Category: US – Massachusetts

On the path to Tupelo West, passing by Tupelo Pond

I was still nauseous as we walked through the rapidly-falling snowflakes towards Tupelo West.

Since I had not expected any serious manifestations, I had completely forgotten that the ghost hated to be talked about on campus. Jane, whom we met at Tupelo West, reminded me of the ghost’s aversion to gossip. I can only repeat that I had not expected any serious manifestations, and took the ghost hunt far too lightly until it was too late.

As we walked to Tupelo West, I tried to recover my self-control, and also get my stomach to settle. I was only slightly aware of the surroundings.

AN EARLIER WARNING

Moments before we left for Bradford, something odd had happened at my home. I didn’t realize that it was a warning of what was ahead.

Alan had arrived at our house and we chatted for a few moments as we prepared to leave for Bradford.

I was in the living room and noticed a stench like rotting potatoes. I knew that there were no potatoes in the kitchen. It occurred to me that the smell might be coming from a philodendron I’d repotted in a closed container. I’d liberally filled the bottom with charcoal and gravel, so there was no reason for the odor. However, it was the only explanation for this truly awful smell.

I took the pot out to the kitchen, to see if I could banish the stench. I figured to repot the plant when we returned home.

I expected the putrid odor came from an over-watered plant with no drainage. Instead, the soil was bone dry.

I thought, “Okay, maybe it’s dry on top, and there’s stagnant water in the bottom.” So I put the pot in the kitchen sink, turned on the water, and braced myself for an awful odor.

Nothing happened. Even saturated with water, the soil and the plant smelled fine.

Back in the living room, I could still smell the potato odor, but it seemed to be fading quickly.

I didn’t think about it again, until we were on our way past Tupelo Pond.

THE ODOR RETURNS

When we were walking, I was not aware that we were next to the legendary Tupelo Pond. For some reason, I’d envisioned some large, reservoir-type pond, with some cat-o-nine-tails surrounding it, creating a vast pastoral scene.

The pond is quite small. The odor around it, as I walked past it, was stomach-turning, made worse by my literal “gut reaction” to the ghost at the theatre building.

It was the exact same putrid odor I’d sensed in my house, before we left for Bradford. I describe it as “rotting potatoes,” but others referred to it as stagnant swampwater, marsh smell, and so on.

I didn’t remember this earlier incident until after we’d returned home and discussed the Bradford ghosts.

We concluded our ghost hunt at Tupelo West

Bradford College, Bradford, Massachusetts – 11 March 2000

Tupelo West, and the conclusion of the ghost hunt

At this point, I was on auto-pilot, but didn’t realize it. The encounter at Denworth Theatre had taken a lot out of me.

We entered Tupelo West, but it felt entirely clear of spectral energy. However, I was fairly numb as I recovered from Denworth.

The hauntings at Tupelo West were supposed to be strongest in the basement, but we couldn’t find any way to get downstairs. The elevators only went up from the first floor. Along the wall of the stairway, we could see down to the basement, but the stairs leading down were behind a locked maintenance door.

We asked a few students, but no one knew any other way to the basement.

DISINTERESTED STUDENTS

Unlike the Academy building, the students in this dorm seemed entirely disinterested in ghosts and didn’t show us haunted rooms.

We stood around and chatted for a few minutes. I was still unwinding from the Denworth experience, and mostly babbling to release the energy.

After about 15 or 20 minutes, I knew that I would not be able to perceive lesser manifestations for quite awhile, and I certainly didn’t want to encounter anything so dramatic as the theatre ghost.

And, the students seemed annoyed with us. They weren’t rude, but they were clearly eager for us to leave.

It also occurred to me that there was a lot of snow piling up on the ground, it was getting dark outside, and I had a half hour drive on messy roads back to my house. Also, I still felt green with nausea after the Denworth encounter. I wanted to go home.

LEAVING BRADFORD

We left Tupelo West, and walked past Tupelo Pond. A couple of us noticed a startling, sickly-sweet odor–stronger than what we’d noticed earlier–but we were too tired to investigate. We picked up the identification items which we’d left at the campus security office, and drove home through sleet and snow.

Ann joined James and me at our house, with some of her Gilson photos, and we chatted about the Bradford events. I learned more about Ann’s experiences and James’, which confirmed things that I’d noticed, but hadn’t mentioned.

On one hand, I’d like to go back to Bradford College and re-examine some of the settings where we’d encountered residual energy and the ghost at Denworth. On the other hand, I’m not certain why I’d want to do this. It’s not the happiest of hauntings.

INVESTIGATION SUMMARY

My summary of the experience: The Academy building has the widest range of manifestations, all of which seem to be residual energy. Some of it is disturbing, but mostly it’s fairly harmless.

Denworth is profoundly haunted by at least one ghost. No doubt, there is residual energy there as well, but it is vastly overshadowed by the ghost of a young girl and her doll.

The girl in Denworth is usually playful, according to first-person accounts. However, she becomes enraged if anyone talks about her on campus.

