Elgin Casket Factory Investigation

The Elgin Casket Factory was built in 1903 by Charles W. Glover and his associates, A.C. Todson and W.C. Todson and is over 55,000 square feet. Glover later acquired all the stock in the company and conducted business there until his death in 1912. Following his death his wife, Mrs. Mabel Glover, operated the business until 1922, when the company was acquired by Fred J. Koss, E. Bruce Stewart and Wesley F. Leland.

Elgin Silver Plate was acquired in 1926 by a competitor, Western Casket Hardware, which had been established on the east side in 1903. Operations were consolidated in the plant of the latter firm. About two years later, Western began manufacturing metal caskets. These soon dominated the output, and the firm's name was changed to Elgin Metal Casket Company in 1939. Elgin produced quality caskets in steel, stainless steel, bronze, and copper, and in peak years shipped up to 70,000 throughout the country. Former President Calvin Coolidge is buried in one. The body of John F. Kennedy was transported from Dallas to Washington in an Elgin casket after his assassination in 1963. Purchased first by Simmons in 1968 and then by Gulf & Western in 1979, the business was moved to Indiana in 1982.

The bodies prepared by Elgin undertakers were often interred in Elgin-made caskets. The Elgin Silver Plate Company a producer of casket trimmings was in full operation on the far west side by the end of 1892. The firm was given a site, an undisclosed cash bonus, and reimbursement for the cost of extending water mains out to Melrose Avenue and Carr Street. By 1899 the plant was so far behind in orders for coffin handles, decorative ornaments, and cornices that the work force was kept busy until 9:00 p.m. The factory was doubled in size, making possible the addition of zinc liners to the product line.

The original address was 66 N. Grove Avenue in Elgin and it was known as Western Casket Hardware Company. The building closed in 1980 but still is being used by a company for a haunted house and paranormal tours. The factory once produced almost 70,000 caskets per year. There are claims of murder and rape and violent actions on the property. Just one month into business at their new location near the Fox River, five mutilated human bodies were discovered in the basement. This mysterious crime remains unsolved.

The casket company had its own share of misfortune including fatal accidents and one serious cyanide spill 1977, which led to a major fine and the beginning of the end for Elgin Metal Caskets. The building was leased by Fitzgerald in 2009.

Allegedly the area where the building is today used to be an Old Settler’s Cemetery and the graves were moved to nearby Bluff City Cemetery however there may be many unmarked graves where bodies were not moved and may still be in the ground. We were unable to confirm this story and researching past history at the Elgin Historical Society yielded no evidence of an Old Settler's Cemetery. In 1949, two escapees from the local mental hospital were reportedly seen on the property of the warehouse, but they were never seen again.

There was a lawsuit and settlement on August 19, 1977 against the factory that were using inexpensive caskets that weren’t air tight, as advertised, and burying people in cheaper caskets.

In its complaint against the factory, the family contended a casket used in the burial of their son and brother, Clayton Hirst, was warranted to be air tight. However, they said, when the body was disinterred for a second autopsy, the casket was found nearly filled with water. Five separate plaintiffs were awarded a total of $34,000 in damages.

Address: 900 Grace St., Elgin, IL 60120

Telephone: 630-634-2858

Owner/Operator: Evil Intentions Haunted House ran by Mike Fitzpatrick

Website: www.eihaunt.com

Hauntings: Cold spots, shadow people. The paranormal reports are that there are voices and touching and intelligent haunts and residual haunts. In the early 1980s, well after the casket company had closed the doors; cloaked figures were seen on the property. It is believed by visiting psychics and previous tenants that the abandoned shell of a coffin factory was a popular location for cult members to practice their dark religious ceremonies.

Casket Room: actors that travel through this room often hear whispering in their ears. While shooting a promo video back in 2013, the camera fell off the tripod and would not work again. The internal components had literally fried the inside of the unit. A stick figure was recorded in 2015 with a SLS camera seen coming from the hallway and then sat in a chair.

Wait line area: several psychics who have visited in the past all said, without apparently knowing the history, that they claimed was a portal here. A spirit of a young boy around seven to twelve years of age named Jacob has been encountered here. Some believe that it’s not really a child’s spirit but something more negative pretending to be a child. A number of past visitors including one of our tour guides have had nose bleeds in this area. During a spirit box session there in the past a question was asked about how you died and the response was “Cocaine”, which might explain the nose bleeds.

