Need a Paranormal Team? Here’s What to Look For…

Paranormal teams seem to be a dollar a dozen these days. So many have jumped on the bandwagon in hopes of getting their own paranormal reality TV show. So how do you know what investigation team is best for you?

1.) You will want to do some investigating of your own. There are certain things you need to watch for. Things that are not bad, however not a good idea to base your decision on. Don’t pick your team based on Facebook friends. Just because they have over 1,000 Facebook friends doesn’t mean that they are qualified. That just means that they stay busy making friend requests. Also, look for a team that shows experience, not based on how many team members. A team with 10 investigators shown in their group doesn’t mean they are qualified. What isn’t common public knowledge is that it doesn’t take a crew of members to investigate a home. It also doesn’t take thousands of dollars worth of equipment to verify a haunting. What you want to look for is a team who has experience and knowledge of the paranormal field. You don’t want a team that only has experience with haunted locations such as Mansfield Prison, Waverly Hills, Penn State Prison and other well-known locations. Look for experience in private home investigations. A qualified paranormal investigator has one on one experience with the public. Doing a public investigation at a place such as a prison and doing an investigation for a home owner is handled a bit different. The person must be people friendly and trust worthy. Also, if they have pictures of famous reality paranormal stars on their site, that doesn’t mean they are well known or qualified. Some groups put these on their sites to try and name drop or make a name for themselves.

2.) Some ways to protect your self and help determine who is a qualified group is to get testimonials. Ask the group you are interested in to provide testimonials or ask if you can be contacted someone they have investigated for. A well-qualified team will happily provide you with the information you need. Find out how long they have been investigating for. Where and how they became knowledgeable of the paranormal and what made them want to be an investigator.


3.) Many teams charge for their services and some do offer their services free of charge. Make sure to watch for the teams that do charge. Investigating is not an exact science and there is not always a way to prove the work that has been done. Some teams are out to make a quick buck and over charge for what they do. It does cost money to buy the equipment and travel so those that charge at a lower cost or request donations normally go toward gas and equipment costs. However that cost should not be high. Do some research and check out the options and cost for various teams.

4.) Groups who stake claim to libraries and other locations strictly giving presentations or seminars are normally just talkers and not doers. Make sure to research these groups if they have actually done investigations. If they talk about a location, make sure they have been to those locations and not just taking information from what they have read from others.


5.) Something else to watch for is Ghost Hunting classes that charge. Again paranormal investigations are not an exact science, therefore charging to learn about it is not respectable and certificates and/or licenses are not legally legitimate. Again, many accept some type of donations for these but paying a large fee for you to learn or get a certificate is not ethical.

The main thing to remember is when you choose a team to investigate with or investigate your home, choose wisely and do your research. There are many good teams out there and unfortunately some are not and give the good ones a bad name. Our group Western Reserve Paranormal has been a team for almost four years with combined experience of thirty years. We pride ourselves in how we handle investigations determined to help not only the haunted but those doing the haunting. We do not charge for our investigations or classes; however we do request donations for a local charity for our classes and donations for gas for investigations. We have investigated not only seminaries and prisons on public investigations but also local homes and have been successful in cleansing these homes when requested. To view comments that have been made, a guest book is located on our website. www.westernreserveparanormal.com

It's been a long, cold, lonely winter!

WRP is BACK! We've already done haunted dinners at the Taco Bell in Twinsburg and gone back to the Main Street Cafe in Medina. In fact, Main Street may be allowing us to do an after hours investigation in May.

In other news:

This saturday WRP returns to a house we visited back in the fall. The homeowner and his girlfriend were TERRIFIED to live in the house. They'd identified at least two spirits. We ourselves got some scary recordings and bad feelings.



On April 16th WRP returns to the Rider's Inn for the third year in a row. Great vibes in this place, lots of fun stories, and a tour included with dinner!

Check back for more details on this one.

Also some potential future updates to report that could be big for us, details to follow!

Unfortunately WRP has severed it's ties with Hale Farm and Village. We were thrilled to have worked with them helping to raise money for their facility and we wish them all the best!

Happy Haunting!

Saturday October 30th, 2010 - SOLD OUT!

Tickets for this saturdays ghost talk and walk are SOLD OUT!

Join our Yahoo board for earlier updates about future events.

