Ghosts among us? Hunting for spirits grows in popularity

Amidst the rich wood paneling and the floral wallpaper at Chaska’s Peacock Inn, some say a man sits quietly in a cream upholstered chair on the landing of the stairs. And though many pass by him each day, few notice his presence. Kathy Machowski is one of those few.
That’s because the man is not one of the living. He is a spirit and Machowski is a ghost hunter.

Machowski said she has had encounters with the paranormal since she was a little girl. Back then she didn’t seek out the encounters, but today, she is among a growing number of people who do.

Machowski, who lives in Jordan, started Minnesota’s Beyond the Veil
to gather a group of those who, like her, were interested in delving deeper into the possibility of ghosts and using equipment to investigate strange occurrences in houses, churches, prisons, hospital and other older buildings.

Buoyed by interest in television programs like “Ghost Hunters” and “Paranormal State,” Machowski said her group is now busier than ever, fielding requests to investigate possible paranormal activity and lead ghost hunting classes.

They recently visited the Peacock Inn and Carver’s Treasure Chest Antiques after hearing that people at both businesses had been witness to unexplained phenomena.

“Ghosts are real,” said Machowski. “A lot of people co-exist with ghosts and don’t even know it.”

Peacock Inn

Joyce Bohn has been well-aware of strange happenings at her business for years.

Guests at the Peacock Inn, located in a historic mansion off of City Square Park, have told her about rocking chairs rocking empty and cats jumping up on their beds in the middle of the night when there are no cats in the house. Flowers have fallen off of the wall for no good reason. And silverware has repeatedly gone missing at meals only to later be found back in the drawer.

“I’m a pretty logical person,” said Bohn. “But there are not logical explanations for everything.”

This spring, Joyce offered to open up the inn to Minnesota’s Beyond the Veil to see what they could uncover.

Using standard ghost-hunting equipment like cameras, tape recorders and EMF (electromagnetic fluctuation) meters, Machowski’s crew descended on the nearly 100-year-old building.

“I go in there expecting a ghost,” said Machowski. “I expect to hear a ghost, see a ghost. You have to expect the most and if you get nothing, it’s not haunted.”

A typical session includes a walk through of the building, identifying and examining paranormal hot spots. “You’re looking for things that shouldn’t be there,” said Machowski.

That can include things like unexplained levels of energy, random cold spots and anomalies on photographs. But ghost hunters also use their basic senses – listening for foot steps or watching for mists and shadows.

“Anyone can ghost hunt,” she said. “All you really need is a camera and a tape recorder.”

Machowski noted that there are several places that are now opening their doors to welcome ghost hunters. Bohn said she is considering letting in classes provided her “spirits” aren’t disturbed. Bohn would like to keep her friendly spirits in good spirits.

“I’ve been to places where you get hit with a ‘Get out!’ but here you get a welcome feeling,” Machowski said, of the Peacock Inn.
Her group got a chance to experience some of the activity Bohn and her guests have talked about. While going through the inn, the ghost hunters picked up some high EMF readings on a bed in one of the guest rooms.

“Half of the bed had a high EMF and half didn’t,” said Machowski, noting that spikes can often be explained by electrical current, but adding, “I couldn’t find an explanation for that.”

They captured some photographic anomalies downstairs – several photos taken during the investigation feature strange crescent moon-like images in unexpected places.

“I’m not going to say it’s a ghost,” said Machowski. “But it’s interesting.”

The most exciting part of their investigation took place upstairs, Machowski said, where they experienced an unexplained thump as if something had dropped. They also report picking up EVPs (electronic voice phenomena) on their tape recorders with a man’s voice telling them there were two spirits in the room and a little girl’s voice saying “yes” when asked if she liked the room.

Some of their findings didn’t make sense until after the crew had left though. During their investigation Kathy’s psychic in the group said she picked up on a man named Arthur who kept telling her that the Peacock Inn was his house and that he greeted people. Later, Bohn put two and two together as she took down a photo in the foyer of the house’s architect. His name was Arthur Klaussen.

