Answer: Unless you are strong and practiced at psychic self defense, you should not open yourself up to a negative entity to communicate with it. It’s very dangerous. As soon as you tune in, the entity is going to “push” its energy onto you. If you’re not ready for it you could become influenced or possessed. If it’s a demon, you’re going to be in serious trouble. If it’s a low vibrational entity, you’re most likely going to need help shaking it off.

If you encounter a negative, low vibrational presence in someone’s home, ask it to go away, but without opening yourself up to hearing its story. Tell it that it must go, that it is not welcome, and that it should never come back. If it’s a demon, that may not be enough and you may need assistance from professionals who handle that sort of thing. But 99% of the time, it’s not a demon, it’s a ghost or a low vibrational entity from the astral plane.

Keeping your vibration high is critical when you’re around a negative presence.

If you are a medium or a psychic you could attempt to communicate with the entity but only if you have learned how to shield yourself while you do it. I have been in situations where I allow an entity to tell me its tale without warming up to it and letting it come inside for tea and cookies.

But as a cautionary tale, if you read the story of my paranormal investigation at the Amargosa Hotel, you’ll see how I ended up getting influenced by a low vibrational entity and how it really caught me by surprise. I was too tired, and too “nice” to it and it tried to get me to hurt my friends.

You may also want to ask yourself why there is a negative presence in your friend’s home and work with your friend to remove it.

I’ve been itching to do another paranormal investigation, and so it was that I found myself with a little free time one weekend. I decided that my team and I would hit the park and knock this one off my checklist. To be honest, the reports were vague, the sightings suspect, and I didn’t really expect to find anything of interest. But it was fast, easy, and didn’t require an appointment or permission, so we decided it was a good candidate.

For this investigation, I brought along four team members. Dana Richardson to act as our tactical/security guy. Matty Blumenthal, my lead researcher, and Erin Ashley Hall, my scribe. Both Matty and Erin Ashley are intuitive so it’s nice having them along. And we brought Dana’s girlfriend, Liz, who was willing to help out and take photos.

Our equipment list included the following:

EMF detector: I picked up a simple EMF detector at Fry’s Electronics so we’d have something to use on this investigation. My kick-ass paranormal EMF detector is still shipping from Amazon.com. But a simple one is better than nothing.

Flip Camera: I brought along my FLIP camera so we could film and narrate the action.

Digital Camera: I brought along a digital camera so we could take tons of pictures, which is always important on an investigation. Often the camera will pick up something that the human eye can’t see. Plus a photo lasts forever.

Digital Voice Recorder: We brought this along in case we got some EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon).

Walkie Talkies: I knew at some point I would have two teams going at the same time so I wanted us to be able to stay in communication with each other.

Flashlights: This investigation was occurring between 10:45pm and 12:15am in a dark park, so I knew we’d need some lighting.

Snacks and Caffeine: Always a plus if you have snacks and soda to keep you awake during a night time hunt. Don’t underestimate the power of comfort food and caffeine on a hunt!

Preliminary Investigation
Matty and I headed over to the park during the daytime to scope it out and get an idea of what we were going to be dealing with. We found the swing no problem as there are only two swings in the entire park. Luckily there was a picnic table right next to the swing set so I decided we’d set up there. We took some photos, filmed an introduction for the video, and left.

We also did some research online to find out what to expect and what the “story” was. Probably the best info I found was on this site: http://jeremytheskeptic.blogspot.com/2008/08/fox-ridge-park-ghost.html. I really liked that this guy did so much research. I know the people he interviewed and I know they are good honest people. After reading what he had to say about the park and the ghost, however, I really wasn’t expecting much.

Arriving at the Park
We all met up at the park at 10:30pm. The sprinklers were on and we had to traipse through some very wet grass. I’ve now added a towel to the list of things to bring on a future hunt. The park was pretty deserted, which was great. We didn’t want a bunch of people hanging around disturbing the location. The park is legally open until midnight and I knew we’d have to be there until approximately 12:15am, so I was glad to see it was deserted. We did hear loud music coming from a party a few blocks away.

We set up our equipment and filmed an update for the video.

Collecting Data
I asked Dana and Liz to walk around the perimeter of the park and take photos. The secondary part of the story was that there might be a ghost woman in the park as well, so we wanted to see if we could capture her on film. I decided to go with Dana and Liz in case I sensed something intuitively while we were walking. I left Matty and Erin Ashley at the table and told them to keep their eyes on the swing and to film it if it started swinging. I wasn’t expecting anything to happen until closer to midnight, but you always have to be prepared.

I took the EMF detector and a flashlight. I left the video camera behind. Dana, Liz, and I started walking through the park. She took photos in front of us and to the side, into the park. She probably got 50 photos just of that. The EMF detector was showing no radiation of any kind throughout the park. The only time we got a spike was when I held the device right up to the transformer located in the park. Then we got a nice spike, which just affirmed that the equipment was working. We made it back to the picnic table without incident.

The Tweens
Soon, a gaggle of tweens came marching loudly through the park. They asked us if we were hunting ghosts, if we were part of TAPS, and if we were professionals. I decided to interview them to see what they knew. We spoke to a girl named Mercedes who reiterated the story of the ghost boy who swings at night. She had never seen the swing move, but a friend of hers claimed he had. When I asked her if this boy was credible all of them laughed and said, “Not really.” Although we filmed them, I couldn’t put them in the video since they were underage and we couldn’t get parental consent. Some of the tweens left to go home, but a few of them stayed behind and planted themselves nearby to watch us conduct our investigation. They were quiet and respectful and I wasn’t too worried about them, though I was concerned that the more people we had watching the swing, the less likely the boy would probably swing.

Waiting and Watching
As time passed, we periodically took EMF readings by the swings. Nothing unusual. Liz continued to take photos of the swing area. We waited for midnight to approach. Shortly before midnight, a whole bunch of people converged on the park. Erin Ashley counted at least 20 people all hovering around us watching us film and investigate, and some people started playing on nearby equipment. One person even started playing a guitar. It was unfortunate that so many people were standing there watching the swing. If you were a little ghost boy who liked to swing at midnight, do you think you’d swing with so many people watching? There was nothing we could do to control the situation as it was a public location.

Midnight
At midnight we took a lot of photos and kept watching to see if the swing would move. There was a definite breeze in the park that night so we knew that if we were going to conclude anything paranormal that we would have to see some major motion by the swing.

By 12:10am we called it a night and concluded the investigation. We saw no evidence of paranormal activity, though absence of evidence is not proof of absence. In order to be thorough, we’d have to go to the park on many different nights and conduct similar investigations.

Conclusion
A couple of interesting things did happen but are not conclusive. First, I was getting some spikes on the EMF meter between the baby swings and the older kid swings. Consistently, the EMF reported a spike of .9 on the scale. Normal readings during the night were .0 to .3.

Also, Liz captured several orbs in her photos. What I found interesting about the orbs were that the biggest orbs were found near the swing and right around midnight. I’m not an orb expert so I really can’t say whether they indicate paranormal activity or are just dust reflections. What I found interesting was the timing and location of the orbs. So… something to consider.

Overall, it was a fun and blessedly short investigation. Plus no one got influenced or possessed, so bonus! I’m glad we did it. Next time, we’ll hit a more interesting location with a lot more evidence gathered by previous investigators. Below you’ll find our photos of the investigation and a link to watch our narrative video.

Foxridge Park is located at 420 N. Valle Verde Ave, Henderson, NV

EMF spike at the transformer in the park

Orb in the middle of the park

The team: Erin, Erin Ashley, Matty, Liz and Dana (left to right)

Erin Ashley wrote down everything we did and the time we did it. She did a great job as scribe.

Bright and large orb in the park. Sort of random.

An orb by our target swing

Another orb near the swing. Swooping in with delight?

An orb between the swing sets when I was getting a spike on the EMF in that same location.

Matty taking readings by the baby swings. Nothing going on there.

Checking things out by the swings.

More orb action between the swings

Right at midnight, we captured this large orb near the target swing.

Large orb right above the swing at midnight.

Submit your own question
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This week’s question comes from Jose:

“How can you capture EVP from ghosts?”

Transcript of the Video:
Hello and welcome to another episode of “Ask Erin Pavlina.” Today’s question comes from Jose. He writes, “What is the best way to entice a spirit to speak through an EVP while ghost hunting?”

Great question. First of all, EVP stands for Electronic Voice Phenomenon. Ghost hunters or paranormal investigators will take a digital voice recorder out into the field and they will ask questions of a spirit or of an area hoping that a spirit will answer. We would not be able to hear the answer with our human ears, but the digital voice recorders are able to pick up different frequencies than we are. I don’t know exactly how that works, but it does.

