I’ve been fascinated with this grand building since I first moved to New Harmony almost eight years ago. It sits on Main Street, nestled between an assortment of other elaborate, historic buildings. They remind me of fancy wedding cakes, stacked side by side.

For the first seven years I was here, the building was known as the Antique Doll Shop and was filled with shelf after shelf of dolls. The shop was seldom open, serving more as a place for a personal collection than an actual public store. I managed to find it when it was open twice during those seven years and nearly fell over myself in my hurry to get inside to look.

The interior was everything I’d hoped for. It had tall swooping ceilings, colorful stained glass windows and built-in mahogany book cases absolutely brimming with dolls of every shape, size and color. And best of all, it had ghosts!

I felt them swirling around me, drawn by my energy, intrigued to be presented with someone who could actually sense them. I tried to imagine what it would be like for them to be trapped inside a building that was locked up most of the time, providing them with little interaction with the living. It seemed like a sad existence.

Fast forward to the summer of 2023. According to the local grapevine, the building had been sold and new owners would soon be opening a shop there. We heard it was a woodworking store, an antique store and a bevy of other possibilities. My friends and I would stalk the store-front nightly after our ghost walks, peering in the windows to see what had been added. It started with a few oddities: a holographic face pressed into a block of glass, a ceremonial gong, a tribal mask. We were hooked. And then, much to our elation, the business opened on July 4^th weekend.

I walked in the day they opened and was greeted warmly by Pat and Theresa, who own the store. They’ve been collecting these artifacts for decades and were happy to find the perfect place to showcase them. It was almost as though the store was built for them.

I walked around taking in all the fascinating items. In one room there are showcases and bookshelves filled with sculptures, jewelry, and other collectables. Another room houses musical instruments, while the room adjacent to it is filled with interesting furniture pieces, much of it, mid-century modern. There’s a hallway filled with clocks of every shape imaginable. It’s a delight to be there on the hour to listen to all of them chime simultaneously. And then there are the intriguing pieces mixed in. There’s a ship’s maidenhead that looks like a mermaid hanging in the front window. There are two life-size, wooden Native American sculptures greeting you at the doorway and large metal fighter planes hanging from the ceiling. It’s the kind of store you could spend hours in, just taking it all in.

They’ve been following me on Facebook for a while, so they knew who I was and what I do. When I asked them if I could walk around and see what I felt, they were intrigued. And trust me when I say this, I was beyond excited.

There is second floor above the first floor that isn’t open to the public. One room, which is partially finished, contains more furniture and collectible items that don’t fit in the store, along with Pat’s extensive bonsai collection. Another room, which is long and narrow, reminds me of the space required for a bowling alley. This room is unfinished, unheated and doesn’t have any lighting. Both rooms were absolutely buzzing with energy.

I went back to the room with the furniture and bonsai and just sat for a moment, allowing the ghosts to come closer. It almost reminded me of befriending animal shelter dogs. I just sat in the silence and allowed them to get used to me. After a few moments, I opened myself up and began my psychic sweep. When I do this, I often write in a notebook, recording the words, images and phrases that come to my mind. They were eager to communicate.

The first ghost I encountered was a trim women in her late thirties. She was dark haired and self-contained. I wasn’t certain if she was educated, but I instinctively knew she was smart and level headed. I saw her in plain clothing:  a long skirt with a tight waist, long sleeved blouse and a scarf around her neck. Her dark hair was pulled up onto her head, but was escaping in thick, curly tendrils. She had kind eyes and a playful manner. I’m not good at intuiting names, so I didn’t even try. I just let her know I was aware of her and then opened my mind to the other ghost in the room.

This one was a male. He seemed somewhat distant from the woman, although I felt they were connected, maybe even married. There seemed to be some strife between them, but I wasn’t certain what it was. He was tall and dark-haired, dressed in a suit and tie. Both of them presented themselves as being from the early 1900’s era.

When I walked into the “bowling alley room,” I felt a distinctly different energy. The occupants here were frightened and unsettled. They reminded me of immigrants, hiding out in the shadows, afraid to be discovered. Unlike the man and woman next door, they often went without basic necessities. I wanted to help them, but something about them frightened me just a little. Mixed in with the sadness was more than a hint of anger. They weren’t necessarily hostile, but they weren’t keen on my presence either.

At a later date, I went in one evening to video the building as the last of the daylight was draining from the sky. The building truly comes to life in the faltering shadows. The various lights highlight the high ceilings and the magnificent woodwork. It gives the building a sense of mystery, something that brings out the beauty and personality of the space.

I walked up to the second floor to the room with the furniture and the bonsai. I began thinking of this space as the living room. It felt like a room where you could curl up on one of the sofas with a good book and a magnificent bird’s eye view of the town below you.

The Spirit Box is one of my favorite tools for paranormal investigating. It scans rapidly through the channels, allowing the ghosts in the building to speak through the white noise. When it works, it’s phenomenal. Sometimes we’ll get full sentences of intelligent responses to our questions. But when it doesn’t work, it’s irritating to hear the chop-chop-chop sounds as it moves through the channels.

