Paranormal State: My Journey into the Unknown

by Stefan Petrucha

  A month later, she she told me she’d gone back to the psychic. She said there was a new spirit, a boy she felt very strongly she should help.

  I urged her not to get involved. At the time, she still agreed she had a problem. But, when next we spoke, she said she’d visited three psychics and was recording EVPs again. I didn’t know how to respond.

  “Carol Anne,” I said, “you’re going down this path, and you’re doing it at a bigger pace. By the time you get back to where you were, you’re going to be three times more obsessive.”

  She didn’t seem to listen.

  I’ve since become more dubious about the psychological shifts our clients sometimes seem to go through immediately after an investigation. I said earlier that just bringing a problem to light could help fix it. We also bring a lot of energy. Suddenly, you’ve got all these people showing up with cameras. Someone believes you, tells you how you can help yourself, that things will be fine, great. Clients often want that help badly. They also sometimes want, in some sense, to appease us.

  But I know that effect is limited. We’re there for forty-eight hours. I can present possible solutions, but it’s up to the clients to walk through those doors and deal with their lives. So, sometimes, if things don’t get better right away, a client is devastated. “I did what you said and it’s still here!” I try to explain that it takes time. “It’s like a habit. It can’t go away cold turkey.”

  Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t.

  A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVPS

  EVPs, electronic voice phenomena, are recordings that many believe contain the voices of spirits or other paranormal entities. Importantly, the voices are not heard while the recording is made, only during playback.

  With interest in speaking to the dead gaining popularity during the spiritualism movement (1840s–1920s), Thomas Edison was asked in the prestigious Scientific American if he believed it was possible. He didn’t come down on either side, but said that if it were, the recording device would have to be extremely sensitive.

  In the 1930s, Latvian photographer Attila von Szalay tried recording spirit voices. At first, he used a 78 rpm record, then a wire recorder, but achieved his best success in the 1950s using a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Some of his recordings include voices saying, “Help me!” the ever-popular “Get out!” and a young boy apparently saying, “Do you want to hear a fart?”

  On September 15, 1952, two Catholic priests and music enthusiasts, Father Ernetti and Father Gemelli, were recording a Gregorian chant on an early device called a Magnetophon. When it kept breaking, a frustrated Father Gemelli called out to his dead father for help. He was shocked to hear an answer play back, “Of course I shall help you. I’m always with you.”

  In 1959, when Swedish painter and film producer Friedrich Jürgenson replayed a recording he’d made of bird songs, he heard what he thought were the voices of his dead father and wife calling his name. He made several more such recordings, including one he felt contained a message from his late mother.

  Over the years hundreds of thousands of such recordings have been made, both friendly and malevolent, with varying clarity and integrity. The process of attempting to gather EVPs has become a staple of paranormal investigations. With high-quality recorders incorporating filters that can remove possible spirit voices, the best results are said to be obtained from poorer quality recorders that allow “noise” or “static” to be picked up, which, some believe, the spirits use to speak.

  For more information on EVP research, I suggest visiting the Association TransCommunication group (formerly known as the American Association for EVP) at their Web site, www.atransc.org.

  PAREIDOLIA

  In some ways, the human brain is a machine geared to pick patterns from the mass of information provided by its senses. To think about it as a survival mechanism, the faster you recognize a predator running toward you, the better chance you have of living long enough to have children—even if sometimes you see or hear a tiger that isn’t there.

  When the brain gets it wrong, seeing a pattern where there isn’t one, it’s called pareidolia. Importantly, once the brain decides there is a pattern, it’s extremely difficult to convince it there isn’t one.

  That’s a big problem with EVPs and the reason why, on Paranormal State and other shows, investigators play the recording to a client before telling them what they think it sounds like. Otherwise, they’ll listen for what they’ve been told is there, and then tend to hear it.

  THE STAGES OF DEMONIC POSSESSION

  Many demonologists believe that when a malevolent entity takes over a victim, it does so in stages. There are often other explanations for many of the stages, ranging from the psychological to biological, save the last.

  Regression is when the victim returns to an earlier state, backsliding in his personal or spiritual progress. Typically the person begins to slowly loosen their grip on their faith and other strengths they’d previously enjoyed.

  Repression happens as the victim loses the ability to express his feelings, be they joy or sadness. Here, the possessed always undergo a dislodging of their emotional self. The individual will often no longer feel happiness, but a hollow or paranoid sensation. This is where the demonic takes control of one’s emotions, in itself a powerful form of attack.

  Suppression occurs when the victim begins to purposefully hide information about himself, lying to friends and loved ones. This is confusing to the victim, for they have yet to make sense of what is actually happening.

  Depression is when the victim experiences extreme and consistent sadness, even despair. Other signs include insomnia and an inability to concentrate. (Of course many people experience depression without any demonic influence.) The lack of sleep and constant depression creates a hole big enough for the demonic to begin their final rounds of attack.

  Oppression is like depression, but the source feels more external, as if something outside the victim is weighing him down.

  Obsession occurs when the victim is so preoccupied with an idea or habit that he begins to pursue it to the point of damaging the other parts of his life.

