Not so Pleasant, Pleasant Creek Hospital, Stawell, Victoria, Australia

The most terrifying experience of my entire paranormal life happened here at Pleasant Creek Hospital, a privately owned, yet mostly derelict building that had only be partly restored. Located just outside of Stawell, it opened in 1861, but with the development of a new hospital in the main town of Stawell, the site was converted to a Special School and by the end of 1937 had 98 children living at Pleasant Creek and focused on those with intellectual disabilities. By 1986, Pleasant Creek housed children and adults with disabilities ranging from mild to profound. The facility eventually closed in 1999, with allegations of sexual abuse which triggered an inquiry in the early 1990's. 

We (as in me and three of my paranormal buddies, Matt, Alle & Jacqui) booked the hospital for an entire weekend so we could explore it for two full nights and days. We arrived at about 3.00 pm on a Friday and were in awe of the majestic, yet rather intimidating frontage of the building. Eager to look around and get our bearings, we began exploring the empty and huge site. 

We entered through the front foyer, to the section that had been restored with the beginning of what resembled a museum style set up with interesting artefacts and displays, a coffin, medical tools and equipment, books and images. To the left was the infant ward (most probably set up in the 1940's), toilets and some offices. To the right were the medical rooms and most of the male accommodation. Walking down a long hallway past the male accommodation rooms, led us to common room and then into a breezeway where there were toilets which stunk of urine, even though they had been out of action for over 20 years. 

On the other side of the breezeway was a door leading to the operating theatre and at the very back, a morgue with external access. We undertook a number of experiments on the old morgue tables, but with little response. 

Across from the morgue (and hidden from sight from the front view of the hospital), was a two-story building which housed the dining room and the most derelict section of the property, the kitchen. Stairs on the outside led up to the women's ward. These were once internal stairs but had been relocated to external metal stairs, I am assuming sometime in the late 1980's. Outside this building was a gated courtyard with direct access to the main building, where we assumed kitchen staff would wheel meals in for the children. 

Adjacent to this building and across from the gated courtyard was the theatre with stage and then a third building which was the infirmary - a partly renovated building. It was here that we set up base as it had working toilets and running water. This would also allow a space for anyone who wanted to have a nap inside and not in their car (which is sometimes the only option). 

I now want the share the part of the weekend, which for me, was the most terrifying, harrowing and unnerving experience of my investigative career. We found an area that was open and carpeted, so we decided to do an experiment where we all laid on the ground and requested any spirits to come into our thoughts. Almost like meditative scrying. As we laid there, you felt a heaviness come over you. Your body began to feel like it was being pulled into the ground. We could feel our cheeks being pulled and our mouths being contorted. You could feel it, like hands were all over your face. We were getting tired and began to feel paralysed. I continued to talk to all the guests and check-in. When I felt the energy was too strong (even for me, which is very unusual), I asked everyone to sit up. All but one person sat up. I called to my teammate, Jacqui, who lay there still. We called her name, still nothing. We moved over to her, still nothing. She was un-responsive. We shook her, called her name - nothing .... NOTHING! By this time her sister Alle was beginning to panic. My heart began to beat rapidly. Her pulse rate was weak, her body limp and it was at this very moment I questioned if we had pushed the boundary too far. What had happened, was this because of the paranormal, or was this a medical emergency .... did we need to do CPR? I remained calm, whilst very, VERY concerned. 

Just then, Jacqui slowly opened her eyes. Delirious, confused, lethargic and disoriented. 

We asked where she thought she was, and she replied "PANCH" which was the Preston and Northcote Community Hospital. It was founded in 1958 and closed in 1998 when it was relocated to the Northern Hospital. Had Jacqui ever been to the PANCH as a child? Did she even know what that was? 

She was smacking her lips and acting like she had just woken from an anaesthetic. She was hebetudinous and languid. She slowly began to speak and said her mouth was dry and sore. We sat her up and she was dizzy and mumbling incoherently. 

After about 20 minutes, she was finally conscious enough to move back to base. Once settled, I went to investigate further, to see if I could isolate, or understand, or at least get some idea of what had happened, only to find that the space we were in was the recovery wing of the dental section of the hospital. Had she been operated on? Was she in recovery? Is that why her mouth was so sore - had she been anaesthetised? What the hell had we just witnessed? Were we all patients of Dr Patterson? 

What was also interesting was Jacqui always, and I mean ALWAYS wore crystals when investigating and for whatever reason, she did not have them with her this night. Did this make her vulnerable?

So, by now, it was reaching 2 am and Matt and I went to investigate the ladies wing alone. He had a camera, and I was walking through the eerily silent rooms. It was dark and abandoned. The stench of death was prevalent and there were decaying rodents scattered amongst the derelict building. We moved to the upstairs wing which housed the women and were immediately overwhelmed with grief. The heaviness and the despair, a similar familiar emotion you feel when visiting the women's wing of asylums .... was this a hospital or in fact a modern-day asylum? 

