A Word From Beyond

December 2023 - Vol. 3 Issue 9

We concluded our ninth year of hosting group paranormal events that help historic locations. While we are saying "farewell" to a year full of amazing experiences and memories, we are looking forward to a milestone year in 2024 with more adventures. In this special issue, we recap some of the most surprising moments from our events this year.

2023 - WHAT A YEAR!

We hosted nine group paranormal events in 2023 that benefitted two historic locations - Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum in Lenox, Massachusetts, and Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island. We met many new faces on our adventures and had the pleasure of seeing many familiar ones as well. Together, we raised several thousands of dollars for these two venues, and we cannot thank everyone enough for allowing us to do what we love. We shared many laughs and gasps this year and look forward to the adventures will share next year.

Without further ado, here are this year's most surprising moments:

Lights Out! - Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum - Saturday, April 28, 2023

We were in the dining room of Ventfort Hall when I sensed the energy in the room building up to the point where it felt supercharged. I could sense something big was about to happen. I have been an investigator for decades now (yikes, that hurts to say that), and I've been let down before, but this felt different. I told the group assembled that something big may happen soon. It was something I should never say as if it didn't, I would have felt foolish. But seconds after stating that something big is going to happen, I had felt a surprising surge of energy build in the dining room closest to the hallway to the library, move to the center of the room and caused the chandelier in the center of the room to significantly brighten momentarily before the energy wave moved to the end of the room with the fireplace and all of the lights on the wall sconces went out at the same time. Typically, our guests get excited when the lightbulbs turn off one at a time upon request, but the spirits really stepped up their game for this night, and we are so happy to have video from a guest that we will be sharing at a later date.

"Don't Call Me That!" - Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Musuem - Saturday, April 28. 2023

I consider "Bruce" one of my spirit friends at Ventfort Hall. Seems strange to say that, but Bruce is always excited to introduce himself to our guests at all of our investigations there. When we were in Mr. Morgan's room, I was telling our guests about Bruce so that we can call out to him. After I told them about Bruce, sure enough, he introduced himself to our guests. I was in a weird mood that night, so when I was excited to hear from Bruce, I uncharacteristically responded with an enthusiastic "Bruce, buddy!" I kid you not, I immediately felt the energy in the room tense up and Bruce then responded in a very deadpan manner, "Don't call me that...." Well, the guests all chuckled at his response, I felt bad as I felt I may have inadvertently offended him by calling him 'buddy'. I'm more cautious how I respond to Bruce after that. I thought we were friends...

The Lurking Shadow - Fort Adams - Thursday, June 8, 2023

Our very first stop of the evening was the tunnel system of the fort. Just outside of the tunnels all of us saw a shadow figure lurking in the space adjacent to us. While the spirit was timid, it was present for an unusual amount of time. We first noticed it when reflected light off of a white sign was getting blocked out and returning. At one point the shadow figure was clearly seen walking into the space in which we were standing, the energy strong enough to be felt by the guests and resulted in goosebumps on our arms. At one point the shadow figure became bold and walked very close to one of our guests (about one foot or less) before quickly retreating back to the other space.

Salty Spirits - Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum - July 8, 2023

I hardly ever have too many issues with the spirits at Ventfort Hall. Sure, when a certain spirit is there, we do have some issues with the more cooperative spirits leaving, but I hardly ever hear too many vulgarities from the spirits there. July 8 was a completely different story, however. The spirits were in a very odd mood that night and the mansion had a very heavy feeling to it. The spirits were not that cooperative, it was really a challenging night to lead an investigation. However, the responses from the Phasmabox were surprising all night. We had head very salty language insulting all of us that night. Not just my group, but Haley, who works at Ventfort Hall and leading a second group was also getting flak from the spirits throughout the evening.

While my typical spirit friends were uncooperative that night, I was so excited to finally connect to two spirits connected to the mansion. I finally heard from Elizabeth Haggerty. The Haggerty family owned the property before the Morgans. I've asked for years for her to respond and she responded several times and confirmed her presence through several methods that evening. I also heard from Giraud Foster for the first time. Mr. Foster owned the dining room set and other artifacts that are now located in Mr. Morgan's bedroom. He owned Bellefontaine, the Lenox mansion that was destroyed in a fire many years ago. He seemed very eager that we remembered him and make it a point now to address him from that point on.

My Reaction - Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum - July 8, 2023

I typically do not react too much when witnessing paranormal phenomenon. I've seen truly remarkable things and only reply with an unenthusiastic "hmmph". But the overall heavy feeling of the mansion during this investigation had me a bit more on edge than I typically am. As I was standing in Mr. Morgan's room, I was looking directly into Mrs. Morgan's room. I had set up the laser grid to visualize any movement and was stunned to see a fully manifested shadow figure moving withiin the room. One of the very few times in my many years as an investigator that a "holy s***" left my lips. I've seen a handful of full-bodied apparitions and countless shadow figures, many odd lights, rocks thrown, (etc.) and I hardly react. On this night, I didn't follow my credo of "expect anything to happen at any time at any location" and I let my emotion get the better of me. It was a rare moment for me of letting my feelings get the best of me. (Note: I try to stay calm during investigations as to not fuel any questionable paranormal energy that may be present).