  Possession is the final stage, where the demonic entity takes control of the victim, partly or completely.

  My experience has convinced me that possession does take place, but there’ve also been many mislabeled situations, and attempts at driving away a nonextant entity that have led to tragedy—including the mental incapacitation or death of the victim. Anyone experiencing extreme emotional symptoms should first consult a doctor or other professional health practitioner.

  A lot of people ask me if they’re at risk of possession because they played with a Ouija board or watched a horror movie. I don’t think it’s that simple. You have to understand that there are rules to the demonic (if you already believe in the possibility of the demonic, is it so hard to believe that there are rules?!?). Free will, for example, is the gatekeeper to our soul. We can either make decisions that bring us closer to the divine, or the light, or to darkness. Some tend to think of the demonic as a bogeyman living under our beds. Closer to the truth is the idea that the demonic lives in the deep psyche of our minds. The attack is more psychological than physical. In the seven steps, the process to demonic possession is almost entirely mental.

  Once I explain this, the next question is often, “Why would someone allow themselves to be possessed?” But that again pictures the demonic as a simple force of black-and-white. Millions of men and women subject themselves to abusive relationships. Often, they go through one abusive relationship after another. No one goes in consciously saying to themselves, “I want to be abused for the rest of my life,” but for whatever unfortunate reasons, bad choices, attractions to bad people, they become trapped. Likewise, the process of the demonic is not as dramatic as The Exorcist plays it out to be.

  For further information on the nature and psychology of the demonic, I recommend what is probably the most definitive book on the subject written in the twentieth
century, Hostage to the Devil by Malachi Martin. Martin, a former Catholic exorcist, tells the tales of five real exorcisms that took place here in America. He unravels the full complexity of each case, showing just how each individual opened up the doorway.

  Chapter 10

  Bored Until the Ghosts Show Up

  I don’t want to sound weird, but I don’t think I want to do this interview.

  To be completely honest, after “Paranormal Intervention” I didn’t want to do the next case at all. I didn’t know yet how things would turn out with Carol Anne, but the schedule was getting to me. After years of one investigation every month or so, the once-a-week pace was exhausting. I’d been sick. I was burnt out. On top of that, I just wasn’t wild about investigating a haunted bar in Long Island. It didn’t sound appealing, or different. It also sounded small, like there wouldn’t be enough room for the crew. At the time I also thought we wouldn’t even be able to spend the night.

  Tired and turned off though I was, we had a show to shoot. The producers were sympathetic. They suggested I consider it a fun break, something small, with a cool location, and apparently the client, Brian Karppinen, was a great guy. With no other possibilities, there I was, not in the best of moods.

  Katrina had bused in from Philly to join us for the briefing at a diner in Smithtown. Brian, I explained, was having a pretty rough time. He’d been a motorcycle mechanic and bartender with a head for business, and bought a place called Katie’s Bar—along with the debt from the previous owner—for a few hundred dollars. Interestingly, he never drank himself. As he later told our counselor, Jamie, his father had an alcohol-related death, and Brian never developed a liking for it. It might seem odd that he’d decide to open a bar, but he was a very social guy, so it made sense he’d want to do something with people around.

  As he told the story, at first it was a dream fulfilled. He put his heart, soul, and life savings into the place, but things didn’t go as planned. To pay for the remodeling, he wound up selling his house and motorcycle. Then his wife left him for a customer. With nowhere else to go, he wound up living at Katie’s, which is when his experiences began.

  His customers reported seeing apparitions. Not only that, wineglasses kept breaking. We would go in, gather evidence, and if possible, resolve the haunting.

  Given my general glum outlook, and what seemed a simple scenario, I figured this would be a good opportunity to shake things up. I decided to hand the investigation over to our two trainees, Heather and Katrina. I’d done this sort of thing before the show, as part of the training process, and it had worked out well. I thought it would certainly make the episode different. Plus, the look on their faces was priceless.

  Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t do this for TV entertainment. Taking over a case with next to no warning is part of the PRS training process. The nature of the paranormal is to remain unpredictable, random, and uncontrollable. The reactions of the clients are also unpredictable. The reason for throwing our trainees into a leadership scenario is to see how well they deal with that pressure and unpredictability. A good investigator must always be able to handle the unpredictable nature of the supernatural. He/she must also be able to work under direct pressure. Weirdos like me thrive under pressure and impossible scenarios.

  As trainees, before each investigation, they’d study how things worked. At the time of our fourth episode, “The Woman in the Window,” they’d failed their first two quizzes. Now, after three months and six investigations, I planned to give them their own case. I also wanted to spring it on them, a surprise we could tape for the show. I gave our executive producer, Betsy Schechter, a heads-up, and told Eilfie, but everyone else was in the dark.

  During the briefing, I thought I was giving it away. I pointedly asked, “So, do you think you know enough about how cases work?” I even said, “You guys are doing great. If you keep it up, maybe one day we’ll give you an investigation.” But they totally didn’t get it. They were still in the dark as we headed to Katie’s Bar for the walk-through.

