In The Still Of The Night

It's been four days now since our last paranormal investigation.  Surprisingly, The Hubs and I both slept well after all of the ghost hunting gear was packed up and taken away.  Unlike times past, there was no surge in activity following the investigation.  Emphasis on the word "was."  Because holy mother of.....okay.  What I'm about to tell you is freaky.  Like, freaky as shit.  However, we (at this point) have no intention of leaving our home.  Your insistence that we do so is futile.  So don't bother.

Last night, we had all four boys overnight for the first time since the investigation.  The three younger boys slept upstairs, while The Teenager camped out on the couch in the living room.  At about 2 am, I was awoken by the sound of someone running around the house.  I got up to find The Teenager not sleep-walking, but sleep-running.  He was running in circles through the living room and middle room, his eyes closed, still completely asleep.  I gently took his arm, pulled him into my room, and got him to sit down on the bed.  I asked him what he was doing, and he began mumbling, eyes still closed, about his brother taking some "brown thing" from him, and some other nonsensical stuff.  I walked him back out to the couch, tucked him back in, and went back to bed.

Anyone who knows our family personally knows why this was beyond frightening to me.  The Teenager has epilepsy, and is prone to night-time seizures.  He also has a history of sleep-walking, although he hasn't had an episode in years.  As I tried to go back to sleep, my heart was pounding.  Did he have a seizure or seizure-like event?  Or was Bobby messing with him?  I was actually almost hoping there was a supernatural element involved.  Epilepsy is much more frightening.  Needless to say, I couldn't sleep.  I was too worried about my boy.  I took my pillow out to the couch and slept beside him (thank goodness for our ginormous sectional sofa).

When the little boys got up this morning, E-Man, my 10-year-old, had some pretty big bags under his eyes.  Apparently, CJ, the 9-year-old, sat up in bed around 2 am (the same time Austin started running through the house in his sleep, which the little boys knew nothing about because they were upstairs) and, still asleep, started banging his head into his pillow repeatedly, waking E-Man up.  He said after a few minutes, CJ stopped slamming his face into his pillow and laid back down.

So, at the exact same time, two of my children got up out of bed, still asleep, and one of them began running around the house like a madman while the other proceeded to bang his head into his pillow.  Then, after a few minutes, they both stopped and went back to sleep.  And in the light of day, neither of them have any recollection of this happening.  At all.  So...there's that.  And I just.....I don't know.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

I'm not a quitter.  When I set my mind to something, I accomplish it.  Or, at the very least, I exhaust every possible avenue and give up only when I’m satisfied that I did absolutely everything in my power to reach my goal.  Case in point: it’s been nearly a year since our first paranormal investigation, and I refuse to give up on my quest for answers as to why our house is not only haunted, but “super haunted.”  As a result, our house was investigated last weekend for the third time, by our fourth different paranormal investigation crew.

Here’s something I’ve learned about paranormal investigation companies/teams/crews (or whatever you want to call them) since delving into this world of the supernatural:  You have to find the one that’s right for you and your situation.  Thanks to the emergence of shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures, there has been a boom in the number of organizations that offer paranormal investigation services as of late.  In Michigan alone, there are currently over 100 paranormal investigation firms, as opposed to less than ten just a decade and a half ago.  They all have different philosophies, business practices, equipment, ways of doing things, rules, and areas of expertise.  (One thing they all have in common, however, is that their services are free.  If anyone ever tries to charge you for a paranormal investigation, run the other way.  The good guys do this work for free, because it’s what they love to do.)  So how do you find the group that’s right for you?  You ask questions.

After two paranormal investigations by three different groups in less than a year, I know what I want.  I’m not looking to establish “if” my house is haunted.  I want to know why.  The Hubs and I also want to be included in the investigation process.  We’re tired of just sitting on the couch in silence and darkness while the ghost hunters (and ghosts) have all the fun.

So I started combing through the overabundant listings for paranormal investigators in Michigan until I found one with an emphasis on historical research.  Grimstone Inc. to the rescue.  Founded in 1999, they have been investigating the supernatural since before such a thing was cool, and have a historical research department.  (Jackpot!)  I emailed them and heard back within 24 hours.  I told them our story and our history of past investigations, and expressed our desire to focus on the history of the house and to be a part of the investigation process.  They told me they could work with that.  A few days later, I had a long phone conversation with the lead investigator, Kara, about everything having to do with our house.  She was familiar with our case, having heard the radio broadcast of the investigation last fall.  She and her team were excited to come out.  And we were excited to have them.

