Halloween Week - True Ghosts- A Haunting in Las Vegas

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During my tenure in Las Vegas, I worked for a
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while as a professional photographer. One of my models, whom
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I worked with quite often on fashion, print, and editorial shoots,
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had asked me to visit her home for some specific
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shots she had in mind in her own surroundings. She
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lived in a wonderful stone and clapboard mini-mansion built in 1932.
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She had been to my studio several times, and we
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both enjoyed working with and trusted each other. I normally
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wouldn't travel alone to a model's home, nor have a
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model alone in my studio, as it doesn't necessarily reflect
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the best business practices nor the safest environment for a
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model or photographer. I know both models who have been
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accosted by a GWC, a guy with camera, which is
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a photographer and model term for someone who's not really
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professional but just looking to meet girls, as well as
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photographers who have been wrongly accused by GWS, or a
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girl with snapshots, which is another photographer and model term
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for someone who's not a professional model but perhaps looking
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to blackmail or otherwise rip off true professionals, including not
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only photographers, but other models, hairstylists, makeup artists, etc., So
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off I went. We had an enjoyable evening photo shoot
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and captured all the poses she had in mind for
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her portfolio. Before I left, she gave me a tour
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of the expansive house and I was impressed at just
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how unusual this older Vegas showplace was. We both felt
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that the coolest and creepiest feature of the house was
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a completely hidden room behind a downstairs bookcase built into
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the wall. My friend remarked how she loved the home
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even though it was way too large for her needs.
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She had originally purchased the home while engaged, but she
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eventually caught on to her boyfriend's philandering ways and not
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only called the wedding off, but sent him and his
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things packing, leaving her alone in 5,000 square feet of
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old Vegas opulence. The walkout basement had five large rooms,
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plus the hidden room. The rooms on the backside of
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the house opened onto a patio with a koi pond
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and a waterfall and park-like multi-level terrace and landscaped area. Inside,
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even though it was subterranean on one end, There was
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plenty of light and high ceilings. I casually mentioned she
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ought to consider renting the basement out to a photographer
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as it would make a perfect studio space. She immediately
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turned and asked me if I'd be interested and I
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replied that I would, but I doubted I'd be able
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to afford the rent. You can have the entire basement
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plus full use of the gourmet kitchen and upstairs common
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areas for $ 600 a month, she replied. I darn near
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dislocated my arm whipping out my checkbook as fast as
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I could, writing her a check on the spot for
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first and last month's rent. Pleased with my good fortune,
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I went immediately to the current studio space I was
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renting and began packing the lights, backdrops, flash umbrellas, and
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all the other pro photo equipment I'd acquired during the
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last several years. My current landlord was a nervous church
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member and wasn't entirely keen on my having photo shoots
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on her property, although she told me differently to lure
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me in. This was the same woman whom became upset
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because I had used a bright red backdrop in my
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studio for a series of shoots because, in her words,
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red is the devil's color. My new landlord had already
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said anything goes at her house as long as it
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was legal. I was thankful to have such a freely creative,
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huge space for only a hundred bucks more than I'd
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been paying the other devil's color lady. Within a few days,
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I had everything moved into the giant basement and set
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up my studio to my liking. Going from two small
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rooms to five huge rooms certainly spurred my imagination and
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I started booking photo shoots right away with the first
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one scheduled to happen in approximately three days. On the
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day of the shoot, One of my regular models was
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the first to arrive, so we decided to do some
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test shots before the hairstylist and makeup artist I'd hired
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for the session arrived. This was common procedure, sometimes known
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as blocking out the shots, so I would know in
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advance where key lights, bills, bounces, etc. would need to
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go for optimal lighting of the subject. After about 100
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shots or so, we went upstairs to view the digital
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photos on a huge 57-inch monitor I had set up
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in the living room. My new roommate didn't own a television,
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so she thought it was awesome to have such a
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large flat screen in the beautiful pointed seating area. As
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we scanned through the photos, making notes, the model on
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her poses, mine on lighting and composition, I noticed every
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so often the model would turn suddenly from the monitor
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and look directly at me. At first, I assumed she
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was just taking a very active and animated interest in
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the photographs, but as time went on, she seemed to
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start becoming quite agitated. Finally, unable to stand this odd
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display any longer, I asked her what was up. What's
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up with you, she huffed back, giving me a pronounced pout.
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She wasn't really angry at me, but clearly annoyed. What
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do you mean, I asked, truly puzzled. It's just that
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I find it hard to concentrate on critiquing my poses
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with you saying rude things in my ear. I was flabbergasted.
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In retrospect, I'm glad this model knew me well and
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that we'd shot together many, many times, especially after she
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told me some of the things she thought I'd said,
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mainly unflattering things about her body and poses. Again, I
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was stunned. I would never treat a model that way,
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even jokingly. In fact, I had such a sterling reputation
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in Las Vegas that many beginning models came to me
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for their initial portfolio shoot. The models in a particular
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geographic area tend to gossip with one another, a lot,
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and photographers' names, both good and bad, make the rounds
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lightning quick. I was known for my patience and positive
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reinforcement and had never been rude or sarcastic to any
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of my models. I'm sure she must have heard something
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or someone else as I'd been quietly taking notes during
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the slideshow and hadn't uttered a single audible word to
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my knowledge. I paused the laptop connected to the giant
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flat screen and went in the kitchen to make us
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both a glass of iced tea. I'd only been in
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the kitchen for a couple of minutes when my model
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came skittering in, slid on the sleek kitchen floor in
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her high heels and knocked over a bar stool at
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the breakfast counter. She was wild-eyed and obviously scared. Brooke? Brooke?
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What's the matter, I asked, concerned. I heard it, she said,
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her voice breaking. I heard a voice in the living room.
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It whispered in my ear. Told me I wasn't very pretty.
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She refused to leave the kitchen until I did. And
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she wasn't keen on going back into the living room
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at all. I decided we could go ahead and unhook everything,
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carry the drinks and the laptop back downstairs to the studio.
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The other models and assistants for hair and makeup should
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be arriving soon. She breathed a sigh of relief and
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helped me get the gear and drinks downstairs, where we
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continued preusing the photos until the doorbell rang. I went
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upstairs with Brooke right on my heels. Turns out my
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hair guy, Jeff, and Trina, the makeup artist, knew one
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another and had ridden in together. They brought the tools
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of their respective trades in and set up shop in
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the giant bathroom just off the hallway. Since Brooke had
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arrived first, she went into the chair first, and I
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continued fine-tuning the lights in the basement until the other models,
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three more in all, arrived. I ushered them into the
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living room and brought in a tray of bottled water
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and other unsweetened drinks. A few minutes, maybe 15 minutes later,
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I was back in the kitchen when two of the models,
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twin sisters named Samantha and Lisa, approached me conspiratorially. They
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were concerned that the other model, Jill, was up to something. Oh,
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asked the pair in hushed tones, what did she do?
