Table Of ContentGhost Trackers Newsletter
The Official Paranormal Publication of the Qhoat Reaearch Society
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Volwne 13 Nwmber 2
June 1994
Ghost Trackers Newsletter
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The Ghost Trackers Newsletteri s the official paranormalp ublicationo f the
Ghost Research Society. The GRS was founded in by Martin V. Riccardo and this
1978
publications oon followed in Septembero f It is publisheda nd edited by Dale
1982.
D. Kaczmarek, Presidenta nd is put out in February, June and October.
The Ghost Research Society is a membership organization devoted to
collecting, analyzianngd researchinga ll forms of the paranormal with an emphasis
on ghosts, hauntings,p oltergeistsa nd life after death. Differentm embershipsa re
available for those wishing to become more actively involved. We are also looking
for officers, State Coordinators,F ield Investigatorsa nd Area Research Directors
for various states and countries.
Regular membershipsa re per year and include three issues of the Ghost
$12.00
TrackersN ewsletter,G RS button, membershipc ard, discountst o GRS sponsorede vents
and tours, FREE photo analysiss ervice and discountso n new and used books with FREE
finder service available. Send wants! SUstaining Memberships are and
$17.0 0
include the above and the opportunityo f helping with ghost research and attending
field excursions (Midwestm embers only and subject to interview) at least twice a
year. Contributing Memberships are and besides the above receive a free
$22.00
newspaper clipping service for your particular state (or country) sent on an
irregular basiwsi th your subscription. Multi-year,P atron and LifetimeM emberships
are also available. If interestedi n those, please request further information.
Back issues of most newslettersa re availablef or per issue or any three
$4.00
for for members only. Cost for non-membersi s per issue or any three
$10.00 $5.00
for Non-membersm ust also include postal charges as follows: for the
$13.00. $1.00
first issue ordered and for each additional issue.A ll back issues are shipped
$.7 5
via first-classm ail. Write for FREE back issue list!
The GRS is always on the lookout for photographs, newspaper clippings,
articles,p ersonal encounterso r simply interestinga necdotesf or publication. You
will always receive full credit for anything published and that issue free of
charge. All articles and stories becomet he property of the GRS and cannot be
reprinted withouwtr itten permission from the editor and author of the article.
Those wishing to have articles,p hotographs,e tc. returned must include a SASE with
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proper postage. All articles published are copyrighted!
current Chain of Command
Dale D. Kaczmarek . President Editor
&
Martin V. Riccardo Founder of GRS
Tom Perrott ...... . Area Research Dir.
Richard Senate
Tom Perrott Regular Columnists
Maurice Schwalm
Send all inquiries and subscriptions to: Ghost Research Society,
c/o Dale D. Kaczmarek, PO Box 205, Oak Lawn, IL. 60454-0205 or call
(708) 425-5163 . Make all checks and money orders payable to Dale
Kaczmarek.
Editors page:
The official By-Laws of the GRS are now available to all
members who request them. In an attempt to save on postal charges,
these will only be mailed to those who write for a copy and include
a large #10 legal size SASE with $. 52 as postage. If you are a
State Coordinator, Area Research Director or Field Investigator,
these By-Laws are now in your hands with this newsletter. The By
Laws, simply stated, are the rules and regulations for the GRS. I
believe that every organization needs some rules to follow and
while not many, they are specific and necessary. From time to
time, these By-Laws will be revised as needed.
I wish to thank Rev. Speaker Gerald Polley, Andy Jarett, John
Anderson, Lucy Solis, F. S. Miller and Bill Fuller for all the
wonderful clippings you sent my way. Specific thanks also go out
to Dan Susnara for the videotape he dubbed for me, Barbara
McMenemin for the book, Susie Thompson for the book .. Photographing
The Invisible .. , Heidi Skopes for the strange paranormal
photographs, Stanley Suho for his constant electronic expertise and
more recently for the building and donating of a Geiger counter and
Andy Jarett for the book 11Time : The Ultimate Energy .. and the vast
loads of used computer software which he recently donated. Thanks
to all, the donations are much appreciated!
Since the last edition, we have added 10 new members and have
received renewals from 8 . Welcome to the new and welcome back to
the old!
Their are still some members who are sending their renewal
chE�cks made out in the improper fashion. As I've mentioned many
times in the past, all checks or money orders must be made payable
' to Dale Kaczmarek and not GRS, Ghost Trackers Newsletter, etc. In
the near future this policy may be changing, but for the present
all checks must have Dale Kaczmarek as the payee. We cannot and
will not accept checks made out in any other fashion in the future.
