? K: Oh my, there’s lots! I went to school for Theatre and Music, I’ve also had training in Makeup artistry and have been cooking and baking since I was a kid, so that was also a career option. The arts were always my first love, along with the paranormal. If I wasn’t in the paranormal or any kind of art related field, I’d go into Law or Anthropology. I actually entered college as a Psychology major and had also thought about teaching at one point. J: Wow so lots of options! Do you have 1 stand out scary moment from your work in the supernatural field? K: There’s so many, but really I think the one that shook me the most was at 30 East Drive. There was one other time in my career where I ended up with scratches on my body, but I never felt them happening and didn’t notice them until after the investigation. So I can’t say for sure what caused them.
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K: It’s changed over the years, but I can say I find myself in the middle these days. I’m a believer that there are things in this world that we cannot yet explain. These experiences do happen, it’s just that right now we don’t have the science to fully back it up. Technology is getting better, but still it’s hit or miss, but something is happening.
At 30 East Drive, however, I have zero way to explain what happened. I was standing there, not really investigating yet, and I felt this intense burning on my stomach. I knew what that meant after years of interviewing thousands of witnesses to the supernatural. I kept thinking in my head, “there’s no way. No way that’s scratches”. I lifted up the TWO shirts I was wearing and sure enough there were two fresh scratches on my stomach.
K: That was all Nick. It’s funny, Nick and I have known of each other for years. It’s a small field and even if you haven’t met, you know one another. One day he cold emailed and then cold called me and said, “What are you doing?” and that was that. We connected instantly and it really felt like we were long lost siblings. He told me the idea and I loved it because it’s how we (investigators) really investigate, spending hours on
I find myself more of a sceptic when it comes to specific stories. As we all know eye witness accounts are not always accurate and we also have to take into account people’s personal beliefs, as that will affect how they interpret their experience. We have to keep in mind that no one can say 100% what the paranormal is until we have it scientifically proven. Even then, it’s a long road. I think the paranormal works on a spectrum and that there’s multiple elements at play. So for example if we scientifically prove or disprove a shadow figure,
It felt like my entire foundation had been taken away from me. All these thoughts raced through my mind and yet it felt like I couldn’t think at all. It’s one thing to experience paranormal activity, it’s another to have it happen to your own body where it actually shows markings. It makes the activity tangible and very personal. It scared me and was the only time I wanted to cry due to activity that had occurred. I think about that night a lot. Maybe it’s not what people say it is, maybe there is a natural explanation (or one science can’t back up yet), but something happened to me there. What I find fascinating is that multiple people have all experienced spontaneous scratches in that house. For 50 years it’s been, what we would call, a violent haunting. Whether you believe in ghosts or think it’s bogus, something is manifesting physically at 30 East Drive! J: You’re possibly most well know for your role in Paranormal Lockdown with friend and cohost Nick Groff. How did the idea for what is now one of the most popular paranormal TV shows come about?
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end and even sleeping over, that’s how real investigations are done. I joke with him about this because when we first started talking he said, “You know, you can leave the property to do research or whatever, I have to stay though”. Slowly over the next few weeks he started to tell me that I wouldn’t be leaving, but I still wasn’t sure what was going on until we started working together. J: Do you consider yourself a Believer, Sceptic or somewhere in between?
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that doesn’t necessarily mean we have the whole field figured out. There’s a very long road ahead of us. The best thing, I find, is to be open minded while keeping a good dose of scepticism. J: Wise words. What advise would you give to anyone who believes they have a negative spirit in their home? K: That’s a hard question to answer because it really depends on the case itself. To really give good advice I’d have to interview the client’s multiple
“the best thing, I find, is to be open minded while keeping a good dose of scepticism”
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times. What I will say is what I would say to anyone who thinks they’re experiencing a haunting. If you’ve ruled out all natural explanations, start documenting everything. The best thing you can do is keep a log book. Write down times, dates, witnesses, weather, emotional stresses going on at the time, etc. You might start to notice a pattern. If things persist and you do need an investigation that log book is invaluable to investigators. J: Life on the road can be hectic, what do you do to relax? K: It is pretty hectic. My number one thing on the road is to try to keep as normal a routine as possible. So I have my bedtime routine, my AM routine, try to do some kind of workout, and keep up with life as much as I can. Meditation and journaling have been great to help with stress. I also travel with a candle that I try to light whenever I can so I get a more “homey” feel on the road. When I’m home, I really enjoy playing music with my band and writing new music, cooking and coming up with new recipes, working out, dancing, reading (I love book stores!), going out with friends. I also keep negative people at bay, that def. helps take down the stress levels! J: You’ll hate me for this… but…what is the single most embarrassing moment of your life? – and keep it clean! K: Oh man! I don’t know if it’s appropriate to say! No I can’t tell you BUT one I can tell you about was when I was in middle school. I was in colour guard for a year and we had these awful costumes. They were pretty much a black cat suit, but with wide leg pants (awful!). Anyway, we had just received them a few days before our first game and I didn’t have time to get them hemmed. Right when I hit the 50yard line when I was front and centre I tripped on those awful pants and fell face first onto the grass. Luckily my body took over and I got up right away and kept going. I don’t really
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find it embarrassing now, but at the time I was pretty mortified. J: Brilliant. That would haunt me forever! (pardon the pun). OK, so would you describe yourself as an introvert or extrovert? K: A little bit of both I guess. I get energy from going out, being around people, especially in cities, I am a ball of energy. But I absolutely need time away from all of that to recharge. So there are days where I just need to lock myself in my house and not talk to anyone, within reason of course. J: What is your proudest achievement? K: My proudest achievement (to date) would have to be my college degrees. I was always a shy kid when I was younger so I was scared to speak up in crowds or around adults. So I was put into special classes as a kid. When I was in third grade I had a teacher that told me I would never amount to anything and that no one would want to hire me for a job. I think those experiences kind of stuck with me because I just started believing that and modified my behaviour to fit. Generally speaking, I was very bored in school except when it came to the arts and the law classes I had, and of course the social aspect. I would get good grades at first and then would just get completely bored and not excel. College was not in my plans and I never really believed I was the “academic” type. That all changed when I dropped off a friend at Penn State University. It was an overwhelming feeling of “this is where I need to be right now”. I was told I wouldn’t get into my college of choice so I was pretty much on my own as far as navigating the process to get there and transfer from a community college. I cried when I got my acceptance letter. There were a lot of people in my life who thought I wouldn’t do it, or that it was a fleeting dream, but three degrees later and I proved them wrong.
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J: You certainly proved the third grade teacher wrong! What’s your biggest fear? K: Drowning and how quickly time passes! J: You mentioned earlier, and this is something readers may not know about you, that you front a band called “AwayFrom30’, I’ve heard you and you’re a talented singer. Is music your first love or the paranormal? K: Thank you! Well, you know they both started very early for me. I grew up in haunted houses so I can’t remember a time where the paranormal wasn’t a part of my life. Music started at maybe 4 years old. I remember I would go to my grandmother’s house and just play the piano making things up. I’d walk around the house making up songs. When I was 10 a started taking violin lessons and a year later I taught myself piano and have been writing songs ever since. I don’t know that it’s an either or situation. They are both very much a part of me, but speak to different sides of my personality. Music really is attached to my soul, where the paranormal is the side of me that is determined the find the truth. J: You have achieved so much already, but there must be something on your ‘bucket list’ that you hope to achieve one day? Can you tell us? K: Oh there’s many. Our world is an amazing place with so much to learn and do. I think the bottom line for me is to continue to go after the things that bring me joy and passion. I don’t find much of a point in doing things that make you feel otherwise. J: I’d like to really get into the head of Katrina Weidman so here’s a few quick ones for fun!If you could time travel, which time period would you visit and why? K: So many! I’d probably say the Renaissance though. Ever since I was a kid I’ve been very connected
to that time period. It always seemed so magical. In reality though I’m sure it wouldn’t be as magical as I’ve made it in my head. So maybe I’d go to the future. J: Which is best, Summer or Winter? K: Now that’s hard. I love a good snowstorm curled up on the couch or cooking the day away. I snowboard so winter is good as long as there’s snow and I don’t have to clean off
my car (I hate doing it!). Summer is great because there’s so much to do! Concerts, the beach, tubing, cookouts. But all in all I’d have to say Fall. Halloween, Hocus Pocus on repeat, hayrides, and my clothing options are abundant. Jeans, skirts, boots, sneakers. Yup. Def. a Fall girl. J: LOL – all my friends and family know I’m 100% an Autumn (fall) girl. Always been my favourite time of year. The changing colours, crisp
bright days – YES! Last one, and arguably THE most important question… If you could have 1 super power what would you choose? K: I always used to say flying, but I think being invisible would probably be more practical. Thank you so much for giving us an insight into the life of Katrina Weidman!
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CAGED: INSIDE ST OSYTH’S
HAUNTED WITCHES PRISON BY RICHARD ESTEP
A
paramedic, a nurse, a shop worker and a priest walk into a haunted prison for witches…
You’d be forgiven for thinking that this was the opening for a joke. Instead, it’s exactly what happened in late January of 2016 when I put together a small team to help me investigate the Cage in the sleepy seaside town of St Osyth. Having first heard about the place on a TV documentary show, I became fascinated with the small brick building that had been used to incarcerate those accused of witchcraft during the 1582 witch trials. When owner Vanessa Mitchell offered me the keys to the place for a week, I jumped at the chance to move in. Vanessa hadn’t lived there for several years, having fled the place in terror on the day she found the apparition of a man standing
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over the crib of her young son. Although the figure was simply staring down at the boy and had not caused him any apparent harm, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back, the latest in a long list of paranormal encounters that had driven Vanessa almost to her wits’ end. At first it was tempting to dismiss Vanessa’s story as simply the product of an overly active imagination, or perhaps the tales of somebody who simply wanted notoriety and publicity. Yet the sheer number of witnesses who have reported seemingly paranormal experiences inside the Cage argued against that. John Fraser conducted a lengthy review of the eyewitness testimony and concluded that there were several significant commonalities between the accounts of people who had never even met one another, let alone shared their stories. It appeared that something intriguing was going on inside the Cage, and I wanted to know exactly what it was. The Cage itself is a single room that is no bigger than my dining room at home. The thought of ten or fifteen poor souls being crammed inside it for long stretches of time, shackled and manacled to the wall, was enough to turn the stomach. Over the years, a small house had been built around it, with a kitchen and living room directly connected, and two bedrooms plus a bathroom upstairs. It was compact enough that four investigators could cover the entire structure with ease, particularly as it came pre-wired with CCTV cameras that fed back to a monitor screen that was mounted on one of the kitchen walls.
