Linda Zimmermann - Ghost Investigator Volume 2: From Gettysburg to Lizzie Borden

GHOSTINVESTIGATOR

Volume 2:

From Gettysburg toLizzie Borden

Linda Zimmermann

SmashwordsEdition

Copyright 2011 LindaZimmermann

ISBN:978-0-9799002-9-7

Spirited BooksPrinting 2002

This book isavailable in print at most online retailers.

This ebook islicensed for your enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold orgiven away to other people. If you would like to share this bookwith another person, please purchase an additional copy for eachrecipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, orit was not purchased for your use only, then please return toSmashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respectingthe hard work of this author.

For several years now, I have been writingabout haunted places in the Hudson Valley region of New York andNew Jersey. On occasion, Ive had to stretch that regional envelopeas opportunities for investigations came up in other locations.Although there are still a few stories from the Hudson Valley inGhost Investigator, Volume 2: Gettysburg, PA to Lizzie Borden,AX, the title makes it clear that Ive officially expanded myterritory.

There are just too many ghosts out there tobe limited to any one area. In fact, Im still amazed by the sheernumber and scope of haunted houses, cemeteries, businesses, ships,roads, and just about anything else you can name. In the future, Iplan to seek out the hauntings offering the most compellingevidence, regardless of where they may be.

The stories in this book are indeedcompellingfrom terrified babysitters in a private home, to a vastbattlefield, and from a prison that held murderers, to the housewhere two of the most famous unsolved murders were committed. Thisis also the first book in which I have personally investigatedevery location. As always, I present an honest account of what did,or did not, happen there. Evidence is always open for differentinterpretations, and readers are encouraged to form their ownopinions based upon that evidence, as well as their own commonsense.

One question I am asked on a regular basisis, Where can I go to see a ghost?

Well, if it were that simple, I wouldnt needto keep searching for proof of the existence of ghosts. Actualapparitions are one of the rarest manifestations of a haunting, soyou may want to decrease your expectation level to something likecold spots, footsteps or psychic impressions. That being said, Iregularly hear eyewitness accounts of phantom figures appearing toskeptics who werent even looking for them. So then, where do yougo to see a ghost?

This book contains stories about two primelocationsGettysburg, Pennsylvania, and Lizzie Bordens house inFall River, Massachusetts. If you are unable to travel that far,check your areas newspapers around Halloween, when stories oflocal hauntings often appear. There are also books and manyInternet sites that list haunted places by state. Local historicalsocieties and libraries may also be able to help. If you do findinformation on a potentially haunted site, just make sure you donttrespass, and please respect the privacy of home and landowners.

Another word of cautionbe sure you areprepared to deal with the possibility of finding what you arelooking for. A personal encounter with a nasty spirit just might bemore than you can handle. In the comfort and security of your ownhome, its easy to believe you will be fearless. However, thereality of standing alone in the damp and darkness of a prisoncell, in the uneasy silence of an isolated cemetery, or within themusty, confining walls of an old basement, is a differentstory.

What would you do if you were suddenlyengulfed by an icy cold mass of air? How would you react if youwere at the scene of a murder and a door opened on its own? Wherewould you run if phantom footsteps approached you, and you had thesickening feeling that something wanted to harm you?

Perhaps its best that you just keep readingabout haunted places, with all of the lights on, in the safety ofyour own home. Theres no sense risking your mind, body, and soulseeking out spirits of the dead. After all, thats what ghostinvestigators are for.

Home Invasion

An Evening on Death Row

Music and Vinyl

Trolley View Farm

Home for Aged Women

Gettysburg

The Lizzie Borden House

Everyone loves a scary story about aterrorized babysitterexcept, of course, the babysitter herself.The homeowner usually isnt too thrilled, either. The followingstory is just such a case, and it will certainly make you thinktwice about spending the night in a strange houseeven when thathouse appears to be just like any other in your neighborhood.

In February of 2001, the Grant family movedinto a house in Spring Valley, New York. The high ranch was builtin 1960 and was in a quiet, well-manicured development. BySeptember, however, a member of the family had an experience thatshattered their short-lived ideal of the tranquil, suburban home.From that point, a string of bizarre and terrifying events began totake place that would test the familys strong Christianbeliefs.

In February of 2002, Marilyn Grant, a nursein a local hospital, sent me an e-mail message with the titleUrgent Help Needed!! She explained that she had read Ghosts ofRockland County and was having some problems similar to those Idescribed in the book. She went on to write that, four babysittersall had the same experience in the same room, and asked if I wouldbe interested in investigating. This tantalizingly briefdescription certainly caught my attention, and I immediatelycontacted her for more information.

After speaking with Marilyn, I felt that thiswas a situation that needed a psychic with the ability to perform aclearing. Marilyn was somewhat desperate to rid her home of whatappeared to be several spirits, so we tried to arrange a meeting ather house with a psychic from New Jersey. However, getting threebusy people together proved to be as difficult as catching anapparition on film, and when a particularly frightening episodeoccurred at the Grant home on the night of April 29, 2002, Idecided to visit the next day by myself.

I arrived at the house around 6pm and wasgreeted by Marilyns aunt, who had lived with the family on and offsince they moved in. She explained that Marilyn was not back fromwork yet, but would be home at any minute. I stepped inside withsome trepidation, fully aware that very unpleasant things happenedinside that house. As I later told Marilyn, you would think I wouldbe used to this sort of thing by now, but how do you get used toencountering the unknown? Especially when that unknown has provento be malicious and has attacked several women.

Some psychics and mediums have told me thatnothing frightens them and they have no hesitation going up againstthe nastiest entities the spirit world can dish out. However, Itend to agree with the old saying, Fools rush in. I prefer towalk, carefully.

The house was a typical high ranch with thefront door opening to a landing with a short flight of stairsleading downstairs to two rooms of living space on the right andthe garage on the left. Another short flight of stairs leads up tothe main floor with the open living/dining room area on the right,the kitchen straight ahead and the bedrooms to the left. As I wascarrying the bags of equipment downstairs into the television room,I felt a disturbing chill, but just then Marilyns car pulled intothe driveway so I went back up to greet her.

Part of my job of investigating a haunting isto judge the character and veracity of eyewitnesses. Often, this isthe only evidence I have to go on, so it is crucial for me to beable to distinguish between those who have truly encountered theunknown, and those who simply have a really vivid imagination(while they are not mutually exclusive, it is easier to deal withthe former than the latter). I immediately felt comfortable withMarilyn and knew that her professional training makes her anexcellent observer. She also maintains a deep faith which gives herboth comfort and strength.