Viewing 1 - 10 out of 30 Blogs.

On Tuesday November 25, 2008 a lady and her sister came into my shop. They came in about 2 hours after Kurt had left from his sleep over in my shop. Their names are Pat and Phyllis. Both had been in my shop before, but not to much had been said about the ghosts and spirits in my shop.

Pat had bought one of the books I wrote, about our shop. She took it home to her sister Phyllis and told her to read it. After Phyllis had read it, Pat told her she thought that Phyllis should come in and talk to me and show me a picture that Phyllis had taken years ago. It happens that these ladies had grown up in a haunted house right here in Stoughton. Their mother was a medium and the grandfather did hands on healing from what they told me. Also Phyllis had gotten her mothers gift to see things and feel things. One day Phyllis had felt someone was standing on the steps in their house and she took her camera and took a picture. This was years ago, with a very old type camera. The picture was one of those square pictures.  Her mother always told the girls that a lumber jack type man was a spirit in their house. Well darned if Phyllis didn't get a picture of this guy. She showed it to me and it's a man, a bit hazy standing on the steps. I could make out the man plain as day. There were also, maybe two more people standing by him. I don't think she has showed to many people this picture, but she felt safe showing it to me. She has kept this picture all these years, knowing what it was.

Some of her family knows she has this gift. She told me that whenever anyone wanted to buy a house, they would ask Phyllis to come look at the house with them. That way, they would know if it was safe or not. This lady is 80 years old and still very much with it. Not crazy at all. It was a joy to talk to her, to hear her stories.

She told of one, when the girls were younger. Both her and Pat were playing with a Ouija board one day. All of the sudden something happened and knifes and forks started to fly around. She said they then burnt the board and have never touched one since. They said that that house they lived in at that time was a angry house. Something bad was in it. The stories they told were really something. Pat doesn't talk a lot about any of it. She's a little afraid of it. Phyllis loves to talk about the things she feels and sees.

I then asked her if she felt anything in my shop. Phyllis then told me she always has, every-time she walks in my door, she can feel it. She told me it was a happy building, nothing bad.

We then talked more about her. She said, sometimes she doesn't always like her gift. She said that if she touches someone and they are not going to live long, she sees coffins moving around in her head. She never tells the person that. She works with a lot of older people and these have all come true after she sees these coffins. Now if you ask me, that would be spooky to see. I did shake her hand when she was ready to leave, but she didn't say my time was up anytime soon. I don't know if I could handle a gift like that. She told me many more stories about her life and growing up with this gift.  

She gave me her phone number if I ever had any questions. I think I will have to call her someday and see what else I can learn. She was a very fun lady to talk to. I really enjoyed meeting her. Oh how I wish Kurt had not left already. I'm sure he would of loved to talk to this lady. Oh, and she said she just loved reading my book. How cool is that.

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Stoughton Elsing Spirits Ghost

Kurt from HPI in my building all alone Overnight

November 24, 2008

I'm not sure if you really call this a ghost hunt or now. Kurt from HPI had asked me if it would be ok if he could spend the night in my building by himself. He had some time off from work and thought he would like to try that and see if he could come up with anything. I told him that he's got more guts then I do and go for it.

There has always been one thing about our building, and that is I don't like to be in it alone at night. I'm not sure why. I think maybe it's the fear factor of night time, darkness and being alone.

Kurt showed up about 3:30 Monday afternoon. Phil and I still had to clean the shop before we open on Tuesday, so we headed down to let Kurt in and do the cleaning. After the shop was clean, we all headed up to the Koffee Kup for dinner and to talk about Kurt's night. I have to say, I really have to hand it to him, to want to do something like this.

Back at the shop, I told Kurt if he went downstairs, he would have to take the shop phone downstairs with him, because cell phones won't work downstairs. I wanted to make sure he was safe. We gave Kurt a key and told him if he needed to call us, feel free. We are only a few blocks away from the shop.

I checked in with Kurt around 8:00 that night and everything was going fine. Kurt had gone downstairs to the furniture room to read kids books. Running recorders at all times, though-out the building. Kurt said he had heard a few strange noises. Like something moving.

I then checked in with him about 10:00 to make sure everything was going fine and tell him we were headed to bed. We told him to call if he needed us. Otherwise I would be down to the shop around 9:30 to open the shop for business. Kurt said everything was going good and he was going to get ready to head to bed and just listen.

I got down to the shop the next morning and Kurt had all my lights on, so I didn't have to walk into the dark building. Boy, that sure was nice. It was also so nice to see a smiling face when I walked in. The boys were so happy to see him also.

I asked Kurt how the night went. Kurt said it went great. He's not sure if he got anything yet, but he's hoping so. He was running recorders all over the building. This way, if he gets any EVP's, then he knows for sure it's not any of the his team mates. He said he heard a few strange noises during the night. In the morning, he heard movement in the tool room. Like glasses clinking as if someone was talking on the floor and it made them move. No one was in the back room. We talk for a bit and then he got his stuff out to the car and headed home. I can't wait until he's gone through his recording to see if anything was caught. I sure hope he was able to get something. That's my last ghost hunt for the year. I'm taking a little time off now until the end of January.

