Top Ten Tuesday: Halloween Freebie

 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

I am so excited for this one because I LOOOOOOOVE Halloween.

This is year I am not only sharing my fave creepy reads, but some that Eleanor and I have enjoyed together.

You can never go wrong with Mary Downing Hahn. Okay, so A Time for Andrew is not great, but for me it is because it involves time travel and that's boring even with ghosts. I have talked about Wait Til Helen Comes before, so this time I am showcasing a couple of our other favorites. Hahn is still publishing and I am thankful that there will be more for Eleanor to read in the future. When we read Helen not long ago, I was relieved to find that though the kids did not have cell phones or tablets or gaming systems, that did not appear out of the ordinary for Eleanor.

We are reading this one right now. A mysterious magic has put the adults to sleep, distracted the teenagers with a potion that makes them super chill at their all-night party, and stolen the little ones. Esther is on her own to save her family and town when one by one her companions have fallen victim to the Queen of Halloween.

I had some issues with this one but overall Eleanor and I liked it a lot. Zera, or Zee as she prefers, is a natural storyteller with a gigantic imagination. The problem ensues when suddenly life starts turning into something that sounds like one of her scary stories and seemingly everyone in town falls under the thrall of the new principal who appeared just as suddenly as the previous one disappeared. Zee and her friends have to save the people they love before it's too late.

Seriously creepy. I-had-to-read-with-all-the-lights-on creepy. You can check out my review here. I had to turn on all the lights just to talk about this one. This is one location I would never want to investigate. Nope. You could not pay me enough money to ever set foot in there.

Naturally no spooky book list of mine is complete without at least a couple entries by Richard Estep (and if you don't believe me, check out my Halloween Freebie from last year). I first became familiar with his work when I read In Search of the Paranormal in 2015. Since then I have read nearly every other book he has published about his numerous and multi-visit investigations. Estep is a professional who does not take this work lightly, nor does he allow for theatrics. I appreciate his commitment to finding real evidence; he does not automatically label everything as 'paranormal'.

Spirits of the Cage remains the creepiest, because the activity was just so aggressive and violent. I could not imagine living in that home, especially with a newborn, only safe in my own room. I would have run screaming at the first sign of the malevolent spirit and never looked back.

Estep's Villisca book is also a fantastic read, and one that is so important because we have to remember that six children were brutally murdered and we will never know what really happened. There are many theories, some grounded in evidence and some so absurd that they practically make a mockery of the killings. Estep has never written about his investigations in that way. I have a lot of respect for him and the people he works with; they don't behave like pompous, loud, dingbats (looking at you, Ghost Adventures.)

I have been to Villisca and even in the bright sunshine of a beautiful fall afternoon, the house is not something to be trifled with. I had some experiences that can't be explained away. For example, I had brand new batteries in my digital camera and took many photos of the home, both upstairs and down. Yet, when I attempted to take pictures in the attic, my camera stopped working. I would press the button and the shutter would start, but then stop before the picture was captured. I stood in the doorway for a good five-seven minutes and only managed to get two. I had no problems in any other part of the house.

This is kind of a conundrum for me. I believe the attic is a likely place where the murderer(s) hid while waiting for the family to return home. But why would the murderer(s) be tied to the house? They didn't die there. Yet something did not want me taking pictures of the attic. A possible explanation I have thought about is that he or they return to the house because it is one of the places they still recognize, the home having been restored to what it looked like in 1912. This could also account for why some people feel a darker, heavier presence (like I did), while others don't.

If you are interested in more spookiness, you can check out my mini investigation of The Palmer House Hotel in Sauk Centre, MN. The story is in three parts so make sure you read them in order. The hotel was so active, things were still happening even as I was checking out. I can't wait to go back.

Happy Haunted Reading!

Sarah

Top Ten Tuesday | Halloween Freebie

 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a Halloween Freebie and I am showing off some of my fave paranormal books. They are in no particular order, and you will find numerous books by Richard Estep. I especially enjoy reading about his investigations because of the thought that goes into them and the professionalism he exhibits. He is not a sensationalist who screams EVERYTHING IS DEMONIC AAAUUUGGHGHGHGH (looking at you, Ghost Adventure crew, You were terrible, even though your locations were amazing and had such potential for true and thorough investigations).

I have written many times before about my belief in the paranormal. I have been to some amazing locations to investigate for myself - The Stanley Hotel {Estes Park, CO}, the Villisca Axe Murder House {Villisca, Iowa} and The Palmer House Hotel {Sauk Centre, MN}, the last of which I documented extensively HERE in three different posts. Not to mention Ghost Baby and I lived rather peacefully together for five years in my old apartment in Lincoln back when I was in grad school.)

   

  

  

BONUS!

If you have never read The Shining, the greatest book of all time, I don't even know what you are doing with your life.

Happy Reading!

