Hauntings Along Wilmot Road in Antioch

From a reader:  Many people have died all from car accidents in Wilmot Road. Its curvy and wide open with no stop signs or lights. People usually speed on this road. When there is a car accident people are usually ejected from their vehicles and die in homeowners’ front yards. Home there are usually on large lots, about 8+ acres each.

So, a guy died on my brothers’ front lawn a few weeks back. The other day he was in his basement working out and watching TV. Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone sitting on a stool nearby. Yesterday his wife went to basement and saw a person sitting in the same spot. The house has felt very heavy and depressed since this accident.

Another occasion from a few weeks ago, also stemming from an accident, his wife and son saw a man standing at their front door. His wife saged the house and they have not seen him at the front door since.  They are going to sage the entire house today to see if that helps the ghost in the basement.

There are stories of peoples’ homes that have ghosts due to the amount of accidents on this road.

My Response:  Wow – very interesting.  A lot of cultures believe people hang around for 7-10 days after death.  It’ll be interesting if just a little more time will do the trick too.  Very sad, but interesting story.

Also, makes me think of the crash of Flight 191 where people in the area would hear frantic knocking on their front doors after the accident.  Like disoriented spirits looking for help.

As an additional note, the town of Antioch is a very old town with a rich and occasionally tragic history.  I had the privilege of learning about this town through the eyes of Dr. James Dorsey as he explored important locations relating to the Underground Railroad in Lake County and the abolitionist movement, which was alive and well in Antioch.

Additionally, the town was victimized by major fires in the 1800s that wiped out large portions of the town.

Also, the first ever paranormal investigation I was on was at the Liberty Tattoo Parlor.  I wrote about the hauntings at Antioch High School in my book and I just recently brought a tour group up to the Lodge of Antioch with Ursula Bielski, Nicholas Sarlo and Chicago Hauntings.  To say that Antioch is an active location is an understatement!

Fall Event Schedule!

Sept 9-11: The Hollywood Show, Rosemont, Il (hollywoodshow.com)

Sept 10: Screening of “Cry Baby” and signing with star, Amy Locane, Woodridge, Il  (hollywoodblvdcinema.com)

Sept 16: Investigation

Sept 17: Lake/McHenry Ghost Adventure, Long Grove, Il (facebook.com/events/508522306014679) 7-hour tour through some of the most haunted places in Lake and McHenry County with Ursula Bielski and Chicago Hauntings.

Sept 24: Private Event

Sept 28: Archeologist Dan Melone speaking on the topic of his work on Robinson Woods Indian Burial Grounds (one of my favorite sites).  This will be held at the Norwood Park Historical Society. (norwoodparkhistoricalsociety.org/events/events16.html)

TBA: Appearance on “Pretty Late,” WGN AM-720

Oct. 1: Investigation

Oct. 6: Investigation

Oct 7-9: Chicago Ghost Conference / Dark Shores 2016, Willow Springs, Il (chicagoghosts.com/conference.html) A full weekend of great presenters and parties.  I will be on hand to talk about some of the research I’ve been doing in Los Angeles including talking about Linda Vista Hospital, the haunted house near the site of the Tate/Manson murders, the Formosa Cafe hauntings along Hollywood Blvd and possibly Pasadena’s “famed” suicide bridge. Amazingly, this event will be held at one of Resurrection Mary’s favorite locations, the Willowbrook Ballroom.

Oct 10: Private Event

Oct 13: Special hosted screening of “Poltergeist”  Details are TBD at this point.

Oct 15-16: Milwaukee ParaCon, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus (milwaukeeparacon.com).  I will be on hand with Jay Bachochin, one of my partners in crime in creating the documentary “The Hidden Truth?” which chronicled the mysterious series of drownings in LaCrosse, WI, the possible paranormal connections and the investigation that followed.  We will be meeting and greeting while sharing stories of ghosts and Jay’s ongoing search for Bigfoot.