This time it worked beautifully. I began talking to a man named Don. He felt somewhat suave and polished: a bit of a flirt. He was someone who was used to getting his way and was handsome enough to always capture the attention of the women around him. Was this the man I connected with before? I thought it might be. Without the female there, he was more gregarious and outgoing.

“Do you remember my name?” I asked.

“What’s that?” he asked, almost coyly.

It occurred to me that, even though I’ve been up there before, I’ve never properly introduced myself. I spoke with him for a few minutes, having a full-on conversation. To listen to the entire conversation, click HERE

Joni’s Sessions

First Session (Yellow Group)

I conducted a spirit box experiment on the second floor. After introducing themselves, we got started right away. It only took thirty seconds before we got our first clear response.

I asked who was there with us and a voice responded, “Emily.” Emily would play a major role in the night’s investigation.

I asked if there was anybody else, and a man with a deep voice said, “No.” This made us all laugh.

When asked how old she was, a female voice said, “for the ninety.” At the time, we thought she said, “From the nineties.” We weren’t certain if she was from the 1890s or the 1990s.

Someone asked if she was tied to a certain artifact there and a male voice said, “Big hat.”

There was a cabinet filled with old hats beside us. Someone asked if they could lead us to which hat it was and the male voice once again said, “Big hat.” This was pretty phenomenal. If, per chance, we were picking up on a radio station, the spirit box had already moved past that station. There’s no way the same voice could be on the radio, saying the exact same thing.

“Emily, what kind of hat?” someone asked. It was quickly answered with, “Wicket.” There were a few wicker hats on the rack.

As the next person was trying to phrase his question, a voice said, “What do you need?” He sounded friendly, but a bit impatient. I can imagine they would be exasperated with us. Some of them might have attempted to communicate with the living for decades. Imagine being invisible and not being able to talk or be heard?

We kept hearing the word “hat” in their responses, which was strange. What was it with the hats?

We asked another round of questions and really didn’t get any clear responses, so I decided to turn the spirit box off. I wanted to utilize the psychic medium we had in this group. Ashley Morrow has been to a few of our investigations and always blows us away with her impressions. I’ve worked with a lot of psychic mediums and she’s, hands down, one of the best. I asked her what she was feeling.

She was picking up on female energy at the back corner. She felt she was from the 1800s. I asked if she was Emily and Ashley looked up at where she was standing. “She said yes,” she told us.

We were curious if Emily was Amish, based on the wicker hat, but Ashley didn’t think she was Amish. She was tied to an item. “She’s saying hat,” Ashley told us.

I, too, am a medium and was also feeling a female energy. I’ve felt her there before and mentally see her as a dark haired woman in her thirties. The era I felt she was from was more of the early 1900s. I’ve always felt as though she lived there and worked there, possibly owning a business with her husband.

We asked Ashley to use the dowsing rods to answer a few questions the group had about Emily. We asked for her to point to where she was standing and the rods pointed towards the doorway, which is exactly where she spotted her earlier.

We asked her to point to the hat she was tied to and the rods directed us to a hat on a middle shelf. It was a wicker hat, but was more of a man’s hat. I looked at the inside of the hat and it was a newer hat. It really didn’t make any sense. It wasn’t old enough to belong to someone from the 1800s to early 1900s.

Ashley was also picking up on male energy on the opposite end of the room.

• Is there a male behind me? Yes
• Is he connected to Emily? No
• Will you talk to us over the spirit box? Yes

We moved back to the spirit box to see if he was a man of his word. We were getting a lot of half answers or things that kind of sounded like a response, but upon review, it wasn’t anything significant.

After a lengthy period of time, we finally heard something interesting. “Emily,” a female voice said without benefit of a question. We attempted to pursue this small lead, but didn’t receive any further information.

One of the guests had his own KII, which measures electromagnetic energy that is sometimes affiliated with the presence of ghosts. It kept spiking. When we asked if they could get closer to it and make it light up to red, a faint voice said, “Blue.” While blue isn’t one of the colors on the KII’s array, it is an actual color. It demonstrated the fact that they were aware of what we were saying.

I was trying to remember who I spoke with when I came to the building alone and did a “promo” with my spirit box. I came in a few weeks before the investigation and filmed myself using the spirit box. I had a lively conversation with a charming man. After some searching, I finally found the video I posted to Facebook and listened for the man’s name. It was Don. He had a pretty suave voice. I asked Ashley if that sounded like the man who was on the other side of the room and she thought so.

I had Ashley bring the spirit box over to the area where she was feeling him. As soon as she got in place, I told her his name is Don. Immediately, a male voice – the same male voice we’d been hearing – said, “Howdy.”

It was a short-lived conversation. After his initial greeting, we didn’t get anything else, so I had Ashley use the dowsing rods again. She confirmed that Don was there and he was standing in the back corner.

The session ended and the group moved on to the next location. Little did I know, this group would end up with a story that grew with every session.

Second Session (Red Group)

Sometimes, the ghosts in the building will follow the strongest psychic medium for the evening instead of remaining in place to see who else shows up. Unfortunately, for the other three groups, this is pretty much what happened for the rest of the evening. While the other groups did have interesting interactions with other ghosts in the building, the two strongest ones continued to follow.