Sarah

NetGalley ARC: The Horrors of Fox Hollow Farm

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I have been waiting foreverrrrrr for this to pop up on NetGalley and you can bet I snatched it up the moment I saw it - thanks again for the auto-approval, Llewellyn. I have read several of Estep's non-fiction works now and this is probably tied for first with my most favorite, which was his investigation of a former medieval prison in Spirits of the Cage. That book seriously creeped me the fuck out.

As did this one.

So Fox Hollow Farm was this spacious property in Indiana owned by the Baumeister family. It's beautiful and you probably would have no problem living there, until you learn that by the way, Herb Baumeister was probably a serial killer and the whole property is haunted by him, some of his victims, and/or an elemental that enjoys sowing and feeding off the negative energy.

Great, huh?

I have had my fair share of paranormal experiences (the Villisca Ax Murder House in Villisca, Iowa; the Palmer House Hotel in Sauk Centre, MN; the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO; and my own apartment for five years in Lincoln, NE). None of my experiences have been scary, and I have been lucky to see, hear, and take photos of evidence. (I have plenty of stories if you ever want to hear a few!) As such, it takes a fair bit for me to get creeped out, yet this book managed to do so. I was reading it while sitting on the couch, all the lights on in my apartment - DURING THE DAY. Some of it freaked me out that much. I think that mostly came from the idea of the elemental. I don't mess with that kind of stuff and I would never intentionally go somewhere that might be home to dangerous or malevolent entities. I have a young child and would never want to inadvertently bring something home that would put us in danger.

I say that Baumeister was 'probably' a serial killer because he committed suicide in Canada and was never tried for any of his alleged crimes. We will never know for sure, but in all actuality, he probably murdered at least a dozen young men in the 80s and 90s. When it became clear that the police were onto him, Baumeister fled to Canada and took his life, leaving nothing but grief and trauma behind.

The book is really two-in-one. We get a brief history of Baumeister, his life and alleged crimes, and then we also get Estep and his teams' investigations and evidence. There is admittedly very little in the way of info on Baumeister due to his death. There is one man who claims to have survived Baumeister's attempt on his life and in doing so went on to become his sometimes-lover for a few years, but because Baumeister was never brought to trial, we don't know much about his alleged crimes, or even how many victims there may be. It is possible that not only did he lure young men back to his home from bars, but that he may have been responsible for a string of bodies left along a highway that just happens to be a route he would have taken for business. I can't imagine that his former wife would be too eager to provide any information about him or their life together with their children. As such, the book relies heavily on the paranormal aspect, so if you are looking for a heavy dose of true crime, you will be disappointed.

I, on the other hand, was straight-up here for the paranormal and I was not disappointed one bit. The problem with books like this, is that hard physical evidence is hard to come back, and you can't really do much except show photographic evidence. Though, I have read a few books on my Kindle that link within the text to EVPs online, which is cool. However, personal experiences are hugely important, and I have had many myself, so it is easy for me to believe in some of those reports, at least from sources I trust. Estep falls into that category.

As I have come to expect from the author and the teams he puts together, the research is sound, the investigations are thorough, and there are very little dramatics. (Ghost Adventures, this is not. Thank God.) Instead, we get reasonable explanations for occurrences, multiple investigators trying out a series of locations on the property, all trying to corroborate the experiences of others, or debunk things that have a far less interesting explanation than 'ghost'.

I still have a hard time believing in the use of dowsing rods. I feel like there is far too big a margin of error, whether intentional or not on the part of the user. Luckily there are many pieces of equipment that Estep and his teams use, all of which will be familiar to those who are interested in this field of study. He also takes time to briefly explain the equipment for those who do not have such background.

My only issue with the book comes because of the intentional typos. I realize this is an ARC, but these typos are very specific, in that all 'fi' and 'ff' letter combos are missing, so the word office would look like 'oice' and so on. I have only noticed this occurring in the last few months, and have so far only found it in books I get from Llewellyn. I am not sure what the purpose is, but it does get kind of annoying. This issue does not impact my rating, but is something to watch for, should you request a copy from the publisher as well.

All in all, this is great read and very spectacularly sinister. Highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC - On the Hunt for the Haunted: Searching for Proof of the Paranormal

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 3.5 Stars

I will be very up front, I do not like the cover. It relates to a story within the book, but even so, I found it creepy and not in a paranormal kind of way. It is weird, I do not like it.

Even so, do not let it distract you from some of the compelling stories contained within these pages. I had not heard of the author before reading this book, but I found her to be both credible and knowledgeable about the field of paranormal investigations, the equipment, and the purpose for seeking out these experiences. I always have respect for those who can go into an investigation with an open mind, and can come away admitting there was simply no evidence, if that is the case. I find some of the reality shows on television silly at best and damaging to the legitimacy of the field at worst (looking at you, Ghost Adventures. Why do you think every "demonic entity" you encounter has it out for YOU SPECIFICALLY?! Ugh). 

Here, however, Strom is professional the whole way through, going into detail about how she conducts investigations, what she does to guard against natural or man-made incidents being mistake for paranormal phenomena, and sharing her own experiences. There are no major overreactions, no immediate declarations that EVERYTHING IS A GHOST!, and there is thoughtful perusal of evidence collected.