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Ghost Hunt Stoughton Spirits Haunted Elsing

Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop

Ghost hunt with PIM

Saturday November 22, 2008

 

The team members that showed up for the ghost hunt were: Noah, Steve, Chris and Michael. They showed up around 5:30. They all did a walk though the building and did some base readings, then we all got together for dinner at the Koffee Kup. The Koffee Kup was packed when we walked in, but we had a table saved for us. We all sat down to order and talk was just flying around the Koffee Kup as to who these people are. They all had their matching PIM shirts on. Since my book came out, people are really wondering what's really going on. We all ate dinner and talked for a bit. After dinner we all headed back to the shop for the night.

At the shop, the team started setting up all their equipment. They set up a lot of camera's this time, since all the stuff that happened at their last ghost hunt in the shop a few weeks before. They had aluminator lights. That was really cool. We could have all the lights shut off in the building and you could still work the camera's and see everything. They ran all of this stuff off of a battery pack so that they could shut down all the power in the building. It was really cool how well the camera's worked with these lights on.

After everything was set up, we all stayed on the main floor and did an EVP session. We played some rag time music and just sat very still. We then asked some questions. A few noises were heard at the time.

Michael who is also a physic, said that he could see people coming in to listen to the music. A few ladies and men had come in to listen to the music, I think at one point some of them were even dancing from what Michael could see.

After that session, I then went home for about two hours. The team wanted to see how the building reacted when I was gone. I got back into the building about 11:30. Noah had called me about 11:00 and asked me to wait for a bit before I came back, because they were having a lot of activity in the basement and didn't want to interrupt what was going on.

When I showed up, they had moved to the way upstairs of the building. They stopped me at the door and asked me to come upstairs and join them for the session they were doing. Oh boy, was it cold up there. I sat in for the EVP session upstairs and nothing to much happened at that time. We all then went down stairs for a break.

Next we went down stairs to the furniture room. It was really starting to get so cold in the basement. Heck, it was getting cold in the whole building. I sat in the furniture room with Steve and the other guys all headed to different places through out the basement. I could hear the guys talking in the back. I just sat very quiet in a chair. My chair kept making noises, I think because I was shivering so much. I finely went upstairs and got a blanket to put over me. When I came back down, I sat in the furniture room by myself. Noah wanted us all to take different spots in the basement. While I was sitting in the furniture room all by myself, I noticed that it got really dark again, as it did on another ghost hunt. It's just like the room gets so black all of a sudden. I have no idea what causes it. I called out to the guys, I was getting a little spooked when it got that dark. Steve came in and asked me what was wrong. I told him to shut off his light and see if he thought the room had gotten really dark. Steve also noticed that the room got very dark. Who knows why.

We then all took a break and I told the guys, I didn't care what they did for the rest of the night. I was froze and I was going to get to bed and cuddle under my blanket. With that, I headed to bed for the night. The guys all headed downstairs again. I'm not sure if they had any activity or not, I went to sleep.

I woke up in the morning to Phil walking in the front door with Otis and Baxter. Otis and Baxter were so happy to see people sleeping on the floor. Baxter spotted Michael sleeping in the front room and jumped on him and started giving him kiss all over. Poor Michael. What a shock to wake up to. Baxter was one hipper puppy. Then he spotted me laying in my bed. He took a running jump and up on the bed he landed. Then it was Chris's turn next to get kisses. Noah and Steve came upstairs to see what all the noise was about and they all got their kisses from crazy Baxter also.

We then all packed up and headed home. Hopefully they were able to get some more evidence.

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Ghost Hunt Stoughton Spirits Haunted Elsing

FOX VALLEY SPIRIT HUNTERS

Investigation Summary

Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop, Stoughton, WI

Sept. 13, 2008

Building history and ghost lore has been reported in earlier visits, so I refer the reader to those for more information in those areas. What follows is the final summary from our overnight visit of 9/13/08.

Investigators: Keith Kintner, Katie Kintner, Mark Thurow, Mike Burton, along with Vicky Elsing and her family members and friends.

Personal Experiences:

Mike B. reported feeling ill for a period of time in the rear of the 2nd floor near the restroom area. There was no apparent cause for his illness.

At one point, investigators holding an EVP session on the third floor reported some odd noises that didn't appear to come from the street. They were unable to find the source of the sounds.

During an EVP session on the first floor in the room at the back, Katie was sitting on the steps leading up to the floor above when she experienced what felt like a very cold thumb or thick finger pressed against a portion of her bottom, causing her to jump up.

On the second floor, Katie was monitoring her digital voice recorder with noise-canceling headphones and having a conversation with Mike B. when she heard a voice through her headphones. She asked if Mike had whispered but he had not. The voice was recorded by the DVR.

When investigators settled in for the night on the first floor (Furniture room) it was noticed that around 3AM the room got extremely cold even though it was not air-conditioned and actually fairly warm earlier. The evening outside was not abnormally cold, with a low of around 60 degrees at that particular hour. Could the outdoor air have been a factor? It's possible given that there is a door leading outside on the other side of the former cooler door that stands between the furniture room and the utility and storage area beyond that door. However, air leaks were not noticed on earlier visits to that area, so it remains a question mark.

