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Ghost Adventures heads out to Jerome Arizona to investigate the Jerome Grand Hotel which used to be a hospital for the miners and others who lived the area over a hundred years ago. It treated patients with tuberculosis as well as the regular injuries associated with working in mines. There are claims that a patient a day passed away at the hospital and that the death toll could be as high as 9,000.

I was really interested in this episode because I’ve actually been to Jerome and stood in front of this very hotel. However, I had no idea about its past or that it had any connection with the paranormal. A good friend of mind lives in Arizona and this was one of the places we visited while going through Jerome and Sedona up to Boot Hill and Tombstone. Now I obviously need to plan another trip and make a return visit to the area. I have to say though I certainly got no air of paranormal activity when we were there. We spent the day there taking photos of the buildings the landscape and got no sense that paranormal activity was close by. There certainly wasn’t any marketing to the idea. I think the Haunted Hamburger was the biggest hint of paranormal we saw.

But on with the investigation.

Besides the deaths from the hospital there are several reported suicides among employees. Two maintenance workers committed suicide, but not before claiming to see apparitions and other paranormal events. They both talked about what they had seen and shortly thereafter took their own lives.

There is also a report of Claude Harvey who was killed near an elevator shaft. There is a tape outline of him on the floor where he passed and by the looks of things his head would have been removed by lowering elevator. Pretty grim stuff. But some say his death was on purpose and was covered up by the mining company.

They talk with Lonnie Anderson (no not the one from WKRP) but a man who works in the smaller building that used to be part of the hospital. He makes furniture and admittedly doesn’t go into the main building unless he has to. He hasn’t had specific experiences but he does feel things when he goes in there. He also feels he saw something moving around in there. He also feels that entities are in the building and that they have followed him home a few times. Lonnie also talked with one of the maintenance men about his experiences. Shortly thereafter, that man, Michael, took his own life. Was he troubled by the spirits in the buildings or the demons in his own life? Sad either way.

Zak wants Lonnie to come along for the investigation so they go talk to his wife Renee and she relays several experiences they’ve had in their house. She has felt forces and feels they have even blocked her from moving around from time to time. She isn’t scared of them, but she does think their place is full of activity and that they do in fact follow her husband.

As they gear up for the first part of the investigation they now have cameras mounted on to their shoulders. Egad, it’s taken this long for someone to come up with the head of some sort of camera that’s pointed the same way as the investigators? However, it would make more sense for it to be on their heads or foreheads so that it would actually move as they move their heads, but I guess this is a step in the right direction even if it is a tiny one.

The guys head off to the elevator shaft to see if they can communicate with Claude. They supposedly get the voice of a woman asking for them to listen and give her help. That is really all that happens during this first part, it is quite subdued.

For the second part they head to the smaller building where Lonnie works and bring him into the investigation. Right as they start there is a very loud bang as though a door was slammed, but it wasn’t captured so we really have no idea what happened. The part to note here is that Zak is wearing a new jacket they’ve come up with that has sensors throughout it that detect temperature fluctuations as well as EMF readings. By accident Zak proves that it can be triggered by their walkie-talkies. It’s not bad, it just means it can go off by coming into contact with ordinary, everyday things.

After the scare with the door slamming they split up and go to different parts of the old building. Aaron goes to the old morgue, Nick goes to the second floor while Zak and Lonnie try to talk to Michael, one of the maintenance guys who committed suicide.

Aaron feels that he is being watched and that people are circling him, checking him out. Nick says he saw a black mass and went after it. He says he feels cold and numb. Zak and Lonnie feel cold and Lonnie feels a pain in his leg as they try to talk to Michael. There is the sound of another door closing or some other bump while they talk.

Aaron eventually calls out so Zak and Lonnie go to find him. He’s all worked up over feeling watched. They go get Nick and head to the attic. I’m not sure why they head to the attic (I suppose the spirit ran in there) but up they go and while panning the area there is some sort of blob that rises on the screen. Zak firmly believes it to be some spirit orb rather than any sort of air pocket, rising gas or heat bubble.

Overall I don’t think the guys really caught that much. A slamming door here and there doesn’t mean too much. They got one supposed EVP and that isn’t really compelling. I certainly love the place they went to, I’m actually quite jealous. But is the Grand Hotel haunted? Is it full of spirits? I’m inclined to say no, but I wouldn’t mind staying there myself to find out for sure.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Mizpah Hotel – S05E02
• Ghost Adventures – Crazy Town – S07E13
• Ghost Adventures Documentary
• Ghost Adventures – Return to Linda Vista Hospital – S06E05
• Paranormal Lockdown – St. Ignatius Hospital – S02E04
• Ghost Adventures – The Stanley Hotel – S04E05
• Paranormal Challenge – Jerome Grand Hotel – S01E12
• Ghost Adventures – Linda Vista Hospital
• Ghost Adventures – Hotel Leger – S16E05
• Ghost Adventures – Tuolumne Hospital – S08E03

Zak and the crew are in Salem, Massachusetts to look into the Salem Witch Trials, perhaps ground zero for paranormal activity. Out of all the places they’ve visited I think this would rank at the top of the places I would like to visit myself. The entire history seems almost too fantastic to believe. It’s hard to imagine such hysteria could exist, but as we’ve seen, when people get worked persuasion and suggestion become overwhelmingly powerful. I honestly could write pages about this place and my thoughts on it, but we need to stick to the investigation.

Zak, Nick and Aaron are investigating Salem Witch House which is the location of the trials and the hangings themselves. I find it very interesting that they had to get permission from the city council to actually film there. Salem markets the witch angle, but they are still fearful and embarrassed about their dark past. Perhaps they were concerned the Crew would actually uncover something?

It’s pretty funny watching Zak running around the streets of the city looking for witches. Well, it’s embarrassingly funny. I do like the witches on the Segways though. The new age broom so to speak.

Zak is desperately looking for a witch and finds one in a craft shop. She is willing to help them with the investigation and gets Christian Day to attend their lockdown. They meet up in the house and hold a ritual to communicate with the spirits. They get things underway by bringing out the Spirit Box and get several voices talking to them. They claim they’re talking to Bridget Bishop (who was hanged for witchcraft) and she claims her innocence to them. Is it interesting or suspect that this is the voice they would claim to get? Maybe a little too convenient? But then again … what if???

They guys also have another assistant, Max, from a local paranormal group who comes in to help them. The Spirit Box continues to get voices and they bring out the PK meter to show temperature fluctuations and changes in EMF readings. They claim to see things, capture voices and even get a phantom smell in the room.

I’m sure it’s all pretty damn exciting considering where they are. But for me, the evidence was pretty dodgy. I just don’t like these devices. It’s hard to have confidence that they are capturing real voices. But they were in Salem so I still found the episode fascinating. I don’t think they really captured too much, but the location alone makes this one fun to watch.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Haunted History – Salem Witch Trials – S01E07
• Salem – S01E01
• Haunted Towns – Salem – S01E02
• The Next Chapter of Sleepy Hollow Begins
• Whitechapel Season 4
• American Horror Story – Coven – Season 3
• Abuse of child ‘witches’ on rise
• Ghost Adventures – Yost Theater and Ritz Hotel – S08E05
• Paranormal State – Shadow Caster – S04E09
• Ghost Adventures – Sacramento Tunnels – S04E23