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She's acting all weird, Samantha said, as Lisa nodded in agreement.
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She keeps looking at us all weird and saying stuff
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under her breath. What kind of stuff, I asked, suddenly
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realizing I already knew the answer. Crazy talk, Lisa chimed in.
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Now Samantha nodded in agreement. She's making snide remarks about
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the way we look and about our modeling experience. And
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she's doing it in this oddball voice. It's really creeping
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us out. I promised I'd get to the bottom of
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it and sent the sisters downstairs to pick out some
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props and to arrange the wardrobe trunks. I walked into
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the living room with a fresh pitcher of lemon iced
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tea and offered some to Jill who was sitting on
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the couch with a look of consternation on her face.
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She waved away the iced tea and I saw a
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single tear form in the corner of her eye. Jill,
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what's the matter? It's those two, she snapped, pointing a
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thumb toward the stairs that led to the basement area.
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I can't work around them if they continue to be so,
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so unprofessional. I handed her a tissue and related the
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stories I'd been told by Brooke as well as Samantha
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and Lisa. Jill's eyes grew wide. She crossed herself and
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said she needed to leave. I begged her to stay,
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but her beliefs and superstitions wouldn't permit it. In fact,
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Jill never came to my studio again. I shot with
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her on location afterwards, but she steadfastly refused to set
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foot in my haunted house. Brooke was just finishing her
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turn in the chair, so I brought the sisters up
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from the studio and we all went out on the
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terrace for a group meeting. At this point, I patched
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everyone's stories together and was able to get a better
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idea of the big picture. The rest of the girls
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agreed to stay, with Samantha and Lisa showing a very
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keen interest now that they thought it was a ghost
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rather than Jill trash-talking their modeling game. The rest of
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the evening and night continued without incident, although we thought
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we heard footsteps in the hardwood-floored dining room upstairs. We
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broke around midnight, and Jeff and Trina left immediately. Brooke, Samantha,
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and Lisa stayed behind, asking if they could speak to
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me about an idea they had. I said, sure, why not?
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And we went out on the rooftop terrace to take
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in the cool night air of the desert. We'd like
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to hold a seance, Brooke said, speaking for the group.
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What do you think of that? I allowed that it
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was agreeable and might even be fun. I was truly
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interested to see what spirits might be at the house,
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having had a lifelong interest in anything strange or creepy.
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We finished our drinks and the girls all departed into
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the night. We had decided on the following Saturday night
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for the seance. After what seemed like a month of anticipation,
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Saturday finally arrived. I'd canceled my original photo shoot and
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booked one with Brooke, Samantha, and Lisa. This way, I
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could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.
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I could get the fashion product shoots a client had
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asked for and still be able to have the seance.
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Working for yourself sometimes means having to be financially creative.
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Since the client's product was footwear, I wouldn't even need
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hair and makeup assistance on this particular shoot. Things were
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going smoothly. We finished the shoot in record time, and
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the girls all changed into comfortable clothes for the seance.
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Samantha and Lisa were heavily into the occult as it
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turns out, so they brought a giant Rubbermaid storage bin
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full of things they thought we would need, including such
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objects as candles, sea salt, sage, and a Ouija board.
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I was kind of amazed to see them covering all
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the mirrors in the house with black cloth. They claimed
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it was standard operating practice for hauntings to either keep
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evil spirits from escaping through the mirrors or coming into
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the house out of the mirror. I found the duality
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of the concept interesting. Brooke wasn't as into the occult
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as the twin sisters, but she was dating a guy who,
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in her own words, was part of a satanic metal band,
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so she knew enough about the paranormal to be fascinated,
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yet keep anything truly evil at a respectful distance. It
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was decided by all involved that the seance should begin
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in the secret room behind the bookshelf in the basement,
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and then continue upstairs and elsewhere, depending on the initial outcome.
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My roommate was away visiting family in Northern California for
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the weekend, that we would be undisturbed in that regard.
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At the twins' request, I went through the house unplugging clocks,
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shutting off any unnecessary electronics, and then finally shutting off
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all the lights inside and out, throwing the house and
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surrounds into total darkness. Incredibly, it was like flipping a
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switch in more ways than one. As the lights went out,
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there was a noticeable, very palpable charge in the air.
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Brooke noticed it as well and gripped my hand tightly
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in the darkness as the sisters lit long black taper
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candles and we followed them single file into the basement.
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I opened the heavy oak bookcase on its hinges at
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the bottom of the stairs and we all slipped inside
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the roughly 25 foot by 25 foot room. When the
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bookcase snapped closed, it was as if all the air
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was sucked out of the hidden anteroom. The light from
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the candles even seemed dimmer in this hidden chamber. and
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the unlit corners of the room seemed blacker than black.
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The rest of us watched as Samantha drew a circle
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of protection around us on the bare concrete floor using
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the sea salt. She admonished us that no matter what,
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we all had to remain within the circle until such
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a time as she had broken it. We all sat
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within the confines of the circle, which went right up
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to the very walls of the square room, leaving only
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the corners unprotected. All but one of the tapers was extinguished,
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and with light wisps of smoke and the smell of
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burning wax in the air, Samantha led the group in
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a brief prayer, and then the seance officially began. Personally,
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I was relieved to see that the Ouija board had
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not been brought into the confined space with us, as
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I still have mixed feelings about the safety and sanity
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of using the mystifying oracle as either a tool of
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00:14:01.500 --> 00:14:04.500
divination or as a means of contacting the great beyond.
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Reprieve was short-lived, though, as I would find out later
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when we went upstairs into the living room. Both Samantha
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and Lisa had done this sort of thing many times, apparently.
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Brooke and I watched silently as the sisters called out
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to the spirits of the universe, as well as any
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spirits in or near the house. We both nearly jumped
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out of our skin when we heard a noise upstairs
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in the otherwise empty house. Brooke had my hand in
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00:14:28.789 --> 00:14:30.549
a death grip, and I looked over to see her
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00:14:30.669 --> 00:14:35.080
eyes tightly closed. Samantha and Lisa continued their callings, with
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00:14:35.100 --> 00:14:38.179
Samantha apparently slipping into a mild trance as she welcomed
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the spirits of the house to our little gathering. I
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00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:43.899
was just reconsidering how this might not have been such
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00:14:43.940 --> 00:14:46.899
a good idea. In fact, I was thinking at that
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00:14:46.970 --> 00:14:49.990
very moment that this may well be a very bad idea,
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when suddenly the lone candle snuffed out. If I thought
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00:14:54.029 --> 00:14:56.450
the air was gone out of the room before, it
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00:14:56.490 --> 00:15:00.370
was that times ten now. Brooke stifled a scream as
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00:15:00.409 --> 00:15:04.809
the icy, inky blackness surrounded us. Samantha took the opportunity
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to remind us not to leave the protection of the
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salt circle until she gave the clearance to do so.
