There are ghosts in Terror Town.
Sure, the horror attraction in Williamsburg has its share of costumed ghouls, but those are only actors. The theme park, which formerly was home to the kid-friendly Old West Festival and now focuses on disturbing, adult-oriented terror, sees its fair share of otherworldly visitors, especially on the trails beyond the attraction's 1800s-themed town center.
Park co-owner James Gregory says that he has experienced unexplained phenomena at Terror Town numerous times, including during the evening before CityBeat's visit. Those trails, on which Terror Town's professional actors normally scare willing customers for more than 30 minutes per session, have a different vibe after the theatrics end. When Gregory and a handful of co-workers explored the area, they heard curious noises, felt tugs on their clothing and were nearly pelted with gravel several times.
Gravel.
In the middle of a rural field with no buildings, roads or driveways nearby.
Understandably concerning.
That's just one of the reasons Gregory has asked PINK: Paranormal Investigators of Northern Kentucky to explore the grounds again. PINK investigators and husband-and-wife duo John and Lisa Trump — who previously had worked in engineering and healthcare, respectively — had picked up some interesting activity at the attraction during their previous visit in August. They experienced spirits watching them from the rafters and sitting in Victorian-style chairs near a Ouija board in Terror Town's museum of occult oddities, and voices within the vault of old, creepy dolls.
Now they're looking for more.
The moon is nearly full as the Trumps return from the trails to the center of "town." Their assortment of cameras and activity meters didn't pick up anything unusual out there, they tell Gregory, but they're eager to explore Terror Town's Bravado, the "city center" that serves as a hub of bars, shops and activities for attraction visitors during business hours. But now, at 10 p.m. on a Sunday, Bravado is quiet and unsettling.
The Trumps unpack their gear on a picnic table at the far end of Bravado and explain that most spirits are simply looking to communicate and connect with humans rather than scare them. The ghosts may have lived or worked in that location or may be attached to a person or object there, the investigators say. PINK frequently is called upon to ask the spirits about what they're looking for and help them move on. In darker cases, they may work with the clergy to exorcise malevolent souls.
Tonight, though, it seems the ghosts are merely curious. Our group is chatting about the Trumps' prior investigations when John's heat-sensing camera suddenly picks up some movement. Normally, the camera shows a burst of turquoise light around humans, with a rough, red stick-figure outline within their aura. A spirit, though, has only the stick figure on the camera.
That's what's happening now. As Gregory stands a few feet away from the picnic table, a group of magenta, vaguely humanoid lines appears to his right on the camera's screen, seemingly crouching and examining him and perhaps watching John and Lisa. In a soothing voice, Lisa tells the figure that it's welcome here, inviting it to stay. After blinking away for a bit, it returns and seems to listen, crouching next to Gregory and periodically shifting around.
Lisa begins asking the spirit questions — Had it lived on this land? Was there something here that belonged to them? Had they enjoyed their life? She says that personal questions typically elicit the best responses, connecting with a spirit's emotions and attachments. The spirit shifts around a bit more on camera and even slowly (reluctantly?) raises its hand when John asks. Lisa says she'll run the audio they're recording through a special machine later that will pull out responses that the human ear can't hear in real time.
The outline moves to sit on and in front of a recycling bin, seemingly content to hang out with us. It continues to shift periodically to get comfortable (just as humans do!) and waves as if to remind us that it's still here when we start to talk about other things. The ghost hangs around for a good 30 minutes before departing when our group becomes a bit louder and more animated.
Lisa then attaches her frequency scanner to an amplifier. The scanner goes through thousands of channels per minute, making it impossible for radio chatter or music to come through. She says that spirits tend to operate on or between different frequencies — the white noise or "snow" — and the scanner picks them up while the amplifier helps human ears to hear their words.
The amplifier starts picking up rough blips of a male voice. Lisa asks if anybody on the other side would like to say hello, and over the next few minutes, we hear what sounds like "devil" "level," "bitch" and "get her."
Eventually, a female voice interjects. Lisa explains that upon reviewing the audio, they'll often realize that spirits are conversing with each other rather than with humans.
After gathering more audio, the Trumps move the session to Terror Town's museum of oddities. Here, Gregory has amassed an impressive collection of ancient medical paraphernalia, potion jars, human skulls (and a sliced face in a jar), coffins and vintage spirit communication instruments.
With only a few lights shining through the window from outside, John and Lisa begin setting up their recorders. They also place three flashlights throughout the dark room, explaining that some ghosts prefer to communicate by moving the flashlights or turning them on. John also places a receiver on the Ouija board between the two chairs where spirits had been sitting during a previous visit. The Trumps say that the device can pick up bits of words that the spirits say on their frequencies, match them with human words, and amplify those through the speaker.
In the eerily quiet room, Lisa welcomes any spirits to make themselves known through speaking or by operating the flashlights. She begins asking questions — Did anything in this room belong to you? What do you think of the mourning gown over there? — and for about 10 minutes, not much happens. But when John moves to adjust the receiver, we hear one word: "Evil." After more silence from the spirits, John moves the receiver to the floor near the shelves, wondering aloud if perhaps the spirit had thought that the Ouija board was evil.
At one point, Lisa sees a flicker of a shadow in the reflection of the coffin mounted on the wall, noting that it had to have happened outside. She continues with more questions about the land, the objects and what the spirit's life had been like, but the room is completely still.
At 11 p.m., CityBeat's time is up, but for the Trumps and Gregory, things are just getting started. They'll make their way through Terror Town all night, hoping to connect with more ghostly inhabitants of the haunted attraction — and hoping that they're friendly.
PINK: Paranormal Investigators of Northern Kentucky explores unexplained phenomena by request primarily in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. PINK does not charge for its investigations but does accept donations. Connect with Pink on Facebook and on the organization's website.
Terror Town is an immersive horror-themed attraction that generally operates on weekends September-November in Williamsburg. Via a wristband system, there are different levels of terror for visitors, ranging from mildly scary to "Dear God, why am I going to die here?" Tickets are $25-$35, with some special events costing more. Find information and tickets on the attraction's website.
Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get the latest on the news, things to do and places to eat delivered right to your inbox.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
