Friday, July 17, 2009

Freaky Friday: Mansfield continued

I hope the saying "Better late than never" applies here! Sorry for the delay, but as promised, in celebrating a rainy Freaky Friday, here are more details on Dracula's castle of criminals. To start it off, I'd like to share EVPs collected by Clayton and Trip, two investigators who traveled from Kentucky to Ohio for the hunt.

Both files are of the same moment, but they are from two different voice recorders. One was Trip's and the other was Clayton's. What do you hear after Clayton asks, "Terry? Do you want to say something, Terry?"

Picking up where we left off, after leaving the attic, the group traveled downstairs to the prison chapel, pictured above. At one time, members of the community would come there for service as well. They were elevated in a balcony above the prisoners. On their way back to their cells after the service, the prisoners would pass under them. One ghost hunter mentioned a feeling of sadness when walking that direction. Often times, people hear piano music in the area as well.

As you saw from the video clip last week, there are several ghostly tales from locals, former prisoners and guards, and current employees. Scott supervised our ghost hunt last week. He was an awesome tour guide and told some great stories.

The most notable story is probably when he actually felt something punch him in the kidney. He says he hit the ground and then worried about how he was going to get the two ghost hunters with him out of the building safely.

Personally, I don't really mind that something of that caliber didn't happen to me. I'm okay with it.

In fact, I didn't capture any undeniable evidence of spirit manifestation at the prison. I had some odd feelings in certain places. In the infirmary, for example, I quickly developed a sharp headache behind my left eye. It was the kind of headache that makes you a bit dizzy and begs you to close the blinds in your bedroom and dive beneath the covers.

A few others in the group felt something odd in the room including Rachelle, who felt nauseous.

When we left the room, the maladies left as well. I wish Tylenol worked that fast.

Several investigators reported spots of blackness, particularly in the East Cell Block. It came with a very eery feeling, but truth be told, moonlight coming in a certain direction could cause that area to be in deeper shadow.

We also had quite a bit of success with dowsing rods. Dowsing is an ancient skill used to find water, minerals, or oil deposits below the Earth. Some people believe that lines of high energy exist on Earth. The energy can contribute to several things including a sacred connection to God.
I personally had the opportunity use dowsing rods at Stonehenge in England. Amazingly, when I stood aligned with the stones, the L-shaped rods crossed. When I backed away from the imaginary line, they returned to their original position.

I love that we used them on the ghost hunt because it shows that modern investigators are using a combination of ancient practices along with modern equipment like infrared cameras.

Dom held the dowsing rods as we walked through the East Cell Block. When they crossed in front of a specific cell, we would take photos of the cell and ask a few questions with the voice recorders.

If you remember, a few investigators played a bit of a trick on us by throwing glass through a hole in the wall. Well, we returned the favor in the administration wing. We heard a group of investigators above us, so we sat quietly and Jami made a loud pounding noise. We stifled giggles for a few minutes as the group asked if anyone was around. Jami pounded again before we finally revealed we were there. Not exactly good ghost hunting etiquette, but fun.

At one point in the night, we heard someone screaming. Everyone stopped and looked at each other. In the silence, we heard the scream again. We backtracked to find out if anyone was screaming. There was a group behind us. One of them had opened a closet door, and the hinges screeched. False alarm.

Although I didn't catch anything impressive on my EVPs or pictures, the trip was overall worth it. We had a lot of fun, and there's nothing like that moment when your body freezes and your mind runs overtime questioning whether what you just encountered was caused by someone from the other side.

And, if you're looking to check out the evidence gathered by the other investigators, check it out at Spirited Ghost Hunting.

Here are a few more pictures from Mansfield:


Above: This is the cell where Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, spent his time in solitary confinement. Below: Feeling brave before the lights went out, I hopped into a cell, and Dom took my picture. The rest of the night, I couldn't muster the same courage to enter into a pitch black cell with an old rusty door that could close behind me.




Above: A look at how dilapidated the building is. These are stairs in one of the cell blocks. Below: You may recognize the room where Andy played the record over the loudspeaker for everyone in the prison to hear.



Above: The warden's office in the film, Shawshank Redemption. Below: Cell painted gold to be featured in Lil Wayne video "Go DJ."



Above: A look down the long hallway of the East Cell Block. Note the low railing to the left. Below: A closer view of the fine accommodations.

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