JAN'S TALES...The Husband House Part 1

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JAN'S TALES

The Husband House

Go to Part Two - The Husband House Burns Down

(NOTE: Here's a fascinating account of a long-term investigation by Jan into an apparently haunted house with an interesting history. Photos are included. Take your time with these; it's a good case of the more you look, the more you see...)

(AUTHORS NOTE: For privacy purposes on behalf of the current owners of the property, I shall refer to their home as,’ The Husband House'. The name comes from the original builders of the first homestead on that site back in the 1800's which is located in Western Kentucky. Also, their true names will be changed to protect their identities. This story could easily become a novel with all the events and history of the home combined, but I will limit these particular submissions to the actual events I personally witnessed and photographed. The owners granted permission to write this story and submit the photos.)

August 17th, 2001, on a Friday evening, will be a date that a select few will remember through out their lives. The memories of this night will come back to cross their minds in the years to come, like dusty lace curtains blowing thru a broken window in an abandoned house. Some may not wish to speak of the events; some from the excitement shall tell all who will listen, and some witness's will remain quiet. Closemouthed, until one day, years later when a person scoffs at such ideas in their presence, they will courageously speak up, and tell a tale they were witness too...

The initial purpose of the séance at the Husband House was decided upon after investigating the home myself a week prior to the night of the 17th. Many photos were taken, with a digital camera, in all parts of the home where an abundance of paranormal activity was found. I must also add that the feeling of being watched and observed by unseen eyes was a very true reality at that time. It was if I was being observed, studied and followed closely by an eerie crowd while touring the home. Much like an American Tourist in a tiny, unknown foreign village would be curiously watched over. Although other ghosts, apparitions and poltergeist activity were found downstairs previously in the main part of the home, the major and negative energies always occurred upstairs. Downstairs you would frequently encounter a small female ghost around the age of 6, with a frilly 1800's style dress; long banana curled blonde hair, and would actually play with the resident’s children. Patty cake and tag where among her favorites. Another prominent sighting was that of a heavy set black woman, with a bandana around her head, her long skirt and apron brushing the floor, who always appeared in the kitchen and would bump into you or blow in your face. The ghosts of slaves were seen in the basement, as well as the ghost of many Civil War soldiers carrying on conversations, some very loudly at times in the dinning room. On the day of the initial investigation, I myself heard a loud conversation between two men, discussing some sort of war issue concerning horses, wagons, cannons and a bridge, while I was in the bathroom. Upon exiting I asked the owner if she had a TV on in the other room adjoining the bathroom and to my surprise the answer was 'no'. They laughed and reassured me I wasn’t going ‘mad’, that they’ve heard the same conversation, as well as many more, over the years they had lived there.

After returning home and downloading the photos on the computer and going through each one with meticulous care, the evidence was very clear in many of the pictures.

There were indeed spirits in this house. Numerous ones, showing up in the photos not only as glorious orbs but some manifesting themselves into actual figures you could identify as once human. Also, I must note that in some of the pictures the faces appeared to have moved and changed their position through out the series of photos taken one right after another. (If I could have put the photos together in a fast slide show it would have been an amazingly frightful revelation.) After inspecting the images the portal appeared to be coming from the center of the staircase going upstairs, on the first landing (This is where most of the pictures were taken during the séance.) Also, many people, including myself, would feel quite dizzy all of a sudden when climbing the stairs, and have the sensation that you were being pulled downward thru the floor of the landing. In one of the closets, I took a photo of a odd piece of carved wood that was found in the attic, after pulling it up on the computer, and enlarging it I pulled out the image of a girl (from the bottom on right a little from the center of the picture), of around 5 or 6 years old with curly blonde hair, and with what appeared to be a hole in the left side of her head, maybe from a gunshot wound. Above her was the image of a cat's head in perfect form but sideways. See photos below) She was, I felt, the reason why the séance needed to take place, as she was in pain and needed release.

Another shot from the same closet revealed the head of the black woman with the bandana along with the face of the little girl beside her. I felt she had been the girls nanny and had stayed behind to protect her spirit. (These photos would have had to be enlarged far too large for this submission, so I will only include the most recognizable ones for you to view.)

