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Let this episode be a reminder that drinking and interviewing don’t always mix. Zak has one hell of a time doing shots at the Hotel and may have gotten slightly carried away. You never know though, was he really doing shots or as Nick suggest, where they just drinking root beer for the effect of it all? Either way, it makes for some amusing moments as Zak gets his drink on then tries to keep it all together and gets down to business.

The hotel is known for quite a bit of paranormal activity such as, bottles on the bar move, lights go on and off, and a woman felt a spirit go through her. A young girl died and a bed was made as a memorial to her. That bed was brought to the hotel when the owners wanted to get rid of it because of the experiences they were having. People feel the presence of Isadora Bandini, who opens the curtains to the window in her room, adjusts a large mirror in the corner and leaves indentations on the bed. There is a lot of activity, but there aren’t a lot of corresponding dark events. There aren’t stories of people being killed or mistreatment of servants. There just seems to be activity around the place without a root cause.

So, after Zak sobers up we get on with the investigation. They start things off in the Casa de Estudillo where they get a few experiences, but not much else in the way of tangible evidence. They all have a heavy feeling when they enter certain rooms as well as several knocks and the sounds of footsteps.

The investigation moves on to the Hotel where they bring in some dancers to get the party started. Senor Bandini loved a good party so perhaps he will come out to join them. Zak believes he hears some singing, but there isn’t an obvious connection to the dancers and Bandini. When the guys split up Zak brings out the Ovilus and gets several words like Mandy, Rose, Vase and Digging. Again, it doesn’t quite translate into anything solid.

Overall they get a few hard to define EVPs, some footsteps and a general feeling that someone is there. Did they actually capture the spirit of Bandini as he continues to oversee parties in the hotel? Hard to say. What we do know if that Zak had one heck of a good time and hung out with some of his fans.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Paranormal State S04E03 – Dead Legends
• Ghost Adventures – The Riviera – S06E07
• Ghost Adventures – The Stanley Hotel – S04E05
• Ghost Adventures – Crazy Town – S07E13
• Ghost Adventures – Texas Horror Hotel – S10E11
• Ghost Adventures – Hill View Manor S04E06
• Ghost Adventures – Mizpah Hotel – S05E02
• Paranormal State – Paranormal Detour – S05E07
• Ghost Adventures – Jerome Grand Hotel – S04E20
• Ghost Adventures – Goldfield Hotel – S04E16

For this adventure the guys head out to the Mizpah Hotel, a location they’ve been trying to investigate for years. They’ve continually asked for permission, but have always been turned down. Why do they want to check it out so badly? From Nick himself this is the place where he saw one of his first apparitions. He’d been interested in the paranormal, but when he saw a blue orb moving back and forth between rooms he wanted to learn and see more. Now they have the chance to come in and see what dwells within this old hotel from early mining days.

The legends state that multiple deaths occurred at the hotel. The Lady in Red was murdered in the halls, men were killed after allegedly stealing money from the vault downstairs and even a Senator was found dead in bathtub full of ice. There have certainly been some strange occurrences. Do Zak, Nick and Aaron get to the bottom of them?

As they try to make contact with the Lady in Red they get some usual activity where Aaron hears something, but Zak doesn’t. Zak is asking her name and says she shouldn’t just be known as the Lady in Red. When they check into it, they discover the words were only caught on Aaron’s recorder. Was the response only meant for Aaron? It’s not something you can make out clearly, but there is a sound there. We might have been on the verge of knowing who she was.

As the investigation continues, they get more EVPs in the hallway as well as the sound of footsteps. Nick feels something brush past him as it moves down the hall. The follow the voices and finally decide to split up to cover as much of the building as possible at the same time. Aaron heads down to the basement where he has some odd experiences with the elevator. In watching him, it looks like the elevator opens without anyone pressing the buttons. Is someone inviting Aaron in? Strangely, he walks right on in. An elevator opening isn’t that big a deal, except this one isn’t supposed to work anymore. With Aaron inside, he begins to talk and ask questions. When he asks if the spirit will open the doors and let him out, the doors do indeed open. In reviewing the footage, there is also a supposed black figure darting around just outside the elevator. It’s hard to say if the elevator is really reacting to Aaron or if it’s actually broken to the point of the doors opening unexpectedly. Either way, that whole scene smacks of something from Stephen King and I’m not too confident I would just go walking in there.