Oct 20: Third Thursday, Los Angeles, Ca (link TBA) Free panel discussion with filmmakers followed by a mixer/cocktail party.  Admission is free, but RSVP required.  Sponsored by the International Screenwriters’ Association (networkisa.org)

Oct 21: Haunted Chronicles, online (paramaniaradio.com/SHOW.php?showid=66) Live radio show, I’ll be talking about haunted sites with Jennifer Runyon Corman & Jimmy Haunted.

Do you need a speaker for your event?  I’ll be in the Midwest until Oct 17, then I’ll be in California starting Oct 21.  Drop me a line and I’ll come tell stories at your Halloween party/company party, etc.!

Updated Photos from Murphy’s Ranch

By Scott Markus

There has been much concern for the fate of one of LA’s most unique landmarks and ties to strange history – Murphy’s Ranch.  Plans for the demolition of the remaining buildings have long been known.  Then, early in 2016, some dates became public knowledge.  Specifically, late March was the bulldoze date.  Scott and Connor made a trip to the site in early April to get a look at the changes.  While a lot is gone, it could have been much worse.

Immediately apparent is the large fence and wall have been totally removed, making trail access even easier than it already was.  Perhaps if the gates weren’t locked in the first place, people wouldn’t have felt the need to create their own hole in the wall in the first place.

 

The huge water tank was the first victim of the “clean-up,” having been eliminated in early 2016.  It was fairly recently that someone got themselves stuck inside of it, requiring help from the authorities to get free (I think it’s okay to call them an idiot).  The silver lining here is that there’s still evidence of where the tank was.  The cement walls were sliced at an angle, creating a sort of curb for the downward sloping trail.  Of course, we’d love for the tank to still be standing, but this is a nice accent that lightly hints at the former site.

Seen to the right, Connor (and co-adventurer, Brownie the chocolate lab) is standing in what was once the center of the large water tank.  The now removed wall gives you a unique perspective and vantage point to how enormous this thing was.

Along the way we passed the remains of a small house (pictured below).  Though largely untouched for the moment, most of the debris in the structure was swept out towards the road.  Our guess is that the junk will be cleared, but we hope the foundations remain.

To our (and Brownie’s) delight, the most iconic building is still standing, fully in tact.  Not only is it untouched, but for the first time that I’ve seen, the cyclone fencing around it has been removed, making this a strangely inviting location.

The large metal building, which had turned into a mountain of twisted metal was removed (before and after pictures below), along with the remains of a 1960’s VW Mini Bus.  The loss of this bus is a negative to me because it was a wonderful example of how this location went from a center of hate and domination in the ’40s to a home to artistic endeavor and free thought/love in the ’60s.  Poetry in history.  The remnants of the van were brought up to the main road, likely for easier collection.

I didn’t really want this to be a “review” of the changes, as I am quite the naturalist/preservationist.  I would’ve loved to see what was left standing of the large structure secured in a safe way, but I understand clearing out the debris.  Though I hate the loss of the water tank, people getting stuck inside of it (again, like idiots) makes this an easy decision for the powers that be to simply remove it.  Removing the wall & fence at the trail head seemed unnecessary.  Simply opening the gates and welding them to a secure, open position would’ve been effective and a much easier task then removing everything in full.  Still, as far as everything else is concerned, I’ve found my peace with what we’ve lost and I just hope nothing else goes.  This is such a wonderfully unique piece of Los Angeles history, it would be a shame to lose anything else.

I plan to do a more complete live video discussion on this topic in the near future on Periscope.  That video will later end up on YouTube and right here with video footage of some hard to find locations and a lot more ‘off the beaten path’ structures in this area you may not know about.  Stay tuned!

First Adventure of the New Year! Spahn Ranch

Scott and I decided to start the new year off right and pick a new creepy spot to visit for the start of 2016!

We often get asked about Manson family locations, and though we do touch on the subject of the murders, and are somewhat well versed, it is not a piece of history we focus on much.

That being said, when we were talking about the first place to go for the new year, both Scott’s and my first thought was to head up to the remains of Spahn Ranch and hike out to the famous “Manson Family Cave.”

