Black Friday at the Lake Norfork Inn

Date: November 28, 2014

Location: Lake Norfork Inn, Henderson, Arkansas

Family friends Jennifer and Rusty went on this investigation with us to the Lake Norfork Inn in Henderson, Arkansas. The hotel and accompanying restaurant sit on a hill overlooking the beautiful Lake Norfork. The hotel was built over an old cemetery that could not be excavated, potentially giving rise to a wide variety of spirits and energy.

The show was featured on SyFy Channel’s Haunted Collector, but despite John Zaffis’ team removing several “haunted” objects from the property, the owner and her staff still regularly encounter multiple spirits at the hotel and the restaurant. The owner and staff were gracious hosts for the evening and told us many of their own personal experiences with the local spirits.

I began taking photos as we toured the property upon arriving. While in The Club

Windjammer restaurant my camera was persistently having trouble focusing and flashing to take pictures in the dark rooms. However, when I hung back to photograph the kitchen after everyone else had proceeded back into the dining rooms, I captured an interesting image of a tall, dark figure standing across the room from me, hidden from the waist down by a food preparation counter. Although the image is dark because the flash did not work on the camera, it appears that the figure has one hand on his hip and the other raised, almost like he is waving at the camera. In the next photo, taken only seconds later, the flash on the camera worked and there is no one on that side of the room.

The original photo of the shadowy figure with no flash. 

The photo taken immediately after the one of the shadowy figure. Taken with flash.

A zoomed in and lightened version of the original photo. 

The other interesting encounter we had in The Club Windjammer occurred without our knowledge in the dining room where we had our monitor set up. Photos of the room taken by Jennifer and myself between 8:15 and 8:30 p.m. show that all of the chairs in the dining room were setting firmly on the ground. However, at around 9:45 p.m. John was alone in the room watching the monitor and looked across the room to find that eight chairs at the long back table were now sitting on top of the table, six lined up in a row with the right-most chairs double stacked. At the time he noticed this, John was the only person in the restaurant building, and the dining hall was never left empty. At least one member of our team was there at all times watching the monitor, and none of us heard or saw the chairs moving.

Photo of dining room tables and chairs taken at 8:37 p.m.

Photo of rearranged dining room chairs taken at 10 p.m.

In the hotel itself, the staff and visitors encountered a wide range of spirits. Reports include hearing children playing in the atrium around the pool, seeing a lady in white, and footsteps wandering the halls. Room 212 is reported to have a wide variety of activity, so we focused a lot of our attention in the hotel on that room. Early in the evening my mom, Jennifer, and I went into the room to do an EVP session and noticed that we were hearing a low but continual conversation that included 2-3 different male voices. We could not make out particular words in the conversation, but at times it sounded like it was coming from all around us. The hotel was technically closed for the winter already, so the only guest staying in the rooms was a young nurse who was already in bed at the time of our investigation. Despite that, we still went looking for the source of the conversation, thinking someone may have snuck into a room or left a TV on in a room above us, but we found no answer.

Jennifer and Rusty investigating in a guest room.

Later in the evening we returned to room 212 with my dad and Rusty and were able to communicate with a spirit that identified itself as Richard using a flashlight. The spirit was also able to tell us that his age was around 31 and that he had somehow been involved in the building of the hotel. Based on the owner’s research into the hotel, we knew that the primary spirits identified in the restaurant was of one of the three developers of the hotel whose name was Richard. Although the developer Richard died when he was in his 40s, we still believe the male spirit we talked to could be the same one that the owner encounters in the restaurant. Throughout this session with the flashlight we all again heard the muffled multi-person conversation going on around us, but it was too low to be picked up by our audio recorders and we once again could not find a source for the voices. A brief excerpt from our half hour EVP/flashlight session in room 212 can be viewed below. 

This hunt did not yield any EVPs for us, but it did result in some interesting personal experiences, a photograph of a full body apparition, and some great memories. The Lake Norfork Inn was well worth the drive and we certainly hope to return again in the near future. Based on the wealth of experiences the hotel staff and guests have reported, we feel that we most likely just scratched the surface in unearthing its secrets.

