My Night With TAPS.

Last night my boyfriend and I drove to Bethany to visit Rolling Hills w/ Steve and Lisa. Rolling Hills used to be an asylum, a sanatarium, and an orphanage and, as you can imagine, massive in size. It was freezing cold and windy when we got there (and when we left)and the building was drafty and damp. We all met in a small room (there were about 30 people)and got the chance to meet Steve and Lisa, take pic's and buy merch. Let me tell you, they're just like they are on TV. Even though I've talked to Steve since last year, I was suprised to find he was even more friendly and sincere in person. They're both very laid back, casual, people.

Afterward the meet and greet and Q&A we ate a bbq chicken dinner and then went on our first hunt which was w/ Steve. We went to the second floor and watched for shadow people and whatever else happened to be up there. Steve floated around, talking to us and seeing if we caught anything on tape. I really didn't get anything; some people heard talking, walking, scratching etc. After our 1 hr tour we went to Ghost Hunting 101. The guy who taught the class really knew his stuff and shared w/ us that he was a paranormal investigator. Basically his job is to make ideal conditions for paranormal experiences that can be repeated (in which they become scientific) This man had tons of cool equipment from really cheap to really pricy. All in all it was interesting.

Before our last tour I approached Lisa and asked if we could stop by the Christmas room. Instead of waiting for the group she took me down in the basement to show me quickly. This room, furnished with a bed, chairs, christmas tree's and decorations, didn't match the dull, eerie atmosphere of the rest of the building. In fact, it was even creepier than the other rooms. There were toys laying around and there was said to be interactions with children in that room. When I returned to the group we ventured down into the room again. We headed down the basement tunnels where my boyfriend spoke some 'choice' words to provoke a grumpy old man. Something came up on film but I didn't get a chance to watch it yet. Then we went to the third floor which was basically a floor for the nurses, doctors, and dietitions(sp?). In the nurses room the people in our group started to get rowdy and mouthy. The desk in the corner of the room shook a bit but thats all we saw/heard. I was sitting in the nurses chair listening to our two guide talk. They work in the building giving tours so they told us about the spirits that haunted it. Apparently they could see the nurse standing in front of them. She was beyond mad that we were there and called them a b......I asked them about it later and they told me that at first they couldn't see spirits but over time they developed the ability by working there. I found this concept interesting and it makes a lot of sense to me.

When we were done everyone met in the common room again. We talked about what we experienced and then we were told that for the next hour we could venture into the building ourselves. Steve approached me and my boyfriend and invited us to go w/ him and two other hunters. So for the next hour the five of us covered the entire building. Let me tell you how cool it was to hang out w/ Steve for that long. And, if you can imagine, he wasn't professional. He acted normal, we acted normal, it was just a good time. I enjoyed this experience much more than I could have imagined, it was great. I didn't really have an experience but those around me did. One group went to the second floor and sat for about an hour. After awhile they saw shadow people on both sides of them and a set of double doors flew open. Many heard disembodied voices and other sounds.

Below are some photo's of the night. Enjoy :0) The Christmas room is obvious, a doctors room, the infamous door that shut on Jason, and a few others.

Oh, it was just amazing :0)

Show all stories by   Author:  6915 ( Click here )