What was the last thing you searched for online? Why were you looking for it?
Since I have an avid curiosity in paranormal activity, the last thing I’ve searched for online were stories about supposedly haunted places. For the time being this research has focused on haunted homes and other places in New York State. Although I’ve been living In Arizona for 30 years, it would be a unique thing to engage in some “dark tourism” the next time I make a trip back east to my home state.
Interestingly, my research of the past few days hasn’t produced much about haunted locations in New York City. However, there are some notorious ones upstate in smaller towns and rural areas that have gained national attention, and these are the ones I’m keen on visiting (wherever permitted, of course). The first place I’d like to visit is known as the Dandy House in the countryside of southwestern New York. It is near a village called Hinsdale, 68 miles SE of Buffalo.
The house was built was built in 1853 by two brothers, David and Charles Everett. However, it is unclear if these original owners were the murderers who would occasionally rob passing stagecoaches and hide the bodies of murder victims in a crawl space of the house during winter. Then, in the spring the corpses would be buried elsewhere on the property. Also, it’s claimed that the house is on the site of a burial ground belonging to the Seneca Indian tribe which had previously inhabited the region.
These are supposed to be the main reasons for the extreme paranormal activity that has driven out anyone who has owned this home since the 20th century. According to online research, though, the most documented case of supernatural phenomena was experienced by Phil and Clara Dandy and their four children who lived in the house from 1970 to 1974. At that point, the apparitions, disembodied voices and other unexplainable noises, moving objects, etc. became increasingly terrifying and intolerable to cope with — and forced them out!
An exorcism performed by a Catholic priest from St. Bonaventure University near Olean, NY was not successful and actually increased the frightening activities. After remaining vacant for a long period the house was bought by Daniel Klas, a paranormal investigator who rescued it from demolition and has been gradually renovating it. He had repurposed the home to be used by other investigators to document the hauntings there. It has also functioned as an AirBnB for those who dare to stay overnight. I’m definitely interested in being part of that experience!
On the other side of the state in Albion, NY (41 miles west of Rochester) is a Greek Revival-style / Italianate mansion built after the Civil War in the mid-1860s. Over the years this home has been variously known as “The Pillars” and currently as Maison Albion. The current owners have converted this elegant period home into a wedding venue and bed & breakfast lodging. There have been many reports of objects moving on their own, ghostly sightings, the piano playing by itself, unexplained footsteps, and so forth. What I find most fascinating about this story though, is that the current owners make guests sign an agreement to not hold seances there over concerns about instigating spirit activities!
These are just two of the places I’d love to whet my appetite for paranormal exploration! I may post more about this in the near future.
