MONROE - Spirits, ghosts, ghouls and demons. Parallel universes and other dimensions. There are sights, sounds and haunting stories from every culture through the millennia.
A group called the Wisconsin-Illinois Paranormal Investigation Team agrees that southern Wisconsin has its share of locations to check out. Its founder, Laura Baker of Orfordville, and her team have searched several in the area, including Partridge Hall in Argyle and the Pleasant View complex outside of Monroe.
"Anything is possible - parallel universes, multiple dimensions, crossing over," Baker said. She has been investigating the paranormal for about 20 years and instructs a class on the subject at Blackhawk Technical College.
Usually affixed to old hotels, insane asylums, prisons, cemeteries and ancient burial grounds, the idea of the dead communicating with the living still has its believers.
"I just want to know the truth - is there something really out there?" Baker said. "We're into education, not the fame. I don't want to go signing any autographs."
Created 150 years ago in Mt. Pleasant and rebuilt in the 1880s outside of Monroe, the Green County Asylum for the Chronic Insane, also known as the Poor House or the Green County Mental Hospital, was home to the infirm, mentally ill and disabled. Hundreds of residents died on site, but the number of gravestones do not match the number of dead - 39 slab stones to more than 100 death certificates.
Sandy Ryan, a Monroe-area investigator, researched the history of the site for WIPIT.
"Many people didn't like living there," Ryan said. "They hid in the tunnels - attendants couldn't find them. There are a lot of tunnels." The tunnels connected the main buildings with the others around the complex and were used during times of inclement weather.
For years, weird anomalies have been noticed in the building. Doors closing, voices talking and other traits of a haunted place make the old asylum an ideal location to investigate.
"It's definitely a creepy place, that's for sure," said Greg Holcomb, Green County Human Services director. "I've worked here for 29 years and don't have any personal stories. But I have a staff of 80 people, and I've heard stories of things flying off shelves, or children crying when the building is empty. I have no reason not to believe them."
On Oct. 7, Baker and her crew set up in the building after getting permission from Holcomb and Terry Snow, the current administrator of Pleasant View Nursing Home.
"They came in and searched for about 13 hours with video cameras and recorders," Holcomb said.
Jackie Ritschard, a paranormal enthusiast from Monroe, has joined the team on multiple tours and suggested investigating Pleasant View.
"I had been talking to a former worker, and she told me of experiences she and others had while working there," Ritschard said.
The team placed high-definition cameras in several "hot spots" in the building known for paranormal activity, and each member was set up with audio recorders. As they traveled around the building, it didn't take long for goosebumps to arrive.
"It's unusual to have so many personal experiences, normally we find them later on our audio recordings," Baker said. "Both instances happened to the same area. The first was myself, my husband and other team members in the boiler room. Greg was with us. I was sitting down and 5 feet away, a wheelchair moved. We didn't see it move, but we could hear it. And we have it on our audio recordings, too.
"The second was another part of the team, which included my 17-year-old daughter. The boiler room looked like it hadn't been touched in years - 1970s certifications and an old calendar were on the walls. And in between three people, a rock was thrown right between them and it hit a fuse box. There was no one else in the room. We have that on audio, too."
Baker said two other team members also heard doors close but could not verify whether the sound came from other members of the search team.
"Those recorders are strong. If I clear my throat, shuffle my feet or even move a chair, you have to say aloud, 'That was me,'" Ritschard said. "When you go back and listen to the recordings there might be something audible that you never notice in the moment."
Baker said the group will go back one more time in 2018 before the building is demolished. The county is currently constructing a brand-new human services building to replace it.
Baker was unsure what would happen to the spirits if the building is torn down. That is, if the spirits are actually real.
"We're going to keep exploring," said Baker, whose team has investigated several locations more than once, including Partridge Hall where they caught several voices on audiotape earlier this spring.
"There was a whisper in the Blue Room while we were all upstairs. We captured something that said, 'Shoot the bar.' It turns out, that was a 1950s game at roller rinks, and Partridge Hall used to have a roller rink," Baker said. "Another voice said my name, 'Laura Baker,' and while we were taking a food break, a voice in another room whispered that they were waiting for us. It's all on our audio recordings."