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Along with my fellow paranormal investigator Stephen, I flew into Heathrow on a grey and gloomy January morning, having made the nine hour non-stop flight from Denver. Vanessa was willing to give us a quick tour of the Cage, but only during the hours of daylight. She was not comfortable stepping foot inside her former home once darkness had fallen. I fired up my handheld digital voice recorder, and Stephen activated the bracelet on his wrist that also did double duty as an EVP recorder. After covering the ground floor, Vanessa led us upstairs. It was dark enough up there that I asked whether there were any lights up there. We were standing on the upstairs landing, and Vanessa pointed out the closest light switch. I thought nothing of it until later that evening, when the pair of us were both going over our audio files. Listening with headphones, I sat bolt upright in surprise when I reached the section of the MP3 file that had been recorded on the landing. No sooner had I enquired about the presence of a light than a raspy voice croaked: ‘Yes…in the bathroom.’ It quite plainly was not Vanessa’s voice. Not only did it sound like that of a very old woman, but it could be heard speaking over Vanessa. We were the only three people inside the Cage (we’d searched it from top to bottom to make sure) and
so there was no way that a living person could have been responsible. The EVP was intelligent and seemed to be responding directly to my question – there was indeed a light in the bathroom. “Tell me you caught that,” I said, handing the headphones to Stephen. His eyes went wide in astonishment when he heard the old woman’s voice, and he quickly skipped ahead to the same section of his own recording. Interestingly enough, his recorder had only caught a partial section of the same EVP…the word ‘yes.’ This was validation for us, as we had caught the same voice on two separate recorders, and yet I couldn’t figure out why one of the recordings was incomplete. My best guess is that the recorder inside Stephen’s wrist band is less sensitive than that of my handheld unit.
It was one hell of a welcome to the Cage. The next day, the other half of my team arrived. Lesley and Caroline had traveled a few thousand miles less than we had, and were ready to hit the ground running. Over the course of the next few days, we threw every investigative trick in our playbook at the Cage, ranging from the tech-heavy approach to more arcane methods such as the human pendulum, spirit board, and scrying. Our experiences would be both subjective (Lesley suddenly being overcome by a feeling of intense sadness which reduced her to tears, while also feeling ice cold) to the demonstrably objective, such as the exterior door slamming itself shut when nobody was near it and with no gusts of wind to explain it away. My laptop – the same trusty old device on which I write
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these words now, and on which I’ve written over ten books without so much as a single technical glitch – decided to go haywire one night, the Microsoft Word file that I had open suddenly scrolling as though being perused by some unseen reader. (The laptop worked perfectly prior to my visiting the Cage, and has worked perfectly ever since). Despite Stephen’s best efforts to bless the Cage and attempt to rid the former prison of the malign entities which are said to haunt it, the Cage remains active to this day. The full story is documented in Spirits of the Cage: True Accounts of Living in a Haunted Medieval Prison, by Richard Estep & Vanessa Mitchell, published by Llewellyn Worldwide in September (USA) and October (UK and Europe).
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WHEN AMERICA’S LEADING PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR MET THE UK’S LEADING PARANORMAL MAGAZINE…
WE ASKED YOU FOR QUESTIONS FOR NICK GROFF, YOU GAVE US QUESTIONS FOR NICK GROFF… WE ASKED NICK FOR ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS, HE GAVE US ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS… LOUISA SHOWELL: Hi Nick, just wanted to know, after a lockdown, does the premises get blessed, I mean a lot can get stirred up and also a lot of sprits need help to move on!
JAM I E ALLE N : H i N i c k ! Wa s just wondering...Will Paranormal Lockdown take another trip outside the United States? NICK: The Black Monk House was amazing! I’m sure there’s another location just as “crazy intense” that you have on your International Paranormal Radar? We definitely would love to in the near future... I’d personally love to travel the world given that a lot of “never seen before” locations that I think fans would like to see explored and investigated. You never know where we will go next.
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NICK: We only bless the locations if Katrina and I feel that it’s completely necessary. We’ve found in the past that some haunted locations we investigated were said to have an evil spirit or energy but after a thorough paranormal investigation, we concluded that the haunting was clearly a spirit that was trying to communicate with people who weren’t paranormal investigators. These people would become very scared and demand for a blessing to occur when in fact most paranormal investigators would’ve known that there was nothing to be afraid of. I will say that I’ve found that blessing locations, especially the wrong ones, can actually increase or perhaps make what was once considered a basic haunting and make it an extremely aggressive haunting. I follow up routinely with the owners of locations I’ve used sage in or asked others to bless to make sure everything’s still calm.
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ADRIANNA GIBSON: Do you think people who have had stressful upbringings can become more sensitive to the paranormal because they’re more aware of emotionally charged environments? NICK: If you’re referring to a stressful upbringing for people living in haunted houses in their early years, then I would say absolutely. Both, Katrina and someone else I know who’s close to me grew up in very haunted houses. The sometimes-negative nature of the haunting caused not only them stress but also stressed their parents and siblings. When you live in such an oppressive location for years that’s supposed to be a safe haven, you never seem to forget that feeling or the energy lurking inside your bedroom or somewhere in your house. TESSIE SCHUSTER: Research seems like a pivotal part of any paranormal investigation, especially in locations that have a sordid history. Can you describe your research process and tell us what you find most interesting about this pre-lockdown part?
WE RECEIVED OVER 1,000 QUESTIONS, SADLY WE COULD ONLY PICK 10.
NICK: Most if not all the locations I select each season have been sitting on a compiled list for many years and have already been researched. Gaining access into certain locations requires extra time, especially when we’re dealing with the state departments. Even though I may not be doing some of those locations on my list, I continue to research them until that day comes when we actually get in. I also want to point out that again this is paranormal and no matter how much research one can do at a location, you need to be prepared that it can change on you immediately based on the paranormal investigation. The historical aspects researched can suggest one thing but something else could be residing at haunted locations that’s far too old for people to make a record of it. JOEY HACKER: At final product, PL is roughly 40-44 minutes of actual tape. And some of that footage gets repeated following commercials and what have you. That said, I’d be curious to know how much captured proof doesn’t make the final cut? It’s got to be tons of stuff. Is there sometimes a dilemma of what to put in and take out?
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NICK: This is exactly why I love staying 72 hours at a haunted location. To me, it’s the perfect amount of time that’ll allow us to capture more than enough footage of paranormal activity. I would say that about eighty percent of the time we have enough footage that we could easily make a two-hour episode instead of the basic forty-fourminute episode. I’ve been working with network executives about trying to find a way to allow the fans to watch the extra footage either on extra-long episodes or perhaps upload them to an online source. DEBRAH THOMPSON: You seem to be much more sensitive/aware now than when you first started ghost hunting. Do you think all your investigative research has opened you up or have you always been a sensitive but just blocked it or didn’t show it? NICK: Thanks. You’re right, I’m much more sensitive/aware now than I was when I started. I started recognizing that I was being more sensitive after constantly venturing and working in the paranormal field on a daily basis. There’s rarely downtime to allow for the energy one can absorb at haunted location, a chance to dissipate. Sometimes this energy can be negative and follow you home. Luckily, I’m sensitive enough now to know when something paranormal has breached my home. STACIE SPAHR: Besides the physical drain of 72 hours, how do you mentally and physically prepare for entering into an investigation? What do you do after the lockdown once you get home? Do you cleanse mind and body prior to returning to your homes? Is there a routine BEFORE and AFTER the lockdowns? (That’s more than 1 question! - Paul) NICK: If I have free time I like to exercise at a gym. This allows me the energy to investigate a full twenty-four hours when the paranormal activity is aggressive. When I get home, I like to take a long shower. You’d be surprised how much dust and crud get wedged deep into my skin. Katrina and my body are normally littered with dust mite bites. It’s important that we clean this to prevent skin infections. As it relates to cleansing my mind and body, it can
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depend whether I came in contact with a negative spirit. If so, I would use sage to spiritually cleanse my myself and house. TD HARRIS: How do you think they (ghosts, spirits) scratch, especially through clothing? How is that possible? NICK: That is a great question. We have been researching this for years and more so recently. To make contact within our reality is incredibly rare, but it does happen. Katrina and I both experienced that at 30 east drive. We are still trying to figure out how something we can’t see can scratch our own body. BARRY McDONALD: Hi Nick. My question is regarding the investigation of the Monroe House - what was the outcome on the human remains that were found in the basement? NICK: An update on that would be amazing! Stay tuned as we will be releasing more on the Monroe House very soon. I’m extremely confident that every single question people have regarding the Monroe house and the human remains will be answered in the near future to come. KATIE WALLER: I love the Wonderbox, what is your favourite piece of equipment and why? NICK: I really love the Geoport at the moment. We are now perfecting our devices to be even better. The reason is I can hear voices clear and intelligently respond to me in real time. SUSAN WADE: Scariest place you’ve been SO FAR? I have been to a lot of places that made me feel uncomfortable. Hinsdale House was one of those places that took me off guard and I still want to learn more. The location has an energy about it like no other place. The land is extremely haunted. FAVOURITE QUESTION BY FAR (172 PEOPLE ASKED THIS): Would you ever be looking at doing a tour in the U.K.? NICK: Yes, my crew with the Nick Groff Tour has been talking about bringing our events to the UK. Hopefully we can
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plan some in the near future. Checkout our website NickGroffTour.com HAUNTED MAGAZINE: What is the cereal of choice for a Paranormal Lockdown, do you have regular choice or just go with whatever is available? NICK: We don›t really eat cereal, but we do try and eat as much as possible, because it is very gruelling on the body. It is very dusty sometimes, so difficult to eat in some locations. (Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes for me – HM) ANDY SOAR: Did you ask Rob to write the music for PL or did you hear it and think “I’m having that, thank you?” NICK: I had an idea in mind with what I wanted for the intro to PL to sound like. I told Rob about it. He told me to give him a chance to present a song to me and he went and wrote the entire song. Upon hearing it for the very first time, I said; “We’re definitely using this!” I had him make some small changes and boom, I was sold on the track to be the intro. I wasn’t surprised by Rob’s musical talent given that Rob let me hear some of his old music recordings while we were driving to the TransAllegheny Lunatic Asylum. PETE COX: What does the future hold for Nick Groff, can you tell us anything, anything at all for 2018? NICK: I am working on a ton of new projects and have a lot in the works. I am excited for 2018! (OOH YOU TEASE – HM) LEE ROBERTS: Why 72 hours? why not more, why not less? NICK: Every location we select to be in “Paranormal Lockdown” has a history of being very haunted. I never want to sleep inside a peaceful haunted house. I want to put myself in the best possible scenario that’ll allow Katrina and I to potentially capture amazing evidence that will validate the paranormal. I’ve also found that rolling cameras twentyfour hours a day for three straight days, gives Katrina and I the perfect amount of time to capture a lot more evidence. SIMON POWELL: What’s it like to work with Katrina Weidman & Elizabeth Saint?
