Top 10 Favorite Investigations
10. "Hobbitland"
In mid-December, 1812, Lt. Col. John Campbell and a calvary of 600 soldiers attacked several Miami Indian villages along the Mississinewa River. It was a bloody affair. Now the site of a popular reenactment, in my day it was where young people went to party and hook-up. These young people called the area "Hobbitland" because of the persistant legend of little "quasit-like" creatures that made the area they're home.
9. Elwood Opera House
9. Elwood Opera House
Built in 1887, the majestic Elwood Opera House was a popular venue for the biggest performers of the era. It also housed a Masonic Lodge. Having investigated there on several occassions, I've been lucky enough to capture numerous EVPs, to have been personally touched by unseen forces and witnessed others experience the same, to have seen doors open and close, with force, as if by their own accord, and experienced a wealth of other sensory sensations.
8. "Devil House"
8. "Devil House"
Led to an abandoned farm house in the middle of nowhere by a concerned conservation officer, I was stunned to find an upstairs room in this derelict house to be covered in esoteric graffitti by a steady and talented hand. Here were intricate spell circles and exotic sigils and runes covering every bit of conceivable space. There were also the remnants of candles and the remains from some form of animal sacrifice. The air was charged with energy and some disturbing EVPs were collected. The house was torn down soon after by its owner, the land plwed under and farmed.
7. Seven Pillars
7. Seven Pillars
A sacred site to the Miami Indians, these seven columns, carved into the limestone by the rise and fall of the Mississinewa River, is said to be home to preternatural beings who live between this world and the next, with the natural formations of the Pillars being a gateway between these worlds. I consider it the epicenter to all the weird and wonderful paranormal phenomena in northern Indiana and home to unseen forces, sentient apparitions, and residual manifestations.
6. "Murder House of Liston Glen"
6. "Murder House of Liston Glen"
A favorite haunt of mine until it was torn down by its owners, the legend goes something like this: “Years ago a family lived here, but one Halloween night something terrible happened. The father woke up and went outside and grabbed his axe and proceeded to chop his wife and two sons up into little pieces and then he burnt them in the fireplace in the basement. After he had let the fire consume their bodies, the man climbed the steps to the upstairs balcony and hung himself. His spirit has remained trapped in this house ever since.”
5. Little Pipe Creek Cemetery
5. Little Pipe Creek Cemetery
As a young boy of 8, I used to sneak out of my parent's trailer and spend long hours in this little cemetery. See, it had a wild reputation: a gate that opened on its own to allow ladies to pass, or to strike out at young gentlemen, disembodied voices, and phantom growls, or so the legends say. It has the distinction of being the site where I witnessed my first apparition.
4. "The House That Time Forgot"
4. "The House That Time Forgot"
There was (is?) a house set far back in the woods, no visible road back to it, not far from the town of Somerset, a mere stone's throw from a place we called "The Cliffs". The house was abandoned, but curiously, the people left everything behind... furniture, clothes, food, an attic full of this and that. On the coffee table was an open newspaper from 1966, the year I was born and the year the Mississinewa Dam was constructed. It was here, watching anxiously from the attic stair, that I experienced my second apparition, a pale mist, accompanied by the thuds of footsteps, traversing the first floor.
3. Beacon Lodge
3. Beacon Lodge
I've promised the owners not to disclose the location of this site, easily the most haunted place I've ever had the pleasure to hunt. An old gentleman's lodge built in the mid-1800s, this place has given up a veritable treasure trove of evidence over the years: Countless EVPs, Disembodied Voices, Shadow Figures, Full Bodied Apparitions, Physical Attacks, and more. I have shared it with dozens of other investigators and it has never failed to leave an impression.
2. Goose Creek
2. Goose Creek
On October 22, 1983, at a place called Goose Creek, I went from dabbling in the paranormal to becoming a serious student, practitioner, and investigator of unseen forces and all those many things that proverbially go bump in the night.
It’s been a long road filled with countless thrills and chills along the way, but that road always leads back to Goose Creek, in the heart of the Mississinewa Reservoir, back to where it all began, on a cold, autumn night, with a blood moon piercing the darkness and the haunting memory of what happened there.
What do I remember most from that night? An inverted pentagram framing the full moon overhead. The roadway covered with dead fish. The fumbling of the Invocation. The circle of protection being inadvertently broken. A frightened teenage girl whispering, “Oh God…” and a sinister reply —”Your god can’t help you now!” And screams. Lots of screams.
More than thirty years later and that evening is still just as fresh in my mind as it was the day after. It was a defining moment.
1. Roslyn Chapel, Scotland
It’s been a long road filled with countless thrills and chills along the way, but that road always leads back to Goose Creek, in the heart of the Mississinewa Reservoir, back to where it all began, on a cold, autumn night, with a blood moon piercing the darkness and the haunting memory of what happened there.
What do I remember most from that night? An inverted pentagram framing the full moon overhead. The roadway covered with dead fish. The fumbling of the Invocation. The circle of protection being inadvertently broken. A frightened teenage girl whispering, “Oh God…” and a sinister reply —”Your god can’t help you now!” And screams. Lots of screams.
