Paranormal News provided by Medium Bonnie Vent

Halloween is quickly approaching. This means candy, costumes and, of course, ghosts.

Many believe that ghosts or the paranormal is a year-round activity, but at this time of year, it seems to excite more people to get involved and explore the possibilities.

Monroe County hauntings

Bartonsville — International Eatery/Dale's coffee bar. In the early '90s, there was a female apparition walking into the establishment. She would open and close drawers.

Bushkill — Pocono Indian Museum

A ghost named Eli has been known to close doors and move objects.

East Stroudsburg — The Dansbury Depot

A spirit has been seen and heard around this converted station.

Henryville — Henryville House, Route 191 North

A few spirits are residing in this old hotel that is no longer in business. Reports of a small child, three grown males and five grown females who do not cause problems unless provoked.

Barrett Township — Buck Hill Inn

Reports of many paranormal activity over the years. Many different areas of the closed-down resort has been known to have some type of paranormal experiences.

Effort — Effort Junk Yard

Reports of a young male spirit wandering the premises.

Mount Pocono — Kmart and Memory Town

Kmart employees have stated that a ghostly image is in the store. On one occasion, feminine products were knocked off the shelves when no one was around and signs had fallen from the ceiling. In Memory Town, many people have reported seeing what they call "the lady in gray." Many people have reported hearing voices coming from the hallways near their rooms.

Swiftwater — Indian Falls, Mount Airy Lodge and Swiftwater Inn

Indian Falls has history of large lights above the falls and sounds of Indians being thrown off the falls.

Mount Airy Lodge — Room 7664 at the now-closed hotel was rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a woman who was killed by her husband on their honeymoon. Also, many abnormal occurrences have happened. The hotel has since been rebuilt.

Swiftwater Inn — featured on "Unsolved Mysteries" and the spirits blew the doors off the camera crew.

Tannersville — Tannersville Inn

It is said that a man in his late 30s was hit by a car and left to die. He now haunts a bedroom on the top floor.

Tobyhanna — Route 611 overpass

Back in the '70s, a man was walking home from a bar on a foggy night and was hit by a car. Now on late foggy nights, people claim they see him walking around the overpass.

Source: www.strangehappenings.org/Pennsylvania-Hauntings.htm

Do strange, unexplainable things happen in your home? Do you hear footsteps in the night or see objects moving all by themselves? If you answered yes, you may need, and want, the services of a local paranormal group.

Eastern Pennsylvania Paranormal Investigations has been helping to explain the unexplainable since 2005. The group of 15 investigators is able to answer questions that may have been at one time thought to be unanswerable.

Their purpose is to determine if the activity being reported is of paranormal origin or has a natural explanation. This is a year-round job for them but around Halloween, more people are suddenly interested in what the group has to offer.

Greg Swatt started the ghost-hunting group in November 2005 after working with a group in Panther Valley. "I didn't enjoy the way that group worked so I started my own," Swatt said. "I've always been involved in the paranormal, just not to the extent I am now. I have always had this interest since being a child. I remember reading many books on ghosts growing up."

EPPI covers most of Pennsylvania as well as areas in New Jersey and Maryland. "We will travel if someone needs us," Swatt said.

The group has had 36 cases since opening. "About 10-15 percent had some type of paranormal activity," Swatt said. "We do find a lot of natural and reasonable explanations for what is happening at many places."

The services that EPPI offer are free. They are dedicated to the study of understanding the supernatural and paranormal and want to help area folks who feel they are being "haunted."

"We are doing a public investigation of the Lake House in Saylorsburg in November. People that watch shows like 'Ghost Hunter' or 'Paranomal State' will love this," Swatt said. "We lead them around the house and show them what we do."

The NEPA Paranormal group has been doing this type of thing for about a year now. "We go out and investigate claims of paranormal activity," case manager Katie Christopher said of the group. "We have done 13 total cases now. We just spent the night at the Jim Thorpe Inn which has many claims of hauntings. That was an interesting night."

There will be a presentation of their findings on Oct. 16 at the Jim Thorpe Inn. WVIA taped their adventures and findings. A question-and-answer part of the evening should prove to be interesting for all who attend.

According to www.innjt.com, there are a few rooms that have been known to have extra surprise guests staying in them. Room 315 has had incidences of chairs being turned upside down while down the hall at Room 303, there are unexplainable shadows and orbs. There is a comedic spirit in Room 203. A guest claims that a ghost put his cell phone in the refrigerator.

Many ghost-loving folks flock to the Jim Thorpe Prison around Halloween to take the tour and see the jail that closed in January 1995. The handprint of Alec Campbell, an accused Molly Maguire, is still visible in cell 17 despite attempts to remove it. Campbell claimed that his handprint would remain visible forever to prove his innocence and it has survived cleaning, concrete, paint and having a new wall put in.

Monroe County has had quite a few "hauntings" investigated in the past. It is said that the Shawnee Inn, Stroudsmoor, parts of East Stroudsburg University and the Pocono Indian Museum have all had, or have, some type of paranormal activity. The Buck Hill Inn in Barrett Township has been a source of ghostly Hollywood entertainment in the past. The MTV show, "Fear," was filmed in the old deserted resort a few years back. Area paranormal groups would love a night in the hotel to see the spirits in action that most of the country has heard about.

Trespassing has been a huge issue at the Buck Hill Inn in recent years. Between 50 and 100 trespassers have been caught on the property each year since 2001. Halloween brings out the ghost-hunting spirit in many so it is this time of year that everyone wants to get a good look at the inn with tons of history.

So what do these group do if they find a spirit or paranormal activity? No, there isn't a little box that will just suck the ghost up and take them out of the house as seen on the popular '80s movie "Ghostbusters." Christopher laughed and said, "I wish it was that easy. We let them know that they are free to leave, that they don't have to stay here."

If a spirit has no desire to leave the property, then the negotiations come out. "We will then tell them that this isn't their home anymore, that it is so-and-so's home now and they would like you to leave," Christopher said. "It is pretty effective."

Ghost-hunting groups explore the area's paranormal activity

Monroe County hauntings