Hallway: a mimic ghost has been seen here that will take the form of someone that you know, almost like a doppelganger. Just past the white door, people have felt someone run past them and they actually felt the footsteps on the floor.

Shadow hallway with wheelchair: in this basement hallway there are three rooms off to the right of the corridor that often seem to attract people. When they reach the last room, sometimes you feel that you are being pushed out of the area. There is often a heavy feeling in the doctor’s room which is the 3^rd room in off the hallway.

In the hallway itself there have been the sounds of voices and a door slamming very loudly. There is apparently something or someone attached to the wheelchair. K-II hits are registered here many times and even the sound of an old clown bike horn. Visuals include dark shadows that play off the walls further down the hallway.

During a past investigation, the building’s remote IR camera began going in and out of focus. They quickly checked all the connections which were fine and proceeded to the basement. When they opened up the door to the hallway, there was a dust storm as though someone had stirred up the dust on the floor. The wheelchair was founded lying on its side and the wheels were still spinning!

Scratching sounds have been heard on the walls and even SLS footage of some stick figure crawling along the ceiling! People have been touched and even had the sensation of their flashlights being pulled out of their hands.

Picture Room with the pews: pictures taken in the past have yielded strange faces in the empty hallway leading into the room and even on some of the pillars.

Confessional Room: there is a great heaviness often experienced here possibly due to rapes and murders that might have occurred here in the past but were never substantiated. There has been the appearance of a pig-faced apparition seen and something here seems to react more towards women than men. Employees have seen the curtain in this room move by itself and a mannequin fall to the ground.

Equipment setup: Mostly hand-held equipment was used which included digital recorders and camcorders, full-spectrum cameras, EMF meters, K-II meters, Melmeters, laser grids, Ovilus X. X-Cam SLS device and Phasma Box application.

Experiments performed: EVP, Ovilus X and Phasma Box sessions were performed in the staircase where bullet holes were in the windows, basement hallway with the wheelchair, ticket booth area, Chapel area and the Waiting area where past psychics indicated that there was a portal. The SLS camera was employed in the shadow hallway in the basement and by the waiting area. A REM Epod was placed by a dummy fuse box where a portal supposedly exists.

The Ghost Research Society investigated Elgin Casket Factory September 8, 2018. Team members included: Barbara Meagher, Kylie O'Connell, Greg Kos, Michael Wright, Marge Sucha, Katie Para, Mike Rosario, Ron Lovatt, Laura Lovatt, Charles Williams and Dale Kaczmarek

Personal experiences:

Greg Kos: During our investigation we broke into two groups going to the most active areas of the Casket Factory.

Equipment used EDI+ meter and IR camera and K-II throughout the building.

I captured one picture down a corridor by a fuse box that was not hooked up and watched Mikey have a stick figure appear on the same fuse box on a SLS camera.

The picture I captured appears to be a shadow figure against the chicken wire by the casket around corner by the same fuse box. In front of the shadow it looks like a flare went off and multiple small lights appear to be falling to the floor.

I would like to go back to this location when the building was not active with tours.

Ron & Laura Lovatt: Before we started the investigation we were given a walking tour of the building which were shown the Ticket Booth, the Wait Line, the red door, the hall and doctor rooms, the Chapel, and finally the Confessional and Church. We were told about the various ghostly stories in the different areas including voices, doors closing, ghostly figures, scratching and touching. During the tour I was touched on the back of my leg and felt the cobweb effect both of which happened in the hall way area.

The Red Door-

This was the site of the murder of one of the motorcycle club members of the Outlaws. We did an EVP session with the Ovilus X and the only thing we picked up was the word Tragic. Mike thought he saw a spirit of a little girl moving down the hallway as we were investigating the Red Door area.

The Hallway-

We did and EVP session with the Ovilus X and used the K-II and digital recorders. Dale also used the SLS Camera which showed something or someone crawling on the ceiling. There were temperature changes and sounds of footsteps and the K-II was going off a lot when we were asking questions. The Ovilus X picked up on the following words. I kill you, Jasmine, Seven (when we asked how old the spirit was), No (when asked if it wanted to play ball), shut up.