Debord Halloween Party!

Western Reserve Paranormal is proud that this year we'll have a booth at the Debord Halloween Party.

Hours are 2 to 10 PM, admission is FREE, and it IS a family friendly event!

Click here for details!

Supernatural Saturday, September 11th!

This saturday the fun begins with a haunted scavenger hunt through the cuyahoga valley!

We start out at 3 PM at Hale Farm and Village (2686 Oak Hill Rd, Bath, Ohio) where participants will get their first clue.

Along the way will be prizes and fun!

After the hunt is complete, then it's off to dinner at the Winking Lizard Tavern in Peninsula...followed by a night hike to Lonesome Lock in the Cuyahoga Valley.

We look forward to seeing you there!


Happy Haunting!

Where the dead have been, do ghosts remain?

This friday July 30th, WRP travels to the House of Wills, a former funeral home on Cleveland's east side.

We'll be investigating to see if any of the souls of those buried out of this establishment remain behind.

Depending on how well this hunt goes, we may open this up as a general investigation for our regular team members.

Wish us luck!

Hauntings at Hale Farm?

Western Reserve Paranormal will be doing it's ghost presentation and a hike this saturday, July 10th at Hale Farm and Village. The presentation starts at 8 PM in the visitor center, and the hike begins at 9 PM at Ira Rd Cemetary. From there, we walk to the Hale House itself, site of so much history of the area. After that, those wishing to continue can come with us for a walk to Indigo Lake.

Bring your cameras and recorders, it's sure to be a wonderful evening.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by contacting Hale Farm at 330-666-3711.

We look forward to seeing you then!

Evil Nurses and Unhappy Patients

This past weekend Western Reserve Paranormal traveled to Madison Seminary, in the quaint village of Madison (about 15 minutes east of Mentor).

The building (actually it's two connected buildings) has quite a history, dating back to before the civil war.

During it's many years of operation, it was a school, a halfway house, and a mental institution.

We encountered a lot of things our night there, including voices, and a few spectral apparitions.

The 4th floor, which housed the more mentally damaged patients, was an especially hot area.

Team member Bill had a channeling episode with some angry patients, bitter at being locked into linen closets by a nasty nurse. Later he confronted the nurse, and was cursed out by her spirit.

Team member Chris later that evening encountered the ghost of Beatrice, a former patient who longed to go home.

Team member Natasha and guest member Jen heard voices and footsteps in other parts of the hospital.

Bill captured the below photo on the 4th floor of the hospital. It is somewhat similar to other photo's captured at the building.

We can't wait to go back someday to do further investigating.

Where War Widows Still Get Treatment

What: Madison Seminary

Where: 6769 Middle Ridge Road
Madison, OH 44057

When: Saturday, May 1st from 9 PM to 4 AM

Cost: $40 per person (which does include pizza/soda)

We call this a pay for play investigation. Alot of people have experienced things at this location. It was a home for war widows for nearly 80 years, and after that housed mentally handicapped and prison halfway house women.

We're excited to see what this location has to offer.

Dead People Don't Change, but Life Does!

Western Reserve Paranormal has been through several changes since it's inception. Members have come and gone.

Recently we have lost one of our original members, and are currently searching for other core team members who can help out with personal investigations.

This new core member would need to have their own equipment and either know or be willing to learn about doing investigations and cleansings.

Understand that this is NOT a paying job, we do it because we want to help others. As a hobby it's enjoyable, and you get to experience some unusual things, and meet some people who truly need help.

Happy Haunting!

Things are heating up with WRP!

Well the spirits have been good to us of late. Things are getting busier with Western Reserve Paranormal.

Not only are we continuing our ghostly dinners, the next one is at Main Street Cafe in Medina on February 28th.

Our first of two full blown investigations this year takes place at the Bissman Building in Mansfield on Saturday night May 1st.

Our dinners continue in March at the Pufferbelly in Kent, and in April at Mike's Place in Kent.

Late May will start our summer walks through the valley.

Even now we are working with another local haunt to put on something we think will be spectacular. Details will be forthcoming as they get worked out.

Our second full blown investigation will be in September at the Madison Seminary.

So much to look forward too, and of course our private investigations always bring us immense satisfaction, helping out those who need it and are suffering with unwanted or unknown spirits.

So stay tuned!

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