Bissman Building Investigation

Evie and Ray of Western Reserve Paranormal were joined by some friends of the group for an investigation of the Bissman building in Mansfield, OH. This building was used in the filming on the “Shawshank Redemption” and the upcoming release of “The Dead Matter”. The Bissman was built in 1886 using the same architect and materials used in building the Mansfield Prison (Ohio State Reformatory). It was run as a grocery warehouse until the 1970’s. Since then it has housed several smaller businesses including Pirate Printing.

Our tour guides for the evening were Ellis and Nicole with Gussethunters Paranormal. They were knowledgeable about the buildings history and haunting stories, and they were accommodating on a few special requested that we had. Not to mention they shared our sense of humor. Special thanks go out to Mr. Ben (Big Ben) Bissman for allowing us into his building.

There has only been one death confirmed in the building but it does seem to be fairly active. I and another sensitive, Larry, picked up on quite a few things, each of us confirming most of the same information.

Our evening started out just after 8:00 o’clock p.m. as one large group and we worked our way through the building. Several people through out the night saw shadow people and flashes of light. We also heard bangs and knocks, one of which I felt directly under me as I sat on the floor. Being as the ceilings are about 18 feet high, no piping runs along the ceiling, and there was no one on the floor below it must have come from something other than human interference. Not to be forgotten was the experience of an object being thrown at us while in the apartment scene from “The Dead Matter”.

As the evening wore on we split into smaller groups taking radios to keep track of were everyone was. Just as two of the groups were heading upstairs they got a very strong smell of roses or flowers. This smell was not there before nor could we find a source of anything that could have caused it. Ray and I decided to sit for a while in the front office area just to take a breather and try to communicate with someone that had been in the room. No luck on our part at getting this person to interact with us, but I still have audio to go through. However one of the other groups could have sworn that we walked up the stairs and across the floor near them. They stated that they had heard two sets of heavy footsteps so they called us on the radio to find out were we where.

We ended our investigation just about 3:00 o’clock a.m. with a round table discussion. We also received a haunted Bissman building t-shirt and a Pirate Printing t-shirt.

I’m not going to give details or hot spots, you are just going to have to go and experience the Bissman building for yourself.

Gussethunters Paranormal also does tours of the Mansfield Theater and the reformatory. You can contact them through their myspace page http://www.myspace.com/hauntedbissmanbuilding.
Happy Haunting

2nd WRP Summer Picnic

Western Reserve Paranormal will be doing it's second picnic of the summer this Sunday at Squire's Castle in the Chagrin Valley Reservation.

The time is noon to whenever we get pooped out!

Contact us at Western Reserve Paranormal dot com and we'll have directions for you.

A grill will be provided, but please bring your own food and snacks!

Happy Haunting

Public Apology for Last Ghost Walk

This past saturday on our Indigo Lake ghost walk, we had a new team member who behaved in a manner that we do not endorse.

That member has since been removed from the group, and we wish to apologize to anyone who attended the walk and may have been offended by their actions.

We pride ourselves on our public events being family friendly and hope that those who enjoy the rich paranormal history of the Cuyahoga Valley will continue to join us on future events.

Happy Haunting!

Western Reserve Paranormal Getting The Press

Our most recent ghost hunting class at Heavenly Hardware brought out a local author!

Casey Daniels writes the Pepper Martin mysteries, a series of paranormal themed books.

Here's what she had to say about us!

So it's great that we're making a difference out there in the world.

Don't forget our next class is July 11th from 4 to 6 again at Heavenly Hardware.

After that we have our ghost walk at Indigo Lake from 8 to 10.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Happy Haunting!

New Upcoming Investigation: Bissman Building Mansfield

We are now booked for an investigation at the Bissman Building in Mansfield on August 8th.

Fee for this investigation is $55 per person.

I spoke to the man who runs the building, and he confirmed it is EXTREMELY haunted.

Here's a brief history of the building....

The Bissman Building was the site of the Brewer Hotel where Brooks, actor James Whitmore, went to stay and hung himself soon after being paroled from The Shawshank Prison.
The building was also utilized in the film as the front office of the building for the set of the Portland Daily Bugle.

The structure was built in 1886 where Peter Bissman's expanded wholesale grocery still stands today, but not in operation. In the early 1930s the twenty smokestacks on the north and south sides of the Bissman's filled the early morning air with the rich aroma of coffee, as its own brands Red Ban Java Blend, Steel Cut and Acme were prepared fresh each day. Downtown residents would wake to the scent of roasting coffee beans and return home at workday's end to the fragrance of roasting peanuts.

