Haunted Collector (2011) s02e05 Episode Script
Haunted Rectory - Grand Midway Ghosts
- On this episode of Haunted Collector We're heading to an old Rectory.
And I feel something literally bites me.
You take man's best friend, and they'll fight to the death.
Bought this place, moved in, and lots of strange stuff has happened.
This is where the tunnels are to the mine shafts.
Take a look at this.
- Something's not right, Dad.
- Can you see that? Holy cow.
Holy (Bleep).
You have a massive scratch on your back.
My name is John Zaffis.
For over 40 years, I've been helping people with their paranormal problems.
I found that spirits can attach themselves to objects.
Whoa, there it goes.
There it goes.
Oh, my God! And make life a living hell.
That's where my team comes in: My son, Chris My daughter, Aimee Brian, my tech guy Jason, my researcher And Jesslyn, my investigator.
My job What is that? Don't touch that thing.
Find the haunted item and remove it Because I am the Haunted Collector.
Dad, what are you doing? Chopping wood.
What does it look like I'm doing? We got a new client submission.
All right.
Let's go take a look at it.
Hi, John.
My name is Tim Brazeal.
I am with the Midwest Preservation Society.
I'm one of the founding members along with Terrie Scott, and we are restoring the Sedamsville Rectory just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Since we've come in, we've had some really bizarre things happening.
We've seen a cloaked figure a number of different times.
Upstairs, I was actually scratched.
For me, it felt more of a bite.
There's something really evil, something really dark going on here.
So please, come to Sedamsville and see if you can help us out.
Well, that sounds like they definitely got some serious stuff going on.
Get a hold of your sister.
Tell her to start doing some research.
Let's head out there, and let's see what we can do to help him out.
Here we are in Sedamsville, Ohio.
And I talked to Tim and Terrie.
They had bought this old Rectory.
What exactly is a Rectory? Normally, a Rectory is a building attached to a church or on the property of a church where a priest will live.
Now, they purchased it in March 2011, and they're trying to restore it as a historical landmark.
It wasn't used by the church for many years and was abandoned.
It was vandalized.
Then they go in, and they try to restore it, and they got all kinds of crazy activity going on.
I don't know right now what we are actually dealing with.
All right, guys.
Here we are.
Aimee and I are gonna head in.
You guys get the equipment ready.
- Hi, Tim? - John, how are you? Good.
This is my daughter, Aimee Zaffis.
- Hello, Aimee.
How are you? - Nice to meet you.
- You guys come on in.
- Okay.
What's actually happening, buddy? We came in March of last year to restore it.
We actually started off with six volunteers here, and now we're down to two.
And a lot of that has to do with the activity that's been going on Doors opening and closing, voices, shadows.
It's come to the point now to where we're just edgy about even coming in the place at all.
Now, this room is actually the living room.
You can hear, you know, cabinets opening and closing, chairs sliding around.
There's been probably a dozen different times or so that I've actually seen like a cloaked figure, you know? It looked very similar to something like a priest would wear like in the late 1800s, that type of cloak.
This is something that came from the church.
Don't you have some of these in the museum? Well, yeah.
I actually have several different robes from different churches.
I once investigated an odd fellow's robe that was allegedly causing shadow movement in a home.
Once I removed it, the shadow stopped.
Something else of note, too, the room adjacent to this A priest allegedly was murdered in the Rectory here.
Okay.
Now, when we first got to the Rectory, we had one item in this room, and that was the suitcase that you see down here.
And the really weird thing about this is the suitcase moved.
Now, the last time that it really happened, the suitcase was over here just like it was, you know, somebody was ready to go down and drive somewhere.
So that's something that we never could figure out.
Something else I'd like to show you as well.
I was coming out of the bathroom, and I feel something literally bites me.
I mean, just, I mean, it's intense.
It really, really hurts.
Actually, that's a photo took just shortly after.
You know, there's a huge difference when it goes from actually, you know, seeing and hearing things to physical confrontation.
How do you defend against something, you know, that you can't see? As I was looking at the scratches, I was very concerned.
Tim, he's a big guy.
He's not spooked very easily.
But I could see it in his face.
He's very worried.
This is the servants' quarters.
If you'll note on the door, we got scratches all down here.
It's obviously from an animal.
To me, it looks like whatever animal it was, they were locking them in the closets, and you can see the scratch marks where it was trying for its life to get out.
Yeah, I see that.
Odd.
I mean, there's literally this type of destruction in each room of the facility.
I don't know if the scratches on the door have anything to do with the paranormal, but it's a little strange to see this type of damage inside a Rectory.
When we came into the Rectory, the basement was one of the first things that we came to.
We've got sinks down here with hoses.
We have dog dishes in the bottom here, drains all over the floors.
When we came here, I mean, day one, the stench was so bad down here, it's almost a feeling of dread and sorrow.
And this was one of the first things that we seen when we came down here.
You know, why would they have cages in the basement? A lot of things like this just make us really worried, you know, about what could have been going on with animals at the facility.
This Rectory was abandoned for a while, so who knows what actually happened in here? This could have been used as a dog kennel, but the scratches on the door are making me wonder, was there something more sinister going on in here? We're really to the point now to, if you can't help us, we're gonna have to let it go, because I'm just I'm too terrified to come back in here any more.
We'll be in here doing our investigation and hopefully be able to help you out.
- Outstanding.
I'll look forward to it.
- Okay.
There's a lot going on here.
We have people allegedly being scratched, an old suitcase that supposedly moves on its own, and signs that animals were locked up here.
I'm having Aimee and Jason see what they can dig up on the history of the old Rectory, while the rest of the team does our baseline sweep.
And I'm going to talk with Tim's co-worker Terrie.
Tell me what's actually happening with you here.
Well, almost from day one, we've had issues with noises, sound, shadows, doors slamming.
Voices sound like they're talking in your ear.
I can tell you the turning point for me went from the creep factor to serious when Tim got attacked, because then it became more of, are we in danger? Could we get hurt? So we hope you can help us come to some resolution with that because there's something not right here.
Okay.
Well, we're gonna come in here and do everything we can to help you out.
Okay, great.
Appreciate that.
So this is the room where they see shadows here.
Maybe some way we can debunk that.
During our baseline sweep, we're searching for EMF, which is electromagnetic fields.
The current theory is that spirits give off electromagnetic fields or that they disturb them.
In addition to that, we also try and debunk the activity that's reported.
There's windows there, windows there.
Doorway.
This could just be, you know, the sun moving shadows.
The street is right over there, so it could be a car passing.
Maybe.
Oh a couple of interesting items in here.
I don't know, I'm not getting too much in this room otherwise.
All right, Jess.
Let's try some EVP's in here.
Were you clergy here at the Rectory? Were you murdered here? Can you tell me were you clergy here at the Rectory? I'm not really getting much of anything.
Mm-mmm.
There's stuff going on down here, right, with that cage? Get some readings on that.
You start on that side of the room.
- I'll start on this side.
- Okay.
Anything off the dog cage? Point 7.
EVP session? Sounds good, man.
- All right, you ready? - Yeah.
What's your name? Did you used to work here? Kind of a creepy vibe down here.
Were you part of the priesthood? All right, if there's anyone down here with us, can you give us a sign? Did you die in this house? (Bleep).
Just do me a favor, just Just Right here I'm feeling like it's Something hit me.
Oh, dude.
You have a massive scratch on your back.
Holy (Beep).
Did you die in this house? God (Bleep).
Did I cut myself? - Oh, (Bleep).
- What? You got scratched.
Seriously? One scratch? Three.
I've never been scratched like this.
I don't have an immediate explanation for it, and that's what's concerning me.
Hey, Johnny, we're having a Kind of a little problem down here.
What's happening, buddy? I just got scratched.
We're on our way down.
- Hey.
