So, last weekend I went to The Las Vegas Paracon and I had a great time!! However, I realized something that I have been fearing for a long time. The search for the paranormal has become more of a tourist trap than what it was originally intended for. Don't get me wrong, I love watching all the tv shows that are out there because I can relate to what they are doing. THAT is why I watch the shows. The other people who watch them do it because it is like watching sideshow freaks perform. Then they come to something like the Paracon to see it all in action. I enjoyed the Paracon because I got to hang out with a bunch of people who share the same passion for the paranormal that I do and we actually have something to talk about. It helped that I got to see some celebrities and meet cool new people, too. Honestly, the one part of the weekend that I didn't enjoy was the investigation part. It had nothing to do with Bonnie Springs or Brian, Linda or David screwing something up. No, it was because I got stuck with a bunch of people who had never investigated before and I found myself getting irritated by having to explain every little tap or swinging light to them. I know that I should be more understanding but I have never been a good teacher and I waited a long time to be able to investigate at Bonnie Springs only to feel more like a tour guide. I miss just investigating with a bunch of experienced professionals who already know what to do and don't freak out when they hear a noise.
I love going to things like this but always dread the investigations afterwards  because of things like this. I do have to say that unlike other events that I've gone to these newbies were very well behaved and not unruly like some I've experienced.
I don't mean to sound elitist or rude but I just want to get back to good ole fashion ghost hunting! I think next time I will skip the investigation and stick with the fun daytime stuff!

I'm cool

I totally forgot about my blog! Yeah, I've been kinda busy living life and learning about quite a lot of stuff. Imma remember to post on here more often, I promise.

The story I wrote for Haunted Times magazine

What will happen to the Walker House?

Anyone who knows me has heard the story of my first paranormal experience and my passion for the place where it happened. It’s been almost 30 years since the day that changed my life but I still remember it like it happened five minutes ago. The haunted wonderland that made me the ghosthunter that I am today is the Walker House in Mineral Point, WI. I’ve been lucky enough to investigate there twice since my paranormal deflowering and those investigations meant more to me than any other that I’ve done since then and I’ve been to a few impressive locations. None of them will ever compare to the Walker House. Enough gushing, I’m gonna tell you why the Walker House became what it is today. Buckle up, because what I am about to tell you will make even the most seasoned paranormal investigator giddy with delight.

For those of you who don’t know the history of Southwest Wisconsin or Mineral Point, I’ll clue you in. This part of Wisconsin was left alone by the glaciers in what is called a driftless area.  That meant there were ample mineral deposits just waiting for miners, prospectors and the lot to come along and snatch them up.  When word got out about the abundance of wealth to be discovered, respected miners from as far away as Cornwall, England rushed to the aptly named town of Mineral Point around the 1830’s. The Cornish influence on the town is still evident to this day. The rush was so big that around that time the rural town boasted a population that far surpassed Milwaukee and Chicago. In fact, in 1836, the inauguration of Wisconsin’s first governor, Henry Dodge, took place there. That same year, the object of this article came into existence. In fact, the Walker House is one of the oldest inns of the state of Wisconsin.

Currently, it is a beautiful three story stone structure with large wooden beams on the first floor.  It has a Cornish pub on the first floor, the kitchen, dining room and caretaker’s living quarters on the second floor and guest rooms occupy the third floor. In the first floor pub there are two small “rooms” that were seemingly carved into the bluff that rests behind the building. Much speculation has been made as to the true purpose of the two “rooms.” When I was a child, there was also a bar on the second floor on the opposite side of the building from the dining area. However, when the building was first erected it wasn’t as large as it is today. In its early days it was simply a meeting house for the Teamsters as well as any other group who needed a place to gather.  In 1842, this was where the saga of the hotel’s most notorious spirit, William Caffee, a 22-year old hot-head who was suspected of murdering another man during a heated argument, began. His trial was said to be fraught with suspicion and it is said that Caffee was framed. Historical documents claim that on the way to his hanging, Caffee rode astride his coffin and beat out the tune of a funeral march on it with empty beer bottles. There was rumored to be another hanging that took place there but no names have been found to back this up. Just another story passed down saying that the condemned man hid under the floorboards of the caretaker’s apartment in the hotel until the authorities finally found him.

In 1847, William Walker discovered that a railroad track was going to be laid in front of the house. So, he purchased it, built his home at the north end of the building and began adding sections to eventually turn it into a 44-room stone hotel which he cleverly named the Mineral Point Hotel.  Since then the hotel has had many owners and names over the years. In fact, it didn’t officially obtain the moniker of the Walker House until 1978. Throughout the years, it has also been an apartment building and a flophouse.  It saw continuous use until 1957 when it was abandoned and left to vandals for seven years until it was finally bought and lovingly restored by Ted Landon. Unfortunately, things didn’t go well and in 1978 a brokenhearted Landon was forced to sell the hotel to Dr David Ruf. This was around the time that most of the paranormal experiences were brought to light. In fact, my very own experience happened around 1982 or 1983 when I was around eight or nine years old. I’ll save that story for another day.