If you want to capture an EVP, there are some things that you want to do to enhance the likelihood that a spirit will be able to get through on one. Here’s what you need to do. First, whenever you’re trying to capture EVP, get everybody in your group to be quiet and still – as still as possible. Ask the question out into the air, preferably in an area you have identified as a hotspot, which would be a place where a spirit has been seen before or activity has occurred or where your EMF detector has detected energy. Get your digital voice recorder out. Make sure everybody in your group is very, very still and quiet and ask a question, “So-and-so, are you there? Is there a spirit present?” And then wait five or ten seconds with nobody talking, shifting or making any kind of noises. If anybody in your party makes a known noise, they should immediately identify it. “That was my stomach rumbling.” “That was my shoe squeaking.” So that later when you’re analyzing the data you don’t mistake that for spirit communication. So, be as quiet as possible.

You ask the question out into the air, and you wait five or ten seconds, and you ask another question and you keep doing that until you’re done with an area or until you’re done with questions. You probably will not hear anything with your physical ears, but later when you’re going through the recording you may pick up something. It’s not always easy to interpret what comes through.

Another thing that I would suggest: Know what kind of spirit you’re dealing with. If you’re in an area where there’s a very mean, nasty, murderous spirit or if the spirit was very mean and angry in life, sometimes the best way to get them to come through is to agitate them. You want to get your strongest character in your group to call them out, “Hey, I don’t believe in you. We don’t think you exist. You got nothin’.” And that usually is enough to get some activity going. Be very careful with that, because sometimes there are consequences in agitating a negatively charged spirit.

If you’re in an area where you’re dealing with a spirit who was probably more gentle and kind and caring when they were alive, then I would suggest doing something a little different. I would calm the energy of everybody in your group, make sure everybody is in a good place, maybe even do a meditation. Raise everybody’s vibration. Create an environment that’s going to make it easier for a spirit to come through and communicate. Spirits do not have physical bodies on the other side, so they don’t have vocal cords. It’s very difficult for them to form sentences and put that through energetically and electronically so that it’s picked up as an EVP. It really is asking quite a bit for you to ask the spirit to speak in phrases and sentences. You’ll be lucky if you get one or two words out out of them. It’s very difficult for them, but it does happen and you want to be open to it when it does.

Try to get your EVP in a nice quiet place where nobody in your party is talking and that will definitely increase your chances of getting some good results. Good luck and happy ghost hunting.

Pick the Proper Location
Paranormal activity can occur in all sorts of locations. For example hotels, cemeteries, prisons, hospitals, private homes, parks, bridges, scene of accidents, major disasters or murders, etc. Anywhere that residual energy might dwell.

What kind of ghosts do you want to encounter? Lost souls, murderers, accident victims, demons? Do you want playful spirits or the really angry ones who will push you down a stairwell if given a chance? Pick a location where reports include the type of energy you’d like to encounter or investigate. You may not want to lock yourself in an old abandoned mental ward until you’ve been doing this for some time.

Do Your Research
Once you’ve chosen a location, do some research. You must know what to expect or what you’re dealing with so you know who to bring on your team, what equipment you’ll need, what permissions you need to get, and what to have on hand in case of emergency. Does your ghost appear at a certain time of day or night? Make sure you investigate at that time. Does your ghost appear only in certain hotel rooms? Make sure you can book that hotel room. Is your ghost vocal? Make sure you bring something to record it. You don’t want to waste time investigating at the wrong time or place or in the wrong way.

Get Permission
If you’re investigating on private property always obtain permission from the owner to do your investigation. You will be trespassing if you don’t, and if you cause damage to the property, you will be liable. If you have to use bolt cutters to get into your location, you’re doing it wrong! It’s not worth the risk. It might look like the old abandoned hotel is safe, but you don’t know about hidden hazards that could hurt or even kill you. If you want to get started quickly, investigate a public park or other public location where ghosts have been sighted or reported. Just be sure to respect the property, do no damage, and leave nothing behind.

Assemble a Good Team
The right team is vital to have a successful and fruitful hunt. You will need people in the following positions, noting that one person may be able to fill multiple positions.

Researcher – the person willing to surf the internet, scan reports, get details, make phone calls, and secure permission to get onto the site to investigate.

Lead Investigator – this is the person who will lead the investigation. They will decide where the team goes and when, how the equipment is divvied up and set up, and will generally make decisions regarding the safety and efficacy of the team. Often the lead investigator will attempt to communicate with the ghosts, but sometimes that falls to the intuitives.

Audio/Visual Techs – you need people who can take digital photos, hold the video cameras, hold the digital audio recorders, work the EMF detectors, monitor the temperature, and document all the goings on during the investigation. I would assign 2-4 people to handle the equipment depending on what you’ve got going. Downloading and analyzing all the data can be done by them or anyone else on the team.

Intuitives – Don’t forget to bring your blood hounds! Bring along a psychic or two to help you pinpoint areas of unearthly activity. It will save you a ton of time and energy. Sure you have equipment, but are you using it in the room with the activity? Or are you wandering around 50 rooms of a hotel looking for one ghost? Intuitives will be especially helpful to have around if you want to help cross a spirit over. They are like canaries in the mines… if you see your intuitives running away from something, you should run too. Intuitives will be able to communicate with the ghosts and have a better chance of calling an entity forth.

Safety/Tactical Guy – this is the person who checks the area of investigation for safety hazards and comes equipped with items to help the team stay safe or get through obstacles or barriers. They check the area ahead of time and mark off areas too dangerous to tread through. They should also be capable of carrying an injured person, or hauling someone on the team up or down a hole with rope. This is the person that is responsible for the team’s safety.

Skeptics or Science-types – In addition to your intuitives, you also want to bring along a skeptic or scientific person. Don’t they cancel each other out? No. The skeptic is there to scientifically investigate reported phenomenon to see if it can be replicated in an earthly way. Skeptics are also the last to become possessed or influenced by negative entities since they are not opening themselves up to try to communicate with the ghosties. A good skeptic is like your grounding tool. When all your psychics drop, the skeptic will be standing there healthy and well saying, “What the heck just happened to our psychics? I see nothing.”

Comic Relief – If bad things happen to members of your party, one of the best ways to snap them out of it is humor. If the investigation is getting dark and scary, keeping your vibration high is critical, and having someone in your group who is great at cracking jokes can save the day. Trust me, I know, it happened to me. Bring the funny.

Use the Proper Equipment
Taking along as much equipment as you can will help you verify the presence of the paranormal. Here is a list of items you should endeavor to bring, and their function.

Digital Camera – Take a lot of photos of your haunted location. You never know what will show up on your photos that you can’t see with your eyes. Literally take hundreds of shots. There should be at least one person snapping photos every few seconds in each location. If someone is engaging with an entity or ghost, take a ton of photos of the person and their surrounding area.

Digital Voice Recorder – If you want to capture EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) then you want to have a digital recorder going at all times. Give a recorder to your lead investigator, your intuitive, and possibly your skeptic. To capture good EVP, everyone must stop all motion, someone will ask a question, and wait at least 5 seconds for an answer. You may not be able to hear anything, but your recorder might. You’ll analyze it later.

Infrared Cameras – If you have the budget for it, bring along some infrared cameras which are good at picking up ghosts in the dark. You can set them up in stationary locations around a single room, or have your audio visual person carry them while you walk. If you do walk around in the dark, be ridiculously careful!

Video Camera – If you’re investigating during the day or in lots of light, video your investigation. You never know what you’ll pick up on the camera. Plus if something really cool happens, like a brick gets thrown at your intuitive’s head, you’ll want to capture that evidence on film!

EMF Detector – This nifty device will tell you if there is unusual electromagnetic activity in the area, which some say is a sure sign of paranormal activity. You can buy an EMF detector online. Research the different frequencies that are detected and decide which one will serve you best.

Thermometers – Ghosts often bring their own cold front. Check the chill and record your data. See if you can correlate it with the other information you’re picking up.

Motion Sensors – Ghosts can trip motion sensors, sometimes. They can also hurk items across a room that might be picked up by a motion sensor.

Think about safety
In addition to equipment designed to nab your ghosts, you must also think about personal safety equipment. Here is a list of items to consider bringing along on an investigation. Your security/tactical person should manage and inventory these items and give them out to appropriate personnel.

Flashlights – If you’re trudging around in the dark, you’ll need some light. You can use handheld flashlights or headlamps. If you’re using infrared cameras, you can only use red lights.

Walkie Talkies – If your team splits up, it’s vital to be able to reach them in an emergency and to check in. Make sure your walkie talkies have a long range and don’t pick up interference from other devices.

Glow Sticks – These are great for lining a path back to safety. Drop a few of these on the ground if you’re in a dark maze-like environment. If you’re running (for some reason) and you need to find the exit fast, these are probably your best bet. Plus ghosts can take out electrical equipment but I have yet to meet a ghost who is a match for a glow stick!

Door Stops – It’s a good idea to prop open doors so they don’t get mysteriously slammed or locked on you, preventing you from getting out in a hurry.

Proper Attire – Know what kind of terrain you’ll be walking around in and dress for safety and comfort. Will there be mud? Loose floor boards? Wood with nails sticking out of it? You should wear good boots or close-toed shoes (no heels ladies). Have jackets with zippered pockets, or a tactical vest with pouches, long sleeves, gloves, etc. Dust masks, shemaghs, or bandanas to cover your face if the environment will be dusty or filled with airborne nasties.

