Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Ghost Hunter - Season 7, Episode 703




"Century of Hauntings" - Oxford, MA and Philadelphia, PA
Voas House and USS Olympia

Finally! A return to their roots of investigating residential homes. It's short-lived, though, as the team's second investigation is aboard a Navy vessel. Those are always good for a few hauntings, so this should be good!

Voas House
Getting straight to the point, the boys drive into Oxford, MA. Jason explains that investigating homes is his favorite because they get to help people. Grant nods in agreement, adding that it's what they have been doing for years ... not that much, lately though. Personally, I love the cases that take place in homes - it is more personal and it's really interesting to see the team in smaller quarters. Anyway, Amy fills everyone in. The house was built in the 18th century and the current family, the Voas family, is actually just one portion of three generations that have resided there.
Everyone living there has experienced paranormal stuff, as far back as they can remember. There are some apparitions (one described as a woman with long, flowing hair and another as a little boy), dragging sounds, voices in the middle of the night - even though they check and no one is there.
Jenn Hubble meets the guys inside the house - she's the daughter of the homeowner. She didn't want her parents to buy the house because it creeped the shit out of her as a kid. They bought it anyway - cue Sad Trombone. DeAnne (aka Mom) interviews that she was in the living room at one point and could see into the kitchen; there was a woman with long hair standing in there, but she had no color to her, just white and grays. She walked across the porch and DeAnne followed her - but there was no one there!!
The first floor bedroom, a spare, has had a little shadow boy walking through it. Younger sisters were disturbed by the sound of dancing on the floor above them; and Dad was grabbed by the foot in his sleep.
In the basement we discover that the family has been doing renovating. They have heard voices, calling out for a little boy named Robbie. The ghost lady in the dining room has been spotted down there, as well. While renovating the fireplace, down there, Dad found some really old shoes and, in another location, found some really old hair. He also saw a door handle move when he was working on the room.
Upstairs, in a younger daughter's room, there's the sound of women crying. Inside one of the closets there's more voices, this time in a full out conversation.
There's a lot going on and Jenn seems a little anxious to see what they find.

Time to investigate!
Jason and Grant head in first and check out the first floor spare bedroom. Grant asks for the ghosts to dance for them but all they get are some lame voices. Then he asks that they stomp - and they get some stomps.
COMMERCIALS!
After the stomps (which sound like a kid stomping away when you punish them), there's more activity in the kitchen/living room area. There's more walking sounds. It's kind of discombobulating - no wonder everyone there is freaked out.

Amy and Adam check out the basement and the fireplace. Amy thinks that "Robbie" might be the little shadow boy that's been seen. They start calling out to him and hear some movement off to the side. The camera doesn't see anything, and neither do the kids. But they keep chatting up the ghosts. Amy switches gears and tries to make contact with the female. She notes that it sounds like someone is pacing. Adam points out that every time they say something the ghost likes, they get some noises. But that's about it, so they decide to pack it up and send in the next group. Amy thanks them for being so responsive.

Steve and Dave hit the basement and try to figure out what could have caused the apparition of the woman. They notice that there's a glass door in the room that could cause a reflection or cast a shadow from light outside. Dave dicks around upstairs trying to cause the reflection/shadow but to no avail. Steve switches tactics and checks EMFs. As he's sweeping, Dave asks if Steve just said something. Luckily, he catches it on the recorder!
COMMERCIALS!
Steve gives a listen and hears it, too. Dave explains that he didn't actually hear a whisper, instead, it sounded like a voice in the distance.

Back to Jason and Grant, in the second floor bedroom. Grant observes that if he were a little kid, he'd be pretty creeped out too. And, yeah, the room is just not awesome - there's a weirdly shaped door, some dolls, an old painting of a girl. No thanks. Grant points out that the room needs to be insulated and you can hear people outside. Grant heads outside to talk and see if Jason can hear him. Grant hollers "I'm a scary ghost! Can you hear me?" and Jason can totally hear him. Problem solved.

Amy and Adam hit the first floor bedroom. This is the room where Dad was grabbed in his sleep. Amy assures that any ghosts which grab them won't get in trouble. Instead, they get a really weird noise. Like a "breathy sigh."

It's time to wrap things up! Amy explains that everyone is really excited to get back and look at the evidence. She's anxious to do research. Turns out the shoe Dad found was from the 18th century (!) and the hair turns out to be rope - more Sad Trombone. The name Robbie doesn't come up anywhere, but she reminds us that back in the day children weren't really accounted for.
Amy shows off the footsteps she and Adam found in the basement. Dave shows off some wireless recording of a whisper. It's pretty creepy.
The guys sit down in Jenn's living room to show her the evidence. They play all the stomping video/recordings and Jenn confirms that those are familiar noises. Grant moves onto the second floor bedroom, which is the little girl's room. He points out that the painting and the dolls are kinda creepy and Jenn gets this look on her face and says "My mom's antiquing habit." I don't think she likes that stuff either. Grant laughs it off and says "Well, that's fine!" but should have followed it up with "maybe you could move that stuff out of there." Anyway, he plays the voice that Dave found and she physically reacts to it! Poor thing! It sounds like the voice is saying "yeah", in response to Jason and Grant calling the dolls creepy. Grant jokes that even the ghosts think they suck. Jenn gets animated, claiming that she hates the dolls! I think this is great evidence to take to Mom so she can ask her to get those things out of her house.
Jason explains that the hair is actually rope, so she shouldn't worry about that. Grant talks about the shoe and tells her that a local museum wants to talk to her about it - which Jenn is really delighted with. Jason agrees that there's a lot of weird stuff in the house and quite a few neat things happened. It's an old house and has a lot of history! The fact that the team had the same experiences helps prove she (and her family) are not nuts; they don't really say the house is haunted but Grant reminds her that they are just down the road and to call if she ever needs them again.
Jenn is totally happy with everything. I just hope she takes some of their stuff to heart. Since the shoe will be leaving the house and the hair wasn't hair, maybe they won't feel the attachments anymore. And since they were able to clear up some stuff, the family might be a little more at ease in the home. Nothing seems malevolent, it's just part of the house now. But please get those fucking dolls outta there!

