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.

Interview with Spirited History - tonight!

We are very excited to appear on the Spirited History radioshow on the Para-x Network tonight. Our investigations have taken us to some very old locations. All have their own stories to tell outside of the spirits that reside in them.

Tonight's broadcast starts at 9pm EST. Join us!

Ghost Photography: Do you see what I see?

Photography has been a vital way of capturing our life’s history for almost 200 years. As a young girl, it always seemed like I had a camera in my hand. Whether it was my mother’s old Kodak Brownie, an Instamatic or an 8mm movie camera, I was always comfortable taking pictures. Just in the last 20 years we have all witnessed major changes in how we use our cameras. With the digital age of photography, we now have instant gratification and are no longer dependant on the local “fotomat” or drugstore for developing film. New advances in digital picture quality allow us to take near perfect pictures with the definition previously available only to professional photographers.


For a ghost hunter, a camera is one of the most important pieces of equipment that we can carry during an investigation. The types of cameras can range from basic film and digital still cameras to high definition video cams with infrared capabilities to thermal cameras that detect changes in temperature to produce images. Each of these cameras increases the possibility of catching unexplained events in action and can validate whether or not the activity is paranormal in nature. The most popular ghost hunting shows on television today utilize several different types of cameras in their investigations for this very reason.

Unexplained images can appear in photographs at any time and not just in an environment that you already suspect is haunted. If you travel or visit friends, most likely you are not aware that the place that you are visiting could be an area that has paranormal activity. So what should you look for when analyzing pictures? One way to look at pictures is to pick out the images that do not appear to fit with the scene of the picture. For example, shadows can sometimes appear with bright lights and sun, but not normally in a family photo where the level of lighting is low. Shadows that routinely appear in photos in an environment where paranormal activity has been reported could be a preliminary indication of a paranormal presence. Another trick is to view your photos from a different angle. By turning them upside down or sideways, it will give you a different perspective on the picture than what is expected to be seen. It is always a surprise to see a face, abnormal lights and shadows where you know there were none originally.

It’s important to remember that while any camera can pick up paranormal images you must take into account the conditions of the environment where you have placed the camera. Things like air vents, camera straps, hair, rain, dirty lenses or cigarette smoke can all create unexplained shadows, light orbs, mists and unclear pictures. It is important to take this into account when you are reviewing your pictures for the first time. If you feel certain that there was nothing in the lens area during shooting, you may indeed have caught something.

The fun thing about photography is that any photo you have in your possession whether it is 2 days old or 40 years old can be reviewed for evidence of paranormal activity. By using simple techniques, anyone can look past the ordinary to discover something extraordinary.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from all of us at Paranormal Investigators of Cincinnati!

The PIC Team Credo

Paranormal Investigators of Cincinnati (PIC) provide a confidential and thorough investigation of paranormal events that occur in your home or business.

We will take the time to listen to your stories, experiences and concerns regarding the activities that you have witnessed at your location. We are here for you and you can count on us to handle each investigation respectfully and professionally.

We provide a detailed analysis of our investigation including historical information about the site as well as any audio or video recordings that may be collected during our visit.

Most importantly, we do not charge for our service. Any additional expense that may come up during our investigative preparation or in our analysis is covered by the PIC Team.

Halloween is upon us!

Ahhhhh tis the season that every ghost hunter adores! Halloween!

Ghost hunting in itself is popular but throw in the "holiday of all holidays" for spirits and it is a frenzied madhouse! Everyone wants a piece of the action and some of the most prized locations are investigated on this night.

If you can't get your fill of ghouls and more ghouls, check out The Scarefest Convention in Lexington, Kentucky from November 5th - 7th. It is a showcase of horror stars - past and present - as well as the most interesting paranormal experts available. I had an opportunity to volunteer at this event last year and what a fabulous time it was! Even though I have been ghost hunting for several years, I am always learning new things and new techniques. It is a wealth of information and just downright entertaining. I stood face to face with Kane Hodder last year and I must say.....he is just as intimidating without the mask! Anyway....check out the convention. It is the best in the U.S. and you won't be disappointed!

The PIC Team has a few things in the works that we will be able to report on in the next week or so. We still continue to investigate homes and businesses in Covington. Such a historic area you just don't know what you will find! It will soon be the holiday season so we will be wrapping up 2010 in style before we take a break for Christmas.

Check back often for our next report!

The Down Under - Covington, Ky

The historic City of Covington has many stories to tell. Founded in 1815, the spirit of the city grew significantly during the 19th century as German immigrants moved here creating diverse and distinct neighborhoods. This growth opened the door to new manufacturing and local merchants who situated themselves within the first commercial center of the city – between Third & Fourth Streets near Greenup and Scott Streets. With close proximity to the courthouse and the post office, the businesses, public market and retail stores in this area flourished as the city grew. Today this area is still very diverse with multiple restaurants and bars all overlooking another historical landmark, the Roebling Suspension Bridge.