Batteries – Where there are dead people you’ll find lots of dead batteries. Investigations can end quickly if all your brand new batteries mysteriously get discharged. Have tons of back up batteries for all your equipment.

First-Aid Kit – Sprained ankles, bonks on the head, cuts, bruises, and wounds can certainly occur during an investigation. Better safe than sorry! It could be a while before you can get a fallen comrade to a hospital. Be sure to bring ice packs, bandages, wound closures, anti-bacterial wipes, antiseptic sprays, antibiotic ointment, burn gel, slings, and something you can use as a splint. Oh and bring a jacket (love, mom).

Rope – Hopefully you won’t ever need rope, but it’s handy for all sorts of occasions. Hauling a friend out of a hole, helping someone down a well, restraining a possessed psychic. Fifty feet of rope never hurt anyone, so bring it.

Food and Water – Keep your team hydrated and energized. Water bottles for everyone and energy bars to keep them going. Often investigations happen long after dinner. Skulking around a prison can sure make you hungry! Be sure you’ve got enough food to handle emergencies, especially if you are somewhere remote.

Cell Phones – Charged cell phones you can use to call for help are essential.

Zip ties or handcuffs – On the rare chance that someone in your party does get possessed, you’ll want to be able to gently restrain them so they don’t hurt themselves or members of the team.

Do not bring weapons on a ghost hunt. Ghosts won’t be affected by them, but if the possessed members of your team get hold of them, you’re all dead. If you must bring a utility knife, fine, but give it to your skeptic to hold.

Go in strong
Be sure you’re well rested before starting your hunt. Tired people are more easily influenced by dark forces. Be sure you’re healthy and well. No drinking of alcohol before or during an investigation. Stay sharp and in control. No drugs of any kind either. Stay alert and in your right mind.

Never hunt alone
This is super important. The buddy system rules when hunting ghosts. No one goes anywhere alone, not even the bathroom. If you’re alone you could be easily injured or influenced and there will be no one around to help you. If you’re with a team of people and you break off into groups, make sure there are at least 2 people in a group, although I recommend 3 people per group. With three, if there’s trouble, one person can get help, one person can be in trouble, and the other person can stay with the troubled individual. Also, if someone does get possessed, you’ll want at least two other people there to restrain him or her.

Know the signs of possession
You might think it can’t happen to you, but it can. If you’re stirring a hornet’s nest of haunted hotels or houses, you can get stung! You’re opening yourself up to the paranormal, basically inviting it to show itself, so don’t be surprised if it latches on to someone in your group. It’s important to know the normal behavior of everyone on the team so you’ll know if they start acting strangely.

Signs that someone is being negatively affected by something paranormal include: getting sick or nauseous, feeling dizzy, acting confused, unable to speak, breathing strangely or irregularly, sudden bursts of unusual emotion (sadness or anger for example), swearing, attacking a member of the team, hurting themselves, speaking in odd languages or in an odd way, eyes rolled back in their heads, overt sexual behavior, thrashing around, or passing out.

Always keep an eye on your team mates. Remove anyone who appears to be acting strangely. Sometimes the act of removing them from the area is enough to bring them back to themselves, and sometimes you need to help them come back. This is when you use love and humor. You may also need a strong voice to tell the offending entity to back the heck off!

Learn how to analyze your data
When the investigation is over, the real work begins. It can take many hours to analyze all the data from all your equipment. You’ve got to correlate what your psychics received with what the equipment picked up. You’ve got to scan photos for unusual or anomalous images. Look for orbs in your photos. Look for dark shapes or shadows that have no physical correlations. Put your thermal readings together with your EMF readings. Listen to the digital recordings for any EVPs. Try to piece it all together and look for evidence. This can be painstaking and requires a very discerning ear and eye. Working with a partner or having everyone on the team take a look at the data can be very helpful so you don’t miss anything.

Be safe, have fun, and get on out there! There’s a whole other world to explore. Get your equipment, your team, your gear, and get ‘er done!

During the investigation I made contact with AG in Spooky Hollow. I picked up on some of his crimes, the name he liked to be called, and I was shown some of his daily activities while he was alive. I also began to receive information about his past and childhood. I did not reveal specifics of what I picked up so that other intuitives have something to use for validation if/when they attempt communication with him. But from the communication I received, it seems like most people are right on target with what I picked up.

There is a tendency to feel sorry for the spirit because of the trouble he experienced in his childhood, but we must remember that he made a choice to model that behavior and use his energy to control, dominate, hurt, terrorize, and even kill others. Chances are good that he has not crossed over because he fears judgment. He probably believes he is going to Hell for his crimes. And if you believed that, how quickly would you rush to cross over?

It’s also important to note that AG lies. He lies to feed off energy. It’s no accident that he keeps his name a secret. I believe he also does not reveal exactly how he died. The first time I encountered him, when I was doing the Criss Angel shoot, he was stringing us along as we asked him questions, changing his story as he went, making up crazy details about events, and causing a great deal of confusion. I don’t know for certain if he had the sad upbringing that many of us are picking up or if it’s a ploy to get sympathy.

Many of the people who wrote to me complained of getting severe headaches after speaking with him. Now why do you suppose that would happen? Opening yourself up to an energy that NEEDS your energy in order to stay earthbound is bound to cause a headache and other ailments. He’s siphoning your energy. You’re feeding him. It’s vital that if and when you communicate with a spirit that you protect your energy first. How do you do that?

First, surround yourself with white light energy from the Universe/God/Source, etc.

Second, ask Archangel Michael to protect you and your energy while you communicate with the spirit.

Third, try not to feel sympathy or compassion while you’re in communication with the spirit – remain objective. You can allow yourself to feel for him later when you’re not in direct communication.

Fourth, before you start communicating, make sure you are in a super high vibration. Do not even attempt to communicate with AG or anyone like him if your dominant energy is shame, guilt, depression, fear, anxiety, or anger.

Fifth, make sure if you start to feel influenced, overly emotional, or physically drained, that you sever communication with the entity.

And lastly, when you are done communicating with the spirit, shut the door. Be firm. “Thank you for your time. We are done now. Goodbye.” And use white light energy to protect yourself and shield yourself as you shut down communication. If you still feel the spirit around you, firmly tell it to go away. If it won’t, ask Archangel Michael to see it to the door.

So why don’t we just help AG cross over?

Helping any spirit cross over means opening a door for them, calling in the angels, holding a loving space for them, and convincing them that it’s in their best interest to cross over. I’m certain other mediums have tried to help AG cross. Fear is powerful though, and he is really resistant. I’ve encountered a lot of spirits that refuse to cross over. I’ve been lucky enough to do readings for repeat clients who have relatives who weren’t crossed over when I first read for them but have since crossed over. The way it was explained to me is that the angels took the person back to a time when they felt loved, and that’s when they were able to get through to them that they needn’t fear judgment or punishment on the other side. I’m not sure AG has any happy memories he can dwell upon for that to happen.

Please do not try to help AG cross over unless you have a lot of experience helping spirits cross over. It can be dangerous to the untrained. If helping spirits cross over appeals to you, start with the suicides, not the murderers. Start with those hanging around waiting for justice to be served or those who are lost but would like to cross over.

AG gets around. He follows energetic connections from one person to another. Someone told me they were too frightened of AG to finish reading my entire account. Do not give this person your fear energy. You are living, he is deceased. You should not live in fear of the dead. They only have the power you give them. Be firm with your boundaries. He can’t hurt you unless you cower before him and give him permission.

I’ve also heard of some people trying to contact him in dreams. That’s fine if you are strong willed in your dreams and you vibrate at a high frequency like love, joy, and gratitude. Otherwise I wouldn’t give him access to your mind at night. That’s a big mistake in my opinion. If you must communicate with him, do it during the day, in the daylight, while you are awake.

I would love to see AG cross over. Send him love energy and best wishes on his journey. And let’s hope for the best.

Influenced
As I was sitting there at the card table, something strange started happening to me. I started to feel a strange pull or tugging in my head. It literally felt like someone was threading a string from my left ear, through my brain, and out my right ear. It left a trail of tingling energy as it passed through my head. It was not a comfortable feeling at all. I started to become confused. Maury was talking but I wasn’t hearing her. It was like her voice was coming from far away. At one point she said, “Erin, are you getting anything?” Confused I just said, “I don’t know.” She continued talking.

Then I felt an overwhelming sleepiness come over me, like someone put chloroform over my mouth. I put my head in my hands and dropped off in seconds. I knew as it was happening that this was really bad, but I was powerless to resist. I don’t know how long I was out, but when I came around and lifted my head something was very different and very wrong.

My consciousness was not alone in my body. “I” was shoved up, to the right and to the back of my head. That’s where I was. Inhabiting the rest of my brain/consciousness was someone else. I knew it was the entity I had connected with earlier. I can hardly describe the sensation of being pushed aside in my own body. I was still totally aware and totally present, I just wasn’t alone. I felt like I had 5% of the vessel and the entity had 95%. I now understand what it feels like to be a trance channel, only I wasn’t channeling something particularly pleasant.

