Thornhaven Manor, New Castle Indiana July 2014
Investigators: Dave, Trish, Vicki and returning guest Betsy
Weather cloudy
with cooler than normal temperatures
This
year’s annual pilgrimage to Indiana was a place called Thornhaven Manor; a
beautiful but somewhat eerie brick structure on the outskirts of New
Castle. The home sits on several acres
of land which includes a barn that hosts two baby turkey vultures and their
Mama that by all accounts, I am quite happy not to have come face-to-face.
Around
6:30pm we met the owner, Steve Miller, who graciously showed us around the home
and property. We are always so pleased
to meet people willing to put the time and effort needed to restore historic
structures. When Dave asked his plans
for the home, Steve jokingly replied that although he bought it to live in…
some days he’s not so sure.
The
manor was built in 1845 for a prosperous influential man named Simon T Powell
and his wife Elizabeth. They had four
children, one of whom was a little girl named Lizzy who tragically died at the
age of two. They also had a son that died
while fighting in the civil war on the side of the Union and another daughter
who perished sometime in her early adulthood. Their son Henry, who also fought in the war
and had severely damaged his leg, lived into his 70’s. After Elizabeth died, Simon remarried to a
woman named Melvina.
Although
the years have certainly taken its toll on the home, there is no doubt that at
one time this place was filled with beauty and elegance. I couldn’t help thinking of when we might get
the opportunity to come back when Steve had finished.
While
on the tour, I began having issues with my camera battery failing. I overheard Trish say her camera batteries
drained as she was passing by that same area on the main floor. As we moved on, both our cameras rebounded
back, although over the course of the evening we all had to undergo multiple
battery changes. After showing us the
house and grounds Steve left us to investigate at our leisure; whilst he took
off towards the backyard to build us a welcoming fire should the mood strike
us.
We
decided to use the first room on the main floor as our command central; it would
make for convenient loading and unloading. As Dave pointed out, it would also be the
quickest way out.
Betsy
and I started upstairs and almost immediately we both began feeling a heaviness
in our chests; I had a hard time talking at that point. We decided it was in our best interest to head
back downstairs for a while. Curiously Trish
experienced the same labored breathing in the upstairs children’s room at the
end of the evening.
While
Dave and Trish then went upstairs to investigate and set up another video
camera, Betsy and I sat in the “Doll Room”, (in honor of a dolly that sits in
there that was found by Steve when cleaning up the basement). While sitting quietly, Betsy detected several
temperature fluctuations with her laser thermometer, and then saw a strange
squiggly white light near the top of the staircase.
When
Dave came back down he sat with us for a spell.
During this time we heard a continuous, loud thumping noise, as if
someone was walking very slowly across the floor. After we had set up multiple static cameras
and recorders we vacated the house for about a half hour to see what kind of
activity we could catch. We met up with Steve
who was relaxing by the fire. He told us
that strange banging and footsteps are a common occurrence at Thornhaven
At
about 10 pm I was setting up my video camera at the foot of the staircase and
heard a strange knocking noise behind me. I turned and noticed it appeared to be coming
from a nearby door. I called out to the
others thinking that perhaps it was one of them only to discover they were all
on the other side of the house. As the thumping
continued I looked at the door and saw it had a transom and realized it was a
door leading to the outside. At first it
sounded as if someone was hammering, but became progressively louder and
freakier until it reached a crescendo when the door itself was literally vibrating;
then it stopped.
While
I stayed inside, Dave went to check and I heard him say that not only wasn’t
anyone there, but that the entry was at least three feet off the ground,
covered in thick foliage and there weren’t even any steps…
Later
that evening as we all sat downstairs with the creepy doll, Dave tried playing
some old time music in hopes of eliciting some responses. A few times Trish felt goose bumps and we all
kept hearing a sort of clicking noise but never found the source. Betsy and I heard a whispery voice.
While
the others went upstairs, I felt the sudden urge to sit in the first floor hallway
next to the staircase. To my side was
the drawing room with bay windows that was corded off for safety. Previously some investigators had captured interesting
thermo pictures that looked as if an image was looking in from the
outside.
As
the others resumed the music experiment upstairs, I suddenly felt an
exceedingly spine-chilling sensation enveloping me and my K2 meter began lighting
up. The home currently does not have
electricity, so the fact that any of our K2 or EMF meters would spike is quite
significant. I whipped out my digital
camera and began frantically taking pictures...
Suddenly
a tremendously loud banging noise came from behind me. To say that I was petrified is an understatement!
I got up to look at where the noise had
come from and by golly, there was another door. This one had a broken out window with a room
behind it. I apprehensively peered through
it and to my great relief I was not met eye-to-eye with anything, paranormal or
otherwise.
I
scurried upstairs to find the others to let them know what had happened and
show them the pictures. The first photo revealed
a black mist but in the next it’s gone. There
were a couple of other strange photos that looked as if something red was on
the wall.
We
all went back downstairs to check it out.
I took my flashlight and shined it on
the wall and to my surprise there was nothing red in appearance. Both Betsy and Trish began having issues with
their cameras and my K2 meter briefly lit up again. Dave decided to get the spirit box to perform a
session in that spot. The spirit box produced
strange modulations; Trish was sure she heard a whisper.
Throughout
the rest of the evening we continued to have periodic K2 hits, heard
unexplained noises and whispers, at one point I swear I glimpsed a pair of
little legs dangling from the “Doll Chair”.
After
packing up our equipment I turned and looked back at Thornhaven bathed in darkness. A marvelous place and I can’t wait to return,
but like Steve said at the beginning, don’t know if I’d really want to live there…
Photographs (Link to Album)
To the left is the outside transom door where the loud banging appeared to emanate. It seems quite inaccessible to either man nor beast.
Above is one of Betsy's shots into the famous drawing room.


The photographs to the left were a few of the many taken by Vicki by the drawing room at near the base of the stairs.
In the first set a large dark mass appears to be block the view of the bay window, yet a shot taken less than 10 seconds later it is not longer there...
The same type of phenomenon occurred when shooting toward the stairs only in this case the it appears to be more red in color.
EVPs
Captured this upstairs in the servants quarters during the "Music Experiment". At about 2 secs a child's voice seems to say, "Better Leave..."
Caught in the first floor front room when I was changing my camera batteries after the tour. Sounds like a child singing softly at the beginning then at about 6 secs, very loudly, "Mommy...".
Caught in the first floor front room when I was first getting out our equipment. At about 2 secs a child's voice perhaps say's, "Don't Move..."
Recording of the "Loud Footsteps" we captured on the main floor. Couldn't believe how long they lasted...
Caught upstairs in the hallway. At about two secs child with a sing-songy voice.
EVP from the "Creepy Doll Room". Something faint about about 1 sec, then a male voice at about 7 secs, not sure but sounds like "Betsy burned us..."
Another one in the Doll room. At about 2 secs a deep male voice, "Release..."
Taken from the Spirit Box session on the first floor after my encounter. Dave say's he's ready to turn off the SB7, at six seconds... "Wait".
Video
The first clip shown is a very persistent and apparently playful light anomaly. The path this object appears to follow and the course changes it makes are unlike anything we have ever caught on video.
The second clip was also from one of our static cameras set up to monitor our Boo Buddy Friend. It appears to be illuminated by one of our other lights but the shape is certainly something we could not easily explain.
If your having trouble viewing this video, we have finally posted it to YouTube...