I didn’t tell them anything about the first session. I wanted them to experience it for themselves and see if they got the same names and interactions.

As soon as I got started, we got our first response. I was just informing the ghosts in the room that I brought a new group in to talk to them. A male voice quickly said, “Okay.”

I asked if anyone was still there from the first session and a woman promptly told me something I’d soon learn on my own. “They left,” she said, which was absolutely true. When you read the section on Traci’s sessions, you see that Don and Emily followed the Yellow Group. Thankfully, there were still other ghosts there to communicate with.

Unfortunately, not all of them were as cordial as the woman. When Deb asked how many of them were there with us, a man responded with, “Get out!” We didn’t hear it at the time, which was probably a good thing. Some of the guests might have been uneasy hearing that.

Without a question to prompt it, a woman said, “Red jacket.” It’s not overly clear, especially the “jacket” portion, but I clipped it because it would become a theme for the night. While we were discussing it, another female ghost said it again. “Red coat,” she said. We didn’t hear it at the time. It was spoken quickly and had to be slowed down by 80% to be clearly understood.

I was curious about this, so I stopped the spirit box session and moved to dowsing rods. I had Heather use them because she’s been on many of our investigations and is quite good at using them.

• Is red your favorite color? No answer
• Is green your favorite color? No answer
• Do you like the red hat over there? No answer
• Do you like the hat on the table? No answer
• Are you a man? No

I had her walk over to the other side of the room where Ashley sat earlier.

• Is there a woman here? Yes
• Was there a man here too? Yes

I asked her to have the rods to point to where the woman was standing and they pointed towards the doorway where she’d been earlier

She asked the rods to point to where the man was standing and they pointed straight ahead of her

• Is this your favorite room in the building? No

I asked the mediums in the group what they were feeling. Deb felt it felt “present” and there were more than one. Matt was next. He said he felt overwhelmed and a little anxious, like there was a large crowd there. I then told them what we picked up on the last session.

Deb informed us that one of the owners of the bookshop died of a heart attack in the building. Another person said she felt chest pressure. She also said that Bob, the man who died, had a daughter named Emily. It was interesting that we’d been hearing the name Emily all night.

We turned the spirit box on and kept hearing the world “old.” I asked if they thought we were old and then corrected myself, telling that we were young. A woman’s voice came through (faintly) and said, “That’s true.”

They kept getting the word “red” across the spirit box. I mentioned that my flashlight had a red light and immediately heard a woman say, “Light.” It shows they are aware of us and can hear us talk.

Then, without benefit of a question, a man told us to “record this.”

The rest of the session was nonproductive. The group headed to their next session.

Third Session (Blue Group)

The group came in talking about the color red. They were getting a lot of responses with the color red in their last two sessions. They thought it might be due to the young man named Ace. Ironically, Ace was wearing a red jacket. They said they heard Ace’s name and also his mother’s name, Stacey. She said she was holding the purse and asked if she could have it and they told her she was “too young.”

I started feeling the floor bouncing beneath me and brought it to the group’s attention. Nobody was moving, but it continued to happen. I hadn’t felt it in either of my last two sessions.

We turned on the spirit box and got started. We went around the room and introduced ourselves and got an immediate intelligent response when I asked what their names were. A man said, “Joseph” very clearly.

We went around, asking more questions. Someone asked, “What’s your name?” A male voice answered, “Joni.” It’s not the first time I’ve heard my name spoken by a ghost, but it hasn’t happened in a while, so I was surprised.

There were a lot of “yups” coming over the box. They asked if he was the one who was sitting next to Ace and it said “yup.”

They asked if Joe was there, if he’d come up with them, not knowing we got a response from a Joseph at the beginning of the session.

I asked them what town we were in and a male voice said, “town hall.”

Someone in the group was feeling like there was something surrounding a stuffed monkey sitting in a chair. This was the second time this had happened during the evening. I asked the owners about the monkey and she said it belonged to her son when she was a child. Perhaps one of the ghosts liked it too?

I walked over to Traci’s group to take pictures for a moment. While I was gone, they were hearing the same female voice come through. Theresa asked her if she had something she wanted to tell them and she said, “bring everyone.” When Theresa asked what her name was, she said, “Marsea.”

Several of them began feeling a cold spot between them and wondered if something was standing there. At that point, we began feeling the floor moving again.

Several people in the group were drawn to a photo of a woman on a shelf behind me. They asked for her name and it kind of sounded like “Haley.” I later learned it was a photograph of Rebecca, who owns Just Looking, a store across from Artefakts.

They thought they were hearing “red” again, but upon review, it was actually saying “Rick.” There was a Rick there during my pre-investigation session. We didn’t get anything else for the rest of the session.

Fourth Session (Orange Group)

I always feel badly for the last group of the night. By this time, we’ve usually worn out the ghosts in the building and they’ve already drifted into their respective corners to recuperate. This wasn’t necessarily the case this time though.

We got our first hit as we were introducing ourselves. In between people, a male voice told us, “I think it’s cool.”

When asked if they like to look out the windows, a male voice said, “We do.”

Someone asked how many people were in the room and a faint voice said, “Seven.” There were ten living people there. Did that mean there were seven ghosts?

