Capital Area Paranormal Society

Brought to our attention by Paranormal investigator and Author Larry Wilson, Dr.Ugs is located on the south side of the town square in the heart of Virginia, Illinois. Built in 1897, it was initially a furniture store but in later years was renovated for other uses, such as a funeral home, a drug store, and ultimately a bar and café. There is documentation of a man named James Potter (not Harry’s dad) that was shot on the property and ended up losing his life; ironically it was a funeral home at that time.

The reported hauntings have been numerous, such as voices and mysterious footsteps, children’s laughter, an apparition of a man, and incidences of dog barking. Larry Wilson has done several solo investigations and extensive research of the premises, penning a book he entitled “Dr.Ugs: A haunting in Virginia, Illinois” Campfire tales series vol. 1. We were extremely fortunate to have him join us that evening.

We met up with Larry around 7pm. He graciously gave us a tour as he pointed out the various hotspots. Larry also played some very compelling EVPs he had captured during previous investigations. I must admit, some were very creepy sounding and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them! He had several of the phantom dog barking …

As we went about exploring and setting up equipment, my flashlight went out completely in the upstairs back room, only to return full force once I walked out. It went out again when I went back, and that’s when I decided to wise up and carry a spare.

Throughout the night I kept feeling as if there was a cat rubbing against my leg. Being a cat lady, I was thrilled, however when listening through our evidence, both on a recorder and one of our videos we captured the sound of an angry cat. I regrettably recognized the sound having accidentally stepped on my own cats on more than one occasion. Interestingly that equipment was in the same isolated back room on the top floor where my flashlight went out.

While Jim and I were sitting in the second-floor bedroom area, we heard what sounded like someone walking up the staircase. We both joked about surprising whoever it was that was coming, only to be greeted by nothingness! My feelings at that time are best described as creepy crawly. I much preferred the cat rubbing against my legs.

In the meantime, Dave had placed the Rempod on the bar located on the main floor. After sitting there quietly for over an hour, it suddenly went bonkers lighting up. Eventually Dave moved it closer to the bathroom area, where once again, after sitting a while it started going crazy.

Dave and Larry also ventured into the basement. There they experienced repeated temperature fluctuations. Larry also witnessed what he described as a couple of neon green lights. One appeared as a triangular shape and the other more of a square. Dave also observed something that he described as yellowish lighting. They could not determine any obvious explanation for these lights as that location is below ground level and a dungeon-like atmosphere.

While Jim and I were standing in the back-office area, I made a silly joke when tagging my recorder. As Jim was politely laughing, we captured what sounded like a child laughing next to us. I was pleased because that EVP was captured on both our recorders.

Dave and Larry obtained some interesting results from the spirit box session. When Larry asked what the name of the dog was, a male voice responded “Hayden”. If you get a chance to read Larry’s book, you’d realize that response was spot-on.

As the night was wrapping up, I stood in the bar area alone while the others were upstairs packing, I observed something stealthily flying across the room that was pure blackness and then seemed to disappear. I wondered if it was a bat or an extremely large insect…neither would have been deemed desirable to me! However, I earnestly searched with my trusty flashlight beam and couldn’t find an explanation. Whatever it was simply vanished in front of my eyes.

Located in the heart of historic Virginia Illinois, Dr.Ugs was certainly a fascinating investigation, offering large windows with a panoramic view of the courthouse and a dungeon-like area that can only be accessed via an old fashion open-air elevator. It was an intriguingly eventful evening when all is said and done; I certainly understand why Larry chose that location for the subject of one of his books.