So we had an emergency ghost hunt on Saturday. Lots of spookiness was claimed by the homeowner. Shadow figures, bed shaking, moving mists, footsteps, lots and lots of footsteps… generally scary stuff made worse because she lives alone. That was the really odd part. She’s lived in the home for twenty years with no problems until recently. We came in as quickly as we could, as the incidents had been getting worse by the day. Particularly the bed shaking. In short, she was terrified.

So the five of us met at the house, along with a part time group member, T. The set up went smoothly and the client, while visibly anxious and worn out, was obviously relieved to have some help.

The Boy and our fearless leader had interviewed the client in her home earlier in the week. They both claimed the house felt uneasy, particularly on the second floor, which the client stated was the most active area. We were all pretty excited. We were really going to try to help someone, and the activity level was high enough we really thought something might happen. I should mention, in case I haven’t, that I have personally never experienced anything supernatural. I consider myself an open-minded skeptic. I really hoped I’d experience something that night.

Each one of us spent time with the homeowner throughout the night. She was obviously on edge, constantly moving, talking, smoking, and quite willing to talk about the incidents. She was blatantly nervous. I wondered how much sleep she was getting. We toured the house, taking time in each room on the second floor. Nearly all the activity surrounded that floor alone. Even the few things occurring on the main floor centered on the stairs or noises heard from above.

The largest concern, for the client, was the bed shaking. She’d even tried sleeping in the guest room to avoid it, with no luck. So we set up in the bedrooms, the hallway and the living room. We used a handheld in the office, where loud thumps or footsteps were heard from the attic. We set a DVR in the attic and the basement, as well as carrying them with us for EVP sessions.

An EMF sweep prior to the investigation turned up some surprising results. There were many strange areas, including the whole front wall of the house on all floors, with very high spikes that didn’t seem attached to wiring or electronics. Some rooms even changed as we took readings. The kitchen read normally when we first started. By the time we worked our way back, the readings were all over the place, 2 and 3 mgs in a doorway that had been flat just a few minutes ago. The beds were even weirder; one of them had ridiculously high readings at the foot, but not on the sides or the floor. Half of one closet was high, but not against the wall, where wiring might be, only in the middle, at chest height. Since there was no obvious explanation for the high readings, we decided the information was unreliable. It still bothers me though, unless there was a problem with the reader, the readings were definitely high enough to cause a reaction. But why were there no devices or wiring to account for the readings? Why did some rooms read differently at different times? What was up with the beds? I love a good mystery!

So the night started with much anticipation. Unfortunately, it didn’t deliver. Nothing of any note happened during the 5 hours we investigated. I won’t bore with the play by play, unless you really care who investigated with whom and in what order. A few knocks that could have been footsteps were heard, but really, that was it. We haven’t finished reviewing the evidence yet, but I don’t have much hope. Who knows, I could be wrong (it does happen, rarely) and we’ll have a dozen EVPs after review, but I doubt it. It’s possible whatever is there hid from us, after all, it’s used to dealing with the client alone. Or there could be another explanation.

My pet theory has to do with the client. I wonder if maybe living alone for years, without even a pet, has started to catch up with her. She stated many times that she liked being alone, her family lived close by and she didn’t need a man. I believe her, but seeing how much she relaxed while the six of us were around made me wonder if there wasn’t something subconscious going on. She may not be the right age for classic poltergeist activity, but the mind is a powerful tool. No one really knows what we are capable of.

Truly, she was an awesome client. We are professional when we interact with a client, but we like to have fun too. She fit right in with our elementary school sense of humor. The farts jokes flew (blew?) that evening. I think one of the main reasons we work so well together is that we all have the same sense of seriousness versus fun. We do this for research and to help people but it could be really painful and boring if we never cracked (hee hee) a smile. 

By the end of the night, although nothing had been experienced, we were all tired but laughing, even the client. Everything seemed relaxed and calm. The Boy and our fearless leader agreed the house felt nothing like it had earlier in the week or even earlier that night (for the record, I never really felt anything, I’m starting to think I maybe totally insensitive to that stuff). I felt good about the hunt, thinking we had really done some good. The client confirmed it by having no issues that night or the next day.

I figured all was well until this morning.

I let you know what happens

**Title Credits: The Simpsons, Tito Puente “Who Shote Mr. Burns, part 2″ Season 7 Episode 1