a Ghost Hunters xmas
I am thoroughly convinced that to a non-resident, Massachusetts is a giant black hole that sucks you in, confuses the fuck out of you, and won't spit you back out without a major fight. Although we've known the area our entire lives, somehow my sister Erin and I managed to get lost on the way to the Ghost Hunters event at Bucksteep Manor in Washington, MA this past Saturday night/Sunday morning. After completely missing an entire portion of the directions, we stopped at a gas station in Pittsfield (where we weren't supposed to end up) to ask where our turn was. I was greeted with an enthusiastic, "Uhhh .... i think it's back that way [flings hand in no specific direction]" by an acne-faced teenager at the register. Despite his obvious disinterest in the fact that we were totally missing, like, THE most important event of my life, we found the road we were supposed to be on.

After driving 7 miles up a mountain (remember in the beginning of The Shining when they're driving their VW up to the hotel in the middle of nowhere in the mountains and all you see is woods and trees and nothingness and it's totally freaky? Yeah, it was totally like that) and passing the entrance to the manor and having to turn around, we found the place. And we were only 45 minutes late! We got there in the middle of John Zaffis, a demonology expert, doing his seminar. He was a very compelling storyteller and kinda freaked me out with all his talk of malevolent spirits he's come in contact with.

Soon enough John Zaffis' lecture was over and Steve and Tango were introduced, even though they were supposed to be introduced much, much earlier at the meet and greet which Erin and I thought we had missed. Apparently they had also gotten lost and ended up being over an hour late, which made me not feel so bad about our own tardiness. They answered questions and did the meet and greet then, and i got my picture taken with them and they signed a magazine for me. Steve complimented my tattoo, a gesture which I'm pretty used to by now, but I couldn't help but blush. Especially because he was essentially staring at my chest. It really never fails to turn a girl's face red.

They split us up into different groups then, and after giving us a quick tour of the place, started the investigation. It wasn't much like how they do the investigations on the show. There were no cameras set up, no miles of cables taped to floors and walls, no small groups of two or three in one room at a time. Steve, Tango and John were in three different locations and our groups were put in one place for an hour at a time, after which we would exchange locations. We were in three groups of twenty people, all of us with cameras, flashlights and our own ghost hunting equipment. My group was shuffled off to the attic first, which was rather big for an attic but very cramped with over 20 people in it. A couple people had brought K2 meters (please go here for reference) and started asking yes or no questions. Once in awhile the K2 meters would flicker, but not so much that there was no question that a ghost was around. However, I think some people got a little over excited and believed it was absolute, unquestionable proof that there was something with us and continued to ask questions (many of the same questions over, and over, and over, and freakin' over again). John determined that we were talking to a mentally disabled stable hand that worked at the manor many years ago. He likes brown horses, cleaning stables, and is single in case you ladies are interested. He'll be waiting in the attic for you just in case.

After an hour of not even getting goosebumps or the willies in the attic, we left to go to the chapel which was a short walk down the long driveway. Mind you, it was almost midnight and about 8 degrees outside, windy, wet, and on top of a mountain, and we had to sit in a stone church with no heat for an hour. My frozen feet were not happy. Erin and I huddled together in a pew for warmth as best we could. Again, nothing happened in the chapel except for Tango dropping his cellphone a bunch of times, followed by a, "Sorry, that was me!" and giggling from the rest of us, and my increasing rage against those that wouldn't stop taking pictures with their flash on. I was quite relieved when it was time to go.

As we were filing out of the dark chapel (they hadn't turned the lights on for some reason), I realized I had gotten separated from my sister and tried to step out of the line to wait for her to catch up to me. But since I'm a total klutz, i stepped backwards and tripped over the altar steps and would've gone ass over tea kettle if it weren't for the brave efforts of a guy that looked like a long-lost member of ZZ Top. It was very much a Wayne's-World-"And she's oh-kay!" moment, but I took it like a champ.

