GAC at Nopeming Sanitorium

I watched another Ghost Adventures episode, this time about the abandoned TB sanatorium. However, before I even start typing about this episode, can I just say what a ripoff the new (new to me) opening is of American Horror Story? I miss the old opening . . . AND Nick.

Okay, enough bitching.

This episode from Season 10 opens in the grey, misty autumnal woods of Duluth, Michigan where the GAC team are traveling to an abandoned TB hospital called Nopeming, which is built on Chippewa Indian land. One of my favorite things about the episode is the elderly couple -- Margaret and Mike -- who once worked at Nopeming. In the '60s, Mike worked in the boiler room and also wheeled bodies to the morgue. He said he was worried about dead bodies breathing some "TBs" in his face. He also mentioned he was called in by "Doc" to help cut ribs in order to "pull a lung". What I don't understand is why they'd want to "pull a lung"? Wouldn't that kill a person?

The team also brought in a guy who was arrested (and grounded by his parents) for trespassing at Nopeming and had him tell everyone at home why trespassing is a bad idea (12:29 in the video below). It was like a PSA, but as soon as he was done telling us why we shouldn't push past "no trespassing" signs, Zak wanted to hear about what he had witnessed while visiting. Apparently he saw a dark figure on one of the ledges.

The creepiest feature of Nopeming is its "death tunnel", which was used to wheel corpses to the incinerator. The tunnel is now blocked off by furniture the management have wedged in both ends in order to deter trespassers from entering. The guys bust their butts trying to pull out a couch as Zak watches and insists he would "assist the boys in moving the couch, but someone has to operate the camera." Uh huh. Once they get inside, they realize the structure of the tunnel is collapsing, so not everyone goes in. Billy Tulley volunteers to be the one to walk through. When he's halfway in, the light on his camera goes out, but not before his it catches a black shadow figure.

The episode has some good light anomalies, doors slamming on their own, and EVPs. At one point Zak and Billy are touched by unseen hands. However, one of the most satisfying moments is when Zak freaks out, but later finds out he was ensnared by wires hanging from the ceiling and not being abducted by ghosts. Zak eats a piece of humble pie and allows us to see the whole thing (35:29 in the video below). It goes without saying that the whole debacle was DEBUNKED. On a side note,  I noticed Zak is wearing his gas mask now, which is probably better for his lungs.

Nopeming has apparently never been officially investigated before. Lucky for us, GAC decided to pay it a visit.

The Odessa Catacombs

My friend sent me a link to this place on Atlas Obscura. Apparently Odessa has a large system of tunnels underneath the city, which dates back to the 1600s. During World War II, Ukrainian rebels hid from the Nazis in the catacombs, some of them staying for the duration of the entire war.

Nowadays, people go exploring in the tunnels and some never come back. In 2005, a group of teenagers decided to ring in the new year in the catacombs. One girl, Masha, got separated from her group of friends and never made it out. Her body wasn't found until two years later.

Today, a small area of the tunnels remains open to the public as a museum. However, if that doesn't scratch your itch to experience the place, you can hire a guide to bring you further in. I would bring lots of batteries for your flashlight and leave a trail of bread crumbs behind. . .

Can't Get Enough of Those Abandoned Hospitals

I found this very fantastically eerie video on an urban exploration website called The Fifi Organization. This video, titled Abandoned Hospitals of the Eastern U.S. contains creepy audio from the cassettes the urban explorers found in the hospitals. Very Session 9.

Opacity: For the Urban Explorer in You

My sister recently sent me this link. It's a site called Opacity, devoted to urban ruins in the Northeast. Here's what they write about themselves:

This site is dedicated to documenting various abandoned places through both text and photographs; recording their transformations through time before they are demolished. The abundance of abandoned asylums and psychiatric hospitals in the New England area create the bulk of the locations here; these beautiful state funded structures are vast and complex, giving insight to both the humanity and mistreatment towards the mentally ill over the past two centuries.