I am a firm believe in ghosts, spirits, whatever you want to call them. I have been very lucky to have personal experiences in a variety of locations - The Stanley Hotel is Estes Park, Colorado; The Palmer House Hotel in Sauk Centre, MN; even my own apartment when I was in grad school. As such, with my experiences and investigations, I am pretty critical of books that seem frivolous or seem to sensationalize investigations. I did not get that impression from this author at all and I look forward to reading about more of her investigations in the future.

Ghosts of the McBride House

Rating: 3 Stars

As is usually the issue with a book like this, there is so little solid history. That is what I love about a good ghost story, when the history can be traced and there is some concrete proof of who the spirits were in life. The McBride House stands now in the oldest town in Oklahoma by its original owner, George McBride. Apparently he loved the house so much, he refuses to leave.

All sorts of occurrences are documented here by one of the owners of the home, Cecilia Back. She and her family lived in the home for approximately 25 years. But all while I was reading, something felt off and for a while I could not figure it out but as I read, I realized that honestly, the author's reactions to the home and supposed spirits never really make sense. Sometimes she seems utterly terrified and other times the strange goings-on don't cause much of a reaction at all. I feel like if the family was really all that scared of their fellow residents, they would not have opened the house up for tours and such. Nor would they have stayed so long. Perhaps there was some embellishment? Who knows.

Still, some of the occurrences are intriguing - the ghostly parties at 2 AM, complete with loud chatter and clinking glasses to keep everyone awake, dolls talking even after batteries are removed, loud bangs and crashes that can't be identified, screams, and family members and their guests being beckoned by name. When the family began repairs and restorations, the repairmen often had trouble getting work done because tools and materials would disappear. The one I could not abide would the strange odors of decay, that would make me vomit and be far more disturbing to me, followed a close second by the screaming/shrieking.

Aside from the house itself, I am also curious about Fort Gibson just across the road. The concept of sharing ghosts is interesting and does not seem terribly far-fetched when considering the period the hauntings seem to come from. I'd love to explore the whole area some day and see what I can see. Many people have reported seeing one of the ghost's looking out the window, if I recall correctly I believe it is the little boy.

Which leads right to my next point and that is, according to Back, the ghost has not one, but four different spirits. Based on her interactions, Back has determined that aside from McBride, there is a woman who is  dressed in Victorian-era clothing and wears perfume, then a girl around eight and boy of maybe five. Back writes that her family loved their home and eventually began to think of the invisible residents as part of the family too - again something that seems odd to me if she was ever really all that scared of any of the spirits. And maybe this is not how she intends it to come across at all, but it just doesn't quite make sense to me.

I might able to write it all off as being a result of the day-to-day living with them though, where for a while you get lulled into the false sense of everything being calm, to sudden shrieking that scares the daylights out of you. I have personally experienced both kinds of 'hauntings', those that come from living with a spirit and also those of just visiting - though haunting does not seem to be the right word, because I have never felt that any of my experiences were scary (such as The Stanley in Estes Park, CO and the The Palmer House Hotel in Sauk Centre, MN, as well as my former apartment where Ghost Baby and I lived together for five peaceful years).

I always want to believe all of these books and experiences, but I find it odd that the family lived in the house for such a long time, and never got any tangible evidence that they could show. Or maybe they did and chose not share it? I don't know, but there's no reference to any such evidence. I think that part of a story like this is also important, but even so you will always have critics saying that it is doctored in some way.

Overall it is not the worst paranormal book I have ever read, but not the best either (that honor still belongs to Richard Estep's Spirits of the Cage, about life in a former medieval prison). There are some intriguing experiences but still, I want to know more of the history - something that simply may not be possible. It's a quick read and one that isn't a terrible way to spend a couple hours.

The Palmer House Hotel Part III/III

I mentioned in a previous post that Eleanor and I are spending some quality time at home for a few days until school starts. We are having some fun lazy days at my mom's house, and this past weekend we attended a family reunion in a small town called Sauk Centre, Minnesota. This might be a familiar town to those of you who read Sinclair Lewis, as he grew up there. I was extra excited because my grandparents had surprised me with a stay at the Palmer House Hotel, while every else was staying at another hotel a few minutes away. And the reason for this is....

The Palmer House Hotel is haunted!

That was the rumor anyway, and I wanted to see for myself. The Palmer House has been featured on a couple different paranormal shows such as The Dead Files and Ghost Adventures. There have also been several write-ups in the media and such that you can check out HERE. You can also finds books with chapters dedicated to the Palmer House at that link. Mom bought me one, which I am looking forward to reading.

