ArtRojasDesign

Zak and the team head out to Sonora, California to investigate the Tuolumne Hospital which is claimed to have plenty of paranormal activity. Sonora, is a former gold rush town and the Tuolumne hospital was set up shortly thereafter. So, does this hospital that recently closed in 2011 contain a lot of spirit energy? Zak certainly thinks so.

As they start their interviews, Zak gets a splitting headache that he attributes to feeling the residual pain of some sort of head trauma. When he goes outside, the pain seems to disappear. Kristy, a former employee has her own tale of feeling touched when she was working in the hospital. We also have Ed, the retired maintenance engineer who feels pretty comfortable with the spirits that linger in the hospital, so much so that’s he’s given the name George to one of the familiar entities. Ed doesn’t feel George is a hostile spirit, but he does like to play some pranks from time to time.

The guys capture some interesting evidence, with most of the attention on the Xbox Kinect footage. Billy set up a CPR mannequin on a hospital bed, with IV stand and other medical equipment around it. Oddly, the Kinect shows some soft of figure on the side of the bed, seemingly touching the CPR model and the IV stand. The Kinect represents people as wireframes and it looks like the right arm is moving all over the place. Obviously, we can’t see anything, but the Kinect detects something is in the room. Nick move the mannequin out of the way and tries the experiment on himself. After a while he feels something cold, then that wireframe figure appears again and Nick jumps off the bed holding this stomach and side as though he’s been hit.

I’m not sure what that proves, but you have to ask, what the heck was it? Is the Kinect sensor capable of picking up spirit energy? Was there really something there? Is there spirit energy still working as a doctor or nurse in the hospital? It doesn’t seem like this is a software glitch since, as Zak mentions, it can track Billy when he comes into the room and it didn’t do the same thing when Nick was laying down on the table. So I really have to wonder what we saw. And by the same token, was the energy trying to help or harm Nick?

Other evidence includes, in my opinion, some sub-par EVPs. They are nowhere near as clear as those we heard in the previous two episodes. When Zak asks what the figure tracked by the Kinect was doing, the reply is "help patient". But it follows this up with, "now get out". Odd for a nurse or doctor to try and help then tells everyone to get out. They also get and EVP of the word "George", the name Ed gave to the spirit he believes is there. Since that’s obviously not his real name, is it simply trying to identify itself by the name they already know?

Another piece of evidence is the monitor getting pushed over. While still in the hospital room, the EMF detector they left on the chest of the CPR model goes off, then there is a loud crash, which they find out is monitor that has fallen over. Supposedly it’s pretty sturdy, as most monitors are, so how did it fall over? They didn’t appear to "rig it up" with duct tape or anything, so did something really push it? Is the hospital staff getting pissed off at their game of pretending to be hurt or is there something a touch more vengeful in there? Or, did the monitor simply fall on it’s own with no otherworldly influence?

Finally, while Aaron is in the mental ward of the hospital, he get a recording of "please don’t help me". Again, this one is pretty jumbled, but it’s still an odd thing to say. Why would someone in that ward not want help? Or as with so many of these, is that not what was said?

While a hospital will always have a past filled with traumatic events, there is nothing about this one that stands out from any other. It’s not like they did weird experiments or had abusive staff. So why should it be haunted? Does the evidence suggest that it is? The EVPs they captured in this one don’t add to much for me. The Kinect is interesting, but who knows what we’ve got going on there. And again, way too many useless theatrics to try and make the location and the evidence more sinister than they really are.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Return to Linda Vista Hospital – S06E05
• Ghost Adventures – Tooele Hospital – S04E26
• Ghost Adventures – Black Dahlia House – S12E01
• Ghost Adventures – Hotel Leger – S16E05
• Paranormal Lockdown – St. Ignatius Hospital – S02E04
• Ghost Adventures – Asylum 49 – S14E11
• Ghost Adventures – Linda Vista Hospital
• Ghost Adventures – Prospect Place
• Paranormal Lockdown – Shrewsbury Prison – S02E02
• Ghost Adventures – Kennedy Mine – S16E03

Unfortunately, the useless and pointless dramatics continue, this time with distorted figures, a painting bleeding from it’s eyes and ridiculous reenactments with dismembered and bloodied soldiers. Is this really doing anything to sell the story? These cheap theatrics are really pretty sad.

