Capital Area Paranormal Society

CAPS investigators: Dave, Trish and Vicki
Weather was hot and sunny

Dave and Trish annually visit the Lake of the Ozarks region for a summer respite and this year I tagged along with them to check out a place called the Haunted Castle House B & B located in the small town of Brumley, Missouri.  We made arrangements to stay the weekend with Friday being our primary investigation time.

We pulled up to the historic white structure late Friday afternoon where we were warmly greeted at the gate by the owners Nick and Marcy Sacco and their canine companions. Although the dogs were all very amicable, I must confess that am a staunch cat supporter.  As we entered the Castle house dwelling, I found myself in a heavenly state between seeing the stunning antiques that adorned the home and the felines that ruled the inside of this abode.  Trish was not as eager to set eyes upon them as she is allergic to cats, but was well equipped with medication.

Nick and Marcy graciously gave us a tour of the home that is constructed of solid concrete.  It was built in 1850 for Dr. Walter Dixon and his wife Martha.  The first bedroom located on the second floor is called the Martha Dixon Room, an open space next to the staircase and named in honor of the Doctor’s wife who was found dead at the top of the staircase next to the room.  While scrutinizing the room we noticed that the window fan had fallen, which left me scratching my head because I know when we pulled up to the house it was still perched in the windowsill.

The next bedroom we entered is aptly called the Hospital Room, formally the location that Dr. Dixon held his medical practice.  Continuing the tour, we were next led to the Annie Hill Room.  It was named after a little girl that had perished due to a fireplace accident in her home. The room overlooks the backyard of the house, where there are two cemeteries.  One is a small “pioneer” cemetery and the other is a mound of dirt that is a mass grave for the victims of the 1918’s deadly Spanish influenza pandemic.

We continued the excursion to the fourth bedroom called the Dairy Barn Room, part of an addition that was built on in the 1970’s.  As the door to the room opened, we noted that there were a couple of puddles of liquid on the floor that had the appearance of human footprints.

We were given a choice of bedrooms to stay in for the weekend. Dave and Trish called dibs on the Hospital Room and I choose Annie Hill.

We gathered our belongings from the car, and laughingly chastised ourselves for over packing during our multiple trips hauling it all up to the second floor.  When that grueling task was completed, I made my way back to the Dairy Barn Room.  From the doorway I saw what appeared to be a strange white mist that quickly dissipated as I was blinking my eyes wondering if I truly was witnessing something or was it merely an allusion from hunger…

We decided to have dinner at a place called “Regular Joe’s Bar and Grill” that was conveniently located near the Castle House.  Trish and I felt like our hair was being played with while we were waiting for our food.  We couldn’t help pondering if they served up more than the thirst quenching spirits or if we had tagalongs from the Castle House.  After a bountiful meal with wonderful service, we returned to the house.  Dave and Trish went inside to get some preliminary meter readings while I took some outside pictures taking full advantage of the daylight.

When I meandered back into the house, I met up with Trish in the Martha Dixon room.  While we were standing next to the staircase we smelled a fragrant floral perfume. It left a trail down the hallway towards the Annie Hill room then faded.

We decided to set up our static video cameras in the downstairs parlor and another shooting up the stairwell, along with multiple areas on the second floor.

While we were setting up in Martha’s room, we turned the Ovilus on dictionary mode and had the rarity of a name come up, Robert, followed by the words closet and trip.  During this time, Trish was standing by the wall next to the staircase and felt dizzy.  I switched places with her and felt an overwhelming sensation envelop me.  I can only describe it as feeling extraordinarily disoriented and very chilled.  Dave traded places with me and laughingly shrugged saying he didn’t feel anything.  Again Trish and I took turns in that space and it felt very odd.  Later that evening we were able to stand in that spot without feeling any of those sensations.

We donned our white medical lab coats while in the Hospital Room operating the spirit box and Ovilus.  The Ovilus spewed out thought-provoking words such as medicine and Hemataus.  As I was glancing around the room, I noticed a picture that was sitting on top of a dresser scoot across a couple of inches on its own.

It was pretty hot with those jackets on so we slipped them off and scurried downstairs to see if there was any activity.  While sitting around the dining room table, we heard a tremendous amount of noises emanating from the kitchen area.  It sounded as if someone was walking in there. We wondered if it was the cats, but when Dave went in to check, none were there.

It had been a long day, so we called it a night but left video cameras running in various locations, including our rooms.  This was my first night staying solo in what is reputed to be a haunted bedroom.  Let me just say that it had an extremely creepy atmosphere!  I decided to sleep with my flashlight, which ended up being a wise decision.  There were numerous times that a loud noise within the room woke me.  The first occurred around 2 pm across the room.  The sound seemed to come closer each time until finally it was right next to me.  I can’t help but wonder if some impish spirit was having a bit of fun with me, because it must have looked comical each time I hopped up with my flashlight.  

Next door in the hospital room, Trish felt a gentle caress brushing down her arm. Dave had his K2 meter next to him and jokingly said that he hoped it wouldn’t go off because it was so close to him that he would freak.  He really didn’t expect anything since he had very little meter spikes throughout the night but to his astonishment, it lit up!

On Saturday morning, thanks to Nick and Marcy, we had coffee and a bite to eat before spending the day site seeing.  Upon our return to the Castle House, while standing in the hallway, we heard a loud clatter come from the Annie Hill room. I laughed and told Trish that’s the stuff that kept me awake all night.  We walked in to find that an old photo of a couple that was sitting on a dresser had fallen.

I was contemplating what this meant for me that night and just as I was setting up my video camera, BAM!  This time it just made me chuckle and I was prepared for another non peaceful night.  In spite of a few subtle sounds and hearing a child’s voice next to my ear, I managed to make it through to the morning.

After breakfast I went back to the bedroom to pack my belongings.  When I was ready to depart I found that I could not open the bedroom door. After sending an emergency “help me” text to Dave, he and Trish discovered that the door knob was loose, and were able to get me out eventually.  I can’t help but think it was because someone just didn’t want me to leave.