Those checks or money orders improperly filled out will be returned
to sender. The GRS does not at present have an account set up for
the GRS or Ghost Trackers Newsletter and must cash those checks
made out in that way at a local currency exchange where a check
cashing fee is charged thus robbing the GRS of much needed revenue.
I hope you can understand our situation.
Tom Perrott of the Ghost Club in England has recently made me
an Honorary Life Member of the Ghost Club with full benefits. This
is a very great honor for �e and I wish to thank Mr. Perrott for
this appointment ! Thanks Tom! ! It was good to hear your voice
during our recent telephone conversation.
Robert Stoebe is the most recent Sustaining Member of the GRS.
The newsletter of the quarter is Psychic News from England.
The only weekly paranormal publication of it' s kind. Subscriptions
are $60. 00 per year and mail to : Psychic Press Ltd. , 2 Tavistock
Chambers, Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2SE, United Kingdom.
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Ghost Research Society
This past April the GRS had a Special Investigation staged at
That Steak Joynt, 1610 N. Wells in Chicago. Eleven members of the
GRS and Janet Davis from WLS-TV (Channel 7 } and a cameraman stayed
the overnight in this most haunted restaurant; scene of most
inexplicable phenomena.
At the time of this writing (late April} information and
pictures were still flowing in from that evening. We had set up
outposts and a command center plus a few roamers and many did
experience something extraordinary sometime throughout the stake
out.
Employed were several pieces of specially built equipment such
as a Geiger counter and a Negative Ion detector. Also used were
infrared detection devices and a Gauss meter to detect slight
deviations of electromagnetic fields and there were plenty of those
throughout the night. Much of the equipment was built and donated
by Stanley Suho of Bridgeview, Illinois.
Other equipment included camcorders, 35mm cameras loaded with
400 ASA color slide film, 400 ASA black and white infrared film and
400 ASA black and white Tri-X film which is very sensitive to the
ultraviolet end of the spectrum. Portable tape recorders and
magnetic compasses were also used with varying degrees of success.
This investigation was televised during the 10pm news
broadcast on WLS-TV and will probably receive other attention as
well.
Of the verified results thus far include an electromagnetic
burst on a camcorder mounted at the top of the stairs at exactly
the same time an electromagnetic anomaly was occurring several feet
away and downstairs. At the beginning· of the second monitoring j.
video located at the top of the stairs, a high-pitched whine was
heard followed by two guttural groans of a extremely high quality!
A few pictures submitted to me so far might indicate something of
a paranormal nature insofar as no flash was used in the taking of
those pictures.
Much paperwork and possible paranormal encounters still need
to be looked into before this investigation can be considered
closed. In the upcoming months another possible Special
Investigation might be scheduled for yet another alleged haunted
restaurant in Chicago. Details and information at present is
sketchy.
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The Musings Of a Ghosthunter
By
Tom Perrott
A paucity of good cases of haunting over the past few months,
although it has deprived me of paranormal news worth reporting, has
nevertheless provided me with the opportunity of reviewing and
reassessing the world of Ghosts and Hauntings in general, knowing
full well that new and fresh looks at old beliefs can often prove
beneficial .
As a Life Member of both the Folklore Society and of the
Society for Psychical Research, I am given the choice of
approaching this very controversial subject through the eyes of
both an historian and a scientist, and like so many of us in a
purely amateur capacity in both cases . This means that I am
blissfully free of many of the orthodox prejudices so often
religiously held by members of the academic establishment .
Whilst it would be deeply satisfying to be able to prove
beyond any shadow of a doubt that a case one has personally
investigated can be proven conclusively to have· been of a
paranormal nature, thereby giving members of the orthodoxy the
ground for many sleepless nights, it is also satisfying be able to
regard these phenomena from an historical approach, and to try and
find out whether they are the awakenings of folk memories which
would have been otherwise long forgotten and lost .
We are lucky in this country in that our history extends over
many centuries and sometimes in taking a circumspencive view of our
ghost stories, many instances of near-forgotten traditions based on
our past history might well be revealed.
Prehistoric barrows and tumuli excavated in areas known for
their historical artifacts, have often uncovered headless skeletons
in their burial chambers . Could they have been the victims of
certain decapitation rituals, for the human head was revered by our
Celtic ancestors, and could they have started the legends of
hauntings by headless specters . Do the occasional sightings, both
audio and visual of Roman legions marching across the ridges of
Flowers Barrow in the county of Dorset and in the cellar of the
famous ·Treasurer' s House in the ancient city of York, symbolize
actual hauntings hundreds of years ago, and does the alleged sound
of the ill-fated Lawrence of Arabia' s high-powered motor bike in
the lanes around his former home, indicate that an actual incident
is being replayed for posterity, or is it a sign that that doughty
warrior is some miraculous way survived his bodily death, and
wished to make present day people aware of that fact .