- Hey.
What do you mean you got scratched? Where did you get scratched? Oh, my God.
Jess, take a picture of that.
In the paranormal field, physical attacks like scratches are usually signs that a spirit element is trying to make itself known.
I don't know yet what caused the scratches on Brian's back, but when it's happening to one of my team members, boy, does that put my guard up.
Jace and I have been digging into archives, and we can't find anything about a priest being killed at the Rectory.
So we're gonna look into records of animal cruelty and see if we can find anything that occurred in the area.
- Jace, look what I found.
- What you got? There's a 14-month investigation in Southwest Ohio Operation Bite Back.
It says they found two dozen people, including some children, waiting for dog fighting.
What? Nine people arrested, and they seized 64 dogs as a result.
So this was basically all going down right around here, right? Right around here.
I mean, it doesn't say anyone was found here specifically doing it.
Maybe it was the place where dogs were housed.
- All the signs point to that.
- Well, look at this.
These are animal cruelty cases, and this is in this area right here.
And there's literally, probably, you know, 50 to 70 cases just within this area.
So now that we know about this dog fighting ring, I'd say it's possible that it could be tied in with the Rectory.
There's a lot of circumstantial evidence.
We have the scratches on the doors.
The hoses and drains in the basement, and the dog cage.
- Something could have gone down here.
- Sadly, I think that's the case.
You guys really dug in to some really good stuff.
It was actually the largest dog fighting bust in the U.
S.
And there's nobody specifically here in the Rectory that was ever arrested, or dog fighting was ever found to be taking place here, but, I mean, it doesn't mean it didn't happen.
All right.
Well, we're gonna do something a little bit different tonight.
Aimee and I are gonna get a dog to work with us this evening.
This uh, Doberman Pinscher has worked with several other paranormal groups.
You know, bringing him in, I think it's gonna be able to help us to understand some of that energy that might be tied in with this building.
Dogs are known to have a heightened sensitivity when it comes to the spirit realm.
It is also believed that they can pick up on residual energy of other animals.
Let's dive in there for tonight, guys, okay? In tonight's investigation, Chris and Brian will be monitoring cameras from the first floor.
Jess and Jason will check out the attic.
Aimee and I will be taking the dog around different rooms to see if he can pick up on anything.
Back in the saddle.
All right.
Let's dial in some of these cameras.
Can we find your Dad on this? There's really not too many places in here you can go and not be on the camera.
Lets start in this room over here, curious to see if he senses anything.
He's doing good.
Okay.
Have him go up, Aim.
He seems excited up here.
Good dog, Caesar.
You're a good boy.
Over here.
Come on, over here.
Staring at something.
What do you see, Caesar? Look at that.
Something down there, huh? What is it? Come on.
Good boy.
I say we do an EVP session.
What do you think? All right, we're rolling.
Jason and Jess in the attic.
Is there anybody here with us? Do you not like the renovations that are being done to the Rectory? Nothing.
Just take a quick look around the rest up here.
Going to the basement? Yeah.
What's the matter? What? Look at that.
Come on.
Something's not right, Dad.
What's the matter? He doesn't wanna go.
Doberman Pinschers don't scare easily, but something in the basement is bothering Caesar, and I'm not sure if I want to know what it is.
Don't make him go down there.
Oh, look at that.
Right back up.
- It's all right, Caesar.
- Let's let him stay here.
- He'll follow you if he wants to go.
- Alright, watch your head, there.
Let's see if we get any readings.
Is there anybody down here with us? We mean you no harm.
We just would like to help.
Were there animals kept in this house? Look at that.
You said that and that went off.
Look at that.
Are you trying to tell us something? Do you want us coming in this room? Looks like it's tapping.
Where is it coming from? Aimee, I don't know.
The dog just keeps reacting.
Do you see anything, Dad? What is that? Holy cow.
Where is it coming from? Aimee, I don't know.
Do you see anything, Dad? What is that? I don't know.
Strange All right, why don't you call the guys? Hey, guys, we found something in the basement.
Can you meet us on the first floor, in the parlor? Copy that.
Copy.
We're on our way.
As we were standing right by those three old sinks over there, I started getting some really high readings.
That's where I got scratched.
That's right.
And I pulled up a piece of wood.
What is that? It's a handle or something.
I got a pretty good idea what this is, but before I even say anything, let me find out if my hunches are right on this one.
I'm not really sure about this handle, but I have my suspicions about it.
I'm hoping it's not what I think it is.
- Hi, Dan? - Hi.
Hi.
John Zaffis.
We spoke on the phone.
- Yes.
Why don't you follow me? - Okay.
My name is Dan Evans.
I'm the Director of the Kenton County Animal Shelter.
I started out as a field officer involved in cruelty cases throughout our County.
Well, Dan, I'm kinda hoping you can tell me some info on this.
As you see, the handle, this is probably an ax or a hammer.
What you have here is uh Unfortunately, in the ugly world of dog fighting, it's what's commonly known as a Break Stick.
When they pit two dogs against each other inside of the ring, they will pry the jaws open to separate the dogs.
You see we do have some markings of bloodstain on here.
Unfortunately, in this area, we did have a lot of dog fighting.
You take man's best friend, and you turn it into what they call a blood sport.
Unfortunately, they'll fight to the death.
As he was explaining it to me, what they actually did with that item, that just practically ripped my heart out.
I'm a huge dog lover.
They can't speak.
They can't defend themselves.
Knowing that these poor animals were tormented by people, and some of that energy could be transferred onto these items, I'm not really looking forward to going back to our clients and giving them this information.
We weren't able to find any documentation as far as any clergy, especially a priest, actually being murdered here in the building.
But we found out that in this particular area, there was one of the biggest dog fighting busts in the U.
S.
Wow.
We came in and we did what we call a baseline sweep.
Unfortunately, something happened with Brian.
And his whole back ended up getting scratched.
Wow.
We came back in and did our full nighttime investigation, and we had decided to bring in a dog.
He was picking all the key locations.
He would not go down into the basement.
And he just barked and barked.
And I'd like to show you something that I had found down there.
A Break Stick.
What it was used for was to actually stop the dogs from when they were fighting.
They would actually take this and shove it in their mouths and try to pry them loose.
That looks like there's blood on here.
I just feel I'm heartbroken.
Knowing what Monsters could do this to animals, it makes me sick.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that it could actually be spirits of these dogs that probably fought here and died here.
So you don't think they're trying to harm us? They were reaching out.
They were trying to make communication.
What we thought was malicious could just, in fact, be animals trying to get our attention.
And they have got our attention.
Whether I feel comfortable or not, I don't know.
That remains to be seen.
What would you like to do with this stick? Get it out of here.
Okay.
As long as it's not anything that's actually trying to harm us, you know, I can see the Rectory being restored.
- John, we appreciate it.
- What is that, buddy? Dogs have long served as man's best friend.
It's tragic that the Rectory dogs were robbed of that friendship.
Now, by removing the remnant of their suffering and nullifying its energy with sea salt, I'm hoping to give the spirits of those dogs the peace they never found while living.
Hi, John.
This is Blair Murphy from The Grand Midway Hotel in Windber, Pennsylvania.
I'm renovating this place, and lots of strange stuff has happened.
Lots of times hearing voices and whispers in the halls.
A chair actually shot out and moved right in front of me.
My roommates are running out of the building terrified, refusing to sleep the night here.
I'm asking you to come out here and check it out.
Okay, here we are in Windber, Pennsylvania, guys.
And we're gonna be heading over to The Grand Midway Hotel.
This place was a hotel back in the day.
But now, Blair lives here with his girlfriend, and they rent rooms out to friends and artists.
I had you guys do a little bit of research.
What'd youse find out.
Well, I actually found out a little bit of information about the town itself.
The Berwind-White Coal Mining Company founded the town in 1897.