The Chapel-

The Chapel was very active but the weird thing is that during the EVP session we got a combination of English and we think German language answers to our questions. First of all, I heard a lot of clicking noises when I played back the EVP session on my digital recorder. I also thought I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. Mike, Greg and I heard a loud popping sound from the ceiling. We used the Phasma Box during the EVP session and got the following words and phrases: I’m (something), not here, bullshit, little birdy, shirl or shit, there’s nothing (this was very clear), she is guilty, touch me, woods, thank you, are you in here. There was a lot of laughter like they were just making fun of us. We also got a lot of K-II hits and temperature changes in the room. In the end of the session people started to claim to be getting headaches.

The Waiting Line-

My EVP session was accidentally erased so I can only report that I used the SLS camera in that area. The SLS camera was mainly pointed at one area of the wall that is referred to as the portal from hell. I recorded a session that showed many stick figures coming and going but one figure was standing at the door of this portal just standing there like he was guarding the door. I thought what I was point at was a fuse box so I thought the electricity was being used as a conductor for the spirits to manifest themselves, but found out that it was a fake fuse box and that there is no electricity in that area at all. It was still an amazing experience. Dale did ask a question this EVP session about the portal but since my EVP session was lost I was not able to remember what was asked or answered.

Conclusion-

I believe this place to be haunted. The evidence and personal experiences of I and other team members backs up this claim. The only question I have is that when we did the walking tour of the hot spots, my EMF meter picked up a lot of high readings though out the building at the ceiling level that I think was being caused by a lot of wires and piping that was exposed in the ceiling area. Do we think this helps the spirits to appear and for things to happen in the building or is it just the fear cage effect pushing the people walking in the building to experience this stuff in their minds?

Katherine Meagher: The light history was interesting, the stories that were being relayed to us of experience were fun but I do believe there were a few too many outsiders in the building.

The building is being used for a haunted house and all the decorations were out in its glory. Our group was outside waiting for the cast to finish their practice run for Halloween. It is hard for me to truly ghost hunt in an amusement atmosphere which brings on my skepticism.

I still had a great time with GRS and our camaraderie helps when I go into skeptic mode. I would like to investigate when the party atmosphere has disengaged.

Kylie O’Connell: Walking into Elgin Casket Company I did not feel anything right away or that there was any form of spirit there. Not until we entered the first part of their haunted house waiting like section where they call “the portal to hell”. I felt a slight burning sensation in my chest area and a feeling to where I felt I was going to fall over from being dizzy. This was all before our investigation had started during our tour through the haunt itself. The group I went with started off in the mannequin room where there were 5-6 mannequins’ dresses in cloaks. This room the spirit was known to like playing tricks on women like pulling hair or scratching. We stayed in there doing our own EVP session for 15-20 minutes and received nothing out of the ordinary other than a German word that came over the Ovilus. This was different because another group who did an EVP session in there was also receiving German and foreign-type words. The next thing I did was a “challenge” where two people sit across from each other about 20 feet distance in a straight hallway where children are known to be seen and heard. Kathie and I did this challenge and about 13 minutes in there was a voice that came over both of our EVP recorders that sounded to be of a child. I also heard breathing behind me.

After the 20 minutes were up we all decided to go on to the stairway where we picked up no activity. In this stairway there was gunshots from biker gangs that was known to be haunted as well. From here we went into the basement where is the most haunted place in the building. There was a wheelchair that was known to move around from time to time by one of the ghosts down there. It was believed that there was a guy and a girl couple who lived down there. Greg a member from GRS and I did the last challenge of the night and sat in the basement with the doors closed and only him and I were down there. We heard scratching down the hall and movements of something being dragged. It was a sinister sound. I experienced a hot sensation almost burning around my neck and when I got home that night I had noticed a black mark around my neck like a pair of hands had been there. I was not wearing a necklace that night so there was no object that could have done this unexplainable act. I enjoyed my time at evil intentions and would definitely want to go back and investigate more.

Kathie Para: After the walk through we split up into two groups, due to the large turnout that evening. Kat, Mike, Greg, Kylie, Marge and I spent quite a bit of time in the areas where the mannequins were. We got several relevant words and responses from the Phasma Box.

