Almshouse ParaCon 2025

by: Felicia Duffy

On Saturday, September 20th, the Greene County Historical Society and Museum (GCHS) held their first ever Almshouse ParaCon event co-lead with Spirit Walk Paranormal. 

It was a free event for anyone to attend from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. There were five guest speakers throughout the evening presenting information and answering questions in the center hall of the museum: S. James McLaughlin and Geoffry Fuller, the authors of “WVU Coed Murders”, Steve Hummel, who is in charge of Archive of the Afterlife and brought the infamously possessed and haunted doll named Hope, Kevin Paul, the author of “Haunted Hills & Hollows”, and Spirit Walk Paranormal’s very own, Danny Strakal. 

There were over 10 vendors and artists, selling goods, sharing stories, and having fun. This included: Grafton Monster Museum, the Marshall County WV Historical Society, Taralyn Phillips Art Glitter Goth, the Muse Effect, Without Rayne, Mango Sun Tarot, Mountain State Mysteries, Keith’s Carolina BBQ, and more. They were positioned in the barn and on the grass outside around the museum. 

Cars driving Rolling Meadows Road slowed down and stopped to see what the commotion was about, parking across the street and walking on over. Rain started to sprinkle down around 4 p.m. but it did not scare anyone away. In fact, it helped to cool down the warm weather and provide a haunting fog over the area going into the evening. 

Starting at 8 p.m., there was a sold out ghost hunt that went until midnight. With Spirit Walk Paranormal in the West Wing, and Alone in the Dark positioned in the Dungeon, both groups provided ghost hunting devices and equipment. This included rem pods, EMF detectors, spirit boxes, an ovilus, a paranormal music box, flashlights, light-up cat balls, motion activated spirit tripwire sensors, and cameras around every corner.

After brief explanations of how the devices worked, they allowed participants to explore the grounds with the different technology and conduct their own mini investigations. 

The Hope doll was investigated, as per the Archives of the Afterlife’s own website, that “has moved on its own, scratched people, made people physically ill and even has been said to bring bad luck to those who touch it.”

The Estes Method was performed in many rooms. It was developed by Karl Pfeiffer and Connor J. Randall, using a spirit box that rapidly scans through radio frequencies to mimic spirits talking to answer questions. In addition, because of the true story of the mentally unwell woman who put her baby in the oven and turned it on, there was also an interesting investigation replicating that tragic event with a baby doll. 

Throughout the night, participants reported capturing spirits on camera, getting touched in the back, hearing whispers, and earning tons of positive reactions with the ghost hunting equipment. 

There is hope to host this event next year, so keep an eye out to attend! In the meantime, GCHS’s 54th annual Harvest Festival is taking place on October 4th and 5th, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., along with an investigation with Northern Appalachian Paranormal Society (NAPS) on October 11th.