On Saturday, August 3^rd, with the kids and dogs all gone and the house clean and cobweb free (they were videotaping, after all), a caravan of paranormal investigators arrived at The C Fam estate with case upon case of equipment.  They took a tour, conducted interviews, took “baseline readings” and set up their surveillance cameras (nine, in total) and other equipment.  By about 9:00, it was lights out.  For the first hour or so, they investigated on their own while The Hubs, our two houseguests and I watched the surveillance monitor with one or two members of the team.  After that, they invited us to participate.  We got to join them in different parts of the house during EVP sessions, and learned about the equipment and what the different things do.  The Grimstone team was professional yet fun, and it was almost like spending an evening with friends.  While the evidence review process is a tedious one, we’ve been in regular contact with Grimstone since the investigation, and have been given a timeline on when we can expect information.

Surveillance video feed during the investigation

Color me impressed.  I think we’ve found “our guys.”  But I’m sure what you’re more interested in than how much we like our new paranormal investigation crew is exactly what happened during their investigation, right?  Overall, it was a pretty quiet night.  I actually fell asleep at one point towards the end of the investigation because, well, it was late and I’m old.  But there were a few moments.



Legit ghost hunting gear

The first real “wow” thing that happened came early in the evening, when I was watching the surveillance monitors with Grimstone founder Chris Bailey, a tall, ruggedly good looking fella (that’s what you told me to say, right, Chris?).  He informed me that we have a very “unique” property.  He explained that normally, an EMF detector will pick up a high-level reading if there is a spirit present, or sometimes if there is electrical wiring that isn’t properly shielded, but it’s usually in a very concentrated area.  As it turns out, our ENTIRE PROPERTY is one gigantic EMF field, from the road to the tree line at the way back of the back yard.  The house, the yard, the marsh, all of it.  And that’s highly unusual.  Chris did say that it’s quite possible that the EMF field is man-made, but that he can’t for the life of him figure out what would be emitting one quite that big.  Strange, no?

Later in the evening, I found myself cooped up in the bathroom with Chris, Kara, and my dear friend Marina (who is terrified of my bathroom, btw) for an EVP session.  At one point, while Kara was introducing herself to whoever might be in there with us, we all heard a very distinct child’s voice say “Hi.”  We were unable to get whoever or whatever it was to say it again, but I’m interested to see what the EVP recording turns up.

A reminder to anyone needing to tinkle- shut the shower curtain to cover the video camera, or everybody will see your business while you do your business!

After our bathroom investigation, we headed upstairs to the younger boys’ bedroom for another EVP session.  After asking a few questions, Kara requested that anyone present in the room with us “finish the clap,” and then proceeded to clap out “Skunk-in-the-barnyard” (or “Shave and a haircut,” whichever you prefer), leaving only the last two lines unfinished.  Now.  Anyone who’s seen The Conjuring or even just a preview for The Conjuring knows how terrifying the thought of a ghost clapping out twice in the dark is.  I swear on all things holy, if it would’ve happened, I would have bolted from that house and never returned.  True story.

While a couple of investigators were out back by the chicken coop, they heard a large branch snap just inches from them, followed by a footstep.  They took off running.  (Which is sort of funny, since the backs of their shirts say: “Paranormal Investigator- If you see me running, try to keep up!”  Now, that very easily could have caused by the wildlife that roams our property at night, but it will be interesting to see what the evidence from that time frame reveals.

All in all, our night with the folks from Grimstone Inc. was awesome.  It was an interesting and very positive experience for us.  We’re feeling hopeful about getting some answers for the first time since this all began.  (I even slept well after the investigation was over, and that’s pretty much unheard of.)  Now we wait.  Care to wait with us?

Housework

Last week, I had a little helper while I was doing housework, and I'm not talking about one of my four boys.  The Hubs and I were home alone, and I was inside cleaning while he was outside doing yard work.

While cleaning in the living room, I found one of the throw pillows from the couch on the floor behind the couch.  I picked it up, fluffed it, put it back in its spot, and then turned around to close a window because it was getting cold out.  (Yes, in July.)  When I turned back around, the pillow was back on the floor.  I stood there staring at it for a few seconds, thinking I was crazy.  Then I picked it up and put it back on the couch.

