Capital Area Paranormal Society

It had been quite some time since the CAPS team investigated the historic 1839 Hickox house.  Over the past eight years, we have spent many evenings there, most notably Dave and Trish hosting other investigators and it has been utilized by the Lanphier Paranormal Club as a sort of training ground.  Personally, I was eager to see if there were any changes in the activity.

We immediately navigated our way into the Library room to begin our investigation.  My K2 meter was lighting up fully to red, and occasionally we would hear a loud noise near us.  I decided to take some pictures with my digital camera.  After only a few shots, the darn thing completely froze on me!  I couldn’t do anything, not even turn it off!  Top Cat Dave decided we should take the batteries out and put them back in to see what would happen.  Well TC knows best, because that did the trick and it started working again.  Trish then turned on her K2 meter, and it also began lighting up as Dave and Trish heard a nearby shuffling noise.

Trish and I decided to walk around the building with the meters, leaving Dave downstairs to hold a spirit box session in an area of the hallway that is believed to have a portal.   After Trish and I made our way up the stairs, we entered the middle room on the second floor and our meters started to react strongly again.  Dave joined us a few minutes later and had a hard time breathing in there.

After moving to the front room of the building, Dave’s breathing was normal again. We refer to that area as “Alice’s” room, the little ghost girl that is said to reside there.  I put headphones on so that I could listen “live”.  During a conversation we were having, I heard a female voice say something that sounded like the word “chilly”.  Shortly after that, I had felt a chill near the doorway where I was standing.  Suddenly some clicking noises started behind where Trish was sitting and she then developed an onslaught of massive cold chills!  I guess we can’t say that we weren’t warned!

We moved to the long room located next to Alice’s room.  As we sat in there, we heard several creaking noises. Both Dave and Trish started to have ringing in their ears.  Trish once again felt a harsh cold chill coursing down her back.  I was sitting next to her, and the only way that I could describe it is the feeling like I was on the verge of having goosebumps!  It was during this time that we heard a strange dragging sound.  

At this point, I felt the creepy factor setting in on me and Trish ended up with her head starting to spin! (I should clarify that by saying her head was spinning because of a dizzy spell, not rotating in the “exorcist” way.)  I strangely felt burning hot in spite of the clement temperature.  We thought it was best to make our way back down the stairs.

As we were heading back down the stairs, Dave stopped in his tracks and proclaimed that he just saw what appeared to be a child peeking around the corner of Alice’s room.  He described it as a full head in a solid form.  As we returned to that room to inspect, I felt a major wave of chills once again engulf me.  Although we did not see anything out of the ordinary, I did have a sudden flash of memory to one night when it was just Dave and I in the building.  As we were sitting in that same room, I saw a child-sized shadow standing behind Dave and got an EVP of a child’s voice.  

We trekked our way back into the Library room to utilize the spirit box.  By the close of the session, I felt the recorder in my hand was being vigorously tugged on.  The other two felt more cold chills, as Dave saw a streak of light in a room behind Trish.  I walked over to Trish, and it felt like a blast of cold air surrounding us. (Hmmm…I think I know where to hang out when the summer heats up!)

Suddenly our attention was captured by a noise in the hallway behind me that sounded like water was running, trailed by some loud noise and a thump from upstairs.  Dave and I went to check out the upstairs, while Trish looked in the hallway for a potential cause for the water noise.  This time I was the one that felt the heaviness in that second floor middle room.  While standing there, Dave and I heard a distinct sound of walking.  We thought perhaps Trish had followed us upstairs, but it turned out she had returned to the library, hoping to hear the mysterious water noise again.

For me, it was a poignant nostalgic return to the Virgil Hickox House.  We became well acquainted with this site in our early CAPS days; it has provided us with the opportunity to meet some incredible individuals and paranormal groups along the way.  We filmed an episode of “My Ghost Story caught on Camera” there, a Halloween special for a local television station, and even shot some YouTube shows as well.  The inhabitants have certainly taught us a thing or two and those fond (and scary) memories will forever hold a special place near and dear in my heart.

Photos