Haunted Mansion visitors may see real spirits

By Emily Baldauf
Senior Writer

Amid the elaborate decorations and talented actors, there is something that makes the Haunted House at Lafayette's Old Pythian Home even more frightening; rumor says the house is actually haunted.

For the past several years, members of Jefferson High School’s elite choir, First Edition, have transformed the old orphanage/nursing home into a spectacular haunted house. However, as many of the high school students and staff will report, they only add the decorations, the ghosts are already there.

The building’s mysterious history and physical presence have fueled rumors for years about unexplained deaths and looming spirits.

The center of the large structure served as a nursing home, and the two wings at the east and west ends served as the boys' and girls' orphanage when it was built in 1928.

Apparently, the home was packed with residents during the Depression and later became only a nursing home. However, the home mysteriously closed down about 15 years ago, and the Lafayette School Corporation bought it.

It seems like everyone who has worked at the house has a scary story to tell about the Old Pythian Home.

Ben Beranek, a senior at Jefferson High School, believes many of the stories.

"When the house closed, and the old people were told they couldn’t die here, a lot of them took their lives," he said. "There are a lot of broken dreams here."

His last words seem to loom in the air as he shares some of the most frightening stories he’s heard about the mansion.

"We always have a lot of trouble with safety station 13," Beranek said.

There is a door at safety station 13 that leads to the attic that is supposed to be closed off to the tour; however, it seems there is a spirit that does not want that door shut.

"We‘ve tried everything to keep that door shut, but every time that door to the attic always opens," Beranek said.

Crystal Mosser, a senior at Jefferson High School, has worked at the haunted house for four years, but she still gets a little scared every time she enters the mansion.

"You never know what will happen," she said.

Mosser is particularly fascinated by the story of the haunted safe. In the hallways of the mansion is a huge old safe that weighs more than 600 pounds. It would be almost impossible for even a few men to move the safe any distance. However, many people, including Mosser, have seen the safe move.

"Every time we come here the safe is in a different spot," she said.

Mosser is also interested in the story of the bloody bathroom. When the haunted house first opened a few years ago, the students heard a story that a resident of the nursing home had hemorrhaged to death in her bathroom one night.

Building off the local story, the students covered two of the resident bathrooms with blood, making the small room one of the most frightening on the 45-minute tour.

"It’s the history that makes this house," Mosser said.

It is not just the high school students who have had unexplained encounters in the Pythian Home.

Purdue student Eric Swisher, a junior in the School of Liberal Arts, has volunteered his time and talents to the Haunted Mansion for the past five years. However, after some frightening encounters, he won’t work alone late at night.

One night, while he was working by himself at the mansion, he heard three different screams and then pounding within the elevator. He knew no one else was in the building so he tried to ignore the eerie sounds and concentrate on his work.

The more he tried to ignore the sounds, the louder the pounding got. Then, it suddenly stopped and the elevator doors opened. No one was inside, or at least no human was inside.

Some skeptics may argue that these stories are nothing more than a string of unrelated coincidences. However, the experts disagree.

After hearing about the Old Pythian Home, members of the North West Indiana Ghost Trackers recently made a visit to the Lafayette landmark to see if the stories were true.

The group uses scientific evidence like photographs, videotape, energy meters and temperature readings to evaluate a so-called haunted spot.

Their verdict: The Old Pythian Home is haunted.

"I believe there are some presences there," Indiana Ghost Tracker president Mike McDowell said. "The house really dates back, and in a way, it makes sense there would be something left behind."

The ghost trackers spent two nights in the mansion collecting the evidence that led them to believe the house is haunted.

The group was able to obtain several voice recordings, photographs of orbs and energy readings.

For example, when the ghost trackers examined the infamous moving safe, they were able to detect extremely high amounts of energy.

"It’s almost like there is a ghost protecting that safe," McDowell said.

McDowell believes there are several spirits haunting the Old Pythian Home. He explained that in this case, the ghosts are probably residents of the home that feel they have unfinished business or are simply confused.

Whether people believe that the mansion is haunted or not, the organizers and the ghost trackers believe the chance of real spirits will only add to the atmosphere of the haunted house.

"It is always neat to go into a place that you think might be haunted," he said. "There is that exciting chance that you may see something that the cast of the haunted house didn’t expect you to see."

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