A haunting in Taylors Falls?

Editor’s Note: The Minnesota Paranormal Investigation Group was invited to do an evaluation visit at the Taylors Falls Jail B & B, and Josh Stanway asked if he could go along for the experience and write this piece. The following is his impression of the team’s visit to the allegedly haunted destination. The MN-PIG plans an “open” evaluation at the Palmer House Hotel, in Sauk Centre, MN Saturday, February 23 and if you’d be interested in learning more you can register by e mail to witness the paranormal activity study then. See their website for details, mnparanormalinvestigators.com

If you don’t believe in ghosts, don’t worry, this reporter didn’t either. But after I spent five hours with the Minnesota Paranormal Investigation Group in the Old Jail Bed and Breakfast, my views have changed. I entered the building to be greeted by Don Lawrence, the owner of the old jail, and investigation group, Rocci and Diana Stucci. Rocci is a tech expert, while Diana is a medium and prefers the more spiritual side of ghost hunting.

After I had been in the building for a few minutes, Don started to tell the stories of his granddaughter seeing the spirit of a little boy. What was even creepier was that several guests had also documented this same spirit of a young boy, one stating that their child had seen the boy, and that the spirit was upset that the family would be staying in the room. Other potential spirits included: an old steamship captain who would walk from room to room smoking a cigar, an old lady that would sometimes accompany the young boy, and the spirit of a prostitute that would wear chokingly strong perfume and tear down the curtains. A few minutes after this, two more investigators entered, John Savage and his wife Anita. Anita is British, and did tours through some famously haunted castles, including the castle that Henry VIII used as his hunting lodge.

The group unpacked all their gear. They first set up their investigation gear in the basement room of the Taylors FallsB & B, where a cave full of broken glass, bones, and pottery had been discovered. John and Rocci set up microphones and night vision cameras, along with an electro magnetic field sensor, which can detect any presence, visible or not. John started the session attempting to communicate with the spirits using an EVP sensor, which can detect the voice of a spirit. He started by asking the spirit simple questions.. to hear a spirit’s voice with an EVP, you need to listen to the playback, but none of those questions had elicited a response. He explained to me that if I were a ghost and a bunch of strangers waltzed up to me and started questioning me, what incentive would I have to communicate with them? I answered none, which is most often true.

This is why it can be hard to communicate with a spirit. The rest of the group entered the suite, and Diana suggested we use a spirit box to attempt to open communication with them. Diana explained, “A spirit box is a machine that cycles through radio stations at a hundred stations per second. It allows a spirit to openly communicate with humans in real time” which is more than an EVP can do. We all sat in the corner with the spirit box running, and John and Diana questioned the spirits about all things that could relate to themselves or the building. After a few minutes of only static as a response, we moved into a different part of the suite. This time, John also recorded the session of the spirit box with the EVP sensor. Right away when we started the spirit box, a man’s voice said “Talk” with surprising clarity. I didn’t say anything and the session continued. We heard several more things, including a prolonged squeal I interpreted as child’s laughter, and “in the other room” which was hauntingly clear.

After this we went into the main floor where we were given pizza and the group further discussed the presence of spirits. Rocci and Diana ventured upstairs to attempt to “scry” out the spirits. Scrying is a method of communication with spirits that involves staring at another persons face across a candle. It is supposed to create positive energy between both parties involved, and give their faces appearence of the other’s past life, and potentially, entities around them. I had believed this to be silly, and I was of the impression that it would not work for me.

However, after Diana had scryed with Rocci several times, she had me switch places with him. I stared at her. She stared at me. In my mind, I knew this was all that was going to happen. But then, her face took the shape of a skull. The skull had appeared so realistic. I didn’t want to attempt it again, but Diana urged me, and I accepted. This time she turned into a young Japanese girl and then a very old, angry woman. She informed me I had become two different Native American warriors, with similar facial paint. This made her assume that both the warriors were from the same tribe. No spirits appeared to either of us, unfortunately, and at this point it was almost 11 p.m., and I had to head for home.

I was positive I didn’t believe in ghosts. But now, I’m not so sure.