Kylie and I then spent thirty minutes alone in one of the hallways, her on one end and me on the other, while the rest of the group were in the break room. We got some K-II and Melmeter activity as well as some unexplained noises and knocks. At one point Kylie asked me if I heard a voice. I didn’t at the time but upon reviewing my audio I did capture the faint voice. I’m hoping her audio recorder caught it more clearly since she was obviously closer to it. She also saw a strange flash of light on me while there was no explanation for it.

For the rest of the night we lost Greg to the other group and picked up Chuck and Laura. We did EVP sessions in the stairwell where there had been a shooting and in couple areas of the basement using dowsing rods, Phasma Box and various meters.

We got very good K-II activity in the basement, at times three different meters would be flashing into the orange and red and very clear responses from the Phasma Box

I would love to go back to spend more time in different areas of the building but I understand the building is being sold. I had a great night there!

Mike Rosario: This was such a great investigation! I kept hearing about the Elgin Casket Factory for quite some time now, and I'm so glad we made it there! SO many stories are associated with this facility. First off, it was built in the year 1903, and was built over and old cemetery. Many bodies had to be dug up in order for the construction of the building to be structurally sound and secure. Around 50 years later, new owners renamed the facility The Elgin Casket Factory, and began noticing many strange goings on in and around the structure. They even found mutilations of bodies in the bowels of the building, many murders, rapes, and even roaming mental patients from the nearby asylum wandering around the property. There have been many unsolved cases involving the casket factory, and it's likely that these cases will never be solved. It was during the 1980's where witnesses have reported ghostly phenomena in and around the building. Folks would see cloaked figures, and even the spirits of children walking inside the facility. Tara Lee & Jacob, two prominent entities that are seen there, have been frequent in making their presence known many of times. People began getting nose bleeds every time they make their way into what's called "The Portal to Hell" below in the basement. Many stick figures (to show as entities) have been captured on para-investigators' SLS cameras, and many of the entities are quite physical as well. They like to come out and touch people, pull hair, make a chill in the room, and make evident tapping, rubbing sounds to make their presence known. It is this and many more phenomena that this factory is famous for, paranormal-wise. It was a real treat to investigate here!

Equipment Used and Initial Investigation: Our investigation took off at approximately 9:15p.m on Saturday, September 8, 2018. Weather was cool, with a slight breeze. A very nice night, temperature-wise, with partial clouds in the sky. Equipment used was my K-II meter, a Philips Digital Voice Recorder, a Sony Super Night Shot Handy-Cam DCR-TRV13 NTSC 560 Digital Hi-8 20X Optical Zoom video camcorder, a Police Security Elite Blackout 615 Lumen Hands-free Heavy Duty Flashlight, Sony Handy-Cam HDR-XR160 AVCHD 42xEZ video camcorder, and a handheld green laser grid device. We were guided by facility staff to investigate several haunted locations within the facility. We began in the Casket Ticketing Area. This is where folks would line up for the events for the night, and they, too, have encountered some interesting phenomena themselves as they await their turn to pay. It's even said that actors who play ghoulish entities (for the entertainment portion of the factory) would often experience slight whispers in their ears inside the ticketing area. According to one staff member, around five years ago, a film crew had an incident during a promo for the factory, when suddenly their lighting equipment had fallen over mysteriously, frying all of their electronic systems entirely. The second area we investigated was the "Back Staircase." This is where an entity has been trapped since he was killed by a rival biker gang member many years ago. Bullet holes in the glass windows above are still evident to this day when this tragedy took place there. This area then leads to the basement to the facility, where child entities tend to reside, and be mischievous. I, myself, believed that I did see something which looked like a faint outline of child briefly standing in the doorway that leads directly into the basement (third area: Morgue Room), and then faded away. This shocked me very much, and only lasted about 2.5 seconds! I never knew that child entities were present here in this location until one of the factory's staff told me after the fact! It was then I decided to set up my night shot camera in this area in hopes to catch a glimpse of what I saw minutes before. After packing up and leaving this area, we moved to our fourth location, The Portal to Hell (Chainsaw Hallway). The location's name pretty much says it all about this area. Our group set up equipment all around this space. Even the Phasma Box was used here as well. Dale had asked a question regarding defunct switches where the portal is supposedly located, and immediately received a very clear response from the box saying "It doesn't work!" I have to say, that was quite impressive! Many who visit this room tend to experience a lot of nosebleeds here as well. Investigators and staff who've visited and worked in or near this location always reported to have moderate to severe nosebleeds from time to time. There was even an EVP that was picked up by equipment that said "Make her bleed!" It is said that many years back, a drug addict made his way into this area, and supposedly past away from a cocaine overdose, and died in the location of the now Portal to Hell. From here we made our way to the Chapel area. It seemed that we had an abundance of successful EVP evidence in this room, of all places in the building. Many EVP's containing foreign languages, predominantly that of German decent. We asked a few questions in Deutsch, and received some interesting responses in Deutsch as well. That was such an exciting room to investigate. In this location, it is reported that black shadows tend to lurk in corners, some have seen two different faces at once on the mock "Nun" pictures (from The Conjuring Movie Enterprise), and other black outline figures captured on the walls. Satan worshiping has also been prevalent in this area as well. Finally we moved to our last location of the building, The Confession Area (part of the Chapel). We had to walk through a courtyard to get there, I believe. That courtyard has also been prone to hauntings and other various sightings. This also leads to the basement as well, where black, cloaked figures have been reported to appear. Some reaching as high as seven to eight feet in height! An entity known as "Pops" has also been known to come through many investigators' devices and the phrase "Death to Wolf" (a guy named Wolf) near an adjacent hallway to these areas. Such an interesting investigation for sure, and definitely creepy!