The efforts of the genuine ghost-hunting historian are often
hampered by certain commercial interests who invent stories of
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hauntings .. for the benefit of the tourists, who will believe
anything! . (I quote) On the other hand who knows but that some of
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the ghost stories we now believe to have been traditional might
also have been invented by medieval commercial interests, for the
benefit of pilgrims visiting such hallowed sites as the tomb of St.
Thomas Beckett at Canterbury, or the cherished tomb of St. Swithum
at Winchester.
Perhaps instead of conducting vigils in draughty places and
straining one's ears to hear the smallest creak on the stairs, we
should spend more time studying our history and make every effort
to separate fact from fiction, because if the traditional legends
have historical origins, the facts could often be confirmed in
contemporary records .
It is so tempting in the world of the paranormal to jump to
supernatural conclusions before thoroughly weighing up the pros and
cons of the matters under investigation.
Submitted by:
Tom Perrott, 93 The Avenue, Muswell Hill, London 2QG, United
NlO
Kingdom and Area Research Director in England.
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features articles
all aspects ofth eparan ormal
DdudingU FOspo,l tergeists, bUDtinp, Cosmic Current
spiritualism, lifafeter death, News
etc, etc.
To subscriptiodetainl s pu6fu'u 6y au Jbtie•u ,.,.,, �em
obtain 1". ,.,.,u,,., U(J1i«u IM ,.,, tual "lM
please SCDd a largeSA E to: 1fc••••s. · S••ple issac, SJ.OO,
STRANGE PHENOMENA
INVE5nGA TlONSR ESEARCHER
ROBINSON Cosme Curent News. P. o. Box
41MAlCOTHEBRAELMS ,TUUUBODY 3lll37. HotrNood. CA 9003&0037
ClACKMANNANSHIRE, SCOTLAND
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The Ghost of Edgar Allen Poe
Walks Baltimore
By
Richard Senate
The tragic life of America's first internationally know poet
ended at the age of 40 wandering the streets delirious and mad. He
died one week later on the night of October 7 , 1849 . He was buried
in the cemetery of Westminster Church next to the body of his young
wife. But, they say that on nights when the moon is full his ghost
rises from the grave and wanders the streets and cemetery. His
long haired form shuffles through the lanes and through the weed
infested graves still clutching his bottle of spirits, his eyes
wide and blood-shot . The old church yard was once on the edge of
town but now it stands surrounded by tall skyscrapers. The little
church stands as a relic of another time. Poe is in good company
and a number of Baltimore's greats rest near the 'master of the
macabre'.
If tragedy is the cause of ghosts to wander the night it
should be no surprise that Poe haunts the little brick church. He
was born 'in a suitcase' as the son of two poor actors in Boston in
the year 1809. Orphaned in 1812 he was taken in by a Mr. John
Allen and later he added his foster father's name to his own as a
gesture of respect for the man who gave him a home, but never
adopted him. The young Poe showed promise and was sent to private
schools; entering the University of Virginia at the age of 17. In
disgrace over heavy gambling debts he was forced to withdraw from
the university. He enlisted in the Army and published his first
poems. They were published anonymously. In 1830 he entered West
Point. During his months at the academy there is a story that
reflects his disdain for regulations. An order was posted stating
that boots and gloves must be worn at roll call each morning. The
next morning he reported at roll call wearing only boots and
gloves. He was dismissed as a troublemaker the next year.
Years later, when he had landed a job at a magaz.ine, he
married his 14 year old cousin, Virginia, and moved in with her
mother. His output of stories and poems reached its zenith with
the publication of such masterpieces as 11The Raven .. , 11The Pit and
the Pendulum .. and 11The Cask of Amontillado ...
After eleven years of marriage, his young wife died, sending
the poet into a dark dreary mourning. He attempted suicide, drank
to excess, and began a number of tragic love affairs. In the last
two years of his life he produced only four poems. Traveling by
train to New York he vanished only to turn up, deranged, on the
streets of Baltimore.
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A number of mysteries exist about the death of Poe and what
really happened in those last days of his existence . Many believe
that he fell victim to the use of powerful drugs and liquor. He
may well have stopped in Baltimore to visit the grave of his wife
and in a fit of grief began his last drinking spree that ended in
insanity and death. Another genius left to self-destruct . The
ghost of Poe is one of several who haunt the old church yard.
A Civil War general is said to wander the graveyard still in
pain over all the fine young men he ordered into certain death in
some of the battles of that American tragedy. Another ghost is
that of a crying child rumored to have been buried alive by mistake
and still sobbing through the vaults and tombs . The ghosts are so
well known that groups frequently wait, hoping to catch a fleeting
glance of a sheeted specter. Will the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe
ever find rest? If it is up to the would-be ghost hunters and
tourists the answer must be - nevermore !