They include Byberry (Philadelphia State Hospital) on the site, which my sister was always interested in. Unfortunately before she could see it, it was demolished.

Byberry

The site also includes Norwich State Hospital in CT, which I've been to. Very creepy. At the time I had a camera that generated prints (remember those?) instead of a digital camera. I wish I could find those pictures because there were some great shots.

 Norwich

99 Rooms

I just stumbledupon one of the coolest, creepiest websites I may have ever seen. It's an interactive/urban exploration/art project/game called 99rooms. I won't ruin anything for you. Just go over there now!

Secret Histories Waiting to be Read

There's a novel titled Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs that was published earlier this year. It sounds intriguing, full of spooky stories and an abandoned building.

To promote his book, Riggs made a trailer for the book. The trailer is almost a mini-documentary about his search, along with a Dutch urban exploration photographer, in Belgium for the building in his book. Along the way, he finds lots of abandonment - a rotting forest, a forgotten train station, a long-neglected and incredibly gorgeous house. The short film has spectacular shots that convey exactly why we love urban decay. Check out the You Tube video.

I'm Baaaack

It's that time of year when Halloween starts creeping up in craft stores and in my imagination. What better way to kick off the haunting season than with a recent news story about an abandoned house outside Philadelphia that has wild animals moving in?

A Kinder, Gentler GAC

Has anyone noticed how much Zak Bagans has toned down his act when confronting the other side?  Instead of a spray-tanned bit bull, he's now an orange pussy cat. The guys, who were hilarious to begin with, seem to have clearly caught on to the fact that they are entertainers.  I think they may take their show on the road as some sort of ghost busting, comedy team.

This past episode of Ghost Adventures that took place in Newcastle, PA at Hill View Manor (a former retirement home where hundreds of people died), was a perfect example of what I'm talking about. It starts with Zak sporting a pair of shades, petting a darling, sandy-colored puppy in a field outside the building.

Zak and the cute owner of the place, named Candy (she had eyebrows that would make Divine jealous), flirted it up as she gave him a tour of the place. She said she had her butt pinched by a ghost and kind of liked it. Meanwhile, Aaron tripped over a pipe repeatedly, much to the mockery of Zak. Zak's expression as Aaron trips a second time was one of pure douche-baggery.

Candy O, those eyebrows!

When they got down to the basement, Zak exclaimed that it made him want to curl up with a sleeping bag and "listen to some Kenny G."  Really? Not Nine Inch Nails or Ministry, Zak?

We also got to see Zak play piano on an out-of-tune piano. And they had fun with a shot of a wheel chair flying down a staircase repeatedly, which channeled The Changeling.

My favorite line of the episode? When they got to a place in the building where an angry lunch lady worked, Aaron backed it up and said, "Now I'm sitting on the mashed potatoes."

Another funny Aaronism occurred when he asked if the spirit of Jim liked the food in the cafeteria: "Did you guys ever have anything that blew your mind that you loved so much? Did you like the spaghetti and meatballs she made? I heard it's pretty gooood."

When they get to the roof where two suicides took place, Zak claimed they weren't up there to "get a sun tan." No tan needed, Zak. I promise.

Around the building sits a big golf course, built over human remains. This can mean only one thing: The Ghost Adventures Invitational golf game!  All the guys sported polo shirts. Zak wore an orange one that matched his face. They raced around in golf carts and hit balls all over the place, even making fun of themselves when Zak debunked that Nick hit a ball 450 yards by using their high-definition cameras.

Nick's mysterious 450-yard-hit

My favorite part of the whole golf diversion was the droopy caddy who stood off to the side and held the scores like he'd rather be sucking on a tail pipe.  Zak won the game. Big surprise there. Later, Aaron said, "Just to let you know, I lost on purpose just so Zak looked good on film. That's what I do." This is why we love you, Aaron.

During their lock down, there were a lot of whispery EVPs I didn't really get. The guys used their spirit box, which didn't reveal anything I thought that impressive, despite the fact that Nick and Zak were losing it over stringing some sentences together that was supposed to mean something about something. Whatever. Yawn.
The one EVP that really creeped me out was the one I can't remember, of course. It was clear as day and very human-sounding.

