ArtRojasDesign

It’s been some time since I’ve been able to get back to watching and working with shows like Ghost Adventures. The holiday season was really busy and I had a lot of things occupying my time; all good things though. But I’ve managed to find some time to watch this episode and write down some of my thoughts like I normally do.

Zak, Nick and Aaron head out to Seattle to investigate Kell’s Irish Pub which used to be a funeral home owned by ER Butterworth. Mr. Butterworth was the first established funeral director in the area and was on site as the growing mining accidents and disease of the area brought him plenty of work. So much work in fact that he really didn’t pay attention to where the bodies came from. The death toll was rising so Butterworth simply prepared the bodies for incineration and accepted his disposal fee. But his less than honorable dealings led him to hook up with Linda Hazzard who was a doctor who felt the best way to cure a disease was to starve the patient. She and Butterworth were brought up on charges when a family sued because Butterworth incinerated the body but displayed a different corpse at a funeral. It’s hard to say if Butterworth was dealing in or profiting off murder but a lot of signs point that way. It certainly sounds like the scandal that would make for a lot of unrest.

But does Kell’s Irish Pub have all the makings of a haunted location? Zak certainly thinks so and declares the place to be haunted even before the investigation has begun. He is firmly convinced there is a lot of energy there and that the spirits will speak to him. Way to stay objective guys.

Kell’s claims to have glasses that fall, a mirror that broke itself, a photograph of a face caught in the window, people see hands clawing at the window and that a little girls wanders around the bar. They really don’t speak about her or why she might be there though.

As the investigation begins the team heads out with a new toy called the Digital Field Processor which is supposed to visually represent voices on an EQ as they’re captured. It sounds like an interesting idea, but just to say it that device looks like it could easily be manipulated.

But on with the investigation. Zak claims to hear many voices and captures a picture what he feels is a child sitting on the stairs. I think that’s a bit of a stretch. I think you might be going out on a limb to say that blob is a child. I don’t think it’s very well defined at all and could just as easily be your brain trying to make out a pattern. Interesting, but a bit of a reach for me. And the follow up EVP of "Looking for my child" is a bit of a reach too. As they even admit, they hear what they think is "child" and fill in the blanks. That seems a bit dodgy.

Then they bring in the owner Karen for help during an EVP session. What I find funny is that just like the Vallisca House when there is an outsider listening in nothing seems to happen. The activity comes to an end and the EVP they get is really weak. This is starting to seem a little strange to me.

As they continue they move to the Bar Area and Aaron heads to the 3rd and 4th floors by himself. I have to say very little happens for this part. And as a matter of fact there doesn’t seem to be any real activity during this investigation at all. There were certainly no figures at the window, no glass hitting the floor, no smashing mirrors or any of the multiple claims that seem to go on. They hear some footsteps but let’s be honest this is a public building on a main street hearing footsteps wouldn’t be out of the ordinary at all. I can’t really say that anything they captured would really be considered paranormal. The voices make no sense, they’re filling in the blanks for what they hear and none of the claims by the owners come to pass.

This is one of the creepy stories full of legend and mystery. Who knows what really happened. Did the wrong bodies get buried? Were people murdered for the cash? The legend is by all means fascinating but the evidence is less than compelling…

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Killer Nightlife – S07E15
• Ghost Adventures – Titanic Museum – S15E12
• Paranormal Lockdown – Bellaire House – S02E06
• The Dead Files – Death and Dolls – S01E04
• Ghost Adventures – Yost Theater and Ritz Hotel – S08E05
• Ghost Adventures – Haunted Victorian Mansion – S08E06
• Ghost Mine – Wandering Spirit – S02E04
• Ghost Adventures – Tor House – S07E10
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Masada/The Leprechaun S03E10
• Haunted Highway – Manchac Swamp and Moonville Tunnel – S02E02

For this investigation, the GA team heads to a location I’ve never heard of before, the Vallisca Ax Murders house, which was a very grizzly murder scene back in 1912. An entire family was murdered in the home for unknown reasons by a person who has never been caught. 6 children and 2 adults were beaten to death with an axe right after they came home from church. It’s so shocking it’s almost hard to believe.

It’s a small house that seems to sit in a normal community. But as Zak finds out, the house seems restless and those who are familiar with it feel completely overwhelmed by what lurks inside. Zak also interviews other investigators who feel the house is covered in a dark energy. The investigators have been scratched and reportedly got a voice saying the spirit lurking in the house is named "Legion".