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NICK: They are both amazing! They both have great personalities and are very smart. We are working hard to push the paranormal forward everyday. JASON WALL: Is it all done and dusted at Hinsdale House & Black Monk House? Can you close a book on a location, ever? NICK: It›s very hard to close the case file on a haunted location. There›s been far too many cases where people living inside a house that was once extremely haunted but remained peaceful for many years until one day the paranormal activity starts up again. Something explainable like a renovation can reawaken the paranormal activity, so I›m always keeping my case files open. I›ve been researching a lot more on the Hinsdale House. JAMES PYKETT: Would you ever work with ghost hunters in the UK, I know a few (ahem)? NICK: I would most certainly work with Ghost Hunters in the UK. I pride myself on not being a “know-it-all”, especially working in a field that revolves around the unexplained. I like to hear various theories from researchers and paranormal investigators about certain cases. I’ve found that when I leave a haunted location after investigating it for 72 hours, there’s normally a local team of paranormal investigators that will continue to invest their time to investigate it further. I love to follow up and hear and see what they’ve captured. Thanks to EVERYONE who sent in questions, we had over 1100 so it was very hard to pick just a few, a lot of the questions were very similar, so we hope that some of your personal questions form part of Nick’s answers. We have kept all the questions and may do this again, sometime soon. A massive thanks to Nick for taking time out to answer the questions, we picked a mixture of serious / not so serious and Nick answered them perfectly when others might have not answered them.
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JAMES PYKETT’S
T
HAUNTED NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
he idea of Haunted Nottinghamshire started with the combined love that I have for both the Paranormal and History. The Paranormal excites me, it’s the unknown, it’s that little voice in the back of your head questioning all rational thought and making you search for more and more! The History on the other hand, well that just blows me away! I love it, I love the way in which we used to live, I love the way in which we used to die, and in all honesty, I feel I was born in the wrong era! You would think that combining these with where I live would keep the smile stretching from ear to ear? Well unfortunately that’s not always the case, in fact, this time it’s the complete opposite. In my last article, we visited a place where the worst of the worst resided. Now the National Justice Museum, it housed Nottinghamshire’s most notorious criminals, from thieves to murderers, this was not a place that you would want to call home. Yet, even with such a horrific reputation, awful conditions and the possibility of death, for some it wasn’t enough of a deterrent, and one of those went by the name of Charles Rotherham. If you have ever driven the length of the A60, a road that stretches from the centre of Nottingham all the way through Mansfield, you’ll know that it is long, winding, and in places very treacherous. What many don’t know, is that there is a memorial stone along this stretch, to a young local girl who
suddenly and brutally had her life taken away from her at the hands of Mr Rotherham. It has been the cause of many stories since, mainly Ghost stories and tale of her return, wandering that stretch of road trying to find peace. Before we talk about the young girl in question, let’s find out a little more about Mr Rotherham, yes, we know he was a disgusting and vile creature for his crime, but who was he? At the time of his crime, Charles was in his early thirties, an ex-soldier, and given the time in History; 1817, someone that by association to the armed forces would have been heavily looked down upon. Given his age, he could well have fought in the Napoleonic Wars, the army was a way to escape the harsh poverty-stricken life that many of these men faced. This would therefore mean that the army was primarily made up of men that were uneducated, struggling to survive and desperate, the old phrase ‘Cannon Fodder’ comes to mind here! It was that bad, that in the Battle of Waterloo, Wellington was quoted as saying that the British Army were ‘The scum of the Earth and the dregs of Society’ Have I helped paint a picture of the man in question? If not, don’t worry, by the end of this you will know exactly who we are dealing with. In 1817 work was hard to come by. It was far different to now where we can just pop online to see what vacancies there are, times were tough, you had to go looking for employment! On the morning of 7th July 1817, one young lady by the name of Elizabeth
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Shepherd did just that. There are differing accounts of the surname of Elizabeth as her memorial stone reads ‘Sheppard’ yet a baptism in 1799 and the Parish Burial records both record her as Shepherd. Although there may be confusion of her Surname, it is certain that on this day, she did not return home. Elizabeth was known locally as Bessie. She had left her Village of Papplewick in Nottingham and headed towards the Village of Mansfield. She was remembered as being a very pleasant young soul, full of life and very determined. She had travelled the 7-8 miles to Mansfield on foot, arriving with the hope of employment and leaving with just that! She had been successful, she was at the start of her life and back in the early 1800’s earning a living was paramount.
“Her Mother had returned home shortly afterwards, but unfortunately Bessie never did.”
As you can imagine, it was a long and tiring walk and as the evening drew in her Mother had started to become worried by her absence. She became that worried that she started to walk the path that Bessie had taken earlier that morning. As soon as she had started, she recalls seeing a man walking the opposite way, she stated that he had an umbrella under his arm but there was no sign of her daughter. Her Mother had returned home shortly afterwards, but unfortunately Bessie never did. Charles had already crossed paths with her daughter, and he was the last person that she would ever see whilst alive. Until this day no one knows why he took Bessie’s life. Newspaper reports state that he had beaten her to death with a hedge stake, maybe we will never know the exact motive but after finding no money on her, he made the mistake that led to his capture. He had taken personal items from Elizabeth, her new shoes that she was wearing to find work, and her…Umbrella. After leaving the bludgeoned body of Bessie in a ditch, he made the short journey to The Hutt, a Public House where he sat and had a drink. It is believed that he may even have sold the items that he had taken from Elizabeth, again further proving his guilt and resigning him to his fate. Charles was apprehended the following day not long after Bessie’s body had been found. Her body was in a terrible state, the details of which I have read but I won’t burden you all with those mental images. From her injuries sustained it really is unimaginable how this was a ‘chance’ encounter with no motive, but from all other facts it seems that it was. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. An innocent girl that had her life cut short before it really began. There are suggestions that Mr Rotherham could not have been the killer. He admitted all responsibility yet he could not recall anything from the event. He had earlier been seen to have drank 7 pints of ale at an Inn before leaving Mansfield. Could it be that he was not the killer? After 7 pints of ale and a brutal Murder would you then go for another drink in The Hutt? No one really knows, only Bessie…
After trial Mr Rotherham was found guilty and hung for the Murder of Elizabeth Shepherd. It is said that over 20,000 people attended the public execution on the 28th July 1817, where after his body was given to a local surgeon before being handed over to St Mary’s Church in Nottingham. The very Church that sits the opposite side of the road to The National Justice Museum! As for Bessie, we are left to wander where her life would have taken her. Many believe that she is still with us. Numerous sightings of a girl have been seen by motorists travelling the A60 at night, some which have gone as far as pulling over to offer her a lift as they believe that she was lost. I really hope that she is at rest, maybe they did have the wrong man? There are always going to be ghost stories around tragic events as we know, crime, love and murder all make for a perfect backdrop. Unfortunately, this time I just can’t get excited at the details and findings as they are too upsetting. The memorial stone that lies today is not in the exact spot of Bessie’s Murder. It had been moved as the original spot was causing issues for motorists to the point that vehicles collided with it. With every collision came another Ghost Story, of the unsettled girl that had been awoken by the disturbance of her stone. When learning of Bessie’s Story, I thought that it was only right to visit her stone and pay my respects. Weirdly I found myself walking down this extremely dangerous road with no pedestrian path, cars flying passed and no regard for my own safety. When I finally located her spot, I knelt and sat there in silence for a few minutes. It was extremely humbling and sad, yet I then started to talk to the stone. Not in a crazy way of course, I just had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to say sorry to her. No words that I could ever express would be able to change what happened on that awful day, but for me it gave myself a little piece of closure. I am truly sorry for what happened to you Elizabeth, and I will never let your story be forgotten.
RIP Our Bessie x
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S O J U S T W H AT T H E H E C K I S
GHOSTS OF
SHEPHERDSTOWN WE SEE RED PEOPLE - QUEST RED PEOPLE
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n the first season of GHOSTS OF SHEPHERDSTOWN, a surge of 911 calls reporting what appeared to be supernatural activity in Shepherdstown, W.V., inspired Police Chief Michael King to enlist the help of paranormal investigators to figure out why the town had become such a hotbed for hauntings. Nick Groff, Bill Hartley, and Elizabeth Saint, with the help of local historian Dana Mitchell and psychic medium Lorie Johnson, uncovered clues linking the rash of mysterious incidents to Shepherdstown’s historic waterways and a woman murdered on accusations of witchcraft in the town’s early history. The first season finale culminated in a ceremony on the Potomac River to cleanse the town of its “Witches Curse,” which seemed to settle the ghostly activity… at least, within its own borders. Soon, Chief King began hearing from his colleagues in neighbouring police jurisdictions that the mysterious happenings had spread to their nearby towns, suggesting that Shepherdstown is only one piece to a much larger paranormal puzzle.
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After a season investigating surrounding towns, the team has been called back to Shepherdstown and worry that the evil spirit has made its way back through limestone channels. In Monday’s finale, Chief King receives a frantic call from Lisa Olney of reported poltergeist activity at the Teahouse, a local business she owns in town. Items seem to move on their own, things fly off the walls, and clip tablecloths. A tip leads the team to a pastoral centre that holds the final piece of the puzzle, when they discover through the connections of all the previous haunting sites that the spirits of Shepherdstown may have a possible satanic connection. Nick, Elizabeth and Bill must work to piece together a mysterious legend that links all the haunted locations together, and prepare to perform a dangerous exorcism which could be the key to ridding spirits from Shepherdstown once and for all. The season 2 finale of GHOSTS OF SHEPERDSTOWN airs Monday, August 28 at 10/9c on Destination America.