It was the largest producer of coal at the turn of the century.
Now, many of the miners that the company hired were actually European immigrants.
And a lot of them ended up staying at The Grand Midway.
This place was literally chock-full of alcohol, prostitution, so it was a very, very rowdy place.
Oh.
Okay, guys, Aimee and I are gonna get together with Blair.
You guys get the equipment ready, and, Jess, you talk to some witnesses.
- You guys ready? - Yeah.
Let's go.
Wait till you see the inside of this place.
One of the rockets exploded, sliced Martha's throat.
This had a tendency to explode.
- Boom.
Boom.
- Look at this.
There were mines all underneath here.
- Holy cow.
- What the hell is this? The Murphy residence in Windber, Pennsylvania, is experiencing unexplained activity that is literally scaring people out of the building.
So my team and I are here to investigate.
- Hey, buddy.
How you doing? - John Zaffis.
Good to see you.
This is my daughter, Aimee.
- Hi.
- Hi, Aimee.
- Come on in.
- Alright.
What's actually happening, buddy? Bought this place, moved in, started renovating.
The first six weeks, I'd had no idea why I was feeling the way I was feeling.
I was hearing voices and whispers in the hall.
I was really bothered, so much so that I had a mattress by the front door, and I slept three feet from the front door the first three days.
My roommates have mentioned seeing a man in the hallway or hearing footsteps, and I've had people end up leaving or being really frightened and freaked out.
I'm very worried about the people that are living here.
I had no idea what I was getting into.
Let me show you around.
This is the grand dining hall of the Midway Hotel there's a lot of history that took place in this building, back in the day miners would spend 14 hours underground, get right off the train, step from work right into here.
We found all these old registry books from This says 1919.
It looks like these were the miners that stayed here.
Yeah.
That's true.
All right.
Even though the building is now Blair's home, the former hotel had a rich history with the local mining industry, so that's definitely something we'll have to look into further.
So this is the basement.
I was told by a historian in the area that he'd seen maps of coal mines.
There's about 14 miles of tunnels beneath this area.
Never actually found out too much about 'em? We didn't find them, but I think there's a lot of things on tap still down here.
Okay.
We did find some trunks and furniture down here, and this is one of them.
Really kind of creepy like a treasure chest.
Do you know who it belonged to? I have no idea.
Maybe left behind? We don't know what the contents of that trunk were, but personal belongings can be imprinted with the energy and emotions of their owners.
So this is the hotel kitchen.
Like a month ago, I'm here alone with my girlfriend, I'm standing right here, and this chair, it shot out and then it shot over to the side.
It sounds crazy, but this one I did witness.
That's what I call poltergeist activity, and an item will either be thrown, broken, or pushed around just like what you're describing.
These photos, in 1911, on the 4th of July, this woman here, Martha, was watching fireworks on our front porch.
One of the rockets exploded in the pipe, and a piece of iron shot over everyone's head, sliced Martha's throat.
Took her 10 minutes to die.
It was a pretty shocking story.
Anything ever happen on July 4th? We've had quite a few people say that they see a woman in the window, but nothing related to the date, though.
So perhaps the creepiest room in the building is this one.
There have been a lot of artists that have stayed here.
And at one point, there was a painter moved in, and all he painted was these massive murals.
Very dark material.
He ran out of the building one night, thinking he was hearing sounds and whispers, and burned just about all of his paintings.
I mean these are part of the walls, so he didn't take them with him, but anything that he could remove, he destroyed them.
So years and years and years of work, and he just burned it all? - Yeah.
- Is anybody even staying here? No, no, the room just remains in this condition.
Although artwork can hold onto the energy of its creator, just because a painting depicts something dark and scary doesn't mean it's connected to something paranormal.
So this back room was also kind of a gallery, and one night, I was watching a movie with my girlfriend.
We kept hearing whispering.
We were just laying here, and we were just talking, and I start to hear a growl.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and I left.
It scared you.
It really did.
Also, I started to see all these, like, twinkling lights on the ceiling, and all of a sudden, the lights formed the outline Of a man.
There was no other light source in the room? There was no other light source.
- That could have reflected this light? - No.
Well, Blair, I can understand your concern about people staying in here.
So what I'm gonna do is definitely get the team in here, research it, and let's see what we can find out for you, buddy, okay? This building has some very strange and creepy areas.
The atmosphere here alone may be causing guests to think that they're experiencing something paranormal.
So we're gonna have to look closely and see if we can logically explain some of the phenomena.
All right, guys, let's grab the equipment, and let's head on in, okay? I'm sending Aimee and Jason to see what they can dig up on the history of the area, while the rest of the team does our baseline sweep.
All right, guess we'll start in here, and, uh, we'll make our way around and down.
Okay.
Chris and I are gonna start by taking some electromagnetic field readings.
An average reading for a non-haunted location is one to two.
We're looking for any abnormal spikes that can't be easily explained.
I'm really curious about this chair.
Ooh.
I'm getting readings off of it.
Measure that one.
Yeah, see, I'm getting a - Two and a half, three.
- I'm getting a zero.
All right, well, its proximity to the refrigerator's definitely causing some cast-off readings.
Because we're in the kitchen and there's so many appliances in here, I'm gonna attribute the high readings on the chair to that.
Switch this around.
Take that, put that there.
And No.
I mean, unless there's something in the basement that was popping up through and making this move, I'm at a loss.
As far as it physically moving? We're gonna have to look into that during the nighttime investigation.
- Check it out.
- All right.
Let's try over here.
Do an EVP session over here.
Sudden or violent death can sometimes result in lingering spirit energy.
So if a young girl was killed violently up on that balcony, I'm hoping we're gonna be able to establish some kind of contact.
Martha, are you here with us? Martha, do you feel that it was unfair that you died at such a young age? Do you feel very protective of this place? Play that back.
Let's see if there's anything.
Nothing.
This is creepy.
What's that old-looking thing? This is that trunk.
Getting any readings? No.
Supposedly, this is where the tunnels are to the mine shafts.
- Do you think this could be one? - Yeah, what is that? - It's a stud.
- Get some readings.
Yeah, I'm getting a signal all of a sudden, actually.
This is unusual.
We're getting some high EMF readings down here in the basement.
Now, unlike the kitchen, there's no major appliances nearby, so I can't explain this right now.
All right, well, maybe we should do an EVP session here.
Okay.
What's your name? Did you stay at the hotel? Did you die down here? - Let's give it a listen.
- Yeah, let's do it.
What's your name? Did you stay at the hotel? Did you die down here? I don't remember hearing that whistle when I said that.
- No, what is that? - It's probably just a train.
As we're playing back the recording, I seem to hear a whistle in the background.
.
There's train tracks in front of the place, so it's probably just something in the distance.
I didn't really hear much.
No voices at least.
- Let's check these paintings out in here.
- Okay.
Let's see.
I got nothing.
Let's move in this room.
The more of 'em in here.
Wow.
That's very different.
Yeah, boom, boom.
- Look at this.
- Boom.
I have a spike right over this wall.
2.
1, 4.
9, 5.
0.
This is outrageous.
Wow, look at this.
Why am I getting mine all the way across? - You see that? - Whoa, holy cow.
Mine is going crazy.
- Did you just see that? - Look at this.
5.
0.
Mine is going crazy.
Jess and I were on the second floor.
We were getting high readings where a lot of those creepy paintings are.
Here's something that's a very good test to always do, Jess.
Let's walk on the opposite side of this wall.
I know to leave no stone unturned.
There's a wire right here.
- Is that what you're picking up on? - I am getting a reading from the wire.
Go try it now.
I'm gonna lift the wire out of the way.
Boom.
Drops immediately.
Even though we didn't get a lot of readings off of our baseline sweep, there's still a lot to look into here, so we'll just have to dig in deeper tomorrow night.