“No one could have known that,” she said.

After reviewing all of their evidence, Machowski was able to come to a conclusion as to whether the Peacock Inn was haunted.

“The spirits that are connected to the house are good,” said Machowski. “They are protecting it. So I wouldn’t say it’s haunted. I would call it a spiritually protected house.”

For Bohn, that sounds just about right. “I have always felt safe and secure in that house,” she said. “And I’ve always wondered why.
“I never had answers before,” she added. “It’s nice to know why and what it is.”

Treasure Chest

Dennis Vogt knows how Bohn feels. In the last nine years that he has run Treasure Chest Antiques in downtown Carver, and he has also had experiences he cannot explain.

“I’ll be at work on the computer and someone will walk up behind me,” he said. “But when I turn around, no one’s there.”

Vogt also reported hearing someone sneeze when the room is empty. Others in the 141-year-old building have reported things like temperature fluctuations and hearing things rattle.

“We didn’t get that much activity there,” Machowski reported after her first visit. Her team contacted Vogt about doing an investigation and first came through with their equipment in late April.

“It was different,” Vogt said of the ghost hunter experience.
The crew noted a 20-degree temperature difference between rooms in the building and also picked up the sounds of a little girl talking on their tape recorders. But the majority of their experiences were personal ones.

“The team got chills,” Machowski said. Most notably, they had consistent problems with their equipment at the store.

“Near the staircase the cameras kept going off like the batteries dried up,” she said. “When they went away from the staircase, they worked again.”

Machowski is still analyzing the data from their visit, noting that the process can take weeks to complete.

“This is actually research,” she said. “It’s science. You’re exhausted when you’re done.”

But she hopes to return to the store for a second visit to collect more evidence of paranormal activity. “They do have spiritual activity there, but it’s not very active,” she concluded.

‘Proof’

When asked how she reacts to people who don’t believe in ghosts or ghost hunting, Machowski offered little defense and more philosophy.
“I’ve been criticized for ghost hunting,” she acknowledged. “But I’m
the one living the adventure.”

For Machowski, ghost hunting provides her with proof of an afterlife. “There’s always going to be a question of if there’s life after death,” said Machowski, “which is exactly how it should be.

“But there’s more to it,” she continued. “Is this heaven? Is this hell? Are these people in limbo? There’s a lot of questions. When I find the answer to one question, I open up the door to 10 more.

“This is my proof,” she said. “I know there is life after death. I can’t convince everyone but it’s my proof. That’s what keeps me coming back.”

Vogt is still wavering on whether he believes in ghosts, but Bohn has come to a similar conclusion as Machowski after having the ghost hunters come through her inn.

“This really has changed how I think about death,” she said. “It gives me comfort to believe there is something more.

“Who knows, maybe when I’m dead and gone I’ll be here.”

For more information on local ghost hunting or to read detailed accounts of their investigations, visit Minnesota’s Beyond the Veil Web site at www.freewebs.com/oldsoul [2].

“I’ve been criticized for ghost hunting, but I’m the one living the adventure.”
– Kathy Machowski, ghost hunter

“This really has changed how I think about death. It gives me comfort to believe there is something more.”
– Joyce Bohn, Peacock Inn owner/operator

These ghost hunters bring their tape recorders

Minnesotans Look Beyond The Veil

by Tom Cherveny
Andrew Volstead is remembered for banning the spirits kept in bottles. These were not the spirits that Kathy Machowski and Linda Blaylock said they encountered in the author of prohibition’s house in Granite Falls, Minnesota.

Machowski, of Jordan, is part of Minnesota Beyond the Veil, a paranormal research association “seeking the spirited side of Minnesota.’’ Blaylock, of Shakopee, is a psychic and often works with the group.

“I feel a strong presence,’’ said Blaylock, as she and Machowski stood quietly where there was once a door to a kitchen in the Volstead House.

“Do you remember me?’’ asked Machowski of the presence her partner reported.