A little while later, I put some towels away in the closet outside the bathroom.  The closet door is a sliding door, and I remember having to fight with it to get it closed, because the towels were in the way of the track.  But I got it closed, and went into the bathroom to put the washcloths away.  When I came back out, the closet door was wide open again.  (Being that it's a sliding door, it can't open itself.)  I took a deep breath, rubbed out the goosebumps, and moved along.

That night, I was in the bathroom doing my nightly face washing/teeth brushing routine while listening to the sound of my husband doing the dishes in the kitchen.  (The bathroom and kitchen share a wall.)  I heard him turning the sink on and off, washing the dishes, and opening and closing cupboards to put them away.  When I was done in the bathroom, I went out into the kitchen to see if I could help him.  The light in the kitchen was off, the sink was full of dirty dishes, and my husband was nowhere to be seen.  I found him in bed, fast asleep.  (Dear Ghosty Friends: If you're going to do the dishes, could you please start doing the actual dishes instead of your parallel dimension ones?)

Yesterday, our house helper was in a different kind of mood.  The Hubs walked into the bathroom to find half of the shower curtain ripped off the hooks.  He then went into our bedroom and found our change jar, which sits at the back of a built-in book shelf (so, literally no way for it to get bumped or knocked off the shelf, it essentially sits inside a wall) on the floor, the change spilled all over the place.

It's just still so funny to me, how we can go a couple weeks without anything significant happening, and then we seem to have an outbreak of activity, where crazy things happen almost daily.  I wonder why that is....

The Conjuring Comparison

So.  I did it.  I went and saw The Conjuring.  And while it was probably the scariest movie I've seen in the history of forever, it did not remind me of my house.  Well.  Not too much. 

Without giving away too much to those who haven't seen the movie, I'll just say this: if anything even as remotely awful as what happened in that house on their first night ever happened in our house, we'd be gone without another thought.  Like for real.  Lucky for us, most of the similarities between the Perron family's ghost story and ours are on the surface, right down to the green front door.

In the movie, the Perron family moved out to the country, into an old white farmhouse with green trim, with their five girls.




Haunted movie farmhouse on the left, our real farmhouse on the right.


In real life, the C family moved out to the country (but not too far, we're still less than two minutes from civilization), into an old white farmhouse with green trim, with our four boys.




Haunted movie family on the left, haunted C Family on the right.


Their house had a huge yard and a bunch of creepy, old trees.  Our house has a huge yard and a bunch of creepy, old trees.  They had a pond at the edge of their yard.  We have a marsh at the end of ours.




Haunted movie yard on the left, our real haunted yard on the right.


They had a creepy basement/cellar full of lots of weird stuff.  We have a creepy basement/cellar with an incinerator and a weird, arched door that leads to nowhere.  Their basement is haunted.  Our basement is haunted.  They had a little boy ghost, "Rory."  We have a little boy ghost, "Bobby."

Creepy movie basement on the left, creepy C Fam basement on the right.

Oh, and did I tell you?  The Conjuring is based on a TRUE STORY.  How true?  I've posted a couple of links to stories on that exact topic so that you don't have to go hunting for the info yourselves.

Here is an excellent breakdown of fact vs. fiction on all things related to The Conjuring: The Conjuring True Story.

Here is a letter that the eldest Perron girl, Andrea Perron, wrote to a website that posted a review on the movie.  In her letter, she says: "There are liberties taken and a few discrepancies but overall, it is what it claims to be — based on a true story, believe it or not."  Read the full letter HERE: Family Members Reveal The Conjuring True Story.

Now that the movie is #1 at the box office, USA Today decided to do a little digging into how true the story is.  Read their story here: USA Today- True Story Behind The Conjuring.

As an author, I was so excited to learn that one of the family members, Andrea Perron, wrote a series of books about her family's experience in their haunted farmhouse.  Upon getting home after the movie, I logged into my Amazon account ready to purchase at least the first of the three books.  But the reviews stopped me.  They are AWFUL.  The book is expensive (over $20 for a paperback and almost $10 for the Kindle version), long (528 pages), and I found myself struggling to even read all the way through the synopsis.  House of Darkness, House of Light is definitely not for me.  But here's the link if you want to check it out: House of Darkness, House of Light by Andrea Perron.  Just please, before you buy, read the reviews.

Bottom line: the movie is awesome and at least somewhat true.  But not necessarily an accurate depiction of what goes on in haunted houses.  And definitely nothing like what goes on in ours.