These is a photo of what can be seen at the bottom of the stairs. Numerous images of radiating negative energies appeared in all the photos taken at this point of the home. (NOTE: The arrows on this photo are mine. -Webmaster.)

I would also like to note, that upon returning to the home the next day to inspect the closet itself, there was discovered a hidden panel behind where the ghost girl appeared that opened to reveal a secret passage to the attic. Several photos were taken in the attic with wonderful results of paranormal presences.

The photo above where you see a blue shirt hanging and a rectangular bar of light, when blown up you can see the outline of the faces I’ve highlighted in the second photo. That ‘Bar of light’, was a mystery in itself as there was no light, man made, artificial or even coming from outside the home that could have made that source of image, and there was nothing beyond that could have caused the flash on the camera to reflect. The other image is of the chimney that rises up through the roof, notice all the spheres and orbs of different sizes…(the camera lenses were clean.)

Part 4

Friday, August 17th, 9:30pm, before entering said home, olive oil was anointed upon the doorframe with my thumb, and prayers said to God, for protection and courage. (Olive oil is Gods sacred oil, it was used in anointing, blessing rituals, to anoint the dead, and so on...its historical meanings are found through out the Bible. Some will attest to the fact that it can be more powerful then holy water. Note: the next day after the séance, the owner informed me that where my thumbprint had been on the doorway, was now a black mark that resembled a burn mark.) The female owner, which I will call 'Tessa' during this account, and I sat at the dinning room table to pray and discuss what it was she wanted done, or what it was she wanted to accomplish with this particular evening. The largest

request was to free the trapped spirits in this home and to rid the house of the negative spirits that kept the innocent ones there under their control. I requested a glass of water before beginning my journey up the stairs. (It is good to drink half a glass of water from the home you are to perform a séance/house blessing in, if it is possible to obtain the water, (some homes are abandoned) before the task is at hand, and pour the rest down the drain after all is said and done. It is a symbol of the homes inner spirit, one you want to make contact with, feel inside you and communicate with.) Just before taking the first steps on the staircase, Tessa's dog, Diamond, came running towards me and nuzzled my hand. (This is a dog that does not take to anyone other then the owners, very protective, unapproachable in fact. During my visit their previously she was kept locked up in another room to avoid a confrontation.) At that moment she was very concerned and acted in a loving way towards me. I was the last to ascend the staircase with Diamond right behind me. The family, already upstairs waiting, was all extremely surprised to see the dog with me. They informed me that she had never, ever, dared take the first step up those stairs. Even when they tried to carry her up, she would wiggle free and escape to the safety of the main house. She remained with us the entire evening, staying close to Tessa, and during the use of the Ouija board she would growl every time the planchette (the small pallet device used on top of the board) moved, and would stare and direct her growls at something above our hands. (Note: The Ouija board was used as a tool for communication, not to conjure up spirits, but to directly communicate with those already present. This device is not a game to be played with, as it can be used in many forms, with various degrees of desires and ceremonies. It is a direct magnet for the other dimension. Be warned. Be careful.)

We had two photographers, one with a digital camera and one with a video camera. The results were astounding as we inspected them way into the wee hours of the morning after the event was over. From what was seen, you could definitely surmise that the spirits knew I was there and what was about to unfold. From the beginning of uncovering the Ouija board to the final prayer all could sense the presence of numerous spirits. One person close to me suggested nearly 75 in the home, and I believe her to have been very accurate, in fact, even a few more then that total. When taking the board from it's box, the pallet immediately slid across the board quickly by its own accord to the word 'NO' and stopped there. All that were present witnessed this, then again while placing the board upon an old trunk instead of using a table, the pallet slid to the word 'NO' on it's own in a hasty fashion, this time violently sliding off the board entirely, hitting a nearby wall. The room at this time grew very cold creating Goosebumps on all present. I saw the fright in their faces, and assured them not to fear the spirits presence, as prayers were said for the protection of God and His angels, that not even a hair on their head be harmed. We began with prayers and the anointing of olive oil upon each forehead of those present. A