As investigators were packing up to leave the next morning, a picture fell off the wall on the 2nd floor and broke into several pieces. We assume it was on a loose nail and perhaps the movement of people on the floor was finally enough to make it drop that morning.

On the debunking end of things, a full motion video monitor was able to debunk orb photography on the third floor. It was seen that the motion of moving a piece of furniture a few feet set off many dust orbs which flew thickly and very fast across the camera's view for quite a while afterward.

I have attached four files of some possible EVPs that were recorded during the investigation. These four are as usual, not verified as genuine EVPs but we do not have any reasonable explanations for them as yet. They do not seem to be voices of anyone present at the time. The questionable voices are repeated at the end of each recording.

Recording #1: "Aftercrashwhisper" - This appears to be a whispered voice saying something that sounds like "what's going on". This is interesting because on a previous visit, we recorded an AUDIBLE voice saying the same thing.

Recording #2: "Cold thumb" - Katie commenting after apparently being touched by something cold. We are not sure what is being said.

Recording #3: "That was Mike" - Katie again commenting that Mike had said something and an unknown voice appears to be echoing what she said.

Recording #4: "Did someone whisper?" Katie was monitoring her voice recording on noise-canceling headphones and heard this voice audibly. The recorder also captured this voice. It appears to be saying something in what sounds like a German (or Norwegian?) accent. What is being said is open for debate.

Fox Valley Spirit Hunters would like to thank Vicky and Phil Elsing for again welcoming us into the 2nd Hand Shop. They were wonderful hosts as usual and made us feel very welcome. We hope to be invited back some day to again experience the interesting atmosphere of the 2nd Hand Shop (and Vicky's cookies!).

Submitted by Katie Kintner

Lead investigator

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Ghost Hunt Report Haunted Elsing Stoughton Ghos

Local author shares haunting tale

Stoughton resident Vicky Elsing, above, shows off her new book. Elsing said she wrote the book to share with others the paranormal experiences that have occurred inside Elsing’s Second Hand Shop. – Hub photo by Autumn Drussell

BY AUTUMN DRUSSELL

Associate Editor

Vicky and Phil Elsing have been selling curios for more than 17 years. But since 2004, when the Elsings purchased the building that is now home to their secondhand shop, the couple claim they’ve shared their business with a couple of noisy ghosts.

And now, with the recent release of her book, “The Grand Hotel Legacy: A story of ghosts and spirits within these walls,” Vicky Elsing is ready to share their experiences with the public.

Elsing’s Second Hand Shop, 421 E. Main St., is located in the former Grand Hotel, which boasts a rich history in Stoughton, dating back to 1891, when it was first built as the Hanson House. The two-story, commercial vernacular building with Italianate detail has been home to everything from a hotel/rooming house to a brothel, several restaurants, a bootlegging mecca, meat locker and grocery, exercise and teen center, as well as a political station and, ironically, a haunted house run by the Jaycees for Halloween.

Through research, Vicky confirmed two deaths occurred in the building; one in 1925 – a reported suicide by the former police chief Saxe Hoverson, and in 1939, an illness related passing of Carl Bratvold, former owner of the Grand Hotel.

Much of the building’s history is outlined in Elsing’s book, along with a detailed account of the hotel, newspaper articles, research from old news clips, descriptions and photos from the many paranormal investigations held in the building, along with Elsing’s own two-and-a-half year journal of strange occurrences and experiences.

Vicky said she compiled and wrote the book after several friends suggested she publicize her experiences.

“I always write about each ghost hunt (conducted at the store) and post it on iamhaunted.com, and I’ve kept a journal about the different things that have happened here over the years,” she said. “People kept saying I should put it all in a book.”

And that’s exactly what she did. It all started when, one evening while painting and moving into their newly-purchased business, Vicky heard people talking.

“I was alone in the store with Otis (one of two Boxers the couple own); I was setting up one of the rooms,” Elsing recalled. “I heard people talking. I looked around to see if anyone was there.”

There wasn’t. And, it happened a second time that night.

“Whoever was talking was talking loud enough to wake Otis – and make him bark,” she said. “And as you can guess, I called it a night after that.”

Although the “talking” incident never repeated itself, the Elsings have an entire journal of incidents – everything from items being found moved in the middle of the aisles, doors unlocked and open and even sightings of shadowy-figures.

Otis has even reportedly been “pushed” by some force into Vicky’s leg – and has been spotted starting off at things no one else can see. He's even come running from an empty room – barking and looking behind him.

The Elsings and their two boxers aren't the only ones who've had a paranormal experience in the store.

Just after opening the shop, a woman of Native American descent came into the store, hold her chest, and began breathing heavy.

“She asked me if we had spirits,” Elsing recalled. “I was (Flabbergasted) at first – I didn't quite know what she meant. But several people who used to work in the building when it was a pizza place did mention strange things had happened there. So I told her, “yes, we have been told that.”

The woman, who was not from the Stoughton area, told Elsing she could detect “hot and cold spots” in the buildings, and that she could detect the spirit of a little girl – and felt something had happened to the girl “under the steps.”

After that, Elsing contacted the Waukesha-based South Eastern Wisconsin Paranormal Research Group to get some answers.

Since then, several paranormal investigative groups have visited the Elsings' store. Some investigations have turned up nothing; others have detected everything from shadowy – figures and noises to items having been moved by no apparent source.

