It loses a little something without the visual, but you get what I mean.
"We've done this sort of thing before," I said to the guy at Millbrook Playhouse. "The Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers have done plenty of fundraisers before. Usually it consists of a seminar, about an hour, on how to investigate. Then we split into groups and do an actual run, give people a chance to use what they've learned."
Millie and Ashlin, two of the LHPS team members, were standing in the office doorway behind me. The theater guy nodded. "My mom is coming in from California at that time. She's excited about this."
"That's great. Give her a discount," I said. "You should also know that you might get a call from a woman who owns a haunted attraction in the area. I've had problems with her before; she calls up nonprofits claiming to be an inspector from Harrisburg, and telling them that they can't do their fundraiser. She's just trying to prevent people from cutting into her profits; all calls of that sort should be referred to me. I will also accept 'Go screw yourself' as a correct answer."
The guy laughed. Millie said,"Let's do a walk-through."
We went upstairs. We were all wearing our team uniforms---Black, with the LHPS symbol on them: A stylized ghost. Millie turned on the lights, and we walked into the stage area.
"Well," I said. "Enter stage right. This looks good."
Millie is on the board of Millbrook, a local theater in Mill Hall. She said,"This place has a history to it."
I nodded. "Built in 1850. In 1915, Sedgewick Kistler bought the place and used it as a dairy farm. We've dealt with the Kistlers before---Little Gertrude is thought to still be haunting her place after drowning at age twelve in 1920. Doing the math, she would have been seven when her dad bought this farm, which means she might have had fond memories here." I stepped up into the seats. "All of this means that this theater might just be haunted by our old friend Gertrude Kistler."
LHPS was formed ten years ago, in October 2007. We've investigated haunted houses and businesses, cemeteries, and curses. We've done classes and fundraisers for nonprofits. We've been in the newspapers and magazines. And, with all that, we've wound up becoming Clinton County's most well-known ghost-hunting team.
Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers.
Haunters gonna haunt.
We meet once a month, usually either at the Piper Museum or Millie's house. We spend about twenty percent of the meeting talking paranormal business, and the rest discussing movies. It's worked for us for ten years. Don't judge.
This time, it was at Millie's house. We sat around the kitchen table: Team manager Theresa, Millie, me, Kara, Ashlin, and Charlie.
"What do we have?" Theresa asked, looking down at her notepad.
"Millbrook," I said. "The Millbrook Theater fundraiser is coming along pretty well. Me, Millie, and Ashlin did a walk-through the other day, and it looks like we have a lot to work with."
"We'll be on the main stage," said Millie, "When we break into groups, we'll have the green room and the kitchen to investigate. There should be plenty of space. There will be another play down in the cabaret while we do this. A murder mystery."
"Are we going to get contamination?" asked Charlie.
"I doubt it," I said. "The rooms are pretty well soundproofed, and set far enough apart. I wouldn't worry about it. That's an old barn, built in 1850 and used as a dairy farm. Bootlegger Prince Farrington hid his whiskey in there. It's where they first genetically bred Holsteins."
"I think that sort of history is what the audience will like," said Theresa.
"I'll work something up."
"I won't be able to make it to the seminar," Theresa said.
"No problem," I said. "I'll do the introductions, and we'll handle it about the way we did last time, at Piper. Kara on EMFs, Millie on basic rules, Charlie as local color. It'll be good."
Millbrook Playhouse used to be a dairy farm. Inside, it's a wonderful little theater, but on the exterior, nobody has wasted a lot of time making it look like not a barn. What gives it away is the big orange sign on the roof: MILLBROOK PLAYHOUSE.
We all arrived at close to the same time; I'd ridden in with Millie. We were all wearing our team uniforms, the black sweatshirt with the LHPS symbol on the back. We carried in the equipment and set it down on the stage.
"I brought pizza," said Millie.
"Is there an outlet?" Charlie asked, unspooling the camera cords. We glanced around.
"One right there, at the front of the stage," said Millie.
Kara looked up. "There's one up on top of that pole."
"That's ten feet high," said Millie.
"I can climb that," I said, looking up.
"Don't."
"As long as you stipulate that I totally could."
"Check the camera feed," said Charlie. "Let's see if it's coming in okay."
Kara and I leaned toward the screen----We have a black and white flat screen that catches the feed from the infrared cameras once they're hooked up. It was showing our table, where Kara and I stood. Kara said,"It looks fine to me, Charlie."