Another terrifying experiment was our investigation in the left wing, past what we believed to be the infant or child rooms. There was a back common room where we set up the Structured Light Sensor Camera (SLS) which uses infrared technology to detect objects in complete darkness. It uses pattern recognition and enables us to see objects that are not visible to the naked eye. We sat on a chair and asked any spirits to come and connect with us. What we saw was undeniable. A spirit approached the chair, kicking and acting quite violently, which was felt by the person in the chair. They felt cold, threatened and scared. Interestingly though, this phenomenon only occurred when females sat in the chair. Was this an abusive spirit, one who preyed and attacked women or was this a spirit with a lack of intellectual understanding, or were they, themselves abused? 

There was so much activity - such sadness, such unhappiness. But for us, this investigation was a stark reminder of the importance of self-protection when investigating. To investigate with people you know and trust and to always respect that you are dealing with things we can not see and do not understand. 

Until next time ..... 

Kurunjang Homestead Part Two, Kurunjang, Victoria, Australia

Four months ago, we were contacted by owners who had been experiencing unexplained activity and seeing shadows in their hallways. On the night we investigated, we too witnessed high levels of activity with our devices and were able to validate many of the experiences the owners had claimed. We also ran a myriad of tests to check for environmental pollution which may have contributed to the extremely high levels of EMF which were detected. 

Since then, the health of the owners has continued to deteriorate and the activity has increased. They contacted us and have requested that we return to do a deeper, more thorough investigation, as they are now contemplating selling due to the uneasiness of the activity. 

I suggested to the owner the idea of placing a salt water cure in their home. A Feng Shui method which claims to help remove negative energies and sickness from a place. The owner, willing to try anything, placed the cure in her hallway, as directed, about one month ago. 

In the past month, there has been an increasing number of reports of witnessed activity, not only by the owners, but from guests who have visited them. 

Coincidence - I think not!

I asked for the names and numbers of the guests and have since interviewed them and the owners for recounts of what they had experienced. 

All I can say is ... how soon can I get back there?

So after the last investigation, according to the owners, the dense feeling of someone being present continued. The shadows continued to flash up and down the hallways and the sensation of someone sitting on the bed was still prevalent, but the alleged increased activity since placing the salt water cure in the house, has been somewhat a little more rattling!

On three separate occasions and at approximately 1.00am in the morning, the doorbell has been rung, but when the video was checked, no one was present.  On another occasion, the wire security door has been vigorously rattled, as if someone is trying to get in the house. Again, nothing on the video. 

There has been banging on windows from the outside and banging of furniture and doors from inside the house. This is alleged to be happening almost on a daily basis. 

You may recall from the last blog that my son was sleeping in a spare bedroom and he rose to ask "Why I had got out of bed in a hurry", well ..... it is in this room that the owner alleges the light has been turning on by itself. Just last week, he was in bed in the room at one end of the hallway and at the other end is the spare room. Whilst lying in bed at about 2.00am, the light in the spare room turned on. He rose from the bed and went in to check if someone was in there - the room was empty, so he turned the light off and returned to bed to only have it turn itself back on within minutes. Again he rose ..... feeling a little bit unsure and uneasy ..... he turned it off, closed the door and returned to his room and closed his door. The owner admits to feeling rather 'spooked' by this occurrence. 

Another recount, is that from their eleven year old grand daughter. At least three times, she has been sitting in the lounge room (opposite the salt water cure) and told her grandparents she has seen a black cat scoot down the hallway and when she follows it, it just disappears. She has also told them she has seen shadows and felt the bed move when she has slept over. 

The owner of the house has a number of macrame pieces and dreamcatchers in her home. There is a black one which has been hanging on her bedroom wall just outside the ensuite bathroom. It has hung in that location for at least twelve months. After the latest doorbell incident, which was less than a week ago, she woke the following morning to find the macrame piece on the floor. The owner picked it up and rehung it on the wall. She then proceeded out of her room and began to walk down the hallway (the hallway where the cat has been seen, the shadows, the orbs and the one where I felt the gust of air thrust past me) only to find two other pieces lying on the floor. The two pieces were either side of the salt water cure. She chose not to rehang these two. 

The following morning, the black macrame piece was on the floor once again. The owner rehung it and checked the hook. She checked on the hanging a number of times throughout the day and into the evening - there was no movement. She retreated to bed about midnight and watched the hanging until she fell asleep, which she states was about 1.30am. That means the wall hanging had remained in tact for over 18 hours. She awoke at 6.00am to find the hanging on the floor once more. Unusual - definitely!

When sitting in the kitchen, an adult male visitor has claimed to hear voices and footsteps down the hallway. The owner has also claimed that on at least two occasions, she has heard voices coming from the hallway and in her bedroom. Today she said that when she entered her room she distinctly heard two, what she thought were children, talking. This stopped just after she entered the room. 

Another visitor to the home claims that when sitting in the kitchen, the television has turned on and the volume has been adjusted, yet the remote was on the couch. The male owner has also validated this claim. 

So did this salt water cure cause increased activity?

Is this a poltergeist?

Are they trying to get the owners' attention?

Why are they here and why are they doing this?

We need to find out!!

Part 3 coming soon ........