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.

Things I Learned about Myself on My First Ghost Hunt

1. I am nothing like Leia Angeletti, my brave, 17-year-old ghost-hunting heroine.
2. I am a big scaredy-cat.
3. Fear of heights and a cell block with a low railing do not mix.
4. I am not patient enough to hang out and wait for a spirit to manifest.
5. I'm a really bad ghost hunter!

The picture to the right is my favorite from last night. In it, you can see down the long hallway of the West Cell Block at the Manfield State Reformatory. If you notice the cells are on the right, and to the left is basically a cage.

The East Cell Block has no cage. There is simply a hip-high railing, and as you can imagine, several inmates were thrown to their death as a result.

The building itself is amazing. In the video posted here yesterday, a former prisoner compared it to Dracula's castle. That's an incredibly appropriate comparison for several reasons.

The exterior is spooky yet gorgeous. The architecture demands attention and fools new visitors into believing the interior could be palace-like. As you can imagine, though, that anticipation doesn't deliver.

Inside, paint is chipping from the cell bars, walls, and ceilings. Wooden floors in the former wardens' living quarters soften as you walk over them creating nearly as much fear and anxiety as the graffiti on the walls and the violent history the tour guide revealed, which plays in your mind throughout the night.

The Attic
As the stories go, an inmate was helping with work in the attic once upon a time. The guards left him, and he committed suicide by hanging. Although many of the members of Spirited Ghost Hunting have been to Mansfield several times, they had never been in the attic. It was too dangerous - because of the mess, not because of the ghosts.

But after scarfing some pizza, we headed for the attic above the East Cell Block in a group of 8 around 11 p.m. We wandered around in the dark, flash lights bouncing off the walls and lingering on massive holes in the ceiling where plaster was peeling and hanging low, feet shuffling against the mounds of dirt and dust.

Across the attic were what appeared to be shower stalls like this one, which brings me to our first point of investigation.

My husband and I were standing in this stall while other groups were in adjacent stalls. Everyone was doing their best to be still and quiet while we recorded some electronic voice phenomenon or EVPs.

Rachelle, Spirited Ghost Hunting's fearless leader, was asking questions such as why are you here, what year is it, and what is your name?

She asked if anyone was there could they give us a sign. We heard a bang on hollow metal. I recognized the sound immediately. A few minutes earlier another hunter Tonya and I had squeezed through a small door frame to find an old furnace and stairs to other aged heating or water devices. That area is on the other side of the wall from the shower stalls.

Rachelle asked more questions and again asked for a sign, a noise of any kind or movement in the room. At that moment, Dom moved next to me.

"Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Yeah, stop moving," I told him, fearing we were going to get yelled at for improper ghost hunting etiquette. We were supposed to be quiet!

"No, someone threw something at me," he said. I was standing in the doorway of the stall, so it didn't come from that direction.

The rest of the group came into our little stall. We flashed lights on the floor and found a piece of glass. Glass hitting the floor made sense with the sound both of us had heard. I assumed he stepped on something or dropped something, but he insisted the glass either fell through the hole in the ceiling of the stall or the hole on the wall.

Tonya and I insisted no one was in that room. We had just been back there. To investigate, we all filed through the doorway into the next room to find a few other ghost hunters enjoying the joke they'd just played on us!

A couple more things about the attic before we move on. The history in the building is obviously incredible. It was opened in 1896 and first housed youth offenders. They were taught trades and "reformed" before being released. Then around World War I, more serious adult offenders called it home. At one time, it housed Death Row. Although its capacity is 1,100 prisoners, the most it ever held was 3,600. Clearly, overcrowding was an issue.

That's one of the reasons why in the 1970s, officials were pushing to have it closed. The decision was made in 1978, and it took 12 years to transfer all of the prisoners before the doors closed to corrections in 1990. Now, it's privately owned and preserved as a historical landmark.

I'm not sure why so many prisoners were up in the attic or why the place hasn't gotten a paint job for 80 years. I guess it's always possible that someone got creative and jotted some notes more recently than that, but above, you can see one of the many "I was here" notes.