This the place? Aimee and I are headed to the Coal Heritage Center to meet with the Executive Director, Chris Barkley, and we're hoping that he's gonna give us some information about the coal mining industry in the town and how it connects with The Grand Midway Hotel.
We understand this town was founded by a Coal Mining Company? That's right.
Berwind-White founded the town in 1897.
We had 13 mines here in the surrounding area.
Chris, it's my understanding that The Grand Midway actually housed many of these miners.
Can you tell us about that? The Grand Midway was one of our first hotels in town.
It actually was used as a boarding house for a lot of the miners that came to work in the mines.
It wasn't unusual to have in a room 10 to 12 guys sleeping.
About how many miners passed away in the mines, do you know? Around 430 people Miners killed.
Especially in the 1900s, you know, you didn't have the safety procedures.
You didn't have the good equipment, the breathing apparatuses available.
Typically, the mines would have an air horn or some kind of an electric horn that they would blow if there was a death or an accident so everybody would congregate to the main part of the town and get news.
Wow, that had to actually be really nerve-racking for the families.
It was a hard way to make a living.
We were able to confirm that there were over 400 recorded deaths.
And safety was a real issue.
The town was all miners and family, and they would blow a horn.
And that kind of told the other people in the town there's an emergency, something's gone wrong.
Actually, guys, now that you've said that, last night during our EVP session, we heard pretty much what sounded like a whistle.
Yeah, sounded like it.
At first, we thought it was like a train.
We didn't flag it because we had no idea that that was something we're supposed to be listening for.
Did you stay at the hotel? .
- Did you hear that? - Yeah.
There were tunnels, there were mines all underneath here.
Okay, here's what I want to do for tonight.
I'm having Jason monitor the cameras on the first floor.
Jess and I will try an EVP session on the second floor, and Chris and Brian will look for any evidence of mining tunnels in the basement.
You ready? Let's get the equipment and let's rock 'n' roll.
All right, J.
, got the nine cameras set up, starting on the first floor.
We've got a camera here in the kitchen, the back stairway, two in the basement, the second floor.
Awesome.
All right, Chris.
Looks like all the IR cameras are in place.
Let's get into the night sweep.
Awesome.
Got that G-force Pod, Chris? Blair had reported that the chair in the kitchen moved on its own, so, tonight, we're gonna do a little experiment with a G-force Pod.
The device measures any kind of movement upon it.
In an X, Y, or Z axis.
X, Y, and up and down is Z.
So anything, you know, enacts upon the device or the chair, - it will pick up on it.
- Wow.
- All right, J.
- I'm here.
If this moves or lights up or anything, let us know.
You got a clear view of it? - Yes.
- Cool.
Let's try some EVPs.
Did you die in this building? Were you a coal miner? I want you to use the thermal camera to aim at the walls and the floor.
So my hunch is that if there's any passageways, it should be a different temperature because air will be hitting it from the other side.
Last night, we kind of got eyes on different spots in the basement.
Tonight, we're bringing in several tools The metal detector, the thermal camera, and, of course, some digging tools.
If there's a trap door, a metal door, something that goes down, that's what I'm using the metal detector to try and find.
It's probably a nail, a screw.
Let's spread out to the rest of the basement.
Did you come in here with an item? Is the item in a different part of the building? - Did you hear the whistle? - Yeah.
Play that back.
Is the item in a different part of the building? .
Holy cow.
That's the same frikkin' whistle they got downstairs.
Two different nights, two different recorders, different people, and we're getting the same sound? I want to dig a little deeper into that.
That's as clear as can be.
How's it going down there, Bri? Tool.
Chain.
I'm not getting much.
There's the hole.
That's where we got those readings earlier.
Okay.
See what happens when I stick it back through.
Bingo.
Look at all these big rocks.
Hold on, hold on a second.
I do see a piece of metal.
- Do you really find something? - Yeah.
Take a look at this.
What is it? What the hell is this? Take a look at this.
What is it? Dude, it's soakin' wet.
What the hell is this? Now, I'm pulling this item out of the mud, and to be honest, I have no idea what it is.
And it's not like anything else down here that the metal detector picked up.
It wasn't a screw, it wasn't a little piece of debris.
This was definitely something.
Hang on a second.
One thing I gotta check.
I'm getting a reading off of it.
That's weird.
What the hell is this? Hey, Dad, we found something down in the basement.
Okay.
Meet you up in the dining room area.
You guys, this is what we found.
I have no idea what it is.
Wow.
Pulled out the EMF detector, and it was giving off a faint reading.
I got a good idea what it is.
It's a headlamp, and something coal miners would actually wear.
I definitely wanna get this to somebody so they can tell me a little bit more about it.
We got something even crazier.
Listen to this.
Is the item in a different part of the building? .
Mmm.
Is that the same thing that you guys got? Like a short horn.
- Yeah.
- Sounds very similar, guys.
We know from historical records that mining was very dangerous.
Lot of people got killed.
Now, how is all this actually tying in with this headlamp? Right at this point in time, I don't know.
But I need to get to an expert and see what he can tell me about this.
All right, let's get packed up and let's head out.
I'm going to meet with Dale.
He's an auctioneer, and he's very familiar with the coal mining industry.
I'm hoping he can give me some good information about this headlamp.
Well, what you have here is an Autolite brand.
It's a miner's lamp.
In fact, I have a miner's helmet here that would have been typical, - would have mounted on his helmet - Mm-hmm.
For when he was gonna go underground and start digging some coal.
But um, this Patented around 1900.
And it burned fuel, okay? One of the drawbacks to going as an underground miner was that you were gonna have to deal with methane gas.
Mm-hmm.
Because it burned an open flame, it had a tendency to explode.
Would you actually say, you know, these things would be involved with deaths? Oh, miners could have been killed.
They dug into a seam and, you know, immediately, if methane gas was present, and that open flame would have ignited that methane gas.
But later, in the 30s and 40s, they converted into a much safer version of this, which was battery operated.
All right.
Could this have been involved with a tragedy? We never gonna have a clear-cut answer, but I can't wait to get back with Blair and share this information.
- Well, buddy, it's good to see you again.
- It's great to have you here.
I have quite a bit of things to talk to you about.
We came in, basically did our baseline sweep.
One of the key things that Brian and Chris were trying was to recreate the chair with the pulling out and sliding.
We couldn't get anything to happen, so that remains unexplained.
Now, Chris and Brian were downstairs in the basement area.
They got a crazy thing It was like a whistle that came out as an EVP.
And I wanna play that for you now.
Okay.
Did you stay at the hotel? .
Can you hear that? So Jesslyn and I were up on the second floor.
We were doing an EVP session in there, and then we get a whistle again.
So two different nights, we got this whistle sound.
- Upstairs this time.
- Yeah.
You know, I don't know if you're familiar with this or not, but a lot of times when there was a tragedy, a death, anything would happen in the coal mines, they would blow a whistle in the center of town.
Didn't know that.
So as the boys were down in the basement, they went over into one area, and they were digging around, well, they had actually pulled out an item that I'd like to show you.
It's what they call a coal miner's light, and it was made in 1900.
And they would put it on the front of their cap there.
Now, the only way they would be able to light them was fill 'em with fuel, then actually light the wick here, and that would light their way.
So you stop and think about that, how dangerous that was.
Methane gas was very prevalent.
A lot of these guys died in these places.
Was this from a tragedy, you know? Was it one of the coal miners ended up dying down there? I mean, we're never gonna be 100% sure, but I think we were led to actually get this thing exposed.
So at this point in time, my recommendation would definitely be to remove this from here.
But I need to know what you would like to do.
Well If spirit communication's happening I'd say - Take it away.
- Okay throughout history the mining industry has suffered many accidents and tragedies.
