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Date: Saturday 10th February 2007
Weather: Thunderstorm, light rain, heavy clouds
Investigation time period: 8.00pm - 2.00am

We set out on an overcast Saturday afternoon to a routine investigation to one of the most haunted sites that pr2d have investigated since being established in 2006. Incidentally this was the group's 13th investigation. Not being superstitious we gave that fact no further consideration.
This number's unlucky reputation goes as far back as the 14th century when King Phillip IV of France gave the order to exterminate the most influential order of the time: the Knights Templar on Friday, 13th April 1307.

We managed to cramp ourselves and our equipment into Kellie's truck and we were on our way. The atmosphere as usual was quite jovial and full of anticipation. This investigation was the third one into this site and we just wanted to tie up some lose ends and experiment with some new equipment in a familiar environment. We were jesting about the whether, cheekily hoping that a thunderstorm would develop and set the scene for the haunted property. It wasn't long before a storm did break out and we had to drive with the windscreen wipers at full speed on the curvy roads. We got there to be greeted by a familiar family. They knew we were coming and thanks to our previous two investigations gave us a warm welcome.

After some wait at their cottage we were let in to the property. It was a comfortingly familiar sight to the rest of the crew, not including me. This was the first time I set foot on this property. I immediately started wandering through the grounds and took more than 20 photos with my digital camera for later analysis. At the time I had no idea that a thorough examination would reveal a woman's face in one of the windows I had photographed.

The atmosphere was highly charged by this time with the looming thunderstorm and our anticipation. We had to speed things up, as the darkness was closing in and we had some vital equipment we needed to set up while still daylight. We managed to get power to our HQ via an extremely long extension reel that was plugged in at one of the outbuildings, some distance away from us.

The surrounding leafy grounds and dilapidated buildings lent the perfect background to a promisingly exciting haunted night in.
Finally we unpacked all our gear from the truck and made our way in.
The sight that greeted us was nothing short of creepy. Empty hallways, vacant rooms, cupboards with doors missing. It was apparent that renovations to this building were interrupted in a hurry. A strong musty smell dominated the corridor, although we could not identify the source of it. We noticed no broken windows or missing door. I will shed light to the significance of this fact later on in my recount of the events that ensued.

We settled on one room to set up in and use as base for our time to be spent there. We took inventory of what we had and set out to put our plans in place. By this time it was pitch black, a perfect setting for our first experiment. We have brought a fog machine with us to try something that we believe have not been attempted before in paranormal research. We all picked a place in the room where we would remain for the next two-hours.

Attila and Darren T. chose a spot on the floor right next to the entrance of the room by the door. Laszlo made one of the corners of the room his own, where he set up his trusty camera on a tripod to record any notable events that may take place. Kellie, Darren B. and myself were sitting on the floor with our back to the eastern wall to monitor the room with our Handycams. And so the night began …

Attila had filled the room with artificial fog. It was so thick that we could not see each other through it. The torch was switched off and the waiting game began. We had to sit very still to allow the fog to settle and then not to disturb it in any way. The aim of this exercise was to see whether we could pick up any movement in the settling fog that we could not account for by any normal and logical explanation.
We were scanning the room with our cameras using the barest of movements while vigilantly listening out for any noises. For what it seemed like a long time nothing happened. We decided to start calling out to see if we can get a response of any kind. Attila had his boom mic. ready and was listening for audio phenomena through his headphones. After a few minutes he reported that he could hear what sounded like a conversation through the mic. We could not hear anything for a while, but then members of the crew started reporting hearing the same. Attila could hear the conversation coming closer. We got somewhat distracted by the apparent footsteps now clearly audible from the corridor. Someone was coming straight at us. The footsteps were now so loud that we had to act. At Attila's prompt we all switched our torches on and he and Darren T. charged out into the hallway. At this stage we thought someone broke in and was walking down the corridor towards us.