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No worry on that. I was glued to the spot
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and Brooke was glued to me. We weren't going anywhere
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right now, at least not without a fight. Brooke had
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00:15:18.700 --> 00:15:21.240
always claimed she considered me a father figure, so I
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00:15:21.299 --> 00:15:24.919
suppose that explains why she felt protected. We shivered in
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00:15:24.940 --> 00:15:28.740
the darkness as Samantha and Lisa both proclaimed aloud. The
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00:15:28.779 --> 00:15:33.950
spirits had arrived. Thankfully, Samantha announced that we needed to
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00:15:34.009 --> 00:15:36.669
move to another part of the house. The girls had
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relit the tapers and had performed some sort of banishing
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00:15:39.450 --> 00:15:43.269
ceremony to anything outside the circle and then carefully scraped
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00:15:43.340 --> 00:15:46.340
open a door in the salt circle through which we
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00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:50.519
could all safely depart. We gathered outside the hidden room,
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which I'll admit, I was in fear that the bookcase
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00:15:53.220 --> 00:15:55.250
simply wouldn't open and we'd all be trapped with the
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00:15:55.259 --> 00:15:59.440
ghosts inside. I'm glad that wasn't the case. Samantha and
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Lisa began discussing where we should go next while standing
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00:16:02.179 --> 00:16:05.100
on the wooden stairs. The group ventured to the first
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00:16:05.179 --> 00:16:07.379
landing and almost went out the French doors to one
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00:16:07.419 --> 00:16:11.639
of the many outdoor terraces on the property. Instead, Samantha
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00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:14.210
stated that she felt that her spirit guide was pointing
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00:16:14.250 --> 00:16:17.110
her toward the farther upstairs in the living room, so
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00:16:17.129 --> 00:16:21.070
we followed suit. We marched single file into the living room,
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00:16:21.470 --> 00:16:24.509
which looked even eerier than usual when lit only by candlelight.
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I followed Samantha's lead. and we all formed a circle
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00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:31.769
around a low wooden table in the middle of the room. Again,
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00:16:32.009 --> 00:16:33.950
she used the sea salt to cast a circle of
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00:16:33.990 --> 00:16:37.049
protection around us. And, in case you're wondering, the salt
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00:16:37.149 --> 00:16:40.090
did vacuum out of the vintage 1970s shag carpet with
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00:16:40.129 --> 00:16:44.250
no difficulty the next day. This time, Lisa retrieved the
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00:16:44.289 --> 00:16:46.840
Ouija board from their plastic bin that contained a veritable
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00:16:46.980 --> 00:16:50.940
Pandora's box of occultic and spiritualism goodies. Now it was
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00:16:50.980 --> 00:16:52.940
my turn to have a death grip on Brooke's hand.
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00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:56.279
She didn't seem to mind the Ouija board, although I
305
00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:00.279
found small comfort in that. Thankfully, Samantha and Lisa declared
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00:17:00.299 --> 00:17:02.139
that they would be the mediums to use the board,
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00:17:02.700 --> 00:17:05.680
and Brooke and I would remain as observers. Now that
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00:17:05.769 --> 00:17:09.869
did give me a bit of comfort and relief. Once again,
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00:17:10.130 --> 00:17:13.430
all the candles, save for one, were extinguished, and the sisters,
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00:17:13.650 --> 00:17:16.089
staying well within the confines of the circle of protection,
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00:17:16.250 --> 00:17:19.410
sat facing each other, knees touching, with the Ouija board
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00:17:19.450 --> 00:17:22.869
between them. Brooke and I watched in silence as they
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00:17:22.890 --> 00:17:26.910
began the task, Both with eyes closed, heads tilted back,
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00:17:27.529 --> 00:17:31.950
the planchette began moving slowly, describing a sideways figure eight,
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00:17:32.509 --> 00:17:36.299
an infinity symbol. After a few minutes, an entity had
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00:17:36.339 --> 00:17:40.200
made itself known via the Ouija board. It informed us
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00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:42.859
his name was Peter, and he had immigrated to the
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00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:47.450
United States from Germany just after the First World War. Further,
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00:17:47.849 --> 00:17:49.569
he had lived in the house in Las Vegas in
320
00:17:49.589 --> 00:17:52.890
the 1950s, and claimed to have died in a traffic
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00:17:52.990 --> 00:17:57.450
accident on Boulder Highway sometime in the late 60s. Other
322
00:17:57.490 --> 00:18:00.579
than those very specific facts, Peter didn't have a lot
323
00:18:00.619 --> 00:18:03.079
to say, and was happy to move on off the
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00:18:03.099 --> 00:18:05.759
Ouija board and allow others to come in, as he
325
00:18:05.819 --> 00:18:08.240
also claimed there were many, many spirits waiting to have
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00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:10.960
a word with the sisters and their magical conduit, as
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00:18:11.009 --> 00:18:14.690
he called the device. Another spirit claimed to have been
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00:18:14.730 --> 00:18:16.569
a mob boss who had once stayed in the house
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00:18:16.670 --> 00:18:19.309
briefly as a safe house. but then he had been
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00:18:19.349 --> 00:18:22.509
double-crossed and murdered execution-style in the basement by the very
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00:18:22.549 --> 00:18:26.970
men he trusted. He refused to identify himself, and also
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00:18:27.029 --> 00:18:29.809
stated that he was very angry and was bent on revenge.
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00:18:31.309 --> 00:18:33.970
As a side note, the house was built in the
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00:18:34.109 --> 00:18:37.150
early 1930s. This was prior to anything being built on
335
00:18:37.170 --> 00:18:41.009
the now-famous Las Vegas Strip, where a real-life gangster opened
336
00:18:41.029 --> 00:18:45.450
the Flamingo in December of 1946. So, at the time
337
00:18:45.509 --> 00:18:48.019
this house was built, it would have been in practically
338
00:18:48.059 --> 00:18:51.700
the middle of the desert, nowhere. The only casinos and
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00:18:51.740 --> 00:18:54.039
hotels in existence in the early 30s would have been
340
00:18:54.059 --> 00:18:56.440
in the downtown area of Las Vegas on and around
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00:18:56.519 --> 00:18:59.720
Fremont Street, which was several miles from where this house
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00:18:59.779 --> 00:19:03.759
was off West Sahara and Arvo. I was told, indeed,
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by the neighbors at the end of the street who
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00:19:05.539 --> 00:19:08.519
had been there since 1950, that the house had been
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a mafia safe house at one time. They also added
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00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:14.619
that for a period of time, from the mid-50s until
347
00:19:14.660 --> 00:19:17.900
possibly as late as the early 70s, The house had
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00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:20.519
been home to some sort of strange religious cult, in
349
00:19:20.539 --> 00:19:25.009
their words, who held services in the cavernous basement. The
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00:19:25.049 --> 00:19:28.589
mafia bits and the weird cultists explain a lot, and
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00:19:28.609 --> 00:19:33.289
we'll explain even more later on. Now, I'd never mentioned
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00:19:33.369 --> 00:19:35.210
any of the facts passed to me from the people
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00:19:35.250 --> 00:19:37.630
who lived at the end of the street, so unless
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they were clever, secret investigators, the twins had no way
355
00:19:41.730 --> 00:19:44.859
of knowing any of the history of the house. In fact,
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00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.880
they were from Colorado, where they had been born, and
357
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had only been in Las Vegas for a few months.