The historical energy of a growing river city is a ghost hunter’s dream. There are two types of hauntings that can exist in this environment – Residual and Intelligent. A Residual haunting is like a movie clip that is replayed over and over again. The spirit entity cannot interact with a person. It performs the same action – like walking through a room – over and over again with no reaction to someone else in the room with it. This type of haunting can also manifest itself with a certain smell, such as cigar smoke, or with noises, like footsteps in a high traffic area or people talking. An Intelligent haunting is one where the entity will respond to you when you ask it a question or seek a response. These are the most fun for ghost hunters because the response can come in any form. It can come in audible sounds, moving objects or even temperature changes. Most often an intelligent haunting can be picked up on video recorders or on audio recording devices such as an EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena). Question and answer sessions with an intelligent haunting can aid in discovering more about the spirit and the location that is being investigated. Since everyone has access to some kind of recording device, it is the quickest method of investigation for anyone who may want to research unusual events that occur at their location. As a ghost hunter, it is always a win-win situation whenever one of these types of hauntings exists.

Our next paranormal investigation took us right into the historical business center of Covington - The Down Under Restaurant & Tavern located at 128 Park Place. The lot, which sits on the corner of Park and Court, was initially used as a horse livery in the 19th century. The current structure was built for The Union Light, Heat and Power Company in the early 1900’s. After 1950 it was remodeled for additional office space and a bar/restaurant moved into the basement of the building where the Down Under now resides. Since the building has been used for a variety of purposes throughout the years, there are bound to be residual and intelligent spirit energy at this location. Amy, the owner of the Down Under, provided us with many stories of apparitions, voices and unexplained sounds that she and her staff have experienced over the years.


On the early morning of August 8th, our investigative team included Rita Volz, Jayme Cundiff, Laura Stupak, Robin Ahrens and Reverend Dan Dunham, medium. Dan has been on several of our investigations and always provides some interesting “behind the scenes” information that our cameras and audio recorders fail to pick up. Dan sensed a lot of residual energy at the Down Under specifically in the back rooms and entry ways. As our investigation progressed, Dan was able to identify a specific male spirit that was associated with an occupation connected with horses or automobiles. This corresponds to the location’s original business of a livery back in the late 1800’s. Dan states that this male presence is one that died there and it feels at home at this location. We were unable to pick up any audio recordings from this spirit and historically, we were unable to find any newspaper articles about a death at this location. This isn’t unusual based on the type of news coverage that was reported at that time.


We used a variety of devices to capture paranormal events that morning. We placed several cameras and audio recorders throughout the restaurant. Temperature gauges and motion detectors were also used. While we are still researching the hours of audio and video we collected that morning, our preliminary findings lead us to believe that the Down Under undoubtedly has spirits who reside there. Some of those spirits want to be there and some that are trapped there because of past events that hold them to the site.

The Down Under is a unique establishment with lots of history. Experience it for yourself and who knows, you may have someone sitting right next to you and not even know it!

Upcoming investigations

What does the Spring and Summer hold for PIC? Lots of interesting investigations that's for sure! We continue to accept more investigations in Covington Ky and continue to contribute to our column in The Village Breeze. We are actively working on a few new locations as we speak and will have more to report on in the next month!

If you would like for us to investigate your location, free of charge, please contact us at ghosthunters@paranormalcincy.com.

The Village Breeze

The latest edition of The Village Breeze is in circulation in Covington, Kentucky. I don't think they have an online edition as of yet but you should be able to find a copy of this newspaper in any establishment in downtown Covington.

Our new column is called "The Ghosts of Mainstrasse Village". We will be writing of our paranormal investigations about every four months or so. It is very exciting for us to be involved in this local publication. The City of Covington is filled with so much history and it is a great walking city to explore on a nice afternoon.

Our next investigation will be at the La Cherie Bistro at 522 Main Street. La Cheri is a fabulous place to grab a quick bite to eat for breakfast or lunch. Check out their menu on Urbanspoon!

More to come on La Cherie in the near future!

Tis the season

We have once again entered the last few months of the year and things have been very busy around the PIC team! After sharing our investigation results with Rosie's tavern owner, Diane, we were allowed back for a follow-up investigation.

This past weekend we spent another three hours in Rosie's with additional recording devices on hand to gather more credible information than our first visit. We also were very fortunate to have Dan D. with us for our follow-up. Dan is a medium and is very attuned to the paranormal energy that surrounds all of us. With his assistance, we were able to isolate the particular entities that inhabit the areas of the building - the bar area and the apartment areas.What a wealth of information he was able to share with us on our walk through! We are very fortunate to have Dan in our midst and we look forward to working with him again in the future.

Our review of the audio and video are ongoing and we expect to have that completed by the end of the holiday season so we can provide all of the additional information to Diane.

More news.....we have been asked to write a column for a local paper in Covington called The Village Breeze. In this column we will discuss each of our investigations and talk a little about ourselves and what we do as a team. Look for the next issue to be released sometime in December! We are so excited to be participating in such a fine local publication.

One last thing.....follow us on Twitter! @Paranormalcincy

Comings and Goings

A few months have slipped by and we have lots to update.