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ELIZABETH SAINT: Paranormal sensitive Elizabeth Saint has demonstrated a sensitivity to the supernatural. The manifestations she first experienced as a child led her to pursue a life dedicated to explaining the unexplainable. Being struck by lightning on two separate occasions sparked Saint’s interest in the natural phenomena of electricity. While completing her B.S in Electrical Engineering, with a concentration in Electrical Systems Technology, she worked as an Engineer Technician for the Department of Defence. During this time, she also deepened her understanding as a sensitive by working with Maryland Paranormal Research® as a Technician and Senior Investigator. Presently, Saint is exploring her new home state of Colorado and conducting solo investigations at commercial and residential locations along the Front Range. She uses her own engineered designs, under the name Ghostly Gadgets, during these investigations to further her research of the paranormal.
NICK GROFF: America’s leading paranormal investigator Nick Groff has been fascinated with the paranormal ever since surviving a near-death experience as a child. Now, he chases ghosts full-time with the goal of finding new evidence of the afterlife and discovering a breakthrough in paranormal research. After graduating from the University of Nevada with a B.A. in Film, Groff made his big break when he co-wrote, co-produced, codirected, co-edited, and co-starred in Ghost Adventures: The Original Documentary, which aired on the SciFi Channel in 2007. The film was a winner at the Los Angeles Film/Video Festival and was nominated for “Best Feature Film” at the Eerie Horror Film Festival. The documentary served as a pilot for the Ghost Adventures television series that debuted in 2008 on Travel Channel. Groff was an Executive Producer, co-host, and investigator on seasons 1-10. Groff is also the author of the book Chasing Spirits: The Building of the Ghost Adventures Crew. Now, Groff is the Executive Producer and Host for the hit series Paranormal Lockdown on Destination America.
BILL HARTLEY: Paranormal tech guru
JOIN THE #HAUNTEDTHURSDAY TWEETALONG ON TWITTER AND SEE THE BEST PARANORMAL ON TV FOR YOURSELF….
Bill Hartley’s introduction to the paranormal began during childhood, growing up in a house that was wrought with unusual paranormal activity. As an adult, he became a Civil War reenactor and founded the Fighting 57th North Carolina, in which he re-enacted as his ancestor 1st Sgt. Jonas Hartsell. After witnessing unusual activity at historic locations, Hartley was inspired to pursue paranormal investigation. The unexplainable phenomena Hartley witnessed led him on a journey to discover as much as he could about the paranormal. In 2006, he founded the Greater Maryland Paranormal Society and dedicated himself to helping others living in fear of the mysterious unknown. Hartley believes it is important to have a balanced point of view when it comes to the paranormal investigations. While he does believe locations can be haunted, he remains a sceptic at the same time. Hartley currently works at one of the most haunted locations in Maryland, the Westminster Hall and Burying Grounds that houses some of Maryland’s most historical figures including Edgar Allen Poe.
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“I definitely don’t think that we should fear the unknown – what we need to fear is people manipulating and misrepresenting the unknown.”
Day 1 in the Haunted Magazine office: Paul arrives with a great idea. Day 3 in the Haunted Magazine office: Paul emails great idea to person involved. Day 6 in the Haunted Magazine office: Paul types up the great idea, now with answers and passes it onto design guru Andy Day 9 in the Haunted Magazine office: Read on...
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W
e last interviewed Derek Acorah in 2011, so we thought it was about time we checked up on him, see how he’s doing, we heard a rumour that he was in some reality TV show or something over the Summer, my Big Brother told me.
Anyway, SIX years is a long time irrespective of reality TV shows, so we had pencilled Derek in for an interview very soon but what perfect time to do it now, not many people can say that they finished 4th on Celebrity Big Brother and not many magazines about all things paranormal can get to interview 4th place on Celebrity Big Brother. So, 4th in Celebrity Big Brother, how does that make you feel, you said in your interview with Emma, you thought, week 1, week 2 tops, what happened? What I said to Emma Willis was the absolute truth…. I really did think that I wouldn’t last very long because I am older and the audience tend to vote for younger and more audacious housemates. However, I did not reckon on the huge support that I received from the viewing public. I was amazed as I saw people being voted out but I still remained. I can’t thank everybody enough for keeping me in for so long. A HUGE thank you for those who went out of their way to support me, especially Lee Roberts who temporarily took over my Facebook Live facility. He did a marvellous job. We last interviewed you back in 2011, do you think the paranormal has changed in the last 6 years? Things have changed enormously, and I have to say not always for the better. I prefer the old-fashioned way of investigation. Now, however, it seems that everybody seems to be wanting to outdo each other with gadgets. I’m all for scientific research and enhancing our ability to capture spirit on film but some of the things that people use and the method in which they use them does nothing, in my opinion, to further the cause. There are investigation groups out there who I would wholeheartedly support but there are more who really do nothing to help disprove what the sceptical element have always said about paranormal investigation. It was fitting that the CBB final ended on the anniversary of your good friend
Colin Fry’s death, I know this interview is about you, but can you tell us about Colin and what he was to you? Colin was a dear friend and much missed by everybody, especially the people he helped throughout his career. I would like to think that he pops in from time to time to see how his friends are doing though of course he, like any other person in spirit, would spend his time with those he loved most whilst here on earth. The paranormal is a massive industry now, should we fear what we don’t know much about, do spirits ever ask you “why are people trying to contact us?” I can honestly say that not once has a person in spirit ever asked that question. They have always been more than happy to speak to me in order that I may pass messages on to loved ones. I would assume that any spirit person who had that question in mind would simply choose to not communicate. I definitely don’t think that we should fear the unknown – what we need to fear is people manipulating and misrepresenting the unknown. In Victorian times, the role of the psychic seemed to be for entertainment purposes i.e. extracting ectoplasm from their person or scaring people (all from behind a cleverly concealed curtain). Although there were eminent believers, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle to name but one. Who do you think were the pioneers of modern mediumship? HAUNTED MAGAZINE
Yes indeed…. that was very much the case in Victorian times and spirituality/the paranormal was done a huge disservice by the people who took part in these parlour games. Similar things still go on today as you well know, when tricks are played in an effort to fool the public though in these days of technology, the tricks in most cases are far more sophisticated than cotton wool or tissue appearing to extrude from orifices. I’m sure that Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle was not duped by such basic trickery but was more interested in true instances of mediumship and paranormal activity. As far as mediumship pioneers and interest in mediumship is concerned, television has helped greatly and these days it has been much enhanced by television coverage. As far as I know Doris Stokes was the first medium in the UK to actually appear in a documentary which covered her stage appearances (please correct me if I’m wrong) and I would like to think that I helped greatly in bringing mediumship awareness in to the lives of people through my television programmes “Psychic Livetime”, “Predictions with Derek Acorah” and “Psychic Zone” during the mid to late nineties. In 2002 the wonderful Colin Fry came to the tv screens with his programme “Sixth Sense” which gained a huge following of people who were interested in messages from spirit. “Most Haunted” played its part in bringing paranormal investigation to the eyes of the greater public although I am very well aware that there were many ghost investigation groups in existence before the days of “Most Haunted”. 47
What did you miss most in your time in the CBB house, and will you keep in touch with any of your housemates? I missed my wife Gwen most in the CBB house and of course my home life. I will certainly keep in touch with many of the people I met. If a person is evil in life, does that automatically mean that they are an evil ghost? When an individual passes over to the world of spirit they do not automatically become angelic. They maintain the same personalities that they had whilst here on earth. If a person committed an evil deed or deeds whilst living then they will be given the opportunity to atone for those deeds whilst in spirit. Some don’t wish to do so – some prefer to remain as they have always been but they will be encouraged to change their mind and make efforts to “go in to the light”. I do have to point out here that a spirit person is not a ghost, and a ghost is not a spirit person. A “spirit” is the true essence of a person who has lived on earth and maintains that personality whilst a ghost is a memory… a photograph in time…. residual energy….. and does not move from location to location as a spirit person is able to do. We asked this back in 2011 and seeing that you look the same now as you did then, we have to ask again, do you still get mistaken for Joey from 80s sitcom “Bread?” If only I did look the same as six years ago! I am more likely to be mistaken for Roy Walker from Catchphrase these days. Going back to CBB, there are rumours that you are asked most years to do it, what made it a YES, this time around, and now knowing what it involves, would you recommend it to anyone who is asked?
That is perfectly true – I have been asked to take part in Celebrity Big Brother on a number of occasions over the years and I have always refused. It just felt right to say Yes, this time and I don’t regret it one bit because largely I enjoyed myself. It would depend on the personality of the individual considering taking part in BB or CBB, but yes I would recommend it as an 48
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I think that was the one that everybody saw and found hilarious. Best Friend in the house? Two – Shaun and Helen. Who was your winner? I would have liked to have seen Amelia win, and before he was voted out I thought that Paul had a fair chance of winning.