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Brook didn't know any of the house's history, nor did
359
00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:57.819
any of my friends. Even my roommate, who currently owned
360
00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:01.059
the property, knew nothing of its past. I'd had a
361
00:20:01.099 --> 00:20:03.619
chance encounter with the elderly neighbor from down the street
362
00:20:03.740 --> 00:20:05.579
one day when I was out gathering in the mail,
363
00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:08.759
and he stated he often wondered who could live in
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00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:11.819
such a house. and ask if we had any idea
365
00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:15.809
of the dark history contained within its walls. Sure enough,
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00:20:16.069 --> 00:20:18.630
one of the later spirits the sisters contacted via the
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Ouija board claimed to have been summoned to the house
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00:20:20.890 --> 00:20:25.569
decades ago by a high priest. At this point, I'd
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00:20:25.589 --> 00:20:27.400
heard all that I wanted to hear, as I still
370
00:20:27.420 --> 00:20:29.859
had to stay in the house, and alone, over the
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00:20:29.900 --> 00:20:34.339
weekend at that. Samantha agreed, broke the circle, and everyone
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00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:37.640
drifted off into the night. I did promise that I
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00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:39.980
would keep all of my seance guests informed of any
374
00:20:40.019 --> 00:20:43.259
paranormal or otherwise strange or unexplained activity in the house
375
00:20:43.539 --> 00:20:46.329
and would report back to them on a future photo shoot.
376
00:20:47.140 --> 00:20:50.009
Although somewhat spooked, I plied myself with a couple of
377
00:20:50.049 --> 00:20:53.349
glasses of an excellent Shiraz and quickly enough fell asleep
378
00:20:53.630 --> 00:20:57.970
alone in the dark, dark house. The next evening, I
379
00:20:57.990 --> 00:21:00.579
didn't have anything scheduled other than looking through some photos
380
00:21:00.650 --> 00:21:05.190
I was editing in Photoshop. Around 9pm, my eyes needed
381
00:21:05.230 --> 00:21:07.109
a rest and I was just preparing a bath when
382
00:21:07.130 --> 00:21:10.789
the front doorbell rang. I answered it immediately, only to
383
00:21:10.849 --> 00:21:14.630
find no one there. Neighborhood kids, I surmised, having done
384
00:21:14.690 --> 00:21:18.230
similar pranks as a child. I closed the door and
385
00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:20.630
walked into the bathroom and prepared to draw a bath
386
00:21:20.690 --> 00:21:25.480
in the sunken tub. The doorbell rang again. And, once more,
387
00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:30.200
no one was there. Darn kids. After just starting to
388
00:21:30.220 --> 00:21:32.440
relax in the hot bath I'd drawn in the enormous
389
00:21:32.500 --> 00:21:35.849
garden tub I heard a strange noise coming from somewhere
390
00:21:35.890 --> 00:21:39.480
in the house. It sounded as if someone were dragging
391
00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:42.359
a full metal garbage can down either the hallway or
392
00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:45.259
in the dining room. The only rooms in the house
393
00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:49.720
were wooden floors. This continued for a few minutes and
394
00:21:49.740 --> 00:21:52.509
I finally decided my roommate had returned early from visiting
395
00:21:52.569 --> 00:21:57.509
her family in Northern California. The noises eventually subsided and
396
00:21:57.569 --> 00:21:59.690
I relaxed the better part of an hour before I
397
00:21:59.730 --> 00:22:02.289
made myself get out and towel off lest I totally
398
00:22:02.329 --> 00:22:06.470
prune myself. Flipping on an oversized cotton robe I'd brought
399
00:22:06.619 --> 00:22:09.220
home from Hong Kong, I walked out into the cool,
400
00:22:09.259 --> 00:22:12.859
dark house. I called out to my roommate a few times,
401
00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:16.720
but never received a response. I walked back to her room,
402
00:22:16.819 --> 00:22:20.140
which was dark, with the door open. No one was home.
403
00:22:21.700 --> 00:22:23.740
I even went and peeked out the side windows into
404
00:22:23.779 --> 00:22:27.339
the parking area. The double security gate was firmly closed,
405
00:22:27.579 --> 00:22:31.299
and only my automobile was parked on the carport. Again,
406
00:22:31.579 --> 00:22:33.519
I simply thought it was odd, but not too strange.
407
00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:36.279
I shrugged it off and went inside to watch a
408
00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:38.480
movie while waiting for time to turn in for the night.
409
00:22:40.279 --> 00:22:44.400
Sometime during the night, I woke up, wide awake. I'd
410
00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:47.140
fallen asleep on the sectional suede sofa in the living room,
411
00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:51.210
something I rarely, if ever, did. The movie was over,
412
00:22:51.450 --> 00:22:54.009
and the giant plasma TV, sensing there was no longer
413
00:22:54.049 --> 00:22:57.529
a signal, had shut itself off. Then I heard the
414
00:22:57.569 --> 00:23:02.549
noise again. The heavy trash can dragging noise. It had
415
00:23:02.569 --> 00:23:06.259
the startling revelation... That was what had awakened me from
416
00:23:06.299 --> 00:23:10.160
my deep slumber on the couch. The house was dark,
417
00:23:10.779 --> 00:23:15.440
and other than the weird scraping noise, totally silent. I
418
00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:18.289
rolled off the sofa onto the shag carpet and slowly
419
00:23:18.349 --> 00:23:21.910
began making my way toward the hall. As I crept
420
00:23:21.970 --> 00:23:24.490
by the fireplace, I thought to snag the poker, just
421
00:23:24.529 --> 00:23:28.130
in case. Granted, it wasn't much of a weapon, but
422
00:23:28.170 --> 00:23:31.920
better than nothing, I surmised. I could see a bit
423
00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:34.500
of moonlight spilling across the landing where the stairs from
424
00:23:34.519 --> 00:23:37.910
the basement terminated, but could only see the near end
425
00:23:37.950 --> 00:23:42.009
of the hallway. The other end, where the noises, which
426
00:23:42.170 --> 00:23:45.329
had now conveniently stopped, sounded like they had been coming from,
427
00:23:45.390 --> 00:23:50.380
was cast in total pitch black darkness. I stealthily raised
428
00:23:50.440 --> 00:23:53.079
up on one knee and groped blindly for the light switch,
429
00:23:53.700 --> 00:23:55.460
poker at the ready in what I hoped was an
430
00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:59.529
intimidating position. I switched the light on and leapt to
431
00:23:59.569 --> 00:24:04.450
my feet, brandishing the poker wildly to a completely empty hallway.
