ArtRojasDesign

For this episode the guys head out to Indiana to investigate Thornhaven Manor, a scrawling house that is being consumed by the surround weeds and bushes. As Zak says, nature is wrapping her hands around this place and is pulling it back into the ground. It once looked quite stunning, but now it’s simply overgrown.

Simon Powell was the original owner and his daughter Lizzie apparently died in the house when she was just 2 years old. But Lizzie isn’t the only death. There is also the reported murder of Rueben Bailey who was poisoned with rat poison. The details of the event remain rather vague.

The main reports involve the sound of a loud scream and footsteps. At first, things seem a little dubious as the scream is attributed to nothing more than the squealing brakes of a passing car. And considering the growth and water damage, it seems like the footsteps and other sounds would come from the settling house and animals. Zak seems a little discouraged if you ask me. There is even a large glowing cold spot that turns out to be water damage on the floor.

But Zak forges ahead to try and make lemonade. They too hear footsteps in the house and in one of the rooms the camera seems to have a hard time focusing on things as though someone is walking in front of the camera. They believe they make contact with Lizzie and also someone named Emily.

In trying to make contact with Lizzie, they bring in their device laden teddy bear that immediately starts to go off as though someone is really playing with that bear. Not too long after this they hear the sound of rocks being thrown. Is Lizzie trying to pelt them with stones?

Another usual spot in the house is right at the top of the stairs. As Zak reaches this spot his walkie talkie turns on and stays on. At the same time, there is a shadow figure in the room next to them. This is also the location where they capture a mist like image with the IR still camera. I have to say the mist is a hard one to define. I’ve done plenty of photography and tons of things can show up mist. Shooting photos at night can be tricky business and even the most mundane things can come across as supernatural or otherworldly. In conjunction with the mist they capture what Zak believes is the ball of energy associated with Lizzie. Again, the ball of energy or orb is tricky business. It’s really hard to confirm or debunk that one.

While this is an interesting house, I get the feeling it’s nothing more than an old house that’s rotting away. It’s obviously damaged as hell, so they footsteps are most likely animals or rotting wood. The scream was debunked as a car. The mysterious cold spot was water on the boards. We also have orbs and mists that you can take as you see fit.

From my viewpoint, the main evidence is the EVP work for Lizze and Emily and even that isn’t all that substantial. There is also the bear which is pretty cool. But when you take all this stuff together and remove the dubious evidence I really don’t think there is too much that makes this house haunted. It certainly has the right look and there are plenty of sounds out there, but even with it’s past I’m not sure it has the goods.

What do you think?

Thornhaven Manor

Other Articles of Interest:

• Haunted Towns – Fall River MA – Lizzie Borden House – S01E07
• Paranormal Lockdown – Bellaire House – S02E06
• Ghost Adventures – The Copper Queen Hotel and The Oliver House – S06E03
• Haunted Highway – El Dorado Hell Hounds and Georgia Skinstealer – S01E04
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Haboro/Mngwa – S04E03
• Destination Truth – Haunted Island Prison/Ucumar – S04E10
• Ghost Adventures – Alcatraz – S08E08
• Ghost Adventures – Battle of Perryville Field Hospital – S08E11
• Ghost Adventures – Lizzie Borden House – S05E05
• Paranormal Cops – Stirring Up The Dead – S01E03

Right off the bat this comes across as a rather dubious investigation as the team heads out to the Mustang Ranch, just outside Reno, Nevada. And the overly dramatic and incredibly cheesy reenactments don’t do anything to deter that thought.

But the guys have been asked to check out the Ranch because of multiple claims by the working girls who have been grabbed, touched and held down by an unseen force. Even the Madam claims to have felt a hand reach in and squeeze her heart. Oddly, on the day the guys show up, one of the housekeepers quit her job not being able to take the spirits any more. A coworker confirms that she has seen spirits and then identifies the spirit as the boxer when shown a picture. Several of the girls have also said they’ve gotten bruises on their chest from something grabbing them

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that the Ranch has a sketchy past, the most notable being the affair between boxer Oscar Bonavena and the madam of the Ranch. Regrettably, the madam was married and the husbands body guards shot Oscar dead just outside the gates.

As the investigation begins the guys get plenty of EVP responses talking of a cleansing, burning, an affair and references to the gun shots. There are even responses that "Oscar" feels everyone is going to hurt him. Strange, since he’s a boxer.

There is also a comment made that "Paul" is the one touching the girls’ shirts and also claims there are 7 spirits at the Ranch.

The big EVP is the response to the question, "were you killed?" The answer is "demons … Go to sleep". It’s a very garbled answer and doesn’t really make sense. Zak is certainly looking for a demon explanation so perhaps this is his validation.

Besides the EVPs there are two physical pieces of evidence. One is a mist Zak believes he sees in the hall and the second is the fluttering Do Not Disturb sing that hangs on the door. This is the same room, same door, same sign that actually flew off the knob and then slid back under the door.