A guest asked if they liked this room and a male voice said, “I don’t love you.” Well then… I’d be offended, but I’ve found that it’s better when the ghosts aren’t too attached to you.

I asked one of my standard questions, geared towards knowing if they can actually see us. “How many fingers am I holding up?” I asked. A voice immediately said, “Three.”

One of the guests remarked that she kept seeing something passing behind her (the light seemed to change). This was something that was ongoing all night.

Someone asked if they liked to read and there was a faint “no.”

At that point, something weird happened to my recorder. Everything recorded in double speed. I couldn’t even slow it down with my editing program. I tried to listen to the remaining seven minutes, but didn’t hear anything that jumped out at me. Was it the ghosts? Were they tired of talking to us or was it an equipment malfunction. I guess we’ll never know.

Traci’s Sessions

Traci was using the Estes Method in her sessions. Participants would be connected to the Spirit Box with headphones and wore a blindfold. The rest of the group would ask questions and the participant would call out what they heard come through the headphones. Many times, participants go into a channeling state and begin seeing images.

She was in an unfinished room on the second floor. This is the creepiest room in the building and has a definite vibe.

First Session (Red Group)

Unfortunately, the digital recorder malfunctioned at the beginning of the session and didn’t record. I do know that someone in the group felt pressure on her chest during the Estes session. Someone else felt their hair parting in the back.

Second Session (Yellow Group)

After they introduced themselves, they started the session. Ashley was the first to start.

Q: Can you tell us your name?

A: Hi

Q: Can you tell us your name?

A: Don

Q: Don, what’s your last name?

A: Moved

Q: Did something move?

A: Behind her. I’m behind her?

Q: Behind who? What color shirt are they wearing?
Q: Are you behind me?

A: No

Q: Are you behind me (Traci)?

A: Close

A: She saw me

Q: Who is she?

A: I can see her. She sees me.

Q: Can you tell us her name?

A: Ashley

Q: Do you like Ashley?

A: I worked here

Q: how long ago did you work here?

A: Shady

A: What I did was shady

Q: How was it shady? What did you do?

A: Work

Q: Did you steal?

A: Trouble with law?

Q: Did you get caught?

A: No

Q: Are you tied to something you stole?

A: Can’t tell

Q: Is it still in this building?

A: Before

Q: Are you from New Harmony? Were you here in the 1920’s

A: My wife

A: She helped me

Q: Were you bootlegging?

A: No

Q: Were you bank robbers?

A: Doesn’t matter. She had a boyfriend.

Q: is the money in the safe in the other room?

Q: Who had a boyfriend?

A: no

Q: Did you work as a teller at the bank?

A: yes

Q: were you upper management at the bank?

A: Yes

Q: Were you the president of the bank?

A: Absolutely

Q: Did you embezzle at the bank?

A: yes

Q: Was your wife the one who had a boyfriend?

A: yes. She was shady

A: She’ll see

Q: What will she see?

A: How I was better

Q: Better at what?

A: Husband

Q: You were a better husband that someone else?

A: Yes

Q: What was her name

A: Emily

Q: Did you know the guy she was having an affair with?

A: yes

Q: was he one of your friends?

A: yes

 Q: did you do something about it?

A: I did

Q: What did you do?

A: What do you want?

Q: We just want to know what happened? What do you want?

A: For her to forgive

Q: Fair enough. Have you asked her?

A: Maybe

A: It’s hard

Q: Why is it hard to ask for forgiveness?

A: No

Q: Then what’s hard? Can you tell us what was hard?

A: No

A: It would ruin me

Q: Why would it ruin you?

A: Respecting

Q: Was your hat in the other room?

A: couldn’t find me

Q: What does she need to forgive you about?

A: Ran

Q: Who ran?

 A: I ran

Q: Why did you run?

A: Trouble

Q: What kind of trouble?

A: nothing

Q: were you scared?

A: Hide

Q: were you afraid someone was going to be upset with you?

A: I did

Q: Did anyone find out? Did Emily find out?

A: I’m here

Q: Where’s Emily? Did you have a child together?

A: Emily?

Q: yes. Did you have a child together? Is that child here?

A: Husband

Q: Did Emily have another husband?

A: She tried

Q: Is that when you did something bad?

A: Unfortunately

Q: Is he here too?

A: Yes

Q: What’s his name? Is that his hat in the next room?

A: No

She felt pressure on her chest during the session. The next person donned the headphones.

A: Zero

Q: Is Emily here?

A: What do you want?

Q: What happened with you and Don?

A: It’s a secret

Q: You can tell us. Is this Don’s friend? Was there a child involved?

A: Little

Q: A little girl?

Q: Who are we speaking with?

A: In

Q: In from what?

A: hidden place

Q: Where is there a hidden place?

A: Secret

Q: Why is it a secret?

A: Secret

Q: Don, did they ever find out what you did at the bank?

A: They’ll find out

Q: Did Emily work at the bank?

A: yes

Q: Did you and Emily leave because something illegal happened at the bank?

A: Planned. One night.

Q: Did this used to be the bank?