432
00:24:06.789 --> 00:24:10.170
I blinked my eyes a few times and strained to listen. Nothing.
433
00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:15.200
The only noise was the refrigerator and the near-silent home
434
00:24:15.220 --> 00:24:19.240
of the house's two rooftop air conditioning units. A quick
435
00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:22.799
check of the other rooms, even downstairs, turned up no intruders,
436
00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:28.059
at least not physical ones. The security system that covered
437
00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:30.140
all the windows and doors was still armed, and there
438
00:24:30.180 --> 00:24:32.329
was no indication that anyone had been in the house
439
00:24:32.369 --> 00:24:36.250
through any other means. I shut everything back off and
440
00:24:36.289 --> 00:24:39.730
tried to go back to sleep in my bedroom. Sleep
441
00:24:39.750 --> 00:24:42.190
didn't come again until I saw the sun beginning to
442
00:24:42.230 --> 00:24:47.619
peek over the horizon. When my roommate returned from Northern California,
443
00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:50.519
she brought along a new addition to the household. A
444
00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:54.240
little dog, half corky, half German Shepherd. And yes, he
445
00:24:54.259 --> 00:24:55.960
looked as odd as he sounds, but he was a
446
00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:00.539
sweet little fellow, named Captain Stubbs. Imagine a miniature German
447
00:25:00.579 --> 00:25:03.690
Shepherd with tiny, short little legs, and you get the idea.
448
00:25:05.549 --> 00:25:08.549
Right away, Captain Stubbs and I became best friends. I
449
00:25:08.589 --> 00:25:12.190
think he may have been part chowhound, because he sure
450
00:25:12.230 --> 00:25:15.690
did love to eat. I enjoyed cooking in the gourmet kitchen,
451
00:25:15.809 --> 00:25:18.130
which my roommate loved because she didn't have any idea
452
00:25:18.170 --> 00:25:20.960
how to cook. I often made dinner for the three
453
00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:25.950
of us, Captain Stubbs included. There was also something else
454
00:25:26.009 --> 00:25:30.450
I noticed right away. Captain Stubbs' reluctance to visit certain
455
00:25:30.509 --> 00:25:34.029
parts of the house. The areas he shied away from
456
00:25:34.130 --> 00:25:37.579
were the room downstairs that had supposedly been a cult sanctuary,
457
00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:41.920
the hidden room behind the bookcase, and the upstairs hallway
458
00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:44.240
where I had heard the mysterious sounds of the full
459
00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:48.309
metal trash can being dragged on the hardwood. I chalked
460
00:25:48.349 --> 00:25:51.029
it up to him being in an unfamiliar area, But
461
00:25:51.069 --> 00:25:53.549
I soon came to realize that Captain Stubbs wouldn't go
462
00:25:53.569 --> 00:25:56.990
into those areas for any reason, even for his favorite
463
00:25:57.029 --> 00:26:00.829
treat for my cooking, the chef's surprise with fried eggs.
464
00:26:02.609 --> 00:26:04.710
One day I was home alone, and I heard a
465
00:26:04.859 --> 00:26:07.339
bone-chilling howl that made the hair stand up on my
466
00:26:07.420 --> 00:26:10.740
arm's neck. It sounded as if someone were being murdered.
467
00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:13.700
I quick jogged through the house, and I found the
468
00:26:13.740 --> 00:26:17.039
source of the din. Captain Stubbs had bravely tried to
469
00:26:17.099 --> 00:26:19.460
traverse the dark hallway to get into the kitchen where
470
00:26:19.500 --> 00:26:23.880
his food and water were placed. Under normal circumstances, he
471
00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:26.240
would trot out the doggy door in my roommate's suite,
472
00:26:26.930 --> 00:26:29.250
around the house, up the terrace, and then back in
473
00:26:29.269 --> 00:26:31.390
through another doggy door on the first landing of the
474
00:26:31.430 --> 00:26:35.829
basement stairs. For whatever reason, he had tried a different
475
00:26:35.869 --> 00:26:39.059
route on this day, and what I witnessed was hard
476
00:26:39.079 --> 00:26:43.440
to believe. Captain Stubbs was on the floor on his belly,
477
00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:47.289
howling like mad, It was as if some unseen force
478
00:26:47.349 --> 00:26:51.049
were holding him down firmly enough that, despite trying with
479
00:26:51.109 --> 00:26:53.869
all his might, he couldn't crawl away or back up
480
00:26:53.930 --> 00:26:58.119
or even stand on his stubby little legs. Stymied and
481
00:26:58.170 --> 00:27:00.940
sure that the dog was injured in some way, I
482
00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:02.720
headed down the hallway to see what I could do
483
00:27:02.759 --> 00:27:05.420
to help him out, envisioning an emergency trip to the
484
00:27:05.460 --> 00:27:10.700
vet's office. However, just as I got almost to where
485
00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:14.230
he was, I felt some sort of cold spot pass
486
00:27:14.289 --> 00:27:18.509
through me. Yes, that's what I said. It passed through me,
487
00:27:19.029 --> 00:27:23.150
instead of I passing through it. I stopped in my tracks,
488
00:27:23.410 --> 00:27:28.700
my entire body suddenly covered in goosebumps. Instantly, Captain Stubbs'
489
00:27:28.740 --> 00:27:32.759
paralysis broke. He immediately stopped the unearthly howling and literally
490
00:27:32.859 --> 00:27:35.299
jumped up and ran into my roommate's room, where he
491
00:27:35.359 --> 00:27:37.779
peered back at me from around the corner of the doorjamb.
