EPIC PARA-BLOG

Photo as seen on the official website.

While driving around one evening years ago, I stumbled upon a community I never knew existed.   I can only describe it as alluring, haunting and magical.  From very high, dangerously curving roads, to sprawling stone homes that look ancient and yet are in incredible repair-to charming cottages from an old time postcard, it is truly a place that time forgot.  Gaping at the beauty and somewhat other worldly preservation, I half expected to see a Laura Ingalls look a like and a hobbit or two. Though it seemed the stuff of an acid trip filled movie, soberly enchanted, I continued on.

About two hours from Manhattan and Philly, comprised of a staggering 4,500 acres of land, is the private resort community of Buck Hill Falls.

Drenched in breathtaking architecture and sadly the ruins of time, a majestic Inn sits amongst sprawling hills and rich foliage in the heart of the Pocono Mountains.  This is her story.

Designed to be a Haven for the elite, The Inn at Buck Hill Falls was the vacation destination of choice for many a wealthy family and, in it’s day, was nothing short of magnificent.  The community has a 27 hole Donald Ross golf course, its own post office and several other luxurious amenities.

Starting out as a quaint Quaker retreat in 1901, she made her debut as a grandiose stone Inn for the affluent in 1926.   Upon closing the doors in 1991, the Inn at Buck Hill encompassed an impressive 400+ rooms over an expanse of 134  breathtaking acres.

Reading that this place was haunted did not surprise me in the least, you can feel the energy is off by merely looking at it.  The fact that something is amiss radiates in the air around Buck Hill Falls.

What I was not prepared for was the tragic history.

According to “Pennsylvania Haunts & History”

“…It was supposed to be a place that the Mob liked to frequent, and the owners were more than willing to bend a rule or three themselves. It’s said that in 66 years of operation, 73 people died at the hotel. Five, in fact, died in one room, #354.

A bride named Lorna Kilpatrick was murdered there by the very priest that married her the day before at the resort. He committed suicide, and Lorna’s ghost has haunted the room ever since. A maid slit her wrists in there while clutching a rosary. People refused to stay in the room because of the constant freezing cold, doors that wouldn’t stay shut – and the ghosts. The hotel had to shut the room permanently.

There’s a small room in the basement that’s spooked by the spirit of an accountant who was supposedly murdered there. He was cooking the books and the owner found out. One bathroom saw three murders committed in it, and was haunted by a ghost evoked in a seance gone haywire. It had to be exorcised, and poltergeist activity still took place in the restroom.

A maid’s closet was the scene of a strangulation, and it was said you could hear the maid gasp and her labored breathing and death rattle afterwards. The spook of an elderly soldier in an old uniform was reported wandering in the servants quarter’s on the third floor. He has a gaping hole in his chest from a musket wound. He once strolled through a garden party and then vanished.

An Indian spirit has been seen roaming the area, too. In fact, the Native Americans believed the whole area was evil. Certain psychics agree, saying the East Room is the center of lay lines that mark evil. It may be. One owner’s wife used to sleep in a room where the lines converged. She ended up schizophrenic.

There are also lots of poltergeist activities. One guard said during his nightly rounds lights would go on and doors open in buildings that he had secured earlier. Some guests reported hearing voices, shaking beds, opening and shutting widows, electrical devices going off on their own, and ghost sightings – even of spooks hovering over their bed.

http://hauntsandhistory.blogspot.com/2008/02/buck-hill-inn.html

How’s that for a menacing past? My very first thought was that all of this sounded just as good,  if not better,  than Stephen King’s “The Shining.”

So what ever became of the Inn at Buck Hill Falls?

As if the past had come back to haunt it, the Inn experienced great financial hardship, leaving it abandoned.  While sitting dormant, it became the victim of arson.  A once exquisite site now hazardous and in disarray,  had become the stuff of  B Horror movies and sadder still, reality TV.

In 2001 the Inn at Buck Hill Falls made an appearance on MTV’s Fear and subsequently gained notoriety.  To this day, security is in place to keep trespassers from entering the ailing structure.  According to a 2006 article from the Pocono Record newspaper, Barrett township police and the company which owns the property are strictly enforcing 90 days in jail or a $300 fine to anyone caught.  Bollocks! My plans have been shattered.

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061028/NEWS01/610280317/-1/NEWS

The video below offers clips of the Fear episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho5tZsl4GoI

Given the fact that so many people gathered here for so many years, I’d say it is fairly safe to assume that paranormal activity exists.  As I said before, the whole area, while beautiful,  has a Twilight Zone feel to it.  Living a few miles away, I could not wait to write about it, even if that had to be in lieu of an investigation.

So believe me when I say that I wanted this story to be true.  Ah, but wishing doesn’t make it so.  As is often the case, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.  While there may be spirits,  it seems producers ran a compelling story with very little basis in truth.  I was unable to find any evidence at all which supports the claims made in the article above.  Perhaps that due to the location’s connections and social status, such claims were not documented.  However, when it comes to murder and suicide, one would hope to find something to support an event of that magnitude.

If walls could talk…

One of the current owners of The Buck Hill Inn, which was featured on last week’s episode of Fear, says that the haunted history presented on the show was, at best, embellished. “I don’t think MTV’s intention was ever to accurately portray the building’s history,” William Kirkhuff told the Pocono Record. He says psychics found only “happy spirits,” and thus the “producers got a little frustrated when they were trying to tape a show called Fear and there wasn’t any to be had, according to the psychics.” The newspaper looks at some claims made on the show and refutes them.

http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/fear/2001_Mar_19_buck_hill_inn_owner

All of this could easily have been avoided if the kind folks at MTV would just go back to playing some damn music videos.