experience. Tell us about your time at Liverpool FC? My passion from very early years was football. I used to sleep with a football rather than a teddy bear and my ambition was to become a professional footballer. I was very fortunate in that at age 15 I was taken on to the books of Liverpool Football Club by the great Bill Shankly. I was privileged in that I played football with some of the great names of the time but of course it did have its disadvantages in that I could never hope to displace the great internationals and consequently never made the First Team. Nonetheless I have many happy memories of Anfield. We also asked you this back in 2011: “Where do you see the overall acceptance of mediumship and spiritualism as a true religion in, say, five years’ time?” So, seeing that it is SIX years since we asked, has the acceptance and perception mediumship, spiritualism, changed in that time? The acceptance of mediumship and spiritualism has certainly grown over the last six years but sadly Spiritualism is still not largely accepted as a true religion. The perception is still there with some that it’s OK to poke fun at Spiritualism in a way that would be totally unacceptable with any other what is deemed “true” religion. Hopefully this will change but unfortunately, I fear that it will a very gradual process. Re: CBB, some quickfire questions: Funniest thing to have happened in the house? think that has to be the Taco Challenge when Amelia forgot to keep her mouth closed under a deluge of melted cheese. The expression on her face had us all helpless with laughter. There were many funny moments but
What happened to the Derek Acorah “trunks”? They are being framed and auctioned as a joke item in aid of the charity Pathfinder Guide Dog Programme of which Gwen and myself are patrons. Best task in the house? I enjoyed the cheer leading challenge. Worst task in the house? I would say the task involving tacos though I was one of the fortunate ones who didn’t have to dress up as a taco Three words to describe CBB? Nervewracking; fun; exciting Do you get to know who else is entering the house? No, definitely not. Everything is top secret. Nobody is aware of who else will be entering the house. I want to ask about Gwen, I know she’s not one for the limelight and it’s obvious how much love you have for each other, so I want to ask how you met and how your first date went? We had known one another from years previously when we used to go to the same clubs as teenagers. We met up again in our mid-thirties through mutual friends and went out for dinner. It grew from there. What’s the plans for the rest of 2017 and for 2018 and beyond. Are you ever going to retire? I will continue with my scheduled “Whispers from Heaven Tour” for the rest of 2017. I am working on a programme for television at the moment and am considering some offers that have come in regarding more television programming. I have theatre dates for 2018 and filming commitments. It’s a very exciting time for me. Will I retire…. undoubtedly, but not just yet. We’ve not even mentioned Most Haunted in this interview, until now, and we’ve talked about it in the past so I don’t want to go over old ground, just to ask, what do HAUNTED MAGAZINE
you think about Paranormal TV shows, the USA seems to be awash with them and seem to be loved on the UK Channels but there’s a lack of UK based shows, why is that? As you say, Most Haunted is old ground and it is actually twelve years since I had anything to do with the programme. I don’t watch paranormal programming myself, possibly because what I’ve seen it is a bit stale, uninteresting and following an old format. New ideas need to be brought to the fore in the UK which will generate fresh interest and I hope to be doing something about that! We’ve also not even mentioned your spirit guide Sam, can I ask, do you have normal chats with Sam, like mates and pals would, or is it merely a need to speak when need to speak basis, did he ever say to you “Derek, what the heck are you doing in this mad house?” I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Sam and I have chummy chats and discuss the football results but occasionally he will make comment on a situation but more in a fatherly way. My main communication with Sam is whilst meditating, prior to working and of course during my work. And finally, have you got a message to everyone who voted for you during your time in the CBB house? From our point of view, it was great to have a paranormal representative in the house and on our screens daily and social media played a massive part in it I can only thank people from the bottom of my heart for voting for me whilst in CBB and for supporting me in the manner that they did. I was unaware of the huge support that was going on whilst I was in the House and as I said earlier I have many people to thank for the monumental effort that they put in. I am more than pleased to hear many people say that it has had a positive reflection on paranormal/spiritual awareness and hope that it will have the result of television companies waking up to the fact that we need more home-grown paranormal programming.
“Paul Stevenson of Haunted Magazine, you have been evicted from this interview, please leave the Haunted Magazine office, by the backdoor ... AND PUT THAT REAM OF A4 PAPER BACK!!” 49
“BOO” S A, “BOO” S A, “BOO” S A!
U
SA, USA can easily become ‘BOO’ S A, ‘BOO’ S A where the paranormal TV show is concerned, yes, the UK may have older ghosts, Kings & Queens roaming their now ruined palaces, and our ghosts were haunting locations before most countries were still in their nappies but our friends across the ocean produce a plethora of paranormal TV shows for lovers of the Paranormal. There’s a splattering of UK based channels showing the USA shows. One such show was Ghost Asylum, which showed a group of guys, known as the Tennessee Wraith Chasers, otherwise known as TWC. Ghost Asylum was one of the very first paranormal shows to be shown on Quest Red, a new UK channel that shows a wide mix of shows, including the Paranormal.
HAUNTED TOWNS e x p l o r e s places that played key roles in the darker chapters of American history, where battle, disaster, and injustice have condemned unsettled spirits to every street corner Follow C h ri s , Do o gi e, P o rt er, and Brannon as they interview witnesses, investigate hotspots using the latest ghost hunting technology, and follow new leads until they can pinpoint who is haunting the town and why. But the team isn’t just about collecting evidence. Their modus operandi. is to find truth, if any, in the legends that have shaped each town’s paranormal notoriety.
The Tennessee Wraith Chasers, aka TWC ghost hunting team are most definitely getting their “spooky on” in this all new series as they travel across the USA investigating America’s Most Haunted towns.
HAUNTED TOWNS is about so much more than ghost stories. It’s about places of deep historical significance, where stories of hauntings are passed down over generations. Is it simply folklore, or is it true? We want to find out what is really going on in these towns,” said Jane Latman, general manager of Destination America. “With extensive experience investigating both legendary asylums and in their pre-TV days, private homes, no team is more prepared for the challenge of confirming the ghostly lore of an entire town than our beloved Tennessee Wraith Chasers.”
From infamous hotbeds like Gettysburg and Salem to small towns with turbulent pasts that fuelled generations of ghost stories
TWC heads to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where more than 51,000 soldiers lost their lives during the Civil War’s most epic
Now, the boys are back with a new show, Haunted Towns and we are hoping, praying, crossing our fingers that this comes to UK screens soon as it looks bloody amazing.
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battle. The town is a hot spot for paranormal activity and the perfect testing ground for an experiment using trigger objects that may have had personal meaning to the spirits and could activate paranormal activity. While attempting to contact ghosts from both sides of the Civil War conflict, the boys investigate a militaria shop filled with war memorabilia as well as a local farm that served as a temporary field hospital for wounded Confederate soldiers. During their attempt to connect with the restless souls of dead soldiers, TWC encounters evidence that something darker may be lurking in the legendary haunted town. Other episodes this season investigate: Salem, Massachusetts, one of the most legendary haunted towns in America. Savannah, Georgia, where hauntings plague the businesses surrounding the former site of the city’s gallows Vicksburg, Mississippi, the site of major civil unrest during Reconstruction
Bisbee, Arizona, the old mining town plagued by union strife Fall River, Massachusetts, home of Lizzie Borden
the
McDonough, Georgia, where the Camp Creek train crash of 1900 left dozens of passengers’ dead. Cape May, New Jersey, the epicentre of the Victorian Era’s Spiritualism movement.
ABOUT TENNESSEE WRAITH CHASERS The Tennessee Wraith Chasers (TWC) are a serious team of paranormal investigators who don’t take themselves too seriously. Each investigation is packed full of southern charm and wit, but when it comes down to business they don’t mess around. TWC’s motto is respect, detect, collect, meaning they rely on a unique combination of the scientific method and spiritual faith to navigate investigations. HAUNTED MAGAZINE
Growing up in an historic, and some say haunted, area of Tennessee has given them with an authentic desire to make sense of the mysterious things they’ve experienced through paranormal research. They take great pride in establishing trusted relationships with witnesses and call on the strengths of each team member to leave no stone unturned. The Wraith Chasers made their television debut as the stars of Destination America’s fan favourite series GHOST ASYLUM, in which they investigated America’s most frightening asylums, sanatoriums, penitentiaries and haunted hotspots. We were privileged to catch up with Chris and Doogie from TWC and asked them the important paranormal questions that mattered, and some that didn’t (hey, come on, we are Haunted Magazine after all).
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«We really wanted to veer away from old abandoned buildings and focus more on the hauntings still affecting people in their everyday lives» CHRIS SMITH
FOUNDER OF TENNESSEE WRAITH CHASERS
FYI, WHAT HAPPENED WHEN HM MET TWC, OK? CHRIS SMITH Founder, Tennessee Wraith Chasers Chris became fascinated with hauntings at a young age after a frightening supernatural encounter. While in his grandfather’s barn, he came face to face with a “shadow person,” a shadow-like humanoid figure also known in some cultures as “wraiths” that are usually seen in peripheral vision. Since then, Chris has devoted his life to investigating paranormal activity and later won a spot on SyFy’s Ghost Hunters Academy to train under Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango of Ghost Hunters. After returning home, Chris founded the Tennessee Wraith Chasers ghost-hunting team to investigate paranormal mysteries. Though a sceptic by nature, he’s receptive to the idea that spirits are among us but seeks hard evidence to prove it. Chris is a native of
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Gallatin, Tenn., where he was raised in a strict missionary Baptist household.
DOOGIE
desire is to find hard evidence and reveal the truth behind the unexplained to calm the fears of others and strengthen his knowledge in the field.
have experienced countless paranormal phenomena over the years as a team, and separately. Tennessee is home to one of the most famous
ARE THERE MANY WRAITHS IN TENNESSEE?
ghost stories ever told, The Bell Witch. So yeah, a few hanging around. Ha!
Co-Founder, Tennessee Wraith Chasers Doogie’s interest in the paranormal began at a young age. He has believed for many years that the house he shares with his wife and son is haunted. Living in a home with paranormal activity influenced him to study and investigate unexplained phenomenon in the surrounding area. As an investigator, he hopes to help other people like him who have experienced something they can’t explain. Doogie is well known for his comical personality and high energy approach to paranormal investigation. As co-founder of the Tennessee Wraith Chasers, Doogie implements his uncanny people skills to put clients at ease. His number-one
Chris: I believe Tennessee has a tremendous amount of hauntings simply because of its rich southern history and its many ties to the Civil War. We
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WHERE DID THE NAME COME FROM? Chris: When I founded TWC in 2009 I wanted something
different. Every other team was «The paranormal research society team of Blah Blah Blah.” So, I started researching and came across “Wraith” because it’s just one of those words that most people would be curious to know more about. It also basically defines my first paranormal experience. I thought it would keep us from immediately being written off as just another ghost hunting team. Seems to have worked so far.
SCARIEST LOCATION THAT YOU’VE BEEN TO AND EXPLAIN WHY? Chris: The scariest for me was a private historic mansion that I can›t reveal much about. It›s the only place I›ve ever had to walk out of. The violent history connected to the home plus the countless paranormal accounts I›d always heard growing up fuelled my fear, but
nothing could compare to the feeling and the experiences I faced during a solo session that lasted all of 5 minutes. Doogie: I would have to say Old South Pittsburgh Hospital in Tennessee. Every time I have ever been to this hospital I have seen or heard something paranormal. Whatever is roaming those dark halls knows me by name and always knows when I am there. The big dark shadow man always shows himself at some point and the disembodied ladies voice always calls me by name «Doogie» at the nurse’s station. This place by far is the scariest location I’ve ever been to.
Chris: We really wanted to veer away from old abandoned buildings and focus more on the hauntings still affecting people in their everyday lives. Haunted Towns takes us into the hearts of 8 communities that have been plagued with paranormal activity for years. What really attracted us to the new project was being able to interview more people and get back to our roots of helping. Ghost Asylum in my opinion was more about helping only the spirits move on. Now we
can help them and the people they affect and in some way, understand what’s going on in their business or home. Doogie: Ghost Asylum was about these massive dark places with lots of death and torture. We could test out all of our new experiments and not have to worry about harming people that were having to live in these places dealing with the after effects of us trying new ways to communicate and contain the paranormal.