Anyway, this post is going to be kind of long, because there was activity going on from the moment I was unpacking in my room, until literally the moment I left. While I am by no means perfect at this investigating thing, I have been lucky enough to have some interesting paranormal experiences at both the Villisca Axe Murder House in Villisca, Iowa and The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.  I also lived in an apartment for roughly five years that was also inhabited by what we called 'Ghost Baby', because 'Ghost Toddler' just didn't have quite the same ring to it. I try to look for logical explanations first, before jumping directly to paranormal. I have included a couple pictures and videos too, so if you decide to stick it out through the post, hopefully you find something of interest here. Again, I realize this is longer than any review I have ever written, but I wanted to give as many details as possible to give people some context.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To pick up where I left off in the previous post, I had dozed off around 4 AM. I awoke at 6:20 AM to the loud stomping and pacing, and it sounded much like what I had heard a few hours earlier - and again with the sounds of something being moved or dragged across a hardwood floor. I found it interesting when Kelley had shared with me down in the bar that Kelley has often had guests complain about the noise above them, even when staying on the third floor. I need to do a little more research on the original hotel and see if it was more than three stories (excluding a basement). That would definitely account for the excess noise people claim to hear, even when they are on the third floor.

Just to clarify, the current structure has the main floor where the lobby, bar, and cafe are located. The second and third floors are where guests rooms are, as well as housekeeping and such. Yet another time I was so caught up in what I was experiencing at the moment, I forgot to record. Next time I will do much better on this part, especially when I will be able to be there for a couple days.

After checking the items I had left out (the ring, ball, candy), I was disappointed to see that nothing had been moved. I went back to sleep not long after and woke up for good again around 9:15 or so. I checked a second time, but nothing had been moved. With less than two hours until check out, I wanted to get up to the playroom on the third floor to see what I could find. The room is colorful, friendly room without a door on it, filled with books and toys - especially bouncy balls of different sizes that any kids would love to play.

There are stories of a little boy who likes to bounce a ball up and down the halls. Kelley had mentioned this room the night before and said I should make time to read a story to the children. Guests who have done so have reported it feeling like someone has sat down near them or even on their lap. After taking a few photos, I sat down on the floor with the KII on, plus the small ring and ball Kelley had given me the night before. I also set up my camera to record myself and the room while I was reading - I chose a Berenstain Bears book.

I kind of look like a hot mess after so little sleep, so I hope you can forgive me for not posting it here. I did not see any visual evidence when I watched the video, nor did the KII ever light up above its baseline, but part way through the book I felt a cold spot descend on me, from over my right shoulder and I noted this on the recording. It settled on/around me for about ten seconds, then went away. I did take video of the room also as I walked and talked a bit, but again there was no activity.

After I left the kids room, I decided to take one more video of the hotel itself on the second and third floors, to see if I could see or hear anything. I was about to start when a housekeeper came out of the laundry room. I spoke to her for several minutes there on the third floor. We traded some of our stories, then she went down to the lobby and I continued with my plan to record on the second and third floors to see what else I could find. I hoped to get more audio or visual evidence, but did not. I returned to room #11 after this. I prayed for Annie again and as I was doing so, the KII lit up to the second light briefly in the last two minutes or so. It wasn't huge, but was something - the only activity I had on it aside from the initial camera battery incident. I've been trying to trim the video because I keep getting an error message saying the video is too long. Technology is frustrating me greatly tonight, but hopefully I can get it figured out and add the video at a later point. For reference, the KII lit up when I said I would come back, and also when I prayed for Annie to peace and comfort.

By this point it was 10:30 and I had to get going. I had to check out of my room by 11, then get over to the other hotel to pick up my mom and daughter who also needed be out by 11. This would not have been such an issue, except I had borrowed a Bible from their room and had forgotten to take it back after I verified that there was one in my room. As I got everything together, I opened the door and stood in the doorway. I said out loud that I appreciated Annie letting me stay in room 11 and that none of the spirits there could come home with me, but that I would be back to visit again. Then I closed the door and headed down to the lobby.

Down in the lobby I spoke to the housekeeper again while I waited for Angie to return to the desk. When she came back, she asked about some of the activity she'd heard of from the housekeeper. As we talked I put the KII meter and temp reader on the desk and Angie asked how the KII meter worked. I turned it on and as I explained the lights, how it lights up full twice before returning to the baseline. While I was talking, Angie was doing something with her phone, and at that same time, the KII started lighting up like crazy, all the way to red, repeatedly. This was the most active it had been in my entire time at the Palmer House, as it consistently lit up red multiple times.

(Don't mind my phone ringing - my mom was calling, wondering what was taking me so long 😂)


Angie then showed me the EVP app she had opened on her phone. EVP stands for electronic voice phenomenon, something investigators use various audio devices for in order to hear any responses by a spirit. I asked Angie to moved her phone away from the KII, just to make sure it was not causing the surge. She moved the phone away and the lights continued going straight to red. Angie then asked who was in the lobby with us when the app reported 'Entity Detected'. We got a response, right there in broad daylight in the middle of the lobby...

The voice identified itself as Annie.

ANNIE!

