ArtRojasDesign

So this is an interesting episode, the guys head out to St. Louis to investigate the home made famous by the movie, The Exorcist. Back in 1949, Father William Bowdern supposedly exorcised the demons out of the little boy that lived in the house. It is said the boy and his aunt used a Ouija board to commune with spirits which opened a portal for something evil to come through. And if you’ve watched the movie we all know what happens next.

Supposedly, the evil still lurks in the house, penetrating the very stone and wood of the house. Neither the owner, nor the previous owners actually talk about the house. However, a paranormal investigator claims to have been touched and scratched while investigating there. During their filming a neighbor comes over to say that people move into the house, but that it’s a bad place. They don’t stay very long. No details are given so we’re not entirely sure what he means.

After Zak, Nick and Aaron ratchet up the tension as high as they can, it’s finally time to go inside. You have to consult with priests and demonologists so they can tell everyone what you’re doing is dangerous and scary.

The main activity centers in the bedroom where the original exorcism was performed. Against the better judgment of everyone, Zak pulls out a Ouija board and places the Spirit Box on it. Everyone is scared for their meager lives as Zak stands on the precipice of opening the portal to damnation and bringing ruination to the world. Or he could just be messing around with a piece of cardboard. Take your pick.

When asked the name of the man the entity attacked in the room, the box responds with, "He needs help."

When asked, "What hppened here in 1949" the answer comes as "Ouija board" and "trouble". And it does appear to be two different voices.

When asked, "What is your name?" they get two responses, "Devil" and "Diablo".

The rest of the investigation involves messing around with the Xbox Kinect. Zak feels cold spots at the same time some sort of blue dot shows up on the screen. And there is much rejoicing as they can’t understand why Aaron can’t be tracked on the Kinect. They take both of these as signs of spiritual energy and a presence. In no way should this be taken as a malfunction of the device or it’s inability to track certain people under certain conditions.

As the investigation comes to an end the main evidence is the audio recordings. While they are interesting items, they certainly don’t add up to the Uber sinister and demon infested house the first 20 minutes of the episode tried to instill in us.

I’ve said it before, I don’t believe the Ouija board is a source of evil or a conduit or portal for demonic spirits. It’s simply a piece of cardboard with lettering. That’s the same as saying a blanket with letters you use to help your child with the alphabet is summoning demons into the room or that simply opening the bible will a holy spirit appear. It simply doesn’t work that way. Since everyone has their own differing opinions, we’ll just skip that debate.

I thought the EVPs were interesting, but I can’t agree with most of them. I certainly here Devil and Diablo as well as ouija board and trouble. So, does that make the house haunted? Is there something demonic in there? It really doesn’t seem so since no one got scratched, no one got threatened and no welts with a cross in the middle of them showed up on anybody. All in all the house seemed rather normal. Maybe there is something in there that wants to communicate and it would have been great for the guys to hang around for a couple of days and gather some more evidence. Going off the spirit box alone isn’t going to convince me a house is haunted. To me, it’s possible there is an energy there that should be explored further. As I said, it’s certainly not dropping with the evil that has seeped into the foundation like they want us to believe.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Do you believe in the Ouija?
• Zozo, Darren Evans, Robert Murch and Darkness Radio – A Zozo Hoax?
• Ghost Adventures – The Zozo Demon – S10E03
• Haunted Collector – Firestarter and Haunted Museum – S02E10
• Ghost Adventures – Hotel Leger – S16E05
• Ouija – Cardboard and Plastic Toy or Mystical Portal?
• Ghost Adventures – Samaritan Cult House – S14E03
• I Am Zozo – A Review
• Ghost Adventures – Zalud House – S13E11
• Ghost Adventures – Black Moon Manor – S07E05

The guys head out to Santa Ana, California to investigate the Yost Theater and the Ritz Hotel. Not the famed Ritz as you may think, rather a flop house where drug use and prostitution were the order of the day. Sadly, the Ritz fell on hard times after a drowning in the basement pool. The Yost Theater has also has also seen a tragedy, Ernest Ball the composer of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" died in the backstage dressing room. However, their investigation of the Ritz Hotel hits the brakes when they come to find out a construction crew is taking the place apart. Overcoming adversity they turn their attentions to the Willella Howe-Waffle House. Turns out this house has a checkered past with abortions. Obviously these were illegal back in the day, but it’s not clear as to whether this way back alley butchery or a husband and wife trying to help women of the day.

There are many claims about hearing voices as well as the owner hearing a growl in the downstairs area of the theater. Others claim to hear the voice of a little girl, although there is no really history about her. As Zak, Nick and Aaron investigate, they too hear plenty of noises and bumps in the dark. It turns out that most of those bumps, at least in the theater are merely rats. This does go to show that animals live in all sorts of place and plenty of noises can be attributed to the little devils.