Hayley.

The Many Spirits of the VWF

Date: November 7, 2014

Location: VFW Post 2399, Mineral Wells, Texas

We first learned about the VFW from a friend in Texas, and after contacting the Post Commander, Jim Branson, we discovered that the building has a long and mostly undiscovered history. What is known is that the structure was originally opened as the New Milling Sanitorium pre-1920. The building was later purchased by a different doctor and renamed the Irvine Sanitarium. The hospital treated a variety of ailments and mental disorders with the healing mineral waters from the local springs. VFW Post 2399 purchased the building in the 1970s and have utilized the building ever since.

On our visit to the VFW we were shown around by Commander Branson, who told us many of the paranormal encounters that have occurred in the building, including a female spirit known as Florence who hangs out in the bingo hall, a young boy named Michael who often plays upstairs, a chef who watches over the kitchen, and many other spirits that roam the halls at all hours. Other VFW patrons such as the very friendly and informative Mr. Walter Choate, welcomed us to the Post and told us their personal encounters with the spirits as well, many of which focused on hearing footsteps in the halls, mysterious voices, and feelings of being watched.

An orb along with a creepy mannequin in the upstairs storage room.

After touring the facility and setting up our infrared cameras to monitor the upstairs, which still closely resembles the original hospital setup in half of the building (and was still partially set up for the annual haunted house in the other half), John had the first of many personal experiences for the night. Around 10:30 pm he was alone watching the infrared cameras at our monitor. We had the monitor set up in the chapel room upstairs, so he sat with his back towards the long wing lined with small hospital rooms. The rest of us were downstairs with the Commander waiting for Mitch and Samantha to arrive, and John first noticed his water bottle shaking, soon followed by the sound of footsteps walking the length of the hallway towards him. Of course no one was there when he turned to see who was coming, but he did have the feeling that someone was standing nearby. Beverly had a similar experience while watching the monitor about a half our later, except the approaching footsteps culminated with someone touching her hair.

Around this same time, my mom and I decided to check out the Bingo Hall while we waited. After entering the Hall we heard a noise coming from some tables on the far side of the room to the right of the stage. We sat down and started asking questions and monitoring for energy with the K-2 meter. Base readings were low on the meter, with only the green light being on, but we soon had several small spikes towards the yellow light. The meter had its highest readings (the red light) after we asked “Are you a woman?” and “Is your name Florence?” My dad joined us in the Bingo hall and we decided to play Patsy Cline music (which Commander Branson said Florence seems to enjoy) to see if Florence would dance with my dad. I played the song “Crazy” and the K-2 immediately flashed over to red. My dad soon felt a presence near him where he stood on the stage. During this episode, our audio recorder picked up a very audible female voice humming and singing along when I played the song a second time. While my mom and I were in the room, we can be heard whispering in the background during the singing, and neither of us are capable of singing as high as this voice is. Audio of this EVP is included in the video below. Later in the night Mitch played a different Patsy Cline song while he was in the Bingo Room with my dad, and the audio recorder again picked up a brief instance of a female humming along with the song.

 

Orb following my mom at the end of the night. 

Later in the investigation (around 12:40 am), my mom and I decided to go sit in one of the hospital rooms that is particularly active according to the local stories. The young boy named Michael, who is most frequently encountered in the large open room on the other side of the building, has been known to visit the old hospital rooms as well. We began asking questions with both a flashlight and the K-2 laying across the room from us in a doorway where Mr. Branson said other visitors had been touched or had seen a shadowy figure. While the K-2 never lit up, something began answering questions with the flashlight laying in doorway. Through approximately 30 minutes of questioning we learned that the spirit claimed to be Michael and said that his age is around 12 years, that he was a patient at the hospital, and that he liked to play stickball (It took going through a long list of sports to get a response for that one). During this session we also picked up an EVP of a small voice saying something similar to “wow” after I said that I put the flashlight back down for him. Both the EVP and video of a couple of the flashlight questions is below. We spoke to Michael again later using the flashlight in what is said to be a very high-energy corner of the upstairs storage room.