Angie then asked me it I had any questions for Annie, since she was here, and OF COURSE my mind went totally blank. I was in shock. Angie asked Annie if she liked having me stay in room 11. Angie handed her phone to the housekeeper I had been speaking to earlier as we finished up the paperwork. She handed me the replica key chain from room #11 that I wanted to purchase - but I had to pay for it in the cafe. Annie had been quiet for a second and this super weird EVP came through that said, "It's coming for you", which was creepy and weird and none of us knew what it meant or who it was talking to.

Annie responded after that, with a message that made me feel happy and sad at the same time. Clear as day she said, "Don't leave."

"Don't leave."

The housekeeper had come into the cafe after I made my purchase and said Annie sure must have liked me to not want me to leave. I was happy because I felt like we had bonded, but sad that all of this was happening right at the worst possible time, and  could not stay to talk to her any longer. As I exited the cafe and returned to the lobby, I said goodbye to Annie one more time and said I would be back to visit again.

I found this image online at Wikimedia Commons HERE. Only the editing is mine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So what do you think? Have you ever experienced any paranormal-type activity? Do you believe there are 'no such things as ghosts'? I'd love to hear your stories and opinions!

Happy Reading!
Sarah

The Palmer House Hotel Part II/III

I mentioned in a previous post that Eleanor and I are spending some quality time at home for a few days until school starts. We are having some fun lazy days at my mom's house, and this past weekend we attended a family reunion in a small town called Sauk Centre, Minnesota. This might be a familiar town to those of you who read Sinclair Lewis, as he grew up there. I was extra excited because my grandparents had surprised me with a stay at the Palmer House Hotel, while every else was staying at another hotel a few minutes away. And the reason for this is....

The Palmer House Hotel is haunted!

That was the rumor anyway, and I wanted to see for myself. The Palmer House has been featured on a couple different paranormal shows such as The Dead Files and Ghost Adventures. There have also been several write-ups in the media and such that you can check out HERE. You can also finds books with chapters dedicated to the Palmer House at that link. Mom bought me one, which I am looking forward to reading.

Anyway, this post is going to be kind of long, because there was activity going on from the moment I was unpacking in my room, until literally the moment I left. While I am by no means perfect at this investigating thing, I have been lucky enough to have some interesting paranormal experiences at both the Villisca Axe Murder House in Villisca, Iowa and The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.  I also lived in an apartment for roughly five years that was also inhabited by what we called 'Ghost Baby', because 'Ghost Toddler' just didn't have quite the same ring to it. I try to look for logical explanations first, before jumping directly to paranormal. I have included a couple pictures and videos too, so if you decide to stick it out through the post, hopefully you find something of interest here. Again, I realize this is longer than any review I have ever written, but I wanted to give as many details as possible to give people some context.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To pick up where I left off in the previous post, I am still sitting down in the bar area and talking to Kelley (the owner).

The above image is not mine. I rather stupidly did not take any pictures downstairs, so I had to search around for a while to find a picture of the bar where Kelley and I talked. This image is taken from the website Unexplained Research, from a post about their favorite Minnesota haunts.

As the conversation went on, I was suddenly overcome by coughing fits. Though I was barely starting a cold, I had not been coughing and had no sore throat or anything. I just knew a cold was coming because my nose was a little stuffy. Yet as we were sitting there talking, I kept feeling a scratchiness in my throat, and I coughed and coughed. It was hard to breath with all the coughing. Kelley took off her glasses as this was happening and began wiping her eyes repeatedly. I could see they were watering quite a bit. This spell lasted only 2-3 minutes, then passed. My throat was fine, I stopped coughing, and Kelley's eyes stopped watering. I am not sure what might have been the cause of all this, but it is worth noting once again that the original hotel on the site, the Sauk Centre House burned to the ground in 1900.

We then talked Annie, who I was most interested in. As I said previously, while Annie is not confined to the room, she seems to prefer #11. Kelley has determined, based on the consistent experiences of guests and investigators, that Annie's story is a sad one. Given her attachment, Annie may have been a maid at the original Sauk Centre House, or she could have lived there. It was not uncommon for people to reside in hotels. During her time there, Annie began a relationship with a man who was married. He was supposedly leaving his wife, or getting a divorce. When Annie became pregnant, the man left her instead and would have nothing to do with her. Given the time period which I (and Kelley) think Annie lived, it is likely her family also refused to have anything to do with her as well, being pregnant and unmarried. This would explain the overwhelming sense of sadness and despair that guests report feeling when staying in #11. Kelley feels like Annie is very empathic, and is drawn to others who also are. She advised me that if I were to feel myself becoming upset or emotional, to check myself and separate my own emotions from Annie's. She told me of how a guest was at the sink brushing her teeth and she found herself crying - even though she had nothing to be crying about as she was doing something so mundane. Kelley then told me about a pair of sisters from Wisconsin who were regularly guests, and one time stayed in #11. In the middle of the night one of the sisters began having terrible pains in her stomach. It got so bad, they decided she needed to go to the ER. As the two got ready, then stepped into the hall, the pain ceased. When discussing this in the morning with Kelley, who has no children, she asked the sister who had experienced the pain if she had children, and if it felt like labor pains. BINGO. That was it, the sister confirmed, despite not being pregnant at the time. Kelley also told me after sharing these stories that Annie is very sweet and kind, and has never intentionally hurt anyone (aside from the intense labor pains of course).