Maury was still talking. I looked over at her and could just make out the barest outline of her body, but I could see her eyes in the ambient light of the glow stick. And I started to feel angry and frustrated at Maury. The anger was building up inside me and I had this extremely strong urge to pound my fists on the table and say, “We don’t want you here. Who do you think you are? Why do you keep coming here? This is our domain. Get out!!”

I was surprised at the vehemence of the thought. Then I realized it wasn’t mine. It was his. He wanted to speak and take action and use my body and voice to do it. I knew I was being influenced, but I wasn’t sure what to do. I had to get someone’s attention, to tell them there was something wrong with me and to help me, but I couldn’t speak what I wanted to speak. I wasn’t “allowed” to.

I knew that Maury could help me if I could just signal to her that I was in trouble, but just then she stood up and took Ted and Jamie to the other end of the hall, leaving me at the table, in the dark, with just Dana, Pam and Matty. I was screaming “noooo” inside my head. My only help had just walked away!

I struggled to push the energy out of my head, but he was so strong. I felt like an ant trying to push a Hummer down the street. He wanted to speak and act. I started making strange breathing noises. Sharp intakes of air, and then my breath would get choked off. Matty said, “Erin are you alright?” I managed to squeak out, “He’s pushing me.” I don’t think Matty, Pam, or Dana knew exactly what that meant or what do to. I was so frustrated because I needed help but couldn’t say what I wanted to say. It had taken great effort just to say “He’s pushing me.”

The strong urge to act was still coming, but now he wanted me to stand up and fling the table to the ground. I knew if I did that, it would hit Pam along the way and hurt her. I resisted, but the urge was so powerful. I knew it would feel so good to fling that horrible table away. He wanted to say, “This doesn’t belong here. This is an insult to us and mocks us. Get this out of here!”

I balled my hands into fists and was getting ready to start pounding. The me in the corner of my head was getting scared and frustrated because my friends couldn’t see how hard I was struggling to get their attention. We had gone over this during the mission briefing. The signs were present, but no one on my team could see me well enough to see me struggling. Only Matty was picking it up intuitively.

Then it got worse. I turned towards Dana and felt intense anger at him. The energy inside me was enraged at Dana. The entity wanted me to fling the table up onto Pam and then turn on Dana and attack him. I had visions of myself choking Dana. I was appalled at the thought, but the violent images kept coming. He was upset that Dana wasn’t afraid of him and that Dana wasn’t showing him the proper respect. He wanted to say to Dana, “How dare you come into my domain and disrespect me! I’m in charge here. You’re nothing.” He wanted to make Dana bow before him.

I was in a horrible state. I was sharing my consciousness with a violent psychopath and didn’t have control of my body. I was so afraid of what he was going to make me do. But, I was also afraid of what Dana might do if I attacked him. During the mission briefing he stated that if anyone came at him he would take whatever action necessary to take them out. So I cast my own images of Dana taking “us” down hoping the dark energy would see the futility of attacking Dana. The entity seemed to consider this and came up with a new plan. He wanted me to pick up the mag-lite and whack Dana across the face with it. That is one heavy flashlight, and I knew that in the dark Dana might not have time to react before he was hit.

This terrified me. The entity now had a plan of surprise attack that would seriously hurt Dana. I was very upset. I started to really push at the entity and try to eject him from my body. But the violent urges were super strong. I knew I needed help. I was surrounded by people who could help me and no one knew I was in trouble.

This was a basic failure point in our plan. If a large part of protecting each other depended upon us seeing each other….the dark was so thick and enveloping. It reminded me of the dense barometric pressure right before a tornado (I grew up in Kansas). As a child we would go into my grandfather’s cellar and wait for the storm to pass. At one point while sitting there I told Matty that I did not want to go down the hall where Maury and the guys were. I said I didn’t know why but my senses were just screaming to me not to go there. I took hold of Matty’s hand and felt him relax somewhat.–Pam

Finally Matty reached out and took my hand in the dark. I can’t tell you how grateful I was. That contact loosened the dark energy’s hold on me a little. Matty said, “You alright there, Erin?” I was able to say, “No, not really. I’m having trouble.” Matty cracked a joke. I don’t even remember what it was, but I started laughing, and in that instant, the entity fled. Instantly, just gone. I felt like I had been released from a paralyzing state. I took a deep breath, and filled myself with white light energy and asked the angels for protection.

Erin laughed when Matty said that he had been holding my hand in a death-grip for over 5 minutes. I should have realized that something was going on with Erin because she was so quiet but I thought she was just tired!–Pam

Then I said, “Let’s get up and go to Maury.” I wanted to be near her if something went down again, and I wanted to tell her what had just happened to me. Matty said, “Are you crazy? You wanna go down there?” I said, “Yeah, come on, let’s get up and walk.” I didn’t want to succumb again. I did not let go of Matty’s hand. We walked to where Maury was talking and being interviewed by Ted and Jamie. I didn’t want to interrupt them because she was in the middle of a story. I started to feel like myself again and felt much better. At one point I started picking up a strong smell… of soap. Believe me, there was no soap down there. Quite the opposite. I told Maury I was smelling soap. She got excited and said that other psychics also smelled soap in that spot.

I suggested we get going. I wanted to get out of Spooky Hollow pronto. At this point I still hadn’t told anyone what happened to me.

I asked Dana to lead us out. And I took up a position behind him. I’ll tell you this… if Dana knew how badly I wanted to brain him with my flashlight, he wouldn’t have been walking in front of me.

Maid’s Quarters
Maury wanted to show us the old maids’ quarters. I really just wanted to be done. I was so freaked out by what had happened to me and just wanted to process it and talk to Maury about it. But we were already there, it was quick, and we decided to just walk through the rooms quickly. The energy in there was different. I could feel presences but they were skittish and didn’t want us around. They weren’t violent or angry, just timid and submissive and wanted to be left alone.

I purposely didn’t try to make contact directly with any of them as I didn’t want to open myself up. I was done. It was 2:15am, and I was desperate for sleep. We all signed release forms to be in the documentary that Ted and Jamie were filming, and I believe they are showcasing their movie in the next couple of months and then releasing it on DVD.

Spending the night
Dana decided he was going to jet home and sleep in his own bed and then get up and go to his Search and Rescue training. I was a little concerned about Matty sleeping in the very haunted Room 20, but Matty was okay with it, so Dana packed his gear and headed home. It was probably safer for him to be away from me anyway.

The spirits I encountered in my room did not check out with the one who supposedly hangs out in the room most of the time. I ended up with a couple playful ladies rather than a grumpy male spirit. Yay! -Matty

Pam and I headed to our room, got ready for bed, and hit the sack hard. Dana had left us the walkie talkies so if Matty had a problem he could call for help. But no one died or got possessed and the beds were really quite comfy. We woke at 7am, had a quick breakfast in the café, and got the heck out of Amargosa! I was happy to be headed home.

The Aftermath
I wanted to talk to Maury about what had happened to me so I sent her an email when I got home but she was out of town for most of the week. Finally when we talked and I explained to her what happened in the Sunset Room she helped me understand the whole experience. There had been movement at the end of the hall, and that got Maury, Ted, and Jamie out of their seats to investigate. She said she felt lured away, which is how it looked to me. Right at the moment I needed her most, she got up and walked away. There’s no doubt in my mind that had she been sitting there throughout my ordeal she would have figured it out. Matty, Pam and Dana had never seen such a thing before and in the dark had no chance to see me struggling. The entity timed his move very well.

Maury also confirmed that what he wanted me to say to her was the same thing, practically word for word, that she’d heard before from other psychics. She also wasn’t surprised by the guy’s desire for me to attack Dana. He apparently doesn’t like it when alpha males are down there, unafraid of him. He wants people to be afraid, and he wants respect. Dana gave him neither. He didn’t have a problem with Matty or Pam as they were neutral to him and had a healthy respect for him. She also confirmed that choking was his preferred method of torment.

Since returning from Amargosa, I’ve been visited by the guy a couple of times. Pam’s been dreaming about Spooky Hollow, and I have woken one time to find him standing over my bed for a good 5 seconds. That scared me so badly I was awake for 2.5 hours trying to shake off the energy and adrenaline. I have since taken the appropriate steps to cleanse my energy, close off my connection to him, and before bed every night the angels are put on guard. I also make sure I’m in a high vibrational state before bed and that has helped considerably.

Overall, Maury was impressed by the accuracy of the information I received during our investigation. She’s invited me to go on other investigations with her, and I’d love to. She also liked having Dana there. He was the perfect counterpoint to the intuitive part of our investigation. The combination of Maury’s expertise and equipment, along with my psychic abilities, and Dana’s no-fear, skeptical side make a good and balanced combination.

