We're Going on a GHOST Hunt...

NaBloPoMo Countdown: Day 5 of 30

A couple of weeks ago, my mom asked me if I wanted to go on a haunted ghost tour she read about in the newspaper. We researched it a bit more, and thought it seemed like a pretty cool (and excitingly creepy) idea. The Indiana Ghost Tracker's has a northwest indiana chapter, and we were lucky enough to have the President and CEO of the organization, Mike McDowell be our Tour Guide for the evening along with another "Professional Ghost Hunter" Renee. We decided on the Porter County Tour (they have a few different ones) because the meeting place was the new Chesterton Visitor's Center right down the road from my house (plus Todd was going to be home with Jonah for the night, so it was just easier this way). Now, my Mom and I already knew the places we were going to go, and personally the only one that really freaked me out, was knowing we would be going to cemetery, at night, in the dark, with these alleged ghosts present.
The tour started at 7pm and ended at 11pm. So in the total darkness, we loaded up on a school bus, with a few other people just as crazy as we were, to take the haunted tour. Mike introduced himself and Renee, told us a bit about the organization and how he got involved. He then took out a tape recorder and started playing a few EVP's for us. EVP stands for Electronic Voice Phenomena. This is where the Ghost Trackers go to a place that is supposedly haunted armed with a tape recorder. They sometimes talk to the ghosts (ask them questions) and get answers. Sometimes they are just recording the room they are in, and later when they are analysing their finding's, they hear stuff. I asked Mike "Why can't you just hear the ghosts talking to you when your in the room? Why does it only come up on the recordings?" He said that is because "They think that the voices are at a frequency so high that you can only hear it after it has been recorded and played back." Yeah, I get it. If you want to listen to some EVP's that the Indiana Ghost Trackers have recorded, they are available HERE from their website. I am currently home alone, so I don't feel quite comfortable enough to listen to them right now. I can assure you though...they will be quite creepy.
I know I am not going to remember the exact order, nor the exact locations, nor the exact dates or times or names, but I am going to do my best to recall the night's activities.
~We went to Flint Lake and Mike told us the story of White Flint and how her ghost still walks the shores. He also told us about this big green monster that supposedly lived (or lives) in the depths of the lake. Renee then told us a creepy story about how this husband and wife (and their dog) lived in a house on the lake. One night, they heard the blowing of a train horn. The sounds kept getting closer and closer until it got to the point where it sounded like it was passing by their home. The windows rattled and the wine glass spilled over and the dog freaked out. They never saw a train, and there were no longer train tracks near their home. It is said that that is the haunting of an old train that used to go around the lake a long time ago.
~We also visited Brown Mansion. The old Brown family had 9 kids, one of them who came down with Typhoid Fever and ended up becoming severely disabled as a result. Back in those days, when families had a child like that, they sometimes had what is a called a "Disappointment Room". The room was about the size of a walk-in closet, with a few windows, and only a doorknob on the outside, so the child could not get out. The child (I think is name was Charles) was also chained up in the basement and sometimes to a tree in the front yard. It is said that you can still hear a voice saying something like "Stop hitting me." Charles died when he was 16 (or 18).
~We went to the place where an immigrant train crashed and 45 immigrants had been burned to death. They can apparently still be seen there today. The sound of the crash can sometimes be heard as well.
~We went down Stagecoach Road. Can't remember what goes on over there.
~We went to where the Diana of the Dunes ghost still runs the shores of the Lake. I wasn't too creeped out being on the lakeshore, in the dark. UNTIL, after we we almost back to the bus and I realized I lost my mitten, and it had to be when I took my phone out my pocket to send an email to Steph (telling her I was on a ghost hunt). At first, I would have left it. But it was sort of an expensive mitten! I got it in the Victoria's Secret catalog a few years ago, and I have the matching hat and scarf...I didn't want to have to sacrifice the entire ensemble by losing the mitten. So my mom asked the guy if we could go back. ALONE! Are you kidding me?!?! My mother is crazy. Needless to say, nothing too creepy happened and i found my mitten!
~We went to the old schoolhouse and cemetery. Mike let us use some ghost tracking equipment and my crazy mom decided she wanted to venture out into the scary depths of this supposed haunted cemetery. That was where I drew the line. No way! I may never come back, or i might come back possessed. She went off, and I followed for a bit. Then yelled at her to come back. She said next tour she is taking Todd, because he would go on the adventure. I said go ahead, you're both crazy! Needless to say, we didn't catch a ghost there, either.

Well, all of that being said. no ghosts were found and nothing creepy appeared before our very eyes. This other woman on the tour though, was pretty adamant on taking a million pictures. So there we were, in the middle of the night, and her camera kept flashing away (along with a few others). She was sorta weird, and claimed that pretty much everything was ghost-ridden. I don't know. Maybe. But I doubt it.

It was fun though. And interesting. If you get a chance, you should go. You'll hear alot of cool stories, and hey...maybe on your tour, you'll actually see/experience something. If you do, let me know!

Tour information for the Lake and Porter County Haunted Bus Tours can be found HERE.