Amy - The Ghost of Lick Road

Most of you are aware of ghost stories in your own neighborhoods or cities. Tragic circumstances where people lost their life just to be immortalized in local haunting tales passed on by relatives or friends. In some cases, the stories have been retold so much that the story itself goes in different directions wihout a stitch of evidence - newspaper, country records, etc - that proves something actually happened at the site.

One of the local ghost stories is about a girl named Amy who supposedly haunts Lick Road - a wooded dead end road on the outskirts of Cincinnati. I have heard many tales about this ghost, but have never actually had someone produce an EVP, a picture or even a first hand account of an encounter with "Amy". With the location being so secluded and off the beat and path, it meets all of the criteria of the classic campfire ghost story.

Some say Amy was killed by her boyfriend either at the location or her body was dumped there. Some say Amy was killed on prom night and others say it was just an ordinary evening. Anywho....apparently if you drive up and flash your headlights three times or say Amy Amy Amy.....she will appear or you will hear a scream in the distance. Again, I don't know anyone who has actually had anything happen at Lick Road so this may just be an fun little story to scare lustful teenagers away from this dead end road.
 
So last night I drove over to Lick Road with a friend of mine to do a quick preliminary investigation of "The Ghost of Lick Road". We arrived around 10pm, there was one car parked at the dead end which soon vacated after several teenagers emerged quickly from the woods. Hmmm....romantic hotspot no doubt! Another car quickly came up behind us and left shortly afterward as well. I have been told that this is a common stop point for the police and they like to move people along fairly quickly, but it was a Sunday night so that might have played a part in that. Anyway....we flashed the headlights three times.....nothing happened. We took four photos from the car before we decided to get out and walk down the wooded path. As we got out of the car, another car (this is a popular place!) rolled up and remained parked. We walked down the path about 100 feet or so and I took pictures - left and right- as we walked. I have been told that the path winds around a bit and there is some kind of bridge on the path as well.

We returned to our car within 15 minutes and I continued to take pictures of the surronding area. We have a full moon in about three days so that the moonlight that was available supplemented the flashlight I brought with me. I took approximately 35 pictures with my digital camera. While I had one or two shots that contained orbs (orbs should not be used as conclusive evidence of paranormal activity), the photos didn't reveal anything out of the ordinary for outdoor night time photography.
I had an interesting little orb appear that has some facial features to it and I have included that pic below for your amusement. You can come to your own conclusion on this one.
I look forward to another trip to this location at some point in the future to see if there really is anything to this ghostly story. My initial thought is it might be all story because I don't have any credible facts about someone dying at this location. I can just imagine someone's parents concocting this "campfire" story just to scare their high school age daughter into never going to this dead end hotspot with her boyfriend. It might have just worked too.

In Search of Ghosts and Goblins - Bar Monet

Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. While we celebrate it today with fabulous costumes, parties and going door to door asking for candy, the early days of this secular holiday is said to have originated as a darker Celtic custom where bonfires would be lit and people would dress in costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. This custom occurred during a timeframe where people concluded their fall harvest to prepare for the “dead” of winter. This annual fall celebration of “All Hallows Eve” would give way to new customs by the Catholic Church in 609 A.D. in honoring martyrs, saints and souls on November 1^st and 2^nd.

The idea of ghosts and goblins wandering the neighborhoods isn’t lost on us today. Every year we see them in all shapes and sizes prowling the street and asking us for tasty treats. The children recreate those ancient customs happily, but what about real ghosts? Are they any more active on Halloween than any other time of year?

The answer to that question is a mixed bag from most ghost hunters. Some will say that the energy level is higher and prime for more activity and others will say that it hasn’t been proven to be any more active than any other night during the year. Others also believe that the new moon and the full moon also contribute to the amount of paranormal activity that is experienced on a given night. So if you believe that Halloween and the Full Moons are the most active time, Halloween 2012 will be the real test! Next year, we will see the moon at its fullest (98%) on Halloween. Perfect for ghost hunting!

The PIC Team (Paranormal Investigators of Cincinnati) had the opportunity to investigate the Bar Monet at 837 Willard on a very early Saturday morning in October. Employees of Bar Monet have seen very strange occurrences over the years so they were very anxious for us to come and spend some time there. We were fortunate to have our medium, Dan Dunham with us that morning. Dan always provides invaluable insight to our investigations and that insight allows us to get a better idea of how to conduct our investigations. On this morning, Dan picked up the presence of two spirits at Bar Monet – one male and one female. Both spirits were very quick to move away from us as we investigated each area of the bar. After all, this was the first time that their “peace” was being intruded upon. We were actually talking to them and not to each other!

After spending about two hours at Bar Monet, we sat down and reviewed eight hours of audio and dozens of digital photographs. We were pleasantly surprised to find that one of our digital images picked up a face in the background of the bar. The image is in the distance and a bit grainy, but you can pick up the features of a squared jawed man with a mustache. His head appears to be peeking out behind a curtain near the men’s restroom. Our audio recordings of Bar Monet did not disappoint either. We picked up two EVP’s that appear to be speaking in the background and not in direct response to our questions. Sometimes EVP’s can be gathered as you are carrying on other conversations and not when posing questions to the spirits. Some say that these conversations may be “residual” – meaning that it is contained energy that is repeating itself over years or decades of time. Think of it as a film loop that keeps repeating itself.

The spirits at Bar Monet seem to be pretty content in living amongst those who frequent this bar. They are having some fun with the employees and patrons when they fling a few glasses and turn on the jukebox, but this is their way of reaching out beyond the grave and mingling with the Covington natives of today. Far removed are the days where old Celtic traditions drove away roaming ghosts. Nowadays, the lines of communication with the dead are open and embraced by the willing spirit seekers who are unafraid to attempt to communicate back with them.

Special thanks to Robbie Howard for spending time with us at the Bar Monet for this investigation!

Scarefest Convention

The Scarefest Convention is back in Lexington the weekend of September 23rd - 25th. If you have never been to the convention and you have even the slightest interest in paranormal or horror movies, it is time for your first visit - Lots of seminars, lots of celebrities from your favorite movies and paranormal TV shows.

If you go and you have an iPhone, this year offers a brand new Scarefest iPhone app dedicated to the convention! In this app, you will find the latest updates in celebrities that will be attending, how to purchase tickets, lists of seminars, information about the convention center and much more! Download it today - it's FREE!

I am volunteering this year. The event is in its fourth year and is really a fun day. If you have a chance to attend, I highly recommend it!

Ernst Mansion

The Ernst Mansion in Covington KY is the next investigation for our team in May. While there are no confirmed reports of activity happening at this historic location, we will be performing a basic investigation and leading a group of people through the basic techniques of ghost hunting. It's not always as glamorous as the paranormal television shows depict on a weekly basis. There are some locations that are very active and some where we leave with no evidence of paranormal activity.

This will be a fun evening for us and for the folks who will be learning what it means to ghost hunt.

Post Interview with Spirited History

Last night our team had the unique experience of participating in an interview on the Spirited History radio show on Para-x. What a great time it was for us! This was our first interview and it was very easy to simply talk about some of our adventures and share some of our EVP's.

If you missed the broadcast, it will be rebroadcast via podcast in the near future. I will add a link to this blog post when it is released.