Investigation Wrap-Up: The investigation ended at approximately 2:30a.m on Sunday, September 9, 2018.

Evidence: Upon reviewing all of my evidence, it is sad to note that I didn't pick up any evidence photography/video-wise. However, upon reviewing my digital voice recorder (DVR), I did pick up a few EVPs down in the Basement, Portal to Hell, and Chapel areas. The following EVPs are as follows:

Basement Area:

@ 2:50-2:55: (Male voice) "Bitch, I'll kill you!"

@ 3:14: (Female voice) "Jasmine."

@ 5:15: (Female voice) "I'm 7."

@ 5:51: (Female voice) Either "Don't you see?" or "Get your things!"

Chapel Area:

@ 2:38 (Female voice) "I'm not here."

@ 4:52 (Female voice) "A little birdie."

@ 5:31 (Male, German accent) "Jünger." (Younger).
@ 6:14 (Female, German accent) "Wie gehts?" (How are you?)
@ 6:44 (Female voice) "There's nothing."

@ 7:31 (Possibly female voice, German accent) "Guten abend." (Good evening).
@ 7:48 (Male voice, German accent) "Ja." (Yes).
@ 8:18 (Female voice, German accent) "Du bist!" (You are!)
@ 8:56 (Possibly female voice, German accent) "Doch nicht!" (Not!) or (Impossible!)
@ 10:37 (Possible male voice, German accent) "Sehr gut!" (Very good!)
@ 15:02 (Possible male voice) "Touch me!"

@ 16:17 (Possible male voice) "No!"

@ 17:04 (Female voice) "Are you in here?"

Portal to Hell Area:

@ 10:24 (Male voice) "It doesn't work!"

Conclusion/Overall: Again, I completely enjoyed this entire investigation, and I was so glad to finally come to this location! It's a very interesting and scary place, especially if you're with a small group or working by yourself in this building. Many thanks to the Staff members of the facility showing us around the many locations that are said to be haunted by past residences and workers of the building. It truly was a real blast, and we hope to visit again soon!

Marge Sucha: Equipment I used: Fuji Film Digital Camera, Olympus Digital Voice Recorder, K-II meter, EDI+ meter.

We broke up into two groups. I did my first EVP session with Kat, Kathie, Greg, Mike, & Kylie. We went into a room with mannequins. During our tour we were told there is a spirit in this area that doesn't like women and will mess with them. Overall it felt creepy in this area. Mike W. had the Phasma Box running. At one point Kathie was walking around taking pictures and the Phasma Box said "a drug maker” This was pretty cool since at one point the building was a drug company. We also had some other interesting responses in this area. Some of the responses came through in a foreign language.

Next I did an EVP session on the staircase with Kat, Kathie, Chuck, Mike W., Laura, and Kylie. Someone was said to have died in this area. Overall this area was pretty quiet.

We did a session in the basement where a clown is known to hang out. One member felt someone pull their hair. We did have some K-II activity in this area.

In the Dr. Office area one of the members felt some pressure on the back of their neck. We also had some K-II activity in here.

