My Waverly Hills Experience

[beband]

OK...So I spent half a night in Waverly Hills this past Friday and I have been asked to tell my story.
Background - for those who don't know about Waverly.  It used to be an old Tuberculosis Hospital in the early 1900's.  Later it became a nursing home and then became and old abandoned hulk of a building that now sits on Louisville's West side high on a hill.  So many people died there that it rivals Gettysburg for the number of people who died in a single place in America.  Also the bad stuff that happened to the nursing home patients lends to it's "haunted-ness".  So for the past 3-4 years the current owners have been trying to save the building by running a Halloween Haunted house (the kind where people dress up like Freddy and jump out at you) and then running historical and Ghost tours through the building.  It's relatively cheap to do any of these and I recomend it highly!
My Story
ok...now that you know that...know this...Waverly is supposed to be the #2 most haunted place in america next to Gettysburg.  Whe I first visited the "fake" haunted house I learned this and learned that you could come back for a REAL ghost hunting experience.  I have had some unexplained moments in my life, but was able to kind of rationally explain them away.  I am also a Christian which presents a unique take because I believe souls go to either heaven or hell when they die.  So what is a ghost?  Residual imprints leftover?  Demon?  Angel?  I didn't know.
The most common ghost to see at Waverly is a "Shadow Person".  The best way to tell you how this looks is turn off all lights except ambient light from outside and try to look at someone across a hall.  They look like a shadow...black and featureless except for their outline.  When we got there, they taught us how to look for ghosts.  Once we learned, they started popping up everywhere!  I would look down a darkened hallway with only the ambient light and you could see shadows cross the doors.  Sometimes it appeared as if they were peeking out of the door down the hall.  Some where human shaped, others were just shadows.  If you've ever looked under a closed door that was lit up on the other side and seen people moving back and forth, the shadow that creates is similar to what I saw as well.  I watched one go back and forth for almost 3 mins.  It was very unnerving, but at the same time I did not feel as scared as I thought I would, nor did I feel threatened, so my Demon theory was completely blown out of the water.
The coolest thing that happened though was on the 3rd floor.  My wife and I seperated form the group (you're allowed to freely explore the floor) so we could concentrate on listening.  As we were standing there, there were three doors...one on either side of the hallway and then a fire escape in front of us.  We stood quietly and then heard a crack, like someone stepping on glass...but neither of us had moved!  We waited and nothing further happened.  Then two more guests joined us and just as we were about to leave, we heard a scrape like a metal bed being pulled across a floor.  All Four of us were stock still and hardly breathing.  We heard it again and comfirmed with each other that no one had moved.  Nobody had.  We listened further and it happened 3 more times.  Now, I wasn't satisfied.  I decided to check the two rooms and fire escape.  No one or thing was out on the escape.  No trees or anything that might have scraped against it.  Same in the rooms.  They were bare.  As I was about to leave the room I was in, I heard it again.  It was the only time I got a little scared, because the noise was so close!
The only other thing of note was that in the same hallway, my wife was "touched".  She felt someone run two fingers across the back of her neck.  At this time I was at least two arm lengths away from her and there were no hanging wires or cobwebs that could have touched her.
We have a few pictures, but only one good one in the hallway where we heard the noise.  I will upload them to the thread.  They were digital, so no faking could have been done.  The one in the hallway was of a white blur, and then the others were your typical "orb" photos that are associated with ghosts.
Well I hope you enjoyed hearing about this and if you are interested in going to Waverly, let me know and I'll get you the info on how to spend a night there.  They say the most active time is on a night when it storms.  So I would wait until next spring (they are closing soon for the cold season anyways) and go when you see a storm predicted in the louisville area.  For 2.5 hours it is $50, and for 4.5 it is $100.  So be prepared to spend money and have an open mind!  You won't see them if you don't.
Lastly, please don't flame this.  I did this because some people requested to hear the story.  If you don't believe it, that's ok...just pass it by and leave it for those of us who do.  Thanks for reading!
C

[Half]

i'm not a big fan of "ghosts."

[HorkoLad]

Wow, that sounds like an awesome time. I'd love to do something like this but all of my friends are pantie-wastes.