The building has an early Romantic Gothic styling and shares a haunting similarity with the Historic Ohio State Reformatory since they were both built in the same year by the same architect.

In 2007 the building was leased to a major film production company, the Midnight Syndicate, for the production of The Dead Matter, a vampire movie to be released in October of 2008.

The Bissman building, nicknamed as Dead Souls Studio, has a long history of haunted activities and has hosted ghost hunters from all directions including a recent visit from English ghost hunter Ellis Byrd of Gussethunters Paranormal.

This building is on private property and is not available for tours. Visitors can take photos of the outside of the building. * borrowed from Mansfield website

Updates Galore!

Hello fellow ghost hunters!

Sorry for the lack of updating to this blog. As every two weeks there are state of the group messages going out, so shall this blog now be updated every two weeks as well.

The Rider's Inn investigation and dinner was a HUGE success. I suspect we'll be going back to this spirited location in the not to distant future!

Our first ghost walk of the season was also well received. We had so many people come along we had to break up into two separate groups. Alot of neat pictures and EVP's were captured.

To those who are attending the Moundsville Investigation this coming friday, it should be a GREAT time! If you missed it this time, never fear we are likely going to be making this an annual trip.

Upcoming, on June 14th we'll have our second annual Western Reserve Paranormal Picnic at Squire's Castle in the Chagrin Reservation. Squire's Castle Picnic Area is located off Chagrin River Road in North Chagrin Reservation, south of Chardon Road/Route 6 in Willoughby Hills.

Our second ghost walk of the season will be on July 11th and will take place at Indigo Lake. Will be making arrangements with Hale Farm and Village to allow us to use their parking lot for this investigation.

As always, happy haunting!

Mistress Suzanne Awaits Us All!

The Rider's Inn has a long and varied history. Join us on April 18th at 9 PM for dinner and a telling of that dark past, and stories of how it continues to reach into today!

Here's a link to the Inn's website.

Western Reserve Paranormal and Mistress Suzanne will be waiting!

Dinner and Scary Movie Night!

On Saturday March 28th Western Reserve Paranormal will be having a dinner and movie night in the Cuyahoga Valley.

First up is dinner at the Bob's Big Boy at the corner of Granger and Valley View Roads at 6 PM, then we'll be heading down the street to the Cinemark movie theatre for an evening showing of The Haunting in Connecticut.

The film is rated PG-13

We look forward to seeing all those who can attend!

Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Investigation

Western Reserve Paranormal will be participating in an overnight investigation with members from Ghost Hunters International, TAPS and Paranormal State.

Would you like to join us?

Click Here to go to our website, then follow that link to the actual event, enter promo code 3249 and you will get a discount and a free event t-shirt.

For more information on Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum go to the links below.

Wikipedia Entry about it.

Their own site

Moundsville Prison Slots Filling Up Quickly

The Investigation: Moundsville State Penitentiary in Moundsville West Virginia

The Date: Friday, June 5th 2009 into Saturday, June 6th.

The Time: from 11:30 PM to 6 AM (approximate)

The Cost: $30.00 per person

We would recommend a hotel room as well, as it's a 4 1/2 hour drive down and back.

Information on this prison can be found HERE

We know from previous experience this is an EXTREMELY haunted location. It has been featured on Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, and Most Haunted.

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this trip, or wish to join us for this investigation.

Happy Haunting!

Watch this space!

Some fun stuff coming up with our paranormal group over the spring and summer.

Already the plans are in place for our investigation at Moundsville. Our ghost walks will be resuming with the spring, and there's talk of other possible investigations, some local, some out of the area.

We will keep everyone updated as more details come to light!

Another Meet and Greet

Western Reserve Paranormal will be having another meet and greet on March 7th at Mike's Place Restaurant in Kent.

This restaurant is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a little boy who was run over by the bus permanently parked INSIDE the restaurant.

This meet and greet will take place at 6 PM on the aforementioned date.

Taco's and a side of Scary!

One week after our bowling night, WRP will be having a meet and greet at the reputedly haunted Taco Bell in Twinsburg, Ohio.

There are rumours of spectres being seen throughout the restaurant.

The address is 8906 Darrow Road, Twinsburg, OH 44087 see you there at 6 PM!

Holidays are over, back to the Spirit World

So the holidays are now behind us and it's time to get back into the swing of things.

Western Reserve Paranormal is scheduling a bowling night! It will be held at Parma Freeway Lanes on Saturday, January 24th at 10:00 PM.

Anyone planning on attending, please contact us at our email address: westernreserveparanormal@yahoo.com

We hope to see you there for a spirited good time!