Native American ceremony pipe was lit with sage and sweet grass and passed around to close the circle. (Note: Shamanism is one of the religious practices I partake in personally) Several candles blew out and were re-lit numerous times during the ceremony. Then Tessa and I sat across from each other to use the pallet on the board. We didn't have to wait long at all; it began moving a few seconds after beginning. We asked for the little girl to come forward first, the pallet spelled out 'TUHS V PU'. We didn't figure this out until much later, after the ceremony was over in fact. I had one of the daughters present to write down everything the board spelled out. (Note: there were three times we had to stop as I was feeling fear from certain individuals and had to ask them to leave, which they gladly did, retreating downstairs.) The above passage is 'shut up' spelled backwards, with the 'V', possible meaning 'thee'. The pallet began to tremble and tip on its side slightly, the dog growling insistently, I made the decision that this was not the spirit of the little girl and revoked it's invitation to speak, then called upon the nanny to come forth. There was a brief tug of war over the pallet, as if there were two who fought over the use of it, and then it stood still with our fingers above it. We asked if there were innocent spirits being held here, 'YES' came the answer, did they need our help, 'YES', was there someone keeping them here, 'YES'. There was more frantic movement, as if fighting over the pallets control, and then it spelled out, 'PLEAS HEL', which we took to read as 'please help'. The session with the board was over. It was a brief but rewarding encounter. We no longer needed it for communicating. The longer you keep the board open, the wider the door of invitation gets for the spirits to come forth. Even though our curiosity over the death of the little girl was strong, the desire to have her and the others released was stronger. (Note: we are currently doing research on the home and the property's history, beginning from the mid 1800's, which is a long and tedious task.) It was now time to evoke the blessings of the Creator, to release these spirits that were trapped, to send them back to their source of creation, back to God. To tell them to lift up their chins to view a greater light awaiting them. To give them the command, the permission to leave, to tell them they were free of this negative force that powered over them. To tell them that this entity that kept them enslaved was just a spirit like them selves, equal in essence, but evil in content; his spirit would have to be dealt with by the higher powers of Heaven. That its false control was over, at an end, no longer bonding, it's threats were of no value any longer. All that were present felt a huge rush of relief around the room, many had the same visions of a large crowd of spirits rushing upwards, and some saw the little girl running towards a great light where a figure waited with outstretched arms. All present felt something, saw something in their minds, and felt a peace envelope the room. Two actually heard moaning and beckoning voices that repeated the words 'help us', the same two people present also heard my spirit arguing with the negative spirit as we were revoking his initial invitation and sending him back to the Creator. It was in the closing of the ceremony that Tessa's daughter, whom I'll refer to as Becky, began to sob uncontrollably. She is an eighteen year old, and her bedroom was upstairs until about a year ago when she refused to sleep up there any more due to the noises and the constant sense of someone watching her. I felt she was what investigators call an 'agent'. This is a live person, in most cases a female teenager (due to their changing bodies and electric output of energy at that time of life), who unconsciously absorb the emotions of the surrounding spirits and poltergeists. During the past few years she had been unusually emotional, bitter, quick tempered, spiteful. You might say this was usual for a teenager, but comparing her to the rest of the docile, calm family, she stood out amongst them. She would always say after an episode of outbursts that she was sorry, she didn't know what she had just said, or where it had come from. During this emotional release of the 17th, she cried heavily, hard, and continued until she had no more tears to shed, until she was empty. Her mother and I comforted her thru this outpouring and explained to her what had happened. (Note: during the few days after this episode, Becky had changed into a very different young woman, very calm, her sense of humor was back, the emotions of love and caring had returned.) While her mother continued to comfort her, I went to the stairs and asked for God's blessing upon the house, as I was saying many prayers I walked down each stair and anointed them with olive oil. Afterwards, I poured the remaining glass of water down the kitchen sink, to signify its return to the home.

The photos taken during this event showed numerous faces, twisted in pain, evil faces glaring, and several images of the devilish dog/wolf looking creature that had showed up in the previous photos. The video wasn't very high quality, mostly recording the events prior to using the board, and didn't reveal much of relevance, except for a ghostly image of a mans face, laughing in a twisted sarcasm. This ghastly discovery appeared between Tessa and myself, as our hands were on the pallet that was moving haphazardly around the board at the time.