Conjuring Courage

I can’t remember what movie I went to the theater to see when I saw my first preview for The Conjuring, but I do remember turning to my husband with wide eyes and saying, “hellllllllll no.”  I did NOT want to see it.  Never, ever, never, ever, never. 

Why?  Well…..because we also live in a haunted old farmhouse.  We also have a creepy basement with a scary spirit, and a little boy ghost who roams the property.  We too have enlisted the help of paranormal investigators in our quest for answers.  They say art imitates life, and for us, this particular piece of art is just a little too lifelike. 

But then the reviews started coming in, and they were good.  Like really good.  Way back before I became a chicken shit when it comes to scary movies, I loved a good horror flick.  So I was intrigued. 

I did a little research into how “true” the true story that inspired The Conjuring is, and it turns out the tale has much more truth to it than other “true story” movies (I’m talking to YOU, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Strangers.)  I was even more intrigued.

  One of my friends went and saw it last night, and when I asked her if she though it was a bad idea for me to see, she said:

“Jenn, the only thing you don’t have in real life that was in that damn movie is a freaky ass doll.  I feel like you could just stay home!”

Ok.  Well now I’m super intrigued.  And I feel like there’s probably a 75% chance that I’m going to go see The Conjuring this weekend.  Which most likely means that I will never sleep well again.  *Clap, clap!*

Into the Light

When you live in a haunted house, you get used to certain things- strange noises, creepy feelings, etc.  Being that we've been living with "others" for a little over a year now, there's a lot that flies under the radar.  But these past couple of days, we've seen a resurgence of activity at the C Family Estate.

Last night, my 10-year-old was in the shower, and insisted that someone come sit in the bathroom with him because the lights kept flickering and it was scaring him.  The only time our lights ever flicker is when the furnace kicks on.  And I can assure you, being that it's the middle of June, we did NOT have the heat on last night.

This morning, said 10-year-old was more difficult to wake up than usual.  He said he was overly tired because he couldn't sleep.  He felt like someone was watching him all night long.

Today, I got home from work and let our chihuahua out of her crate.  Usually she comes flying out, bursting with pent up energy and the need to pee.  But when I opened the door, she cowered further into her cage, whining.  She looked terrified.  Of what, I wasn't sure.  I had to reach in and pull her out, assuring her over and over that she was okay.  As I carried her to the door to take her outside, she was shaking and whimpering the entire time.

About a half hour later, my husband and I were discussing what to make for dinner when the light in the middle room started flickering so bad, The Hubs had to turn it off altogether.

I'm not sure what's causing the increase in activity these past couple of days, but it makes me wonder.....is it somebody's birthday?  The anniversary of someone's death?  Was this the time of year that something happened here, a long time ago?  Who knows.  Not me, that's for sure.

Also, Marter Paranormal has posted their findings from the second investigation they did in March.  Here's the link to their report: Marter Investigation.

Life With Bobby

Children are exhausting.  Boys especially.  I say that with no actual knowledge of what it's like to raise daughters, because I, apparently, was only meant to have sons.  I have two of my own, and acquired two more upon marrying my husband.  So if there's one thing this mama knows, it's how to raise boys.  It shouldn't be surprising, then, that I've formed almost a motherly attachment to our little ghost boy, Bobby.  (Of course he's a boy, right?  I can't even be haunted by a cute little girl ghost, it just has to be a boy.)

While I haven't posted in a while, it's not for a lack of strange activity at The C Family Estate.  Since my last story about waking up to the sound of a little boy calling my name, several things have happened.  Most notably- we got back the results from our second paranormal investigation.

About a week prior to that, though, I walked into the bathroom to find it in complete disarray: toilet paper rolls unrolled and thrown all over, other unmentionables you might find in a woman's bathroom strewn about, towels on the floor.  Yes, my kids were home, but my kids are 14 and 10 (a.k.a. old enough to know better than to mess around like that.)  It was definitely Bobby.  Not sure what provoked the temper tantrum, but I for sure did not appreciate it.

On a gloomy Sunday evening a week or so later, I talked with Mark and Terri from Marter Paranormal about our most recent investigation.  While a lot of what they found was the same as the first time, a lot was different, too. They picked up the voice of a little boy several times, as well as the name "Bobby," seemingly in reference to him.  Several of the investigators felt as though they were being grabbed or touched, and they all felt the presences we know to exist in the house.  In addition to Bobby, who seems to roam all over inside and outside, they picked up recordings of a woman's voice, an older man's voice (the grumpy old dude in the basement) and another, younger man's voice.  There were several EVP's that referenced a man called "Father."  Where's father? and Find father! were a couple. 