 

The ranch has been around since 1862 when J.R. Williams received 160 acres after the Homestead Act was passed by the US Government. The land itself is part of the Santa Susana Pass, the main transport road between LA and Santa Barbra during the mission days. The land was used in early silent films and even owned by William S Hart for a time, before finally ending up in the hands of George Spahn.

By the time the Manson Family arrived in 1968, the ranch was only being used occasionally for TV shows and locals for renting horses to ride around the property for an afternoon. I won’t write much about Manson’s time on the ranch, which is often shrouded in contradictory urban legends. Plenty of other people have done so before me, and in a much better way than I could. You can read LA Curbed’s Post on the ranch HERE

The property burned down in 1970, so there wasn’t much for Scott and I to explore while we were there. We hope to find a map containing the old building locations so we can explore with a bit more direction on our next visit.  If you have such a map, please share!

Actually, to call this excursion a hike is more than a little exaggeration.  It’s really not a hike at all! After reading a few blogs and our with our previous experiences hiking to other creepy spots, we expected a lot worse. We were warned about Poison Ivy and Rattle Snakes, and though we didn’t see any, I’m sure it is still a danger! 

The path is narrow, but fairly direct, it’s also littered with morbid little reminders of where we were.  (To the left is an example: a displayed modern picture of Manson; green little skeletons dot the area)

We found the cave quickly and took our obligatory selfie (up at the top). We were surprised to see that there were quite a few other people there. We talked a bit and then went back to poking around the property.

People often report paranormal goings on at Spahn Ranch, which seem to be mostly residual in nature. Scott and I did not do an investigation on the property on this visit, so we don’t have anything to add on to the subject.

We didn’t spend much longer at Spahn Ranch, before heading back to our car, but we took pictures of a few items.  There are plenty of pieces of building material, plates, car parts and more that require more examination to properly attach to dates.  That said, we felt satisfied with our first adventure of the year!

 

A Ghost Hunter Watches – Supernatural – Episode 1

Just in time to start season 11, Connor takes you all the way back to the pilot of Supernatural!

Follow along as Connor watches Supernatural and then discusses the real life paranormal concepts behind each story!

Woodstock and the Stickney House

We were planning on resting and laying low today, recovering from our awesome weekend at the Chicago Ghost Conference….but around 2 o’clock we decided we couldn’t just sit around any more, so we decided to go on the hunt for some things we’d always wanted to see!

Turns out that one of Mickey Cohen‘s bodyguards is buried in Woodstock, Illinois! Johnny Stompanato, a strongman in the LA mafia and lover of Lana Turner, was from the small town. Stompanato was stabbed by Lana Turner’s daughter, Cheryl Crane, a crime that was later ruled as self defense. His body was taken back to Woodstock after his passing and he was interred at Oakland Cemetery.

  

The cemetery is old and beautiful, and also the final resting place of Dick Tracy creator, Chester Gould.

Unfortunately, Scott and I were not very successful in locating either of the graves (if you have directions to where they are let us know!)

We did however find lots of great old graves, and even saw some great wildlife.

  (can you believe this picture is real?? I still can’t and I took it!)

They even have a small pet cemetery with a bunch of sweet send offs for fur babies!

   

It was a great place to spend an afternoon.  It was very restful and there were plenty of other people and their living pets walking around too.

   

  

After the cemetery we headed into downtown Woodstock, which is super cute, and also where they filmed “Groundhog Day!”

  

After a walk around the town square and some much-needed hot coffee, we headed over to the Stickney House.

The Stickney House was one of the locations covered by Scott in his book, “Voices from the Chicago Grave.”

Built in 1856 and located in the Village of Bull Valley. George Stickney, his wife Sylvia, and their family were the original residents. The house was built without any 90 degree corners.  The Skickney’s were spiritualists and believed ghosts could become trapped in such spaces. Of the 10 Stickney children only three survived into adulthood. The family held many séances in the house trying to contact the children that passed away.  Some believe that perhaps it was Sylvia’s inabilities as a medium or cultists who moved into the house in the 1970s that have caused the home to become very haunted.

  

The house has gone through much renovations since we last saw the house. Thanks to the local historic society and the Stickney Foundation. The interior and exterior are both being restored to the houses original state, and I have to say, it looks fantastic!  Note in the photos below the continued use of rounded edges – even the front door itself is curved.