The next usual thing is the wood experiment Zak has going on upstairs in the hallway. He’s trying to make contact with the Senator and puts two boards together in an upside down V-shape. As he talks and tries to make contact, the boards topple over. There is no one around them and they do look pretty sturdy. But, how are we to know they just didn’t topple over? Zak anticipates my question, sets it up again, and goes even further to prove how sturdy they are by jumping around wildly right next to the boards. Sure enough, they stand firm. Based on that it’s hard to say they just fell over. And while we watch the footage the boards fall over again. Odd thing is they topple in the opposite direction as the first time. Is Zak capturing something walking through the hallway? On the one hand, that’s not exactly scientific and boards can just fall over. But, on the other, that’s cool as hell. Do we have a spirit wandering the halls and this is blatant proof? Like I said, I’m not sure what the deal is, but it’s cool.

Nick has some interesting experiences of his own on the 5th floor. He too is trying to make contact with the Senator, but instead gets a female voice on the recorder. Is this the kept woman or Lady in Red trying to talk to him?

Overall, they had some very interesting activity going on. It’s not just the captured voices, but also the boards falling and the unusual behavior of the elevator that has me intrigued. Is the elevator just shorting out or was someone trying to get Aaron’s attention? Did those boards just fall over on their own? Twice? Or did something interact with them? I’m not sure what’s going on, but it was highly entertaining. I love the old mining town investigations. There is just so much history and so many strange events that happened back then. Unfortunately, so many of the stories involve greed, corruption and death. But strangely, that also seems to make the spirits thrive.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – The National Hotel – S06E04
• Ghost Adventures – The Copper Queen Hotel and The Oliver House – S06E03
• Paranormal Lockdown – St. Ignatius Hospital – S02E04
• Ghost Adventures – Hotel Metlen – S13E07
• Ghost Adventures – Valentine’s Day Special – LongFellow’s Wayside Inn – S04E18
• Ghost Adventures – Linda Vista Hospital
• Ghost Adventures – Jerome Grand Hotel – S04E20
• Ghost Adventures – The Zozo Demon – S10E03
• Ghost Adventures – Heritage Junction – S09E06
• Haunted Collector – Haunted Rectory and Grand Midway Ghosts – S02E05

There has been some confusion over the numbering of the Ghost Adventures episodes. Season 4 had more episodes than previous seasons. From everything I read, this is Episode 1 of Season 5.

I loved this episode! I mean I really enjoyed the hell out of it! For the first five minutes, I couldn’t stop laughing. They were out in the middle of nowhere, there is a cow chained to a tree and Scott Kelly is standing by the old tree dressed as an undertaker. You can’t tell me that’s not the set up to a horror movie. And, just when I think that, Nick says it and rolls up the window. Scott is so calm and with the tone of his voice, you’re just waiting for him to do something sinister. That was awesome!

Here we have the guys investigating the Ashmore Estate, which sits 180 miles from Chicago with a population of 800. It used to be an alms farm to help out the poor and abandoned. From there it was turned into a psychiatric hospital. As you might expect the hospital had it owns problems. The patients had to suffer through poor living conditions and less than ideal treatment. It’s claimed that some of the patients were actually possessed. Over 100 people died on the property and the cemetery bears witness to lives lost.

In the present day, there are two distinct incidents of people getting attacked. In 2009, a meteorologist named Kevin Orpurt came to the estate on the day before Halloween to do a special for his new station. During the night as he was sitting in a chair he was violently thrown down onto the floor and the force of the impact broke his shoulder. After that, he says he wasn’t himself and had nightmares. Was he the victim of a spiritual attack?

Then there is Bret Smock who was attacked on the stairs when they held a haunted house event at the estate in 2008. He felt something go through him and right after felt violence towards the people at the haunted house. His job was to hold a shovel and bang it around. He claims he felt like hitting people in the head with it. His family also says there was a change where he would scream during the night and have conversations with people who weren’t really there.

There seems to be plenty of things going on, what does GAC gather as evidence? Zak uses the Spirit Box to try to and communicate and gets the name "Adam". Adam seems to laugh at death. There is also the sound of a woman screaming. The voices continue to come through and lead the guys to the "upper" floor. For reasons I don’t understand, Zak then turns off the Spirit Box and starts using the digital recorder. Seems like he should have stuck with the box since it was talking to them. They hear lots of bangs and footsteps and the sound of someone coming down a ladder. It sounds like all sorts of stuff is happening.

They split up and each go to a separate floor. Nick feels like someone is scratching him, while Zak feels like someone is squeezing or pulling on his leg. There is even a voice that says, "don’t you dare touch him". Aaron is in the stairwell where Bret was pushed and he’s trying to provoke the spirits. He’s already felt something pressing down on his spine so he’s looking for more of the same.