What We Learned and Tips for Investigating
If you’re doing an investigation in the middle of the night, stop when you get tired. Or find a safe place to nap for a bit and keep going.

Keep an eye on each other. If you’re in the dark, it’s especially important.

If your group splits up, make sure you have walkie talkies on you at all times. And no one goes anywhere alone.

To properly handle and restrain someone who is influenced or possessed, grab them around the arms in a bear hug, and have someone else lift their legs. Then take them to the ground and wait for your psychic security leader to help remove the influence.

Bring someone along for comic relief. Matty’s humor kept our vibration high and saved Dana from getting a mag-lite to the face, which in turn saved me from having all my ribs broken in retaliation.

Stay hydrated and well fed. We ate dinner at 5pm and by midnight there were a lot of stomachs growling.

I don’t recommend sleeping in the same place you investigate unless it seems very very safe.

Your team should consist of someone who is very intuitive, someone who is scientific and can work the equipment, and someone who is not open and isn’t affected by non-corporeal energies. Do not bring hardcore skeptics if you want to do an intuitive investigation because they will blunt your ability to tune in.

Make sure you have someone on the team who knows how to handle influenced or possessed people. If I had been unable to get free, Maury would have taken me outside, we would have formed a circle, and used our combined energy to cast love at me and raise my vibration, so I could eject the entity. You want to gently restrain the person so they can’t hurt themselves or anyone on the team. And everyone must be present so the entity doesn’t jump to another host.

Don’t let your guard down.

If you’re intuitive and you start feeling an overwhelming energy, it’s okay to pull back and shut down.

Be safe if you’re in broken, run-down areas. Make sure you have people on your team who can handle physical problems like lifting someone out of a hole by a rope, handling first aid issues, and using safety equipment.

Try to have the appropriate equipment like EMF, digital recorders, infrared cameras, etc. If you only bring a psychic and no equipment, you may miss apparitions and voices that are only picked up by EVP and infrared cameras. Likewise, you should always bring at least one intuitive on an investigation because if you only have equipment you may be filming in the wrong spots, and a psychic can pinpoint areas of high activity fast.

In Summary
Despite being influenced by a deceased psychopath, I really enjoyed the Amargosa investigation. It was an intense experience that taught me a lot. I would definitely go out on other investigations. Amargosa is a hot spot and one of the 10 most haunted hotels in America. If you’re looking for a challenge, check it out. Just don’t mention my name.

Video:
We did a little video taping with a Flip camera, periodically, as we had time.

Whole Series:
Amargosa Investigation – Part 1
Amargosa Investigation – Part 2
Amargosa Investigation – Part 3
Amargosa Investigation – Part 4
Amargosa Investigation – Part 5

Photos

Sitting at the card table in the Sunset Room

Getting settled in Sunset

Lots of dust in this room.

I’ll show you my orbs if you show me yours.

Seriously, would a dustbuster really hurt the place so much?

Maid’s Quarters. Probably wouldn’t hire them to clean for me.

Maury out on the porch with us telling us we can switch rooms in the middle of the night if bad things happen.

The Scooby Gang
Dana, Matty, Erin, and Pam

Entering Spooky Hollow
Spooky Hollow is the area of the hotel that used to house the Borax mine workers. I hope it wasn’t called Spooky Hollow when they were living there! Today it is a filthy, rat-infested, broken-down, ruined building full of thick dust, spiders, and remnants of furniture that someone used to comfortably use. It’s the perfect spot for old energy to linger.

Honestly, Matty and I were both a little nervous to enter Spooky Hollow. The entity who “lives” there had already tracked me down in my bedroom and now I was walking right into his domain. I expected to be assaulted immediately. Dana went in first, throwing glow sticks on the ground as beacons so we could find our way out in the dark. Because we were going in with infrared cameras, we were forbidden to use our white flashlights. Maury gave me a red flashlight to use, but it didn’t even come close to casting enough light for my comfort. We put on our dust masks, hoped we didn’t contract Hanta Virus (saw lots of rat droppings) and headed in. Maury had cameras strategically placed at the entrance to the long hallway, and Ted and Jamie were filming us as we walked down the corridor.

I went very slowly, taking it all in, one room at a time. I was loathe to even walk into a single room, preferring to remain in the hallway and just peak in. Dana had no fear whatsoever, and was snapping photos of the rooms as we went. I stayed close to him!

However, I didn’t actually feel any energy assaulting me. In fact, the more I walked up and down the hallway, the better I felt. I didn’t feel a scary energy at all. And I started to wonder if I had been wrong about what attacked me back in June. It probably helped that I was surrounded by 4 men and 2 women, all of whom I knew would watch my back and get me out of there if something bad happened. I started to relax and open myself up so I could make contact and channel anything that was in there.

Encounter
After we had explored several of the rooms, Maury asked me if I was feeling drawn to any particular rooms. I was. There were three rooms in particular where I felt the most conscious energy and emotional residue. So Maury, Jamie, Ted, and I went to those rooms for a conversation and channeling. Dana, Pam, and Matty stayed further back down the hall.

I felt a powerful dark presence instructing me not to follow. I obeyed. –Matty

I tuned out the living and tuned in the dead. Immediately I made contact with the entity who dwelled there. I almost had no awareness of what the others were doing as I was so focused on getting a good connection with this fellow. Maury started asking me what I was seeing. I told her I saw men being dragged down the hallway and brought to this particular guy for punishment. People feared him terribly. He was definitely the head honcho, man in charge of these workers. She told me he went by a certain name that other psychics had picked up and she wanted to see if I could pick up the same name. When I told her the name I was getting, she very excitedly told me I was exactly correct. That was awesome! Maury asked me not to reveal the name publically because she uses it to validate other psychics’ accuracy when they come to investigate. Maury also asked about his unusual ethnicity, which I also received accurately. I also picked up on some specific violent episodes and incidents that happened there. Maury has heard the same exact thing from many other psychics who have investigated Spooky Hollow.

Ted was really impressed by what was happening; I don’t think he’s ever seen a psychic in action. He started interviewing me right there in the pitch dark. He wanted to know how I was hearing and seeing this information when he couldn’t hear or see anything. I explained about clairaudience and clairvoyance which is the psychic ability to receive information through images and auditory communication. They were excited to be filming this whole sequence as they had previously been filming without an intuitive present and weren’t getting much.

I gathered much of this information as well, even though I chose not to actively engage the entity. I can corroborate what Erin received. –Matty

One thing that started happening while I was in communication with this guy is that I actually started reading him and his energy the way I do during my regular intuitive readings I give clients. I started picking up on his distant past, his origins, his childhood, his relationship with his family, his motivation for going to California. Some of what I picked up on was disturbing and I started sympathizing with the entity. I started to feel sorry for him. He didn’t like that one bit. In fact, he got pretty angry. I felt his energy fly to the other end of the hall, and I literally felt like he was blocking our exit. I started walking in that direction, anxious to leave. I reconnected with Matty, Pam, and Dana, and asked Matty how he was doing. He said he was staying closed as he didn’t feel safe opening up in there. That was probably a good move. But he stated to me that he felt the energy had shifted to the front end of the hall and neither of us wanted to walk through it.

That entity totally Scooby-Dooed us. It sneaked around behind us while we investigated another room. –Matty

I called to Dana. “Yo Dana!” “Yep?” he replied. “Could you walk through the doorway there and lead us on out?” “Okay,” he replied nonchalantly and walked confidently out of the hall. Yes I was using Dana like an energy machete to cut a swath through the angry energy. I was almost sure he’d be just fine.

We left Spooky Hollow and went back into the hotel area. I could breathe a lot easier once we were out, both physically and psychically. We went back to our room for another rest. It was close to midnight.

Setting up in Sunset
Apparently, we weren’t done in Spooky Hollow. Maury had something special planned. Paralleling Spooky Hollow is a long strip called the Sunset Porch. It’s in the same condition as the rooms in Spooky Hollow, but it’s a long narrow strip of wide open area. Maury had set up a card table in this area and she said that she would sometimes have groups sit there and play cards and they would get some good EVP (electronic voice phenomenon).

We were getting some interesting EVP action throughout the night. Periodically Maury would have us stand completely still and quiet and she would ask the spirits to give us signs of their presence. We would then hear strange noises like knocking, banging, wailing, and creaking sounds. When she would ask them to repeat themselves, they would. Maury told us to let her know if it was one of us making the sounds, so if our stomach growled or our shoe squeaked we announced it so she could correlate it later when she listened to the recording.

Although Erin, Maury and Matty heard voices at times I never did. I did however hear other sounds at various times during the night and I believe Dana did also.–Pam

Pam, Matty, and I waited in the hotel room while Dana, Maury, Ted and Jamie set up in the Sunset Room. I was getting more tired and my feet were hurting me from standing so long. I figured we’d do the Sunset Room and call it a night.

The Card Table
When they were ready for us, Maury led us to the card table she had placed in the middle of the long hall. She had chairs placed around the table. The table was covered with signatures and messages from other people who had been down there. We all sat down and she pulled out some items for the spirits to “play with” including a deck of cards and a magnadoodle in case the spirits wanted to write something down.