  

From the Stickney House, we were directed to the small cemetery down the road where the family was buried. It was starting to get dark, but as we stumbled around by cell phone light, we eventually found the family. A few of the tombstones were missing, and some of the others were damaged, but overall they were in great shape considering their age.

  

There was an oddly large amount of traffic on the road, considering how far out of town we were. Still, we decided to do a small EVP session at Sylvia‘s grave.

 We haven’t reviewed our recording yet.  Once we do, we’ll definitely let you know of any findings!

Chicago Ghost Conference

By: Connor Bright

Finally putting my feet up and relaxing after an awesome and VERY busy weekend at the Chicago Ghost Conference!

This was my 3rd year attending the show, which this year was super close to Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery! As Scott and I were driving to the Chicago Gaelic Park (where the ghost con was), I checked my Time Hop app and learned that it was also the anniversary of my first visit to the cemetery. So that was a fun little coincidence!

As always the Conference was A LOT of fun! A great place to see old friends and meet the new faces of the Chicago paranormal community!

Scott was there promoting his documentary on the La Crosse river drownings with Jay Bachochin (check it out here) as well as selling copies of his book Voices From the Chicago Grave (get it here)

I mostly came for the booze….just kidding! I got to sit with the talented and beautiful Virginia Madsen! Star of too many movies to name here, but mostly at the ghost con because of her work in “Candyman” and “A Haunting in Connecticut.” She is AWESOME and I am really looking forward to seeing her and Jennifer Lawrence in “Joy” this Christmas!

The show is run by Ursula Bielski, who is a wonderful and amazing woman with a CRAZY amount of knowledge on all things paranormal! She’s the best, Google her!

We got in a little too late (and I was a little too tired) for any of the Friday night activities….but we made sure we were well rested and prepared for Saturday!!

Saturday Scott lead a panel on urban legends in Chicago which was ENTIRELY full of AMAZING blonde ladies! From right to left: Ursula Bielski, Mary Marshall, Liz Nygard, and Virginia Madsen.

I…..mostly took selfies and tried to get everyone to join the Instagram Cult!

After day one of the conference, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the costume party!!! Which was “Come-as-your-favorite-dead-Chicago-resident” themed. Also, it was at Chet’s Melody Lounge, right across the street from Resurrection Cemetery (home to Chicago’s most famous ghost, the aptly named “Resurrection Mary”).

I’m not going to lie, I thought Scott and I would have the most clever costumes…Black and white John Dillinger and Anna Sage (the woman in ORANGE, not red)

But then freaking Dave Schrader and Jeff Belanger show up as MRS. O’LEARY AND HER COW!! (The same cow that started the Great Chicago Fire) They just deserve all of the awards for that! All of them!!

We danced the night away and I did my best Janis Joplin impression on karaoke (which do me a favor and if you have video…delete it, okay? lol).

Sunday got off to a slow start, for obvious reasons! But once I picked out a good enough outfit to hide that my skin was still kinda grey….the ball got rolling and it was a lot of fun!

Some very FANTASTIC speakers, such as the brilliant Mary Marshall (you have to love a strong woman like her in the paranormal field)

We all gave interviews with Shadows on the Wall Paranormal Radio (who are awesome dudes and you should check them out!).

And I promise I’m not just saying that because they wanted to talk to me WITHOUT Scott! (That doesn’t happen much, since we’re a team)

We had a GREAT time as always at the Chicago Ghost Conference! We learned a lot of new things and heard all of the latest on the paranormal in Chicagoland and the rest of the county! It’s always a good thing to get back to your roots and catch up with old and new friends at the most friendly ghost convention around!!

Since I apparently can’t take a picture unless it’s a selfie, I have two people to thank for all of these!

Thank you, Kenneth Munyer of Midnight Paranormal Society! You take a darn great black and white photo (and sweet colored ones too!)

And thank you Jay for letting me borrow your pictures, check out his group the Wisconsin Paranormal Investigators, currently on the trail of Bigfoot!

Until Next Year!