Submitted by: Richard Senate, 422 Staunton St . , Camarillo, CA.
93010.
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Strange "thheo tteasntd w eirdemsatg azine
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Little Ghosts
•
By
Daphne Plowman
It is very sad when a child dies, and even sadder to think of
a little .. lost spirit .. . There are however, many reports of ghosts
of children, and often they seem attracted to other children, now
living in what apparently they still feel is their home . Three
recent investigations have involved 11little ghosts. . , in two of them
there are children living in the house today, who could possibly be
attracting those ostensible .. spirit children .. . In one case, Mark,
one of the three children living in the house, appears to be
playing and interacting with children and their toys which the
adults cannot see .
The sound of a ball bouncing in Mark's bedroom was reported,
and later heard by myself and another investigator. There was no
one in the bedroom. Mark, aged 3, was screaming at night and cried
on occasions through the day, as though he was tired of playing but
the .. children" would not go away. We told him to wave at them and
say ngood-bye", just as though they were ordinary visitors, and
this seemed to help a bit . I eventually invited a sensitive along
to see if he could pick up any impressions in the house . Now I am
quite cruel to such people, and I gave him practically no
information other than the number of people in the home, and we
• picked him up and drove him to a vast council estate ourselves . I
had also warned the family not to give any information unt l the
�
chap had had a chance to wander round and see what he could find
out . This is my usual procedure, and we follow up with a general
discussion.
In this case the sensitive came downstairs, and smiling he
told us that the house was full of kids, "spirit children", who
were much older than Mark, perhaps about 7 to 9 years old, and they
had brought along their toys as well . Now this may sound
extraordinary to many people, and you may now be thinking that I am
too gullible to investigate such cases . Perhaps I am, but we had
this small child obviously seeing something, and interacting with
something that he and the sensitive could see and feel, but we
could not . Later, his brother aged 18 months, also started to
interact in the same way. We were lucky to have considerable
knowledge of the history of the house, and it seems as though there
have not been any children living there in the past . Were those
gate-crashers from the spirit world, or is there another better
explanation?
Early last year we were asked to investigate the ghost of a
little girl in a large house built at the turn of the century near
Lanark. The house is now run as a hotel, but soon after it was
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built, Annie aged the daughter of the first owner was killed in
7,
a riding accident on the grounds. Her playroom, known as .. The
dolls room .. , is now the hotel's chef's room, in the old nursery
flat at the top of the building . The chef, and several members of
the staff have seen and felt the little girl's presence both on
this floor, and also on the stairs . We heard of a receptionist who
had a fright while typing at the desk at the foot of this rather
grand staircase . She was frozen to the spot, as she felt the
presence on the stairs behind her. On the opposite wall from the
bannisters, (hand rails), is a huge mirror over an enormous
fireplace. Did the little girl crouch down and look at her
reflection in the mirror, through the gaps in the bannisters?
There is only room for a child to do this .
We saw Annie's portrait painted in oils when she was 3, we
were surprised to see a very mature little face with a very
determined expression for such a young child. We also saw the
little family cemetery on the grounds where she is buried along
side other children of the family who died in infancy. Her parents
were also buried there later. It is all overgrown, and the writing
on the gravestones has almost gone . We used dowsing to find
Annie's grave and think we located it . We were accompanied by the
young chef, who we felt, was almost obsessed by the story of Annie .
Could he be helping the other staff members to see and feel her
presence? There has been no evidence of the little ghost
interacting with the staff, and perhaps it is just like an old film
being replayed to a receptive audience .
One of the saddest little ghost stories was told to me by a
member a few years ago . A lady asked a young medium to help her as ..
she thought her bedroom was haunted. She was sure she could hear
a child whimpering, and the sounds of a dreadful cough coming from
the corner of the room from diphtheria. When he died, he said he
was afraid to go towards the light, and he was not heard again. A
lovely fairy tale? Perhaps, but have you got a better hypothesis?
We have recently had a report of a case in a 200 year old
house in the borders . We are told that there are two young girls
in the house aged 5 and 17 . Recently the 5 year old has been
seeing a little ghost . It now seems that the 17 year old girl saw
the same figure when she was the same age . I will tell you more
about this case at a later date when I have visited the house . I
know that young children are often said to have imaginary friends,
but in my opinion, in some cases, there is strong evidence for the
spirit children hypothesis being more applicable .
Submitted by: Daphne Plowman, Secretary of the Scottish Society For
Psychical Research, 131 Stirling Dr., Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, G64
3AX. (Reprinted with permission from Enigimas, 41 The Braes,
Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, Scotland FK10 2TT}
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