When questioned Maury admitted that none of the spirits had ever actually used the magnadoodle.–Pam

Then we turned off all the lights. All of them. We were sitting in complete darkness. This didn’t feel good to me at all. I felt like we were in a zombie movie and the light was the only thing keeping the baddies at bay, and turning off the light gave them permission to frenzy feed on us. Maury said we couldn’t use our flashlights because of the cameras. I asked Dana if he happened to have a red glow stick, as red was the only light we could use that wouldn’t interfere with the infrared cameras. Sure enough, he did. He cracked it and threw it down on the table. It wasn’t much, and I still couldn’t see anyone’s face, but it made me feel better to see light so I focused on it.

The red glow stick gave me such a sense of comfort. Just sitting there waiting for something to happen was not a good feeling. Again, the air was extremely thick, even the dust was strange, and I felt somewhat nauseous.–Pam

I picked the worst possible seat. I sat with my back facing the far end of the hall. I immediately regretted this decision. –Matty

Matty, Maury, and I were all feeling encroaching energy coming near us. At one point Maury said to Matty, “We’re getting some play behind you there.” Matty said, “Uh, define play.” It was really funny and we all laughed. After a few minutes though the energy was even thicker around us. It was like sitting in a shark cage and then having someone slowly lower the bars of the cage, and you could feel the sharks circling and getting up the nerve to attack.

And attack they did…

Whole Series:
Amargosa Investigation – Part 1
Amargosa Investigation – Part 2
Amargosa Investigation – Part 3
Amargosa Investigation – Part 4
Amargosa Investigation – Part 5

The Photos

Is this where they put spirits when they’ve been bad?

People come in and hang angels in the rooms. I don’t think it helps much.

The ghosts of Spooky Hollow prefer Pepsi.

Most of the rooms had old decrepit furniture in them.

This is why safety is important. Walking around on this stuff in the dark is dangerous.

Spooky mattress in Spooky Hollow

This must be the work of a poltergeist. No human could stack chairs like that.

Spooks read spooky novels in Spooky Hollow

Do NOT go in there! Whew!

There’s a big what behind me? A shadow?

Dana in Spooky Hollow

The card table.

The Sunset Room

The Opera House
The Opera House was just like I remembered it. Old, beautiful, empty, yet full of energy. Good energy. I was looking forward to getting back into the Opera House. Dana and Maury had set up cameras everywhere, and there was other equipment I never really got a good look at, doing something important I’m sure. Maury gave Matty a digital voice recorder and told him to keep it on him at all times. I put my backpack down and started walking around the Opera House with Matty. Pam sat down in one of the opera chairs, and Dana hovered nearby making sure everyone and everything was okay. He was also taking lots of photos. At one point he was on stage taking photos of the room and his camera sparked and started smoking. We couldn’t figure out why, but Maury had told us that things like that happen often during investigations. Spirits like to mess with equipment and drain batteries. His camera still worked after that so he kept on taking pictures.

Interior of the Opera House

Dana’s Spooky Camera

Matty detected some distinct presences in one of the chairs so we went to investigate that. I didn’t feel much, but he sat down to play with those energies a little. I started walking around the stage. I walked into the back area of the stage, which I hadn’t done the last time I was there. I definitely felt more going on near the stage area.

The encounter with the spirit in the café left me wanting to make contact with as many spirits as I could because I figured that’s what most spirits wanted. I learned in the opera house that this isn’t necessarily the case for all of them. I picked up on some specific ghosts in the opera house, but learned that many of them simply wanted to be left alone. There were a few notable exceptions, however. –Matty

Maury initiated a conversation with the ghosts in the Opera House, inviting them to come talk to us. The strongest energies I felt were those of children hiding behind the stage area, and that of Tom, the deceased man who used to help Marta out. Tom was extremely protective of the items on the stage and of the Opera House in general. He was anxious for us to leave and even more anxious that we not disturb anything. The kids didn’t seem to want to come out while he was there. I wouldn’t say I spoke back and forth with Tom, rather I received a download of his thoughts and feelings and relayed them to Maury for verification of accuracy.

We eventually coaxed the children into coming out when Maury whipped out some toys for them to play with. My connection with the children became quite strong when I offered to tell them a story. They were so curious. I started conversing with the children. Once they found out I had kids of my own they started asking tons of questions about them. I got a great deal of joy talking to the children. I was giddy with delight. Matty was sitting behind me on the stage while I was talking to the children. We were both “seeing” the same children and describing their clothing the same way. One little boy seemed to be holding a stuffed animal. To me it was yellow, soft, floppy, and furry but I couldn’t make out exactly what animal it was. Matty saw a yellow lion. The little boy had an older sister he clung to. She was definitely in charge. We would revisit the children later.

Interacting with the Children

Pam didn’t look like she was feeling that well. Dana kept checking on her, but she said she was fine. She just didn’t say it like she actually WAS fine so we were suspicious. Dana and I went out the side door and the air that night was perfect. I went back inside and grabbed Pam and told her we should go outside and get some fresh air as it was a little warm and oppressive in the Opera House. I left my walkie talkie in the Opera House because I didn’t think we’d be gone longer than a few minutes. Note to others doing investigations: NEVER leave your walkie talkie behind!

I had no sense of children at all but the air was very dense and oppressive. I felt a bit claustrophobic. At one point we turned out all the lights and I was standing by the wall. Foolishly I was standing very stiff and my knees were locked and I began weaving. A hand steadied my shoulder and I thought it was Dana. I didn’t say anything as we were audio recording. A few seconds later Maury brought the house lights up a bit and I saw Dana standing across the room. There had been nobody near me. At the same time I had a sense of a man standing in the aisle wearing jeans, brown shirt and brown leather vest. I did not “see” anything, I just sensed it. Analytically I could not understand this at all. Immediately after, I felt very nauseous and had to sit down. I was grateful when Erin and Dana made me go outdoors as the clear, pure air was wonderful and even better the stars were so beautiful away from the light pollution of Las Vegas.—Pam

The Backyard
Maury started taking us on a tour outside. Apparently there were actually houses out there that people lived in. I mean, these were really old, crumbling-looking buildings. I couldn’t imagine anyone living in there.

Dana Richardson in the side yard of the Opera House

We also passed by Tom’s old car. And we came around the back of Spooky Hollow. This is around the time I looked up at the night sky and saw a gazillion stars. I was blown away. I’ve never seen that before. I was transfixed by all the stars.

Tom’s Car – Interior

The Mormon House
Maury took us far away from the Opera House to an old house that had apparently been transported in its entirety from one location to another. This was your basic rickety, haunted-looking house. The floorboards had holes, it was creaky, broken down, etc. We walked into the house and I got a strange feeling in the house. It wasn’t negative, but it wasn’t comfortable. I felt like I was being welcomed to stay in the house … like forever. Like the spirits in there wanted our company for eternity. I didn’t like the house. Matty was having a similar issue with it. While Dana, Pam and Maury went traipsing through the house, Matty and I backed out slowly. I yelled out that we were leaving, but I don’t think anyone heard me.

Matty and I left the house and at first we were standing out in front with the flashlight on, waiting for our friends to be done. But the longer I stood there, the more disturbed I was becoming. I felt anxious. I basically said to Matty, “I’m outta here. I’m done with this house. I’m just gonna walk over here.” Before we knew it we had walked almost all the way back to the Opera House.

I felt that the spirits within believed strongly that the house belonged in its original location. Their displeasure with the present situation left them seeking any kind of company they could find, maybe even for all eternity. I’m sure they would have loved to have had us for dinner. Possibly with some sweet potatoes and asparagus. –Matty

After a little while the rest of the gang came looking for us and Dana said, “Where’s your walkie talkie?” I sheepishly had to report that I’d left it back at the Opera House. He admonished me and said, “Don’t go anywhere without your talkie. Couldn’t find you. Didn’t know where you were. Zero good.” After that I kept my walkie talkie in my pocket at all times.

The Mormon House

Helping the Children Into the Light
We went back to the Opera House and Maury asked me if I wanted to help her help the children cross over into the light. That sounded like a great idea. We coaxed the children out and spent several minutes talking to them about why going into the light and crossing over was a good idea. What was great was that as Maury was talking to them, I was able to hear their concerns and protests clairaudiently, so I was relaying their information to Maury, who was then able to converse with them and answer their questions about the light. We were making great progress. The little boy definitely wanted to cross over, but his big sister told him no. She seemed to be under the idea that they were supposed to remain there for their parent to pick them up. We explained that their parents were probably already crossed over and waiting for them in the light, but she didn’t want to leave. We made a deal with the children that they would cross over with Marta Beckett when she passed. Marta is the dancer who is the lifeblood of Amargosa, performing in the Opera House for many years. She is now too infirm to perform. We eventually had to pull our energy back from the children, but I hope they will feel safe crossing over when Marta’s time comes.