There was footage of an orb in a hallway that looked credible. We also got lots of shots of Zak's meaty forearms with goosebumps and hair standing on end.

When Zak believed he communicated with a guy named Jim, he addressed him in a much different way than the old, pit bull Zak would have. Instead of saying, "Hey Jim, you motherfucker, come out and git us!" he said:

"Sir, I think you talked to me and emotionally that kind of hit me a little bit. . . I want to say thank you for communicating with us. I guess it's just the interaction."

Awwww Zak, you big pussy.

Later, he and Nick get a ghost speaking to them in their spirit box that Zak called "a smart ass." Payback is a bitch, isn't it, Zak?
*smooch*

A Mental Hospital and a Big, Pink Boat! Ghost Adventures in Rolling Hills Asylum

Ahhhh, Ghost Adventures. On Friday night's episode, the guys went to Rolling Hills Asylum in Bethany, NY, which once housed orphans, homeless mothers and their children, and the criminally insane. Such a messed-up mix, of course, leads to a vast buffet of paranormal energy.

One of the orphans was Roy - a man who suffered from giantism. Tragically, his father dropped him off one day at Rolling Hills when Roy was 12 and never came back for him. Roy spent fifty years in the place and eventually died there. When GAC did their lock down, they captured two very convincing photographs of a giant figure.

Also present? An evil nurse named Emmy, who dabbled in the black arts. Ooooo, you can imagine the creepy EVPs the guys captured. Some were a little hard to decipher, but some were so clear they made me jumpy, especially a scream heard by Nick while he was alone in Nurse Emmy's former room.

In another memorable part of the episode, Aaron got a face full of spider web, which later turned out may have been little slaps around his face. Aaron also caught a slamming, metal door on camera.

I was watching the episode late at night alone and was sure I saw a white flash of light appear to the left of my face. Oh, how I love the creeps of the GAC!

Of course, the show wouldn't be complete without the guys' entertaining side excursions. This time? River rafting near Niagara Falls in a "big, pink boat."

Dude, who's scared of a big, pink boat??

Zak says: "Does the boat match my lip gloss?"

**On a side note, check out this guy's blog post. He talks about filming with GAC and has some incredible behind-the-scenes photos of taping the Rolling Hills episode.

PennHurst to Open "Asylum Haunted House"

PennHurst State School and Hospital, a former institution for the mentally disabled, is now a "haunted house", causing an uproar among advocates for those who were once patients there.

Located in Spring City, PA, the new entertainment site was once home to over a thousand people who were abused and neglected. Despite the hospital's exploitation, those running the new business are employing 95 people and hoping to attract thousands of visitors.

I'm not sure I would want to visit the place as a "haunted house", but I would definitely like to see it as a historical place. Why are there no daytime tours? Perhaps they could open the building as a museum of sorts and collect money that way as well.

Ghost Adventures did a memorable show on PennHurst last season. See a clip from the show here.

You can read the article about the controversy here. Also, some amazing urban exploration photos of the place from 2008 can be found here.

Thanks to my sister, Lynn, who sent me the info on this place!

Zak Bagans at PennHurst

ABANDONED BUILDING OF THE WEEK: EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY

I love urban exploration and one of my favorite decrepit places to visit is Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. I'm lucky enough to visit often since my sister lives in the city of brotherly love.


Recently, I experienced ESP's Terror Behind the Walls. What a good time! The absolute best "haunted house" I've ever visited. Zombie cell mates, deranged doctors, and insane prison guards chased me through the dark, fog-filled halls while I screamed my head off.

Zombies, and cell mates, and prison guards, OH MY!!

