by Rich Newman
Since we wanted to avoid going to any local cemetery (nobody dies in a cemetery and who would want to haunt one?), Mike, Brandon, and I researched haunted places in and around southeast Missouri for some time before deciding to make Devil’s Backbone Park our first investigation. And in retrospect it seemed a perfect choice.
We had several reasons for choosing this particular location: it was reasonably close by in southwest Illinois, it had a great reputation for having regular paranormal activity, and information about the haunting and the site was readily available on the internet (though the actual history of the area was rather scarce).
Also, it appeared that the haunted area in question was relatively small, which was important. Since we only had a limited amount of gear between the three of us (buying all that electronic equipment is expensive!), we wanted to investigate a place small enough for us to cover with our handful of audio and video recorders. We also wanted a place that three investigators could manage with ease—possibly working well into the night. Devil’s Backbone was a perfect fit.
Once we decided on this location, the three of us gathered to discuss how we would approach the case. Logistically, it would pose no real challenge. It was a mere two hours from Cape Girardeau, Missouri (our home base), to Grand Tower, Illinois, and it was a public place, so we would not need to get any special permission from anyone to visit. The only issue I could imagine springing up involved the hours of operation.
Most state and national parks close relatively early and we wanted nighttime to investigate so we could use our nifty new night-vision-capable camcorders. If the park closed at sunset, like many do, we would only get a limited time in the dark there before having to leave. Unfortunately, the park’s website did not tell the hours of operation. But I did notice that they had camping.
My thoughts were that, worst-case scenario, we might have to purchase a campsite (even though we would not be camping that night) so that we could stay a few extra hours in the park after dark. This would also give use the option of an all-night investigation. We were pumped up and ready for our first case, so we would most likely be fueled up on adrenaline all night anyway! We just hoped that our limited amount of electronic equipment could handle that much data.
Next, we talked about the actual case. Devil’s Backbone was known throughout southern Illinois as a haunted place, so finding details about the ghost(s) was no challenge. The problem was that most of the information from the websites all said the same couple of things! Most of the tales seemed to be of two varieties.
The most common story told about the old rocky ridge overlooking the Mississippi River concerns the ghost of a young girl. During its heyday, Devil’s Backbone was known for its iron furnaces and workers would flock there from all over the country for meager pay and dangerous work. The girl was the daughter of the foundry boss who lived in a small stone house in the vicinity of the furnaces.
It’s said that this girl fell in love with a migrant worker, and that after her father found out about the crush, the worker was persuaded to quit his job and to move away from the area. As a result, the girl’s heart was broken and she pined away the remainder of her days until she died—either from grief or from an unspecified natural cause.
Today, the ruins of the old foundry house can still be found in the wooded area just outside the campground (though some say it is nothing of the sort, but just a random abode that someone lived in sometime over the years). It is this spot that’s said to be visited by the ghost of the young girl. She is usually seen in and around the ruins of the house and residents/visitors have reported hearing her screams of anguish in the night.
The second story concerning spirits at Devil’s Backbone involves the generally sinister reputation the area had for many years. Besides the fact that the cliffs were often dangerous to those traveling along the river, the location was typically used by river pirates to swoop down on unsuspecting people. Because of this, the area is said to have had a large quantity of murders, robberies, assaults, and crimes in general. Many believe that the misty spirits that are often seen wandering the cliffs are the souls of these poor victims.
Either way, we knew exactly where we needed to go—the top of the cliffs and the area around the foundry house ruins. On paper, it seemed that this would be a simple and straightforward case—but, of course, nothing is ever simple and straightforward!
After we had packed all of our gear and gotten on the road, we learned our first lesson concerning investigating an outdoor location: always check the weather. As we crossed the Mississippi River, clouds were already gathering in the sky and it was fast become apparent that we were in for
a large storm that evening. Suddenly we no longer needed a campsite; our time at the location would clearly be limited.
Once we arrived at the park, we managed to spot the landmarks that would lead us to the infamous cliff and foundry house, so we quickly parked, grabbed our gear, and trudged through the brush and trees to the reputedly haunted area. This brings us to lesson learned number two: it was a much harder and longer trek than we imagined. We should have given ourselves more time and left Missouri earlier.
With barely a smear of daylight remaining in the sky—partially because it was getting late, partially because of the incoming storm—we eventually located the ruins and set up some audio and video recorders. I made a mental note to allow more time for travel in the future. (What if there had been a client anxiously awaiting us? We would have appeared unprofessional by cutting it so close.)
After our surveillance of the ruins was in place, we then slowly circled the cliff tops to take some photographs and to do some EVP work. Finally, we were starting to feel like real ghost hunters! But this feeling of elation would be short-lived. We were a whopping forty-five minutes into the investigation when a massive bolt of lightning came crashing out of the sky! So, frustrated and fearing for our lives, we made a mad dash to grab all of our gear before the rain hit and destroyed all of our electronic gear.