Chuck Williams: A much larger facility at one point is now divided into several businesses. It is currently Evil Intentions Haunted House. They made steel caskets, and Calvin Coolidge was buried in one, and JFK’s remains were flown in one, but he was put in another box because it was damaged in the flight. Voices, footsteps, slamming doors, psychics reported a “Portal to hell”, Chris Fleming feels there are demons there disguising themselves as children, (But he seems to see demons everywhere).

Equipment: Zoom recorder, Ghost Arc, Rem Pod, Laser Grid Pens.

Experiments: Recorder used during walk through, as well as EVP sessions, Dale & Mike used Phasma Box, Dale and Kathie used Ovilus, Kylie, Greg and others took part in “Challenges” that usually consisted of isolating participants (No results talked about at the time, so guess they passed the challenges.) I was present for two sessions, we were broken up into two groups, I traded off so I could work with everyone present.

Personal Experiences: None. Ghost Arc readings stayed within normal range, REM Epod never went off, Laser Grid Pens had no abnormalities. No voices heard with naked ears, footsteps heard. Ron states he saw a shadow figure. Dale caught a stick figure with his SLS Camera crawling on the celling.

Conclusion: Nothing obvious will have to rely on our tools. Progress is being made by newer members.

Michael Wright: When we first arrived at the factory we did a walk through and got a history of the factory.

We then split up into 2 groups, during our first EVP session in mannequin room there several questions that seemed to be answered specifically through the Phasma Box but did not pick up any EVPs other than the activity on the Phasma Box.

In the second EVP session we were on the stairwell which was a little noisy so it was difficult to decipher the background noises from actual EVPs and did not have any noteworthy dowsing rod activity in either session.

In the basement there was temperature fluctuation that would come and go, on the wall there was a particular spot that was very cold and all of a sudden it went away. The dowsing rods were more responsive in the basement also there was a series of different very creepy voices coming through the Phasma Box.

Dale Kaczmarek: The two areas that I probably enjoyed the most were the Basement Hallway with the wheelchair and the Wait Line area. It was here that we acquired our best pieces of evidence! However the gunshot staircase and Chapel Area also had some very good catches.

I did experience a headache on the left-side of my head while in the Basement Hallway as did one of our guides at the same time. I don’t believe that it was caused by EMF hyper-sensitivity as no one else complained of headaches while investigating there.

My Ovilus X failed to operate at the “Portal to Hell” area but I later determined that it had to be rebooted and after that worked properly. It had nothing to do with the area that we were investigating.

Evidence collected:

A drug maker elgin.MPG – while conducting a Phasma Box session in a room filled with mannequins, the device said, “A drug maker.”

A little birdie elgin.MPG – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Chapel Area, the device said what sounded like, “A little birdie.”

Are you in here elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Chapel Area, the device said, “Are you in here?”

Basement absolutely not elgin.MPG – during our initial walk-through and while our guide was explaining some history, the device said, “Absolutely not.”

Basement did you feel that elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session, in the Basement, the device said, “Did you feel that?”

Basement kiss me Greg today elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Basement, the device said, “Kiss me Greg today.” There was a Greg in our group.

Basement looking at not really the best elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Basement, the device said, “Looking at.” A question was asked, “What are you looking at? Can you see us?” The device responded with, “Not really the best.”

Basement turn around elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session a question was asked, “Doctor’s Office?” The device said, “Turn around.”

Bitch, I’ll kill you elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Basement, a question was asked, “How old are you?” The device said, “Bitch, I’ll kill you!”

Black light elgin.MPG - while conducting an EVP session in the staircase with the bullet holes, “Black light” was heard and recorded.

Foreign elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session the group was commenting about the words sounded like German, the device then said, “Foreign.”

Four elgin.MPG – while using the X-Cam SLS device near the so-called “Portal to Hell”, R. Lovatt picked up a stick figure near a dummy fuse box.

Get your things elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Basement, a question was asked, “Are you the one I saw in the doorway?” The device responded with, “Yes I am” and “Get your things.”

Hallway knock then faint voice elgin.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the Basement, a question was asked, “Does somebody want to make the lights flash on?” A couple of knocks are heard, followed by a faint mumble in the background.

Hallway noise and flash elgin.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the Basement, a slight noise was heard followed by a visible flash of something not caused by either person at the time.