As Zak conducts his interviews, he talks with two sisters who used to live in the house (tell me that doesn’t make your hair stand on end). They claim to have heard children’s voices and that they felt a presence while they lived there. While talking they head upstairs to the bedrooms where Zak is greeted by a clown doll he can’t get away from. He can’t even look at the blasted thing! But on a serious note, as they stand in the bedroom Linda begins to have a mild breakdown. She is overwhelmed with emotion and grief and doesn’t want to be in the house. Oddly, her sister who is downstairs all but runs out of the house and begins to have a breakdown of her own. She hates being in the house and wants nothing more to do with it. We see her wandering the street trying to compose herself. Nothing actually happens, but she just can’t stand to be there.

They do a lot of digging into the background of the murder and find there were several suspects. There was a Reverend Kelly who actually confessed to the crime but the jury ignored the confession. There is also Andy Sawyer, but they were never able to prove anything against him. Quite frankly the events sound like Amityville and Lizzy Borden all rolled into one. There are several suspects, no witnesses, some mishandled evidence, no motive and clues that lead in all sorts of directions.

The guys even bring in an axe which they borrowed from the museum which could be the actual murder weapon. That is some pretty creepy business right there.

They also bring in Roy Marshall who has worked closely with the case for years. He is very well versed in the investigation and has even written a book about the subject. He is also a skeptic , but is interested in any additional information to solve the murders.

To start things off they go with an EVP session. Roy listens in for voices or other noises. Things are pretty uneventful, but when they decide to go over the recordings of the last hour while Roy is still there they feel they capture a voice saying "I killed six kids". It takes a long time to bring that to the surface and multiple people guessing, so it could just be filling in the blanks. Strangely with Roy there they get no EVPs, but once he is done for the night they seem to pick up.

One thing that they totally seemed to skip over was the sound of footsteps and then a door closing. This was caught clear as can be on the IR camera and I have to say it freaked me out completely. I am actually quite shocked at how nonchalant they were about the whole thing. They didn’t go check it out, didn’t try to debunk it, didn’t go up there and do an EVP session. They simply make note of it and move on. I mean that really looks like a door slamming shut for no reason.

Putting that piece of evidence aside they break out the spirit box and claim to get the name of Lena, the name of one of the murdered girls. They also get the name Paul, the name of one of the murdered boys. There is also a voice saying that "everyone’s fine". For a big finale they ask who the murderer was and they get a name of Andy. And Sawyer was a suspect. Is this all just wishful thinking or are they really getting words from beyond? Are the kids actually saying who murdered them?

At this point the guys split up and Aaron heads down to the cellar while Zak heads up to the attic with the axe. After wandering around in the attic, Zak props up the axe, then lays down beneath it, and demands the evil entity swing it at him. I will readily admit, that scared the crap out of me. Had that axe moved even a fraction I probably would have soiled myself. The tension of those couple of minutes was just about unbearable.

While up there they claim to get EVPs of "we’re gonna keep them in the dark", "cause they don’t step in heaven yet" and "yer gonna give up blood". Some odd and sinister phrases for kids to be blurting out if that is indeed what’s going on.

Down in the cellar, Aaron is talking to the kids and they say the bad man is upstairs. Is something upstairs with Nick and Zak? Is Zak lucky to be alive by taunting someone with that axe?

They bring the investigation to a close, and although there was no physical contact in any way there does seem to be a lot of stuff going on in the house. Did they really capture something? Things seemed quiet with Roy, but then picked up, so what does that tell us?

I really don’t know what to say about the evidence, but this was by far the creepiest and most exciting episode the guys have done in a long time. This was an on the edge of your seat investigation. If there was a location that needed more time, this was it.

But I have to say there is some disappointment too.

I have no idea why they didn’t investigate the door slamming upstairs since that to me was the biggest evidence of the night. I normally discount EVPs since they are so subjective and so easy to manipulate, but if the ones from this location are to be believed it gives me the chills. Could the children still be stuck in the house after all these years? Do they really know who killed them?

Honestly I wish they would have stuck around done more of an investigation. I really hope they come back to this one again someday. The place is absolutely fascinating and in a rare change I think they got some evidence that is worth a second look. There is a lot more to be investigated about this place.

This is by far the best episode of the season.

A bit of additional information in case you’re interested:

http://www.prairieghosts.com/villisca.html

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Fort Chaffee – S04E10
• Ghost Adventures – Rolling Hills Asylum – s04e02
• The Dead Files – Terror in the Shadows – S01E03
• Paranormal Cops – Stirring Up The Dead – S01E03
• Ghost Adventures – Amargosa Opera House – S04E11
• Ghost Adventures – Black Dahlia House – S12E01
• Paranormal State – Bedroom Eyes – S05E13
• Ghost Adventures – Sacramento Tunnels – S04E23
• Ghost Adventures – Washoe Club and Chollar Mine
• Ghost Adventures – Salem Witch House – S04E19