Road Trip 2011 Part One

[Barek Halfhand]

 

Road Trip 2011 Part One
By Barek Halfhand

The first Road Trip of 2011 was focused on mostly new sites with the exception of one location that has has allegedly been the subject of increasing supernatural activity …

While the ongoing coverage of my famous local sites, many of which I am fortunate enough to reside within an immediate proximity often serves to alleviate the prosaic drudgery of everyday life, I feel that  restricting my coverage to one geographic location is limiting my exposure to elemental and environmental variables ...

 This trip will include several new undisclosed locations that have I have been alerted to by way of anonymous emails reporting personal encounters, second hand rumors, my own research on local legends along a predetermined route and admittedly my own intuition in some instances...and while some of the sites were a bust, I have come to the conclusion that by the infusion my non indigenous energy to the exploration of new geographies, this this may indeed serve as a catalyst for a surge in measurable activity when I'm there....

One of the most perplexing of the first time visits was a small, single story ranch style home situatedright off of the main street of a freshly snow frosted mountain town...though rezoned for business, this prime location has sat empty for years following the last tenant's claims of an oppressive presence there that was creating an atmosphere “not conducive to business” (whatever that means) …there was also more recently claims of humanoid shaped shadow figures moving about the front rooms of the house ...and while I saw no such spectacles during the brief period of time that I spent inside, the perceived presence was in fact tangible as soon as I crossed the threshold leading into the front parlor...the negativity exuded by this obdurate entity was strong enough to convince me that this sensation was not an adverse side effect of infra-sound, mold or (ahem) an excessive ”EMF”  so I  fired off the obligatory round of photos and promptly departed ...

Another site consisted of a quaint seeming, rural church yard  located on a small hill nestled between the palatial estates an upscale new subdivision...rumors of a sudden spike in activity during the construction phases of the closes houses have promoted many to speculate that unmarked graves or even that Native American burial grounds may have been disturbed in the construction process. both of which are congruent with the general history of this particular site as cliche as this scenario may sound...

 I tend to prescribe to the construction disruption theory as robust based on my own research and experiences with both new construction, remodeling and the close monitoring of the demolition process  of a retirement home with a history of inexplicable occurrences prior to it's reduction to rubble (Plymouth Place) ...most recently the St Paschal Friary deconstruction has reinforced that which has been postulated many in the community relating construction activity to an escalation of reported incidents in the area...the tipster that notified me of one particular new site expressed a seemingly tacit expectation that I would be immediately accosted by the presiding cadre of resident discarnates the moment I stepped on the property, but aside from the general aesthetic creepiness of the blackened woods flanking the cemetery, I experienced nothing immediately...I did in fact find myself awe struck by the star clustered sky above, a sight that the illumination of Chicago city lights ordinarily deprives me...I was considering writing off the entire excursion to distraction and it wasn't until later that night  from the relative safety of the sofa that retrospection of the evening's events instilled an inordinate sense of dread when I mentally reviewed the church on the hill ...I think we all tend to suppress, block, dismiss or deny many things we filter through our sensory array and that which is not initially processed as anomalous ends up sublimated into our subconscious for reprogramming, self imposed debriefing or simple safety-net omission ...I do plan on returning to this site in the future to confront whatever it was that supplanted the memory of fear where there should be only be the recollection of tranquility, the cool mountain air and the dazzling cosmic mosaic sparkling overhead …

Another site entailed  an old downtown Methodist church and cemetery that is known to be plagued by the looping repetition of a funeral cortege led by a horse drawn catafalque complete with mourners dressed in period clothing...they are said to file languidly into the cemetery and gather at a certain spot where the heavy concentration of markers is such that pinpointing where the procession terminates for the internment stage of the burial is unclear... there are in fact a high volume of child graves in the area speculated to be the stopping point of the phantom funeral attendees but none of which seem to have corresponding dates that would be indicative of an accident or epidemic that would have claimed multiple young lives and perhaps triggered such a latent residual imprint...the frequency and circumstances that triggers this particular replay is disputed by those that guard this largely unknown, ongoing disturbance ...I experienced  no such phantasmic funeral procession during my short time there but did encounter one disheveled looking individual wearing an ill-fitting black suite of a bygone era of approximately 35-40 years of age ...as he ambled out from behind the heavily rusted decorated iron fencing that cordoned off a small family plot of graves, he paused and gaped in my direction then asked me if “I was enjoying the fair?” (no clue) …upon squeezing my eyes shut for a few seconds and then returning my glance in his direction he was gone as expected and as previous experience dictated, I didn't bother attempting a photo …

 Another site allegedly was the setting of a brutal multiple murder according to the particularly  incredulous source that pointed me to this next location and while I was unable to find a scintilla of archival documentation to verify this online, I decided to survey the place anyways...the ramshackle shack sitting on an overgrown slope proved to be my Waterloo as the deceptively steep incline and barbed wire sharp thorn thicket denied me close inspection of structure that mocked me from above... I did secure a few distance shots of this old homestead and I did stumble upon the rusting husk of an old 50's era auto concealed by the pronged thatch and spiked bramble near the gully at the bottom of the impenetrable hilltop house...one of the photos (below) depicts the interior of this vintage auto and a good look at one of the spindly thorn tentacles that extended inside this obscure time capsule along with tin pull-tab beer cans and old 7-Up bottles …a seldom worn jacket was reduced to Paper-Mache as the result of this aborted  hike and save for the cliche of hacking my way through the underbrush with a machete ( I do have one in the trunk) I elected to take the hint provided by the almost preternaturally insurmountable obstacles placed in my path as an omen and make my way back to the opposite summit where my car and a burr-picking ride back to base awaited me..I think that if they ever decided to build a prison on top of this particular hill it would likely rival Alcatraz in it's inescapably....

Another repeat suite was a historic mill sitting stoically along a bubbling creek that snakes it's way through an old residential and small business district ... it's paddle wheel, elongated drive shaft and network of pinioned gears gears have long since removed, only the circular support strut sits oxidizing on the other side of the creek ...legend contends that a mill worker perished as the result of a bizarre accident involving and article of clothing getting caught in a moving mechanism and crushing this poor bloke …the legend goes on to claim that you can occasionally hear him screaming and banging on the wall with a length of wood in an attempt alert other millers of his precarious position ...the screaming is said to stop just  as abruptly as it starts …

In all it was pleasant trip with the exception of a few minor mishaps...and as more tips and personal research uncovers the legends and lore associated with innumerable small towns nation wide, the more I will continue to seek out these lesser known, seldom explored “haunted”  locations in the future....b

Here are the (compressed to 1MB) photos...some have been slightly sharpened or color enhanced (01-2011) 
http://s1099.photobucket.com/albums/g389/ImminentDomain/First%20Roa...

 

----------------------------------------

[Barek Halfhand]

------------------------------------------------------

[Barek Halfhand]

[Barek Halfhand]

Here are my latest two YouTube videos ....b

Haunted Archer Woods-Lithuanian National
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARbOulGPpAY

The Haunted Manteno State Asylum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V8F7WT1uJE

 

---------------------------------