The thing I find interesting is that when these groups experience something here, they all have experienced kind of the same stuff.” said Vicky.

And although she doesn't know if she believes mediums (people who claim to be clairvoyant – communicate beyond the known human senses), one incident has left her at least open to the possibility.

“I'd had a medium come by and they asked if there had been a fire in the building – because that's what they were picking up,” Said Elsing. “I hadn't come across anything related to a fire so I kept saying “no.”

But only two weeks later, an elderly gentleman – a Stoughton native – and Elsing began talking about Stoughton's history, Elsing asked the man if he recalled if there had ever been a fire in the building. His answer? “yes.”

“He said there was a fire that started in another building nearby and it had spread and damaged this place.” Elsing explained. “I don't know if that person (the medium) did research and found that out before or not – but it was certainly interesting.”

Despite the spooks, Elsing said not much scares her anymore. That is, unless you ask her to go into the building alone – in the dark.

“I think it's just the fear factor of darkness,” she explained. “Otis won't even go into the basement with me unless I am with a customer.”

Elsing said her husband and she were cautioned against buying the building by several people – because the building needed a lot of work – and because “strange things” had reportedly happened there. But they purchased the building anyway.

“I think we just thought that Marsala's had been there for nearly 20 years so whatever was there – if there was anything at all – must be friendly,” she explained.

I was afraid in the beginning, but once the investigators started coming and explaining things, it put me more at ease.”

The Elsings' commonly hear noises such as glass breaking or loud crashes – with no apparent source.

But to Vicky, the strangest thing that has ever happened at her store occurred when three woman from out-of-town came into the store and began shopping. One of the ladies noticed the book Vicky keeps of strange happenings by the cash register, and they began a discussion about paranormal experiences.

“One of the women had just lost her sister and she was telling us how she was telling us how she thought she saw her,” Elsing explained. “Then, one of the other ladies in the group turned to us and said she didn't believe in that stuff.”

All of a sudden, the doll the customer was holding broke in half. “She wasn't holding it in a way that could have happened,” said Elsing. “The woman kept apologizing and offered to pay for it, but also kept insisting she didn't do anything. She was pretty shaken up by it.”

Another time the grandson of a customer reportedly told his grandfather he saw the “spirit of a ghost” in the downstairs part of the store, which frightened him.

The came in the next day to tell the Elsings what had happened. The man then offered to conduct some research on the building, which Vicky gladly accepted.

“I learned a lot of new things about this place from his research,” said Vicky.

All of which can be found in her book.

Because she is “not a writer.” Elsing said one of the challenges in completing the book was “pulling everything together and making it sound professional – getting all the right words in all the right places,” she stressed. Besides simply wanting to share their experiences, Vicky said she hopes the book will “ease people's minds” about what goes on.

This isn't something a lot of people talk freely about,” she said. “Years ago if you were to talk about (ghosts and hauntings) people would think you were crazy.”

But, she said, when the Elsings did start to open up about it – via articles in the local paper – they had many people come by the store just to talk.

“People come here to shop – but we also get people in here to share their own experiences with us and to check out the building,” said Vicky. “(The unexplained_ happens more then you think to people.”

Would you welcome a reprieve from the spirits?

“The way I look at it is that it's their building – they were here first,” said Vicky. “If they want to leave, I'd definitely have no problem with that. But I'm not going to try to force them out; it's their home.”

Before the Elsings purchased the building Vicky said she probably did believe in ghosts – to a degree. But since becoming the owner, she's a believer.

“You know I'm sure it was in the back of my head that yeah, I guess there could be ghosts,” she said. “but then things started happening here – to me. Now I am a lot more understanding . . . I think because of this I am more open-minded.”

Writing a book – let alone writing about ghosts – was never something Vicky thought she's do. But, said the author, despite the unexplained, “I've enjoyed every minute of it.”

“The Grand Hotel Legacy: A story of ghosts and spirits within these walls,” costs $17.95 and is available to order at Barnes & Noble.com, amazon.com and iUniverse, or $6.00 as an E-Book. The book can also be purchased at Elsing's Second Hand Shop, 421 E. Main St. Stoughton, Wisconsin

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Book Stoughton Ghosts Spirits Haunted Elsing

Joint investigation with PIM and HPI

November 1, 2008

The ghost hunt tonight was a joint investigation with PIM (Paranormal Investigation of Milwaukee) and HPI (Heartland Paranormal Investigations). The members that showed up were: Noah, Steve, Michael and Chris from PIM and Ann and Shaunda from HPI. The group members all showed up between 4:30 and 5:00. Everyone enjoyed seeing Otis again and meeting Baxter for the first time. After Phil and I got the shop closed down for the day, we took Otis and Baxter home. We met back at the shop at 6:00 and by 6:30 we headed up to the Koffee Kup for dinner. The teams left some recorders and camera's running while we were gone.

We all had a great meal at the Koffee Kup and the two teams got to know each other, they had never met before. Chris was a new member for PIM and we also met him for the first time. After dinner I drove Phil home and met everyone back at the shop for the investigation.