"F*** you, Dave" - Fort Adams - Thursday, July 13, 2023 

Yes, that happened. That's what happens when you investigate a place many times, the spirits can get a little bit too comfortable around you. We were in the former bakery of the fort and the spirits were not as cooperative as I would have liked. We could tell there were spirits in the room just adjacent to us. Several people were seeing movement in the space, but the spirits seemed hesitant to join us. I was trying to assure the spirits that they could join us, and they had nothing to worry about with our group. The spirits didn't respond and still remained just away from us. I then said to the group, "I don't know why they're so timid tonight." At the time, I didn't think it was an offensive statement, but a spirit was not too thrilled with that statement and immediately after that a male voice from the Phasmabox stated, "F*** you, Dave." I was a bit shocked with that reaction and took that as a learning moment that apparently "timid" is not a word that a possible former soldier wanted to be called. I meant no disrespect, but when dealing with spirits from different backgrounds and from different eras, our words today can cause miscommunication issues.

"I enjoyed it" - Fort Adams - Thursday, July 13, 2023  

One of the mysteries of Fort Adams is the death of Mary Gleason and why her frozen body was found at the bottom of a moat. Her death was ruled an accident, but there are some who believe that she was murdered. I quite often call out to Mary in the hopes of hearing from her directly. While we haven't heard from her, we heard something very disturbing from a spirit in the former powder magazine that we will need to follow up on during future investigations there. After not hearing from Mary, I turned it over to any spirit asking them if they can give us some insights. When I asked if someone had seen her die, a male spirit quite proudly said through the Phasmabox "I enjoyed it." Of course, the guests gasped when they heard that statement. Personally, I think a spirit was trying to get a reaction out of us, so I tried my best to stay calm to deprive him of a reaction he sought. Of course, I couldn't let that go without chastising that particular spirit as I didn't think it was funny if that was meant as a joke.

Who's Lurking by the Tree - Fort Adams - Thursday, August 10, 2023

The August investigation of Fort Adams was an intense one! While we were in the former infirmary, the space was very active and heavy. At one point, my wife Christiana and daughter Adriana needed to step away to get some water. While near the big tree nearest where we begin our evenings with the lecture, she was taking a series of photographs. She was stunned that in one of the photographs, a mysterious image appeared. She quickly returned to the infirmary to show me the following photograph. But at that point, the energy in the room had sickened me as well as the guest who was standing right next to me. I briefly stepped outside to gather myself and analyzed the photograph. This was not a skunk who had climbed a tree. What is more surprising is that one of the tour guides at Fort Adams had seen a similar apparition during the daytime previously. I can't venture a guess as to what was captured in this photograph, but I do know we tried to recreate this photograph without success. And to top it off, when we were investigating the former officer quarters that was closest to this tree, I saw with my own eyes movement by this tree and odd faint freestanding light movement in this exact area.

Photograph by Christiana Raby. Taken 8.10.23 at Fort Adams

Lustful Spirits - Fort Adams - Friday, October 20, 2023

Some days I have to apologize to our guests for what the spirits say. I quite often warn guests that we cannot control them or what they say. On this particular investigation at Fort Adams, we ran into some lustful spirits in the former infirmary at the fort. I've done a number of investigations at the fort, and this was a first for us. It was a very active night in this particular space that night, so I decided to ask some questions trying to get more information from previous responses from other investigations. In the past we received an answer of "justice" when we asked what a spirit was looking for. So, I decide to ask again, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle twice this year. When I asked what they were looking for a very eager spirit responded "sex" through the Phasmabox. We all laughed at that very honest answer at first, but then the responses were going downhill from there. I couldn't even repeat some of the words and phrases I heard (and yes, some of the guests heard them too.) I will have a dilemma on my hands when it comes time to share that evidence. We may need to have parental guidance warning for the first time on our evidence. It's clear what the spirits wanted that night, it just didn't jive with our "family-friendly" descriptor for our events. I don't know if many guests saw me standing there with my head in my hands and massaging my temples because I could not believe what i was hearing. I had to be firm with the spirits though when I thought I heard one of the spirits saying something really inappropriate about one of our guests.

Rocks Thrown - Friday, October 20 and Thursday, October 26, 2023 - Fort Adams

A new development for us this year is that a spirit (or spirits) have started to cooperate when asked to throw a pebble. Sounds odd, asking to throw pebbles, but it is a claim repeated in this section of the fort and has happened on other investigations, but it was done randomly and not on request. Well, that changed on our last two investigations at Fort Adams. On both nights I asked for a rock to be thrown at the back wall of the former powder magazine in the fort, and in the silence of not having the Phasmabox on, we heard a rock being tossed. The first time was in the center of the room where there were no guests. The second, was a bit more surprising because one landed a couple of feet to my left. Unfortunately, I don't have recordings of either as the first time I didn't turn on a digital recorder because I had just entered the space. The second time, I had a battery drain and did not realize that the digital recorder turned off because of the drain. While I can't share the sound of the rocks being thrown (well, landing....), many of our guests that night have that as an experience they soon won't forget. But the rocks are getting closer and closer to me, I should think about a hard hat....