But by removing the headlamp I'm hoping that whatever restless spirit was haunting Blair's home can finally find peace.
And I feel something literally bites me.
You take man's best friend, and they'll fight to the death.
Bought this place, moved in, and lots of strange stuff has happened.
This is where the tunnels are to the mine shafts.
Take a look at this.
- Something's not right, Dad.
- Can you see that? Holy cow.
Holy (Bleep).
You have a massive scratch on your back.
My name is John Zaffis.
For over 40 years, I've been helping people with their paranormal problems.
I found that spirits can attach themselves to objects.
Whoa, there it goes.
There it goes.
Oh, my God! And make life a living hell.
That's where my team comes in: My son, Chris My daughter, Aimee Brian, my tech guy Jason, my researcher And Jesslyn, my investigator.
My job What is that? Don't touch that thing.
Find the haunted item and remove it Because I am the Haunted Collector.
Dad, what are you doing? Chopping wood.
What does it look like I'm doing? We got a new client submission.
All right.
Let's go take a look at it.
Hi, John.
My name is Tim Brazeal.
I am with the Midwest Preservation Society.
I'm one of the founding members along with Terrie Scott, and we are restoring the Sedamsville Rectory just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Since we've come in, we've had some really bizarre things happening.
We've seen a cloaked figure a number of different times.
Upstairs, I was actually scratched.
For me, it felt more of a bite.
There's something really evil, something really dark going on here.
So please, come to Sedamsville and see if you can help us out.
Well, that sounds like they definitely got some serious stuff going on.
Get a hold of your sister.
Tell her to start doing some research.
Let's head out there, and let's see what we can do to help him out.
Here we are in Sedamsville, Ohio.
And I talked to Tim and Terrie.
They had bought this old Rectory.
What exactly is a Rectory? Normally, a Rectory is a building attached to a church or on the property of a church where a priest will live.
Now, they purchased it in March 2011, and they're trying to restore it as a historical landmark.
It wasn't used by the church for many years and was abandoned.
It was vandalized.
Then they go in, and they try to restore it, and they got all kinds of crazy activity going on.
I don't know right now what we are actually dealing with.
All right, guys.
Here we are.
Aimee and I are gonna head in.
You guys get the equipment ready.
- Hi, Tim? - John, how are you? Good.
This is my daughter, Aimee Zaffis.
- Hello, Aimee.
How are you? - Nice to meet you.
- You guys come on in.
- Okay.
What's actually happening, buddy? We came in March of last year to restore it.
We actually started off with six volunteers here, and now we're down to two.
And a lot of that has to do with the activity that's been going on Doors opening and closing, voices, shadows.
It's come to the point now to where we're just edgy about even coming in the place at all.
Now, this room is actually the living room.
You can hear, you know, cabinets opening and closing, chairs sliding around.
There's been probably a dozen different times or so that I've actually seen like a cloaked figure, you know? It looked very similar to something like a priest would wear like in the late 1800s, that type of cloak.
This is something that came from the church.
Don't you have some of these in the museum? Well, yeah.
I actually have several different robes from different churches.
I once investigated an odd fellow's robe that was allegedly causing shadow movement in a home.
Once I removed it, the shadow stopped.
Something else of note, too, the room adjacent to this A priest allegedly was murdered in the Rectory here.
Okay.
Now, when we first got to the Rectory, we had one item in this room, and that was the suitcase that you see down here.
And the really weird thing about this is the suitcase moved.
Now, the last time that it really happened, the suitcase was over here just like it was, you know, somebody was ready to go down and drive somewhere.
So that's something that we never could figure out.
Something else I'd like to show you as well.
I was coming out of the bathroom, and I feel something literally bites me.
I mean, just, I mean, it's intense.
It really, really hurts.
Actually, that's a photo took just shortly after.
You know, there's a huge difference when it goes from actually, you know, seeing and hearing things to physical confrontation.
How do you defend against something, you know, that you can't see? As I was looking at the scratches, I was very concerned.
Tim, he's a big guy.
He's not spooked very easily.
But I could see it in his face.
He's very worried.
This is the servants' quarters.
If you'll note on the door, we got scratches all down here.
It's obviously from an animal.
To me, it looks like whatever animal it was, they were locking them in the closets, and you can see the scratch marks where it was trying for its life to get out.
Yeah, I see that.
Odd.
I mean, there's literally this type of destruction in each room of the facility.
I don't know if the scratches on the door have anything to do with the paranormal, but it's a little strange to see this type of damage inside a Rectory.
When we came into the Rectory, the basement was one of the first things that we came to.
We've got sinks down here with hoses.
We have dog dishes in the bottom here, drains all over the floors.
When we came here, I mean, day one, the stench was so bad down here, it's almost a feeling of dread and sorrow.
And this was one of the first things that we seen when we came down here.
You know, why would they have cages in the basement? A lot of things like this just make us really worried, you know, about what could have been going on with animals at the facility.
This Rectory was abandoned for a while, so who knows what actually happened in here? This could have been used as a dog kennel, but the scratches on the door are making me wonder, was there something more sinister going on in here? We're really to the point now to, if you can't help us, we're gonna have to let it go, because I'm just I'm too terrified to come back in here any more.
We'll be in here doing our investigation and hopefully be able to help you out.
- Outstanding.
I'll look forward to it.
- Okay.
There's a lot going on here.
We have people allegedly being scratched, an old suitcase that supposedly moves on its own, and signs that animals were locked up here.
I'm having Aimee and Jason see what they can dig up on the history of the old Rectory, while the rest of the team does our baseline sweep.
And I'm going to talk with Tim's co-worker Terrie.
Tell me what's actually happening with you here.
Well, almost from day one, we've had issues with noises, sound, shadows, doors slamming.
Voices sound like they're talking in your ear.
I can tell you the turning point for me went from the creep factor to serious when Tim got attacked, because then it became more of, are we in danger? Could we get hurt? So we hope you can help us come to some resolution with that because there's something not right here.
Okay.
Well, we're gonna come in here and do everything we can to help you out.
Okay, great.
Appreciate that.
So this is the room where they see shadows here.
Maybe some way we can debunk that.
During our baseline sweep, we're searching for EMF, which is electromagnetic fields.
The current theory is that spirits give off electromagnetic fields or that they disturb them.
In addition to that, we also try and debunk the activity that's reported.
There's windows there, windows there.
Doorway.
This could just be, you know, the sun moving shadows.
The street is right over there, so it could be a car passing.
Maybe.
Oh a couple of interesting items in here.
I don't know, I'm not getting too much in this room otherwise.
All right, Jess.
Let's try some EVP's in here.
Were you clergy here at the Rectory? Were you murdered here? Can you tell me were you clergy here at the Rectory? I'm not really getting much of anything.
Mm-mmm.
There's stuff going on down here, right, with that cage? Get some readings on that.
You start on that side of the room.
- I'll start on this side.
- Okay.
Anything off the dog cage? Point 7.
EVP session? Sounds good, man.
- All right, you ready? - Yeah.
What's your name? Did you used to work here? Kind of a creepy vibe down here.
Were you part of the priesthood? All right, if there's anyone down here with us, can you give us a sign? Did you die in this house? (Bleep).
Just do me a favor, just Just Right here I'm feeling like it's Something hit me.
Oh, dude.
You have a massive scratch on your back.
Holy (Beep).
Did you die in this house? God (Bleep).
Did I cut myself? - Oh, (Bleep).
- What? You got scratched.
Seriously? One scratch? Three.
I've never been scratched like this.
I don't have an immediate explanation for it, and that's what's concerning me.
Hey, Johnny, we're having a Kind of a little problem down here.
What's happening, buddy? I just got scratched.
We're on our way down.
- Hey.
- Hey.
What do you mean you got scratched? Where did you get scratched? Oh, my God.