492
00:27:39.660 --> 00:27:41.440
I went in the kitchen, got out some food, and
493
00:27:41.460 --> 00:27:44.130
called for him. Sure enough, in a couple of minutes,
494
00:27:44.170 --> 00:27:46.049
he entered via the doggy door near the stairs to
495
00:27:46.089 --> 00:27:48.970
the basement and trotted through the living room and into
496
00:27:48.990 --> 00:27:54.880
the kitchen, eyes bright, tail wagging. As Captain Stubbs devoured
497
00:27:54.910 --> 00:27:58.839
his dinner, I gave him a cursory inspection. Nothing appeared
498
00:27:58.900 --> 00:28:01.519
out of the ordinary. He had no lumps or limps
499
00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:04.180
or sprains or broken bones, and his appetite was surely
500
00:28:04.180 --> 00:28:08.799
100% intact. I sent a text message to my roommate
501
00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:12.970
and let her know about the incident. Later, after hearing
502
00:28:12.990 --> 00:28:15.359
me describe what had happened a couple of times, she
503
00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:17.460
packed Captain Stubbs in her Jeep and tore off to
504
00:28:17.480 --> 00:28:21.619
the vet's office. Better safe than sorry. As it turned out,
505
00:28:21.859 --> 00:28:24.880
Captain Stubbs got a completely clean bill of health and
506
00:28:24.920 --> 00:28:27.339
the vet was as mystified as we were regarding the
507
00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:33.299
poor little doggie's reaction. Going forward, my roommate also noticed
508
00:28:33.339 --> 00:28:36.440
Captain Stubbs' odd behavior and apparent inability to go to
509
00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:40.089
certain places in the house. If the doggy door in
510
00:28:40.119 --> 00:28:42.690
my roommate's room was locked, the dog was content to
511
00:28:42.730 --> 00:28:45.269
stay in her bedroom and sew the carpet, rather than
512
00:28:45.329 --> 00:28:49.069
venture down the hallway. When she mentioned it to the
513
00:28:49.109 --> 00:28:52.869
vet on another visit, the vet remarked how unusual this was,
514
00:28:53.089 --> 00:28:59.579
especially for such a crate-trained and well-housebroken canine. During my
515
00:28:59.640 --> 00:29:02.819
time living in the house, my roommate tried to deny
516
00:29:02.900 --> 00:29:06.730
anything unusual was going on. She even tried to discount
517
00:29:06.769 --> 00:29:09.470
the weird behavior by Captain Stubbs as some sort of
518
00:29:09.549 --> 00:29:14.390
dog mind thingy we just don't understand, as she put it. However,
519
00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:17.779
the incident that finally made her a believer, as much
520
00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:21.059
as she could believe, I suppose, happened one day while
521
00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:23.279
I was out at Red Rock Canyon for a photo
522
00:29:23.299 --> 00:29:26.299
shoot with a bevy of models for a local cosmetic startup.
523
00:29:27.589 --> 00:29:30.589
My roommate was relaxing on the bed in her room, reading,
524
00:29:31.029 --> 00:29:33.549
when she heard what sounded like the downstairs door open.
525
00:29:33.970 --> 00:29:38.039
followed shortly by several voices. As the voices grew louder,
526
00:29:38.269 --> 00:29:42.539
she heard laughter and then low music. As the music swelled,
527
00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:45.859
the voices dropped to a murmur. She said the music
528
00:29:45.900 --> 00:29:50.240
sounded like organ music, the kind one might have heard at, yes,
529
00:29:50.700 --> 00:29:54.049
a church. She assumed I'd finished early and had brought
530
00:29:54.089 --> 00:29:56.509
some of the models over to go through the digital photographs,
531
00:29:56.990 --> 00:30:00.299
which is what I usually did, Taking her time, she
532
00:30:00.359 --> 00:30:03.079
got up, put on a caftan, went into the kitchen,
533
00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:06.440
made herself a drink. The music was low, but it continued,
534
00:30:06.619 --> 00:30:11.250
then stopped, and she heard the voices again. She could
535
00:30:11.269 --> 00:30:14.309
tell it was for sure a male voice, assuming it
536
00:30:14.349 --> 00:30:17.190
was me, but couldn't quite make out what I was saying.
537
00:30:18.529 --> 00:30:20.869
Being a model herself as well, she decided to come
538
00:30:20.910 --> 00:30:23.680
down and join us. As she made her way down
539
00:30:23.700 --> 00:30:28.140
the stairs, about three steps from the bottom, she recalls, Suddenly,
540
00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:33.140
everything became silent. Curiously, she continued down the stairs and
541
00:30:33.180 --> 00:30:37.240
into my darkened studio. Looking into the other rooms, she
542
00:30:37.289 --> 00:30:40.829
saw that all were very dark and very empty. She
543
00:30:40.890 --> 00:30:43.170
even switched on the lights and looked into the storage
544
00:30:43.250 --> 00:30:46.829
area and the hidden room behind the staircase. But there
545
00:30:46.869 --> 00:30:51.069
simply wasn't anyone or anything to be found, let alone
546
00:30:51.109 --> 00:30:55.069
an after-shoot party with a dozen models. Not fully understanding
547
00:30:55.150 --> 00:30:58.279
what had just happened, She even wandered outside only to
548
00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:01.700
find hers was the only vehicle in the carport. She
549
00:31:01.740 --> 00:31:04.500
went back in, went to her room, grabbed her cell
550
00:31:04.519 --> 00:31:07.430
phone and immediately called me. As luck would have it,
551
00:31:07.460 --> 00:31:09.480
I was just setting up my cameras and tripods in
552
00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:11.609
another area of the canyon when I received the call.
553
00:31:12.549 --> 00:31:14.630
I listened to her story and assured her I'd been
554
00:31:14.670 --> 00:31:17.049
in Red Rock Canyon since 6 a.m. and would be
555
00:31:17.069 --> 00:31:19.150
there for at least a few more hours. This was
556
00:31:19.190 --> 00:31:23.089
around noon. She suddenly sounded on the verge of hysteria
557
00:31:23.170 --> 00:31:26.410
and asked if she could come out to the location. Sure,
558
00:31:26.450 --> 00:31:28.730
I replied. I can always use an extra set of
559
00:31:28.789 --> 00:31:33.190
hands in a photo shoot. She arrived shortly, looking very shaken.
560
00:31:34.470 --> 00:31:37.180
When we returned home in separate vehicles that evening, she
561
00:31:37.220 --> 00:31:41.299
couldn't stop talking about her experience. Now you know how
562
00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:44.420
I've felt all my life, I thought. I held my tongue, though.
563
00:31:44.660 --> 00:31:47.660
Who am I to judge? I let her fully explain
564
00:31:47.700 --> 00:31:51.180
and accept what she had heard. Something impossible. Something that
565
00:31:51.220 --> 00:31:55.549
was inexplicable. Something that bore no rational nor scientific explanations.