We were concerned since we had left some of our gear in the corridor a bit further up closer to the entrance for later use and did not want them to be stolen. It had not occurred to us straight away that it was a very remote possibility since the place was pitch black-it is impossible to get around without a source of illumination. And secondly we did not hear any entrance doors opening or closing. As the two men returned they reassured us that there were no other people around and inside of the property. We also got to our feet and went ahead to check out the hallway. As we went into one of the rooms the motion sensor that we set up in the hallway earlier went off by itself. We have established that at that time all crew were in the room with no exceptions. Later it also occurred to us that we did not hear any footsteps running away when we switched our torches on. This event certainly put us on alert. We realised that we were getting what we came for. It left us on an edge, but we knew we had to keep our cool, as this was only the beginning.

We retook our position in the room and picked up where we left off. Each and every one of us had a chance to call out with varying but not impressive results. I think one of us said, "they're just getting ready for later", as a joke. At the time we had no idea just how true this is going to ring in a few hours.
We decided to relocate to another room to try our luck. This time Kellie, Darren B. and I decided to set up our chairs in the middle of the room in a semi circle formation. Laszlo, as usual picked himself a corner to settle into and document the events unfolding. Attila and Darren T decided they liked the spot next to the door in the previous room, so they took the same position in this one. This way Attila was able to reach out into the corridor with his microphone.

The spirits of the place seemed to respond to my voice previously, so I was volunteered by the group to start the séance and try to get a response from the spirits of this place. I began calling out the usual way - "Are there any spirits around us? Please let us know that you are here. Can you please tap or knock if you can hear me? Let us know that you are around any way you know how."

We did get a response but there seemed to be some sort of interference. Even though we were getting the knocks in direct response to my queries we did not seem to be able to get any tangible information from whomever we were communicating with. I felt that there were more than one entity around us and that made the responses muddled. At one time we heard footsteps coming from the hallway again.

This time we could even feel the vibration resulting from the steps. They were getting closer! Suddenly they got faster and ended up with an almighty high pitched banging sound as if a bottle was kicked and rolled down the corridor.

A few seconds after the initial shock wore off we turned our torches on and Attila, Darren T. and Laszlo took off into to the corridor in the same direction the sounds were coming from. Again, we had to discount the possibility of someone breaking into the property. It left Kellie, Darren B. and myself in the room to ponder on what had just happened. We could hear the other three going up the hallway a fair bit, eventually going out of hearing distance. We stayed relatively quiet and recounting on the sudden development of the events that had just taken place. It was then that we heard the footsteps again. Only this time they were coming from the outside. They sounded like someone was walking on the wet concrete outside with the distinct sound of the sole of the shoe scraping against the footpath. We took note of the occurrence, realising the possibility that Attila and his companions ventured outside to check on the surroundings. We resolved to ask them when they came back whether they had come as far as the room we were in. I was wondering why they didn't let us know they were outside as they would have been able to see our torches on. It would be standard procedure to communicate that to us, so we don't mistakenly think that someone else is around. I was also wondering what other exit they had found, since the room we were in was right next to the only entry to the property with a window to the entrance and we would have seen them had they exited through that door. About 10 minutes later they returned only to report that the building was vacant.
However they found the empty beer bottle lying in the middle of the corridor.

I vaguely recall seeing an empty brown beer bottle tightly against a wall together with some builders' instruments that were hastily abandoned in the hallway. When asked if it had been them who walked by our room on the outside the replay was a definite "no". They had not gone outside the whole time they were away from the group. It had only occurred to us then that we saw no flashlight accompanying the steps. The grounds outside of this property are pitch black and even with the soft moonlight it is impossible to see due to the heavy foliage surrounding the building. The concrete footpath is old, uneven and full of debris; it would have impossible to walk with confidence with no illumination at all. We could see no sign of any light source through the windows looking out in that direction. Not to mention the fact that we did not see anyone at all. This kind of audible phenomenon is fairly common in haunted places. Ghostly footsteps are one of the most commonly reported events from properties such as this one.

We took note of the events and returned to our positions to continue with our vigil.

