Chronicles of a Ghost-Huntress

Chronicles of a Ghost-Huntress
Merced, CA July 24, 2009
It is a beautiful and warm Friday evening and the ladies of En~Vision Paranormal or EVP (Eileen “Yana” VerHulst, Lynn Combs, Connie Brenner, Julia Cottel and I) are headed to the historical Merced Theatre. A special thank you and credit for securing this investigation goes to psychic/medium George Lugo of Tucson, AZ www.crystalgatereadings.com. Originally from the Merced area, George has wanted to investigation at the majestic Theatre for some time and was kind enough to invite En~Vision to conduct that investigation with him. We are also thank and are joined by Hugh Simpson, who currently oversees the building.
According to the Merced Theatre Foundation www.mercedtheatre.org the Theatre opened on October 31, 1931 and served as the cultural center for the Merced community for the next 47 years. Designed by the Reid Brother’s, prestigious architects from San Francisco for The Golden State Theatre Corporation the Theatre boasted 1,645 seats with the first air conditioning for any building in the County. The Theatre’s interior depicted a Spanish castle courtyard, with blue skies and even a cloud machine. In addition to the main Theatre, the building includes five retail spaces and ten second-floor apartments. The Merced Theatre is listed on the National Register of Historical Places and the Theatre’s majestic Tower is the most recognized landmark in Merced.
In 1978 despite attempts by locals to preserve the Theatre it was purchased by United Artists who gutted the building and converted it to a movie four plex. However, the four plex was never financially successful and ultimately could not compete with newer multi-plex theaters. Slowly the building fell into disrepair and the doors were finally closed in 2002. Later that same year the City of Merced Redevelopment Agency purchased the Theatre Building. Since that time the Merced Theatre Foundation has leased the building from the city. The foundation is leading the renovation and plans to reopen the Theatre by October 30, 2010, the day before the building’s 79th anniversary.
Yana and Julia are in the car with me and the three of us can barely contain our excitement as we exit the 99 freeway and see the Theatre’s Tower looming ahead of us. When we arrive George and Hugh are waiting for us outside as the sun sets and darkness begins to fall. Before we begin our walk through tour of the Theatre Hugh turns on all of the exterior lighting, including the full marquee outside, the building as absolutely beautiful with its neon lights and definitely takes you back to a different era. During our walk through, Hugh shares with us some of his personal experiences and unexplained occurrences. Hugh says that several people have experienced seeing shadow people out of the corner over their eye. Hugh himself had an experience where he thought someone was standing a short distance away from him but when he turned to speak to them, no one was there. Hugh also tells us that just about everyone who enters the Theatre reports feeling like they were being watched, particularly from the balcony. As we continue our walk thru, Hugh points out what is left of the original handcrafted embellishments and Tiffany chandeliers. I am struck by the elegance that remains even with the building in full renovation. There are massive blue velvet chairs that line a wall in the concession area, like thrones. There is an actual small telephone booth “room” where Theatre goers could make discreet and private telephone calls, very different from today where everyone is talking on a cell phone no matter where they are. There is a ladies lounge connected to the ladies room and I can just picture the red velvet chaises and couches that used to occupy the room.
We check out the area beneath the stage that used be the dressing rooms when the Theatre was in full operation, now it is just a large empty space with concrete walls, floor and ceiling. Lynn calls dibs on this spot once we start the official investigation; she is hoping to capture an EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon). We make our way from under the stage, to being on it, where doors and storage cabinets line the back wall. Hugh points out an original movie reel and it is massive! We then exit stage right in to the alleyway between the Theatre and the adjoining apartments. As we make our way down the narrow alleyway, where Hugh and George want to show us the entrance to the underground tunnels than run beneath the city we are startled when several pigeons are rousted by our intrusion and go flying right past our heads to escape. After the screaming, yes, screaming, we may be fearless ghost hunters always hoping to see whatever the supernatural sends our way, but pigeons, flying around our heads, no way! We conclude our tour of the alleyway by ascending the stairs towards the Tower, only to discover unfortunately access to the Theatre’s Tower has been blocked. So, we return to the concession area which has been established as command central for some much needed water and to regroup for the rest of our walk through.