Once all of our equipment was gathered, we sprinted through the first torrents of cold rain to our nice, warm vehicle and quickly loaded up. Moments later, we were back on the road. With a few laughs and some jokes about Murphy’s Law, we assessed our first “investigation” as we drove back to Missouri.
On the positive side, we had gathered forty-five minutes of audio and video footage, taken approximately a hundred digital photos, and had learned a couple of valuable lessons. On the negative side, we had only gathered about forty-five minutes of audio and video footage and our investigation was possibly the shortest ever conducted by a formal paranormal team.
Many people would have been frustrated by all of this—and may have even been tempted to ditch the entire case. But we still treated the footage we had gathered as something to be seriously scrutinized—besides, we needed to practice reviewing audio and video footage anyway. Much to our surprise, we were rewarded with a couple of interesting pieces of evidence.
Though the audio and video recorders had not been running for very long, both devices located at the foundry ruins contained some interesting tidbits. The audio recorder captured a couple instances of what sounded like a female screaming! Since we were always in the immediate area and had not heard any such sounds for ourselves, this was an interesting find. It also matched up with the tales that are told about the old ruins.
In addition, the camcorder that was set a mere two feet from the audio recorder also captured something. For a brief second, a strange blob of visible light appeared in the frame of the video and, just as quickly, disappeared. It was clearly not one of our flashlights (these appeared quite differently on video and can be seen moving through the trees in the background) and we had seen no other lights that evening. Also, the sounds of the female screams were present on the camcorder, too, which indicated to us that these were probably audible sounds (perhaps even a disembodied voice) and not an EVP.
&n
bsp; Obviously, we were all elated that our first “case” had gone so well. Despite being in the location for less than an hour, we had walked away with our first paranormal evidence. And this taught us perhaps the most important lesson learned yet: always take an investigation seriously and use your time wisely. Because we had still done things by the book, despite having limited access to the park, even less daylight, and inclement weather, we had managed to get some great evidence to corroborate the stories told locally about Devil’s Backbone.
If there had been a client involved with this case, we were sure that he/she would have been pleased, but unlike the Martin case, there was no family in need. Much like with Devil’s Backbone, nothing could be taken for granted with the Martin case. It would be easy to write off some of the eccentricities of the family and to dismiss many of the claims concerning the Mississippi case—but this would be a huge mistake.
As I learned at Devil’s Backbone, reserving judgment about a case until after the review is a must, and I would have to make sure to scour every second of data I had captured at the home.
The Old Talbott Tavern
Though the rumbling in the master bedroom of the Martin trailer had startled me—and even caused me to approach my investigation there more seriously—past personal experiences have taught me to be prepared for almost anything when venturing into a haunted site. And I knew from previous cases that sounds in a location were often the least of my concerns. Just take the case of Talbott Tavern for instance …
Dating back to 1779, the Old Talbott Tavern in Bardstown, Kentucky, seemed a great place to soak up some history and to get in a quality ghost hunt. We had managed to get a handful of investigations under our belt at this point (including some indoor locations, thank goodness), but we felt like we were ready to tackle a place that experienced a lot of paranormal activity. And so we found Talbott Tavern.
Despite the fact that Talbott Tavern is extremely open about their haunting (there are links to paranormal groups who visit the place right on their website), I still thought it best to obtain permission to visit and ghost hunt there—as well as to write about our experiences there on our brand-new website. The innkeeper I spoke to was extremely nice and helpful, giving us suggestions as to which rooms had the most activity and where the hot spots were.
But he also warned us that there would be non-ghost hunting guests staying in the tavern, too, so we would have to respect their privacy. You see, in addition to having a killer dining room and on-site lounge (the Bourbon Bar), the Old Talbott Tavern has bed-and-breakfast style rooms for rent—so we would actually be staying overnight during our investigation. And thanks to the innkeeper’s suggestions, Mike and I would be staying in one of their most active rooms: the General’s Quarters Room.
Other hot spots pointed out for us included an upstairs ballroom/common area called the Concord Room, which is said to have a female spirit that’s often seen near the chandelier and the area around the tavern’s main stairs where witnesses claim to have seen and heard things associated with a spirit or ghost.
A few other B&B rooms in the tavern have stories about them, too, but they would be occupied by other guests and thereby off-limits to us. Of these rooms, the one that I wished we could visit the most was a room that infamous gunslinger Jesse James stayed in while visiting.
According to legend, he had been sleeping in this room but woke when he realized there was a man standing at the foot of his bed. Without hesitation, he drew his firearm and shot at the intruder (most likely thinking him a lawman). Much to his amazement, the intruder then vanished right before his eyes! So it seems that Jesse James is, most likely, the first person to have ever seen a ghost in Talbott Tavern—and the bullet holes from his encounter are still present today!
After speaking to the innkeeper and working out the details of our visit with Mike (unfortunately, Brandon would have to miss out on this one), we were soon on our way to Bardstown, Kentucky.