(The following photos are from the night of the séance; the arrival of myself, blessing of the stairs, (You will see in the duplicate photo an outline of what was seen in the first when it was blown up.) 3 men trying to come forth-second photo highlighted, an entity reaching out from the wall towards a young boy coming down the stairs-this is not a re-touched photo-actual shot! The next photo you will see on your own numerous faces trying to show them selves…these are not outlined. Below that are two shots, the second highlighted with the image of what appears to be a Civil War soldier with long hair. Note: These images were pulled out and recognized by enlarging them highly on a photo program, they might be difficult for you, the reader, to recognize anything as these are such small representations.)

The home for the next few months had been filled with a beautiful peace. The children had returned to their bedrooms upstairs. The lights, televisions and ceiling fans didn’t turn them selves on anymore, nor did the water faucets or toilets flush on their own. The small children no longer played patty cake with the small ghostly girl nor carried on conversations with their ‘invisible friends’. Diamond, continued to climb the stairs and go to sleep with the kids, something she had never done before. The soldiers were not heard celebrating or arguing, nor was the black nanny seen in the kitchen or dining room again. There was no tension between family members and each day was as serene as the next.

Until one day in mid October, when Tessa called. Becky had been coming down the stairs that morning with her dog, Diamond, in the lead, and it appeared that something kicked the dog violently down the remaining stairs. When she finally finished tumbling this way and that, she arose in a stance to ferociously attack something only she could see on the landing of the stairs. Tessa watched fearfully as Diamond aimed her angry snaps and growls at something in mid air. This event lasted a few minutes, but it took Tessa more then an hour to get up the courage to finish the descent down the stairs.

Again, I went and we took even more photos. This time we made our way through a crawl space on the outside of the home and into the cellar below. There we examined the old foundations. We could clearly tell where the back porch had been added on to the present home, as well as another room on the side of the home, as the building materials where quite different from the original structure built over 100 years ago. We also discovered through another crawl space inside the cellar that went under the front of the home, the outline of a third foundation! Perhaps it was from the original and first permanent structure ever built upon this property, and over the decades the house was enlarged and added on too by the numerous owners over the years. The first was made from stacked large, round stones with a crude mortar in-between, the second outline was made from those old solid red bricks along with timbers as large as rail road ties used as supports and cross beams, the third was made with solid concrete blocks and large planks of wood.

(The following photos were from the cellar, some turned out crisp and clear, and others turned out with something more in them; hazy, blurry apparitions. The first set shows a woman in the right hand corner with long hair; the second photo is highlighted. The third photo shows numerous faces, along with orbs.)

We planned on another séance to take place on the 31^st. Halloween. The prayers from the first séance had not been completed. We had neglected to rid the home of 'any and all' negative forces, spirits, etc…those that had been there on the property even before the present house was built over the old foundation of even an earlier one prior to the Husbands Family project back in the 1800’s. There may have been one spirit stronger then the one who revealed him self the first time. We had been concentrating on the one figure of a man in the photo that seemed to be the only negative force showing itself. Terrible mistake to assume. Your prayers, commands, demands, your ceremony, must be very specific when it comes to dealing with spiritual forces. They will always find a crack, a weakness, and a reason to stay, or to return. The Universe operates on specifics; there is no room for any 'if, ands or buts'. Sadly, we learn this the hard way.

Halloween night, 2001, was a more somber event. There were only three people present; Tessa, Becky and myself. We choose to try an ‘automatic writing’ affair instead of using the Ouija board and decided to stay in the center of the home, using the dining table as the setting. Tessa was seated across from me at the table as Becky took photos. At first she took them with the flash on but discovered that the light was reflecting off a nearby mirror hanging on the wall next to the table. She then took several more shots using her digital camera with only the candlelight as the source of illumination.

(The following photos are of the scenario from that particular night. You will see myself seated at the dining table, beginning to write any messages that would come forth. If you look close you can see an orb on the door and a larger one by the mirror, top-right. The first photo is with a flash, the rest are taken by candlelight. From the mirror you can clearly see a female robed entity coming forth towards me, her hands are stretched out to touch my head. In an enlargement you can make out several other faces surrounding her own. In the third set I’ve outlined the first photo to show you her face, the second highlights the other faces. The moment she touched my head is when I began writing a very mysterious and mind-boggling riddle of a message. The transcript of the message will follow the photos.) (NOTE: The transcript is in Part 7.)

