CT: Ghosthunting workshop offers spookiness at Deep River Library

The Middletown Press: Ghosthunting workshop offers spookiness at Deep River Library

DEEP RIVER – With a few screams and a lot of panting, a group of kids and teens rushed out of the dark reaches of the library basement and into the comparative safety of a meeting room.

“Holy crap-a-moley,” said Alexis Hartman, 11, of Deep River, recounting her experiences in the basement. “That was like… I had a big experience with that.”

Hartman and several of her friends were participating in a ghost hunting workshop at the Deep River Public Library on Saturday evening, and before they fled, had been listening for ghosts in the basement with an adapted radio. The ghost hunters at Haunted New England Paranormal Research hosted the workshop for kids and teens to show how they search for spirits. The kids had a chance to see the ghost-hunting equipment – cameras, digital voice recorders, and electric meters – and then hunt for ghosts inside the library.



So is the building haunted? HNEP founder Mike Krause and his colleagues think so. He said they’ve visited numerous times, and they’ve captured multiple voices, belonging to men, women and children. The library building, built in 1881, was once the home of Richard Spencer, his wife, Julia, and their children.

Over multiple visits, Krause’s team has also captured a picture of what looks like a woman in a purple dress, which they think might be Julia and a face that looks like Richard coming out of a wall.

“Whatever’s here likes it here,” said Rodney Wilson, one of Krause’s colleagues. “If they’re attached to a place, they’re gonna come back to the place.”

After demonstrating the equipment, Krause, Wilson and coworker Tina Listro broke the audience up to teams and took them to different parts of the building. In the attic, Listro tried to speak to the Spencers, particularly the children. On a previous visit, she explained, she left flour on the floor of an unused room to see if the flour was disturbed by any ghostly presences.

In the pitch-black, dusty basement, things got spookier. Using a device created from a radio, which scans through different frequencies for a split-second at a time, Listro and the audience thought they heard a voice responding to their questions. The voice, which might have been one of the Spencer children, identified himself as “Nick.”

“I’m interested in ghosts,” said Grace Martorelli, 11, of Deep River. “I wanted to know if they’re really with us. I’ve seen a lot of ghost shows and know what they look like.

Old Lyme resident Zach Welch, 12, said he enjoys watching shows like ‘Ghost Hunters.’

“I watch those shows a lot,” he said. ‘It kinda seems real. It makes you want to feel it and see what it’s like.”

“It’s validating some of the things I’ve seen or heard,” added Zach’s mom, Lisa, who went to the attic and basement to look for ghosts. But, she added, “I’m still a little skeptical.”

Krause said he got into ghost hunting as a teenager, when his family moved into a Victorian house in Manchester.

“From day one of being in that house, I had an uneasy feeling,” he said. Sometimes, he said, he was awoken at night by a shadow moving back and forth in his bedroom. When the shadow was there, he said, he couldn’t turn on the lights or open the door. If he started yelling, the shadow would leave, and the lights would come on.

Spooked by the experiences, Krause moved out within months to stay with a friend, and his parents moved out within two years. After moving out, Krause did some research on the house, and became intrigued with ghost hunting. He officially started his business in 1992, and it’s expanded to have a team of eight ghost hunters, including Listro and Wilson. The researchers don’t charge money to investigate a possible haunting, so all of them are involved because they’re genuinely interested in the paranormal.

In the last five years, Krause said, the percentage of hunts that have turned up paranormal activity has increased, which he thinks is because of his team’s increased knowledge.

“Once the bug catches you, you can’t get rid of it,” said Wilson.

Listro said that while she sometimes got nervous with her early ghost experiences, she’s gotten used to it. The job, she said, “is like anything else.”

“I don’t believe that there are things out there that really want to hurt you,” she said.

Still, some of the people who participated Saturday said they were intrigued, but despite assurances from the researchers, a little nervous.

“I think I was just totally interested in it,” said Deep River resident Mary Beth Kiely, one of the adults who tagged along on the tour. “I’ve always been interested, but a big chicken.”

“I might get a little freaked out and sleep with the lights on,” she added.