"Is that what my hair looks like from the back?" I said.
"Do we have any painters' tape?" Kara asked. "How about extra batteries?"
I did a walk through the building, the way I always did. Checking for hiding places, hot spots, vulnerable points. When I got back, Charlie and Kara were sitting at the table, changing over batteries in the equipment.
"We're talking about trying out dowsing rods," Kara told me.
"The hell," I said.
She laughed. "See, I told you he'd react that way."
"They could work, Lou," said Charlie.
"They're bullshit," I said. "You find me one that's freestanding, without a human holding it, and then maybe."
"They're old-school," said Kara. "It's the way they used to do it."
"So are leeches."
I looked out over the stage. The empty seats waited in the audience.
"Guys," I said,"Welcome to show business."
Much like the movie For The Love Of Helen, our opening night had about twelve people in the audience. At seven PM, I stood up and faced the audience. I tend to be the one who opens the programs and makes the introductions, because I'm almost completely shameless.
"Everyone, thank you for being here and supporting the Millbrook Playhouse," I said. "We're the Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers, and this month is special to us. This October, our team has been together for ten years."
The lights were on us.
"Our seminar consists of two parts. First, we're going to do the lesson on how to investigate, and then we're going to do an actual investigation. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time this has ever been done in Millbrook. So get ready. We're going to have a good night."
The lesson took about an hour. We've all done it a million times. We took a short intermission, and then gathered and organized the investigation portion of the night.
I pulled on my vest, a black tactical vest with all my investigative equipment in the pockets. Kara smiled. "I like how you have to get all dressed up like Batman."
"It's got all the pockets for my equipment," I said. "Plus, I look awesome in it, and I think we can all agree that's the important thing here."
"How are we gonna do this?" Charlie asked.
I turned to Millie. "It's your event; you're the major player tonight. What do you think?"
"With this small a group, no need to split up," she said. "There are performances downstairs, so we'll stay up here on the stage. We've had activity in here. Let's set up here and do a run-through."
"Let's pull the chairs up," I said. We dragged the chairs closer to the audience, and got out the recorders and EMF detectors. I held up a couple of them. "Who wants to use an EMF detector?"
Several hands went up. We handed out the detectors, and I killed the stage lights, and we sat down and turned on the recorders. And we began our first onstage EVP session.
"Can you tell us your name?"
"When did you die?"
"Is there a message you'd like us to pass on?"
"This," I said to the audience,"Is why I hate the ghost-hunting TV shows. They never show this part, the part where you guys paid ten bucks to sit quietly in the dark. They always show drama, action, and it's not really like that. I'm always getting people asking me,'What's the scariest thing you've ever seen?' That'd be my sister-in-law. It's not really like that."
There was a noise from the corner of the room, near the door. We all turned, Charlie got up to go and look. I took out my laser thermometer and got some readings.
"Guys, six-degree temperature drop over here," I said. "Could be nothing, but...."
"Let's get photos," said Kara.
"Guys?" Charlie called over. "There's a drawer open over here."
There was a cabinet near the door, in a sort of lobby-like entrance. One drawer was hanging open. Millie said,"We had a hard time prying that one open the other day."
"Let's move the investigation over a little," I suggested. "We'll gather over here and try another session."
She closed it, and tried walking past it again. Nothing happened. I jumped a couple of times, bringing down all my weight with a crash. The drawer stayed shut.
"Guess we can rule that out," said Kara.
One of the audience said,"I'm getting a reading on the EMF meter."
Millie, next to her, checked. "It's spiking at seven. Baseline is one."
"What's on the other side of that wall?" asked a participant.
I walked around and checked. "There is a microwave there, yes."
"Is it running?" Millie asked.
I shook my head. "Turned off."
"Then it shouldn't be causing this. It looks like we're getting some activity."
"Got some company tonight, folks," I said. "I hope you all feel you got your money's worth."
It was about ten PM when the whole thing let out. Breaking down always takes less time than setting up; without Theresa there to show us what to plug in, we're better at the breakdown. We had everything disassembled and packed up in fifteen minutes, and carried it all out to Millie's car.
"Hey, before we go," said Kara. "Gotta get a group picture."
"Kinda like the one we did in Highland Cemetery, ten years ago," I said. "The first walk-through we ever did."
"Let's gather here, in front of the theater," said Millie.
We all stood together, and got our photo taken.
"It's been a good ten years," I said. "We've come a long way."
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