Let's begin with Scarefest! Wow.....what an event that was in Lexington! There were above average crowds on Friday and Saturday! I must admit there were a few of the horror celebrities that I would not know if I passed them on the street. However, I am now educated and really enjoyed a few of them. In particular, Gunnar Hansen (from Texas Chainsaw), who had a great dry sense of humor. A real charming guy outside of the movies! As with Gunnar, the celebrities and vendors all had high praise for the volunteers at the event. Take a look at the following video produced by Infernal Dreams! A great time and I look forward to volunteering again next year!


Our latest investigation took us to Rosie's Tavern on Bakewell Street in Covington Kentucky. The building itself has been around since the early beginnings of Cincinnati and Covington - late 1700's. As the years progressed, the building was used primarily as a boarding house on the 2nd and 3rd floors and a tavern on the first floor. During the prohibition years in the early 1900s it became part of the local grocery chain called Kroger. Once prohibition ended, it became a tavern owned by several different people over the years. Covington Ky also has a lengthy history of gambling establishments. This building was reported to contain slot machines as early as the 1950's when it was the Tiny Mite Social Club - Tiny's for short.


We spent approximately 3 hours in the building and managed to walk away with two credible EVPs from the basement. We were able to hear other voice noises on the recorder but nothing that we could isolate as a word or a phrase. We are meeting with the owner of the establishment this week to review our findings. It was a great opportunity for us because all members of our team have been visitors to this tavern at one time or another.


We are currently working on our logo for the team. We have found that a refresh is in order and we have a few rough drafts created that might just do the trick!

We are looking for another investigation opportunity! We have a few new members who are able to join our team and we would love to put their investigation expertise to good use!


If you know of anyone who would be interested in our FREE investigation, please contact us by the email on this site. We pride ourselves on our professionalism and our research in regards to every location we investigate.

Scarefest 2009

Just a reminder to everyone about the largest horror and paranormal convention in the United States! Scarefest will be held in Lexington, KY on September 11th - 13th.

As always, we have a great line up of celebrities from horror films and paranormal televisions shows! Chip Coffey will be there as well as the gentlemen from Ghost Adventures!

Lots of activities going on that weekend so please check out our website for more information!

SCAREFEST

Mansfield Reformatory Investigation

Last weekend's trip to Mansfield proved to be a good one for our team. All of us were able to pick up at least three solid Class A EVP's. There were many sounds recorded that we could not explain and we did not hear them as we walked through the prison.

The prison itself is quite large and there are a lot of rooms that are segregated enough to be completely void of any other outside noises (passing cars, etc). There is a lot of props left from the filming of Shawshank Redemption.

Overall it was a very good night for us. I am still reviewing video from the evening and I am still trying to figure out how to upload some of the EVPs to this blog. Once I have it together I will post all new EVPs on the right side of this page.

Aliens on the moon?

I haven't ever posted anything about UFOs or aliens on our blog to date. It's not that I don't believe that life exists outside of the planet Earth but I just haven't really been that engaged in the subject.

With NASA gearing up for a return trip to the moon, there have been a lot of articles posted out there regarding the new rocket, the experiments, etc.

I came across this article that was particularly interesting to me so I thought I would share it with you.

NASA bombing of the Moon may create conflict with ETs or UFOs

Our next adventure!

The Mansfield Reformatory!

Built in 1886 in Mansfield Ohio, it has held over 150,000 prisoners in its lifetime before closing its doors in December 1990. It is 250,000 square feet and is likely one of the most statuesque prisons ever built. It was so grand in structure that Shawshank Redemption was filmed at this location.

Our team has the honor of being four of 100 people who will participate in a ghost hunt there this weekend! As you can imagine, we are all thrilled at our prospects. We have heard many stories about this place and we hope to capture something paranormal during our trip!

Stay tuned!

Bartonville Insane Asylum

We survived Bartonville!!!

Despite the very chilly temperatures, we had a great time touring through this very old institution. As I said in my earlier post, Bartonville has a very interesting history. It is located a few miles outside of downtown Peoria, Illinois. The asylum used to take up 1100 acres in Bartonville, but is now contained to about five acres total. (if that!) Don't let the pictures fool you. There are a lot of retail stores and restaurants around this building so it is not as isolated as it appears. The building is 60,000 square feet, no windows and has several floors which are partially blocked off due to unstable infrastructure. According to the current owner, he would like to open it up as a haunted B & B and maybe some retail establishments. I know that there are a lot of folks out there who just love staying at haunted hotels and B & B's so this will be a winner for him for sure!

Of course I would be remiss if I failed to mention our hosts for the evening. Renowned Ghost Hunter Patti Starr and the infamous Medium Chip Coffey (Psychic Kids and Paranormal State) led us through the building and shared some of their ghost hunting wisdom (and stories!) with us. Patti and Chip have worked together for many many years and brought a lot of useful information to us regarding their shared experiences.

Our team collected lots of pictures, analog and digital recordings from our six hour ghost hunt. We will be processing that information and hopefully will have something to show for it! Once we have something I will definitely updated the site with any fun EVPs or pictures we managed to catch.

If you have not been to Bartonville, they are open for tours at any time. They do charge a nominal fee for this privilege but all proceeds go to the Save the Bowen fund which has been set up to aid in renovations of this historic site. I highly recommend Bartonville for your next ghost hunt!