[Half]

a friend of mine worked for a local news station and he and 5 crew members spent the night in a "haunted" hotel on Halloween.  the hotel was built in the late 1800s and overlooks the largest natural lake in PA.  to make it even creepier, the hotel/ballroom is located in a rundown amusement park.  he said he heard a lot of strange noises but the weirdest part was they kept finding chairs stacked on top of one another.

[beband]

No that's my kinda place.  Wow an abandoned amusement park?????  That sounds like that old "B" movie "Carnival of Souls".  Really creepy.
C

[Half]

yeah- its creepy there.  i've walked through the park in the middle of winter and its pretty creepy.  i think i'll get high and go there this weekend and take some pictures



The hotel Conneaut is located on the west shore of Conneaut Lake. The first hotel on this site was called the Park hotel.  In 1905 the Park Hotel was rebuilt due to a fire and called the hotel Conneaut. 13 people lost their lives in the blaze.  
In 1943 the hotel was struck by lightening and the resulting fire destroyed more than half the roof. Unable to replace  the damaged roof due to World War II, the damaged section was demolished resulting in a remodeled hotel of 150 rooms.  
There was yet another fire in August of 1989, but the damage was contained by kitchen staff workers.  The odd part about this fire was that it occurred on the only day of the week that there were employees at the then shut down hotel.  The fire was on the complete opposite side of the hotel from where the employees were.

[HorkoLad]

yeah- its creepy there.  i've walked through the park in the middle of winter and its pretty creepy.  i think i'll get high and go there this weekend and take some pictures



The hotel Conneaut is located on the west shore of Conneaut Lake. The first hotel on this site was called the Park hotel.  In 1905 the Park Hotel was rebuilt due to a fire and called the hotel Conneaut. 13 people lost their lives in the blaze.  
In 1943 the hotel was struck by lightening and the resulting fire destroyed more than half the roof. Unable to replace  the damaged roof due to World War II, the damaged section was demolished resulting in a remodeled hotel of 150 rooms.  
There was yet another fire in August of 1989, but the damage was contained by kitchen staff workers.  The odd part about this fire was that it occurred on the only day of the week that there were employees at the then shut down hotel.  The fire was on the complete opposite side of the hotel from where the employees were.

can we seriously do that? at least take a walk around the area?

[Half]

i'll bring the weed and the camera.  heck......maybe we can take our shirts off?

[HorkoLad]

i'll bring the weed and the camera.  heck......maybe we can take our shirts off?

mine is already off
:-/

[antoniostrohs]

This place is really creepy and I never had the nerve to do it myself. But I do know others that have. Here's a link.
http://www.waverlyhillstbsanatorium.com/

[EC]

You couldn't get me in one of those places for a million dollars.  Holy crap.

[EC]

Okay.  Maybe I would do it for a million dollars.

But not much else.  

[primushead]

Okay.  Maybe I would do it for a million dollars.

But not much else.  

For a Million, I would stay in there with Charles Manson and Carrot Top.  I think I could do it :)

[dragonboy]

Shit that's a great post Beband!
Can't wait for the photos...

[ratsprayer]

sounds fascinating to me, im a big believer, and im always on the search for new places.  athens, ohio is supposed to be the 13th most haunted place in the world, you should read up on that some time and visit some of their sites.  interestingly enough, i visited the moonville tunnel today which is usually given credit for being one of the most, if not the most haunted place in ohio.  its definitely the place with most legend and attention surrounding it.

http://www.forgottenoh.com/moonville.html

theres tons of stuff written about it.  needless to say its out in the middle of fucking nowhere, probably the most nowhere you can get in ohio, and that really is saying a lot.  its a highly energetic place, and the plants all make strange noises out there rubbing against each other, i didnt stay too long, considering i was by myself.  if i get someone to go with me, id actually walk through it, but not this time.

[dragonboy]

"Some of the scarier graffiti inside"  ;D

[beband]

Wow,
Good stuff all.  I would really like to get to PA to that amusement park!  Sounds awesome.  I will get pics up tomorrow.  I just finished band practice tonight and am wiped out, but took enough time to look through some of this stuff.  Keep posting your own stories and legends.  I am happy to be among those who have seen!
C