It wasn't long before I could sense someone in the room with us. I felt that someone had appeared inside the semicircle formed by Kellie, Darren B. and myself. I don't know whether the others could see it as well. It is difficult to make out shapes in the dark. Even now I feel that I saw a figure forming. I was getting a mental picture of a person wrapped heavily in bandages all around the body, even the head and the face. I felt it might have been a burn victim. I retained this picture in my mind for a while, trying to get some more information while describing to the rest of the crew what I saw. The "shadow" before me was changing into something unexpected. At first I could not make out what was transpiring before me. I did not want to scare the rest of the team, so I waited to see what would come of it. Only the viewfinder of the video cameras provided some limited illumination but that was enough. The elongated face of a male formed in front of me with a long pointy nose, high cheekbones and deepest eyes. It is hard to describe how I saw it. It appeared as if it formed itself from the sparse light particles that were due to the handycams and gathered "itself" before me. To me it was quite apparent, but my companions had not said anything. I decided that I would not share this with the rest of the group. It was in retrospect that I told Attila about my experience in private only for him to tell me that there was a photo taken on their first visit to this site that revealed a face that looks very much like the one I saw.

After some further attempts at communications we decided to try our fog machine experiment in the hallway. We set up our chairs and cameras ready to experience whatever the place was to "throw" at us. Attila fogged up one end of the corridor with the thick compound with a low powered light behind fog on the opposite side. Kellie and I were sitting on the edge of the group facing each other. Darren B. was sitting next to me, while Darren T. was next to Kellie, with Attila and Laszlo at the front on opposite sides of the wall. We turned all lights off and just waited. The cameras were set on night shot to capture any disturbances in the fog. We were sitting in complete silence with the slightest of breath even not to disturb the fog ahead of us or make any sounds that may be misinterpreted later as voice phenomena. It was a waiting game.

Earlier in the day Attila and Laszlo went up that end of the corridor and reported a very strong sense of presence and also the sounds of footsteps coming from that direction. Whatever was there, we thought we were ready for it. When you play the waiting game in a place that is as dark as it gets and with a notorious reputation it is easy to get into a mindset of fear and dread. It takes a professional team to be able to keep it all together and remain calm and collected. The mind plays tricks on you and you have to be on your toes to make sure that the experience is real and not in your head. This team of investigators have what it takes to make an investigation successful in every aspect. I could honestly say that each and every member of this team has the highest and most professional attitude towards the work at hand.

Those of us that did not have a camera to look through into the darkness or a mic. to listen through relied on our hearing and sixth sense. It was interesting to see how quickly our body had adapted to loosing the sense of sight. Your other senses step in and become heightened. You become more aware of your environment in different ways. You pay more attention to what is going around you that you can pick up with other senses that you are able to utilise. I began feeling a slight cold breeze coming towards me from the back. It was peculiar, since there were no doors or windows open in the whole of the building, not to mention the fact that for about a good 15-minutes prior to that we did not feel anything. Before I could say anything Kellie claimed that she could feel the breeze coming at her and asked whether I could feel it too. I confirmed that I did and we agreed to keep an eye out. The breeze kept up with only slight interruptions.

In the meantime the cameras were rolling and all eyes were focussed on the mist ahead of us. Attila was exclaiming that through his nigh shot camera he could see the mist starting to swirl after it had well been settled for about 15 minutes by that time. By this time the faint light behind the mist was turned off. Around the same time Kellie and I felt the steady breeze change into something else. It was coming from all around us now. We could feel it coming from one side only to suddenly change and come from the opposite direction. We made a quiet remark of these happenings and it was noted by the other members of the group. The whole phenomenon culminated in the breeze coming from more than one direction at a time, which kept up for a few minutes, and then slowly abated and the breeze stopped altogether. We remained like that in the corridor for some time before retreating to the room that we originally set up in to get on with our next experiment. Our researchers got some really good results with a psychic board before, not to mention the fact it has been used on this sight previously with a great outcome. We were looking forward to this event, since it was going to give us the opportunity to get more detailed responses to our questions as opposed the "yes" and "no" taps we are able to get during a séance.