A: Watched

Q: Was Emily watched

A: Watched bank

They pulled him out of the session. He was shaking. He said he felt really sad. Was hearing someone whispering and was seeing visions of the past. He saw Emily looking out the bank windows while Don was messing with the safe. He felt like there was a lover’s quarrel.

The next person (Mindy) put on the headphones and they started again.

Q: Do Emily and Don have a child? Is Don still here?

A: Calculate

Q: Did Emily have to calculate how to get Don into the bank at night?

Q: Do you want to talk about something else? Is Emily in here too?

A: Hope

Q: Hope about what? Don, did your friend know what was happening at the bank?

A: Red

Q: What’s red? Is it a name?

A: Morgan

Q: Who’s Morgan?

Q: Don, were you friends with a lot of men in town?

A: Maybe

Q: Did you know AC Thomas

A: Daddy

Q: Was AC Thomas your father? Did you know Elmer Elliott? How about Alfred Ribeyre, the corn king? Did you know any of the Owen family?

A: Random

Q: Can you tell us the year you were here?

A: Mustache

Q: Did you have a mustache? Was Morgan your friend you were trying to keep a secret from? Is Morgan here with us?

A: Loud

Q: What’s loud?

A: Baby

Q: Was your baby loud a lot?

A: Was eight

Q: Was your child’s name Morgan? Was your child eight?

A: Murky

Q: Did something happen to your child? Was there an accident?

They stopped the session. She said something kept touching her hand. She felt the pressure on her chest. The man who did the previous session said he felt a female’s sadness.

Third Session (Orange Group)

After a brief explanation about how the Estes Method works, they got started. After introducing themselves, they got started.

Q: Can you tell us your name?

A: Airport

Q: Did you work in an airport? Do you like to fly? Are you glad we’re here? Are you male or female? Is anyone up here with us that wants to talk? Do you have a family? Are you from New Harmony? Do you like to look out the windows? Do you stay upstairs or can you go downstairs?

Traci pulled him out of the session because he wasn’t getting anything. The next person took his place.

Q: Do you want to talk with us now? Is there a reason why you aren’t talking to us now?

A: Hey

Q: There you are! Can you tell me something about yourself? Did you work in this building?

A: How

Q: Did you work in the bookstore? Are there a lot of distractions other than our conversations?

A: Some

A: Good

Q: Is it good where you are? Is that what you mean? Have you met God? Are you trapped here?

A: No

Q: Are you alone? Is there anyone else with you? Do you wish you could go party with the group down the street? (You can literally hear screaming from the wedding down the street on the recorder) Do all the weddings get on your nerves? Is there someone in the room you’d like to talk to? Is it difficult for you to talk to us?

A: A little

Q: Why?

A: Forty-one

Q: Is that how old you are?

A: yeah

Q: Are you a male? Are you a woman?

A: Man

Q: Were you married?

They pulled her out of the session. She felt like her hair was parting in the back. This was the same as the first group. She also felt like someone was standing behind her. The next person took her place.

Q: We have someone else listening. Would you like to keep talking to us? How do you feel about the music?

A: I hear music

Q: Are you playing music for her? What kind of music do you like? Is there anything we can do for you? Are you with people you love? Downstairs, we were told we should be afraid of one of you. Are you the one we should be afraid of? Is there anyone you’re afraid of? Is there anything you want to tell us?

A: It’s behind

Q: What’s behind?

A: Next

Q: Are you next to her? Can you give us a clear sign you’re here with us?

A: Fancy

Q: Do you like playing with people’s hair?

A: Awake

Q: Do you do it to keep them awake?

She pulled the mask off and the next person took her place (a male).

Q: someone new is listening. Do you want to keep talking to us? (Joni walked in the room to take pictures, so Traci did the pie question. She went around the room and had everyone announce their favorite kind of pie. Sometimes it generates responses from the dead.

A: Ballroom

A: Spirit

Q: Is there a spirit here or are they drinking spirits (at the very loud wedding)?

Q: What is your favorite kind of pie (they finished the pie question)? Are you aware of the other spirits?

A: Is it here?

Q: Sorry. We don’t have any pie.

Q: Do you get tired? Is it harder to be in the spirit world? Or was it harder to be alive?  Do you want to go to the party next door? Are you sad right now? Do you have any hobbies?

Traci made a connection: the spirits there seemed to like to talk to women more than men. Most of the men didn’t get very many responses.

A: Wait

Q: What are we waiting for?

A: Favorite

Q: Do you have a favorite in this room right now? We’re going to be shutting this down soon. Is there anything you want to tell us?

There was no response, so they pulled him out of the session. He said he felt something touch his collar. He couldn’t make out what they were saying most of the time. He would get pieces of what they were saying, but not enough to clearly make it out.

Fourth Session (Blue Group)

After Traci explained how the Estes Method worked, they introduced themselves and got started. Teresa was the first participant.

Q: Can you tell us what your name is? Is there anyone up here who wants to talk to us?

A: Murder

A: Always

Q: Always murder. What do you mean by that? Did you do something bad to somebody?  Did the little girl come upstairs with us? Is there anyone in the room with us? What is your name? (one of the guests saw the exit sign completely black out. It would have been something very tall to block it out)

Q: Why were you by the exit sign? What did you use this room for? Did you live here? (The group heard a whisper from behind them. They all heard it.) Are you here with us?

