Ghosthunting Michigan. Helen Pattskyn
they moved in. There have been a lot of orb photos taken as well as EVP (electronic voice phenomena) evidence and video clips, all of which can be accessed from Bone Head’s website.
Just about then Patrice, Niki’s office manager, came in. Niki called her over and explained what we were talking about, adding that Patrice had accompanied a couple of the paranormal teams when they were at the restaurant doing their investigations.
“Did you tell her about Bob?” Patrice asked.
“No, I almost forgot,” said Niki. “Bob used to live in the attic, right at the top of the stairs—it’s not much more than a crawl space, but I guess it used to be a bedroom. When the last team was out here they were communicating with him, weren’t they?”
Patrice nodded. “I think I remember them saying Bob told them he used to work on the property as some kind of caretaker or maintenance man.”
I wondered if maybe that was the apparition my friend’s son had seen.
“Have you had any experiences?” Niki asked Patrice.
“Not really … well, there was that one time I was sitting here with a friend of mine. She’s really sensitive to stuff like this,” explained Patrice. “She said she saw a little girl tugging on the apron sting of one of the waitresses.”
Later on, when Patrice asked that particular waitress if she’d felt anything unusual that night, the gal told her she’d felt a tugging on her apron string, but had just blown it off as “nothing.” Everyone agreed that was a little freaky. I thought so too.
Spotlight On: The Motor City Ghost Hunters
Last September I visited the Whitefish Point Lighthouse and Shipwreck Museum. Just as I was pulling in, the Motor City Ghost Hunters were pulling out. But before they could hit the road for the long trek back home, Beth, the housekeeper for the Crew Quarters at Whitefish Point, introduced us. I couldn’t have met with a nicer or more knowledgeable group of people.
As I was wrapping up the last details of this book, I got back in touch with John, who is both the team’s leader and founder, to thank him again for taking the time to talk with me that day back in September and to ask permission to use some of the information from their website to put together a “Team Profile” for my book. He graciously gave me the go-ahead and filled me in on some of the things they’ve been up to since the last time we spoke.
Probably the most exciting news is that when the Ghost Hunters were going over their footage from Whitefish Point, they realized they’d caught what looks like an apparition on tape. Fox News ran the clip; it can also be seen on both the Ghost Hunters’ website and on YouTube. John told me the footage has been turned over to SyFy’s Fact or Faked for further investigation—but he was there that night and assured me that there was nothing “fake” about it. Not that I thought there might be. The Ghost Hunters may be believers in the paranormal, but they will always look for logical explanations first.
John said he and his teammates have been on investigations pretty much every weekend since September and have a lot more planned for the coming year, including visits to the Mansfield State Prison, Yankee Air Museum, and, of course, their annual visit to Whitefish Point. Also included in their busy schedule are a number of educational talks at local libraries, as well as a special event just for children who are interested in learning more about the paranormal.
John told me that he and his team always put children first, and any request for an investigation where kids are involved will always get top priority. “It’s about letting people know they don’t have to be afraid, especially in their own home or business,” he said. The sentiment is echoed by every other member of the team. That desire to ease people’s fears is what drives these folks to give up their weekends and free time, because none of them are paid for what they do—yet they give up countless hours and spend no small amount of money on equipment. Having talked to them at length the day we met and speaking to John again on the phone, it was easy to see why the Motor City Ghost Hunters are so well respected.
John is a licensed mechanical contractor with certification in microbial pest management. In other words, he’s pretty good at figuring out if what seems to be a ghostly phenomenon is “real” or if it can easily be explained away as something related to the structure of a building. Like many of his teammates, he has been interested in the paranormal for most of his life.
One of the other members I met at Whitefish Point was Chass. Like John, she’s married with children and has experienced a number of things in her life that couldn’t be easily or scientifically explained. Chass joined the team after the Motor City Ghost Hunters conducted an investigation in her home.
I also met lead investigator and case manager Kellie, who describes herself as both a “true believer” and a bit of a skeptic. Her educational background is in social science.
Of course, with more than two dozen team members, it would be impossible to mention them all, or even the half dozen or so I was fortunate to meet at Whitefish Point. What I can say is that I look forward to seeing them again; I’ve been invited to join them on an investigation and have every intention of accepting that invitation as soon as time allows.
CHAPTER 6
Battle Alley Arcade Antiques Mall
HOLLY
HOLLY IS PERHAPS BEST KNOWN as the home of the Michigan Renaissance Festival, a favorite autumn destination for Michiganders of all ages, and for the Mt. Holly Ski and Snowboard Resort, one of Lower Michigan’s most popular winter retreats. Another reason to visit the village of Holly is the annual Dickens Festival, held each December along the town’s historic downtown district. The festival brings Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol to life by recreating a truly old-fashioned Christmas with carolers, a tree-lighting ceremony, and, of course, a visit from Father Christmas (or simply “Santa” to most American children). But if you’re a paranormal investigator or, like me, just an amateur ghosthunter in search of a few good stories, you will find a lot more than the spirits of Christmas past haunting the quiet 160-year-old village. Holly is said by some to be one of the most haunted little towns in Michigan—which meant I was really looking forward to my visit. I took my husband along with me for this trip too, although I think he was more interested in preventing me from shopping too much than he was in any ghost stories.
Our first stop was the Battle Alley Antiques Arcade, located next door to the historic Holly Hotel. Since it was pretty close to the holiday season, I had called ahead and made an appointment with the antiques shop owner, Patricia Kenny. Pat graciously agreed to show me around and talk to me about the arcade’s history and resident spirits, as long as I came up on a weekday. That worked for us, and I told Pat I would be there on Monday.
When my husband got home from work that afternoon, we made some hot cocoa for the road, bundled up, and were on our way. Holly isn’t far from us, less than an hour, and it was a nice day for a drive and maybe a little holiday shopping—or at least pointing out to my husband all the things I might like to find in my stocking this year! Street parking in downtown Holly proved to be a bit sparse, but my husband found us a spot a short distance from the antiques arcade. We enjoyed a short walk through the historic district, where all of the stores were decked with evergreen garland and red velvet bows for the upcoming holiday season.
I had been curious about how the street named Battle Alley got its name. We found a plaque in downtown Holly that told us the story: Holly hasn’t always been the peaceful little village it is today; it started out as a railroad town, filled with migrant workers and their families, as well as the occasional farmer who would come in for supplies. Despite the fact that Oakland County, in which Holly is situated, was a “dry” county at the turn of the 20th century, the village of Holly maintained a number of saloons and speakeasies in its downtown district. In 1880, a skirmish broke out between some of the migrant railway workers who had settled in Holly and a troupe of travelling circus performers. The fight