USS Olympia
On their way to the ship, Amy fills everyone in. This is the oldest (something intelligible) ship in the world. Seriously guys, I rewound like 6 times and I couldn't understand her. According to Wikipedia, it's a "protected cruiser." There are at least 19 documented deaths on board - but most of them were not during war time. Instead, they were accidents. The paranormal activity reported includes shadows and apparitions. And the claims come from staff and visitors, alike.
John Gazzola, the president of the Independent Seaport Museum, introduces John Laurino who is the ship's assistant manager. What kind of Victorian nonsense was that? Did John #1 really need to introduce  John #2? He literally just introduced the guy and left. Barf. Anyway, John #2 seems like a nice enough guy and he shows them around.
Below decks, by the Portside  #2 Gun, we are told that John Johnson (shut the fuck up) was killed here. The first time the discharged the gun, it jumped off it's mount and crushed him. No thanks. Grant says "Ugh! Horrible." Jason and Steve remain stoic. John #2 explains that from then on, everyone believed that the ship had a dark cloud over it. Silly! That's just rain!
There's more activity in the area, including knocking.
In the Starboard Engine Room there are shadows and an apparition that moves from one end to the other. There are voices, too. John #2 claims to have heard the voices himself, which caused him to "jump a foot in the air." Grant responds, in deadpan, "Not much room to do that in here." HE'S ON FIRE TONIGHT!
Now in the Boiler Room #5, we are told there are footsteps. But they come from above. However, above them is also a 2" thick steel deck. Whoopsie! Grant asks if the footsteps are from "way up there" (meaning, through all the steel) or right here on the landing. It's way up there. Of course. There's more shadow figures in there.
And that's it. The place is tight and will be difficult to navigate. Grant explains that they have a new technique they want to try out - hey, keep the bedroom talk to yourselves. Jason shows off cameras that they will wear, so the production crew doesn't have to try to follow them throughout the ship. I'm interested, just for the novelty factor. For the most part, I prefer when they camera guys are with them; every now and then they become part of the show and, at the very least, pick up on shit the team didn't notice.

Jason and Grant start the investigation. There are some glass surfaces that cause reflections, so there's that. Ugh, guys, the body-mounted cameras are just too much. It's all shaky and the cameras are too close to one-another. Jason looks over at Grant when they hear something (pretty audible footsteps) and there is just too much Grant in the shot. I feel like I'm watching a really awkward porn.
COMMERCIALS!
The banging/footsteps continue. They guys give chase and discover that the noises are coming from the same area as the gun that killed the dude. Grant checks for EMFs since it feels wicked creepy up there but the meter reads nothing. He asks if John Johnson is there with them but they get no response.

Dave and Steve, also camera mounted, head to the passage in the boiler room. It's really fucking tight in there. Plus, it's pitch black, which makes for good TV. Steve calls out "Hello! We're here in the boiler room! We're here to help put some coal in the furnace! We gotta shovel that coal in there!" LOLZ. He manages to take a seat and they hear something behind Dave. He thinks it sounded like something dropping - like rocks or coal (!). Gave him the chills - no duh. They get out of the terrible passage and check out the rest of the room and don't find anything.

Adam and Amy are next. Adam says "Hold onto something, please. One hand for the ship and one hand for you." How. Fucking. Adorable. They go to the second gun and Amy notes that it's wicked creepy in there. Adam checks for EMFs and, like Grant, finds nothing. Both of them feel like something/someone is watching them. Adam decides to ask if John is with them - when Amy asks for a signal, they hear a bang. He checks a particular closet where knocks and bangs have come from. The pad lock keeping it closed was undone (but he didn't seem to mind that) but it was swinging. Creepy!
They keep up with John, hoping to get some reaction. Nothing.

Jason and Grant hit the engine room and immediately hear a male voice. It might have said "Pete." More noises, this time knocking. It's off in the distance but you can hear it. Jason asks if the ghost would knock three times in a row for them. They only get one but as they notice, it's consistent. Turns out, they are hearing the flag on the upper decks knocking against the pole. Solved that!

Time to wrap it up. Grant was pretty excited about their time there.
Time to check the evidence. Amy finds a wicked scary gasping sound on a recording. Turns out to be Adam - he was reacting to her story about John Johnson dying slowly and painfully after being crushed by the gun. Everyone laughs and ribs Adam for it. Dave has some real evidence: footsteps and a door slamming.
The guys sit down with John #2 to show him the evidence. They bring up the flag noise first and he nods. Next is the knock and the swinging lock; John just takes it in. Then they show the footage of Grant and Jason and the real footsteps. John actually seems kind of stoked to hear all this stuff. Grant explains that even though they are all pretty knowledgeable about the history of the ship, they sent Amy out to do some research. And interesting fact popped up though: almost immediately after John Johnson died, paranormal activity started happening on the ship. That's 124 years worth of the same stuff. There's a lot of neat stuff, though they can't state the place is actually haunted. John #2 was happy with the findings, even though he remains skeptical. I wonder whatever happened to John #1?

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