The team spent some time getting everything set up for the night. We all then sat in the front room to hear what Michael all felt throughout the building. Michael told us that he felt a young lady in the back part of the upstairs and a man in the middle. The lady knew we were there and the man had no idea we were there. On the main floor he felt a man in the front room that did not know we were there. In the back room, he felt a older lady in the middle row. He felt she knew we were there. In the back freezer room, which no groups have ever investigated before, he felt some type of spirit, but could not get a sense of what type of spirit it was. He just had a feeling someone or something was there. In the basement, furniture room, he felt a male that did not know we were present. The first storage room he also felt a woman that did not know we were there. The holiday room he felt a male and he felt the male knew of our presents. The room we call the pizza room, he felt a black man in that room. He felt he was an angry man. I was also told that the tri-field meters were also going off in that room and that that man knew we were there. I had asked Michael about if he had seem a little girl in the building at all. He said yes. He had forgot about that part. He said she was hiding under the steps. When he was doing the walk-through, he had forgot that I had left the building and that the little girl was hiding under the steps until I got back from taking Phil home.

After reviewing all of Michael's viewing of the building, we all stayed on the main floor, we all sat in different spots on the floor. We then took about 5 minutes and sat and just listened with no talking or taking pictures. After the 5 minutes were up, we then turned on some ragtime music on the main floor. Michael was seeing a young lady dancing. We heard a few noises at this time. We then did an EVP session and ended after that.

Then we all headed to the basement as a group and all spread out around the basement. We were all in view of each other, but all in different spots. We did the same thing that we had done on the main floor. Some of the people did hear some strange noises. Ann was sitting on the steps to the upstairs and I was sitting way to the back of the furniture room. We could still see each other. A few times, it seemed to get so dark between Ann and I. We both could sense this darkness. It was darker then dark. Almost like something was between us. Also during that time, I saw what looked to be a light on the steps, behind Ann. It did not last long. As we were ending that session, the guys that were way in the back rooms had started coming into the furniture room. Michael was the last one to come in the door from the storage rooms. I was the first one they walked past as they were coming into the furniture room. It was very dark when they came in. Michael stopped right next to me and started feeling around. He then felt my arm and touched it a few times. When he realized it was me, boy did he jump. I think he thought a spirit was sitting there. We took a break to discus what our next moves would be.

We then split up into groups. Noah cut all the power to the building off. Ann, Steve, Chris and I, went up to the top floor. Noah, Shaunda and Michael,went down to the basement. While on the top floor, we all spread out and sat and just listened for awhile. We did hear some strange noises. We could not pin point them though. We then started an EVP session. Questions were asked like, what is your name, how old are you, and on and on. While this was going on, I started to feel like I was being closed in on. I was sitting at the front of the building, by the steps. It got to the point that I had to tell the rest of them that I did not feel comfortable sitting by myself anymore. Ann was also getting some strange feeling, where she was sitting. She was sitting all the way to the back of the building. She stood up and then was going to sit back down again and she heard someone say “don't sit here”. We all then gathered into the middle of the room. If I remember right, Chris was also getting some very strange feelings. Ann then got out her dowsing rods and we started asking questions that way. We were getting a lot of activity with the dowsing rods. We would ask them to point to where the spirit was and they pointed to a spot in the middle of the room to the side of the building. We all stood and looked around, pictures were also taken. We asked if she was a woman. She said yes. We asked many questions to find out how old she was. She was in her thirty's. I can't remember the right age, so I will just say in her thirty's. We then asked if she would touch one of us. She said yes. I then felt a hot sensation go up my hand. I don't know if that was a touch or not. It's just strange that I felt this way. Chris also felt that he had felt something. We then radioed Noah's group and asked if it was ok if we headed down to the main floor for a break. Noah told us to hold off for a bit, because they were getting actively in the basement at the time. We then asked a few more questions until Noah was ready to meet on the main floor. We then all took a break.

 

These two pictures was taken upstairs while we were having feels of something there.

We asked Noah if they could tell us what was going on. They did not want to tell us, because they wanted to see if the same things would happen to us. We also did not tell them about anything that had happened to us. While Ann and I were outside taking a break, Michael came outside also. He had a lost strange look on his face. We asked him, what was the matter? He said he just needed to get out of the building. He needed to be alone and try to clear his head. He would not tell us what had happened downstairs. He just needed to get out and walk around. Chris then came out to join us. Chris asked where Michael had gone. We told him that he needed to be alone and walked down the street. We all sat and talked about what had been happening and then Michael started walking up toward the building. He had a very lost look on his face. He looked like he was watching something. He looked very bewildered. We then noticed him taking pictures and looking around. When he came up by us, we asked him what was wrong. He didn't really want to say anything, but we told him that maybe he should. He then said it was very strange. He was walking around the side of the building and he saw a young boy walk by him. He then turned around to look at him and he was gone. We told him that a young man had walked past us and he looked happy about that. He asked us how old the boy looked. He then told us the boy he saw was about 10 years old, was that the same boy we saw. We all said no, that he had to be at least 21. So did Michael see a spirit boy outside our building? Maybe.