I’d forgotten that, and that may explain the troubled ghost that we encountered. We had been talking about her from the moment we perceived spectral energy.

There may be other, lesser ghosts on campus. From the range of reports, there probably are.

However, the Denworth ghost is easily the most significant spirit at the college.

This is from a series of articles about Bradford College’s ghosts

Bradford College, Bradford, Massachusetts – 11 March 2000

Pre-visit preparations

Frankly, I wasn’t expecting much at Bradford. Many ghost stories at colleges like Bradford have scant foundations, and are actually stories traded among students as a way of bonding, being part of the community, and other psychological benefits.

Samantha Farley, of Bradford College, has written an excellent study about this, The Ghostly Legends of Bradford College. Her thoughtful report sparked this visit to Bradford College.

On the morning of March 11th, I’d received a new quartz pendulum in the mail, and decided to try it as part of this ghost hunt. I wasn’t expecting much at the college, so this investigation seemed a benign site for testing the new pendulum.

Before the investigation, my very skeptical son (called “James” in most of my articles) and I tested the pendulum.

We worked independently, so our results wouldn’t influence each other. We asked questions about Bradford’s various legends and locations. We soon realized that very specific questions were necessary to get any results at all.

It’s as if Bradford — or something at it — didn’t want to reveal anything. Not at first, anyway.

We repeated our questions, sometimes several times, to see if our results would be consistent. Usually, they were.

Greenleaf House – pendulum didn’t move when asked if it was haunted.

Tupelo East – very little pendulum movement.

Tupelo West – enthusiastic circling, indicating positive hauntings.

“The Tunnels” – referring to a network of underground tunnels, connecting several of the older buildings.

When I asked about the tunnels, the pendulum remained still. When James tried a variety of questions, the pendulum finally indicated that there was “something weird” there.

Denworth Theatre, upstairs – no response.

• This may be because I misunderstood the name in conversation, thinking it was “Danforth” when it was Denworth. I’d asked the pendulum if Danforth Hall was haunted.

Denworth Theatre, downstairs – delayed response, in the affirmative.

Academy – consistently even, positive response.

Based upon this, I decided that we’d start with Academy, the site of “Amy and the priest” stories, and then check the tunnels. Then we’d explore Denworth, particularly the downstairs, and finally the Tupelos. If time permitted, we’d check Greenleaf House, just in case the pendulum was wrong.

I was wholly skeptical of encountering anything notable on this casual ghost hunt. I’ve witnessed hauntings at colleges in the past. They’ve always received far more publicity than the manifestations warranted.

I packed two cameras plus extra film, a notepad, the pendulum, and my EMF meter. We left for Bradford College, to meet other ghost hunters at the campus at 3 p.m.

Next, read about our first investigations at Bradford College – Academy, first and second floors

In 2009, I was one of the featured speakers at GhoStock, hosted by Patrick Burns.

Here’s my preliminary report:

What a great event!  All of the panels, workshops and lectures were fascinating.

I especially enjoyed the talks by two demonologists: the late Father Andrew Calder, and John Zaffis (from the “Haunted Collector” TV series), since they delve into realms that I generally avoid.

I presented information about my research into paranormal patterns, including my discovery of the Salem “Judges’ Line.”

U.K. psychic/entertainer Gavin Cromwell and I talked about fact and fiction in ghost hunting. We offered opinions on how legends and preconceived ideas affects our results — and our reputations — as paranormal investigators. Then, we took questions from the audience.

Since Gavin is involved in entertainment and I’m from the research side of paranormal studies, we were able to share different (but sometimes complementary) views on ghosts and haunted places.

THE SALEM INN

On Friday night, Gavin and I led a team of investigators as we explored the magnificent Salem Inn.  Not only is it a great place to stay, it has some colorful ghost stories… and it’s very active.

It’s also on the “Judges’ Line” that I’m researching.

(Note: We checked with the staff and the Inn’s ghosts do not disturb the guests.  So, if you want a good night’s sleep, you can stay at the Salem Inn with confidence. We feel that, since we were eager to contact the ghosts, they responded to us as researchers.)

In Room 17, we encountered measurable activity with the K-II meter as well as the Ovilus.

This was my first chance to use the Ovilus. I was very impressed when it said my full name, plus the full name of another researcher.

Later, it said the full name of someone who —  according to my later research — had lived in the house in the 19th century.  (That early Ovilus was not programmed with names, just random words.)

Note: We were confused — and amused — by how frequently the Ovilus seemed to shout, “Dick!”

Following just a few outbursts, this became embarrassing. After the investigation, we learned that the Salem Inn’s owners are Diane and Dick (Richard) Pabich.

While the Ovilus’ performance somewhat overshadowed the use of the K-II meter, both tools work well together to comfirm results.

When we were joined by members of Mass. Paranormal, we saw that the K-II meter readings spiked each time, just a split-second before the Ovilus “talked” to us.

(Yes, they checked the K-II with the Ovilus next to it, to debunk any interactions.  The EMF surges were not from the Ovilus’ activity.)

It was a great investigation during a fun event weekend.