Ghost Adventures – Hill View Manor S04E06

For this episode, Zak and the team head to the Hill View Manor which has played many roles over it’s long history. Originally built in 1925, it started as a home for the poor, where those released from prison could learn a new skill and get back on their feet. Later on it was changed to be a home for the elderly, where many came to spend their final days. It also served as a mental institution. Like so many of these institutions it has dozens of accounts of poor treatment, guests who were violent and difficult to control and suicides. And not only did patients take their own lives, there is a report of at least one doctor jumping from the roof. But you have to ask, considering some of the patients who resided there, did he jump, or was he pushed?

The current reports are of black masses in the hallway down by the boiler room where a man died after being dropped off there to sleep of a drinking binge. He didn’t make it, quite possibly due to alcohol poisoning or fumes from the boiler itself. People hear footsteps in the hall and Candy, who was giving the tour to Zak and team, says she was grabbed on the rear end and grabbed on the arm by an unseen force.

In the basement hallway a female patient fell down the stairs and died after becoming disoriented. The basement is also full of personal effects like suitcases, pictures and letters. These are leftover from the many people who passed away while they were residents. People claim to hear an old man saying "get out" and "leave" when they go down there.

There are also claims from a film student and her crew who believe they caught bangs and voices on their equipment while making a short film about the paranormal.

The stories continue with claims of a cafeteria worker who gets mad when people don’t form a line in the dining hall. Apparently at one point the lights when off and the doors flew open. A minute later, the lights came back on and all the doors closed again.

Finally, there is the roof where there are reports of two people jumping to their death. One is a doctor who apparently just couldn’t take the pains and pressure of where he worked and what he had to deal with. The other is an elderly patient. Some feel the elderly man may have been pushed off.

As with any place like this, you have to sort out the fact from the fiction. What are the real stories of the events that took place and what has become lore and wild imagination. No doubt these events could all be real, but it does make you wonder how much of this is just being handed down over time.

On the whole, the investigation is loaded with EVP recordings. They claim to hear things like "get that guy" and "get out". Zak also feels that his shirt is being tugged and at times feels he has hands running over his back. They all seem to experience being touched in some way or another.

As the investigation continues the motion sensors they set up start to go off and Zak claims he sees an orb run into the hall right as it happens. To me, this orb looks more like a bat than anything else. We know that places like this are home to dozens of animals and if you’ve watched Ghost Hunters you’ve seen plenty of old abandoned building with bats flying around. I don’t think this was as mysterious as they claim it is.

The part that really bugs me is when they bring out the spirit box. I really can’t stand that thing, mainly because I don’t think it works. Or rather it works, but picks up earthly signals rather than voices from beyond. However, Zak and Nick claim to hear multiple voices responding to their questions.

In conjunction with the spirit box they bring out a new toy called the PX Generator which is a similar device to the spirit box. Once again it scans the radio signals catching words and phrases from spirits. They claim it’s not picking up radio station traffic because it simply moves past the channels way too quickly to pick them up. When it comes to things like this, the very explanation of the thing seems to contradict the way it would work. In the evidence they claim they have an EVP that crosses over 13 radio stations. I really can’t put any confidence in this device, it really seems like it picks up radio stations. It could be picking up talk shows, CB radio, wireless phones and who knows what else. If you scan radio waves you’re going to hear voices.

But with this box they pick up all sorts of conversations from people they believe used to be residents at Hill View Manor. So Zak and the team gets lots of experiences and lots of EVPs but nothing in the way of visual evidence. Nothing is actually captured on film.

One thing that appears to have been left out is the location of a morgue. It wasn’t mentioned, but you would think with all the death that took place it would have one. All the other buildings like this had one and Zak and team head right for it. Odd there wasn’t anything like that on this stop.

Who knows, maybe the PX Generator is picking up something. I’m not convinced so most of the EVPs really mean nothing to me. For people who can get behind the technology this place is a treasure trove of activity. If it does allow communication then Hill View Manor still has plenty of residence roaming around and could be one of the most active locations they’ve been too.

It was certainly a neat investigation and like so many of these places that tried to help people, perhaps it did more harm than good.

By the way, is anyone else getting the feeling that Zak is really railing against the skeptics these days? He dedicated the Stanley Hotel investigation to the skeptics claiming this would change their minds. And during this episode he called out the skeptics again while he was doing his live EVP session. Is this taunting? Frustration? A score to settle?

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Clovis Wolfe Manor
• Ghost Adventures – Return to Bobby Mackey’s – S04E03
• Paranormal Lockdown – Malvern Manor – S02E09
• Ghost Adventures – Tooele Hospital – S04E26
• Ghost Asylum – Old South Pittsburg Hospital – S03E02
• Ghost Adventures – Rolling Hills Asylum – s04e02
• Ghost Hunters Buffalo Central Terminal
• Ghost Lab – Episode 2 – Tombstone
• Ghost Adventures – Yost Theater and Ritz Hotel – S08E05
• Ghost Adventures Live Halloween Special