A Word From Beyond

News From David Raby and The Shadows WIthin

June/July, 2021 - Vol. 1 Issue 5

Houghton Mansion in North Adams, Massachusetts. The stately mansion of Albert Charles Houghton changed my path as a paranormal investigator. I thought the mansion needed my help - it turned out that I needed the spirits help more. I have so many fond memories of this building and all of the people I met there.  

UPCOMING EVENTS

 

IMPORTANT UPDATE

 

Both the Friday, July 9 and Saturday, November 6 group paranormal investigations at Ventfort Hall and Gilded Age Museum have been postponed. We will be announcing new dates for these events at a later date. I apologize for any inconvenience, but we will return for two more investigations at Ventfort this year. 

 

The July event was postponed due to a very serious and unexpected medical emergency that requires a lengthy recuperation time. I would like to thank everyone for their messages of support and encouragement that I received. All those messages were appreciated. Thank you! The great news is I will be back stronger than ever and look forward to more adventures with everyone once I'm back on my feet again. We are aiming to reschedule the July event in early fall.  

 

The November event was postponed as Ventfort Hall is no longer available for us during that time. We will reschedule that investigation later in November. 

 

Thank you for your understanding and patience during this time.t to attend is $38, $20 for ages 12–18 and 19-23 with student ID. Reservations required along with a signed waiver and space is extremely limited. For reservations call us at (413) 637-3206. 

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INVESTIGATOR'S CORNER

 

For the last couple of months we highlighted a number of new tools and experiments we were going to use in 2021. After I promised myself that I was done building new things for the year, I found myself once again digging out the toolbox to build yet another tool. While I believe wholeheartedly that the most important and efficient too during investigations is your eyes and ears, it never hurts to provide spirits another means to communicate. 

 

In May, I decided to build our portal spirit box that is based on the design of Steve Huff's design - with some additional customization. My favorite spirit box of all time was our old Shack Hack that we started using fifteen years ago. Believe it or not, that old device gave us our most surprising results. By using our more modern SB-7 and the SB-11 as part of the portal we hope to obtain more meaningful communication without all the noise the modern spirit boxes emit. 

 

We are excited to try out this new tool in our kit during our private and public investigations. Of course, I am eager to play with our new toy - I mean - paranormal tool and perfect its settings prior to our next group event. We will also utilize the portal during the Estes Method (detailed in our April 2021 newsletter) during group investigations. The portal will take out a lot of the noise from the spirit box and ideally leave clear responses from the other side.   

 

I swear, I'm done building this year - maybe...

INVESTIGATION RECAP 

 

Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum - May 1, 2021

 

We had another sold-out group paranormal investigation at the beautiful Ventfort Hall. If I can choose two words to describe our night, I would choose 'rewarding' and 'frustrating!  Frustrating because the spirits at Ventfort Hall did whatever they could to interfere with not only my equipment, but some of the guest's equipment. It started during our initial setup prior to the arrival of the guests. Our spirit box setup would not work at all even though each component worked independently. Testing the equipment after, it all worked fine outside of Ventfort. 

 

In the nursery, almost every piece of equipment failed. Brand new batteries were drained instantly. My phone which had a charge of 88% had powered off and would not turn on for the rest of the evening. As soon as I left at the end of the night, my phone started right up. But the most surprising is when I was struggling with my equipment a deep male laugh came from the Phasmabox (which surprisingly was not interfered with). Equipment failure was the theme of the night. 

 

However, the night was also very rewarding. We had another great group of folks - and - the spirits were very active. Not only did every light bulb in the two wall sconces turn off one by one in the dining room (after I asked), but the other group experienced that same phenomenon in the library - a room that we never experienced that before. 

 

The Estes Method session in Mr. Morgan's bedroom was very intense. It started slowly, but relevant answers started to pour in. At one point, we had heard the warning "He's coming." We have heard that before on other technology and that warning usually means business. The room became very active and many guests sure felt the energy in the room. 

 

But, it was the billiard's room that was the most intense. Again, it started out quiet until the energy in the room changed quite a bit. At one point I started to feel a very sharp pain in my head. My daughter Amber experienced the same pain as well as another guest. At one point I became so disoriented that I was stumbling in the middle of the room - good things the lights were off!  I almost had to leave the room because I became very ill and was close to running into the adjacent restroom. 

 

Of course, we need to review all of the recordings - of the devices that worked - for evidence. It was such an active evening that this recap barely scratched the surface. 

WALKING AMONGST THE SHADOWS

 

Houghton Mansion - North Adams, Massachusetts 


Ah, Houghton Mansion... I had so many notable paranormal experiences there I could fill a book... oh wait, I did! It was really difficult to pick one experience from Houghton to talk about this month. We'll discuss more in future editions. 

 

It was shortly after one in the afternoon on Saturday, August 2, 2014. That was our second day at the historic mansion honoring Albert C. Houghton and his family on the one-hundredth anniversary of the terrible automobile accident that would go on to claim four lives and leave an imprint on the mansion. I was honored to be asked to speak at events covering both days, and my family even planned, planted and dedicated a flower garden in honor of Mary C. Houghton - Albert's daughter. 

 

All of the guests left the mansion, leaving my family and the Masons. The mansion was used then as a Masonic Temple. I had just finished a bowl of fruit salad and was going to discard the paper bowl I had been holding. I walked down the first floor hallway into the kitchen - a room in which I had been surprised by activity from time to time. The room felt very odd as I entered, but continued to enter anyway. 

 

I was stunned to see a woman cleaning up in the kitchen. However, her movements were unusual for someone who was living and even more jarring was the lack of any sound as she vigorously worked. I stopped walking and was shocked at the sight. She then immediately disappeared before my eyes. Now, I was fairly confident that I just saw a full-bodied apparition, but as a paranormal investigator, my first instinct was to run into the hallway to make sure she didn't slip out of the room. I did not hear or see anyone in the vicinity. I walked back into the kitchen to toss out the paper bowl that I still had in my hands. I stood there briefly trying to digest what I had just experienced. I believe what I experienced was a residual haunting - instead of an intelligent haunting. The apparition did not seem aware of my presence or interact in any way. 

 

I've been lucky to experience a handful of full-bodied apparitions throughout my years as a paranormal investigator (and many more shadow figures) - some were residual and some were intelligent apparitions (spirits).  Full-bodied apparitions are the rarest of paranormal experiences and it is my hope that we are able to see one during one of our group investigations so that others can experience such a treat. I often ask for a spirit to manifest as a full-bodied apparition - some day it is bound to happen.  

 

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