on the hunt

I had the rather interesting experience of going on a ghost hunt last weekend. I arranged with a philly company for a private tour in honor of my friend's birthday. We ended up as a group of 7 and we met our guide, Robin, at Signer's Garden near Independence Hall around dusk.

It was actually a really fun (and educational) time. We walked around the historic buildings of the area while she informed us of the uses of the buildings and the ghost stories associated with them. We paired off and each of us had EMF detectors. I am not really sure of the rationale behind it, but I guess ghosts are supposed to give off electromagnetic fields. The instrument itself was pretty simple. It had 3 lights on it: green for safe, yellow for caution, and red for DANGER! That made me laugh. I guess these devices are supposed to be used in legitimate ways to see whether current is still running through wires. But the thought of a red DANGER! light lighting up in the presence of a ghost seems comical to me.

In the end, we found.... nothing. We took lots of pictures, but most of the "orbs" in the shots were merely light artifacts that could easily be traced to streetlamps and passing cars. No faces, no apparitions, no tingly feeling on the backs of our necks. Zip.

That being said, its amazing how many bodies are all over the place in Philly and how most of the buildings in old city were built right on top of them. A body is a body, of course, but it does still seem a bit rude. One of the more interesting facts was that the second floor of Independence Hall used to be used as a hospital during the Revolutionary War. The paved esplanade in front of the building used to be a body pit, basically, as the soldiers died.

Overall, it was a fun, kinda of campy experience. I was not expecting much, and I was not disappointed. It would have been scarier if we had been allowed inside of the buildings.


Part 2 was the scary part.


But before we get to that, I think I should talk a bit about ghosts. Whenever you go on something like this, it begs the question "Do YOU believe?" Do I? I don't quite know. I guess the way I feel about it is this: I have never personally seen proof of spirits or ghosts, nor known anyone whom I trust who has had a definitive experience. That being said... just because I have not seen proof does not disprove it either. Overall, I try to maintain an open mind. The Bible speaks of spirits, and there is the Holy Spirit of course, which I totally believe in. It talks about possessions by spirits and the like. Missionaries that would talk to us in college would talk of such things as well. Just the same, I am not totally convinced that ghosts are out there either. Have I gotten the creepy feeling that someone is watching me? Sure. But I am a paranoid sort of person as well.

But then I also have to consider "the voices". I may have written about this before, I may not have, so bear with me. I hear voices. In my head. Maybe. They aren't the schizophrenic type of "kill kill kill" that people usually think of when someone says they hear voices. If hear them at all, it is usually at night, when everything is quiet and calm. The best way to describe it is that it sounds like a tv or radio has been left on in a distant room. You hear the noise, you know they are voices, but you cannot make out what they are saying. I liken what I hear to more of a radio sort of thing... like listening to KYW news radio. Except I cannot make out the words.

I know this sounds so utterly strange and probably a bit demented, but its been happening for a long time. I cannot remember when it started, but I know its been at least since Jr High. I am not sure if its neurons firing from an overworked day (kinda like a nap jerk) or whether it is something else. I still hear them if I have earplugs in, so I know its not something normally audible.

The first time I realized that it was NOT audible was in jr high. I had gone to bed, but my dad was still downstairs watching tv. I did not sleep very well at that age, and usually I laid in bed from 10 til 1 in the morning, listening to Love Line, trying to fall asleep. Anyway, I did not have the radio on (the snooze went off) and I heard my dad come up to bed. Once he settled down and the house was quiet, I started noticing the voices. I laid there for awhile, pretty darn annoyed, because they were loud. Of course, not loud enough to understand, just beyond the brink of comprehensible words. I tossed and turned for awhile, completely bothered, and figured that my dad must have left the tv on. I finally crawled out of bed and went down the stairs and leaned over the railing. Everything was off and dark. THAT creeped me out. So I raced back to bed, dove under the covers, and ignored it til I fell asleep.

Since that time, sometimes its louder, sometimes its not there at all. I just sort of accept it as background noise when I am laying in bed if it is there. I try not to pay attention to it too much... though once or twice it has caused me to ask Jon if he left the tv on (no).

But what the heck is it? I am more inclined to think its just left over information swarming around my brain from the day. I don't think I have any special gift to "hear voices from the beyond" or whatever. But some people (including ones I took ghost hunting) seem to think that is what it is and that I should work harder at hearing whatever it is they (its a guy and a girl, always a guy, sometimes the girl) are saying. For all I know, they are recounting sports stats. It do not get the impression that it is directed towards me. It just sounds like I am overhearing a newscast. Shrug.


So Part 2...

After touring Philly, Jon helped arrange for us to go to Pennhurst Asylum in Spring City, PA. The place used to be amazing and you can tell it was gorgeous. It got shut down in 1987 though due to health and human rights violations. It was incredibly overpopulated and understaffed. When it was closed down, everything was left as-is and nature was allowed to take its course. The result in the past 23 years is dense forest and brush. The buildings themselves are all broken windows and have quite a bit of graffiti on the inside. A shame, because they used to be beautiful.

Jon's coworker does security during the nights - out on the prowl for kids who like to consider themselves "urban explorers" and others who like the occult aspect of the place.

I had a RAGING headache while I was there (so if there were voices to be heard, I could not hear them), but what I did notice was how utterly silent it was. It was starting to rain, and it was a bit cool.... but I did not hear any birds or crickets or frogs. Even the frog we found was not making a sound. It was the perfect example of a "hushed" place.

We did bust 3 kids who were exploring. As a result of their criminal breaking and entering, we got the chance to go into the administration building and look into the tunnels. Extremely long concrete tunnels connect every building on the 800 acres of Pennhurst. Talk. About. CREEPY. The echo given off was like a whole separate person, it was that delayed. Eep. I was not too thrilled with going inside. Being outside, in the open, where I can fight or run, is totally different from being in the basement of an old abandoned building where children were essentially in pain. There was much not to like.

Just the same, we did not find any ghosties or spirits or anything out of sorts there aside from the kids who were not supposed to be there. Still, I was scared and I would not want to be left alone in that darkened quiet. No way. My friends are a bit more adventurous than I am, being believers, wanting proof.....

But for me, if proof shows up of something, good I guess. If not, that is fine too. I do not really see the benefit to having proof. I already am confident in the human soul and its ability to outlast the human body. It is heartbreaking to consider the possibility of spirits who are stuck where they should not be, reliving ancient tortures, not being able to move on. I do not really want proof of that.

Overall, it was a fun evening and I would LOVE to go back during the day and get pictures of the decay. Talk about a fun photo assignment... It was a good time with friends and I know the birthday girl really appreciated it, and that was the most important part.