My Paranormal Investigation Bucket List
Hi – Janet here, owner of Shepherdstown Mystery Walks. Want to hear my bucket list of places to investigate, and why? Here we go!
1. Castle Leap in Ireland
2. Historic Stanley Estes Park
3. Skinwalker Ranch
4. Moundsville (WV State Penitentiary) (cheat)
Castle Leap, Ireland
According to Ireland Before you Die, standing strong for over 700 years, Castle Leap, Ireland’s most haunted house, is a 13th-century castle that has been witness to a tumultuous history. It has stood through bloody histories and lives lost, love affairs, and babies born. According to the site, in the late 15th century, Castle Leap came under rule of the violent and deadly O’Carroll clan. Having lived long in the hands of those who swore allegiance to the British Crown, the castle represented turbulence and pain for many Irish locals. As a result of this, the castle was burned down in July 1922.
OMG, where do I start with this location? Since I watched THAT episode of GH way back in 2006 when one of their investigators was actually pushed and attacked (on camera!) by an Elemental, I was absolutely hooked. Truly and honestly, this location is at the top of my bucket list, and will stand there forever.
Historic Stanley, Estes Park
Ok…I adore Stephen King stories and The Shining is my favorite (with Delores Claiborne coming in a close second). We all know the film The Shining was filmed in numerous locations, but did you know this hotel and a one-night stay was the inspiration for Stephen King’s book? After a 1974 one-night visit to the Stanley, Stephen King was so inspired by the hotel’s atmosphere, that he penned The Shining. I’ve known and have met numerous folks who have stayed at this location and ALL Of them have had nothing but spectacular stories of their paranormal experiences to share.
Skinwalker Ranch
I heard about this location even before it was on TV. Yep, so I’m into Cryptids as well as UFOs, but not so nearly as heavy as I am into the Paranormal. According to Hunt for the Skinwalker, odd objects have been spotted overhead since the first European explorers arrived: In 1776, a Franciscan missionary wrote about strange fireballs appearing over his campfire. And before the Europeans, of course, indigenous peoples occupied the Uinta Basin. Today, “Skinwalker Ranch” abuts the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation of the Ute Tribe.
According to the History Channel’s report, in March of 1997 an onlooker saw a creature approximately 50 yards away, watching the team safely from a tree perch 20 feet off the ground. “The large creature that lay motionless, almost casually, in the tree,” said the onlooker. “The only indication of the beast’s presence was the penetrating yellow light of the unblinking eyes as they stared fixedly back into the light.” After several shots were fired at the creature with a rifle, it disappeared. “It was then that I saw it—a single, obvious oval track about six inches in diameter embedded deeply in the patch of snow… It looked unusual: a single large print in the snow with two sharp claws protruding from the rear of the mark going a couple of inches deeper. It almost looked like a bird of prey, maybe a raptor print, but huge and, from the depth of the print, from a very heavy creature.”
Many hundreds of sightings ranging from UFOs to a swamp creature, to Bigfoot to mysterious lights have been reported in very recent years. Yes…I must go to Skinwalker Ranch.
Return to Moundsville, WV (WV State Penitentiary)
Wow, wow, wow. Two years ago, my ever-so-gifted sister-in law and I went to Moundsville and spent the night investigating with a group of 12. This prison, built in 1876, was considered the most dangerous prison in the US for numerous years due to overcrowding and for its incredibly graphic violence. The cell blocks were designed like a high-rise open mesh apartment building with 1 large open toilet on the ground floor, next to a high bank of windows. No privacy here!
It was a pretty uneventful and quiet night, with just the normal sounds, creaks and whispers…until we broke off of our assigned group and snuck up to the cell block, completely alone – just us 2 girls. WOW! While up on the 3rd floor, I walking in front with my SIL closely following, in pure, total darkness, on an open metal catwalk (see pic below for the exact location), a male voice directly to our right suddenly whispered very clearly to us, ‘Hello’. Directly to our right, in our ears, from an empty jail cell. I stopped dead (excuse thepun) in my tracks and my SIL stopped as well; we were frozen – we could not move. Then the male voice repeated ‘Hello’. I was scared to death. The voice was right there – no denying what it was. We both want to go back to re-investigate this area.