I took the role of passive participant in the incredibly emotional conversation. I had tears streaming down my face by the end. Good thing the room was dark and no one could see. Oh, wait, people are reading this right now? Doh. –Matty

Again I had absolutely no sense of the children but the Opera House felt completely different to me when we went back inside. It just felt like an empty auditorium. I no longer felt claustrophobic and the air did not seem thick. -Pam

Our respectful behavior in the opera house the first time around provided Tom some peace of mind. He allowed us a more peaceful presence when we reentered. –Matty

Taking a break
We’d spent about 2 hours or so in the Opera House and the backyard area. It was time to break down the set up and move the equipment to Spooky Hollow. Dana and Maury got to work on that, while Pam, Matty, and I went back to our rooms to get some food. Ghost hunting makes you hungry!

We chowed down on the snacks I’d brought and debriefed a little on what had happened so far. Eventually Dana joined us and partook in some snackage. He also let us know there’d probably be a slight delay as Maury had run into some friends and was chatting with them outside on the porch. After a while, we went out to see what was happening. I hadn’t napped that day and I knew I was going to be heading into Spooky Hollow around the time I’d normally be fast asleep. I didn’t think any delay was a good idea.

Meeting Ted and Jamie
Maury was talking to two fellows outside named Ted and Jamie. They were on the scene filming a documentary about ghosts in Death Valley Junction. They were getting ready to head into Spooky Hollow around the same time we were so we decided to join forces and all go together. Maury gave one of them an infrared camera so he could follow us and film instead of us setting up stationary cameras. Dana, Maury, Ted, and Jamie went to Spooky Hollow to set up. Pam, Matty and I rested in the chairs outside the hotel in the cool night air and prepared to meet our fate. I was glad there were some other men-folk going to Spooky Hollow with us. Just in case…

Whole Series:
Amargosa Investigation – Part 1
Amargosa Investigation – Part 2
Amargosa Investigation – Part 3
Amargosa Investigation – Part 4
Amargosa Investigation – Part 5

Extra Photos

Maury with Jamie and Ted, the film makers

Walking around and exploring the Opera House

Communicating with the children

Smiling at the kids’ energy

There is no Dana, only Zu’ul

Stay for dinner at the Mormon House

Exterior of Tom’s Car

Typical Building at Amargosa

We now continue with Part 2 of the Paranormal Investigation of the Amargosa Hotel. Read Part One if you haven’t already.

Gearing up
We were planning to do the investigation on Friday, October 8, 2010. We were originally going to get rooms at another hotel so we wouldn’t have to sleep at Amargosa when we were done with our investigation, but the way things turned out, we decided to just stay at Amargosa. Matty and Pam were not happy about this, and I wasn’t feeling too great about it either, but I figured we’d be safe enough as many people sleep there throughout the year with no problems. We considered having Dana stay awake all night to protect us and patrol between rooms to make sure no one went kittywompus in the middle of the night. We were taking all kinds of precautions. You can never be too prepared!

I got together with Dana ahead of time to go over items we’d need for our little adventure. He was way ahead of me though. He’d already thought of flashlights, walkie talkies, glow sticks, dust masks, door stops, Leatherman tool, gloves, cameras, extra batteries, rope, headlamps, first aid kit and more. And of course we knew to bring snacks and water.

Maury told us to wear close-toed shoes, long pants, and to bring a sweatshirt in case it got cold at night. And we had extra clothing for our overnight excursion.

Mission briefing
The night before our adventure I assembled my team for a mission briefing so we could discuss our plans and what to do if the worst happened and someone was being influenced or possessed by something at Amargosa. Maury and I had discussed this at length and I wanted to make sure my team knew what to do. Here briefly is what I explained to them.

First, there’s a difference between influence and possession. If you are possessed your consciousness is completely pushed aside and you have no awareness of what you are doing. When you “wake up” you have no memory of your actions. If you are influenced you are still aware of everything that is happening to you but are pushed aside, and you have a strong desire to say and do what the entity is telling you to do. It’s like the other consciousness takes the driver’s seat and you are relegated to the backseat, watching, and trying to get control back.

Signs of influence or possession include angry outbursts, violent attack, walking backwards, sobbing, inability to focus, confusion, dizziness, altered personality, altered eyes, and the like. Signs of psychic attack include feeling super tired, sick to your stomach, drained, fearful, and anxiety/panic.

The member of our team least likely to be influenced or possessed was Dana, which I was counting on since he had the best chance of physically restraining someone who did become influenced or possessed. We all knew that if Dana became influenced that it would take all of us to restrain him. So one of the reasons I chose Dana to be on the team was because of his muscle. I knew he could single-handedly restrain any one of us. I told Dana that if anyone became possessed to gently restrain them until Maury could help the person push out the influence. I believe Dana’s response was, “If any of you come at me, you’ll get an uppercut to the chops and I will lay you out.” Nervous laughter ensued, and I said, “No, seriously, you can’t beat us up because when we come back it’s us who will be injured, not the entity.” He said, “Look if someone is attacking me, I’m going to react, and my natural reaction is going to be a gut shot or a punch to the face. I suggest you don’t get possessed and attack me.” Okay, moving on then…

Driving out
At 3pm on Friday, October 8, my team assembled at my house for the 1.5 hour drive up to Amargosa. Dana decided to take his own car because he had to be at his Search and Rescue training by 9am the next morning to fastrope off some towers. I was concerned he wouldn’t get enough sleep since I knew the Amargosa investigation could easily go until 3 or 4 in the morning. But Dana assured us he’d be alright. I had him take his own car in case he needed to bail while we were sleeping. So Dana and Matty piled into Dana’s BMW sports car while Pam and I got into my Honda CRV. Once we got on the freeway Dana took off like a rocket and Pam and I didn’t catch up for a very long time.

Once we got rolling I phoned Maury to let her know we were on our way. She told me not to go to the Amargosa directly but instead to stop at Longstreet Hotel and Casino, about 7 miles before Amargosa, so she could give us her own mission briefing. I tried calling Dana to let him know of the change in plans but the loud music, police radar, and road noise in his car must have drowned out my call. Eventually when they stopped to buy snacks, urinate, and put more rocket fuel in Dana’s Batmobile, I was able to explain the situation to them. We all made it to Longstreet without incident by 4:30pm.

Meeting at Longstreet
The first thing the boys did when they got to Longstreet was go take photos of the big fake cow. Then they found a real cow and Dana made friends with it. We went inside and decided to grab some dinner at the café there. This place was pretty deserted, but the food was good. We had a nice meal and then Maury arrived.

I introduced Maury to the team. Then she pulled out some waivers for us to sign basically saying we wouldn’t sue the Amargosa if we died (or got possessed) while on the property. She also warned us about the scorpions, black widows, snakes, bats and rats on the property and down in Spooky Hollow (the old dusty, disgusting, filthy area where the energetic baddie dwells). Suddenly I was more afraid of spiders than getting possessed. She told us not to touch the walls in the dark or we could find our hand covered with black widows. We also didn’t want to come in too much contact with the rat droppings as Hanta Virus isn’t something I particularly wanted to contract. Thank goodness Dana told me to get dust masks, the heavy duty ones. He and Matty had shemaghs (giant bandanas) and Pam and I had the dust masks.

Maury also needed to get to know my team so she would know if any of them became “altered” while we were out there. She told us we’d settle in, set up, and start investigating around 8:30. She also told us most of the paranormal activity there happens after dark between 11pm and 4am. We were excited and raring to go.

At 6:30pm Dana gave the bull a final pet goodbye and we drove the 7 miles to Amargosa, pumped and ready to rock.

Arriving at Amargosa
It was a little strange for me to pull up to the Amargosa Hotel. The last time I was there was with a big old film crew and a van full of paranormal investigators from Arkansas, and it was during the day. This time it was dusk, I was with my own crew, and I was in charge of where we went and when. Totally different experience. We checked in at the hotel and were given two keys. Room 8 and Room 20. I knew intuitively that I didn’t want to stay in Room 20 so I nabbed 8 for me and Pam and left the boys with Room 20. I found out later this was a good choice on my part.

Then Maury took us to the café and told us to stock up on food since the café closed at 8pm and we’d be there all night. We got some sodas, but we had just eaten so didn’t order any food for ourselves. I had bags full of snacks for later so I wasn’t worried.

Amargosa Cafe

Settling In and Setting Up
We went to our rooms to settle in and change into our clothing for the investigation. The rooms were okay but definitely not fancy. The beds looked clean though. The bathrooms left a little something to be desired and still sported plumbing from the early 40′s. Dana came into our room with his huge backpack filled with supplies. I put on a small backpack so I could carry my own water, flashlight, snacks, camera, cough drops, dust mask, and chapstick.

Maury and I ran back to the café to pick up her food while the rest of the gang settled in to their rooms. She suddenly began to feel quite nauseous and uncomfortable, which apparently indicates a strong spiritual presence. I felt a noticeable energy there as well, and managed to make contact with a female spirit who desperately sought acknowledgment. That momentary connection proved sufficient, as Maury soon felt better. –Matty

Dana gave me one of the walkie talkies and I tucked it into my jacket pocket along with a Flip video camera. We were all set. But we couldn’t get started just yet. Maury grabbed Dana and took him down to the Opera House to set up. I didn’t realize there was so much involved but they had to lay power cables, set up cameras, and the rest of Maury’s equipment. It took a little while.