It seems like to me that Annie is simply trying to share her grief and sadness and pain with someone, to connect with someone who can understand her. As Kelley and I talked via text a couple nights ago, we pondered the idea that perhaps Annie stays for one of two reasons:

1. Annie is afraid to move on because she thinks she is going to hell
2. She is waiting for the father of her child to come back

Either way, both prospects are incredibly sad. It also may be neither of these options and maybe someday Annie will tell us why she stays, long after her check-out time.

The bar cleared out by 1 AM and for several minutes it was just Kelley, Maria, and me. I had continued to feel little taps on my right leg, my calf and above my knee throughout the conversation, but they had stopped by this point. What I did notice instead, was movement on the stairs. By this time all the lights were out on the main level except in the bar and the bathroom, which I could see from my perch on the end bar stool. The cafe was closed and dark, the lobby was dark,, but plenty of light spilled out from the bar's side door, plus the light from the bathroom located under the staircase. The stairs creak constantly when someone (living) walks on them, yet there was no sound as the movement continued up and down both sets of stairs.

This image is not mine. I failed to take pictures downstairs because I was so busy trying to talk to Annie upstairs. This is still that I found from a YouTube video, which can be found HERE. I did not create the video and have no association with those who made it. I am borrowing the still and added the markings myself to help readers understand the location better.

In my last few minutes downstairs Kelley and I stood in the side doorway facing the stairs, quietly observing. The movement subsided and from that point we said good night and I was off to my room.

I got back to my room around 1:15 AM. Kelley had given me a small ball and a ring to take to my room. Guests have reported, and Kelley has seen it as well, that unseen forces will often knock bouncy balls out of peoples' hands. I tried it a couple times while still downstairs, but had no luck. Kelley recommended leaving them out, because the kids seem to like Annie, so they might come up and play. At that point in the conversation I had told Kelley that I had left some mini Hershey bars out, unwrapped to see if Annie might like one. I had done this on a whim and it was not planned, just something I thought of while I was unpacking earlier. When I told Kelley this she visibly shivered and said that was definitely the right thing for me to do, and that both Annie and Lucy love flowers and chocolate. I wanted to ask about Lucy too, but it was getting late so I am saving that for my next stay!

After setting out the ring and ball and snapping pictures, I started talking out loud to Annie. I explained that our experiences were not totally the same, but that I also had a child and was no longer with her father because we broke up around the time I found out I was pregnant. I explained that it was rocky in dealing with both the pregnancy and break-up at the same time, but I knew at least her feelings of sadness. I also let her know that even though we lived in different time periods, it was still a hard thing to go through. I asked if I could pray for her, and when I received no response I went ahead and prayed that we would both find peace and comfort. I let her know that even though she might have felt like she had done this horrible thing and no one cared about her, that Jesus loved her and she was still a child of God.

By around 1:30 AM I was hearing a lot of very loud stomping from the room above. It sounded like the person was pacing. This had also happened earlier when I had first arrived that afternoon, and also when Maria was up in the room trying to figure out the AC. Maria attributed the stomping to Raymond, who inhabited the room above me - yet another unregistered guest. Raymond could get a bit agitated, quite easily, was my understanding. The heavy walking and stomping went on from that time to around maybe 3 AM-ish. While it is true that the hotel was full that night, thus some of the noise could be attributed to the guests, it can not account for what sounded like furniture or heavy luggage of some kind being dragged and dropped across a wooden floor - especially because all the rooms are carpeted. The stomping and pacing went on in bursts of a few minutes at a time.

A couple times throughout the night I asked Annie if she could/would tell me the time period she lived in. I got no answer out loud, but I kept getting this idea in my head of the late 1800s, possibly the 1860s. The original Sauk Centre House was built in the 1850s. From that point on, nothing occurred that I can confidently attribute to Annie's presence.

I got ready for bed and laid down to read a bit, with the KII and temp reader, as well as my phone and camera, nearby. Around 3 AM, I kid you not, I heard a soft meow. I thought surely I was imagining things, that I only thought I was hearing it, because I had been told about a possible ghost cat earlier in the day. Then, I heard it again. I got up and looked out both windows to see if there was a cat on the fire escape, but could not see one. As I got back into bed, I heard another meow and honest to God, it sounded like something was walking on top of the AC unit. There was nothing on the unit of course, so once again I looked out both windows, but could not see a cat. I laid down for a third time and heard the meowing continue. I grabbed my phone to record it, but it stopped and I did not hear a single meow for the rest of the night.