Unlike the first time, the investigators found a lot of activity upstairs, where the boys' bedrooms are.  They also detected a free-standing, moving EMF field (in layman's terms, a ghost in physical form) upstairs, and when asked where it had been hiding, it said, "Bathroom." 

Much like the first time, the  investigators caught nothing on photo or video, but recorded dozens of EVPs.  I've yet to learn how to add sound bites to this site, but here are a few of  my favorites:

Two of the investigators were talking about going into the basement.  One said, "So are we going downstairs?" And the ghost woman's voice responded, "Wait."

One of the investigators was having a conversation with Bobby, and said, "If you tell me what you dressed up as for Halloween, I'll tell you what I dressed up as for Halloween."  Bobby responded, "That would be bad."

When one of the investigators (who was a part of the first investigation) was headed out to the chicken coop, he picked up the younger man's voice saying, "That man is coming again."

And my favorite...(favorite? I don't know if that's the right word, but it's the one that had the strongest effect on me- goosebumps, tears, all of it.)  While upstairs, the investigators picked up the following EVP, all in immediate succession:

Younger man's voice: "Bobby."

Little boy's voice: "Chicken."

Younger man or woman's voice, yelling: "Booooobbyyy!"

Whisper: "What happened to me?"

Little boy's voice: "Turkey."

I think it was the emotion in the recording that got to me; the voice yelling Bobby's name sounded so upset.  That, and that the recording almost seemed to be a glimpse into the life the spirits lived, rather than them reacting or responding to investigators.  Whatever it was, it stuck with me.  I'm still hearing that voice in my head, even weeks later.

The investigators now feel it's possible that there's an entire family on the property,  and are all in agreement that Bobby seems to be the strongest presence.  They want to come back sometime over the summer and do an investigation focused primarily outside.  They feel that's where the "answers" are.  So we'll see.

In addition to the paranormal investigators, we recently had an intuitive named Ang, who is a friend of a friend, come to the house.  She can sense spirits, and gave us a different perspective on what's going on in our house.  She immediately sensed Bobby's presence upon arriving, and felt like he was out on the tire swing watching us.  She felt an incredible amount of spiritual energy in the master bedroom, and used a sage smudge stick (which my teenager later mistook for a joint...which cracked me up) to try to cleanse the house and calm the spirits. 

Ang is planning a return trip at some point with a friend of hers who can sometimes see spirits.  She talked to her friend about the house, and her friend told her that she definitely sees a little boy who appears to be from the 1950's at the house.  She said he's sort of scruffy looking, and appears to be looking for something.  She thinks what he's looking for is a toy top.  Ang and her friend want to try to do a "spiritual releasement" for our non-living friends.  If I'm being honest, the idea makes me kind of sad.  I mean, nobody wants to live in a haunted house, but I've gotten used to Bobby, and the thought of him (and the others) leaving after being there for so many decades is just sad to me for some reason.  I know that's weird, but it's how I feel.  So I've been very conflicted on whether or not to attempt a spiritual releasement for Bobby and his friends (family?)...until the other night.

I woke up in the middle of the night to the strangest smell.  It took me a few minutes to place it, but as I was trying to figure out what it was, it grew stronger and stronger.  It smelled like rabbit food- dehydrated vegetables, hay, alfalfa.  The smell became overpowering.  I got up out of bed, turned on the flashlight on my phone, and started frantically searching my bedroom for the source of the smell.  I woke up The Hubs, who smelled nothing and went back to sleep.  I couldn't stand it.  I went into the bathroom to escape the smell, and as I was standing in front of the sink running cold water over my hands, I heard a very loud ripping/splashing sound.  It sounded like someone ripping wallpaper from the wall or splashing an entire bucket of water on the floor.  It scared me.  I ran back to my rabbit cage...er, bedroom...because I didn't want to be alone.  The smell that had driven me from it in the first place seemed to be dissipating, thankfully. 

I climbed back into bed, taking several deep breaths to try to calm myself.  And then I started thinking...maybe the whole "spiritual releasement" thing isn't such a bad idea afterall.  Bobby deserves some peace.  And, quite honestly, so do I.