For those interested in more information on Buck Hill Falls, including the opportunity to purchase and restore the Inn:

http://www.buckhillinn.com/history.html

A very detailed account on haunting claims and history:

http://groups.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=groups.groupProfile&groupID=103923470&Mytoken=528AC1AF-CDFD-43A5-8AE797416B27EE1A51641540

Article explaining the actual investigation and the how it differs  from what was aired on the show:

http://www.paraseek.com/invest/weaver2.html

Thank you for reading.  If you have information to contribute to the content of this post, especially accounts of those who stayed there-or any verifiable data pertaining to said traumatic history, please email me at brianna@epicparanormal.com

Now that summer is winding down and fall will be upon us soon, I’m reminded of cooler weather, cozy evenings and the beautiful scenery the changing seasons bring. With a chill in the air we think of fall, and Halloween, of spirits, spooks, and creepy things….falling leaves and cemeteries, creepy old abandoned houses with wrought iron gates, black cats & witches, stories told by firelight of olden days of yore.  If you’ve go the itch this fall to do some ghost hunting of your own, there’s no better place than nearby New Hope, Pennsylvania.

Steeped in Colonial charm and tradition, New Hope rests in Bucks County along the Deleware River, halfway between New York and Philadelphia. Many years ago in 1722 a man named John Wells obtained a ferry license and settled the town, which served as an overnight stop to travelers between the two cities. A handful of Inns and taverns were established and many remain in operation today, never closing their doors to weary travelers and guests over the past 300 years.

The Logan Inn, originally established as the Ferry Inn by Mr. Wells in 1727, holds many tales of ghosts who have taken refuge in it’s 16 spacious rooms and tavern. Is is said that during the Revolutionary War dead soldiers’ bodies were stored and kept cool in the basement. Children are often heard playing and a mysterious man is often seen in the mirrors of room #6.  Glowing lights and orbs have also been reported here.  The sounds of heavy footsteps have been documented during the night, however, no one was ever found to be about.  Guests often feel cold spots and hear voices, doors open and shut themselves and some folks claim to have been touched or experienced strange, uneasy feelings.  A soldier in full dress often haunts the tavern, and the apparition of a young man in knee breeches hides down in the cellar.  The portrait of Emily, a former innkeeper’s mother, watches from the parlor and the scent of her lavender perfume still lingers in the air.  A young girl’s ghost who drowned in the river many years ago also awaits as guests enter the inn.

At the Wedgewood Inn, the spirit of a 12 year old slave girl, Sarah, has appeared on at least 3 separate occasions to young girls her age, telling each one her story of slavery, hiding and escape.  When recalled, each girls story was remarkably identical to the others.  Guests here have also reported a scratching  sound coming from the kitchen, as if someone or something was behind the wall.  During recent renovations to the home, a small room was exposed behind the kitchen stairs and also a large 7 x 24 foot stone room was discovered underneath the porch.  These spaces were used to hide slaves traveling through New Hope along the Underground Railroad during the early 19th century.

Established in 1794, the River House (or more commonly Odette’s Restaurant) is know for the wandering spirit of a woman, who was murdered here over 200 years ago.  Guests and staff alike often hear chilling disembodied voices, feel cold spots in many places and often catch the scent of her sweet perfume.

The Inn at Phillips Mill is home to the spirit of a woman seen often in her high collared dress.  She has been witnessed several times in a rocking chair and also along the staircase.  A former caretaker of the Inn recalls a chilling encounter with a well dressed gentleman in coattails, who appeared late one evening and proceeded to bolt up the stairs. Receiving no response after calling out to him, the caretaker questioned his supervisor about their late arriving guest.  His face flushed as it he’d seen a ghost and asked him to please never mention it again.  Over the years he has spend there, this caretaker fell ill, often feeling uneasy or “watched” during the night, unable to sleep.  He often experienced loud ringing in his ears accompanied by what he described as a very powerful energy holding him down to where he could not move.  Never realizing it may have been paranormal, he honestly believed that he was going to die.

At Perry Mansion floating orbs are often caught on film.  Out on Main Street at night many tourists stop to pick up a hitch-hiking young man with a fringe jacket & knapsack…only to find he has disappeared.  He is the victim of a fatal hit and run almost 40 years ago.

Over on the covered Van Sant Bridge, the bodies of horse thieves, were hung an are often seen.  Also the cries o a young unwed mother who jumped from the bridge, drowning herself and her baby are often heard.

New Hope’s most popular ghost however are Vice President Aaron Burr and Joseph Pickett – an artist who frequently strolls along Main Street from his former Mechanic Street residence to his cousin’s home and back.  Aaron Burr is often remembered as the man who killed Alexander Hamilton in their infamous duel.  Wanted in New York and bordering New Jersey, Burr took haven at the time in New Hope.  His spirit is so popular here in fact one over-excited tour guide saw him and ran all the way back to her office to tell her co-workers, leaving her patrons behind.

Today this small town is filled to the gills with charming cafe’s, art galleries, record stores, new age shops, antiques, crafts and of course the inns and taverns.  So take a trip, if you dare, to historic New Hope and maybe you too will experience some hauntings of your own!