I began reading again and did so for a while, still keeping an eye and an ear open for anything odd. At about 3:30 AM I heard some very soft knocks on the wall directly across from the bed. I took several pictures, but nothing showed up in any of the photos.

The knocks were not loud and did not last long. I again tried asking Annie about the period she lived in, but got no answer and the knocks stopped after this.

Despite my best efforts to stay awake, I was out by 4 AM and would have a peaceful and relaxing two and a half hours of rest.

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Are you still interested? I hope so, because there is plenty more of this story to come, including my very last minutes at the Palmer House on Sunday morning, where I get a message that was reeeealllyyyy hard to turn down.

Have you ever experienced any paranormal-type activity? Do you believe there are 'no such things as ghosts'? I'd love to hear your stories and opinions!

Happy Reading!
Sarah

The Palmer House Hotel Part I/III

I mentioned in a previous post that Eleanor and I are spending some quality time at home for a few days until school starts. We are having some fun lazy days at my mom's house, and this past weekend we attended a family reunion in a small town called Sauk Centre, Minnesota. This might be a familiar town to those of you who read Sinclair Lewis, as he grew up there. I was extra excited because my grandparents had surprised me with a stay at the Palmer House Hotel, while every else was staying at another hotel a few minutes away. And the reason for this is....

The Palmer House Hotel is haunted!

That was the rumor anyway, and I wanted to see for myself. The Palmer House has been featured on a couple different paranormal shows such as The Dead Files and Ghost Adventures. There have also been several write-ups in the media and such that you can check out HERE. You can also finds books with chapters dedicated to the Palmer House at that link. Mom bought me one, which I am looking forward to reading.

Anyway, this post is going to be kind of long, because there was activity going on from the moment I was unpacking in my room, until literally the moment I left. While I am by no means perfect at this investigating thing, I have been lucky enough to have some interesting paranormal experiences at both the Villisca Axe Murder House in Villisca, Iowa and The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.  I also lived in an apartment for roughly five years that was also inhabited by what we called 'Ghost Baby', because 'Ghost Toddler' just didn't have quite the same ring to it. I try to look for logical explanations first, before jumping directly to paranormal. I have included a couple pictures and videos too, so if you decide to stick it out through the post, hopefully you find something of interest here. Again, I realize this is longer than any review I have ever written, but I wanted to give as many details as possible to give people some context.

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I arrived at the Palmer around 4:00 PM on Saturday. I spoke to the owner, Kelley Freese, for several minutes about my stay and how excited I was to be there. She is wonderful, and answered all my questions. I had also stupidly forgotten my 'ghost hunting kit', so she let me borrow a KII (pronounced K2) EMF detector and a temp reader, as well as spare batteries for my camera. A KII detects electromagnetic fields. There is energy and electricity around us all the time and investigators use this piece of equipment to determine if there is an entity nearby. It is believed that the energy a spirit uses can be picked up by the detector. Kelley also let me know at that time that the hotel is pet-friendly now, and in her entire 17 years in owning the place no one has ever brought a cat with them. This matters because people who are allergic to cats tend to have rough nights in room #11, due to the ghostly cat who lounges around the room. Guests have also reported hearing meows and scratching, as well as the feel of a small animal jumping up on the bed to curl up with them.

Great, just great. Know why?

I'M ALLERGIC TO CATS.

I made sure to get some Benadryl, just in case. My cat allergy is seriously awful and I did not want to risk missing anything due to itchy eyes, and sneezing my face off.

The moment I walked into the room, I made sure to say out loud that I was allergic to cats, so Annie, please help keep the cat from jumping on me during the night. Just an FYI, Annie is one of the 'unregistered guests' who seems to prefer room #11, where I was staying that evening.

Activity started as soon as I was in the room unpacking. I was setting out items on the bed, including my laptop, the equipment from Kelley, and my camera. My camera was still inside its case, where it had been since Eleanor's birthday party a few weeks back. I had put new batteries in it for her party, but it had not been used since. As I was unpacking, I was getting kind of warm. I tried to figure out the AC, but had no luck. Finally I said out loud, "I can't figure this out, can you please help me make it cooler in here?" Within two seconds of those words leaving my lips, I hear a dinging sound. I looked around and realized it was coming from my camera case.I opened it to find my camera, which had been off, dinging, and the dead-battery message flashing in red on the screen. As I was doing this, the room became significantly cooler. I grabbed the KII meter and turned it on; these work by the series of lights lighting up twice to show they are working. It did so, then flashed all the way to red a third time, indicating a sudden increase in energy. Just as quickly the meter returned to green, and that was that.

Equipment batteries being drained are often viewed as a sign that there is an entity present, as the theory is that they require energy to manifest or do something physical, or change themselves in some physical way. One way to get that energy is to drain nearby batteries and I believe that is what happened in this case. Out loud, I thanked whoever had helped me out and continued unpacking.

Around 4:30 an aunt and cousin of mine stopped by to see the room. We chatted a bit and immediately my cousin said she was feeling a prickly sensation around her ankles. My aunt and I did not feel it at that point, though as we continued chatting my aunt began to feel it also. I showed them around the cozy room, then we headed down to dinner.

