Green Park Paranormal Conference--Day 1

On Friday afternoon, Tina and I set out for Blowing Rock, NC for the Green Park Paranormal Conference. Despite reports of an impending blizzard, we cautiously headed for the 125 yr old Green Park Inn off Highway 321.

The place was surprisingly easy to find. When they say "off of 321" they mean quite literally it is off the side of the road. If we'd have blinked we'd have missed the rustic sign that sat almost out of view of our headlights.

Hilarity ensued as we tried to unload the packed "ghost truck" with a rickety tiny-wheeled luggage cart across a frozen tire-tread parking lot as gale force winds threatened to blow us and it out into traffic.

Fighting gravity, weather, and age old wooden doors, we finally managed to get our stuff into the building in one piece.

The slow-as-molasses elevator inched us up to the 2nd floor and we excited maneuvered our cart (which was a a two person job) towards the room.

As we approached, we discovered an odd narrow ramp that apparently was meant to accommodate the cart. Pondering how we were going to wheel this thing down without dumping the precariously placed bags over the edge or breaking our ankles in the process.

Most delicately we managed to get bags and persons into the room without further setbacks.

We checked in downstairs and were treated to a most informative discussion on EVP's from Chad Austin of After Twilight Radio" http://www.aftertwilightradio.com/about.php

After a short question and answer session, the throng of eager ghost hunters retired to their respective rooms to gear up for an all access hunt, lead by the fabulous guys of Paranormal Scene Investigators: http://www.paranormalsceneinvestigators.com/psihome01.htm

The old-fashioned boiler heating system struggled with the icy cold atmosphere of our room...and lost. Faced with the ever present chill, we decided to forgo showers for the time being and started assembling our various ghost-finding gadgets.

We convened in the chaos of the Blue Ridge room to join our various groups for the hunt. Again, the guys at PSI did a superior job of controlling the masses. They had a state of the art setup of video cameras covering the supposed hot spots. They herded us off in organized groups to check out said hot spots, giving each team about 30 minutes to investigate each room. It was a ghost hunter's dream! Unparalleled access to a haunted hotel!

Our group was lucky enough to hit the dining hall first. The aforementioned Chad Austin took the lead and explained things in a way that was helpful to novice and experienced investigators alike. As he lead the session, Tina got a few hits on the EMF meter and I felt a cold spot saunter right up behind me.

Soon after, I called it a night. I'd had precious little sleep this week and it all seemed to catch up with me at once.

Retiring to the chilly room, I put on an extra layer of clothing and snuggled in for the night. Originally I'd planned to welcome slumber with a quick game of Solitaire, but my fingers got so chilled I had to shove them under the blankets. So much for that idea.

Torn between rejoining the hunt (just to get out of the freezing room) or surrendering to sleep, I pondered myself right into insomnia. Determined to make the best of it (and not wanting to get out from under the finally warm covers) I rolled over and closed my eyes.

It seemed like only a few minutes later that Tina strolled in, although the hunt was scheduled 'til 2am. I was right on the verge of sleep, so I wasn't about to lean over and check the clock. Tina tried to be as quiet as possible, but aged creaky doors and floors made that a challenge. She "deghostified" and headed for the restroom, closing the rickety door behind her.

Suddenly, as if in slow motion, I felt something unexpected. A large hand closed around the edge of my blanket cocoon and damn near yanked it off of me. I sat up with a start, trying to debunk whatever the hell had just happened. Tina was clearly still in the bathroom and I was the only other living person in the room. It couldn't have been sleep paralysis, I never even made it to actual sleep! My eyes traced the direction of movement to the seeming source. There was nothing to catch the covers; no knob or hook or burr that could have snagged them. I had clearly felt the hand and fingers close, it was that close to me. The phantom hand would have emanated from the small space between the bed and the window.

At that point, Tina emerged from the bathroom and was surprised to see me sitting up with a strange look on my face. I explained that we weren't alone in the room and she spun into ghost-hunting action.

Breaking out the digital voice recorder, we tried to coax out Mr. Grabby Hands Ghost. The energy shifted in the room. I'm all for hunting spooks in any creepy venue, but having them hunt you...not ideal! I was getting uncomfortable, to say the least, as we both watched shadows dance in one corner of the room. Shadows that couldn't be attributed to passing cars. The recording of this adventure is one for the CAPS blooper reel as I strongly suggested spending the night elsewhere and Tina called on the power of Buffy to dispel said shadowy creatures.

We left the recorder going and tried to go to sleep. At this point we are still reviewing the tape...stay tuned for what, if anything, we find!