Blue haze over the Bingo Room

The night also yielded several odd photos. After telling Michael that we were leaving, I captured an orb floating near my mom’s back. Mitch captured several strange lights in his photos, including one taken in the Bingo Room that shows a blue haze over the room. The photo was one of many taken in a row in the room, but only the one had blue light or haze in it. The infrared camera in the upstairs storage room also caught an odd oblong orb or light moving quickly across the screen. We saw no insects in the building that night, and the movement pattern of the light/orb didn’t resemble bugs we’ve caught flying past the cameras before— It did not flutter or move erratically at all; it just glides across. What is more strange about this is that my dad, Mitch, and Samantha were at the other end of the room at the time the light/orb is seen, and just before it came into view they heard a sound of glass shattering at the other end of the room where the camera was. They found no evidence of anything being broken and nothing was caught on camera other than the odd light. At the same time, Mitch snapped a picture and captured the above photo of an orb floating near where they heard the noise. The brief video clip of light/orb is featured at the end of the clip below. 

Overall the Mineral Wells VFW Post 2399 turned out to be pretty exciting, and we are positive that we captured our first instance of a singing EVP. This is certainly on our list of places worth a return visit.

Hayley.

A Black Friday Investigation

SPI is pleased to announce that along with our upcoming investigation of the Mineral Wells, TX VFW, we will also be visiting the Lake Norfork Inn located on Lake Norkfork in Henderson, Arkansas next month. The Inn has been featured on SyFy Channel's Haunted Collector and is reported to have a wide variety of activity, ranging from a "lady in white" seen on lake to children's laughter in the halls.  We look forward to bringing you the details of our Black Friday investigation soon!

Upcoming Adventures

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In early November, SPI will be venturing to Mineral Wells, Texas to investigate the VFW Post 2399 building. The Post building originally served as the Milling Sanatorium and later as the Irvine Sanitarium and was one of many facilities of its type in the town, which has long been visited for its healing mineral spring waters. Follow this link to learn more about the Post.

A Haunting in the French Quarter

Date: June 17-18, 2014

Location: Hotel Monteleone; New Orleans, Louisiana

The HotelMonteleone stands high over Royal Street, one block off of Bourbon, in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Like most of the city, the hotel has many rumors of paranormal activity surrounding it, particularly on the 14^th floor, where many employees refuse to go. So, naturally we requested a room on the 14^th floor to see if we could encounter any of the numerous resident spirits for ourselves. These spirits include that of a young boy who died of illness weeks after his parents were killed outside the hotel in a buggy accident as well as spirits of past owners and bellhops.

We spent two nights in room 1484, and although our room provided no paranormal encounters of its own, we had multiple encounters while wandering the halls of the 14^th floor in the evenings. The first of these experiences still gives my father chills to recall. He was walking the halls in hopes of catching EVPs from any of the resident spirits, and all seemed calm and quite at first. However, when he walked down a side hall that lead to the Mr. Monteleone suite, he felt as though he literally walked into a wall of spiritual energy. He doubled over with his breath taken away and cold chills shaking his body. When my dad returned to our room moments later he told us what had happened and was still visibly shaken. He had to back away from the spot where he felt the energy, and even the next night could not walk to the end of that hall without feeling short of breath and getting cold chills. Although my mom and I did not share his experience near Mr. Monteleone’s suite, we did both sense a heavy, oppressive energy near a hotel staff staircase on the far western end of the building.

On the second evening in the hotel my parents were able to communicate with a spirit we believe to be an adolescent boy in the hallway using an EMF meter. While sitting on a set of steps in the 14^th floor’s main hallway my parents asked an

extensive series of questions and the meter would spike 1-2 miligauss (mG) in response to questions regarding whether the spirit had passed away at the hotel, if he preferred the 14^th floor, and if he wanted to be left alone. I was snapping photos throughout this session with the EMF meter, and only one of the photos featured anything out of the ordinary – a blue orb hovering over my mom’s shoulder.

Close up of the blue-tinted orb.