Room 3
While we were waiting for Dana and Maury to be ready, Matty and decided to start investigating a room in the hotel. Maury had told us that as long as a room door was open, we could go in and investigate. The doors that were closed had other guests in them. I remembered from my previous investigation that Room 3 was purportedly active, so I grabbed Matty and we went to Room 3 while Pam stayed behind. We walked in and both of us immediately felt another energy or presence in there. It felt like walking through thick soup. Like the air was just thicker in some areas. But we could both feel a presence within that energy. I think I said something like, “Is somebody in here?” and all of a sudden we heard a doorknob rattling. I looked and I saw the doorknob on a door that led to the outside of the hotel start rattling. Matty saw the doorknob to the adjacent room start rattling. We both stood there for a moment, adrenaline pumping, just staring at these doorknobs. I waited for someone to walk through but they just kept rattling. Finally I got so scared I actually shoved Matty aside and ran out of the room. Matty followed soon after. We ran back to Pam in room 8 and collapsed onto the bed laughing hysterically.

This was the epitome of nervous, hysterical laughter. Neither Matty nor Erin were very coherent and this was my first indication that indeed it was going to be a very… long… night! —Pam

Erin did her best Usain Bolt impression in fleeing that room. She’s a team player. –Matty

I am not saying that what happened was in any way paranormal. It could have been two people standing behind two different doors that happened to start rattling them at the same time we sauntered in from the hall. It would be a hell of a coincidence, but it’s possible that’s what happened. If we were thinking clearly, we would have gone and investigated whether there were humans rattling the doorknobs or whether it was someone non-corporeal. But by the time we told Pam our story and were thinking about investigating, Dana and Maury were ready for us.

The real adventure was about to begin!

Whole Series:
Amargosa Investigation – Part 1
Amargosa Investigation – Part 2
Amargosa Investigation – Part 3
Amargosa Investigation – Part 4
Amargosa Investigation – Part 5

Amargosa Hotel Hallway

Amargosa Hotel Hallway

What follows is the entire story of our investigation, broken down into a 5 part series that will post Monday through Friday this week. On the last day I’ll post the video log of our adventure.

Meeting Maury
In early 2010, I received a call from a woman named Maury Mootz who told me she was a paranormal investigator and paranormal coordinator for the Amargosa Hotel. She had found me on the internet because I had been out to Amargosa before when the Criss Angel show asked me to walk around the Amargosa and be filmed for their episode entitled Celebrity Séance. She wanted to talk to me about my experiences out there. We chatted for a bit on the phone and decided to get together to talk about it.

We met at Starbucks in June 2010 for a chat about what I experienced there. Maury was very familiar with the history of Amargosa and had been out there doing investigations with various groups for a while, so when I mentioned some of the spirits that I encountered out there, she was able to confirm my accuracy for me. I mentioned that I’d love to take my own team out there and do a proper investigation because when I went for the Criss Angel show we didn’t get to spend much time in any one place, nor did we have time to do a proper investigation. Instead we were walked quickly through the hotel, spending no more than 5-10 minutes in any one room. It wasn’t enough time to make a lot of contact with the energies there. Plus, at the time I filmed for them, I was a very new and inexperienced medium. I’ve been curious about how things would go now that I’m more experienced.

Maury invited me to bring a team to Amargosa with her and do a more in-depth investigation. I was super excited! The only problem was that we’d have to wait until the weather cooled down. Death Valley temperatures can reach the 120′s and higher in the summer, so we targeted October as a good month to give it a go.

Deciding to Go
The only thing holding me back a little was some trepidation about encountering the one negative energy I had initially detected at Amargosa 4 years prior. I didn’t know a whole lot about him, but I knew he was a low vibrational being who had done some horrible things while he was alive. As a pretty high vibrational person, I wasn’t sure I wanted to open up to such an energy. When I discussed my plan to investigate the Amargosa with some other intuitive friends of mine, they all thought I was crazy to open myself up to communicating with an energy that foul. But I really wanted the opportunity to try my hand again so I pushed aside my fears and decided it would be fun, interesting, and safe.

On June 18, however, I was visited in the middle of the night by the entity at Amargosa and spent 20 minutes fighting with it astrally as it tried to pull me out of my body for what nefarious purpose I can only imagine. I was very upset to have encountered him as I had thought he was confined to Amargosa. I called Maury to discuss what happened and was shocked to discover she had been attacked on the same night as me. She also confirmed that he can travel when there is an energetic connection, which we had apparently established. I didn’t like the idea that he “knew” about me and knew I was coming to see him. But I wasn’t deterred in my plans and decided we were going in.

I met with Maury again in September 2010 to start making plans. I asked her again if she felt it was safe for me to go out to Amargosa and engage with the energies there. She said, “A few months ago I would have said yes. Now I’m not so sure.” She proceeded to tell me about an experience she had where she was taken over and influenced by the entity at Amargosa. In all her time there that had never happened to her before. She also said the activity there was picking up and other psychics were having some pretty horrible and intense experiences and leaving in the middle of the night. I was nervous, but still determined. I decided I knew enough psychic self defense to prevent anything like that from happening to me. I was wrong, as you will soon find out.

Assembling my team
I thought long and hard about what kind of people I wanted to take with me on the investigation. Maury is a psychic and also an investigator, but she decided that during my investigation she would not open herself up and instead stay very grounded so she could make sure the rest of us were psychically safe. Maury was in charge of our investigation and our psychic security. She had all the cameras, EMFs, audio recorders, and other paraphernalia we’d need to properly conduct an investigation.

I was going to be the primary intuitive on the investigation, ready and willing to open myself up to communicate and interact with the energies at the hotel and try to channel as much information as I could for Maury to confirm. As a medium, I’ve interacted with many deceased energies and I knew exactly how to open myself up.

I also wanted to bring someone who was not open, someone who was a skeptic and not easily influenced by paranormal energy. I needed an alpha male, someone who could easily stand against the Amargosa entity and not cower. And I needed a physically strong person with tactical experience to handle our physical security. I immediately thought of my friend, Dana Richardson, who is all of these things. I told him what I had planned, told him he’d be skulking around a haunted hotel in the middle of the night and making sure none of us were injured, possessed, or killed and he was in before I finished asking him. He’s a good friend.

I also asked my friend, Pam Shinkle, to come with me for moral support and back up. Pam has a really strong energy (she’s sort of an alpha female) and she can be super intimidating when she needs to be. I knew her friendship, loyalty, and support would come in handy if anything happened to me. She is a super smart woman as well, and I trusted her to keep an eye on me if bad things went down. She also agreed immediately to go out there and support me.

I asked two other guy friends to come along. One was a super skeptic with a really scientific mind, but he lived in another state and couldn’t get the time off work. The other guy was involved in emergency management and was also somewhat intuitive and I thought he’d be great to have around in case of emergency, but he was also out of town and couldn’t come with us. I wanted one more person to go with me but had run out of obvious options. And I wanted a back-up intuitive who could help confirm what I was picking up. I didn’t want to rely on Maury as she had decided to stay closed.

As the day approached I still didn’t have another intuitive who I felt comfortable bringing with me. It’s not safe to bring just anyone and tell them to open up. They need experience with psychic self defense and controlling and managing their intuition in order to safely engage with energies this strong.

I was talking to my friend, Matty Blumenthal, who is strongly intuitive but largely untrained. He was one of the people telling me I was nuts to go out there given what had already happened to me. Then I found out he was going to be in town around the time we were doing our investigation and I invited him to come. Logically this was the wrong move entirely. Matty knew little of psychic self defense and it was wrong of me to ask him, but intuitively I was getting a strong urge to bring him along. I wasn’t sure why my guides were so insistent that I bring him, but I trusted them. Bringing Matty along turned out to be a really smart move. That one decision probably saved two lives.

Erin and I had discussed her Amargosa adventures during the few months leading up to the trip. I had concluded based on what she had told me that only a truly insane person would go out of his or her way to get involved in this situation. I told her this no less than 1,418 times. As I consider myself reasonably crazy, and eager to make the transition to full-blown straitjacket lunacy, I made sure to seize the opportunity when she invited me to tag along. Like her, I knew my going was an Eiffel Tower-sized mistake from any sort of objective standpoint. I also shared her intuitive sense that my choice to participate would somehow turn out to be a good move, and I really wanted to test myself intuitively. Little did I know what I was in for. — Matty

Whole Series:
Amargosa Investigation – Part 1
Amargosa Investigation – Part 2
Amargosa Investigation – Part 3
Amargosa Investigation – Part 4
Amargosa Investigation – Part 5

The Team

Dana Richardson, Pam Shinkle, and Erin Pavlina

Matty Blumenthal