566
00:31:56.809 --> 00:31:59.230
Although I've never been one to say, I told you so,
567
00:31:59.950 --> 00:32:03.069
I felt somewhat vindicated. It is a nice thing, in
568
00:32:03.109 --> 00:32:05.809
a way, to see someone experience something that takes their
569
00:32:05.829 --> 00:32:08.890
belief system and completely turns it on its head. It
570
00:32:08.910 --> 00:32:11.230
certainly gives you something to ponder about and may cast
571
00:32:11.289 --> 00:32:15.750
things in a completely new light. Speaking of light, my
572
00:32:15.789 --> 00:32:19.329
roommate now refused to sleep without a nightlight. She also
573
00:32:19.430 --> 00:32:21.589
asked that I sleep on the couch just for one
574
00:32:21.650 --> 00:32:24.029
night in case she had a nightmare or if the
575
00:32:24.069 --> 00:32:28.269
phantom organist and his party people returned I obliged her.
576
00:32:28.690 --> 00:32:31.390
I'd learned previously that the suede sectional sofa, for which
577
00:32:31.450 --> 00:32:35.150
she had paid the princely sum of $ 3, 500, was very comfortable.
578
00:32:36.269 --> 00:32:38.549
The next morning, she allowed that she had slept fitfully,
579
00:32:38.849 --> 00:32:41.490
waking up every little bit, but that other than the
580
00:32:41.589 --> 00:32:44.509
usual noises of the house, which had caused her to
581
00:32:44.569 --> 00:32:48.420
jump at even the tiniest creak, everything was silent and peaceful.
582
00:32:50.039 --> 00:32:53.759
It also gave her new insight into Captain Stubbs. A
583
00:32:53.799 --> 00:32:56.279
lot of experts claim that animals are more sensitive to
584
00:32:56.299 --> 00:32:59.759
the paranormal than people are, generally, so this made sense
585
00:32:59.799 --> 00:33:03.880
to her. Captain Stubbs had encountered some phantom of his own,
586
00:33:04.539 --> 00:33:07.720
some malevolent spirit bent on punishing the little dog and
587
00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:11.710
preventing him from eating his food. My roommate became very
588
00:33:11.769 --> 00:33:15.069
caught up in the paranormal after these events, reading every
589
00:33:15.109 --> 00:33:17.750
book she could get her hands on concerning ghosts and hauntings.
590
00:33:18.809 --> 00:33:22.380
She also began frequenting Bell Book and Candle, a famous
591
00:33:22.430 --> 00:33:26.960
occult bookshop in Las Vegas. She even brought home sage, incense,
592
00:33:27.079 --> 00:33:31.119
and sea salt to help cleanse the house. Another incident
593
00:33:31.160 --> 00:33:35.029
happened concerning the built-in shelves in my bedroom. I had
594
00:33:35.069 --> 00:33:37.890
a length of thick wooden dowel rod inserted between two
595
00:33:37.930 --> 00:33:41.549
holders where I hung up my dress pants, Oxford shirts, blazers,
596
00:33:41.609 --> 00:33:44.950
and the like. One particular night, after it had all
597
00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:47.990
fallen a couple of times, although the weight was not
598
00:33:48.009 --> 00:33:51.039
that much for the size of the wooden bar. I
599
00:33:51.099 --> 00:33:53.519
grabbed some tools and hardware from the garage and put
600
00:33:53.539 --> 00:33:55.640
a wood screw in each end of the dowel through
601
00:33:55.660 --> 00:33:59.259
the U-shaped holders on each end of the rod. Now,
602
00:33:59.299 --> 00:34:02.420
I said aloud, let's see you throw those on the floor.
603
00:34:03.920 --> 00:34:06.359
Satisfied with my handiwork, I turned out the light and
604
00:34:06.400 --> 00:34:09.539
hopped back into bed. My head had no more hit
605
00:34:09.559 --> 00:34:11.909
the pillow when I heard all my carefully hung clothing
606
00:34:12.190 --> 00:34:16.030
flop down onto the floor. I leapt from the bed, angry,
607
00:34:17.219 --> 00:34:20.639
and switched on the lights, and found the bar still
608
00:34:20.679 --> 00:34:26.300
screwed in place. However, every single piece of clothing was
609
00:34:26.360 --> 00:34:29.719
still on the hangers, and laid in a perfectly straight
610
00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:33.519
line on the floor, each piece overlapped by the one
611
00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:39.809
before it. It reminded me of toppled dominoes. You've got
612
00:34:39.869 --> 00:34:42.409
to be kidding, I shouted aloud to the empty room.
613
00:34:43.650 --> 00:34:45.929
I considered taping the hangers to the rod, but it
614
00:34:45.949 --> 00:34:48.349
was getting late, after 2 o'clock in the morning by
615
00:34:48.389 --> 00:34:50.670
that time, and I really did want to throw down
616
00:34:50.710 --> 00:34:55.230
the gauntlet and issue any more challenges that night. Instead,
617
00:34:55.449 --> 00:34:57.849
I picked up the clothing in several different batches and
618
00:34:57.889 --> 00:34:59.869
hung them on a similar bar in the laundry room
619
00:34:59.929 --> 00:35:03.039
on the other side of the house. I left them
620
00:35:03.079 --> 00:35:06.699
there and never had any more problems. Well, at least
621
00:35:06.739 --> 00:35:11.340
not with the clothes, after that incident. Probably the most
622
00:35:11.420 --> 00:35:18.230
disturbing incident that happened before I left Las Vegas for Portland, Oregon.
623
00:35:19.989 --> 00:35:22.769
I had a relatively new model of her. Maybe her
624
00:35:22.809 --> 00:35:25.969
third or fourth shoot in my studio. She was a
625
00:35:26.010 --> 00:35:29.610
recent transplant from Detroit and what I considered very tough.
626
00:35:30.510 --> 00:35:32.750
She had a lot of tattoos and talked of fighting
627
00:35:32.769 --> 00:35:35.409
her way out of nasty predicaments in the urban jungles
628
00:35:35.449 --> 00:35:40.280
that is modern-day Detroit. Regardless of all that, I had
629
00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:42.659
a client who needed just such a tough, tattooed, and
630
00:35:42.739 --> 00:35:46.590
pierced look for a leather clothing shop. We were working
631
00:35:46.670 --> 00:35:49.050
our way through the product line for his website for
632
00:35:49.130 --> 00:35:51.550
items which she could wear while I sought other models
633
00:35:51.590 --> 00:35:54.329
for the other bits. On this night's shoot, we were
634
00:35:54.349 --> 00:35:56.349
in the middle room of my studio against a faux
635
00:35:56.389 --> 00:35:59.909
brick wall I had paid to have installed. The studio
636
00:35:59.969 --> 00:36:02.690
lights were hot, the hair and makeup girls were having
637
00:36:02.730 --> 00:36:06.150
trouble keeping everything looking fresh, and I'm sure the model
638
00:36:06.210 --> 00:36:08.849
was roasting alive in the heavy leather products she was
639
00:36:08.909 --> 00:36:13.199
modeling for the cameras. Suddenly, just as I snapped off
640
00:36:13.239 --> 00:36:16.320
a series of 15 photos in burst mode, where the
641
00:36:16.360 --> 00:36:18.730
camera fires off the frames and sequence as fast as
642
00:36:18.809 --> 00:36:21.929
it can, I noticed something red on the model's right
643
00:36:21.969 --> 00:36:26.409
leg through the viewfinder. As I called it to her attention,
644
00:36:26.670 --> 00:36:28.929
she spun around and the makeup girl let out a
645
00:36:28.989 --> 00:36:32.670
stifled little shriek. Oh my God, she said, pointing at
646
00:36:32.690 --> 00:36:34.730
the back of the model's leg and the calf area.