Strange Burning Sensation - Fort Adams - Thursday, October 26, 2023

The area outside of the tunnels were abnormally quiet for me during my two events in one week's time at Fort Adams. But that does not mean there were no surprises. I placed an EDI+ meter on one of the stone stairs leading to one of the tunnel systems and it was recording a vibration on the stone step. I was moving at that time, so I tried to debunk that reading by walking near the EDI+ and the ground was solid enough that a vibration was not detected. I then started to stomp my feet right next to the stone steps and again the EDI+ picked up vibration. There was nobody on or near the stone step when it registered the vibration and the only way I could recreate it was to walk next to the device on the step. I was excited that we finally had a possible spirit entering the space where we had set up. That joy was short-lived as I immediately felt a burning sensation on my left arm. I had not brushed up against anything and immediately looked with a flashlight to see if I was having some sort of allergic reaction to anything. My arm looked completely normal. It is true that many people who get scratched by paranormal entities would feel a burning sensation, but thankfully I did not have any evidence of scratching on my arm. If I had, I would have quietly removed the group to another location. I don't believe it was malicious intent, but a spirit that just manifested in a way that I would notice. Of course, I can't one hundred percent assign intent without other bits of information.

Olfactory Apparitions - Fort Adams - Thursday, October 26, 2023

We had two different olfactory apparitions follow our guests during this investigation. An olfactory apparition is just an energy that has an associated odor. When leaving the former infirmary area, several of us noticed the smell of tobacco following us to the next location. It was not any of the guests or crew with us that night, no one was actively smoking, and I did not smell the scent of smoke on the guests either before or after this experience. Plus, it was a very strong odor, as if someone was literally smoking right at that moment. The second olfactory apparition occurred in the former powder magazine where the strong scent of a woman's perfume was concentrated in an area and seemed to be following different guests. Since I spent hours with the group, I can confidently say that the perfume was not one I had smelled at all throughout the night and is one that I did not smell after that point. Those that know me know that I can't stand still during an investigation and if something like this happens, I try to debunk first by walking around the group to see for myself that it is not one of the guests inadvertently creating this type of experience - but I had a creepier experience in the fort just prior to this...

"I don't like that...." - Fort Adams - Thursday, October 26, 2023

I had the group in the former officer quarters of Fort Adams. I was standing still about nine inches to a foot away from one of the walls. I know I didn't move before I felt what I thought was a finger poke me in the back just under my right shoulder. I immediately thought that I had brushed up against something on the wall, even though I knew I didn't move. So, I took my arm and felt behind me to see if something had touched me. I did not feel anything so I turned around and turned on my flashlight to inspect further. There was nothing on the wall to explain the sensation of getting poked by a finger. But what I saw was a small hole in the wall that lined up pretty much where I had felt the odd sensation. I figured it was not a mouse or rat because I was standing far enough away from the wall where something living could not reach me. I did not tell the guests what had happened because it just seemed so odd and didn't want to put any thoughts in their heads in case someone had a natural itch or sensation on themselves and think it was paranormal. I would rather people volunteer that information. All I did was lean close to my wife Christiana and whispered very quietly "I don't like that at all". She knew that was code for "I'll tell you later, just want to mark the time on the recordings". It almost seemed that some spirit was just trying to get a rise out of me to create more energy that can be tapped into. When investigating with groups, I try to limit how much "excitable" energy is in the air so that if a spirit wants to get a rise out of people, they don't get that satisfaction, or the energy needed for further questionable interaction. (Guest safety is a top priority for me).

"He is here" - Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum - Saturday, October 28, 2023

If there's a phrase that I absolutely hate to hear at Ventfort Hall is "He is here." or "He is coming." Why do I hate that phrase so much? Because when we get that, some of the typical energy at the mansion seems to scatter to makes my job more difficult than usual. When we hear this phrase, it is typically later in the evening, so what surprised me most is that we heard this within the first fifteen minutes in our first location of the night. I didn't mention this to the guests beforehand as to not predispose guests into thinking they hear that phrase. So when a guest who was listening to the spirit box using the Estes Method, stated those dreaded words, "he is here", my heart sunk and knew our typical spirits would be quieter that night. It wasn't a total bust, however, as the night provided some thrills, the dining room lights were turning off for both groups and we did hear from Mrs. Morgan in the library. Of course, we have many more bits of evidence to uncover from all the data. But, we did not hear from Bruce, I believe that is the first investigation at Ventfort without him making an appearance.

The experiences listed above is just a small portion of the experiences we all shared as a group in 2023. I know that I am forgetting many as I did this off the top of my head. I also need to finalize reviewing all of the data from these investigations and as usual, there are bound to be more surprises in the data. We will be sharing all of our evidence in the coming months, so please stay tuned...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

From our ghost hunting family to yours, may this Holiday Season be filled with happiness, blessings, and health! Enjoy the magic of this season! We can't wait to see you in the new year on more adventures. Thank you so much for your support throughout the years!

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