The following is a complete transcript of the message given to me during the time of the automatic writing, on Halloween night, 2001. I did not correct any grammar, but have written it down as I wrote it down then. The message came in spurts and short unfinished sentences, most of it seemed to be a riddle that needed solving and understood.

“A fortnight of silver…leather straps, chains of rust, a celebration among soldiers, goblets of Rye…Tusce…bars of lye, curdled milk, wicked master, scars and salt, black smiths branding, salt and lye, wagons of wood…

Sorry I was to not help the child live…sorry I was…stars of 6, robes of black, worse then the Night Riders…men of honor, men in charge, walked and danced on ground unblessed, sung in foreign tongues, rose hands to false gods…slab of marble, rocks of sin, blood to bathe in, flesh on the stone…Master Misery…no tongue had I…no secrets to tell…so young, so small, I sorry was I…

Horses traded, auctions, no slaves, but kept servants…no homes, we stayed…

Cross of timbers buried in ground…slab of stone marks sins entrance…east of a star shinning, under moist grass…seeds of deception mark…cross me over thrice…salt for the witches…oil for our peace…angels for protection…

Look under a shining star…”

The above message was startling to us all. We pondered over its meaning for several hours and for the weeks to come as we tried to uncover any history of the property from the courthouse or from any living previous owners or relatives and even from near by neighbors that had lived in the area for numerous years. The results were only a few scattered testaments; the elderly owner before the present one told us stories of how the property had originally been larger then the 18 acres the home resided on. When they were building a barn and erecting fences to raise their horses they unearthed numerous antique horseshoes, railroad spikes, railroad ties, all types of rusted metal chains and crude locks. (Research proved that there had been no railroad tracks going through the property from days of old.) There were also metal spurs and stirrups found.

The previous owner remembered hearing that the owners before them back in the early 1900’s had raised horses and had a blacksmith shack on the property, which they tore down when they bought it some time around the 60’s. It had sat vacant for several years during the late 40’s and 50’s she also added. The PVA office had missing information on the property and we are still keeping in contact with them on this matter. During searches at the local library and on the Internet, we discovered that this area had slaves, was active in the Civil war, and had an Underground Railroad movement before slavery was abolished. Also, discovered was that this area, as well as some of the other surrounding counties, had a tainted primitive history of Satanism, sorcery and witchcraft rituals dating back to the late 1700’s and well into the 1800’s. (I guess every town has its torrid little secrets.) And that these ‘groups’ of Satan worshipers consisted of reputed landowners, bankers, and well to do men of power and standing, and they were more feared then the Night Riders, or what we know of today as the Ku Klux Klan.

We were doing research as we found the time after that Halloween night. Christmas was right around the corner so we decided to plunge into the matter after the holidays. That decision was short lived, as on December 25th, just a few months later, on Christmas evening, the Husband House caught fire and burned to the ground. Everyone got out safely, including the animals, and as the entire family huddled together tightly inside their family truck, they watched their home go up in flames, way into the middle of the next morning.

They called me early after dawn on their cell phone that Tessa had grabbed along with her purse as they escaped and I was there for them immediately. The Fire Marshall said it appeared that the fire had started on the back porch by the dryer. It took all night and two calls to the fire department to put out the fire. (The first time they left was around midnight, thinking they had put it out, but it started back up a mere one hour later.) They were still there when I arrived at 6 AM. The family was still huddled inside the truck, watching through the fogged up windows, unable to make themselves leave or take their eyes away from this tragic event.

As we sifted through the ashes of the remains of their home, we uncovered three items that had survived miraculously unharmed and untouched by the ravages of the fire. That’s when I had the idea of taking even more photos to see if any ghostly images would show up in the ruins of the house. I also thought it would help the family record the site for insurance purposes but I found out rather quickly that they had none as they couldn’t afford it. This is indeed a heart-breaking tale that goes beyond the paranormal tone.

The photos I took indeed showed evidence of ghosts standing among the ruins and ashes. And I will include them in the next installment of this story, along with what three items survived the fire, and an update on the family.

-Jan Thompson.

End Part One

Go to Part Two - The Husband House Burns Down