As we start to make our way up the stairs to the second floor and the balcony area, we admire the hand-painted mural of an arriving Spanish conquistador complete with galleons floating on the sea. As we progress up the stairs Hugh points out three photos which line the wall, these photos are of the Theatre’s original Spanish inspired interior. George then points out the he sees something strange in the center photo, what appears to be an outline of a woman in period clothing. Could she be an actress that used to perform here? Or maybe, an attendee of one of the Theatre’s many productions? We conclude our second floor walk through by climbing to the top of the balcony stairs and entering the old projection room, it is quite a sight from way up here overlooking this once grand Theatre.
After completing our walk thru we know exactly where we want to position our static video cameras. I place one of mine on the Theatre’s main floor facing out and up towards the balcony. Yana places hers up on the balcony looking down onto the main floor and particularly the stage. We have this place covered! Additionally, I will be using a portable video camera to capture additional footage. Upon review of the video evidence captured, Yana’s camera captured what sounds like a woman humming. Could it be the woman in period clothing from the photo? When I questioned Yana about this captured footage she explained that after we split into groups and while checking her equipment in the concession area, she was wearing a sound amplifying device known as a Miracle Ear which she commonly uses on investigations. She states that she actually heard a woman humming and even asked Julia to listen using the Miracle Ear to see if she could hear it too. Shortly after this, Yana proceeded up stairs to place her static video camera on the balcony; you can very clearly hear Yana walk away after placing the camera. You can then hear someone walking with an odd rhythm of a footstep followed by a dragging sound, like a limp or use of a cane, and then you hear a woman humming! Unfortunately, no visual evidence was captured with this audio evidence. As a matter of fact, we captured no conclusive video evidence during this investigation.
We go lights out and break up into two groups, with one consisting of Lynn, Connie and me, and the second consisting of Yana, Julia and George. Hugh elects to float back and forth between the two groups. Lynn, Connie and I begin under the stage, taking pictures and working with our digital voice recorders, hoping for an EVP. We didn’t realize we were successful until later when Connie reviewed her recordings, Connie captured a very clear male voice saying “Michael”. We believe this is a response to our request to “tell us your name”. Additionally, Lynn captured what we believe is a possible EVP, that evidence is pending further review.
After our investigation under the stage Lynn, Connie and I make our way on to the stage, again we are snapping photo after photo and attempt several EVP sessions. It should be noted that photo evidence from this investigation was reviewed but ruled unacceptable due to the extreme amount of dust as a result of the Theatre’s mid-renovation state. While on the stage Lynn, Connie and I all heard what sounded like shuffling footsteps in the stage left area of the balcony. We used our high-powered flashlights to illuminate this area but did not see what caused the sound. Is it possible, that these shuffling footsteps were caused by the same person captured on the audio of Yana’s video camera?
After a 45 minute investigative session the two groups switched locations, Connie, Lynn and I moved upstairs to the balcony while Yana, Julia and George began the second session under the stairs. During this investigative session the balcony group experienced a few unexplainable sounds of movement, again in the stage left balcony area. However, we were unsuccessful in determining a source or cause, rendering this experience undocumented and thus, unable to rule as paranormal. At the same time, group two moved to the alleyway, near the underground tunnel entrance where they experienced some anomalous K-II readings, however, were unable to substantiate as paranormal activity.
Is the historical Merced Theatre haunted? I would have to rule this investigation as inconclusive. While we did have some personal experiences, and got a couple of EVP’s, including an EVP captured using video equipment. We did not obtain anything of great significance allowing us to definitively say the location is haunted. We would definitely like to go back again, maybe once the renovations are complete and try again to capture a performance from its past inhabitants.
Stay tuned for the next chapter in the Chronicles of a Ghost-Huntress…. see you on the other side!
Donna Jackson, aka The Ghost-Huntress
Check out the photos: from this investigation: https://s979.photobucket.com/albums/ae277/EnVisionParanormal/Merced%20Theatre%207-24-09/
Equipment used during this investigation included: multiple digital cameras, several digital voice recorders, a K-II meter, a Sony Super VHS video camera, and two JVC Compact VHS video cameras.
- Copyright 2009 Donna Jackson, En~Vision Paranormal Ghostwriter 2009 all rights reserved.
Special Note from Paul Dale Roberts - HPI General Manager - www.hpiparanormal.net
Donna Jackson aka The Ghost-Huntress is also one of my lead investigators here at H.P.I. She is one of best investigators I have ever came across and I am honored to have her on my team for her investigative skills and insight. I was invited personally by Donna to go on the Merced investigation, but due to a social event that I already had scheduled, I could not make this event. Fortunately, Donna has immortalized this event with a well-written article. I feel like I was there. Bravo!