ArtRojasDesign

For this episode, Zak, Nick and Aaron head to Chicago to investigate a nightclub with paranormal undertones and a cemetery alive with activity. But first, they have to get through the protest rally. Seems their timing is a little off and they arrive right in the middle of a NATO demonstration. Hunting for ghosts or fending off the police, which would make the more exciting episode?

The investigation starts off with Bachelor’s Grove, which is a sad story unto itself. What used to be a small cemetery with about 200 plots has been abandoned, giving way to vandalism, grave robbing and even reports of Satanic worship. Almost all of the headstones have been smashed and knocked over. The area has supposedly been used for dumping bodies by the Mob. Overall, a place that should be treated with respect is getting no such thing.

Many people report having experiencing such as seeing shadow figures, people walking around, and taking photos of unknown animals lurking in the growth. This is also the location of the famous/infamous photo of the apparition sitting on the grave stone.

With the help of the local police and park service, who guard the perimeter, the guys head in to see if they can substantiate any of the claims. They are immediately on the trail of some sort of floating orb that dances through the forest. While they crash through the growth, breaking twigs, crushing leaves and making plenty of noise, this ball of light moves effortlessly along without making a sound. The officers report that no one is in the park except them.

So what do we have here? Is this an orb of energy leading them out of the cemetery so they don’t disturb the spirits? Or is this a lightning but or something similar just floating around? Was there someone else out there hiding in the growth just trying to mess with them? There is certainly something there, but a fuzzy ball of light out in the distance with no sense of scale does not a paranormal event make. Even Sergeant Joe says people claim to see orbs and as such he doesn’t seem at all surprised by their comments. But more investigation needs to be done on that one.

Besides the orb, they claim to pick up an EVP of "____ is coming" and when asked if they mind people in the cemetery they get a response supposedly referencing the ball of light they’ve been chasing.

With that investigation done, they head over to the Excalibur nightclub to investigate reports of people getting pushed, a girl wandering the third floor and a candle being lit that is too far out of reach for a normal person to be able to reach it.

The former manager claims to have seen the little girl roaming around. He encountered her after being told there was a girl lost in the upstairs of the club. A waitress at the club has felt hands at the back of her head while getting ready for work. And more than one person has been pushed down the stairs. The manager is certainly a believer, he doesn’t work there any more and wouldn’t spend the night there if he had to.

The guys try several experiments, even Zak standing near a ledge asking to be pushed, with no results. They aren’t able to get any EVPs, nor do they capture any physical evidence. However, both Zak and Nick almost fall down the stairs. They both claim to get disoriented and then almost immediately fall over. Zak is clearly falling backward in that typical slow motion replay they like to do. So what happened? Did Zak simply take a misstep while walking on the narrow stairs in the dark or did something actually come out to push him? Was it perhaps the little girl that has been seen? Was it the same thing that touched the waitress on the back of the head? Is the lack of evidence just wishful thinking in the paranormal?

In the end, I really wish the guys would have done more of an investigation in the cemetery. Considering all the claims surrounding the place, they barely scratched the surface. They didn’t do anything in regards to the headstone where the apparition was photographed, they didn’t do any real EVP sessions, they didn’t have their usual static cameras set up to capture the graves. I’m fine with them not capturing evidence, because I don’t believe every place they go and every claim they hear is part of a burning cauldron of the paranormal. But this episode feel short because they didn’t give it their best effort. There was so much more they could have done. Considering the vandalism and disrespect for this cemetery it’s entirely possible there are restless sprits who are down right pissed off at how they’re being treated. Their graves are getting dug up, their bones are being tossed on the ground, their markers are being smashed and a bunch of drunken teens are masquerading as Satanists. It’s enough to truly piss off the living. But did we capture evidence of the spirit world? I’m not sure sure.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Myrtles Plantation – S09E02
• Haunted Highway – Island of Lost Souls – S02E01
• Ghost Adventures – Loretta Lynn’s Plantation – S05E06
• Ghost Adventures – Crazy Town – S07E13
• Ghost Adventures – Commanders House – S16E12
• Ghost Adventures – The National Hotel – S06E04
• Haunted Highway – Louisiana Swamp Woman and Pioneer Cemetery – S01E05
• Ghost Adventures – Yost Theater and Ritz Hotel – S08E05
• Paranormal Cops – Stirring Up The Dead – S01E03
• Ghost Adventures – The Queen Mary – S10E01

Is it the start of a new season or just picking up where the other left off? These days, it’s getting a little difficult to tell. But anyway, it’s a new episode and the guys are down in Sugarland, Texas visiting a recently closed prison facility.