They do the usual EVP work and oddly the word "haunting" comes up multiple times. They hear it in the Howe-Waffle House as well as in the Yost theater. They also get the words "in trouble" and "abortion" when trying to get answers about the doctor. Unfortunately, the quality is going down hill. The words are hard to make out and while they can fit into context, it’s not distinct like those earlier ones.

While trying to make contact with Willella, Zak says she should manifest into a ball of light so they can see her. In the lower portion of the screen, they feel they capture evidence of her manifesting as there is a little ball of light. Conclusive? Hard to say.

Also within the Yost they get the security guard to wander into some of the places he’s seen activity before. While there, they claim to see a shadow figure lurking in the corners. Hard to see that one, but possibly something there.

Overall, the three places yield plenty of noises, which is most likely due to animals in the woodwork, and some rather faint EVPs. It’s hard to say if they’re really capturing spirit voices and if those actually say what they interpret. They’re interesting place but I really can’t agree they hold all the dark energy that Zak feels they do. Sure, their past is a little checkered with some less than savory events, but it doesn’t appear to the dark portal of evil they want it to be.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Thornhaven Manor – S08E10
• Ghost Adventures – Myrtles Plantation – S09E02
• Ghost Adventures – Silent Movie Theater – S14E05
• Ghost Adventures – Heritage Junction – S09E06
• Paranormal Lockdown – Anderson Hotel – S01E02
• Ghost Adventures – Lizzie Borden House – S05E05
• Ghost Adventures – Texas Horror Hotel – S10E11
• American Horror Story
• Haunted Collector – Bare Bones and Octagon Haunting – S02E08
• Haunted Collector – Firestarter and Haunted Museum – S02E10

Ok seriously, the theatrics have got to stop they’re annoying the shit out of me!!!

For this investigation the guys visit the Missouri State Prison which was dubbed the Bloodiest 47 Acres in History. Prison shouldn’t be a cake walk, but that seems pretty desperate. The prison was extremely violent with plenty of inmate violence as well as sending 40 prisoners to the gas chamber. It’s also reported that an epidemic of some sort broke out at the prison and the hundreds who died where simply buried in a mass grave. That gravesite now has a parking lot over it. The prison was also known for it’s "Dungeon" level where prisoners where actually tortured. They were beaten, whipped, "water cured", chained up and left in total darkness. This does sound like a pretty damn brutal place.

While they capture the usual evidence of bumps, bangs and crappy EVPs, it’s the conversation they have with the Ovilus. Billy and Jay get a slew of very usual words like talking to the prisoners. For example, they get, Reverend, Information and Jesus. Then comes Change and Bible. This is followed by Demon. When Zak and Nick come back after their investigation it continues with Will, Twist, Men, Apart and See, Nick. I’m not really a fan of that box, but wow, that is a ton of words and some really usual ones too. The See, Nick is really odd since that happens right after Nick actually walks into the room.

Zak claims to feel all sorts of pains and sadness while down in the lower part of the prison and there is the sound of footsteps and banging all through the place. Hard to say what’s going on with those, but it is a prison, it’s creepy, it’s dark, so who knows.

The EVPs were quite weak and faint. Unlike the first episode where they seemed really clear, I couldn’t make out a single word from any of them. I don’t really agree with the "I ain’t breathin" that Zak hears as his chest is hurting, nor do I agree with the "Sorry" in the gas chamber. They just come across too garbled for me.

The final piece of evidence is something flying across the screen. It looks like some sort of spinning or twisting orb. It is odd, but I don’t know if it’s really "orb" evidence.

For this episode, the Ovilus is the most interesting. That is just a ton of words. Perhaps they’re completely random, but if not, it comes across as a very odd message. It could be taken as someone looking for redemption. They might be in trapped in Purgatory with the demons. It certainly paints a grim picture.

This prison sounds like a pretty heinous place and perhaps things went a little overboard during it’s day. I don’t know if there are trapped souls or not, but if there are, that is a pretty awful place to end up.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Alcatraz – S08E08
• Ghost Adventures – Wyoming Frontier Prison – S07E18
• Ghost Stalkers – Holmesburg Prison – S01E04
• Ghost Asylum – Missouri State Penitentiary – S03E04
• Ghost Adventures – Lechtworth Village – S05E06
• Ghost Adventures – Nevada State Prison – S12E10
• Ghost Adventures – Central Prison Unit in Sugarland Texas – S07E01
• Ghost Adventures – Washoe Club and Chollar Mine
• Ghost Adventures – Loretta Lynn’s Plantation – S05E06
• Paranormal Lockdown – Shrewsbury Prison – S02E02