Jess, take a picture of that.
In the paranormal field, physical attacks like scratches are usually signs that a spirit element is trying to make itself known.
I don't know yet what caused the scratches on Brian's back, but when it's happening to one of my team members, boy, does that put my guard up.
Jace and I have been digging into archives, and we can't find anything about a priest being killed at the Rectory.
So we're gonna look into records of animal cruelty and see if we can find anything that occurred in the area.
- Jace, look what I found.
- What you got? There's a 14-month investigation in Southwest Ohio Operation Bite Back.
It says they found two dozen people, including some children, waiting for dog fighting.
What? Nine people arrested, and they seized 64 dogs as a result.
So this was basically all going down right around here, right? Right around here.
I mean, it doesn't say anyone was found here specifically doing it.
Maybe it was the place where dogs were housed.
- All the signs point to that.
- Well, look at this.
These are animal cruelty cases, and this is in this area right here.
And there's literally, probably, you know, 50 to 70 cases just within this area.
So now that we know about this dog fighting ring, I'd say it's possible that it could be tied in with the Rectory.
There's a lot of circumstantial evidence.
We have the scratches on the doors.
The hoses and drains in the basement, and the dog cage.
- Something could have gone down here.
- Sadly, I think that's the case.
You guys really dug in to some really good stuff.
It was actually the largest dog fighting bust in the U.
S.
And there's nobody specifically here in the Rectory that was ever arrested, or dog fighting was ever found to be taking place here, but, I mean, it doesn't mean it didn't happen.
All right.
Well, we're gonna do something a little bit different tonight.
Aimee and I are gonna get a dog to work with us this evening.
This uh, Doberman Pinscher has worked with several other paranormal groups.
You know, bringing him in, I think it's gonna be able to help us to understand some of that energy that might be tied in with this building.
Dogs are known to have a heightened sensitivity when it comes to the spirit realm.
It is also believed that they can pick up on residual energy of other animals.
Let's dive in there for tonight, guys, okay? In tonight's investigation, Chris and Brian will be monitoring cameras from the first floor.
Jess and Jason will check out the attic.
Aimee and I will be taking the dog around different rooms to see if he can pick up on anything.
Back in the saddle.
All right.
Let's dial in some of these cameras.
Can we find your Dad on this? There's really not too many places in here you can go and not be on the camera.
Lets start in this room over here, curious to see if he senses anything.
He's doing good.
Okay.
Have him go up, Aim.
He seems excited up here.
Good dog, Caesar.
You're a good boy.
Over here.
Come on, over here.
Staring at something.
What do you see, Caesar? Look at that.
Something down there, huh? What is it? Come on.
Good boy.
I say we do an EVP session.
What do you think? All right, we're rolling.
Jason and Jess in the attic.
Is there anybody here with us? Do you not like the renovations that are being done to the Rectory? Nothing.
Just take a quick look around the rest up here.
Going to the basement? Yeah.
What's the matter? What? Look at that.
Come on.
Something's not right, Dad.
What's the matter? He doesn't wanna go.
Doberman Pinschers don't scare easily, but something in the basement is bothering Caesar, and I'm not sure if I want to know what it is.
Don't make him go down there.
Oh, look at that.
Right back up.
- It's all right, Caesar.
- Let's let him stay here.
- He'll follow you if he wants to go.
- Alright, watch your head, there.
Let's see if we get any readings.
Is there anybody down here with us? We mean you no harm.
We just would like to help.
Were there animals kept in this house? Look at that.
You said that and that went off.
Look at that.
Are you trying to tell us something? Do you want us coming in this room? Looks like it's tapping.
Where is it coming from? Aimee, I don't know.
The dog just keeps reacting.
Do you see anything, Dad? What is that? Holy cow.
Where is it coming from? Aimee, I don't know.
Do you see anything, Dad? What is that? I don't know.
Strange All right, why don't you call the guys? Hey, guys, we found something in the basement.
Can you meet us on the first floor, in the parlor? Copy that.
Copy.
We're on our way.
As we were standing right by those three old sinks over there, I started getting some really high readings.
That's where I got scratched.
That's right.
And I pulled up a piece of wood.
What is that? It's a handle or something.
I got a pretty good idea what this is, but before I even say anything, let me find out if my hunches are right on this one.
I'm not really sure about this handle, but I have my suspicions about it.
I'm hoping it's not what I think it is.
- Hi, Dan? - Hi.
Hi.
John Zaffis.
We spoke on the phone.
- Yes.
Why don't you follow me? - Okay.
My name is Dan Evans.
I'm the Director of the Kenton County Animal Shelter.
I started out as a field officer involved in cruelty cases throughout our County.
Well, Dan, I'm kinda hoping you can tell me some info on this.
As you see, the handle, this is probably an ax or a hammer.
What you have here is uh Unfortunately, in the ugly world of dog fighting, it's what's commonly known as a Break Stick.
When they pit two dogs against each other inside of the ring, they will pry the jaws open to separate the dogs.
You see we do have some markings of bloodstain on here.
Unfortunately, in this area, we did have a lot of dog fighting.
You take man's best friend, and you turn it into what they call a blood sport.
Unfortunately, they'll fight to the death.
As he was explaining it to me, what they actually did with that item, that just practically ripped my heart out.
I'm a huge dog lover.
They can't speak.
They can't defend themselves.
Knowing that these poor animals were tormented by people, and some of that energy could be transferred onto these items, I'm not really looking forward to going back to our clients and giving them this information.
We weren't able to find any documentation as far as any clergy, especially a priest, actually being murdered here in the building.
But we found out that in this particular area, there was one of the biggest dog fighting busts in the U.
S.
Wow.
We came in and we did what we call a baseline sweep.
Unfortunately, something happened with Brian.
And his whole back ended up getting scratched.
Wow.
We came back in and did our full nighttime investigation, and we had decided to bring in a dog.
He was picking all the key locations.
He would not go down into the basement.
And he just barked and barked.
And I'd like to show you something that I had found down there.
A Break Stick.
What it was used for was to actually stop the dogs from when they were fighting.
They would actually take this and shove it in their mouths and try to pry them loose.
That looks like there's blood on here.
I just feel I'm heartbroken.
Knowing what Monsters could do this to animals, it makes me sick.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that it could actually be spirits of these dogs that probably fought here and died here.
So you don't think they're trying to harm us? They were reaching out.
They were trying to make communication.
What we thought was malicious could just, in fact, be animals trying to get our attention.
And they have got our attention.
Whether I feel comfortable or not, I don't know.
That remains to be seen.
What would you like to do with this stick? Get it out of here.
Okay.
As long as it's not anything that's actually trying to harm us, you know, I can see the Rectory being restored.
- John, we appreciate it.
- What is that, buddy? Dogs have long served as man's best friend.
It's tragic that the Rectory dogs were robbed of that friendship.
Now, by removing the remnant of their suffering and nullifying its energy with sea salt, I'm hoping to give the spirits of those dogs the peace they never found while living.
Hi, John.
This is Blair Murphy from The Grand Midway Hotel in Windber, Pennsylvania.
I'm renovating this place, and lots of strange stuff has happened.
Lots of times hearing voices and whispers in the halls.
A chair actually shot out and moved right in front of me.
My roommates are running out of the building terrified, refusing to sleep the night here.
I'm asking you to come out here and check it out.
Okay, here we are in Windber, Pennsylvania, guys.
And we're gonna be heading over to The Grand Midway Hotel.
This place was a hotel back in the day.
But now, Blair lives here with his girlfriend, and they rent rooms out to friends and artists.
I had you guys do a little bit of research.
What'd youse find out.
Well, I actually found out a little bit of information about the town itself.
The Berwind-White Coal Mining Company founded the town in 1897.
It was the largest producer of coal at the turn of the century.