As a complete aside, many years ago, back in my youth, I lived just outside of Sugarland. Texas, is indeed a different kind of place. They definitely believes in "bigger is better" and they believe is dishing out corporal punishment. It may be different now, but during my high school years there was no need to send you to the principals office for goofing around in class. Teachers had every right to deal with you as they saw fit. "The paddle" was the standard part of the learning process, so it’s easy to imagine that the prison system down there is no joke.

Zak, Nick and Aaron show up on the scene a mere 6 months after the prison has been closed. The details over the prison closing are a little sketchy, but it doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with poor treatment, overcrowding, violence or abuse. From the little news snippet, it sounds like the crime rate was going down and the budget for the prison was cut. It may be the first prison to close, but closing because of a dropping crime rate is a hell of a thing!

The nature and timing of the closing also means there is almost no access to information, witnesses, guards, inmates or anything of the like. There is a colossal amount of maybe associated with this place. They don’t have any evidence to support their investigation, nor do they even know what they might be looking for, but let’s just put that aside for the moment. What were they able to uncover about the place? Perhaps a blind investigation is better than preconceived notions about a place.

During the early years, prison labor was used instead of slave labor to harvest sugar cane. I have no doubt the work was horrible and the treatment poor. Then again, this is prison… But I digress. Zak did manage to find someone able to give his story and his son was incarcerated there. He said it was the worst prison he’d been in and he’d been in jail for 10 years including maximum security. Sadly, no details are given so we don’t know if this is because of the other inmates or the guards.

As the investigation starts Zak feels a cold spot and begins to measure EMF. It goes from a flat 0 up to nearly 4. At this time, and for some time after, Nick has a bizarre reaction. It looks like be becomes confused, disoriented, sick and despondent. He all but gives up on the investigation and has Billy take his place. Nick doesn’t become violent, but he’s clearly not himself. Zak says that an orb circled Nick and bounced off his head. While Zak is talking there is a supposed shadow figure that walks right behind him.

There could be something to this, but for the love of God, can we ditch the !@#$ing sound effects? That has become so grating and so irritating!

Is there someone walking behind Zak? Is it going after Nick? Did it cause the problems? Or do we just have the usual shadow play from the lights?

They bring out the Spirit Box and get "in there" and "he’s hurt". Is this referring to a prisoner or to Nick? Is there more to this story?

The team breaks away from the main hall where they’ve been for the whole investigation with Aaron heading down to the shower area. He hears a lot of banging and gets the word "Goodbye" on the Ovlius and a shaking of the camera. The banging on the pipes would be nothing new in a place like that, and I hate that damn Ovlius thing, but what about the shake? Unforeseen animal, or unforeseen force?

Right at the end, Zak is trying to sell the idea that what he’s seeing on the thermal imager is a window into a portal. He says the swirling colors and undulating movement are people and we’re getting a glimpse into their world. Zak, what in the hell are you talking about? Maybe some of this stuff doesn’t translate over, but it sounded like Zak was just making crap up. I saw blobs on the thermal, but nothing that looked like a "void". Egads man, come back to earth!

I know Nick had some issues with this investigation, but when all is said and done this whole thing left me scratching my head. They’re investigation a recently closed prison for basically no good reason, or at least not for any story that anyone has offered. They go to visit "Old Sparky" the notorious electric chair that has killed over 300 men, and no exactly on the first try either, but don’t grab any real evidence there. They get a couple of cold spots and some readings that hit 3.7. Overall, I can’t see why they’re claiming this is some paranormal hotspot. Sure, Nick had some sort of episode, but are we saying this is some sort of possession or that a evil spirit grafted itself onto him? Additionally, the guys barely moved from one spot. They made camp in that main area and only Aaron actually went somewhere else. From my cozy spot on the couch, this investigation went no where.

