on Friday, 02/03/2012, at 11:45 p.m.

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The connection between animals and the paranormal is something humans have likely thought about for thousands of years. Is it far-fetched? Not necessarily. It’s well-known that animals have a sixth-sense when it comes to sensing changes in energy – reports of dogs, cats, birds, and even livestock acting strangely just before an earthquake or a tornado are quite common. Many scientists believe that it’s because of their elevated senses as either prey or predator that allows them to feel subtle changes in wind, sounds, or the feeling of the ground beneath them.

If that’s indeed the case, why wouldn’t they also be able to detect changes in temperature or the electro-magnetic field surrounding them that signals the possibility of something paranormal to investigators? Could the use of animals on investigations become a part of the paranormal detective’s tool bag? Certainly it’s become the case when it comes to the Ghost Hunters – they employ Jason Hawes dog “Maddie” in many investigations nowadays to sense activity that the their equipment cannot.

While the future of ghost hunting will undoubtedly revolve around the newest technologies and the “next big thing” , it may be worthwhile to look to simpler methods to discover the subtle hints of paranormal activity that all the thousands of dollars of equipment can’t – good old Rover!

Built in 1874, Athens Lunatic Asylum specialized in the treatment of criminally and mentally insane patients. As many know, the treatment and care of people who were considered to be insane was not anywhere near the level of what it is today; overcrowding,  lobotomies, electroshock treatments, and other archaic forms of treatment for the mentally ill led to poor conditions for the inhabitants - this trauma alone would be enough to potentially leave it’s mark on the building. But it was an incident in 1978 that has truly solidified the reputation of  The Ridges as a haunted location.

On December 1st, 1978, a patient by the name of Margret Schilling disappeared from her room without a trace. A search was conducted in all areas of the asylum being used at the time, but she was nowhere to be found. It was a mystery – but a mystery that could have been solved if the staff had looked for her more thoroughly. Unfortunately for Margret, they failed to search other areas of the building that were no longer being used.

A little over a month later on January 9th, 1979, a maintenance worker discovered her naked body on the floor in a room of the abandoned section N. 20. She had died from exposure to the cold, and her clothes were folded neatly in the corner of the room. Nobody has been able to explain why she didn’t go for help or why she took her clothes off. Some stories claim that she was a deaf-mute and may have gotten locked in the abandoned area; other legends claim that she was simply playing hide-and-seek with the nurses, and didn’t want to be found. Whatever the truth may be, it was certainly a tragic occurence - but the story even stranger.

After Margret’s body was discovered and then removed, the stain of what happened remained etched into the memory of the building – quite literally as it turns out. A stain was left on the floor of the room of a human body – Margret’s body – and it remains there permanently despite numerous efforts over the years to remove it, as you can see below:

The stain is real – it’s been confirmed by a scientific study (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2008.00862.x/abstract) as the residue of human remains. What is not entirely understood is why they can’t get rid of the stain on the floor – could it be paranormal? Many say yes. What we do know is that it’s a sad reminder of the passing of Margret Schilling.

Thanks to http://www.forgottenoh.com and http://www.museumofhoaxes.com for the images.

Matrixing is a term that’s become a part of the vernacular of paranormal investigators since the “Ghost Hunters” began using it commonly to describe the tendency to associate human-like features in images or photographs where none may actually be present. This occurs often even when you’re not looking for anything paranormal; I’ve seen faces in clouds, smoke, steam (especially breath in the cold air on investigations), or even toast! Typically it begins to happen the more you enlarge an image or photograph – more detail is taken away, leaving the human mind to interpret whatever it’s most familiar with.

The term “matrixing” has it’s roots in other less flashy terminology: Pareidolia, Apophenia, and Anthropomorphizing. These 3 words separately help to define the use of the broader term “matrixing” in world of ghost hunters. The definitions of these 3 words are as follows:

Pareidolia: The tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something known to the viewer; such as interpreting marks on the moon as having human-like features, or faces in clouds.

 Apophenia: In psychology, the perception of connections and meaningfulness in unrelated things; such as assuming that your deceased grandmother must have knocked over her favorite vase off the shelf as a message to you.