It's hard to make out the details, but it's from prisoner 30890, who was transferred from Cleveland to serve at Mansfield in 1933. Some of the notes included reasons for incarceration.

A number or name. A crime. A date. I guess in their everyday lives, those were the most relevant attributes.

The notes illustrate a desire similar to Brooks' need to be remembered in The Shawshank Redemption, which was filmed at Mansfield. The halfway house Brooks lived in when he left the prison was filmed in one of the prison's administration rooms.

But back to the attic. We had one more experiment for the spirits, if they were with us. Four people set their flashlights in the middle of the floor. We crowded around them.

We got our voice recorders ready, and Jami, a really nice guy and fun ghost hunter, started with the questions. The main request was for the spirit to use the battery power in the flashlights as energy, thus shutting the flash light off. A particular line of questioning yielded a flicker in one of the lights.

"Did your family not visit you? Were they ashamed of what you'd done?"

The flicker was very visible. Not groundbreaking research or ironclad proof of paranormal activity, but clearly visible. After a few questions, Jami went back to the family questions again, but no more flickers, and none of the lights were extinguished.

When you're hoping for something to happen, it's hard not to assume or conclude prematurely. For instance, take a look at this photo of Rachelle and Colleen in the attic.

If you look closely above both of their heads, you see orbs. You can see one to the left of Rachelle (who's in the brown shirt and black shorts) and one right above Colleen's head. Farther above them, you see a few other orbs floating around.

I'd conclude these are dust particles. The validity of orbs carries a heavy debate. Some people believe if there is any color to them, it means they are paranormal whereas colorless orbs are simply dust particles. Others rule them out completely. Some, still, jump at any orb in a photograph and are excited about the implications.

The night wasn't over, but this post is getting lengthy, so I'll cut today's post short and get back to you tomorrow with more details about the music videos and movies filmed at Mansfield, our experiences in the administrative living quarters and pitch black cell blocks. And of course, what's a visit to a prison without time spent in solitary confinement.

Freaky Friday: Today's the Big Day

First of all, congratulations to Robin for winning a copy of Tina Ferraro's How to Hook a Hottie! Thanks to everyone who stopped by for the interview. And Tina, good luck with the RITA next week!

So, most of my gadgets and gizmos are lined up on the couch in my office for tonight. I've charged all of my camera batteries, searched for my voice recorders and flashlights, and have stocked extra batteries. For the spiritual side of things, I have a protective crystal (at the suggestions of a Lily Dale psychic), sage (which is used for cleansing), and holy water (which my husband, who is joining me, suggested). Don't want to bring any ghosties home with me!

In other words, I'm all ready for my ghost hunt!

Tonight I'm heading to Mansfield Prison in Ohio with Spirited Ghost Hunting, a group of about 40 ghost hunters. From what I understand, we get a tour of the building with the lights on. Then they get cut, and we're free to wander with our cameras and voice recorders in the dark until 6 a.m.

6 a.m.! Those of you who know me know I like my sleep!

We'll see how it goes. Because it's the best video on Mansfield, I'm going to post the same video from last week. If you didn't watch it then, give it a go today. It's really creepy!

I'll blog all about it tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Freaky Friday: First ghost hunt coming up...

If you've read the excerpts I posted, you know my book opens with a scene in a haunted, abandoned prison. My fearless
17-year-old ghost hunter Leia Angeletti is doing her best to catch an apparition on film to prove herself to the older investigators in her group.

I wrote this scene in mid-January. Weeks later, I located and visited with a local ghost hunting group, Spirited Ghost Hunting. They were putting their schedule of hunts together, and lo and behold, one of the first ones was a trip to Mansfield, a haunted prison in Ohio.

I believe in signs, and that was a good one!

Because of my work schedule, though, I was unable to attend, but they are going for a second visit next week, and I'm on the list! It will be my first ghost hunt. Deep breath. I'm a little scared. I'll admit it. I'm not quite as brave as my YA herione.

I'll of course tell you all about it next weekend. In the meantime, here's a bit about Mansfield. FYI - It may look familiar if you've seen the film Shawshank Redemption, as it was filmed at Mansfield.