Story By: Chad Alan

 

"Paranormal Pioneers"

 

Hammond Castle - Gloucester, Massachusetts

 

John Hammond and his wife built this gothic castle in the 1920's and pretty much used it as their playground to communicate with unearthly spirits.  The décor of the castle is right out of a haunted house on Halloween.  Tombstones were built into the wall; a skull from the crew of Christopher Columbus sits on a table, while gargoyles greet you at every corner with their devilish eyes staring you down.  Mr. Hammond liked to collect special items from dead people because he believed these objects carried their spirits with them.  If you're paying attention, you might have even seen shows on TV dedicated to this topic.  He was also a big fan of cats and often said that he would come back as a black cat.  Mrs. Hammond claimed to by a psychic and they invited other psychics to do séances in the castle, even building a special casing for one to sit in so that all outside noise would not interfere with the process of contacting the dead. This couple was made for each other, right?  The castle now serves as a museum and its guest are often greeted by disembodied voices, books flying off the shelves, and ghostly apparitions that many believe are the ghosts of Mr. and Mrs. Hammond.  People also report feeling as if some type of energy has gone through them while on the property.  Wouldn't you know it, black cats seem to appear out of nowhere in the castle.  Could it be possible that Mr. Hammond got his wish about being reincarnated as a black cat?  I'd rather come back as an heir to the Proctor or Gamble family but that's just me.  Josh Gates from "Destination Truth" joins the team to add a little investigative experience with a big splash of personality in this week's episode since he happens to live just down the road.   

 

Amy Bruni and Adam Berry started off the investigation in the castle with an EVP session.  As they asked for some type of response, a whistle that was audible to both them and the home viewers came out of nowhere.

 

A.J. McCormick and Britt Griffith said up multiple pieces of their investigative devices in the master bedroom where the ghostly Hammonds are said to appear.  They would ask a question and their devices would start to generate readings.  They would stop asking questions and the devices would go dead, pun intended.  A direct response to investigators questions are pure gold to these researchers.  They would later return to the room with more tracking equipment and continued to get responses to their questions.  When they asked if the spirits remembered them from the last time they were in the room, the devices responded.  Again, these instruments were only responding to direct questions they were asking. 

 

Steve Gonsalves, Josh Gates, and TAPS co-found Jason Hawes roamed the halls and were constantly chasing voices and strange noises coming from the balcony area of the castle, a place where the ghostly apparitions of the Hammonds have been reported to be seen.  These voices and noises then seemed to surround them and they simply did not have any answers to give.  Newbie investigator Ashley Troub joined Josh later in the investigation and while heading down the basement/dungeon of the castle, they found a chandelier swinging wildly.  Josh called it a first and they could not debunk why it was moving as there was no air blowing through any vents nor did the vibration of them walking on the floor above them or in the room move the chandelier. 

 

Every team member had some type of experience while investigating the castle and many of the paranormal activities they experienced match exactly what has been reported by the caretakers and visitors.  They did catch some of the audio experiences on their recorders but most of it was hard to understand except for one voice that cried out "Hammond."  TAPS was excited to make a return trip to the castle because they believed it was haunted.

 

 

Ghost Hunters airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Syfy. 

 

Check out the archive of past show recaps here!

 

(Image courtesy of Syfy)

 

Contact Chad Alan at [email protected]