Hey elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the staircase with the bullet holes, the device said a high-pitched, “Hey.”

How do you do elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session, a question was asked, “My name is Marge…Kathie.” The device responded with, “How do you do?”

Howie elgin.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the staircase where the bullet holes are, a faint voice in the background was recorded and it said, “Howie.”

I don’t have it elgin.MPG – while conducting an EVP session, a raspy voice was recorded in the background that said, “I don’t have it.”

I’m seven so am I elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session along with the X-Cam SLS device in the Basement Hallway, a question was asked, “How old are you?” The device responds with, “I’m seven” followed by another that says, “So am I.”

Is it quiet elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session, a comment was made, “It’s quiet in here.” The device said, “Is it quiet?”

It doesn’t work elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session near a dummy fuse box near the Wait Line area, the X-Cam SLS device began picking up stick figures near this fuse box so a question was asked, “Can you turn on one of those switches?’ The device responded with, “It doesn’t work.”

Jasmine elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the shadow hallway, a question was asked, “Are you Saralee?” The device responded with, “Jasmine.”

Knocks elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Basement, a question was asked, “Can you knock on the wall, like this?”

Matt’s cigarette elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the staircase with the bullet holes, a faint voice in the background says what sounds like, “Matt’s cigarette.”

No elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Chapel area, a question was asked, “Is there a family from Germany here?” The device responded with, “No.”

One elgin.MPG – while using the X-Cam SLS device in the Basement Hallway, a weird stick figure was recorded climbing on the ceiling. Past investigators have also captured a similar figure here in the past.

Over here elgin.MPG – while conducting an EVP session, a faint voice was recorded in the background saying, “Over here.”

Shooting stairway shot in the back elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the staircase where bullet holes are, the device said, “Shot in the back.”

Shooting stairway what’s happening elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the staircase where bullet holes are, a question was asked, “Hello?” The device responded with, “What’s happening?”

So what elgin.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the staircase where the bullet holes are, a comment was made, “But I’m the fun one.” A whispery voice in the background says, “So what?”

That came from elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the staircase where the bullet holes are, a comment was made, “Shots came through.” A mumbled voice said, “That came from.

The other elgin.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the Basement, a question was asked, “Which one?” A whispery voice responds with, “The other.”

There’s nothing elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Chapel Area, the device said, “There’s nothing.”

Three elgin.MPG – while using the X-Cam SLS device another strange figure was recorded climbing on the ceiling.

Touch me elgin.MPG - while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Chapel Area, the device said, “Touch me.”

Tragic elgin.MPG - while conducting an Ovilus X session in dictionary mode in the staircase where the bullet holes are, a question was asked, “Can you tell me what happened in this hallway?” The Ovilus responded with, “Tragic.”

Two elgin.MPG – while using the X-Cam SLS device in the Basement Hallway, a strange figure was recorded climbing on the ceiling.

Yeah elgin.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the staircase where the bullet holes are, a comment was made, “We want Pops!” A faint voice in the background says, “Yeah.”

Yell elgin.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the staircase where the bullet holes are, a strange “Yell” was recorded in the background that apparently no one heard.

Words spoken by the Ovilus X in dictionary mode: staircase with bullet holes - wheat, tragic, decompose, building and alive and Phonetic Mode – book; Ticket Booth area – process, suit, loss and flowers and Phonetic Mode – IR.

Conclusions: This was a huge location and with the size of our group and guides to help us return to the haunted locations that were pointed out during our initial walk-through, we decided to split into two more manageable groups.

There were quite a lot of great Phasma Box responses and phrases that, for the most part, matched areas that we were at the time or, in many cases, responded to specific questions asked. The best piece of evidence collected in my opinion was near the so-called “Portal to Hell.” There was a dummy fuse box and R. Lovatt had been using the X-Cam SLS device and was recording stick figures near that box. After a comment was made to turn on one of those switches, the device spit out, “It doesn’t work!” I thought that was utterly amazing as no power was run to that box and the spirits encountered there seemed to know that as well.

Some of the evidence that we collected just seemed to verify and authenticate almost identical evidence that other past investigators had collected during their investigations. Even though the building was set up more as a “haunted house attraction”, it was still a great place to investigate with many, many hotspots; way too many for us to cover them all. Another investigation would probably be in order to fully explore the entire building.