According to a psychic, the Walker House is home to 22 spirits. Whether that is accurate or not remains to be seen but regardless of the actual number of spirits who reside there, it is definitely active. Throughout the 80’s and 90’s the inn was open off and on. During the time that it was open or at least being renovated, the employees reported several odd occurrences. A friend of my parents often worked alone late nights during the renovation and heard what sounded like large panes of glass breaking. He would run around the whole building only to find no one else there and no broken glass. He started hearing so much those nights that he would play music as loud as he could to drown out the sounds. The waitstaff often complained that they would be locked in the walk-in freezers, pushed on the stairs, have their hair pulled and sometimes see a headless apparition. In some cases, people would even complain of being choked. Most would curse William Caffee’s spirit since it was understandable for this hot-headed, possibly innocent man to haunt the place where his life ended.

From 1994 to 2005, the hotel once again stood vacant but was protected by its owner Harvey Glanzer. It was also added to the list of endangered historical buildings during this time. However, it soon fell back into disrepair since it was not in operation. This brings us to its most current owners, Joe and Sue Dickinson. The Dickinson’s bought the inn around November of 2005. Unfortunately, due to the extensive renovations (including a brand new state of the art kitchen) they didn’t officially open until August of 2008. The activity began immediately, but it was rarely aimed at them. The spirits of the Walker House seemed to really like the fact that Joe and Sue were running the place. In fact, on one occasion when their daughter was watching the place while they were out of town she heard a very gruff, male voice yell out “Get the hell out of here! You’re not the owner!”

Another time when they were out of town, their employees reported seeing an older male apparition standing at the top of the stairs watching them carrying food up to the dining room and he didn’t seem pleased at all. Their daughter, who is a sensitive, saw a woman in a red formal, Spanish style dress and very strong perfume on the third floor near a storage room. Other stories are that a woman named Mary haunts near the stairs on the third floor where she fell to her death. On one of my own visits almost two years ago, a woman in one of the third floor rooms heard a man scream at her to “GET OUT!” There have also been sightings of a man who sits in a chair in room 9 peering down the hallway and a cat who hides under the bed in room 8. Then there is the little girl who walks the halls of the third floor as well. These are only some examples of the reported paranormal activity at the Walker House.

Unfortunately, the Dickinson’s lost the Walker House in the summer of 2010 and it has been sitting empty ever since waiting patiently for someone with the means to be able to love it once again.

Scooby Snacks

If I get nothing out of this whole paranormal adventure, I have learned how to pay more attention to what is around me and not take anything at face value. This is something that drives my kids nuts but makes me very happy!!

If I hear something then I stop, listen and calculate in my mind all of the things that the noise could have come from. The funny thing is that I went through a haunted house for Halloween and ended up finding all of the people who were going to jump out before they had a chance to scare me. I saw every potential "scare" and avoided it. It's sad because I went into the place to get the bejesus scared out of me and it didn't happen. I get it, being too analytical can be a bad thing but I'm cool with it.

Yeah, okay, I've always been the type of person who could come home and tell you if there was piece of lint out of place on the carpet. Now, I am even worse. I didn't say that I was a neat freak just that I can tell you if something is different than the last time I saw it. Plus, I pay attention to ever friggin sound, light change and what the hell else that happens around me. However, in my attention paying, I also rule things out quickly and am speedier at finding the source. These are things that I like about all this. I don't worry about stupid, small stuff that can be easily ruled out.

That being said, I don't mess around with the bs either. I find the answer and let you know what it is. If you choose to ignore what I tell you then you are the one who is going to risk looking like a dumbass!  I don't care if you like my answer or not, period. I will tell you the truth. I don't hype things to make people happy. I would rather debunk a thousand pieces of evidence than to get caught showing off something that is obviously nothing.

Good stuff

For fun news about Paranormal TV and other forms of entertainment, please check out my friend Suzanne's articles at: http://cfmmusicscene.com/category/paranormal-2/

Oh my god, something just touched me!!

Those accursed words. Oh, how I hate them! Why? The reason is simple, it is really hard to prove that someone was actually touched. I am a very evidence driven person and there is nothing that I hate more than when someone claims to have been touched. I even hate it when I say it! I'm not saying that it's because I think the person is lying, but because I don't know if they are or not. I hate saying it because I think that other people think that I am lying.

The truly sucky thing is that there are a lot of people out there who say it just to get attention. Those people really piss me off! They take the credibility away from the ones who truly do feel like they've been touched. The "I just felt something go through me" or the fake being possessed people get on my nerves, too. Seriously? I've been on a lot of investigations and I have never felt like something has gone through me or been possessed. What makes these people so damn special? Simply put, they probably aren't.

Back to my original gripe, I have honestly felt things that didn't seem quite right. I don't mean after I just woke up from a dental procedure and my blouse is undone type of not quite right either. I mean the feeling that something or something is actually touching you. The funny tingle on your arm or a push on your back kinda something. I usually try to keep it to myself unless it is really obvious. You never know when a muscle is gonna spasm or something else that makes your skins react to something natural. So, it's not always easy to tell which is which. Sucks, I know.

I always worry that if I say anything either people are gonna look at me like I just told them that Elvis just possessed my body or you get the round of the "me, too" chorus that rarely seems genuine. The craziest thing of all is that it might actually be true. That's why I hate the "I just got touched" proclamation. Someone could really be full of crap but you don't really have a way of proving it. I know what I feel or not but I have no way of confirming what others feel AND THAT DRIVES ME NUTS!

Hold up there, gym shoe

To clarify, I am not THE mother of the paranormal and I do not in any way, shape or form believe that I am. Don't get it twisted, there are several way more qualified broads out there who should have that title. I do not claim to be one of them. Thank you! :-P