My daughter, mom, and grandparents stayed at a nearby hotel with the rest of the family, and I hung out with them until around 10 PM. Upon my return to the Palmer House, I looked around to see if anything had been moved, but found everything was as I left it (except the hand soap, which I will get to later!) I had taken pictures of everything, so I could compare if I thought anything had been moved. I tried logging in to the WiFi, as I had quite a few friends interested in my stay and was planning to do a little Facebook Live to show off the digs. I could not connect and went downstairs to find out what was up, only to learn the WiFi was not working for anyone, and would not be back up until Monday. In hindsight, I am glad it was down. Otherwise I might have gotten myself distracted and missed some interesting little bits of activity.

Once such incident involves the bar of soap I mentioned above. I had washed my hands before going to dinner, and tried placing the soap back in the little dish carved into either side of the sink ledge, by the faucets, in a sea shell type design.

No matter what I tried when I attempted to keep the soap in the sea shell, it would slide slowly to the edge, because of course it was wet and slippery. Finally I gave up on trying to keep it from falling into the sink and left with it with a corner hanging off the edge. However, when I went to wash my hands after my return from talking to Kelley, the owner of The Palmer House, after 1 AM, the bar of soap was completely dry and sitting perfectly centered in the middle of the shell. Literally the ONE thing I did not think to take a picture of. So, when I noticed it was placed differently, I snapped the photo above in case it happened again. (Sad news, it did not.)

While on the subject of the sink area, previous guests and investigators have reported feeling a kind of heaviness in that area. From the collage above you can see that the whole bathroom area is blocked off by one current, but that the sink area is then separated from the toilet and shower by a second curtain. I did not necessarily feel a heaviness, maybe more like some light pressure? I did get dizzy when entering the sink area, but the feeling would go away whenever I stepped back out, and I did not experience that sensation in any other part of the room. The energy just felt really different in that space. This lasted for maybe the first twenty minutes of my time in the room once I returned after 10 for the night. After that, the feeling did not occur again in the sink area or any part of the room.

At that point in the evening I tried messing with AC again. I messed with the remote for quite a while but despite my best efforts, i could not get the temp to change to anything else and it remained at 70 degrees. I re-read the directions multiple times, then went back downstairs for help again. Kelley (the owner) was at the bar folding napkins and preparing silverware for the next day. I let her know the AC was on the fritz and her immediate response was, "Ask Annie to help." I let her know I had done that once already, but did not want to keep bothering her. But in seriousness Kelley then asked Maria, one of the waitresses, to go up and look at it because she helps with a little of everything around the hotel. I did let Kelley know that I wanted to talk about Annie, and would be back down in a bit. Despite Maria's best efforts too, she could not get the temp to lower either. She got me a fan to use, which was helpful. I do not necessarily think this was paranormal, but want to include everything of significance that happened.

After the AC thing I headed downstairs once more, this time to chat with Kelley about the 'unregistered guest' I would possibly be sharing my room with that night. I sat on a stool at the very end of the bar, with the side door to my right. I had a clear view of both the bathroom area, and the stairs leading up to the second floor. We talked for over two hours, not only about the paranormal activity, but the hotel and its history, her decision to involve tv crews, various events offered at the Palmer House, and a wide variety of topics. I shared about my previous experiences also and I feel like I really got a good feel for the vibe of the place and the staff. Kelley answered every question I had, and continues to via text, at this very moment as I am typing up this post.

About half an hour into the conversation I felt something on my right side, low toward my back, like someone had run two/three fingers across my side. I quickly turned, but saw no one. Kelley asked if I had been touched, and when I said yes, she smiled and said it was probably one of they kids; they like to play.

This is the first time (to my knowledge) that I have ever had physical contact with a spirit/ghost/whatever you would like to call it. I could not get over it, and how normal it seemed. The last few patrons had been in the bar area for the live music and were on the other side of the bar. From my vantage point I would have seen someone come in the door before they had a chance to touch me. I said out loud to whoever was there that they were not in trouble for touching me and I was not mad. I also said my sides are very ticklish, so please stay away from them! Kelley and I continued chatting, though every so often I would feel what felt like little fingers poking at my right leg, both down on my calf and up above my knee and to the right. It was never anything mean, no hard jabs or anything, just little fingers tapping my leg.

The above image is not mine. I rather stupidly did not take any pictures downstairs, so I had to search around for a while to find a picture of the bar where Kelley and I talked. This image is taken from the website Unexplained Research, from a post about their favorite Minnesota haunts.

Are you still interested? I hope so, because there is plenty more of this story to come. More activity too, including my very last minutes at the Palmer House on Sunday morning, where I get a message that was reeeealllyyyy hard to turn down.

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Have you ever experienced any paranormal-type activity? Do you believe there are 'no such things as ghosts'? I'd love to hear your stories and opinions!

Happy Reading!
Sarah