ThornewoodCastleStory2

The Thornewood Castle Investigation
Part Two

Still, according to Deanna it is difficult to explain away bottles of Martinelli’s, lamps, oil lamps and even a punch bowl that shattered for no apparent reason. The oil lamps have been put away and extra care is given when using glass containers.

Deanna has also seen an energy anomaly at the staircase. In fact, there is a palpable energy at that location and it has been photographed. “I’ve seen it”, said Deanna. “It’s like a white light of energy emanating from the floor to the upper levels of the house. Paranormal investigators call such an anomaly a vortex. While there is no accurate method to measure such an anomaly, there is certainly enough anecdotal evidence that vortexes or energy rifts do exist. In all cases they seem to be connected to a particular location and the features that the location has. Often, vortexes are found in locations on small mounds or raised areas of earth especially next to sources of water. Thornewood is centered in such an area and is also adjacent to a very large lake, American Lake.

After Deanna had showed us around the first floor, we were taken upstairs where she recounted a little of the history of some of the rooms. Anna’s room or the Bridal Room was the favorite room of Chester Thorne’s bride, Anna. Deanna related that some brides who use this room would, when looking in the large vanity mirror, see the reflection of a woman sitting on the bed behind them. Other guests have been in the garden below and look up to see a woman sitting in the window seat of that room. The guests no that room must be empty because it is their room for the evening and only they have the one key to it. This particular room exudes an amazing sense of comfort and peace. It is very much as if fond memories hang in the air like a gathering perfume to refresh the spirit.

We moved down to the Gold Room and immediately one of the group’s psychics had the impression that the room was filled with a very good energy, and although it was not the most active room, it felt as if it had an active spirit bent on giving comfort to anyone spending time there. According to Deanna, she always has thought that it should be called the Grandmother’s Room because of the feeling of comfort to be found there. Guests spending time in the Gold room have repeatedly mentioned a feeling of being hugged, tucked into bed or similar sensations of someone trying to comfort them.

Further down toward the stairway is Chester’s room, looking every bit as it must have when he owned Thornewood. The atmosphere there is one of business, one of a successful businessman. A trace of cigar smoke and the feel of money are in this room, and if some of the tales about this room are true, those lucky enough to spend sometime there may find that the feel of money becomes more than a subjective experience after they leave Thornewood.

As the group went in pairs or alone through the rooms and hallways, each room, with the exception of one had a positive energy to it. In one room there was a little sorrow, although it was more of lingering regrets than anything negative. Still, this room seemed to be the most active. The story of that room is for Deanna to impart to her guests.

Following the initial visits to those rooms we had entry to, the group began to set up equipment to monitor any activity and to attempt the most difficult portion of paranormal research, which is trying to obtain physical evidence of a haunting. The first floor, near the staircase, was monitored by two camcorders as well as recording equipment and stationary electromagnetic (EMF) sensing devices. Use of the camcorders would pick up the audible signal of the equipment measuring anything substantial in addition to recording any possible images.

A number of tape recorders were placed in strategic locations and the areas marked in order to alert anyone to their presence. Our hope was to capture phenomena called EVP or Electronic Voice Phenomena. This area of paranormal investigation often proves to be one of the most reliable. It attempts to gather voices and other sounds on tape that is paranormal in origin and not always picked up by the normal range of human hearing.

Psychics and photographers would walk the halls and go through the rooms, while technicians would take handheld EMF devices to try and detect any type of energy fields that did not have a normal explanation. Photographs would be taken where the equipment picked up a stray reading or at locations pointed out as active areas by the psychics.

After the equipment was stationed, the attention turned to what subjective impressions could be gathered from the psychic group. Throughout the evening a significant amount of impressions were obtained dating from all time frames of the home’s existence, a woman with turn of the century clothing, high neck corset, hair up high and dark in a bun, a man with a mustache, brown hair, brown suit and tie, balding, hair brushed back at the sides, with chubby cheeks and balding. The wafting scent of a cherry/vanilla mix of pipe tobacco was also evident in one of the rooms. One of the psychics caught movement just within his peripheral field of vision.

A feeling of not being alone and sounds of footsteps running down the second floor hallway were also experienced by members of the group. The investigation lasted well into the late hours of the morning.

Hauntings are unpredictable. It is the lack of precise repeatability that has made the study of the paranormal a difficult field for science to accept. Sometimes there is what appears to be concrete evidence that is difficult to refute and at other times this evidence, since it cannot be fully caused to repeat again in the same circumstances wafts away as a useful tool for science. Such is the nature of ghosts and hauntings, an ephemeral interaction between the paranormal and the person experiencing the phenomena. We had tried in one evening to take with us tangible proof of haunting activity at Thornewood. We managed to take some photographs that showed what are called orbs. These are circular images on film that many consider to be evidence of a haunting once all other possibilities for their presence is ruled out. We had subjective experiences of odors, of not being alone, of fleeting images out of the past of Thornewood. Still, that elusive photo of an apparition, at least taken by us would have to wait until another visit. There are in existence such photos taken at Thornewood.

It was early in the morning and I was setting downstairs in the music room thinking of how to compose part of the investigation story, thinking of what evidence Thornewood would have to offer us and also recalling that I had just read an entry in one of the rooms guest books that the only ghosts those particular guests had experienced were ghosts of childhood sleep. Being more of a skeptic than some, as I sat in the room, I took my tape recorder turned it on and asked Chester if he had any words to say now would be the time to do so. Silence.

It’s truer than ever I thought that ghosts appear most frequently when we are not looking for them. That somehow the ease of relaxation and certain energy states produced by the mind when relaxing often bring about the most experiences, the most sightings and the least chance for evidence. Deanna had said that most of her experiences and those of guests came when they were calm and just enjoying Thornewood. I had to admit that what I know about the paranormal would verify her statement.

Both relatives and staff have found it difficult to stay overnight at Thornewood alone not because of footsteps, feelings of being hugged, strange odors that appear and disappear, sounds of running in the halls, but I think because of the immense energy of the Castle as it drags the past into the present in a very tangible way. Yes, situated as it is on a Fairy mound, next to Lake America, Thornewood is one of the most convincing sites of a haunting that I have ever had the privilege to investigate. The term haunting means different things, but if it means to leave a lasting memory the Castle does accomplish that, and perhaps more. As the group left and I returned home to examine my photos, recordings and measurements, I turned the tape recorder to the section where I had asked Chester if he had something to say during my silent early morning session of thought in the music room, and there as plan as if he had just made his first fortune was a lilting whistle of an old tune coming from an empty room.

Henry Bailey has given his permission to Evergreen Paranormal
to publish his story about our investigation when we were members of the WSGS.

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