After the break, Ann, Steve, Chris and I all headed down to the basement and the rest of them went up to the top floor. We all sat in the furniture room. Chris had an idea, and asked me if we had any balls. He thought it would be good to have a ball downstairs to see if the little girl could move the ball. Chris and I went up to the toy room to see if we could find a ball. While there, we also found a rocking horse and a bunny rabbit doll. We then headed downstairs with the ball, rocking horse and rabbit. Right as we got to the top of the steps, we both heard what sounded like some type of glass chimes ringing. We both stopped. We checked around and could not find anything to cause the sound we had heard. We then went downstairs and told our group what we had heard. We then placed the item's we had brought downstairs on the table we were all sitting around. We asked the spirit if they could move the items at all. We asked them to please move the rocking horse. We also had a tri-meter on the table. We asked many times, for them to please move the rocking horse or any of the other items. Nothing was happening. We then started another EVP session and dowsing rod session. Nothing was coming from the dowsing rods. They would not move at all. We kept trying and nothing. Then Noah radioed us and asked what room we were in and if we could hear anyone on the main floor. We told him no. He told us to head back to the pizza room fast and just stand and listen. We were not hearing anything. Then we heard Noah and his group running on the floor above us. We had no idea what was going on. Then we heard Noah yell to everyone else. They all headed down an aisle by themselves to see if they could find anyone on that floor. Michael headed down the first aisle and saw a shadow run from the freezer room. Noah went down the tool aisle and noticed a horse sitting in the middle of the aisle. This was a brass horse that stands maybe about 8 inches tall and about 2 inches wide. It was sitting upright in the middle of the aisle at the other end of the room, where it was suppose to be sitting. Phil and I have all of our brass item's sitting on a shelf, at the front part of the back room. Well this horse had made it all the way to the other end of the room and ended up in the middle of the aisle, in an upright position. Even if a customer had moved this horse to a different spot in that aisle, it could not of fallen off a shelf and landed upright the way it was.

 

The horse that was moved while no one was on this floor. No way could this horse of fallen off the shelf and landed up right!

We all started talking and Chris, who is also a police officer, asked us if we thought that maybe, us asking the spirit to move a horse downstairs, could of moved the horse on the main floor. We were not getting any type of activity in the basement at all while we were down there. Could they of heard us ask them to move or rock this horse and done it on the main floor? I don't know if we will ever find the answer to this question or how the horse got to where it was, but it's sure strange to all of us. We know none of us moved it, and it was not there when we started the investigation.

We then tried to reenact what we were all doing and Noah came walking out of the toy room with a Mickey mouse, holding it like a baby. We all laughed at him and asked him what he was doing. He said that he wanted us to take the Mickey Mouse downstairs with us and ask the spirits to move the mouse. He said there were all kinds of Mickey Mouses on the main floor, so maybe they would move one of the mouses on the main floor when we asked them to. Nothing at all happened the rest of the night.

Noah looking so cute with Mickey Mouse

We then turned on the power to the building and headed to bed. We were woke up in the morning by pounding on our front widow. I guess Shaunda had parked in front of a door that someone had to get into. That sure woke us all up really fast. We all sat around eating cookies for breakfast, talking about what had happened that night. Hopefully something was caught on film or recordings. What a great night we all had, with lots of personal experiences. I really enjoyed last nights ghost hunt.

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Building Stoughton Ghosts Spirits Haunted Elsi

 

Ghost hunt with HPI and PIM Joint investigation

October 25, 2008

Team members from HPI (Heartland Paranormal Investigations) showed up about 3:00 pm. The members were: Kurt, Krista and Rhonda, Barry showed up a bit later. We finished with the customers in the shop and then Phil and I left to pick up some stuff. We returned later to meet everyone for dinner at the Koffee Kup. When we got back to the shop, members from PIM (Paranormal Investigators of Milwaukee) were also in the building. They included Karen, Candice and Deidre. We all headed to the Koffee Kup and had dinner and talked about the up coming investigation. After dinner we then headed back to the shop.

Phil and I had to run to Madison to visit my mother in the hospital so we left the groups at the shop by themselves until we returned. Right before we left, we noticed a bunch of people walking up the street. They all stopped in front of our shop. Our town had the Haunted Ghost walk going on that night and our building was one of the sites they were showing. I got out of the car and mixed in with the crowd of people standing in front of our shop. As the lady was telling all about our shop to everyone I listened to see what they would all say about the building. The lady did a really great job explaining the history of the building. Then someone must of recognized me and started asking me questions about the ghost in the shop. It was kind of fun. Everyone was very excited to be able to ask me questions about our building and the ghosts. After that, Phil and I headed to Madison to visit my mom.

We got back to the shop around 8:00. Phil then left for home and we all headed downstairs after a cookie break. We some of us sat in the furniture room, while others sat on the steps and Kurt headed to the way back storage rooms. We all just sat round and listened for a bit and then did some EVP work. Rhonda thinks her hand was touched by something and Kurt was also touched by something. Kurt felt like he was being followed from the back room to where we were all sitting. It gave him a creepy feeling. Also for some strange reason, the Exit light had gone off by the steps. We could not find any reason for it to go off, other then maybe people had been complaining about it being bright. Did the spirits make it go off? We have no idea. By morning, it was on again. After that we took a break for more cookies and popcorn. Then Karen and I headed upstairs and the other people headed in other parts of the building.

