While down there in the basement in 2012, I collected a bunch of audio and video for a new podcast. Here's what I got - including the strange "ghostly" voice recorded in the basement, as told in the book.
Video footage of the basement:
Some people call spooky audio recordings like this "E.V.P. (electronic voice phenomenon)." On TV, the "EVP" guys are usually the ones saying "are there any spirits here who have a message for me?" I keep hoping there'll one day be an episode where a ghost says "Yes! Your wife said she wanted you to pick up milk on the way home!"
Most of the time, when someone plays me an "EVP" file, I have to use a lot of imagination to hear what they're talking about. But now and then we do get something I can't help but think is pretty cool - like this thing from the basement.
This is the audio file recorded in the tunnel in the basement of the post office at 63rd and Wallace - one of few parts of hte building that would overlap with the castle's original footprint. I'm whispering the names of the three people I'm most confident were killed there, including 8 year old Pearl Connor. Could the "singing" voice be hers?
Now, I don't make grand claims stating that this is ghostly girl who has come back to life or never crossed over or what have you, especially given that it sounds to me as though she's saying "Sorry Beefalow," which doesn't mean anything. It sounds like the worst Chef Boyardee product ever to me. One suggestion is that the voice is trying to say "buried deep below." But I've no idea what that voice could REALLY be, and any claims I made would just be me talking out of my ass. Here's a recipe for sorry beefalow!
For more audio, there's a new podcast containing audio recorded at various points around the "castle" site.
Here're two odd photos from the basement. They were taken more-or-less in succession, though I paused after the first one to make sure there was nothing blocking the lens that could cause that shadow. I still assume it's a camera thing, but with data from this location so hard to come by, I feel like I ought to post it.
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A third shot shows the shadow receded even further. Any good explanations for this, photo experts? Could it be an aperture thing? I was using a Canon EOS5, for the record.
Now, I'm on the record as saying I think most of the stories you hear nowadays about what went onin the castle are way exaggerated. The number of people suspected of being killed there ranges from 3-8, not 200-400. There was no medieval torture chamber down there, and really very little reason to believe that HH Holmes actually even killed any World's Fair patrons who happened to stay the night in the place - all of that came from 1890s tabloids and 1940s pulps. But 3-8 ought to be plenty.
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2 comments:
Hi. Did you hear the girl while you were recording while you were there or after just in the recording?
Only when playing it back. If it was audible at the time, i didn't notice it.
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