By ANDREA MARILYN GARCIA
For the Pocono Record
November 13, 2011
Paranormal investigators took curious souls around the East Stroudsburg University campus after dark to investigate any other-worldly entities that might lurk when no one is looking.
The second annual Ghost Fest 2011 tour started around 11 p.m. Nov. 4 and curious hopefuls did not leave till 3:30 the next morning.
Hosted by Dusk-Till-Dawn Paranormal Investigators of Maple Shade, N.J., the search for ghosts began in a packed auditorium, with students and East Stroudsburg residents waiting to enter locations that the campus locks after dark.
During an introductory presentation, students yelled out local folklore of the area.
"A girl (hanged) herself," one shouted, while others talked about weird electrical occurrences on a daily basis.
"On the fourth floor of Stroud Hall, the security is too scared to lock up the rooms by themselves, so two officers are assigned to lock up," said Edward Vegas, co-leader of Dusk-Till-Dawn Investigators. "The officers have reported uneasy feelings."
Outfitted for ghost hunting
Equipped with flashlights, a "ghost meter," walkie-talkies, electromagnetic field radiation testers, a camera, and voice recorders, each team set out to investigate.
A ghost meter is a device that a human prompts a spirit to "touch," then the apparatus flickers and buzzes, letting the living know that contact has been made.
The tour explored four buildings accompanied by four teams — Stroud Hall, Abeloff Center for the Performing Arts, Shawnee Hall and the Fine and Performing Arts building.
One investigator in the Abeloff building, Melissa Douglas, seemed to be talking to an empty auditorium but after no activity, investigators headed out.
Just as they approached the door, the ghost meter started to flash and make noise. The device had sensed a strange fluctuation in the surrounding magnetic field.
"It was happy we were leaving," said Douglas, a 21-year-old paranormal investigator in training by night, but college student by day.
'Don't try this at home'
Dusk-Till-Dawn Paranormal Investigators was formed in 2009 "to help homeowners; you can't be afraid of your own home," said Eric Pensyl. The team collects no fees and the investigations, for many, serve as a hobby.
The ESU tour was sanctioned by the college's Campus Activity Board.
"Please do not try this at home," Pensyl told attendees. "You don't want to wake something up that you cannot control."
ESU sophomore Laura Suits went on the trip because she was bored and wanted something to do for the night.
"Something just touched my pants!" she shouted, and everyone around her cleared the area. She seemed to be a favorite of the night as the EMF machines would show some sort of activity around her on multiple occasions and in different locations.
"I felt like something was pressing down on my chest, like something was staring at me," Suits said.
Others felt as if they were going to faint and some saw flashing lights.
Strange presence
Even this reporter felt some strange presence, at 2:30 a.m., while in the basement next to a crawlspace where the EMF reader started to fluctuate.
Eyes darted around the room as Douglas tried to entice a ghost to come out and touch his hand but warned, "You may touch me, but you are not allowed to enter or harm me."
There were also some moments of fright that can be blamed on old plumbing, electrical appliances and anticipation.
While in the basement of the Abeloff building the group heard chains rattle but Douglas, who by day is a refrigeration technician, immediately looked to the old plumbing.
At the end of the night the crews regrouped to discuss what they had found.
Though many were tired, smiles were on everyone's faces, as they conversed with real people, alive under the bright lights.
www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111113/NEWS/111130343/-1/news