On the way back to the manor, quite possibly the best moment of the entire night happened. I really shouldn't be laughing at this, but it's just too good NOT to. The driveway to the manor wasn't exactly in the best shape -- it's a dirt driveway that was layered with a sheet of ice and a dusting of snow over top so that you could walk on it, but it was pretty slippery. This woman, who in all honesty was older than fucking dirt, was walking along the driveway in front of Erin and me, shuffling along as old women do. She was so preoccupied with smoking her damn cigarette that she lost her balance and did a faceplant right in the snow, her entire body spread out like she just did a bellyflop into the driveway. And she just laid there! Face down in the snow, cigarette still in hand! ZZ Top Man rushed to her aid, as did her 5 obnoxious western-Massachusetts, "we'ah from Fawl Rivah"-talking relatives that came with her. As all these people were trying to help her up, the old woman's daughter says to the rest of us, in a very snotty tone, "Can someone please help us?" I was so frozen that I wasn't about to move for anyone, especially because a) I was dying laughing on the inside and I probably would have gotten a cramp and b) I won't do shit for anyone after they speak to me that way. So we walked around them and went inside instead.

The last place we investigated was the second floor of the manor itself, which housed many of the hotel rooms and a small living area with a tv. Steve was the ghost hunter on hand for the second floor, and after he explained the types of activity people claimed to have seen there, we all scattered into different rooms. Erin and I went into room 4, and two other girls named Shannon and Carrie followed, as did Steve. He stayed and talked to us for a good half an hour or so. It was brought up that it was only 30 minutes until my birthday, and his reaction to my age was pretty priceless (Him: "... What? No way! I thought you were 17!" Me: "Um, thanks?") After Steve left to peruse the other rooms, Erin went into a different room and I stayed and talked to the other two girls in room 4. Later, Erin said that when she was in a different bedroom the alarm clock rang for a few seconds and then shut off by itself as quickly as it came on. Nothing happened in room 4 while we were in it though, but apparently the guy staying in the room that night said he kept getting kicked while he was sleeping and it woke him up. Hopefully an EVP or something will surface!

The last two hours of the investigation were kind of a free-for-all. We could go anywhere we wanted in the manor and the chapel, but Erin and I decided to go home since we had an hour long drive and it was already almost 1am. We got some hot chocolate first and talked to Steve some more (who is a very nice fellow with a wicked sense of humor), then said goodbye and started the long and tiring drive home. Thankfully, we did not get lost on the way home. Although we did almost hit two deer in the middle of the village Lakeville. Not a single deer in the 14 miles of mountainous woods we drove through, but once we got to a densely populated area we almost hit two of them. Go friggin figure.

Unfortunately we couldn't go back to the reveal session on Sunday morning because I had to work and neither of us wanted to get up early enough to get there on time. I'm hoping that someone caught a really great piece of evidence, cuz neither my sister nor I felt anything in the manor at all. Even the dark corners of the attic weren't creepy. I took a bunch of pictures during the investigation, but none of them really show anything that could be considered evidence. There's plenty of orbs, but they're all pretty transparent and could just be dust kicked up by the large groups of people in each location at once. Evidence or not, it was still one of the best experiences I've ever had, and easily the best birthday ever. :D

If you find anything unusual, let me know!



John Zaffis doing his seminar on demonology.


Steve and Tango answering general questions.


Tango, Steve and me, visibly suppressing the urge to be a complete teenybopper.


Look, they put up this tree with lights and decorations just for me. It's like they knew it was my birthday or something!


Fireplace with spooky mist. But, alas, it's no ghost. I imagine it's just smoke from the fire and my shitty, blurry camera work.








Attic photos:











Funny thing about this picture is that I didn't take it -- it never took a picture by accident, and since the attic was so dark I definitely would've known if the flash when off. Odd.




Outside and the chapel photos:



















I think the bright light in the middle of this picture is a piece of dust lit up by several people's camera flashes highlighting it at once. Who knows, though.




Apparently chapels turn Tango into a demon. Sweet!