Now, many of the miners that the company hired were actually European immigrants.
And a lot of them ended up staying at The Grand Midway.
This place was literally chock-full of alcohol, prostitution, so it was a very, very rowdy place.
Oh.
Okay, guys, Aimee and I are gonna get together with Blair.
You guys get the equipment ready, and, Jess, you talk to some witnesses.
- You guys ready? - Yeah.
Let's go.
Wait till you see the inside of this place.
One of the rockets exploded, sliced Martha's throat.
This had a tendency to explode.
- Boom.
Boom.
- Look at this.
There were mines all underneath here.
- Holy cow.
- What the hell is this? The Murphy residence in Windber, Pennsylvania, is experiencing unexplained activity that is literally scaring people out of the building.
So my team and I are here to investigate.
- Hey, buddy.
How you doing? - John Zaffis.
Good to see you.
This is my daughter, Aimee.
- Hi.
- Hi, Aimee.
- Come on in.
- Alright.
What's actually happening, buddy? Bought this place, moved in, started renovating.
The first six weeks, I'd had no idea why I was feeling the way I was feeling.
I was hearing voices and whispers in the hall.
I was really bothered, so much so that I had a mattress by the front door, and I slept three feet from the front door the first three days.
My roommates have mentioned seeing a man in the hallway or hearing footsteps, and I've had people end up leaving or being really frightened and freaked out.
I'm very worried about the people that are living here.
I had no idea what I was getting into.
Let me show you around.
This is the grand dining hall of the Midway Hotel there's a lot of history that took place in this building, back in the day miners would spend 14 hours underground, get right off the train, step from work right into here.
We found all these old registry books from This says 1919.
It looks like these were the miners that stayed here.
Yeah.
That's true.
All right.
Even though the building is now Blair's home, the former hotel had a rich history with the local mining industry, so that's definitely something we'll have to look into further.
So this is the basement.
I was told by a historian in the area that he'd seen maps of coal mines.
There's about 14 miles of tunnels beneath this area.
Never actually found out too much about 'em? We didn't find them, but I think there's a lot of things on tap still down here.
Okay.
We did find some trunks and furniture down here, and this is one of them.
Really kind of creepy like a treasure chest.
Do you know who it belonged to? I have no idea.
Maybe left behind? We don't know what the contents of that trunk were, but personal belongings can be imprinted with the energy and emotions of their owners.
So this is the hotel kitchen.
Like a month ago, I'm here alone with my girlfriend, I'm standing right here, and this chair, it shot out and then it shot over to the side.
It sounds crazy, but this one I did witness.
That's what I call poltergeist activity, and an item will either be thrown, broken, or pushed around just like what you're describing.
These photos, in 1911, on the 4th of July, this woman here, Martha, was watching fireworks on our front porch.
One of the rockets exploded in the pipe, and a piece of iron shot over everyone's head, sliced Martha's throat.
Took her 10 minutes to die.
It was a pretty shocking story.
Anything ever happen on July 4th? We've had quite a few people say that they see a woman in the window, but nothing related to the date, though.
So perhaps the creepiest room in the building is this one.
There have been a lot of artists that have stayed here.
And at one point, there was a painter moved in, and all he painted was these massive murals.
Very dark material.
He ran out of the building one night, thinking he was hearing sounds and whispers, and burned just about all of his paintings.
I mean these are part of the walls, so he didn't take them with him, but anything that he could remove, he destroyed them.
So years and years and years of work, and he just burned it all? - Yeah.
- Is anybody even staying here? No, no, the room just remains in this condition.
Although artwork can hold onto the energy of its creator, just because a painting depicts something dark and scary doesn't mean it's connected to something paranormal.
So this back room was also kind of a gallery, and one night, I was watching a movie with my girlfriend.
We kept hearing whispering.
We were just laying here, and we were just talking, and I start to hear a growl.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and I left.
It scared you.
It really did.
Also, I started to see all these, like, twinkling lights on the ceiling, and all of a sudden, the lights formed the outline Of a man.
There was no other light source in the room? There was no other light source.
- That could have reflected this light? - No.
Well, Blair, I can understand your concern about people staying in here.
So what I'm gonna do is definitely get the team in here, research it, and let's see what we can find out for you, buddy, okay? This building has some very strange and creepy areas.
The atmosphere here alone may be causing guests to think that they're experiencing something paranormal.
So we're gonna have to look closely and see if we can logically explain some of the phenomena.
All right, guys, let's grab the equipment, and let's head on in, okay? I'm sending Aimee and Jason to see what they can dig up on the history of the area, while the rest of the team does our baseline sweep.
All right, guess we'll start in here, and, uh, we'll make our way around and down.
Okay.
Chris and I are gonna start by taking some electromagnetic field readings.
An average reading for a non-haunted location is one to two.
We're looking for any abnormal spikes that can't be easily explained.
I'm really curious about this chair.
Ooh.
I'm getting readings off of it.
Measure that one.
Yeah, see, I'm getting a - Two and a half, three.
- I'm getting a zero.
All right, well, its proximity to the refrigerator's definitely causing some cast-off readings.
Because we're in the kitchen and there's so many appliances in here, I'm gonna attribute the high readings on the chair to that.
Switch this around.
Take that, put that there.
And No.
I mean, unless there's something in the basement that was popping up through and making this move, I'm at a loss.
As far as it physically moving? We're gonna have to look into that during the nighttime investigation.
- Check it out.
- All right.
Let's try over here.
Do an EVP session over here.
Sudden or violent death can sometimes result in lingering spirit energy.
So if a young girl was killed violently up on that balcony, I'm hoping we're gonna be able to establish some kind of contact.
Martha, are you here with us? Martha, do you feel that it was unfair that you died at such a young age? Do you feel very protective of this place? Play that back.
Let's see if there's anything.
Nothing.
This is creepy.
What's that old-looking thing? This is that trunk.
Getting any readings? No.
Supposedly, this is where the tunnels are to the mine shafts.
- Do you think this could be one? - Yeah, what is that? - It's a stud.
- Get some readings.
Yeah, I'm getting a signal all of a sudden, actually.
This is unusual.
We're getting some high EMF readings down here in the basement.
Now, unlike the kitchen, there's no major appliances nearby, so I can't explain this right now.
All right, well, maybe we should do an EVP session here.
Okay.
What's your name? Did you stay at the hotel? Did you die down here? - Let's give it a listen.
- Yeah, let's do it.
What's your name? Did you stay at the hotel? Did you die down here? I don't remember hearing that whistle when I said that.
- No, what is that? - It's probably just a train.
As we're playing back the recording, I seem to hear a whistle in the background.
.
There's train tracks in front of the place, so it's probably just something in the distance.
I didn't really hear much.
No voices at least.
- Let's check these paintings out in here.
- Okay.
Let's see.
I got nothing.
Let's move in this room.
The more of 'em in here.
Wow.
That's very different.
Yeah, boom, boom.
- Look at this.
- Boom.
I have a spike right over this wall.
2.
1, 4.
9, 5.
0.
This is outrageous.
Wow, look at this.
Why am I getting mine all the way across? - You see that? - Whoa, holy cow.
Mine is going crazy.
- Did you just see that? - Look at this.
5.
0.
Mine is going crazy.
Jess and I were on the second floor.
We were getting high readings where a lot of those creepy paintings are.
Here's something that's a very good test to always do, Jess.
Let's walk on the opposite side of this wall.
I know to leave no stone unturned.
There's a wire right here.
- Is that what you're picking up on? - I am getting a reading from the wire.
Go try it now.
I'm gonna lift the wire out of the way.
Boom.
Drops immediately.
Even though we didn't get a lot of readings off of our baseline sweep, there's still a lot to look into here, so we'll just have to dig in deeper tomorrow night.