But that being sad, Zak, Nick and Aaron head off to San Antonio, Texas to investigate the Black Swan Inn. It was established in 1867 as a small dairy plantation. And to try and make a connection to some paranormal activity, Zak points out it was the part of the site of the Battle of Salado, where 60 Mexicans soldiers were killed when they took on a Texas militia.

The claims are the house are a little unusual. Jo Ann, the owner of the property, says that women are touched sexually and she has been touched on the inner thigh. There are also reports of a shadow figure with glowing red eyes as reported by Jo Ann’s daughter.

An extremely odd claim comes from Viktor Salazar who says he heard a voice say, "I’ll hurt you", "I’ll kill you." This was followed by a crushing pressure inside his body. The story goes deeper in that Viktor went to the hospital right after his visit to the Inn and had to have his gallbladder removed. Oddly, it was twisted and crushed. But that’s not all. After that was over he suffered a stroke. He, and his wife believe this is the work of the spirits that wander the grounds of the Inn. Is Viktor simply in poor health with some previously unknown medical conditions or did an angry spirit reach into him and cause him harm?

Like the previous investigation we actually get some decent EVPs this time around. Zak asks multiple questions and get responses that actually make sense.

When asked how many spirits are in the house, he gets the answer of "8".

When he asks for the name of someone in the house, he gets the response "Madison", the name of Jo Ann’s daughter.

Zak asks which battle occurred on the land and gets a response of "which one". Apparently the Battle of Salado isn’t the only bloodshed seen on this land?

And oddly, right as the investigation starts there is the sound of heavy footsteps walking across the floor above them. And to be honest, it’s really hard to discount those. It really does sound like someone in boots walking across the floor. But they don’t find anyone and don’t capture anything about it.

Jo Ann’s mother passed away in the house 6 months earlier and like Houdini, she set up a code word with her mother to know it was her. Zak and Jo Ann try to make contact and according to Jo Ann, she hears the word she’s been waiting for. Bossier was the name of the town her mother wanted to visit before she died. The word is pretty hard to hear, but Jo Ann is quite convinced it’s what she’s been waiting for.

As far as negative energy goes, nothing really comes across. There are the footsteps, but they don’t get the hostility that Viktor experienced. There is no "I hate you", or "I’ll kill you" or any other threats. They don’t capture any shadow figures or get a sense of darkness around the house. They believe the dark energy the others have experienced is a Texan who may have died in the battle with the Mexican or may be a survivor who was bitter toward the battle and the attempt to take the land. But unfortunately they aren’t able to prove anything. Also, there is no touching that would match the original claims made by Jo Ann.

So is there a dark energy in the house? At least one thing can be debunked. The shadow figure with the red eyes is more than likely a rat, or series of rats that have made a home in Madison’s bedroom. They capture the little devils on the night vision camera. This would also explain the pinches and bruises she received. It also proves there are animals in the house which may account for lots of other experiences and noises.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Battle of Perryville Field Hospital – S08E11
• Ghost Adventures – Commanders House – S16E12
• Ghost Adventures – Haunted Victorian Mansion – S08E06
• Haunted Towns – Fall River MA – Lizzie Borden House – S01E07
• The Dead Files – Terror in the Shadows – S01E03
• Haunted Highway – Darkman of Standing Rock and Blackstar Shadow Man – S01E02
• Deep South Paranormal – Got Them Lady In Black Blues – S01E03
• Ghost Adventures – Hotel Metlen – S13E07
• Paranormal State S04E04 – Boy Pushed Me
• Ghost Adventures – Mackay Mansion – S13E02