That aside, the best part of ESP is going during the day, equipped with a camera. It is a place that captures the imagination. Luckily Easter State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc., a nonprofit org with the sold purpose of keeping ESP open for tours, has preserved the place and kept it in its majestic and crumbling state

A little history from the website:

Opened in 1829 as part of a controversial movement to change the behavior of inmates through "confinement in solitude with labor," Eastern State Penitentiary quickly became one of the most expensive and most copied buildings in the young United States. It is estimated that more than 300 prisons worldwide are based on the Penitentiary's wagon-wheel, or "radial" floor plan.

Some of America's most notorious criminals were held in the Penitentiary's vaulted, sky-lit cells, including bank robber Willie Sutton and Al Capone. After 142 years of consecutive use, Eastern State Penitentiary was completely abandoned in 1971, and now stands, a lost world of crumbling cellblocks and empty guard towers.

Inmate Willie Sutton's mugshot. Sutton managed to escape the prison, only to be recaptured on the street out front.

I went a couple weekends ago and took a bunch of photos, but I haven't downloaded them from my camera yet. In the meantime, have a look at some older pictures I took:


Naturally, with so much turbulent history, ESP is reportedly haunted. Many TV investigative shows including Ghost Hunters, MTV's Fear, Most Haunted, and my personal favorite, Ghost Adventures have visited with their cameras.

Zak and Co. of Ghost Adventures walks through ESP

Zak gets strapped into the "mad chair." This chair (in my photos above) was used as punishment for unruly prisoners.

Jason and Grant of Ghost Hunters in ESP

Ghost Hunters got some very creepy footage while investigating. Check it out:

HAND IN THE WINDOW: EBAY LISTING OF THE WEEK

There's a creepy photo on Ebay of a hand in the window of an abandoned mental asylum. The listing description is as follows:

A Black & White photograph of a first floor window in a building near the main Kirkbride administration building at Taunton State Hospital in Taunton MA. I photographed this window in 2004 while on a photo shoot for a show and an edition of my magazine called "Asylum Architecture" The vision of Thomas Story Kirkbride.

This shot was photographed with high speed black and white film. During the shoot I photographed using mostly infrared film so I pretty much disregarded this roll of high speed B&W film. However months later in reviewing the contact sheets, I discovered some very odd and disturbing images on this roll of film.

There was nothing in this window when I looked in, but upon re examining the negatives I discovered several frames contained some very disturbing images. In this photo is what appears to be an old hand.

I have re visted this window several times since and have never seen the hand again. I have researched the Hospital and have found this hospital at Taunton housed some very notorious patients including serial murderer Honora Kelley a.k.a. Jane Toppan and has been the sight of many bizzare happenings! The Hospital is the 2nd oldest Kirkbride complex in Massachusetts.

The print is up for $2,499.00 right now, but I'm pretty sure that's a misprint since this seller's other photos are going for $24.99. She has some pretty cool photos for sale.

Taunton State Mental Hospital by Cyril Place Photography

GHOST EXPERIENCE FOR SALE: EBAY LISTING OF THE WEEK

This week a guy was selling his ghost "experience" on Ebay. He visited an abandoned mental asylum in Marlboro, NJ and recorded 30 minutes of audio in the hospital graveyard. The auction closed with 0 bids, but it's still worth checking out. There are a lot of photos of the buildings and some orb pictures around the headstones.

Here's a little bit about the place from his listing:

"Even its beginnings were tainted w death and suffering. The land the hospital sits on was originally a slaughterhouse/cattle farm. The owner was referred to as Old Man Sam. He was said to live in a house painted with blood, and used to hang slaughtered carcasses on the property to warn people away. The State wanted his land so they could build the hospital complex, but he refused their offers. They eventually just seized the land. Old Man Sam swore revenge. He eventually was driven insane and wound up as an inmate in the hospital. Years later he escaped and was never found. There have been many reports of a "Watcher" in these woods by the staff and patients, and many people believe this to be Old Man Sam. He doesn't move or make a sound, he just stands there, watching. If you turn for a second he disappears. It is said whenever someone would report seeing this Watcher in the woods, someone would turn up missing or dead within a short time of the sighting."