A group called the Wisconsin-Illinois Paranormal Investigation Team agrees that southern Wisconsin has its share of locations to check out. Its founder, Laura Baker of Orfordville, and her team have searched several in the area, including Partridge Hall in Argyle and the Pleasant View complex outside of Monroe.
"Anything is possible - parallel universes, multiple dimensions, crossing over," Baker said. She has been investigating the paranormal for about 20 years and instructs a class on the subject at Blackhawk Technical College.
Usually affixed to old hotels, insane asylums, prisons, cemeteries and ancient burial grounds, the idea of the dead communicating with the living still has its believers.
"I just want to know the truth - is there something really out there?" Baker said. "We're into education, not the fame. I don't want to go signing any autographs."
Created 150 years ago in Mt. Pleasant and rebuilt in the 1880s outside of Monroe, the Green County Asylum for the Chronic Insane, also known as the Poor House or the Green County Mental Hospital, was home to the infirm, mentally ill and disabled. Hundreds of residents died on site, but the number of gravestones do not match the number of dead - 39 slab stones to more than 100 death certificates.
Sandy Ryan, a Monroe-area investigator, researched the history of the site for WIPIT.
"Many people didn't like living there," Ryan said. "They hid in the tunnels - attendants couldn't find them. There are a lot of tunnels." The tunnels connected the main buildings with the others around the complex and were used during times of inclement weather.
For years, weird anomalies have been noticed in the building. Doors closing, voices talking and other traits of a haunted place make the old asylum an ideal location to investigate.
"It's definitely a creepy place, that's for sure," said Greg Holcomb, Green County Human Services director. "I've worked here for 29 years and don't have any personal stories. But I have a staff of 80 people, and I've heard stories of things flying off shelves, or children crying when the building is empty. I have no reason not to believe them."
On Oct. 7, Baker and her crew set up in the building after getting permission from Holcomb and Terry Snow, the current administrator of Pleasant View Nursing Home.
"They came in and searched for about 13 hours with video cameras and recorders," Holcomb said.
Jackie Ritschard, a paranormal enthusiast from Monroe, has joined the team on multiple tours and suggested investigating Pleasant View.
"I had been talking to a former worker, and she told me of experiences she and others had while working there," Ritschard said.
The team placed high-definition cameras in several "hot spots" in the building known for paranormal activity, and each member was set up with audio recorders. As they traveled around the building, it didn't take long for goosebumps to arrive.
"It's unusual to have so many personal experiences, normally we find them later on our audio recordings," Baker said. "Both instances happened to the same area. The first was myself, my husband and other team members in the boiler room. Greg was with us. I was sitting down and 5 feet away, a wheelchair moved. We didn't see it move, but we could hear it. And we have it on our audio recordings, too.
"The second was another part of the team, which included my 17-year-old daughter. The boiler room looked like it hadn't been touched in years - 1970s certifications and an old calendar were on the walls. And in between three people, a rock was thrown right between them and it hit a fuse box. There was no one else in the room. We have that on audio, too."
Baker said two other team members also heard doors close but could not verify whether the sound came from other members of the search team.
"Those recorders are strong. If I clear my throat, shuffle my feet or even move a chair, you have to say aloud, 'That was me,'" Ritschard said. "When you go back and listen to the recordings there might be something audible that you never notice in the moment."
Baker said the group will go back one more time in 2018 before the building is demolished. The county is currently constructing a brand-new human services building to replace it.
Baker was unsure what would happen to the spirits if the building is torn down. That is, if the spirits are actually real.
"We're going to keep exploring," said Baker, whose team has investigated several locations more than once, including Partridge Hall where they caught several voices on audiotape earlier this spring.
"There was a whisper in the Blue Room while we were all upstairs. We captured something that said, 'Shoot the bar.' It turns out, that was a 1950s game at roller rinks, and Partridge Hall used to have a roller rink," Baker said. "Another voice said my name, 'Laura Baker,' and while we were taking a food break, a voice in another room whispered that they were waiting for us. It's all on our audio recordings."