  The bar didn’t seem to be in a great location to attract foot traffic, but the work Brian had done was fantastic. I’m used to Penn State’s dive bars, but this place was gorgeous, with great lighting, woodwork, TVs, and karaoke. The main floor had a bar and stage area, booths and seating. Downstairs, there was a second bar. Impressive as it was, it was struggling. At the time, Brian rented the basement space to psychics for readings. The experiences Brian told us about predated the appearance of the psychics, so I didn’t consider them the cause.

  During our initial interview, Brian described the activity in detail. His first encounter occurred during his renovation, as he stood on a staircase in the rear of the basement. Trying to remove a bar rail, he gave it a good slam, pulled, and all of a sudden, it came loose. It happened so quickly; he fell backward. He thought he’d fly down the steps, but something pushed against his shoulders and helped him regain his footing.

  Whatever it was had saved him, so he said he was fine with it. But then he talked about some darker experiences. Wineglasses fell off the shelves and shattered. Patrons reported seeing ghostly images in a mirror. An oppressive feeling hung over the place.

  In a sequence not in the show, Brian also spoke about something that happened while he was trying to sleep at the bar. He claimed to have seen one of his old dogs, from years ago. He was thrilled—he loved this dog—but suddenly felt that it wasn’t really his dog.

  “If you’re my dog, you’ll know the trick I taught you,” he told it. When the dog didn’t know the trick, he said, “You’re not my dog.” And the dog disappeared.

  Brian said he believed that whatever spirit was in the bar was mimicking his dog to get at him. I wasn’t so sure that was the case, and told him so.

  I don’t think of spirits as copying animals, except in the case of nature spirits. He’d also said he felt like he was out of his body at the time, that he wanted to move, but couldn’t. Those are both symptoms of sleep paralysis. To explore that possibility, we brought in a sleep expert. Brian listened, but remained convinced what he’d seen was real. Which, of course, is the problem—when you’re having a waking dream, it feels exactly like reality.

  Regardless, Brian felt the presence of a dark energy. He thought it was keeping business down and he wanted it gone. It was an interesting case, but nothing I felt our trainees couldn’t handle. Once the interview was over, I called for a group huddle.

  “I’m going to turn it over to you,” I said to Heather and Katrina. “We’re going to leave.”

  They looked shocked. Neither said anything. Heather just smiled. I thought it was overconfidence, but since learned that she smiles like that when she’s freaked. When it dawned on them, Katrina looked as if she was about to cry.

  I took Eilfie and Serg with me, and left. As we walked out, Katrina still hadn’t said anything. I heard later on that they both freaked out a bit.

  Almost immediately following that, very interesting things starting happening on the boring case I didn’t want to do. Serg, who never seemed to have any strange experiences no matter where we went, took me aside. “I felt something heavy on the chest area, definitely, the minute we walked into the basement,” he said. “I’ve never felt anything like this when we’ve walked into a client’s house before. It got progressively worse.”

  Given Serg’s history, it was curious, but I hadn’t felt anything at all myself, so I decided to let Heather and Katrina proceed. I didn’t leave, though. For the first few hours, I hid and watched them through a portable monitor.

  During their site tour on the first floor, they almost caught me, so before they came downstairs, I hid in a storage closet. I figured they’d never look in there, but they ended up walking in on me. After that I kept watch, but didn’t interfere. The investigation was still all theirs.

  Following the tour, they both interviewed Brian, who talked about the breaking wineglasses. Apparently this happened a lot. There was a two-week period when they couldn
’t keep a single wineglass intact. He said that one actually flew off the rack right in front of his workers.

  “It went right past Jen’s face,” he said, “and landed between her and Debbie.”

  The fact that it was only wineglasses struck him as odd. Martini glasses, for instance, are more top heavy and would be, if anything, more prone to fall, but he hadn’t lost any of those. Locals, and his customers, had also been telling him the place was cursed. “No one’s made a nickel here in twenty years,” he said.

  Though their questions were good, Heather and Katrina had made their first mistake: They decided to talk to Brian together. It was understandable. Newcomers tend to think in terms of individual tasks. But with only a few days to cover all the bases, the work has to be split up or you fall behind fast. As they both interviewed Brian, tech wasn’t being set up. While they both set up tech, their second interviewee, the bar’s previous owner, Rich, was kept waiting.

  When they got to him, their questions were again right on target. Rich said he’d owned Katie’s for a few years and, like Brian, had a hard time businesswise. He didn’t know any specifics about the building’s history, but he also heard customers talk about a dark spirit. Interestingly, he’d also had a problem, specifically, with wineglasses. They didn’t break. They just kept vanishing.

  “I thought people were taking them,” he said.

  With nothing particularly exciting going on, I hung back and kept watching as Heather and Katrina met with Janet, a psychic who’d previously done a reading on the bar. Brian had already told us what she’d said to him and her information didn’t change. Janet sensed a spirit named Charlie who wanted people to know he was still there, overseeing the place.

  Katrina smartly asked if she had any sense of when Charlie lived.

  “Nineteen thirty to nineteen forty,” Janet said. She also felt that the steps where Brian nearly fell were the spot where Charlie hung out.