I would love to see them go back again, but it doesn’t look like that will happen. Not only is the prison closing, but the city is wasting no time in tearing the place down. It will probably be reduced to rubble within months. I’m sure a Texas prison is no picnic, nor should it be, but this place doesn’t stand out as a paranormal location. Not every place has to haunted, I’m fine with that, and even expect it, but let’s not make something out to be more than it is.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Paranormal Lockdown – Shrewsbury Prison – S02E02
• Ghost Adventures – Missouri State Prison – S08E04
• Ghost Adventures – Linda Vista Hospital
• Ghost Adventures – Dead Men Walking – S07E08
• Ghost Adventures – Wyoming Frontier Prison – S07E18
• Ghost Stalkers – Holmesburg Prison – S01E04
• Ghost Adventures – Nevada State Prison – S12E10
• Ghost Adventures – Crazy Town – S07E13
• Ghost Adventures – Return to Linda Vista Hospital – S06E05
• Ghost Adventures – Hellhole Prison – S12E07

For this episode, the guys are in their own back yard, hanging out at the Riviera Hotel to investigate none other than Frank Sinatra. They head up to his Penthouse apartment with Vince Neil, poker champion Jamie Gold, and Bruce Westcott, Frank Sinatra’s personal pianist. An interesting rag tag band don’t you think?

There is little doubt that in it’s initial days, Vegas was mob run and there are a lot of skeletons buried out there. Literally. It seems like they’re trying to link some mob activity with their current investigation. I have no doubt that some gamblers were taught a lesson when they tried to cheat the house or couldn’t pay a debt, but those stories don’t seem to have much relevance to the investigation at hand. Their focus is Frank and his penthouse. I sometimes wonder where they’re going with these side stories.

But anyway, the goal is to have a bit of a party in the penthouse (why else would Vince bring those "ladies") and see if Frank’s energy is still around. What do you think, was Frank having a drink and enjoying the music?

To be honest, this episode was a little off to me. I know they wanted Vince and his "ladies" in there for the party atmosphere, but the whole thing seemed a little brain dead to me. Why are they trying to connect with Frank Sinatra specifically? Was there some event or sighting that got them on this track? With all the mob related events, there would be plenty to investigate and look into. I kind of felt like this was all about pulling in celebrities and showing off who Zak knows in the entertainment world. I didn’t feel like they had a direction with this one. It was an interesting idea, but I think they could have done better.

Anyway, what do have for this episode? Really the only thing that seemed to happen was the REM pod going off. There were some "scratches" on the back of one of the girls, but when you’re wandering around in the dark anything can happen. She could have bumped into something for all we know. Considering how scared they were making themselves, she could have caused that through nervous tension.

Vince’s emotional reaction, as though having a heart attack (trying to make a tie in to the vague information they got from Coroner), seemed to be more alcohol related than anything else. It sounded like he was slurring his words when talking about the room number. Hard to say if he was having a reacting to something in the room or something related to his drink. There were so many outside factors at play, it’s hard to say what was going on.

Overall, this episode was a let down. It came across as a glamour episode. It was a bit too Hollywood and nonsensical for me. I’m sure there were better stories they could have followed up on.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Return to the Riviera – S12E04
• Ghost Adventures – Old Town San Diego – S05E03
• Deep South Paranormal – I Fear That Train A Comin – S01E01
• Paranormal Cops- Messages from Beyond – S01E06
• Ghost Adventures – Portland Oregon – Shanghai Tunnels – S06E01
• Ghost Adventures – The Copper Queen Hotel and The Oliver House – S06E03
• Haunted Towns – McDonough GA – S01E08
• Ghost Adventures – Virginia City – S05E07
• Ghost Adventures – Myrtles Plantation – S09E02
• Ghost Adventures – Old Fort Erie – S04E12