We were delighted to have the chance to investigate Capers Emporium in New Harmony, Indiana. When walking through the doors of Capers Emporium, it’s difficult to imagine a haunting. The interior is eclectic and vibrant, providing you with a pleasant sensory overload of colors, textures and scents. But beneath this happy façade lurks a whole other world.

I worked here for several years, helping the Guards set up the business and then staying on for an additional year. During my time here, I always felt creeped out by the basement. Every time I would walk downstairs, I would feel as though someone was following me around. During a New Year’s Eve party there, I brought my paranormal gear and did a short EVP session in the basement with my Spirit Box. I wanted to know who haunted the basement. Was it someone left over from the Odd Fellow’s years or was it an employee from the hardware store or grocery store?

“Who is hot on my heels when I come down to the basement?” I asked.
The Spirit Box answered immediately. “That’s Eddie,” it said. This was chilling on several levels. Firstly, the response was intelligent and clear. Secondly, it alerted me to the fact that there were more than one ghost there – Eddie and the person who tattled on him.

Over the years, we all experienced Eddie’s antics. Even die-hard skeptics changed their opinions after witnessing his blatant attempts to be known.

The first building on the property was a harness store.

After it was torn down, a massive two-story building was built for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Built in 1925, the building later housed a hardware store and grocery store. After the grocery store went out of business, the building sat empty until 2013. Indiana Landmarks partnered with the Efroymson Family Fund and restored the exterior of the building. Not long afterwards, Mary Beth and Michael Guard purchased the building and did massive renovations on the inside of the building. By 2018, Capers Emporium opened its doors for business, providing the community, as well as tourists, a fun place to shop.

After a brief introduction, we split into three groups led by Donna Tilly, Ben Adams and Rosie Benton. The groups were assigned a schedule, bringing them to all three floors. Rick Schlegelmilch oversaw the investigations on the first floor. Joni Mayhan held court on the second floor, and, as always, Traci Hoehn took the basement.
In each location, we offered Break-out Investigations, where 2-3 people would go alone and use a pendulum to ask questions. On the first floor, the Break-Out group sat with the SLS camera (X-Box technology) to look for stick figures. I will post a separate video at a later date.

As we would soon find out, it would end up being an epic night.

Second floor
The second floor of the building is a massive space that the owners are turning into living quarters. The space is under construction, so we carved out a spot for ourselves in between the tools and supplies. Seven minutes into our first session, we were all startled by a loud noise. Something big fell over, but no one had any idea what it was. It was enough to rattle the group. When something like this happens, some of us begin to wonder. If they can knock over a huge piece of plywood, what else can they do? I asked who did it and a male voice said, “I did.” He wouldn’t give his name though.

Someone asked how many were there and at the time we thought someone said, “ten,” but under evidence review, I realized they said, “Ben,” which is the name of the handyman who does the renovations in that room. I wonder if Ben realizes they know him by name.

My second group was lively and asked some great questions. We had the owner, Mary Beth Guard, in the group and I really feel it brought out more reactions from the ghosts.
Mary Beth asked if they liked it when she plays her piano. A man responded with “yes.”
Someone asked if they were an Odd Fellow. One voice responded with, “could be,” and then another said “Sup!” The second response was so clear, it was as if someone in the room said it.

Jim Huff also joined us. His family owned the grocery store that was once located in the building. He’s had many experiences there over the years. just returned from a breakout session where he’d been talking to someone who died in the Griffin tornado. He asked if he was still speaking to him and the man said, “yep.”

Mary Beth asked if they liked the basement the best and a man said, “In the basement.” Clear as day.

Someone asked if they were still there and a man responded, “I am.”

Normally, by the end of the night, the ghosts are tired and the responses come more sporadically. This night would be different. It was as though they were just getting warmed up.

As soon as we started the session, one of the ghosts said my name.

Soon after, someone said something odd. “Feel the plate,” he said. Capers is a kitchen and gift shop. Had he been downstairs fondling the dishware?

Rosie was the leader of this group and she seemed to be impacted by the ghosts there. She asked, “Are you behind me?” A female voice answered, “Right in front.” I repeated what it said and a male voice said, “Right,” as though confirming it.

