A follow-up lockdown investigation in Taylor Hall, Pt 1

After our prelim investigation of Taylor Hall back in December 2015, we decided to return for a full-blown overnight lockdown -- this time collaborating with the folks at Hotchkiss Paranormal Investigators (HPI) so we had enough boots on the ground (and high-tech equipment) to do it right.

Taylor Hall

(If you want to read about the building's haunted history and the earlier interviews we collected of witness sightings and experiences, click here. To check out HPI's separate accounts and vids of this lockdown investigation, see the HPI Facebook page.)

Our eight combined investigators -- four from HPI and four from Wraiths -- broke into three commingled teams that rotated sequentially through the three sites we identified as most promising during the prelim investigation:

• The second-floor main entry hallway in front of the Auditorium, site of multiple reports of shadow figures
• The Auditorium itself, site of even more shadow reports, plus unexplained electrical and sound disturbances
• A second-floor faculty office, site of repeated, presumed poltergeist activity

The beauty of the current investigation was that each of the three sites got the full attention of three consecutive teams for an hour each. And then we met up to debrief and compare notes. And notes aplenty did we have to share. Read on!

The second-floor main entry hallway

The first team, consisting of Mark & Doug  from Wraiths and Hector from HPI, began in the entryway hall in front of the Auditorium theater. That hallway has been the site of witnessed full-bodied apparitions on several previous occasions.

The hallway investigation illuminated by infrared lighting.

The team decided to conduct an EVP session using Wraiths' EchoVox spirit box. During our earlier prelim investigation, we had received several EVP identifying the name of "Em" (M?) -- the only place we'd encountered this persistent and repeated reference -- so we determined to see if we could reestablish communication.

Almost immediately, "Em" announced herself and then gave us new information -- multiple tragic mentions of the word "rape" followed by Em's name. We asked for more information and the voice of Em said, "I'll try." Another voice told us Em was "Thea's friend" and that second voice seemed to tell her, "Don't cry."  Watch the following vid for that thread of conversation:

Taylor Hall EVP conversation

Shortly after the EchoVox session, Hector captured on camera the fleeting appearance of a mist that  manifested just outside the Auditorium doors (see HPI's Facebook page), where a late-night facilities worker had previously reported witnessing a full-bodied apparition. Hector also reported smelling the aroma of something resembling the menthol of muscle rubbing cream in that area.

When the second team (Tessa from Wraiths and DJ from HPI) conducted their subsequent investigation in the entryway, both also detected an intermittent aroma of what they described as a sort of aftershave. (All teams members refrained from wearing any fragrance for the investigation.)

But perhaps their most intriguing finding came when using their SB-7 spirit box, which produced the clear name of "Malcolm."  

The second-floor faculty office

The above SB-7 recording became significant because Chris (Wraiths), Chris (HPI), and Yvonne (HPI) were in the faculty office where recurring poltergeist activity of an electrical nature (see our prelim account) had taken place over the previous six months. Of particular interest to us was an antique electroshock box sitting on top of a bookshelf in that office.

The team placed a KII meter on top of the box in an attempt at communication. (A KII meter lights a series of colored lights in progression as the unit senses increasing levels of elecromagnetic field charge -- such field a commonly reported phenomena when paranormal activity is involved).

Investigators asked any paranormal presence in the office to illuminate a yellow light for "No" or an orange light for "Yes."  Eventually, the team began getting responses to their questions, and determined the presence wanted them to leave.

The team proposed they would leave the office if the spirit gave its name on the SB-7 spirit box currently being used outside the office by DJ and Tessa, near the Auditorium entryway. At that moment, Tessa and DJ heard a male voice announce on the SJ-7 the name "Malcolm."

Location of intermittent aroma

The two teams switched investigative locations, with DJ and Tessa entering the faculty office while Chris, Chris, and Yvonne moved to the Auditorium entryway (and who later also confirmed detecting the intermittent aroma of aftershave at the previously mentioned hallway location.)

DJ and Tessa continued their interview with "Malcolm." (Both teams listened to the voice of Malcolm and the subsequent male voice in the office, and all agreed that the two voices seemed to match.) DJ placed the SB-7 directly on top of the electroshock box.

The ensuing conversation was remarkable, with investigators learning that Malcolm was attached to the antique box, had died at the age of 25, and that he would now have been in his early 90s. (A subsequent interview with the faculty member who had inherited the antique from an uncle revealed that the device was indeed in use in an asylum in Upstate New York around 1950, which would match the time-frame reported by the SB-7 voice.)

The antique electroshock box

DJ asked Malcolm if he could tell them how many spirits were in Taylor Hall. No response. But when he asked if there were too many to count, the voice immediately said, "Yes." (The building is constructed on bedrock, with a flow of subterranean water underneath. Such a geological feature is believed to facilitate the passage of spirits from one dimension to another -- i.e., a portal.)

Malcolm then clammed up and would answer no more questions until DJ asked if the spirit wanted them to leave, which provoked the immediate response of "Please, please leave" -- twice! So they did.

When Mark, Doug, and Hector next rotated into the office, Malcolm wasn't talking. But the full batteries of HPI's second -- and up until then, unused -- SB-7 drained in less than 60 seconds in that office. A clear enough signal that Malcolm had had enough of everyone's company.

[Update: On 3-23-2016, Wraiths revisited this faculty office and conducted an additional session by placing our EchoVox spirit box on top of the electroshock box and captured the following EVP:

Eletroschock Box EVP captures

What intrigues us most is that this box has been moved 2,000 miles and hasn't been used since the 1950s. Does that mean that objects can retain both intelligent and residual hauntings even when displaced in space and time? Food for thought...]

Click here to continue to Part 2, where we describe what happened in the Auditorium -- the most haunted location in the building. And be sure to check out our new Facebook page (Facebook.com/WraithsintheThick), dedicated entirely to our on-going investigations.

In the meantime, also be sure to check out Hotchkiss Paranormal's Facebook page for additional video and audio clips from this investigation.

* * *

We're still having as much fun documenting current and ongoing investigations as we did conducting the investigations over the past year and a half for our book, WILD WEST GHOSTS.

There are puzzling experiences and encounters aplenty out there, and you just may want to pick up a copy of that book for either armchair musings or else as a guide for your own expeditions into the fascinating world of the paranormal.

You can buy the book as either an e-read or a trade paperback. Visit our Website for links.

In the meantime, happy hunting!