After they regroup they get the EVPs, "don’t bring that shit down here" and "you’re gonna pay". They also capture a shadow using the digital camera. The shadow is a little dodgy for me, just because shadows really can be anything when it comes to photography. But, it does sound like they were getting plenty of responses and things were happening all around them. They didn’t get much in the way of physical evidence, but there seem to be a hell of a lot of voices out there. I’m not a huge fan of the Spirit Box, but if you believe what it says, they were having conversations with all sorts of spirits. The spirits don’t necessarily sound evil, but it does sound like they want to be left alone. They aren’t too welcoming to visitors. Quite frankly, it sounds like the perfect place to have a haunted house.

Again, I enjoyed this episode immensely and think we got a glimpse of a pretty active place.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Remington Arms
• Ghost Adventures – USS Hornet – S04E08
• Ghost Adventures – Sacramento Tunnels – S04E23
• Ghost Adventures – Lizzie Borden House – S05E05
• Ghost Adventures – La Palazza Mansion – S04E09
• Ghost Adventures – Hauntings of Vicksburg – McRaven Mansion – Part 1
• Ghost Asylum S01E01
• Ghost Adventures – The Exorcist House – S08E07
• Ghost Adventures – Winchester Mystery House – S05E04
• Ghost Stalkers – Whisperers Estate – S01E01

At least I think this is episode 6 of a new season. It’s sort of hard to tell where one ended and the other started. I’ve been completely off in my numbering so maybe this will straighten things out.

The team heads out to Loretta Lynn’s Plantation in Hurricane Mills Tennessee to investigate a series of paranormal claims by multiple people. Apparently the activity has been going on for 40 years, basically the entire time Loretta has owned the plantation. Some of the paranormal activity includes:

Loretta saw a woman in white on the balcony of her home wringing her hands and crying.

A tour guide was pushed down the stairs while trying to adjust some albums and pictures.

Loretta has heard footsteps on the stairs and so has her granddaughter.

The granddaughter Megan has seen a figure at the foot of her bed.

Shadows have been seen in the mill house.

In the Brown Room Loretta’s son claimed he felt and a saw a Confederate Soldier taking his boots off.

It seems the house is charged with activity. And multiple people claim to have experiences. It seems like everyone who works there has seen the woman in white – the wife of JT Anderson who lost her baby and died less than two weeks later. Multiple people also claim to see Confederate soldiers wandering around the property.

The property does have a link to the Civil War since many troops camped on the grounds and there was a small battle that took place. The Anderson Cemetery is located on the property and a slave pit used to make up the basement. So all in all there is a lot going on and Loretta’s home has a long history of battles, slavery and several deaths.

So what do we get from the investigation?

Zak starts things off with the Ovilus II which offers up the words "Must" "Kill" "Sixty" which Zak and Nick associated with killing sixty men in the mill house. It’s an interesting phrase to be sure. They also get a series of words such as "Dig" "Ground" "Lot" and "Manifest" which Zak and Nick interpret as they need to go to the cemetery so that JT Anderson can manifest. The device is throwing out words left and right so the guys rush over to the cemetery to where this trail leads.

Once there they get more words such as "Save", "Two", "Moan", "Seen" and "Brown" and draw the conclusion that JT Anderson tried to save his wife and daughter. He is also admitting to being seen in the Brown Room. That is a lot of wild connections but it sort of makes sense, but it’s really molding the data to support your conclusion.

Like some sort of scavenger hunt they head back into the house and break out a parabolic dish. It’s an interesting choice as Zak begins to pick up all sorts f phrases like "I hear them… I hear them coming" and the sound of footsteps. As Zak asks if someone is up there he claims to get "I need to go downstairs".

Everything seems to be leading them into the Brown Room, which is supposedly the hotspot of activity, but when they get there not much happens. Things are surprisingly quiet in this area.

With that part of the investigation over the guys split up with Aaron going to the slave pit while Zak and Nick go to the Mill House. Not much happens with Aaron but Zak claims to get the name Loretta Lynn when he asks who owns the land.

It was certainly a lively interview and it’s interesting to see Loretta Lynn discussing her experiences and being open about them. I’m not sure how I feel about that Ovilus device. I have my doubts about the validity. And the EVPs? Well, as always, hard to decipher and certainly open to interpretation. But a fun episode none the less. I think they did a good job of capturing the history of the place.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Paranormal Lockdown – Anderson Hotel – S01E02
• Paranormal Lockdown – Bellaire House – S02E06
• Paranormal Lockdown – Statler City Hotel – S02E07
• Ghost Stalkers – Wheatlands Plantation – S01E05
• Ghost Adventures – USS Hornet – S04E08
• Paranormal Lockdown – Franklin Castle – S01E03
• Ghost Adventures – Missouri State Prison – S08E04
• Paranormal Lockdown – Monroe House – S02E01
• Haunted Collector – Spirits of Gettysburg and Headless Horseman – S03E06
• Ghost Adventures – Old Fort Erie – S04E12