This the place? Aimee and I are headed to the Coal Heritage Center to meet with the Executive Director, Chris Barkley, and we're hoping that he's gonna give us some information about the coal mining industry in the town and how it connects with The Grand Midway Hotel.
We understand this town was founded by a Coal Mining Company? That's right.
Berwind-White founded the town in 1897.
We had 13 mines here in the surrounding area.
Chris, it's my understanding that The Grand Midway actually housed many of these miners.
Can you tell us about that? The Grand Midway was one of our first hotels in town.
It actually was used as a boarding house for a lot of the miners that came to work in the mines.
It wasn't unusual to have in a room 10 to 12 guys sleeping.
About how many miners passed away in the mines, do you know? Around 430 people Miners killed.
Especially in the 1900s, you know, you didn't have the safety procedures.
You didn't have the good equipment, the breathing apparatuses available.
Typically, the mines would have an air horn or some kind of an electric horn that they would blow if there was a death or an accident so everybody would congregate to the main part of the town and get news.
Wow, that had to actually be really nerve-racking for the families.
It was a hard way to make a living.
We were able to confirm that there were over 400 recorded deaths.
And safety was a real issue.
The town was all miners and family, and they would blow a horn.
And that kind of told the other people in the town there's an emergency, something's gone wrong.
Actually, guys, now that you've said that, last night during our EVP session, we heard pretty much what sounded like a whistle.
Yeah, sounded like it.
At first, we thought it was like a train.
We didn't flag it because we had no idea that that was something we're supposed to be listening for.
Did you stay at the hotel? .
- Did you hear that? - Yeah.
There were tunnels, there were mines all underneath here.
Okay, here's what I want to do for tonight.
I'm having Jason monitor the cameras on the first floor.
Jess and I will try an EVP session on the second floor, and Chris and Brian will look for any evidence of mining tunnels in the basement.
You ready? Let's get the equipment and let's rock 'n' roll.
All right, J.
, got the nine cameras set up, starting on the first floor.
We've got a camera here in the kitchen, the back stairway, two in the basement, the second floor.
Awesome.
All right, Chris.
Looks like all the IR cameras are in place.
Let's get into the night sweep.
Awesome.
Got that G-force Pod, Chris? Blair had reported that the chair in the kitchen moved on its own, so, tonight, we're gonna do a little experiment with a G-force Pod.
The device measures any kind of movement upon it.
In an X, Y, or Z axis.
X, Y, and up and down is Z.
So anything, you know, enacts upon the device or the chair, - it will pick up on it.
- Wow.
- All right, J.
- I'm here.
If this moves or lights up or anything, let us know.
You got a clear view of it? - Yes.
- Cool.
Let's try some EVPs.
Did you die in this building? Were you a coal miner? I want you to use the thermal camera to aim at the walls and the floor.
So my hunch is that if there's any passageways, it should be a different temperature because air will be hitting it from the other side.
Last night, we kind of got eyes on different spots in the basement.
Tonight, we're bringing in several tools The metal detector, the thermal camera, and, of course, some digging tools.
If there's a trap door, a metal door, something that goes down, that's what I'm using the metal detector to try and find.
It's probably a nail, a screw.
Let's spread out to the rest of the basement.
Did you come in here with an item? Is the item in a different part of the building? - Did you hear the whistle? - Yeah.
Play that back.
Is the item in a different part of the building? .
Holy cow.
That's the same frikkin' whistle they got downstairs.
Two different nights, two different recorders, different people, and we're getting the same sound? I want to dig a little deeper into that.
That's as clear as can be.
How's it going down there, Bri? Tool.
Chain.
I'm not getting much.
There's the hole.
That's where we got those readings earlier.
Okay.
See what happens when I stick it back through.
Bingo.
Look at all these big rocks.
Hold on, hold on a second.
I do see a piece of metal.
- Do you really find something? - Yeah.
Take a look at this.
What is it? What the hell is this? Take a look at this.
What is it? Dude, it's soakin' wet.
What the hell is this? Now, I'm pulling this item out of the mud, and to be honest, I have no idea what it is.
And it's not like anything else down here that the metal detector picked up.
It wasn't a screw, it wasn't a little piece of debris.
This was definitely something.
Hang on a second.
One thing I gotta check.
I'm getting a reading off of it.
That's weird.
What the hell is this? Hey, Dad, we found something down in the basement.
Okay.
Meet you up in the dining room area.
You guys, this is what we found.
I have no idea what it is.
Wow.
Pulled out the EMF detector, and it was giving off a faint reading.
I got a good idea what it is.
It's a headlamp, and something coal miners would actually wear.
I definitely wanna get this to somebody so they can tell me a little bit more about it.
We got something even crazier.
Listen to this.
Is the item in a different part of the building? .
Mmm.
Is that the same thing that you guys got? Like a short horn.
- Yeah.
- Sounds very similar, guys.
We know from historical records that mining was very dangerous.
Lot of people got killed.
Now, how is all this actually tying in with this headlamp? Right at this point in time, I don't know.
But I need to get to an expert and see what he can tell me about this.
All right, let's get packed up and let's head out.
I'm going to meet with Dale.
He's an auctioneer, and he's very familiar with the coal mining industry.
I'm hoping he can give me some good information about this headlamp.
Well, what you have here is an Autolite brand.
It's a miner's lamp.
In fact, I have a miner's helmet here that would have been typical, - would have mounted on his helmet - Mm-hmm.
For when he was gonna go underground and start digging some coal.
But um, this Patented around 1900.
And it burned fuel, okay? One of the drawbacks to going as an underground miner was that you were gonna have to deal with methane gas.
Mm-hmm.
Because it burned an open flame, it had a tendency to explode.
Would you actually say, you know, these things would be involved with deaths? Oh, miners could have been killed.
They dug into a seam and, you know, immediately, if methane gas was present, and that open flame would have ignited that methane gas.
But later, in the 30s and 40s, they converted into a much safer version of this, which was battery operated.
All right.
Could this have been involved with a tragedy? We never gonna have a clear-cut answer, but I can't wait to get back with Blair and share this information.
- Well, buddy, it's good to see you again.
- It's great to have you here.
I have quite a bit of things to talk to you about.
We came in, basically did our baseline sweep.
One of the key things that Brian and Chris were trying was to recreate the chair with the pulling out and sliding.
We couldn't get anything to happen, so that remains unexplained.
Now, Chris and Brian were downstairs in the basement area.
They got a crazy thing It was like a whistle that came out as an EVP.
And I wanna play that for you now.
Okay.
Did you stay at the hotel? .
Can you hear that? So Jesslyn and I were up on the second floor.
We were doing an EVP session in there, and then we get a whistle again.
So two different nights, we got this whistle sound.
- Upstairs this time.
- Yeah.
You know, I don't know if you're familiar with this or not, but a lot of times when there was a tragedy, a death, anything would happen in the coal mines, they would blow a whistle in the center of town.
Didn't know that.
So as the boys were down in the basement, they went over into one area, and they were digging around, well, they had actually pulled out an item that I'd like to show you.
It's what they call a coal miner's light, and it was made in 1900.
And they would put it on the front of their cap there.
Now, the only way they would be able to light them was fill 'em with fuel, then actually light the wick here, and that would light their way.
So you stop and think about that, how dangerous that was.
Methane gas was very prevalent.
A lot of these guys died in these places.
Was this from a tragedy, you know? Was it one of the coal miners ended up dying down there? I mean, we're never gonna be 100% sure, but I think we were led to actually get this thing exposed.
So at this point in time, my recommendation would definitely be to remove this from here.
But I need to know what you would like to do.
Well If spirit communication's happening I'd say - Take it away.
- Okay throughout history the mining industry has suffered many accidents and tragedies.
But by removing the headlamp I'm hoping that whatever restless spirit was haunting Blair's home can finally find peace.