SO, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GHOST ASYLUM AND HAUNTED TOWNS? HAUNTED MAGAZINE
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«I still can›t say exactly what we›re dealing with but there is something else... What that something else is, we are still trying to figure out.» DOOGIE
CO-FOUNDER OF TENNESSEE WRAITH CHASERS
Haunted Towns is still us country boys doing what we do but it’s getting back to our roots of interacting with people and residential places. Trying to tie the stories back to what the people of the town and residents of the homes we visit tell us about activity that they have experienced. We do not try anything crazy in these place for the safety of the people that still live in these locations. We do however try to help with some kind of explanation for the paranormal activity that›s going on in the locations to tie their stories
back to whatever we find and find some solid answers to what›s happening in these locations.
AND HAVE YOU ALTERED YOUR PARANORMAL PERCEPTION SINCE GA AND HT? Chris: What got me interested in the paranormal was an experience that truly altered my perception. Even after that I never changed my beliefs or my faith, I only knew what I saw was real, and unexplained.
After traveling to various paranormal hot spots around the country with a production crew, I have added more experiences but never really changed my perception on the paranormal since my first encounter. Doogie: I don›t think so. There is a paranormal realm that we enter with any investigation we do. I still can›t say exactly what we›re dealing with but there is something else... What that something else is, we are still trying to figure out.
WOULD YOU EVER COME TO THE UK? Chris: I would love the opportunity to investigate in the UK. With its rich and ancient history and folklore, I think it would be amazing. Doogie: I would love to travel to the UK and investigate as much as I could while I was there. Short answer: HELLZ YEAH! 54
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THERE SEEMS TO BE A LOT OF PARANORMAL ACTIVITY SURROUNDING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, WHY?
Chris: I believe it›s because the entire country was at unrest. Not with a foreign enemy but with each other. There were a lot of very strong opinions and feelings during that time. That plus the extreme bloodshed and energy dispersed into the land during the many battles has left a huge mark and the echoes of that carnage still remain. Doogie: I would have to say it›s because of the death and
the pain that all those soldiers went through. They were away from their families not knowing if they were still alive and also having to fight for their own life as well. We today could not even begin to understand those soldiers’ mindset in that day and time. We have stress but they had a whole different kind of stress that I could not even fathom. Lots of lots of blood shed on the battlefield and towns that surround them and that›s why I think so much activity surrounds the civil war.
OUT OF TWC, WHO IS: Chris’s Answers: THE MOST SCARED: Mike THE MOST SCEPTIC: Brannon THE BIGGEST BELIEVER: Doogie THE CALMEST: Brannon THE FUNNIEST: Me of course THE BEST LOOKING: No comment lol Doogie’s Answers: THE MOST SCARED: Chris/Porter THE MOST SCEPTIC: Brannon THE BIGGEST BELIEVER: Doogie THE CALMEST: MIKE UNLESS HE IS SCARED THE FUNNIEST: Think it›s a mix. We are all ‘purty dang’ stupid! THE BEST LOOKING: Chasey Ray McKnight
CAN YOU EACH DESCRIBE EACH OTHER IN ONE WORD PLEASE? Chris’s Answers: CHRIS: Cynical DOOGIE: Temperamental
PORTER: Resourceful BRANNON: Selfless Doogie’s Answers: CHRIS: PURTY :o) PORTER: Balding BRANNON: Smart
IF YOU COULD INVESTIGATE ONE LOCATION THAT YOU’VE NOT HAD CHANCE YET WHAT WOULD IT BE & WHY? Chris: The Bell Witch. I›ve grown up hearing stories about it my whole life and the tale both intrigues and scares the hell out of me.
HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU FIRST EXPERIENCED THE PARANORMAL, CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT IT WAS AND HOW YOU FELT? Doogie: l think I was about 10 or so. I saw what I thought was a shadow person walk up to my bed and look down at me. I closed my eyes and prayed and when I opened them again it was gone. I still to this day have no idea who or what it was but I remember being so scared that I could not even make a sound. The old screaming with nothing coming out. That is one thing that has also drove me to keep investigating the paranormal.
DO YOU THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO BE SERIOUS INVESTIGATORS BUT NOT TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY? Chris: That’s actually our credo. I think it’s VERY important. I mean, we›re grown men sitting around in the dark talking to God knows what. Sometimes walls and ceilings. It’s important to take the people and, if present, the spirits involved seriously, but when it comes to yourself, don›t be a tool. Doogie: You have to be serious to do this type of work but you have to have a sense of humour as well. If you don’t it will drive you nuts. Plus, it helps to joke around to get evidence. We have got some of our best stuff when we were just joking around with each other. I think the paranormal has a sense of humour as well and when you show it they will also.
WHAT IS NEXT FOR TWC? Chris: Hopefully we›ll continue our quest across the country
to find the most haunted towns and as always, have a great time doing it. Doogie: Hopefully big things!! Whatever it is The Big Man has in store for us, we will be ready. Chris: And just in case anyone asks, because someone always does, the current members of TWC who are in HAUNTED TOWNS are myself, Doogie, Porter and Brannon. Chasey Ray McKnight from Ghost Asylum is still a member of the team even though he doesn’t appear on Haunted Towns. He really wanted to join in but was too busy with family and work to go out on the road this time around. Doogie: And the newest member of TWC is Mike Goncalves, who appears in some episodes of Haunted Towns when we need a surveillance guru. So, six guys total, but only four are the core team of Haunted Towns.
GUYS, THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO TALK TO US AT HAUNTED MAGAZINE.
BEST GADGET IN THE PARANORMAL WORLD & WHY? Chris: Digital recorder. Simple, inexpensive and the most successful tool in our arsenal. Doogie: Voice recorders. I have caught more amazing things on the voice recorder than anything else out there. If I had to use one thing to prove to myself that there are ghosts this would be it.
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THE CURSE OF
JOHNNY FRANK GARRETT GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT
By Clare Burrows
I
n 2016 Simon Rumley created a movie based on Jesse Quakenbush’s amazing documentary ‘THE LAST WORD’ and the film was to tell a horror story of an innocent man sent to death row for a murder he didn’t commit, and a curse letter he wrote damning all the people guilty for his framing.
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Sister Tadea Benz was a 76-year-old Nun of the St Francis Convent,
was surely a calculated and targeted act by someone with cult beliefs?
While she was in her room, the killer had broken in to the convent, went to her room, Raped, strangled and mutilated her.
The movie was a typically over-exaggerated version of what we know as possible true-life events, however this whole case has had me gripped for so long, I feel it is important to tell his story....
There was evidence left behind, evidence of a crumpled white t-shirt left beside the victim on the floor, semen samples, small black hairs found on the victim, finger prints and possible blood samples from the murderer, as it was thought that they had cut themselves on the glass breaking into the convent.
In Amarillo, Texas, on Halloween 1981, the community was to be shocked by a murder, a murder of a Nun, while she slept in her bed.
This was shocking for such a God loving and Godfearing state, the murder of a Franciscan Nun, on a night where we celebrate the darkness of the world,
However, this was not the first murder... Weeks before there was another attack, another mutilation. An elderly lady, also incredibly religious, by the name of Mrs Bryson had again been raped, murdered and mutilated just a few blocks away from the convent. There were very specific similarities between both murders, perhaps too
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many for them not to be linked. Both ladies were elderly, both were highly religious members of the community, both murders happened within the early morning hours, both victims were raped, both victims were strangled, both had similar injuries inflicted to their helpless bodies, both victims were brutally beaten, both victims had the same small black hairs found on their body, both victims had a crumpled white t-shirt left behind at the scene beside their bodies. Eyewitnesses to both crimes claimed they saw a dark-skinned man, possibly Cuban at the times of both murders.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM This is where politics and corruption come into play, In the summer of 1980,
“I WOULD LIKE TO THANK MY FRIENDS AND MY FAMILY FOR LOVING ME, BUT THE REST OF YOU, CAN KISS MY EVERLOVING ASS! BECAUSE I’M INNOCENT” Johnny Frank Garrett
Fidel Castro lifted his ban on Cubans residing in America and Jimmy Carter opened his arms to them, expecting Castro to allow his countries good hard working people to have a prosperous life in America. Instead of budding doctors, nurses, carers, solicitors and honest working people being shipped in, he opened his prisons and mental institutions, allowing the shores of Florida to be inundated with rapists, murderers, thieves, paedophiles and the mentally unstable. Of course, there was no way of tracking these people’s pasts, and America had to allow them entry with non-or little knowledge. There were sponsorships by families to take in these Cubans and one city, Amarillo, embraced this.
Of course, not all of the asylum seekers can be tarred with this brush, however, there were two Cubans in particular that resided in Amarillo by the names of ‘Flores’, and ‘Rueda’ that had been arrested on several occasions for ‘peeping through windows’ of elderly women and charged with trespass.
from Sister Benz nightgown did not match and he was cleared of the murder. The killer was still on the loose.
After the Bryson/Benz murders the state police were convinced that all the evidence pointed to the killer being Hispanic, possibly a Cuban male. They were convinced they had their killer with FLORES,
One Nun reported that a Hispanic man had rang the convent on the night of the murder demanding to speak to the Bishop of his unworldly sexual desires. At around 2.30am Sister Benz was found in her room and had been brutally murdered.
However, when the items sent for analysis came back by the FBI, they were shocked to find that the evidence from the hair, fingerprints and fibres taken
On the night of Sister Tadea Benz murder, security officials had spotted a dark skinned ‘Cuban’ man hiding behind a tree at the Convent around midnight, he ran off and wasn’t captured.
So, with a killer the loose, there was peer pressure to arrest someone for this murder, with cash rewards going up daily for
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information in a previously failed judicial system, law enforcements being in battle with one another over many missed previous murders that resulted in acquittal and a new man Danny Hill taking office, someone had to pay the penalty. Someone had to be arrested as the community and law enforcements were angry, were hysterical in some cases. In this God loving and God-fearing State, someone had to pay the price for this Nuns murder. It became a lynch mob.
JOHHNY FRANK GARRETT’S ARREST With the pressure mounting and the state police having little or no leads, they turned to a Psychic by the name
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of ‘BUBBLES PATTERSON’ who had assisted previously in some murder cases.