This same meter had a steady reading of 0.0 mG throughout the rest of the 14^th floor, except while my mom and I were in the far hall (near where we had felt the oppressive energy). When we were leaving the hallway, the meter spiked several points while my mom held it. She passed it to me and it dropped immediately to 0.0 mG when I held it in the exact same location. This occurred several times before the meter settled again to 0.0 and we retuned to the main hall.

We also discovered one EVP among the hours of audio we recorded at the hotel. After wandering the halls alone for a time my dad returned to the room to ask if my mom and I wanted to join him. During the conversation between my parents the voice of what seems to be a much younger male interrupts my mom while she is talking by saying rather loudly, “What?” Audio of this EVP is provided at the bottom of this post. 

 Like much of New Orleans, the Hotel Monteleone is practically overflowing with paranormal energy, and to our delight we were able to gets several unique tastes of that in our brief stay. So although we may not have enjoyed the smells of Bourbon Street or the overbearing traffic throughout the city, we did enjoy our time at the hotel known to many as the “a jewel of the French Quarter.”

Hayley.

A Trip to the Past at Oak Alley

Date: June 16, 2014

Location: Oak Alley Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana

After hearing stories and seeing the Oak Alley Plantation featured on TV, we knew we had to find time to visit southern Louisiana to check it out for ourselves. The beautiful plantation home is well preserved, located in a prime location along the Mississippi, and has a stunning row of live oak lining the front walk to provide a picturesque frame of the main house.

We booked one of the small cottages on the grounds for an overnight stay and were able to roam the grounds throughout the night. Although we didn’t see any apparitions or gain any overwhelmingly exciting evidence, we did have a few interesting personal experiences and certainly donated our fair share of blood to the bayou’s mosquito population.

Early in the evening we began to notice noises throughout the cottage, including a sound like marbles dropping and feet shuffling, which was heard when everyone was sitting in the living room. The clock in the back bedroom also repeatedly made noises of electrical interference even though our EMF meters detected no energy in the vicinity of it and no other electronic devices were nearby.

Later in the evening while John was laying on the bed in the back room during an EVP session the KII meter lying on the bed beside him spiked to its highest color level, red, on multiple occasions and would then drop to green, the lowest energy level, as soon as he touched or moved it. Other signs of energy in the cottage included numerous fast-moving orbs observed on the infrared camera we left running all night in the dining room.

Investigating near the slaves quarters.

We gathered no hard evidence while walking the grounds that night, but my parents did have a strong personal experience near the slaves’ quarters. They were standing alone reading some of the plaques detailing the history of slavery at the plantation when they heard someone approaching, which they assumed would be me. When the footsteps drew close they turned to speak to me and found that no one else was nearby.

Oak Alley may have given us all more mosquito bites that ghostly frights, but the personal experiences we shared were all proof enough to us that the plantation’s rich history is still alive and well.

Hayley.

Coming Soon

SPI has recently returned from a trip to New Orleans. The results from our investigations at Oak Alley Plantation and the Hotel Monteleone are coming soon!

An Interesting Photo and Some Upcoming Hunts

We recently received a picture from the folks who run the ghost tours at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, AR. Apparently a guest sent in this picture, which they took with their phone while on a ghost tour with my family back in December of 2010. The picture was taken in Theodora's room, which my Aunt Tina and her family were staying in that night (find the original story of that night here), and it features my mom standing next to the tour guide (seen below in the red vest), with another hotel guest and a rather mysterious, semi-transparent figure standing behind them.

(Photo received from Crescent Hotel Staff. Original credit unknown.)

While the photo quality certainly isn't the greatest, we all know from memory and other photos taken that night that the wispy figure standing between my mom and the tour guide was not visibly present in Theodora's room that night. Perhaps Dr. Baker came down his secret stairway in the wall (located behind the tour guide) to hear the stories being told about him that night.

In other news, SPI will be traveling to Louisiana this summer to visit Oak Alley Plantation, located along the Mississippi River in Vacherie, and the very popular (and supposedly very haunted) Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans. We'l keep you posted on what we find at both of these beautiful, historic locations when we visit in June.