She asked if they were making her cold and a female voice came through and said, “Rosie.”
Jason came up with the camcorder and it once again died. They were draining the batteries to use the energy.

Someone asked if there was more scary stuff in town. A male voice told her, “It’s dark here.”
We got a few more responses to questions, but none of them were clear enough to determine.

They wanted to know who was in the basement. Someone inquired and got a response of “Edward.” I think it’s safe to say that Eddie holds court down there.

The bell across the street chimed on the hour, but it chimed an extra ring. We asked about that and got an intelligent response.

I asked about Eddie again and he told me emphatically, “I’m in the front.”

First Floor
Rick Schlegelmilch led groups on the first floor of the building where the retail store and kitchen are located. The group sat around the counter in the back and started out with a Spirit Box Session.

They got a few responses, but they were so faint and muddled, it was difficult to make them out. When asked what their favorite color is, it sounded like a man said, “I don’t know.” They moved on to using Dowsing Rods. Here are some other relevant responses that happened over the course of the night.

• There were more than ten ghosts in the building.
• They were talking to a male – he was older than 20.
• He was related to someone who was there that day.
• Eddie was there. He’s the one who moves things in the store.
• They’re in his way when they’re in the kitchen.
• He was the one who knocked the candles down.
• He doesn’t have any kids.
• He likes everyone who works there. He likes Ashley.
• He’s not an Odd Fellow.
• He didn’t live in New Harmony
• They know who Whistling Rick is
• Eddie and Peter weren’t friends (The name Peter was mentioned in the basement)
• They know Emily (also mentioned in the basement)
• They don’t like it when Rick’s dog, Clutch, poops on the sidewalk in front
• Peter was also there. He knows Emily and Eddie.
• They didn’t like Town Marshall Scotty
• Town Marshall Scotty popped in to speak with them. He still checks in with family.

They didn’t get a response on the Spirit Box until the third group. Donna Tilly asked about the sound I heard when I first started working at Capers years ago. It sounded like a bucket of nails falling to the floor, but when I went to look, nothing was out of place. I later found out that the building was a hardware store.

As the last session was coming to an end, a strange thing happened. On the audio, which I reviewed later, I could clearly hear the sound of a music box playing. I asked both Rick and Donna if they remembered someone playing a music box and neither did. I’m not certain it’s paranormal, but I’m including it here regardless. If someone knows anything about this, please let me know.

The Basement – written by Traci Hoehn

The basement of Capers Emporium proved to be very active during the investigation. For our basement sessions, we used the spirit box to communicate with the ghosts. For this experiment, the spirit box was attached to earbuds, which I wore. I then donned noise-canceling headphones and a blindfold to ensure I couldn’t hear nor see what was being asked by the groups. This method, known as the Estes Method, helps dismantle the phenomenon in which we hear what we want to hear in response to questions posed.
The ghosts started communicating right away with the first group. The ghost confirmed that they stay in the basement, then this interesting exchange occurred (My repetition of the spirit box will be in Italics):

Do you do maintenance in this basement?
Do it. Yes.
Have you worked here a long time?
Did I? Yeah.

Intelligent responses are always promising, especially at the beginning of a session. After having a string of unanswered questions or nonsensical responses, the name ‘Adam’ came through. When asked “Who’s Adam?” the ghosts responded, “A baker.” Later, a ghost responded that they have to be invited when asked if they could go upstairs, and the following happened:

Are you invited upstairs?
Let’s go.
Do you like it upstairs?
Good job.
Do you have a job upstairs?
I smell it.
Could this be Adam, the one who said he was a baker earlier, talking about the smell of his creations?

The next ghost to introduce themselves to the first session was Patrick. He said he was not alone in the basement. When asked, “Do you know things here?” Patrick replied, “Time. Repeat.” This is especially interesting because there are theories that some ghosts get stuck in loops repeating past behaviors.

The last exchange of the first session demonstrated the fact that ghosts have personalities and can be as sarcastic as the living:

You said you would let us hear your voice, are you going to say something important?
Come on. We’re going.
Where are we going?
Here.
Where is here?
Don’t start.

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