Out came the board then and a camera has been fixed on a tripod to monitor the movements of the participants and well as the glass apparatus on the board. It took a while to settle in. In the meantime Attila and Laszlo had decided to set up some trigger objects some distance away from the room where we were and took off with the supplies.
We got on with the usual routine to get started. Kellie and the two Darrens were to facilitate the board while I was to be taking notes on questions and answers. Things were a bit slow to start, so we agreed on raising some energy within the circle for any spirit entity around us to draw on. We did a pretty good job. We could feel the atmosphere charging up even more. It didn't take long for the first entity to join us from the astral plane. She waisted no time with pleasantries and introduced herself as Janet - a person familiar to us from the first two investigations at the site. The full transcript of her communication is not available at the time I am writing this article, so I will give a brief summary of her message. She was quite adamant that we waist no time, but look out for something near the door. She repeated the same message several times, each time with added urgency. We were "listening" eagerly to her trying to make sense of what she was warning us about. We had no doubt whatsoever at the time that she was trying to warn us. We wanted find out why. She took no time explaining it, but was very clear on that we look out. It was at this stage that were hearing deep breathing sounds from the hallway. As we looked we saw a member with his back to us leaning onto a windowsill. We reluctantly kept on with our circle around the psychic board while keeping an eye on him at the same time. His condition went into full power while Janet was persistent with her message of warning.

At this point in time I had to leave the circle as an immediate support. By this time he took off into the darkness down to the end of the corridor where we hear the steps coming from earlier in the night. His only companion was Laszlo with his Handicam, and no flashlight. I really didn't want to let him out my sight in his condition, so I rushed after him, my faint torch offering some illumination. I caught up with him halfway down to the end with Laszlo at his heels. It has to be said for Laszlo's credit that he would follow us into the abyss with his video camera to document any event. He was so set in his course that even when I grabbed onto his arm to slow him down he was just marching on, dragging me with him.

As I remember, it was at this stage that I shouted for help from the rest of the team who were still doing the board. I was aware that they could not just break the circle, but what it seemed to me as an eternity. They eventually ran up. By this time the member collapsed next to the wall, pinning my left arm to the wall behind him. His body was quite limp and he was making a low, groaning sound. It was apparent that a spirit entity was utilising his body to communicate. As Laszlo was filming on we knew that this was exactly what this spirit was doing to him, with his full consent of course. We proceeded to enquire as to the identity of this spirit. As the member's eyes were rolling back in his head he only uttered two words. And these two words were, "LEAVE, NOW!" The message was crystal clear.

I sensed his inner struggle to "get back to us", so I decided to give him a strong helping hand to regain his full control. He is a budding medium and as he later told me, he saw this as an opportunity to test his newly learned skills in a haunted location. I felt he was in it deeper than he was initially expected and needed the support of the team to recover from his adventure. Eventually he came to and was able to stand up and with the help of the team get back to our base. The message to leave came through more than once and with more power each time.

We felt that we had to honour the wish of the spirits of the place and it took no time to decide that it was time to leave. Had we been arrogant, and decided that we will stay despite the warning, something more powerful and probably less tolerable would have happened. In the interest of research it pays to collect as much evidence as possible, but when it comes to the safety of the research team, no evidence is worth an injury to a person. To properly finish the investigation we did a grounding circle at our base, politely thanked the spirits for their hospitality and grounded our excess energy. After that we packed up our gear and left the building, careful that we didn't leave anything or anyone for the matter behind. On the way home the atmosphere in the car was quite solemn. After having a bite to eat, we recapped on our investigation.
It was the best we ever conducted. Although we have no plans to return to this property, we came away with some impressive results and this investigation will be hard to surpass as far as the intensity of the experience goes. Who knows, though, we might come across a location that will surprise us all.

Article by Andrea Kaldy