Posted on 02/09/2006 4:27:28 PM PST by CurlyBill
by Steve Volk
She felt like she was being watched, saw shadows dart by in her peripheral vision and received strange complaints from some of the hotel's guests: namely, that children were racing down the hallway. That is, ghost children. Giggling. Over the prospect of stealing human souls! Well, we made up that last bit. But according to the management of the Best Western Independence Park Hotel, there have been strange goings on there for years. Now they're ready to talk about it-and maybe profit a bit too.
"There was definitely something in that lobby," says Jenn Hay, who now works at the Conwell Inn on Temple's campus. "There was a chandelier over the steps leading toward the atrium that would swing back and forth on its own."
And then there were those children running through the halls laughing. Hotel staff would investigate guest complaints and find no children in the hallways-and no children registered among the guests. "I understand that some people might look at this cynically," says Randy Howat, vice president of Inns of Distinction, which manages the hotel. "But we look at this as something fun."
Of course suspecting your room might be haunted isn't always so fun for the guests. Former Independence Park maid Carmen Colon remembers Hay calling her to investigate one woman's claim that her bed started shaking in the middle of the night. "She said it was vibrating," says Colon. "Jenn asked me to look for some explanation. There wasn't anything there."
Hay says the woman lodged the same complaint on the second night of her stay, and further alleged that as her bed shook a voice could be heard saying, "Get out! Get out! Get out the window!" And that just as the bed stopped vibrating, the phone rang. But ... ulp ... there was no one on the other end.
If all this sounds too good-or bad-to be true, Howat understands. Hotels do sometimes benefit from the mystique of supposedly being haunted. But he points out that this particular Old City hotel "probably already has one of the lowest-vacancy rates in Philadelphia." The building also dates back to 1856-a long time to accumulate spirits. Bent on stealing human souls!
That said, the hotel at Second and Chestnut streets is holding a paranormal investigations seminar the weekend of Feb. 24. A two-night package for two runs $698 (locals can forgo the room and enjoy the paranormal talk for $149).
Mark Nesbitt, author of The Ghosts of Gettysburg series, will bring along a psychic, and conduct most of the seminar. "I use electronic voice phenomena now," says Nesbitt. "I have audio recorders that are voice-activated. It's pretty amazing because you'll ask a question and there will be total silence, and then you'll see the recorder start up."
He says that while he was in Philadelphia, doing a quick investigation of the Best Western, he became "pretty convinced" something's going on there. He may also have run afoul of Ben Franklin.
"I'd gone to City Tavern [with two women]," he says. "And when I got back to my hotel, I said, 'Ben, I just went out with a couple of pretty ladies. What do you think of that?'"
Nesbitt says he thinks he irked Franklin, whom he calls a "notorious womanizer," because his recorder picked up a "long, loud roar."
"I don't know if it was really him," says Nesbitt. "But it was awfully interesting."
Ghost Ping!!
Ghost Ping!!
Thanks for the ping Bill!
OK, whoever has the ghost ping list plz add me,,,lol, and yeah I need a life, lol!
I love ghost stories, and I don't mean the stupid Stephen King stuff, but the real thing!
Yeah, Ben liked women. Maybe he was a bit jealous at that, should've said they were French. He might've gotten a more obvious response.
WOOHOO! Ghost ping!
In my best ghostbuster's voice......
Cuuuuurrrllyy ! We Got One!!!
LOL. I love ghost stories too.
Sign in one of the rooms: "I'm dead and I vote!"
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Ghost Tour of Philadelphia Hear the chilling tales of America's most historic...and most haunted city on this candlelight walking tour through Independence Park and Society Hill... |
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Is Ben Franklin still roaming the streets of his "City of Brotherly Love"?
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Redrum
LOL does that mean i got added to the ping list?
I love children but I can never seem to finish a whole one.
Thanks for the ping. :~)
I don't know....Bill, did you add Meanie Monster to your ping list?
I did!
Thank you!!!!
No problem. We're not a high volume ping list... Sometimes we go weeks without a ping, then get two or three in a week.
Are you talking about the 'oo00ooo' noise?
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