Narcotics traffickers, and ultimately became the law enforcements ‘Snitch’.
Bryson murder just seemed to vanish into thin air, like it was disregarded.
Bubbles alleged she had a dream of the murderer, and had saw the face of the Nuns killer.
Miraculously just days after ‘The Dream’ a new suspect emerged, Johnny Frank Garrett, a 17-year-old, who was considered a ‘retarded’ boy who lived at the exact address in Bubbles dream, who had a thin frame, Abe Lincoln face and a dog named ‘Mr Clyde’.
His finger prints from previous petty crimes, DID match two finger prints found in the room of Sister Tadea Benz, one on her headboard and one on a bent butter knife under her bed. However, during his trial, the Nuns from the convent stated that Johnny used to help them out a lot at the convent, moving furniture for them, and doing handyman jobs, he also admired the paintings there. As Johnny stated, in trial, “I’m surprised there aren’t hundreds of fingerprints of mine throughout the Convent”
She alleged the killer was a young man, around 5 ft. 11, with a thin frame and an ‘Abe Lincoln’ face with large ears, astonishingly and conveniently she had also dreamt that she knew th address, 4000 the killers NE, 18 , and the name ‘Mr Clyde’. However, I would just like to state, that Bubbles wasn’t only connected to Amarillo’s law enforcement agency for her psychic abilities, her husband Michael Eugene ‘Heavy Duty’ Patterson, was one of the Cities most unsuccessful
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A police officer on the night of the murder of sister Tadea Benz had reported seeing Johnny stood outside his house beating a bush with a stick around midnight. He lived down the road from the convent. The law enforcement based their arrest on this sighting alone. He was arrested and charged with the murder of sister Tadea Benz, and the
Johnny was born on Christmas Eve 1963, Amarillo, Texas. He was a normal child that liked to do
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what boys do and although he wasn’t considered ‘book smart’ he was far from what the media deemed him as, as being a ‘retard’. However, Johnny hadn’t had the best of upbringings, and he was bullied, burned with cigarettes and abused by his mother’s boyfriend. He became defiant around the age of 14 and started to rebel by the use of alcohol and drugs and a few petty crimes. He often visited the convent to get away from the trauma of home life and was well thought of in the community. A lady named Sue Jasper who lived across the street from Garrett stated, “he never did anything to hurt anybody, there was no way, no way, Johnny did that, he was framed, no one believed in the neighbourhood that
Johnny Frank Garrett did that” “he wasn’t retarded, he was just a slow learner at different things” Johnny was a friend to Sue Jaspers son and used to spend a lot of time at their house and stayed over regularly throughout his teenage years and growing up. The Bishop at the convent also stated, “It is too hard to believe Johnny did anything to hurt anyone” Johnny had a bleak future ahead, he was an easy target, considered by many as completely innocent, however someone had to take the blame. Johnny was arrested at the family home by swarms of cops whilst sat on the living room floor with his siblings. He was interrogated for an hour
and the law enforcement stated he had made a full confession. A confession he refused to sign? I would also like to state that the recording of his confession was turned off and never brought into question. Apparently in his unsigned confession, he was high on acid and whiskey at the time he committed the murder. His mother Charlotte Cameron knew Johnny was innocent, and pleaded with the law officers that her son was at home all night on the evening of the Tadea Benz murder playing chequers with his family.
All this aside, he was charged and ‘given’ an attorney, Bill Kolius, an attorney they hadn’t asked for, he was assigned to the case and simply stated, “nothing can be done, there is no fight”. In 1981 DNA testing simply wasn’t available, however the semen samples taken from the scene and Garrett, conveniently ‘disappeared’. At the mere age of 17, Johnny Frank Garret was put to trial, by a jury hand-picked, he faced a lynch mob media, a one-sided Attorney, assigned by the Amarillo law enforcement, and endured
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scrutiny at the height of a corrupt political time frame. Johnny was found guilty of the murder of Sister Tadea Benz... on the grounds of an unsigned confession, two finger prints and a Psychic’s dream. Johnny was held at the Ellis Unit on death row until he was 28 years old. He spent more than a third of his life incarcerated and on death row, with endless claims of his innocence falling upon deaf ears. He was then to make his final journey, it was th judgement on his day of true February 11 1992, at the Huntsville Unit, Johnny Frank Garrett was to be put to death by the lethal injection aged 28... and just before his final departure from this world, Johnny wrote a letter......
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JOHNNY’S FINAL WORDS....THE CURSE I believe that this is where the whole story comes together, and although the movie JOHNNY FRANK GARRET’S LAST WORD, was centred around his final curse letter, I believe that this was a heartfelt and angry plea of an innocent man. I have been lucky enough and honoured enough to speak with Johnny’s sister Janet on various occasions, and the love of his family alone makes this whole article worthwhile. I also have the copy of the original letter that is shown in this article that the family were kind enough to allow me to have. These final words on Johnny’s letter may appear incredibly disturbing, however they are the real deal... “I know that if I die, I will die with a clear conscience, a whole spirit, and a man, but you, society, will live in shame. In your nightmares, I will live, in your times of fear, I will live, every frustration in your bitch lives, will be me. I will be the one
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who meets your families’ souls, and they will pay for what you, society, have done to my family, friends, and friends families. I will be the fear you will experience upon your last breath, I curse your souls to the deepest depths of your own hell, your parent’s souls to the same hell, and your grandparent’s souls and your stinking maggot-ridden ancestors damnable for the bitch dog that began your bitch lives. I curse every adult, every person, that’s born after my death that is remotely related to your bitch infested blood, and because I know that the curse will be fulfilled, I meet death in a better spirit and a stronger soul” .......
Garrett’s lawyer, Bill Kolius died of pancreatic cancer.
So, can we take this letter as a curse, or coincidence? Here is where it becomes interesting....
The medical examiner also assigned to Johnny’s case, Ralph Erdemann, who was later convicted of numerous felonies that falsified autopsy reports, had his medical licence revoked and was imprisoned, his wife also died of pancreatic cancer.
Juror, Novella Summer on the Garrett case, sadly fell down a flight of stairs and died a few days later due to complications.
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Garrett’s first appellate lawyer and Judge Sam Kaiser contracted the same form of leukaemia, Kaiser had died after initially having a cure...his healthy bone marrow had disappeared from the hospital. A jury member, Nathan Shackleford’s daughter had been in an accident and died from a gunshot wound to the head, his sister also met her demise by being hit by a drunk driver. Connected to the case was Jimmy Don Boydston, whom also contracted leukaemia...
Officer Walt Yerger, also died of leukaemia? Leukaemia seems to be a prevalent feature here.... Reporter Cathy Jones, that highlighted the case, died in a plane crash. Watley, the prison snitch, who had made claims against Garrett to lesson his sentenced, committed suicide. Carol Moore, Garrett’s school teacher, who unbelievably testified against him in trial, also committed suicide. District attorney Danny Hill, mentioned previously, also committed suicide, his daughter then went on to hang herself a few years after this. Jeff Blackburn, one of Garretts many appellate attorneys lost his wife to suicide, and his son was accidentally locked inside a hot car and is permanently brain damaged.
And.... Eugene ‘Heavy Duty’ Patterson, the psychics husband, was found dead in his vehicle. What caused his death was never determined. This is all linked to the case, however we cannot link it, is it a curse? is it coincidence perhaps of a guilty mind? It is Gods way maybe to some? Only one person knows the truth and that person is Johnny. I would also like to state that The Cuban, Flores, who was cleared of Sister Tadea Benz murder is now serving a sentence, a sentence for the murder of Mrs Bryson, and two counts of rape, for the next 4 decades. He was a killer and rapist in his own country previously also. This has been such an interesting and heartfelt case for me, and the love of Johnny’s family and determination to have his name cleared has touched my soul. In my opinion Johnny was and is innocent, he was framed to suit a failed judicial
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system. A boy so young that lost his way was damned to a life of incarceration, humiliation and death, because he simply ‘fit’ a description and a definitive arrest. Death was his release from the world that had treated him so badly in the last years of his life. Whether the curse is real or not, surely this is how we should take a lesson from it... evil breeds evil, however high up in society we are... innocence prevails perhaps? I don’t condone the curse, if there is one, but I do believe that people will have an inner demon following them around in their inner souls of a damnation to an innocent person, a boy. I would like to thank Johnny’s family and friends, for having the time to speak with me, and I sincerely hope, that you one day have the closure of his name being cleared legally. Until then, we shall see if the curse lives on......
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READ THIS FEATURE ONCE FOR YES AND TWICE FOR NO!!
A
re you psychic? APPen you are, APPen you aren’t, people say that we have loads of tiny little doors inside our head, steadfastly locked with the key nowhere to be seen, (it’s like having one of those mini Escape the Room games in your head). So, where is the key, where are the keys to these doors? I wonder if behind the Green Door there’s an old piano and they play it hot behind the Green Door (sorry couldn’t resist).
FIRST QUESTION, ARE YOU PSYCHIC?
J
oking apart, why are there no keys to these doors? Well the answers lie within your mind, your brain, your feelings, your senses, your consciousness. Science plays an important part behind this, apparently. We all have the ability to open these locked doors, but do we have the capability? Remember when mediums and clairvoyants were in the minority, not sure about the rest of the world but here in the UK the most famous one when I was growing up in the late 1970s / early 1980s was Doris Stokes, fast forward 30 years and mediums are now ten-a-penny, everywhere on social media so much so that you can get a reading without actually visiting them anymore. So, as modern technology advances quicker than an impeachment to the President of the USA an APP has been designed to test your psychic skills, to test your psychic ability. BUT then again, if you truly are psychic, you knew this already. We caught up with the APP creator and asked them the burning questions that matter.
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Well the science of parapsychology would say that we all have psychic ability to some degree. The organized history of parapsychology began with the establishment of the Society for Psychical Research in 1882. I mean the original “ghost hunters” were some of the leading scientists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. So, we as scientists have been studying these phenomena for over 100 years, and the data shows that everyone has psychic ability, but not everyone is a superstar. Just like with anything else, there are different talent levels. The way I like to describe it, is that anyone can play soccer, but not everyone is Lionel Messi. The same thing can be said about being psychic.
