Looking for their next haunt
By Gerard Hetman ghetman@theabingtonjournal.com
If an apparition in the form of a stately gentleman or elegantly- dressed woman ghost casts a gaze at your houseguests, the staff at NEPA Paranormal may be interested in having your property as the subject of their next investigation.
Consisting of approximately 14 close-knit members, NEPA Paranormal is a volunteer-based organization that investigates paranormal happenings, sightings and events occurring in and around Northeastern Pennsylvania. While most members reside in Wilkes-Barre and the Wyoming Valley, the group has traveled around the eastern half of Pennsylvania to investigate paranormal occurrences.
An investigation the group conducted at the Black Horse Inn in Easton was featured on the Nov. 29 episode of the Animal Planet TV series, “The Haunted.” The group has also conducted investigations in numerous other businesses, homes, cemeteries and other locations, and is always seeking cases to look into, according to co-founder and investigator Katie Christopher.
“We pretty much go wherever we are needed, or where people ask us to come and look into whatever spirits they believe may be there,” Christopher said of her group’s method of operation. “We want to help people by debunking whatever may be troubling them in their homes and places of business. If we can help people to feel safe and secure, that’s our goal. We get calls ranging from very extreme sightings, down to very simple incidents. It’s pretty much anything you can imagine.”
A quick visit to the agency’s Web site reveals a list of previous investigations that span a range of locations and establishments. From the Jim Thorpe Inn to the West Mountain Sanitarium in Scranton, there is no shortage of diversity in the group’s past caseload.
Among the most recent clients of NEPA Paranormal is The Inn at Montrose, where the investigators are currently finishing their analysis of a recent investigation. Built in 1925, the hotel and restaurant in Montrose was purchased one year ago by Gretchen Backer and her husband, Dan. According to Backer, the previous owners of the establishment had told her stories about several hauntings in the building, and the staff at NEPA Paranormal soon contacted her after hearing similar stories.
“We have a little boy who knocks on doors in our upstairs, a man who walks in our back dining room, and a gentleman in a plaid shirt that many guests see on our main level,” Backer said of the haunting at her business. “My husband doesn’t believe in them, so I am hoping that man in the plaid shirt gives him a punch in the arm one day!”
According to Christopher, The Inn at Montrose is yet another example of the geographical range that her agency sees in their investigations. While the group has traveled to do investigations in many places within a two-hour driving radius, they have yet to investigate any hauntings or sightings in the Abington area. Always enthusiastic for a new case, Christopher hopes that will change in the near future.
“All sorts of places can be the site of a paranormal occurrence,” Christopher said of her passion. “Even an event or occurrence that took place long before an existing structure was built can carry over to the same property, so you never know what is lurking around any property or building. We know there are many great historic buildings up in that area, along with a lot of new development, so the possibilities for us are very exciting”
To learn more about the work done by NEPA Paranormal, or to contact the group about doing an investigation at your home or business, visit their Web site at www.nepaparanormal.com.
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