It was early Sunday afternoon. Sunlight glowed in the drawn curtains. They were inside the home that serves as both a museum and as the office for the Economic Development Agency in Granite Falls.

Originally built in 1878, a few of the house’s rooms still retain the furnishings that Andrew Volstead, his wife, Nellie, and their daughter Laura knew.

Volstead lived here until his death at age 87 in 1947. His wake was held in the house.

Machowski and Blaylock carried small, digital recorders and cameras to capture evidence of the extraordinary. Both also explained that finding spirits is very much a matter of being receptive to their presence.

Blaylock felt a female presence in the kitchen area, but said the spirit was quick to move. She felt it again when they ventured upstairs to Laura Volstead’s bedroom, she said.

At the foot of the stairway, Blaylock said she also felt the presence of a male. She described him as gray-mustached and stout, unlike the lean and tall images of Andrew Volstead found on pictures within the house.

This was Machowski’s third visit.

On her first trip made over two years ago, Machowski said she and others in her group quickly became convinced that the stairway in the entry way is “important” to the spirits they seek. One of the group reported feeling a slight “push’’ while on the stairs, she said.

They heard a rustling sound. They returned upstairs to the bedroom and found the pillowcase on the bed rumpled.

When they returned home they played the recorders they had carried and heard what they call electronic voice phenomena, or EVPs. Amidst the crackling and static of their recordings could be heard voices that they did not hear while touring the home. In one, a male voice says “get it.’’ In another, he says “our church is abbey,’’ or perhaps “gabby.’’

Spirits have to “really struggle’’ to become audible, according to Machowski.

The group’s return for a second visit produced yet other signs of spirits, including new EVPs with different messages, a photograph they cannot explain, and experiences that they consider very telling. One of the group members said she could smell muffins cooking at one spot in the bedroom.

The group had placed a black light on a lectern in the entry way of the stairwell and snapped two photographs. One shows the light glowing as would be expected; on the other, the light radiates upward in an “S” curve.

Their most recent visit produced no unusual photographs, but Machowski said their recorders again held EVPs. A woman’s voice can be heard saying “yes,’’ and a man’s saying “no’’ after Machowski asks: “Do you remember me?’’

After leaving the house, Blaylock said she felt the spirits tolerated their visit. “It’s OK to be here, but you are going to leave,’’ she said.

The two women met shortly afterward with the directors of the Granite Falls Historical Society, who had invited them to speak at their annual meeting that afternoon.

One board member told how the upstairs of the Volstead House was once used to house medical interns. One of the interns asked if he could move. “He said he couldn’t get any rest, there was too much ‘activity’ at night.’’

Another said she has worked alone in the house at night and heard footsteps and sounds, and once the bathroom toilet flushed on its own.

Yet Dennis VanHoof, the EDA director whose office is located in the house, said he has never heard, seen or felt anything that he would describe as remotely odd or suspicious, even when he works alone into the night hours.

Machowski said she grew up in a haunted house in New York. She has been active as a paranormal investigator in Minnesota for about 12 years.

Her group has investigated houses such as the Strait House in Shakopee in which they are convinced spirits are present. They have been called to other homes where they leave equally convinced that there are no spirits.

Photographs that show orbs, strange lights or mists are the kinds of things they like to collect in their quests. Most of all, they like to discover spirits by making contact, Machowski said.

Occasionally, they’ve “rescued’’ spirits by telling them how to make the crossover. She believes that spirits are those who are either reluctant to make the crossover, fearful of the consequences awaiting them, or simply confused or unsure of where they should go.

Her trips to the Volstead House have not answered her questions about who the spirits in it might be. The visits have made her very fond of Andrew Volstead and all that he did.

She and others in Minnesota Beyond the Veil hope to come back to offer a program as a fundraiser for the local historical society. They’d like to time the return for the anniversary of Andrew Volstead’s birthday.

That would be Oct. 31.

Minnesota Beyond the Veil does not charge for its investigations but accepts donations for travel expenses