SO, TELL US ALL ABOUT THE APP & THE REASON BEHIND “AM I PSYCHIC”, WHO IS BEHIND IT, WHY & WHERE? So “Am I Psychic?” is an app designed around the science of parapsychology. The app uses a cryptographically secure random number generator (RNG) to test the user’s psychic ability. Think of an RNG as being an automatic coin flipper. Using an RNG allows statistics to show whether a user HAUNTED MAGAZINE
is demonstrating psychic ability, and by using this RNG, the only way to beat the games is by demonstrating psychic ability. There are many reasons for releasing “Am I Psychic?”. One of the most important reasons is to help bring the science of parapsychology into the 21st Century. Another reason is to allow everyone to be a part of using science to prove the existence of psychic phenomena to the world. “Am I Psychic” is a legitimate parapsychological experiment, registered with the Institutional Review Board (IRB), so when I say that using “Am I Psychic?” can help prove the existence of psychic phenomena, I mean it. What “Am I Psychic?” does is each time a user completes a test; the results are stored in an anonymous database. Once the database is large enough, we can use the data to show that psychic ability exists. The app was designed and self-funded by me, Dominic Parker. I am a Ph.D. student at Saybrook University in Oakland, CA. In many ways, I feel like there is a disconnect between the paranormal community, and the scientific parapsychological community. There are many reasons for this disconnect,
takes is one psychic experience to prove that the paranormal exists.
but “Am I Psychic?” was designed to help bridge that gap. By using the science of parapsychology, but creating an app that was engaging and not boring, I hope that more people within the paranormal community will take the time to learn more about the rich history of parapsychological research. The idea was to create an app that would appeal to everyone, so “Am I Psychic?” is for the paranormal enthusiast, the scientist, and anyone else who is interested in discovering more about their psychic abilities. The best part is that some of the profits generated by the app will be donated to the Rhine Research Centre (the oldest parapsychological lab in the US). The app is available in 157 countries, and along with English, the app has been translated into Russian, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Korean, not with Google Translator by the way. I actually paid translators to make sure that the app was properly translated.
WHAT’S THE FEEDBACK BEEN LIKE SO FAR? The feedback has been great so far. Practically upon release, CNET wrote a great article, and I am in talks for quite a few podcast interviews, and hopefully the more people who discover the app, the bigger the app will become, which means the database of results
gets larger, which means I will hopefully have quite a bit of data to sift through to help scientifically show that psychic phenomena exists!
ANY PLANS FOR MORE APPS IN THE FUTURE? If “Am I Psychic?” is successful, I plan on adding more games to the app, and I think that using mobile devices to help test psychic ability is an untapped avenue for psychical research, so I may eventually release another app.
I have examined evidence, whether the evidence is in the form of EVP’s, experimental evidence, or anecdotal experiences that long ago proved to me that psychic phenomena exist, but I have not had an experience that I would consider paranormal. However, I have been so busy with school and with the release of “Am I Psychic?”, that I have hardly had any time in the past 3 years to have any experiences.
FINALLY, TELL EVERYONE WHERE THEY CAN GET THE APP! I absolutely invite people to download “Am I Psychic?”. The app is available on the App Store and Google Play, for phones and tablets. Just go to http://amipsychicapp. com and be a part of proving the existence of psychic phenomena to the world!
DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE PARANORMAL? ANY EXPERIENCS TO SHARE? I absolutely believe in the paranormal. There are accounts of paranormal experiences throughout history, going back as far as Socrates himself. It is ridiculous to deny the experiences of millions of people throughout history. Those who deny the existence of psychic phenomena normally have a vested interest, whether personally or professionally in denying the reality of paranormal experience. I am reminded of the famous quote by William James, “If you wish to upset the law that all crows are black, you mustn’t seek to show that no crows are; it is enough if you prove one single crow to be white.” What William James is trying to say is that all it
http://amipsychicapp.com Take the test and let us know, Haunted Magazine has 100 of the AM I PSYCHIC apps to give away, YES 100 of them. We want people to be our guinea pigs and see how many out of the 100 who use the app are blessed with psychic abilities. To get hold of a FREE AM I PSYCHIC app email us with your details… You know the email, right? We’re kidding, we’re not that cruel, email us at
amipsychic@hauntedmagazine.co.uk with your name and details and THE FIRST 100 to do so will get the APP FREE. Do it, do it, do it……
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Just in time for Halloween, the second season of KINDRED SPIRITS, is back (in USA) following renowned ghost hunters Amy Bruni and Adam Berry as they help real people tormented by paranormal activity in their homes. Scared by the mysterious happenings, but hesitant to pick up and leave, they have turned to two of America’s leading paranormal investigators to capture evidence, help families overcome their fear, take back their homes, and reclaim their lives.
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In the season premiere Amy and Adam investigate one of the most infamous haunted homes in America: The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, Mass. What was once a private residence-turned-murder scene is now a museum and B&B, where many paranormal teams have confirmed that the ghosts of the home’s original occupants still linger. Amy and Adam launch into one of their most harrowing investigations yet, but not to find the Borden family ghosts. Their unique goal is to help Sue, a tour guide, who believes her grandparents’ spirits are in the house trying to protect her from impending tragedy. Amy and Adam, aided by psychic Chip Coffey, ultimately call upon the ghosts of the Bordens to help them uncover the truth. Do they get more than they bargained for? Don’t panic, people of the UK, I am sure that Quest Red are on the case and season 2 of KINDRED SPIRITS will be available in the UK very soon. In the meantime, we had a chat with the lovely Amy Bruni, (did you know her nickname is Red? No, us neither).
AMY
there’s something about
Where did the name Kindred Spirits come from, it’s quite a clever and cute title, was it the first title idea? We were wracking our brains for the perfect title for the show. Adam’s husband, Ben, said Kindred Spirits and it was SO perfect. Everyone was worried it was too simple though, or not descriptive enough as to what we do. But no matter how many other names we all threw out there, we always came back to Kindred Spirits and ultimately, we were able to make our case for it to the network. I think fans agree, it’s just the right fit. Scariest location you’ve been to and why? I’m definitely more frightened of live people than dead ones. I’d say the most frightened I was, was investigating an old penitentiary that had been abandoned for some time. We didn’t realize there were homeless people in there and I encountered one accidentally in a tunnel. It was truly a dangerous situation, and something many investigators need to be realistic about when we go to these old rundown places. What, if anything, has changed from season 1 to season 2? The biggest change will be technology. Season one was a hit and that means the network has more faith in us - which equals a slightly bigger budget, ha. So, we’ve upped our equipment big time. The other major change will be production value. Our crew and editors put a lot of effort into making every
episode look like a horror film. It’s shot so beautifully. We always wanted to have our reality show look as cinematic as possible and this season embodies that perfectly. Has your paranormal perception changed at all since you started the show? I think working with so many families who have been so touched by tragedy or so effected by paranormal activity, really put the importance of what we do into perspective. I think working with such extreme and important cases makes you think beyond the normal scare factor, but more to the actual psychological effects these scenarios present. Of the two of you, who is… The most scared? Adam The biggest sceptic? Amy The biggest believer? Amy The calmest? Amy The funniest? Adam The best looking? Oh goodness, Adam. Have you seen how many selfies that man takes of himself? ;) AMY, how would you describe Adam in three words? Outgoing, talented, loud (ha!) If you could investigate one location you haven’t had a chance to yet, what would it be and why? Graceland! I’d LOVE to get to the second floor of Graceland. HAUNTED MAGAZINE
Best gadget in the paranormal world and why? I love a good old-fashioned recorder. I like being able to talk to entities and have actual conversations with them. Do you think that humour plays an important part in the paranormal? Do you think it’s important to be serious investigators but not take yourself too seriously?
Oh yes. Adam and I laugh constantly on investigations. I actually think that being yourself and having fun, is what attracts spirits to you and makes them more likely to interact with you. How hold were you when you first experienced the paranormal? Can you please explain what it was and how you felt? My clearest memory was when I was around eight years old. I saw a fullbodied apparition outside the window of my house. I felt disconcerted, but only because I thought it was an actual person. It wasn’t until I ran out of the room that I processed that was a second-floor window and there was no way someone could have been standing outside of it. The UK is loving Kindred Spirits. Have you got a word for your ever-growing UK fan base? We LOVE hearing from our UK fans on social media! We’re really hoping to get out there in the next year so we can actually investigate there but also meet some of you. Thanks so much for all of the amazing support! 65
Patti is a psychic-medium and “good” witch. She was voted number one psychic, medium, trance medium, tarot reader, witch / magical practitioner, crystal & stone energy healer and life coach in the world for 2016 in an Internationally competition by Times Square Press. In addition, she also won number one Intuitive Entertainer Occult Personality of the year and number one influential women in business. She has recently graced 6 magazine covers including American Psychic & Medium, Art, UFO and Supernatural, Parapsychology and Mind Power, 4th Dimension and Stars Illustrated and has contributed or been a part of over 20 books, several of which are Amazon Bestsellers. Patti has been able to communicate with the spirit world since she was a toddler and consciously since she conducted her first séance at age eight. Since then she has conducted séances, clearings and sessions on radio, film, TV and in living rooms across America.
"it's my new favourite magazine! HAUNTED! Thrilled that I am going to be writing for them now.... Watch out... Here's to a Haunted world for everybodY!" PATTI NEGRI
FROM THE NEXT ISSUE PATTI WILL BE WRITING FOR HAUNTED MAGAZINE! 66
Patti enjoys working her magic on television. She has just completed her seventh episode of Ghost Adventures and their spinoff Deadly Possessions on the Travel Channel, cleared spaces on Jeff Lewis’s Flipping Out, done some magickal cooking on Master Chef with Gordon Ramsey, conjured up a few “dead celebrities” on Private Chefs of Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Pawn and several episodes of Pit Boss and two episodes of Bad Girls Club. Patti was brought in as a paranormal expert on Ghostly Lovers, Candidly Nicole, Mansion Hunters, Beverly Hills Pawn and dozens more. She has even gotten into the home makeover world on Mobile Home Disaster. In addition to being a host of several of her own radio shows on Blogtalk Radio, Patti has been heard on national syndicated radio with Adam Corolla, Jason Ellis and Mancow Muller. Patti’s working style is magical, loving and upbeat -- which creates a positive, safe and fun environment for you to learn, grow and heal. She has been practicing natural magick her entire life. Her specialty is in adjusting energy and flow – in people, spaces, situations, most anything. She works organically by creating spells and rituals that arrange natural elements to the rhythms and cycles of the universe to bring about healing, change our lives for the better, and create balance. HAUNTED MAGAZINE
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