A: Glad I came home

Q: Is this your home? Did Ace’s friend from downstairs come up here? Did we see you back by the exit sign? Can you tell Teresa we saw you? Can you tell Teresa your favorite color? Are you the one who was downstairs with us?  Is your name Haley?

Teresa took off the headphones and the next person (Ace) took her place.

Q: How do you feel about the music you hear playing? Do you like it? Are the ghosts from the gym partying tonight?

A: Raindrop. Someone.

Q: Yes. These buckets are from raindrops. (the roof leaks and there are buckets)

Q: They started the pie question again. Someone from the group (Jodi) remembered us doing it years ago.

A: They. Someone. Right now.

Q: Someone right now, what?

Q: Did someone else come into the room? Do you want to talk to the boy in the red shirt (Ace)?

A: Red. Still cold.

Q: Are you standing beside the guy in the red shirt?

A: Around

Q: You might like the boy in the red shirt, but you can’t go home with him. You won’t be welcomed.

Traci noted that a younger woman just came into the room who was very strong. Another participant asked if she had curly black hair. Traci thought she might have dark hair. Mid to late 20s.

Q: Is there someone who can walk across the laser grid and show yourself? Did Joe come up with us? Could you knock on the wall or floor and let us know you’re here?

A: Baby. No. Something.

Q: Did the monkey used to belong to the baby? (I must have missed something here. What monkey?)

Q: Is the girl still with us? Is there someone who won’t let you talk?

A: Talk

Q: is this the little girl from downstairs?

They pulled Ace out of the session. He said he kept hearing a “psst” sound, like someone was trying to get his attention. He also felt a tap. He kept hearing a deep voice he couldn’t understand. They put the next person in.

A: Help

Q: What’s wrong? Why do you need help? Were you attacked? Did someone take your toy? Are you stuck here?

A: Whisper

Q: That was you that whispered?

A: Kids

Q: Are the kids whispering?

A: More of them

Q: Are there a lot of kids here? Do you have a secret?

A: Shaking

Q: Did the kids get to play?

A: Sick. Cough! Right here.

Q: Was the kids bedroom or playroom?

A: Sick

Q: What were they sick with?

A: Cough. Sick (she noted they were saying sick over and over)

Q: Was it consumption?  We’re sorry you were sick.

A: Bedroom

Q: Did you have to stay in your bedroom because you were sick?

A: down. Just stay.

Q: Do you want us to stay?

A: Kill those.

Q: no thanks

A: Murder

Q: Did someone get murdered? Did someone hurt the kids?

A: Across. Cough.

Q: Were you talking about the saloon across the street? Or the pharmacy across the street?

A: cold

Q: What kind of medicine did they give you?

A: Stuck

Q: Are you stuck?

A: Open

Q: Do you need us to open something?

(she said they kept saying stuck over and over again)

A: Pain

She pulled the headphones off and said she’d had enough. She said it was really loud. It said her name and then there was a deep roar.

Traci told the ghosts they were not allowed to go home with anyone, but thanked them for talking with them.

Whistling Rick’s Sessions

Whistling Rick held a dowsing rod session in the main floor room to the left of the doorway. The room is filled with interesting furniture, lamps and oddities.

First Session (Blue Group)

• Did you work in the building? Yes
• Were you here when it was a hardware store? Was it a paint store? Were you here when it was a bookstore? Yes
• Is there a little girl in this building? No
• Did you work here? No
• Did you live in New Harmony? No
• Did you come here with one of the antiques? Yes
• Are you attached to any of the furniture in this room? Yes
• Can you point to the piece of furniture you’re attached to? No response
• Did you live for a long time in New Harmony? Yes
• Did you have a family? No
• Are you a male? No
• So, you’re a female? No response

An angel hanging in the window suddenly started moving. It spun slowly in one direction and then stopped.

• Are you making the angel turn? No
• Is another spirit making the angel turn? Yes

Another guest had a strange experience with a vintage pocketbook in the other room several weeks ago. She felt drawn to it and came into the store after seeing it in the window. She was inexplicably drawn to it and felt it nearly vibrate with energy. We later found out it came with the building.

• Are you the same spirit who had the purse? No answer
• Are you a child? Yes
• Did a woman suffer in this building at some point? Yes
• Is there a little girl in this building somewhere? Yes
• Was the little girl playing with the angel? No
• Was there a woman here who was punished? Yes
• Do you go room to room to visit all the people? Yes
• Do you use the mirrors to move? Yes
• Are you by the mirror? No answer
• Are you on the couch? Yes
• Was there a woman in here who was tortured? Yes. Rick shut down this line of questioning, telling her we didn’t want to get into her worse aspects of her life.
• Are you in this room with us right now? At this point, I hear a woman screaming, “Get down! Get down?” While there was a noisy wedding going on just down the street, we weren’t hearing any sounds from them in the furniture room. Was it a disembodied voice of a dead woman or was it someone from the wedding? We’ll probably never know.
• Does more than one spirit live here? Yes
• Are there more than five spirits who live here? No
• Do you hate the Spice Girls (they could hear the music)? No answer
• Do you ever visit the buildings across the street? Yes
• Were you ever involved with the Centennial Saloon? Yes
• Were you there when we did an investigation there several years ago? Yes
• Is this a 15 story building? (he throws in deliberate “no” answers to make sure the rods aren’t just giving “yes” answers. The answer was “no.”
• Are you still in here? Yes
• Are you visiting the other rooms? No