While Karen and I were upstairs, we headed way to the back of the room. We could hear all the traffic going by. The upstairs is not very sound proof. Karen had a very uneasy feeling way in the back part of the upstairs. I took a bunch of pictures and came up with one strange picture. I know people think orbs are just dust, but this picture has one huge orb and then a light up one in it. I really think it's more then dust. What it is, I have no idea, but I think it's a cool picture anyways. We were then called to the downstairs, because people were hearing very strange noises. They wanted everyone on the same floor while this was going on. We did some more EVP work and then headed up to the main floor for another break.

After the break we just sat in the front room and did some EVP work and some of them went in the back room. Nothing to much happened during the night. We all then headed to bed for the night. As far as I know, nothing happened at night while everyone was sleeping. Morning came and we all went to the Koffee Kup for breakfast and then everyone headed home. Hopefully something was caught in the night. I had a great time with everyone and the two teams worked wonderful together. It's always great to see the teams work so well together.

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Ghost Hunt Stoughton Spirits Haunted Elsing Or

Wisconsin woman tells of her haunted store in new book  

Written by Vicky Elsing

Wednesday, 15 October 2008

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Book Stoughton Ghosts Spirits Haunted Elsing

I have finely published my first book. It's taken me over 3 years to gather information to get this book written. I never thought I'd ever do anything like this in my life. My book just became live today and can now be ordered. If you would like to check it out, please feel free. I'm so excited!!!  I just love the cover design of my book. This book is all about the ghosts and spirits of Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop. The picture on the cover of the book is my shop building back in 1892.

My new book is now here to order:

To order my book:

The Grand Hotel Legacy

You can also find this link on my page.

 

Tags: Elsing's 2nd Hand Shop Book Stoughton Ghosts Spirits Haunted Elsing

 

HPI Investigation Report

Location: Elsing’s Second Hand Shop, Stoughton WI

Investigation Date: August 9th, 2008

Members present on investigation: Kurt, Mark, Rhonda, Krista, Ann, Shaunda, Dave

Report written by: Kurt

INVESTIGATION OVERVIEW:

We arrived at the shop around 3:00 and met up with Vicky and Phil. We chatted with them for a while, and since Shaunda had never been there before, she got a tour of the building. Vicky, Phil, and the dogs left for a little while, while the group stayed at the shop and had a meeting to discuss the investigation. Kurt set up his laptop in the furniture room to loudly play brown noise, pink noise, and white noise in 10-minute cycles of each color. Just like our previous investigation, this was done in an attempt to “charge” the area with sound waves in the hopes to help EVPs come through easier during the investigation. The noises were set to play while we went out to dinner.

About 5:30, Vicky and Phil returned to the shop and all of us headed over to The Koffee Kup to eat.

We arrived back at the shop around 6:45. We set up equipment and got ready for the investigation. Barry was going to arrive a little later, but due to car trouble, she was unable to make it to the investigation. Phil left shortly after with the dogs, and the investigation started around 8:00.

Unlike previous investigations, we decided to focus mostly on the furniture room/basement area, since that always seemed to be the most active area.

Most of the evening consisted of EVP sessions in the furniture room. Group members would also spend time in the book room, holiday room, hallway, and stairway.

Digital cameras, audio recorders, an EMF meter, and video cameras were used on the investigation.

The group used dowsing rods and a K2 meter for the first time during this investigation. A K2 meter is a visual-based EMF meter that detects changes in the electromagnetic field and signals it by a panel of colored lights.

Towards the end of the evening, we tried EVP sessions with various noises playing in the background, such as white noise, Spiricom noise (a warbly sound that some researchers believe helps EVPs come through), and songs from the 1920’s and 1930’s.

Around 12:30, the group bedded down for the night. Vicky slept in the toy room, Mark, Rhonda, and Krista slept in the front room, Shaunda and Ann slept in the aisles, Dave slept in the downstairs hallway, and Kurt slept in the furniture room.

The group woke up early in the morning and headed out by 9:00 am.

 

 

 

EXPERIENCES DURING THE INVESTIGATION:

• During the first EVP session in the furniture room, Vicky and Ann both heard a loud sound between them. Vicky described it as a loud creak or the sound of moving furniture. They both thought the other person caused the noise, only to find out later that they didn’t.

• Also during that time, several people in the furniture room heard what sounded like the rhythmic creaking of a rocking chair. After asking who was rocking their chair, it turned out that nobody was. It couldn’t be determined where the sound was coming from. The only chair in the furniture room that matched the sound was an empty chair in the middle of the room that nobody had been sitting in.

• Some group members reported that they thought they saw movement in the area outside the entrance to the furniture room. Tapping and creaking sounds were heard coming from the hallway area during this time.

• As with other investigations there, several times during the night, sounds would be heard. Sometimes it would sound like a little girl saying something, but it would almost always appear at the same time one of us was talking. And again, it was hard to pinpoint exactly where it came from.

• Mark and Shaunda went to the holiday room for an EVP session. While they were in there, Shaunda said that she experienced the same feeling that the rest of us have experienced on previous investigations…the feeling that a room can suddenly become darker and colder when it feels like there is a presence there.