Anthropomorphism: The attribution of a human-like form or behavior to religious figures from inanimate objects; such as seeing the image of Jesus in a piece of toast.

You can see by the definitions of these three words why the broader term “matrixing” was coined for the purposes of paranormal investigations. One, or all 3 of these things happen all the time for professional and amateur ghost hunters alike. Recognizing when it happens is critical to any serious investigator, because you don’t want to make wild speculations about what an image shows – especially in front of clients. As an investigator, it’s our responsibility to cover all the bases when dealing with evidence – even when it may not be what the client wants to hear.

Thanks to http://indiana-metropolitan-paranormal-society.us for the image.

The discovery of an EVP is really exciting to a paranormal investigator, because they are quite rare, and require alot of work to attain - conducting the EVP session and then the evidence review can add up to many hours of  tedious drudgery if you’re not getting much – but that one EVP can make it all worth it.  EVP sessions are one of the staples of any ghost hunt, they are easy to conduct for the professional ghost hunter as well as the amateur because it doesn’t require lots of high-priced equipment to do it. So, what equipment do you need to conduct your own EVP session?

What you need:

• Some type of recording device, preferably a digital voice recorder
• A K2 meter (helpful, although it’s not required)
• A maglite/flashlight that screws on/off (also not required)
• A quiet room to conduct the session

That’s basically it! You don’t have to do it at night either – if you feel comfortable enough you can – but an EVP session can be done at any time of day. Now let’s go over the strategy to take when you’re conducting your own EVP session.

EVP session strategies:

• Again, make sure the location is quiet, to avoid evidence contamination
• Turn off your cell phone
• Verbally label who you are and anyone else in the room, the time, and the place you are
• If any sudden noises are made (creaking of a chair, floorboard, etc.), verbally make a note of it so you can disregard it later
• When questioning a spirit, use questions that are closed-ended – something that can be answered with a simple yes/no is preferred – it takes a lot of energy for a spirit to respond to even short-answer questions
• Speak clearly - not only is it difficult to hear if you’re whispering, but most EVP’s sound like whispering, so you could unintentionally contaminate your own evidence
• If you have a K2 meter, ask the entity to interact with it – describe what it does, and how the spirit can potentially communicate using the K2 meter if it can’t summon enough energy to make themselves known
• Use a flashlight – unscrew the top just enough to not quite turn it on, but that a slight touch could do the trick
• Use follow-up questions if you get responses with the K2 meter or flashlight

These strategies are commonly employed by professional ghost hunters and they can be utilized by you too. Some of the initial difficulty amateur ghost hunters run into is the feeling that you’re just sitting in an empty room just talking to yourself – and while you may actually be doing just that, don’t let it stop you from continuing on! The more you do it, the more natural it becomes.

When you’re done with your session, the next phase is evidence review. It’s pretty simple, but make sure you’re in a quiet place when you’re reviewing evidence. Listen carefully for any disembodied voices that can’t be explained, and note the time where you heard it on the recording. When it’s all said and done, you’ll have completed a bonafide EVP session, and hopefully you’ll get the results you were looking for!

Religion and ghost hunting – two subjects that could easily be interconnected and complimentary to one another. Unfortunately for the paranormal investigator, that’s rarely true. In fact, while there’s much up for debate between the three major religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism), there is at least some agreement about ghosts, and what they really are – for better or worse.

In all 3 books of these religions (the Bible, the Koran, and the Torah) there are references to ghosts and the paranormal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost#Biblical_references_.26_Jud.C3.A6o.E2.80.93Christian_belief , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonology#Islam). The agreement between the big 3 rests on the idea that spirits or ghosts on this plane of existence should not be trifled with; most spirits are considered  to be demons, or even the Devil himself in disguise. It’s considered to be a sin to even attempt communication with a spirit because it’s “unclean”.

The idea that there are “human spirits” on the earthly plane is considered unholy – the three religions support the idea that the human body is a temporal thing – they believe that the spirit will either end up either with God, Allah, or Yahweh – or in some type of eternal hell or punishment (Judaism does not support the idea of “hell”) – although some believe that a human spirit will remain on the earth for a short time to find their way to heaven or warn others to repent for their sins.