Second Session (Orange Group)

• Are you in the room with us right now? Yes
• Are you originally from New Harmony? Yes
• They asked if they could point to where they were in the room and Rick reported that it pointed to the same area as the last group
• Rick brought it to the group’s attention that the angel in the window was spinning again
• Are you attached to an object in the room? Yes
• Are you attached to that angel? No answer
• Are you free to leave this building? Yes
• Are you happy? No answer
• Is there more than one spirit here with us? Yes
• Do you know each other? Yes
• Are you and the other spirits related? Yes
• Is your mother or father here? Yes
• Did you live together as a family? Yes
• Were any of you born in New Harmony? Yes
• Did you know Father Rapp? Yes
• Did you know Robert Owen? No
• Do you get tired of the weddings in New Harmony? No
• Do you know about the tunnels that run under the street? Yes This is an interesting factoid. Decades ago, tunnels ran under the street from the Centennial Saloon to the Artefakts building. We aren’t sure why, but there are doorways in the basement, facing each other.
• Do you know the spirits upstairs? Yes
• Should we be afraid of any of the spirits here? Yes
• Do you know how to play any of the instruments in the next room? Yes
• Do you ever go to the old Oddfellow’s building? Yes

Third Session (Yellow Group)

• Don, did you follow us from upstairs? Yes
• Is Emily here too? no

There was an entire soap opera story going on here. It started with their first session on the second floor with Joni, went to Traci’s sessions and is now with Rick. Don and Emily were a married couple, but they were going to do something bad with the bank. She apparently cheated on him. They did something shady. She was cheating on Don, but was doing something shady with him against the bank. The man she cheated on was there too.

• Don, did you and Emily have a child? No
• Did Emily and the other guy have a child? Yes
• Did you do something to Emily and her family? Yes
• Did you do something shady with Emily? Yes
• Did her new husband know?
• Was Emily married when you met her? No answer
• Don, are you Emily’s second husband? No answer
• Was Emily married to you when she had the other child? Yes
• Did you raise the child as your own?
• Is that why you need forgiveness?
• Did Emily try to divorce you? Yes
• Don, did you do something bad to Emily? Yes
• Did you hurt her in some way? Physically? Yes
• Did you hurt someone else to hurt her? Yes
• Did you hurt the other guy? Yes
• Is that why Emily is angry with you? Yes
• Did you love the child, even though it wasn’t yours? Yes
• Is the child here too? No
• Did Morgan live here? Yes
• Was the bank the one that’s next door? Yes
• Did you succeed in doing shady stuff at the bank? Yes
• Did Morgan work at the bank with you? Yes
• Did any of you get caught? Yes
• Was it Morgan? Yes
• Did Morgan take the blame? Yes
• Did you and Emily keep the money? Yes
• Is the money hidden in town somewhere? No answer
• Is it in this building? No answer
• Did your daughter know about the money? No answer
• Did your daughter outlive both of you? Yes
• Is your daughter still alive? No
• Were you alive in the 1890s? Yes
• Did you die together? Yes
• Were you shot? Yes

Note: we normally do not talk about their deaths during sessions. It’s usually not something they want to talk about and we often see them stop communicating when it’s brought up. We tell the groups this at the beginning of the event. I think everyone was so caught up in this story, they forgot this.

• Did Morgan do something with the money? Yes
• Is that why your daughter didn’t have the money? Yes
• Did your daughter know you weren’t her biological father? No
• Was Morgan upset he didn’t get to know his daughter? Yes
• Is that one of the reasons why you guys fought? Yes
• Was the bank you worked at here in New Harmony? Yes
• Did Emily’s child get sick? Yes
• Did you love your daughter? yes
• Were you the type of person who liked to joke around? Yes
• Did you and Emily like to entertain? Yes
• Did you drink much alcohol? Yes
• Did Morgan drink alcohol? Yes
• Did you make your own alcohol? They didn’t announce the answer, but judging by the laughter, I think it was yes
• Did you sell your alcohol? Yes
• Was it connected to any activities in Evansville? Yes
• Was it connected to any activities in French Lick? Yes (connected to the Chicago mob)
• Were you considered a gangster in your time? Yes
• Were you part of the Chicago mafia? Yes
• Was there any counterfeiting? Yes
• This was during the 1920s? yes
• Was law enforcement in on it too? Yes
• Did you have a hidden place at the bank where people came to drink? Yes
• Was Morgan tied in with all the mafia stuff too? Yes
• Don, did you move here from Chicago? Yes
• Did you meet Emily in Chicago? Yes
• Were you sent here to establish a business to help the mafia? Yes

Fourth Session (Red Group)

After Rick’s last session, he wanted to know if anything unusual had happened with their group. Heather told them during the Estes session, her chest felt heavy and a man was hovering over her, pushing her down. They also connected with Don and Emily. Rick introduced them to the dowsing rods and they got started. He encouraged them to follow through with some of the information they’d discovered during their other sessions.