647
00:36:35.190 --> 00:36:38.840
You're bleeding. Sure enough, in the light it was easy
648
00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:41.780
to see that there were three fresh, fairly deep gouges
649
00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:44.739
on her calf and the blood was headed toward her ankle.
650
00:36:46.039 --> 00:36:48.659
The slashes were in a row, equally spaced about a
651
00:36:48.699 --> 00:36:53.219
half an inch apart and approximately three inches long. I
652
00:36:53.260 --> 00:36:55.260
grabbed a towel off the makeup tray and tossed it
653
00:36:55.300 --> 00:36:57.409
to her, and she held it in place to staunch
654
00:36:57.449 --> 00:37:01.210
the bleeding. I had the camera connected to the laptop
655
00:37:01.289 --> 00:37:03.590
on a stand, so I started looking through the last
656
00:37:03.670 --> 00:37:06.329
burst as my makeup and hair girls applied first aid.
657
00:37:07.489 --> 00:37:09.989
The shoot wasn't officially over as far as I was concerned.
658
00:37:10.210 --> 00:37:12.510
We could shoot around the wound without a lot of fanfare.
659
00:37:14.369 --> 00:37:16.210
I found the shots in the burst and I'm sure
660
00:37:16.250 --> 00:37:19.989
my jaw dropped open. In one shot, her leg was fine.
661
00:37:20.590 --> 00:37:23.679
But in the very next frame, less than a second later,
662
00:37:24.480 --> 00:37:27.960
the ugly scratches were cleanly visible. And they were so
663
00:37:28.039 --> 00:37:30.760
fresh they hadn't even started bleeding much until the final
664
00:37:30.820 --> 00:37:34.590
frames of the burst. I walked over to the brick
665
00:37:34.630 --> 00:37:37.230
wall by where she'd been standing and inspected it carefully.
666
00:37:37.889 --> 00:37:41.889
There was nothing. No wire, no shard of brick, no nails.
667
00:37:42.579 --> 00:37:44.739
There was nothing on the wall that could have made
668
00:37:44.760 --> 00:37:49.159
those scratches. Plus, when looking at the photos again, it
669
00:37:49.199 --> 00:37:51.659
was clear that she had been facing the wall when
670
00:37:51.699 --> 00:37:56.860
the scratches appeared. One frame, nothing. The next, bloody scratches.
671
00:37:58.360 --> 00:38:01.860
By this point, I was shocked and stymied and looked
672
00:38:01.880 --> 00:38:04.460
like my assistants had patched her up pretty good, including
673
00:38:04.500 --> 00:38:08.840
some triple antibiotic ointment for added safety. But instead of
674
00:38:08.880 --> 00:38:11.619
continuing as I had figured we would, The model was
675
00:38:11.889 --> 00:38:14.590
angry and livid. She cursed up a storm and started
676
00:38:14.650 --> 00:38:18.010
packing up her things. Now the shoot was officially over.
677
00:38:19.090 --> 00:38:21.510
I tried to apologize to reason with her, but she
678
00:38:21.550 --> 00:38:24.650
wasn't having any of it. She continued to escalate until
679
00:38:24.690 --> 00:38:29.269
she was almost shrieking. You don't understand, she finally yelled
680
00:38:29.289 --> 00:38:34.650
in my face. Three marks. Three! I looked at her questioningly.
681
00:38:35.010 --> 00:38:38.230
I had no idea what she was talking about. There's
682
00:38:38.289 --> 00:38:43.690
something demonic here, she continued yelling. Anytime anyone gets three scratches,
683
00:38:44.429 --> 00:38:48.329
it's a mockery of the Holy Trinity. You could have
684
00:38:48.349 --> 00:38:52.269
heard a pin drop. Unbeknownst to me at the time,
685
00:38:52.550 --> 00:38:55.309
although I found out all about it later, what she
686
00:38:55.349 --> 00:39:00.440
was saying is correct in paranormal investigation circles. Apparently she
687
00:39:00.480 --> 00:39:03.059
had been involved with some paranormal groups in Detroit and
688
00:39:03.099 --> 00:39:07.079
knew that of which she spoke. Although we continued to
689
00:39:07.179 --> 00:39:10.659
correspond via email and text message, we never worked together
690
00:39:10.739 --> 00:39:14.420
again and I can't say as I blame her. It
691
00:39:14.460 --> 00:39:16.079
was only a few weeks later that I got the
692
00:39:16.139 --> 00:39:18.820
opportunity to move to Portland, Oregon, and I jumped at
693
00:39:18.860 --> 00:39:21.750
the chance, although I personally was never injured by the
694
00:39:21.809 --> 00:39:27.590
house's resident demon. After I moved away, my roommate struggled
695
00:39:27.670 --> 00:39:30.449
on in the house, still mostly in outward denial about
696
00:39:30.469 --> 00:39:33.960
the events taking place, but inwardly, she remained very afraid
697
00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:38.900
of what might happen. Finally, after a worsening stirring of
698
00:39:38.960 --> 00:39:42.760
roommates which caused problems and unsuccessful attempts to lure me
699
00:39:42.800 --> 00:39:45.960
back to Las Vegas from Portland, She found herself very
700
00:39:46.019 --> 00:39:48.480
much upside down in a huge mortgage for a house
701
00:39:48.519 --> 00:39:51.510
she no longer loved or even wanted, so she simply
702
00:39:51.550 --> 00:39:56.469
walked away. The house was eventually short sold, and I
703
00:39:56.510 --> 00:39:58.690
have no clue as to the experiences that may have
704
00:39:58.730 --> 00:40:02.289
been had by the current tenants, but I'll never forget
705
00:40:02.369 --> 00:40:06.869
my days and nights in the very active haunted house
706
00:40:07.349 --> 00:40:08.139
in Las Vegas.