Читать книгу Ghosthunting Ohio: On the Road Again - John B. Kachuba - Страница 10

Based in Cincinnati, Spiritual Historians of Paranormal Evidence Society (Spiritual H.O.P.E.) is the only ghosthunter group I know that boasts a canine member; Kodi (short for Kodiak) is a nine-year-old schipperke owned by the group’s director of operations, Crystal Ayers. The group’s founder, DaShane Watkins, says that Kodi is sensitive to paranormal activity in haunted locations, and the pooch is put to work on most investigation, carrying some of the group’s batteries, lights, and EMF meters. In addition to the Cincinnati members, the society now has 200 remote team members located in several chapters.

Spiritual H.O.P.E. Society hosts public investigations called “Ghosts in the Museums” at Glendower Mansion and the Warren County Historical Society Museum, both in Lebanon, Ohio, as well as Hillforest Mansion in Aurora, Indiana. The group donates half of the proceeds from its investigations to the museums to help keep their doors open. In recognition of this work, Watkins has been awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the Ohio Historical Society for his contributions and for teaching the public about history in an interesting manner. The group was also the first to investigate the haunted Cincinnati Observatory (see the chapter about the observatory in this book).

In addition to conducting investigations, DaShane is a film-maker and, with Crystal Ayers, cohosts a podcast called “Widespread Paranormal.”

DaShane’s favorite haunt is the James Rupert house in Hamilton, Ohio. One Easter in the 1970s, Rupert used three different guns to shoot to death eleven members of his family; oddly, no one else heard a single shot. DaShane talks about an investigation he and Crystal conducted at the house:

“I had never been actually touched by something paranormal until that night walking up to the back porch. Crystal and I were walking around the side of the house, and as we headed to the back porch, I was poked in the chest by an unseen force. It felt like the end of a broomstick being poked into my chest very hard. As I jumped back, I turned on the flashlight to see if maybe there was a stray branch poking out from the vines that had grown up the lattice that covered the whole back porch. I thought for sure that I would find a branch that had been freshly cut and was sticking out, but after careful examination, I found nothing to offer an explanation. No branches, sticks, or twigs poking out from the lattice. Nothing. So now my senses were on high alert. Heart pounding, adrenaline pumping. What poked me? Suddenly, in the midst of this, I saw two images flash in my head, a little boy and a girl on the back porch. The flash was in black and white except for the little girl’s pink bow on her hat. Then it went away. After doing research on the murders, I found out that the girl was the only one that got close to getting away. She made it as far as the back porch with her brother close behind her before they were shot by the madman.”

DaShane reports that, at the same time, Crystal asked the ghost to make the EMF meter she held in her hand record higher readings. It did and Crystal felt something slap the back of her hand, as if to knock the meter out of her grasp. Later, the two discovered that they had recorded two EVPs at that time, a man’s voice saying, I’m doing it and a growling voice that said, Get out of here. Crystal also received mental images from the porch; DaShane notes that neither of them are psychics.

For more information about Spiritual H.O.P.E. Society, go to the group’s website at spiritualhopesociety.com.