• Is there a spirit here with us right now? Is Don here? No answer
• Is Emily here? Yes
• Were you here when it was a bookstore? Yes
• Were you a customer here? Yes
• Were you here in the 1900s? Yes
• Did you live here after the 1900s? yes
• Did you enjoy New Harmony? Yes
• Was New Harmony as pretty then as it is now? Yes
• Could you point to where you’re at? Rods pointed to a certain area
• Have you been following us from room to room tonight? Yes
• Did you make the loud boom noise I heard upstairs? Yes
• Is the music a distraction for you? Yes
• Are you attached to any of the artifacts in the building? Yes
• Do you remember the tunnels that ran under the street? Yes
• Do you visit other buildings in town, like the gymnasium where they’re playing music? Yes
• (There were a lot of questions without answers. I didn’t include them)
• Would you like to talk to me again? Yes

Donna’s Sessions

Donna held court in the main downstairs showroom, surrounded by all the fascinating artifacts. She was using a computer program called the Phasmabox. This program works similarly to a Spirit Box connected to an enhancer. The ghosts in the room can use it to communicate in real time. Like the spirit box, when it works, it’s amazing. When it doesn’t work, it’s frustrating.

First Session (Orange Group_

During her first session, they got an incredibly clear response. “We were here earlier. Do you remember us?” a guest asked. The Phasmabox responded, “Nice to meet you.”

One of the guests felt like someone had just walked behind her. When she turned to look, all she saw was a chair full of dolls. At that same moment, the Phasmabox said, “Dolls watch.”

Second Session (Blue Group)

During her second session with the Blue Group, they got a response while they were introducing themselves. A voice said, “Hello.”

One of her guests in the Blue Group had an interesting back story. Stacy visited the store several weeks prior to the investigation and was drawn to a beaded pocketbook that was hanging from the side of one of the mahogany cabinets. As soon as she touched it, she felt a strong vibration roll through her arm. When she tried to open it, the pocketbook was nearly fused shut. After hearing her story, I reached out to the owners who told me that the purse was there when they took over the building. They don’t know anything about its history, only that it came with the building.

They asked quite a few questions about the purse, but didn’t get a lot of responses until one of the guests asked if the purse came with the tornado victims. This is in reference to the 1925 Tri-State Tornado that devastated the nearby town of Griffin. Many of the injured and deceased were brought to New Harmony and were tended to at the Ribeyre Gymnasium, which was only a block away. When this question was asked, a voice responded, repeating the word “tornado.”

Donna asked if there were a lot of kids there and a voice told her, “no.”

When one of the guests asked if they were attached to one of the items in the store, a female voice asked, “Why do you want to know?” This was an amazingly clear, intelligent response.

Nancy asked how many were in the room with them and got a quick response. “Two,” they said.

Stacy’s son, Ace, had an interesting experience during the night. During every session, the word “red” would come across the spirit box. Ace was the only one in the entire group of guests wearing red. He felt as though he was being picked on at first, but as the night went on, they all felt he was the favorite.

“Why do you not like the boy in red?” one guest asked. “Because, he’s like me,” was the response. That was enough to send chills down my spine. Ace is a sensitive and is able to feel the presence of ghosts, like many of us. In this case, it singled him out for the spirits in the house.

Third Session (Red Group)

We all had questions regarding why the ghosts lingered. Did they once live here? Or was this a place where they had a business or simply somewhere they worked? And why would they remain behind. Deb asked, “Did you work here?” and a male voice said, “This is where we worked.” It answered the question to a certain extent, but why? I’ve worked at a lot of places I certainly wouldn’t want to spend my afterlife in.

We know the building once held a general store, a hardware store, and a book store before becoming the Antique Doll Shop. Donna asked if they remembered the book store. A male voice said, “I remember it. A bookstore.”

Fourth Session (Yellow Group)

This group had the most experiences during the entire night. Their first session was with me in the upstairs living room space where they met Don and Emily. When they moved to the creepy second floor space and did the Estes Method with Traci, they pieced together more of the story and learned about Emily’s affair with Morgan. When they went to their third session with Rick, they learned about something unethical the group did at the bank next door. By the time they reached Donna’s group, we were certain they would learn even more, but it appears that the ghosts had retired for the evening.

When Ashley asked, “Don, is that you?” a male voice said, “Who’s Don?”

All in all it was a fascinating evening. I did visit our local library, Workingmen’s Institute, and attempted to research the history of the building, but I didn’t find much. I did learn some of the names of the past presidents and board of director members of the old bank next door, but nothing lined up with the findings the Yellow Group uncovered. A search of Maple Hill Cemetery didn’t provide any useful information either. There wasn’t anyone named Don there who was married to someone named Emily, nor vice versa. I’m not quite sure what to make of it, but I will be trying to research this further.

Thank you to all the guests who joined us. Thank you to Pat and Theresa for opening up their beautiful building for us to investigate. And, last but certainly not least, thank you to my amazing team for making this event flow so smoothly.