Modern belief systems and the desire to prove the notion of an afterlife have allowed the field of ghost hunting to become more valued in certain circles of the big 3 religions, but it’s still yet to gain significant traction by the majority of believers; religious dogma remains the dominant guide to those who experience paranormal activity. It’s up to us as paranormal investigators to be sensitive to that fact, and continue to further the quality of our own research and investigations to bridge the gap between religion and ghost hunting.

What you can do is document EVERYTHING about the sighting. When, where, and how often a spirit appears can be the key to determining whether the apparition is an intelligent or residual haunting. Apparitions that appear at certain times of the day/week/year can be easily tracked, and a pattern can be formed. In addition it’s important to document what they look like, what kind of clothing, and how (if at all) the spirit interacts with you. Of course if you recognize the spirit as a family member or a friend, most of the work is already done as to what you’re dealing with – but even then, it’s still critical to document as much as possible about what’s happening.

Witnessing a full body apparition is a rare event that can impact your life – don’t be afraid of the unknown, but instead embrace it. And if you happen to catch it on film, let us here at P.O.P.S. know – we’d love to see it!

Credit to themightywings.com for the use of the image for this posting.

The Lincoln Theatre in Decatur, Illinois has a well-earned reputation as one of the most haunted theatres in America. Built in 1916, it was a popular location for vaudeville performers including Houdini, Harry Blackstone, Ethel Barrymore, and Bob Hope. The theatre served as the entertainment hub for the city of Decatur for 60 years, until the theatre finally closed it’s doors for what was believed to be for the last time.

Luckily for movie goers it was not to be so;  the theatre was re-opened again in the mid 1990′s after extensive renovation (which continues to this day). Today, the theatre is thriving with activity once again as a historical reminder of the glory days that it represents – but human activity is not the only activity reported at the Lincoln Theatre.

Since the 1930′s, there have been numerous reports of paranormal activity at the location. It’s believed is was an old Native American burial ground, and from 1860 until the theatre was built in 1916, it was a hotel; first the Priest Hotel, then the New Demming Hotel, after that, the Arcade Hotel, and finally the Decatur & Arcade Hotel.

It’s been an unlucky place to be; tragedy and misfortune plagued the site constantly. In 1904, a fire destroyed the hotel completely, but it was rebuilt on the same site in short order. Then is 1915, another fire not only destroyed the hotel, but also claimed two lives in addition to damaging surrounding buildings. When the theatre was then chosen to be the next building on the site, it was determined that it be completely “fireproof”. Built with fireproof brick , it did in fact survive another fire next door at the local drugstore in 1928.

There was another death attributed to the location – this time to the theatre, and his ghost is said to still remain there to this day. He’s known as “Red”, a one-armed veteran of World War 1 who served as a capable stagehand – so capable in fact, that he was known to work faster his fellow stage hands who had no disability. Red worked at the theatre until he died one afternoon in 1927 while taking a nap after his lunch, simply passing away in his sleep. Red can reportedly be seen as a full body apparition, or be heard by his footsteps in and around the stage area.

In addition to Red, there have been reports of footsteps in an otherwise empty theatre, a woman in a long old-fashioned dress on the theatre’s spiral staircase, cold spots, whispers, and appearances of other apparitions that vanish once seen or approached soon after. Considering the history of the location, it’s no surprise that the theatre is now a famous hot-spot for paranormal activity.

For more info about this theatre, visit their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lincoln-Square-Theatre-Decatur-IL/125853760765576?sk=wall

Credit to http://www.haunteddecatur.com for the image in this post.

Reports of the haunting has involved sightings of a male apparition in a white suit, a female ghost who likes to sit in the back two rows of the building, and noises like pipes rattling and banging and other “bumps in the night” are also common occurences. Our very own crew here at P.O.P.S. conducted an investigation just last October that yielded some interesting results http://paranormalpdx.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/haunted-hollywood-theatre/ 

The theater has seen remodeling over the years, and that maybe a reason for the continual reports of paranormal activity – but the rich history of this amazing relic of America in the 1920′s may have just as much to do with it. If you’re into history, architecture, and hauntings, a visit to this piece of Portland’s legacy would worth your while.

http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=A4763746-EA0D-8128-4C15CE253C12739F