Some of this evidence is interesting, while most of it seems irrelevant. I will agree that most of the EVPs sound like intelligent answers to questions, which is actually quite interesting, but many of the "demonic" phrases are so garbled as to be questionable. I really don’t think there is some sort of demonic presence at the Ranch and all this talk of Oscar haunting the place is total speculation. They’re trying to make a story out of nothing. They do the same thing with the Ovilus. They capture some words and then try make it fit into a story that makes sense for the environment. They’re filling in huge gaps with ideas that are "plausible" but completely fabricated.

I don’t want to be rude, but considering the type of work these ladies do, bruises would be part of the job and the idea of being held down could easily be a night terror, sleep paralysis or just vivid recollection of something that happened earlier. There’s really nothing to suggest there a spirit wandering around trying to hurt these girls.

What about the housekeeper? Maybe she did see something. Maybe she couldn’t take the job. Perhaps the nature of the job got the better of her. Maybe it was a real person and unwanted attention that she needed to get away from.

There was some interesting evidence, but I don’t think we have demons running around that’s for sure.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Haunted Victorian Mansion – S08E06
• Ghost Adventures – Stardust Ranch – S12E12
• Ghost Adventures – The Exorcist House – S08E07
• Ghost Adventures – Lizzie Borden House – S05E05
• Haunted History – The Manson Murders – S01E01
• Ghost Adventures – Point Sur California – S07E03
• Ghost Adventures – Crazy Town – S07E13
• Ghost Adventures – Chinese Town of Locke – S12E05
• Ghost Adventures – Old Gila County Jail – S16E04
• Ghost Adventures – Bonnie Springs Ranch – S04E17

In their latest outing, Zak, Nick and Aaron head out to the infamous and notorious Alcatraz island to investigate what many feel is a presence that stalks the grounds. It’s been reported that a pair of red eyes can be seen in multiple places and that there is a presence in some of the cells.

As they make their way around to different locations, they hone in on Cell 14 where they feel their equilibrium has been thrown off. They feel a presence and that something is odd. When they come back to this spot during the night, pretty much everyone on the team, including Billy and Jay see and feel something odd in there. Zak feels he sees two red eyes and later, Jay says the same thing.

They also use the Ovilus and get several different words such as Fire, Threshold, Doctor, Opening, Touch and Mist. Interestingly, when the words Touch and Mist come across, Aaron feels something touch him and they capture what they thing is a mist on camera.

While the EVPs are incredibly poor in quality, they feel they get, Come Back, Get Naked, He’s Here and Dear God. It’s really, really hard to agree with those. They are so garbled and so scratchy.

Since Zak felt so uneasy in Cell 14, he had Jay and Billy go check it out for themselves. While in there Billy becomes absolutely lethargic and can barely move. He claims to see something swirling in the corner of the cell. Jay takes dozens of pictures with a real 35mm film camera. When they’re developed there two pictures that show light streaks. Those pictures were taken in Cell 14. But the question is, why just Cell 14. It’s only inches away from Cell 13. It’s not like the spirit would be stuck in one location and couldn’t shift over just a touch. The fact it’s so localized leads me to believe it’s something else.

And why is Zak so focused on these orbs all of a sudden? Ok, maybe they are balls of energy, but they look more like random balls of dust or reflected light that are just swirling around a place like that. Saying it’s energy inhabiting their bodies seems a bit more of want than a reality. They’re so eager to make them spirits to enhance the haunted nature of the place. They just seem so fixated on them these days, I’ve just never given much credence to them.

So many people claim that Alcatraz is haunted. It’s true that several people have died there, both prisoners and guards. And not to mention that thousands of people have committed suicide from the Golden Gate Bridge which is right up from the prison. Violent members of society were housed there and I’m sure there was plenty of misery and suffering. But is it really haunted?

Are the red eyes simply a misinterpretation of the lights from the harbor? Is that vertigo feeling from the tightness and confined space of the cell? Is it simply off angle with an uneven floor or walls? Can we really trust what those EVPs are saying the quality is so awful?

It’s really hard to say that spirit energy still lingers in Alcatraz. Maybe, as Zak says, the water and the material of the prison act as a battery. But to be honest, the evidence they captured is quite mild. It’s not very abundant and most of it could be easily explained by earthly means. To me, Alcatraz is still an old, rickety prison with lots of man made ghosts based on legends and myths. It seems the creaking of building makes a lot of the noises they hear. The lights from the harbor may look quite unusual from those cells. The crash of the ocean can make for sound interesting sounds. Poor building construction can make people feel uneasy in an enclosed space.

So what do you think, is Alcatraz haunted?

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Hellhole Prison – S12E07
• Ghost Hunters International – Port Arthur Penitentiary – S02E10
• Ghost Stalkers – Holmesburg Prison – S01E04
• Ghost Adventures – The Alley of Darkness – S16E02
• Ghost Adventures – Central Prison Unit in Sugarland Texas – S07E01
• Ghost Adventures – Nevada State Prison – S12E10
• Ghost Adventures – Old Gila County Jail – S16E04
• Ghost Adventures – Lechtworth Village – S05E06
• Ghost Adventures – Tuolumne Hospital – S08E03
• Ghost Adventures – Wyoming Frontier Prison – S07E18