Once we arrived and had checked into our room, we decided to take a trip around the tavern to get acclimated as well as to identify all the places the innkeeper had spoken about. During this walk, we quickly found out that we would not be investigating that night until the wee hours; the Bourbon Bar was in full swing with a band playing and the volume was loud enough that any audio or video recorders that we ran would be useless. The band performance was a detail we had not learned from the innkeeper.
We knew there was a bar on the site—and that it was a Saturday night that we were visiting—but we had neglected to see if there was live music. On a positive note, the bar did close at 1 a.m., so we would have the remainder of the night to do our investigation, so all was (for the most part) okay.
Shortly before the bar closed that night, the band stopped playing. At that point, we were able to go ahead and station some audio recorders in our room and in the Concord Room—as well as take some base readings with our EMF detectors and digital thermometers. All seemed perfectly normal until the tavern cleared completely out and the night set in. With the silence came the activity …
We were working in the Concord Room, taking readings around the chandelier and doing some EVP work, when two significant things happened in the space of ten minutes. According to locals, the reason a spirit is often seen around the chandelier is because a woman actually hanged herself from there! I had just asked an EVP question about this very legend when we heard/saw a door handle jiggle, then turn, and then the entire door swinging wide open.
This was done so matter-of-factly that neither of us thought it was paranormal until we saw there was nobody on the other side of the door. We thought that, perhaps, we had gotten too loud and disturbed a guest and that person was coming to let us know. Or that it was something else along those lines. But nobody was at the door, in the hall, or anywhere in the vicinity for that matter!
We were just digesting this event when I was suddenly blasted with the biggest, strongest cold spot that I (to this day) have ever felt. Have you ever gone into your house on a summer day and opened up your refrigerator’s freezer to cool off? You know that blast of cold air that hits you when you open the freezer door? Multiply that times three and you will have some idea of what hit me.
I had just closed the hallway door that had opened and sat down in a chair when the cold spot swept across my entire back. I immediately stood and told Mike what had happened. Moving as quickly as possible, we took a temperature reading of the area and found that there was a 28-degree drop—and this was after a few moments of dissipating. Activity was clearly ramping up in the Old Talbott Tavern!
Now that we had the attention of whatever (or whoever) was with us in the B&B, we decided to do a Q&A with an EMF detector. The way this works is that we hold out the detector, which should have a flat reading, and then we ask a yes/no question. If any entity is present, and wants to answer “yes,” it simply has to move toward the detector to make it light up (most investigators believe that spirits give off electromagnetic fields and, as a result, their presence will trigger an EMF detector).
After just a few questions, it was quite obvious that we were not alone. The EMF detector would go from 0 mG (milligauss) to 15 mG in the blink of an eye—but, stranger than that, the hair on my arm would actually stand up when the detector went off! It was almost like an electric charge was in the air. With several successful yes answers under our belt, I decided to try something else. Apparently I was feeling quite bold that evening.
With a grin, I asked if “anyone present” could come over and actually touch my hand. Much to my alarm, it did. Twice. The first time, the EMF detector slowly started to beep—then it got steadily faster until it lit completely up and I felt a heavy pressure actually slap against the back of my hand!
Even though I had just asked for this very thing to happen, I was not ready for it. I immediately jerked my hand away and the detector went completely flat. After a few moments of catching my
breath, I steeled my will and tried again. I apologized and asked to be touched again. And it happened again. This time I tried to keep my hand in place, but it was impossible. As soon as there was contact, I jerked my hand back again. It was almost like an involuntary reaction.
I apologized, and we went back to doing more EVP work. Once we were finished with the Concord Room, it was almost 5 a.m., so we told the room that we were retiring to our quarters for the night, but anyone there was welcome to join us. Much to our surprise, we would not be retiring alone …
After settling into our beds for the night (the General’s Quarters has two twin beds, thankfully), Mike and I were chatting across the room to each other. We had placed several audio recorders in the bedroom for the night and we had an EMF detector set up on a small nightstand between the two beds. This would serve as an alarm of sorts; if any entity was present, and it approached the beds, theoretically the detector would start beeping and lighting up.
Joking, I asked Mike, “If that thing starts beeping in the night, is it going to wake you up?” He laughed, saying, “Oh, hell yeah. You’ll probably have to do a double take to find me because I’ll probably be hanging from the canopy.” He was referring to the lace cloth that draped the tops of the canopy beds.
I laughed, but he suddenly got quiet and said, “I just felt a cool breeze that went across my face!” I got up and took the EMF detector over to the bed. Nothing. We laughed again and quickly went back to bed—and it wasn’t long before we were asleep.
Interestingly, the audio from the room would reveal why Mike felt that cool breeze … When I listened to our conversation about the EMF detector a couple days later, there was a third voice in the room with us! Right after Mike said I’d have to do a double take to find him, a strange male voice answered with a quick guttural laugh! Then you hear Mike say he felt the cold breeze.