• Kurt was stationed on the stairway and had the K2 meter sitting a few steps above him. At one point, he asked if anyone was on the stairs with him, and the K2 meter lit up for the first time during the evening. The lights flickered steadily, and Kurt called for someone else to come over and witness it. Rhonda came over and she also saw the movement of the lights on the meter. After they stopped flashing, Kurt asked if whatever was there could make the lights go on again, and the lights once again lit up. After a few minutes, the lights stopped flashing. Dave came over with his EMF meter to check for stray EMF that could have caused the meter to light, but he didn’t pick up anything.

• Right around this time, Vicky and Shaunda were in the furniture room. Shaunda said that she was feeling a cold spot on her feet, but nowhere else. Vicky put her foot in the same area and said that she could definitely feel it, but that it seemed to have a very specific area…only some of her toes felt it while others didn’t.

• After bedding down for the night, Dave slept in the hallway outside the holiday room. During the night, he woke up and thought that he may have seen movement in the hallway and had a very creepy feeling, so he moved out to the furniture room and set up his video camera to tape the hallway.

• In the morning, Rhonda, Ann, Krista, and Kurt were all sitting in the front room area. Kurt was doing something on his phone, and Mark, Rhonda, and Krista were talking. In the middle of their conversation, they heard what sounded like a fourth, unidentified voice say something out loud in the middle of their conversation. Vicky was in another room at the time, and they asked her to say something. When she did, it was clear to them that it wasn’t her voice that had joined in on the conversation.

• Shortly after this, Kurt, Mark, Krista, Rhonda, and Vicky were in the front room area talking when someone said Krista’s name out loud in the middle of the conversation. Krista asked Vicky if that was her, and Vicky said that it wasn’t. Kurt verified that Vicky hadn’t said Krista’s name.

• Shaunda, who had slept in the aisle area, was packing up her stuff in the morning. She walked away from her sleeping bag, and when she returned to it, a statue was laying on the floor next to it that hadn’t been there when she left. It didn’t look like it had fallen off the shelf, and it couldn’t be determined where it came from.

• With all the activity going on that morning, Ann and Krista took out the dowsing rods in an attempt to communicate. After asking if the spirit there had owned something in the building, the dowsing rods led them to a coat rack, and finally to a specific coat. Ann was holding the rods, and she tried closing her eyes while Krista held up different coats to see if the rods would pick the same one. It did. Then, Krista hid coat somewhere in the shop away from Ann, and once again, the dowsing rods led Ann right to where the coat was hidden.

PHOTOGRAPHIC/VIDEO/AUDIO EVIDENCE:

Photographic Evidence: None

Video Evidence: None

Audio Evidence: 5 clips of possible audio phenomena were given to Vicky:

• Krista – This is the clip from the morning when a voice said Krista’s name in the middle of a conversation. The voice does sound a lot like Vicky’s, but both Vicky and Kurt verify that she wasn’t talking at this moment.

• Just Krista –This is the shortened version of the clip where Krista’s name appears.

• Took Your Coat – This clip was caught in the morning when Krista and Ann were led to a certain coat by the dowsing rods. In the clip, Krista asks if the spirit would be mad if she took the coat home. Shortly after that, a breathy voice appears to whisper something, and then Ann repeats what Krista just asked. To several of us in the group, it sounds like the voice is whispering something that sounds like “would you wear it?”.

• Take A Picture – In this clip from the morning, Vicky asks Krista if she just took a picture of her. Right before Krista responds with a yes, there is a faint whisper very close to the microphone that sounds like “No” or “I know”.

• Stair Sound – In this clip from the morning, Kurt is on the stairway to the basement asking if there is anyone there with him. Right after he asks what their name is, the weird sound that we have caught on other investigations appears. In the past, we have called this the “cooing” sound or thought it could possibly be the sound of a malfunctioning crying doll in the shop. The other times we have caught this sound, the recorder was always near the stairway. Is it possible that this recurring noise is a passing police car that has its sirens on or just traffic passing by the building?

EVIDENCE ANALYSIS:

As usual with the investigations in the shop, we had many personal experiences and yet ended up with very little in the way of concrete evidence.

The EVP clips all could have possible explanations. The “Took Your Coat” EVP is probably the strongest, since Ann and Krista were alone at the time, and the EVP seems to be responding directly to what they are talking about.

The “Krista” clip could possibly be one of us saying something that sounded like “Krista”, but this clip came very shortly after Mark, Rhonda, and Krista heard an unknown voice say something during their conversation, so it is entirely possible that this is an actual EVP. Unfortunately, all of the recorders had just been shut off right before the unknown voice talked during their conversation, so no voice comparisons can be made with that voice. It *does* sound like Vicky, but both Vicky and Kurt swear that she was quiet at this time.

The cooing sound is most likely NOT an EVP. It’s just here so that Vicky has it and so that other groups can listen to it and perhaps catch it themselves or figure out what it is that is making that noise.

Both the K2 meter and the dowsing rods were very interesting. I don’t think that either of them could be called the quintessential “ghost detector”, but I do think that both devices have their place in a paranormal researcher’s toolbox, as long as they don’t become the be-all end-all of spirit communication.

It *was* interesting, though, that the only time the K2 meter seemed to detect paranormal activity during the investigation was when it was on the stairway, which seems to be one of the hotspots in the shop.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:

What was very unusual about this investigation was that both