More than thirty years later and that evening is still just as fresh in my mind as it was the day after. It was a defining moment.
1. Roslyn Chapel, Scotland
On March 26, 2001, my wife and I got up early and walked through a light mist and boarded a bus that set out across the Scottish countryside. When Kim and I first made plans to travel to Scotland there was one special destination that was at the very top of our “must see” list. As we rolled into the village of Roslin, I felt an electricity in the air. It was a feeling that would become amplified as we disembarked and walked up the gravel lane and laid eyes on one of the most magnificent pieces of architecture ever conceived.
Rosslyn Chapel is well known today, thanks in large part to Dan Brown’s 2003 literary phenomenon The Da Vinci Code. I understand that it has since been overrun with tourists, but when we arrived on that cold, early spring morning, it was a small handful of us that walked the hallowed grounds. In fact, Kim and I spent hours in the Chapel alone, without another soul around.
The Chapel was enveloped by a network of scaffolding as renovations were underway, but that steel cage did nothing to diminish its awesome beauty. Intricately detailed with Masonic symbols, gargoyles, green men, historic figures, and Norse gods, Rosslyn Chapel was as much art as it was a place of worship. It was the single most impressive structure I’ve ever stood in, and it was all ours… We just didn’t want to leave and we lingered about, gazing in wide wonder and poring over every delicate inch of this monument to the esoteric mystery traditions.
We marveled at the Apprentice Pillar, symbol of blessed Yggdrasil, and the inscription there — “Wine is strong, a king is stronger, women are stronger still, but truth conquers all”.
We jumped the rope and descended into the lower crypt and explored the cells. We walked the graveyard and climbed the scaffolding to pore over the roof and the carvings there unseen from below.
While not a 'traditional paranormal investigation', I felt a presence there as strongly as any I have ever experienced.
Rosslyn Chapel is well known today, thanks in large part to Dan Brown’s 2003 literary phenomenon The Da Vinci Code. I understand that it has since been overrun with tourists, but when we arrived on that cold, early spring morning, it was a small handful of us that walked the hallowed grounds. In fact, Kim and I spent hours in the Chapel alone, without another soul around.
The Chapel was enveloped by a network of scaffolding as renovations were underway, but that steel cage did nothing to diminish its awesome beauty. Intricately detailed with Masonic symbols, gargoyles, green men, historic figures, and Norse gods, Rosslyn Chapel was as much art as it was a place of worship. It was the single most impressive structure I’ve ever stood in, and it was all ours… We just didn’t want to leave and we lingered about, gazing in wide wonder and poring over every delicate inch of this monument to the esoteric mystery traditions.
We marveled at the Apprentice Pillar, symbol of blessed Yggdrasil, and the inscription there — “Wine is strong, a king is stronger, women are stronger still, but truth conquers all”.
We jumped the rope and descended into the lower crypt and explored the cells. We walked the graveyard and climbed the scaffolding to pore over the roof and the carvings there unseen from below.
While not a 'traditional paranormal investigation', I felt a presence there as strongly as any I have ever experienced.
A supernatural thriller that readers of horror will also love, Descendant includes several original illustrations from Bob Freeman! The novel is interrelated with Bob’s short story collection First Born: Tales of the Liber Monstrorum but can be read on its own.
October 31, 2019
246 pages
Publisher: Seventh Star Press; 2 edition
Descendant is a supernatural thriller filled with daring action, adventure, and artifice set against the backdrop of a very familiar world – but it is a world in which preternatural entities, clandestine magical orders, ancient bloodlines, and unholy alliances converge within the shadowed recesses of our darkest imaginings.
Federal Agents Selina Wolfe and Martin Crowe are called in to investigate a series of bizarre deaths in a small rural community. What first seems to be a misadventure involving black magic and satanic ritual soon takes on even more deleterious overtones, as the agents become embroiled in a plot by a sinister cabal intent on unleashing Hell on Earth.
About the author:
Federal Agents Selina Wolfe and Martin Crowe are called in to investigate a series of bizarre deaths in a small rural community. What first seems to be a misadventure involving black magic and satanic ritual soon takes on even more deleterious overtones, as the agents become embroiled in a plot by a sinister cabal intent on unleashing Hell on Earth.
Bob Freeman is an author, artist, and paranormal adventurer whose previous works include Shadows Over Somerset, Keepers of the Dead, and First Born.
A lifelong student of mythology, folklore, magic, and religion, Freeman has written numerous short stories, articles, and reviews for various online and print publications and is a respected lecturer on the occult and paranormal phenomena.
He lives in rural Indiana with his wife Kim and son Connor.
A lifelong student of mythology, folklore, magic, and religion, Freeman has written numerous short stories, articles, and reviews for various online and print publications and is a respected lecturer on the occult and paranormal phenomena.
He lives in rural Indiana with his wife Kim and son Connor.
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