August 6, 2009

• Ghost Stories

  I know have written a great deal about one of the bars I frequent.  The bar is called The Old Baraboo Inn located in Baraboo, WI.  I know I have down at least 4 entries about my experiences with this establishment.  Once again I thought I would share.

  The first time I visited, I went with two close friends, whose identities will be protected by the monikers Ozzie and Harriet.  Well we arrived and upon entry I noticed a strange suffocating vibe.  I also noticed there were only two other people in the bar besides my party and the bartender.  It was as if there was an unwelcome feeling.  Something didn't want us there.  We ordered our beer and were just still on edge because of this suffocating feeling. 
  

  We started talking with the bartender, and me being as ballsy as I am, asked the bartender if it was true that this place, The Old Baraboo Inn, was haunted.  He regaled us with tales of the origins of the bar and what it used to be.  It was very interesting to hear this guy tell the history of this one building in the old circus town.  It definitely wasn't the type of history I learned about in grade school.  Wisconsin was a wild place back in the 1860s and Baraboo was one of the wildest towns.  Besides being winter home and headquarters for the Ringling Brothers circus, Baraboo was also a meeting point for railroads from Chicago and Minneapolis.  Needless to say, Baraboo had a nefarious reputation.  The Old Baraboo Inn was one of the places where that reputation was earned. 

  Listening to the stories about the gun fights and brothels and prostitutes really made me feel strange.  I started to get chills followed by hot flashes.  It was strange.  The owner then stopped mid-sentence and said to look at his arms.  The hairs were standing on end and he explained that there must be a spirit around.  Now I was getting antsy.  He also told us stories of the renters he has lost over the years.  In particular one lady who has a son with autism.  The son would wake in the middle of the night and have conversations with people who weren't there.  Listening to more and more stories about the place just was really making me feel a connection to the spirits.  Now, some of you may be asking yourselves, "But I thought this guy was educated."  Yes, I am educated but there are just some things out there that I can't explain.  I do believe there are spirits.  I do not know if they are actually a person or an imprint that the person has left behind.

  
  

  As I was drinking my Creamy Dark, I felt a presence.  At first I thought nothing of it until I felt intense pressure around my throat.  It wasn't a light grab or a brush, this was almost as if I was being choked.  Of course I wasn't choking but I felt like something was trying to choke me.  Then one of the motion sensor machines came on and no one went by it.  Harriet was gripping Ozzie's leg so hard that he had fingerprints.  This of course was after the owner told us that we were sitting over one of the most active parts of the basement.  We decided to wrap up our night at the Old Baraboo Inn soon thereafter.

  My experience the second time was quite different.  When I entered there was no heaviness hanging in the air inside the bar but it felt warm and welcoming.  We sat down and had our $2 Creamy Darks (although now due to recession the price is $2.50).  The bartender remembered Ozzie and myself which was an awesome feeling that he remembered us after not having been in there since September; Harriet did not come because of the first experience.  We talked for the longest time and nothing happened.  Then out of nowhere a motion sensor went off and no one set it off.  We just laughed as we noticed extreme temperature changes and the hair on our arms standing on end.  As the night progressed and the talks of the supernatural and unknown went all over the place I brought up something I saw on Paranormal State.  A house was haunted because of human remains on the property.  I asked the bartender if, because of all the gunfights, there might have been people buried in the basement because of the amount of paranormal activity.  He didn't answer but reminded me that the place was a former bordello so there were probably remains of fetuses and unwanted babies buried in the basement.  I nodded and then I felt what can best be described as an electrical current grab my leg and run up my back and into the back of my skull.  Just then I started tearing up and crying.  It was unbelievable.  It was like something entered me to make me feel the pain that had taken place at this location. 

  
  

  I stopped the crying and got myself together and decided to make a pit-stop.  Once I got up and started walking toward the bathroom I had the feeling that I was being followed.  I walked faster to get to the destination.  I entered and made sure to lock the door but as I was going I couldn't help but feel I was being watched.  I looked over my should and saw nothing and then I looked down and then I felt a hand on my shoulder and that was it.  I got out of there as soon as possible and went back to the bar where I started to have an asthma attack.  The rest of the night I just felt so weird, like I had just made contact with the spirits.  No, not the alcoholic spirits but something out there that is unexplained.  The reason I knew it couldn't be alcohol induced was because I had switched over to Coke after having only 2 beers.  Well the night progressed and we decided to call it a night.

  One of the next times I went to the Old Baraboo Inn was on Halloween.  I was hoping that something spooky would happen because of this holiday.  Nothing happened to me or Ozzie, but something did happen.  The original post I did about this visit, I mentioned how these ladies dressed as pirates sat down next to us.  Well little did I know at that time they would provide some great photographic evidence of a haunting.  Apparently after Ozzie and I left the "pirates" started having problems with their instant camera.  It was going off by itself.  When they developed the film it showed that pictures were in fact taken and that there was a smokey presence in front of the lens.  Now one might venture that someone was smoking.  No, none of them smoke and the camera was next to the ashtray and one can see that there is no cigarette in the ash tray.

  Then my friend, the Croatian Sensation, came for a visit.  Ozzie and I took him to visit the Old Baraboo Inn.  Nothing happened to me that evening.  Then the next time the Croatian Sensation came to visit we went again and this time there was a paranormal group conducting an investigation.  They had collected EVPs (electronic voice phenomena) and had some sort of electronic magnetic finder that sensed where there may be presences.  They interviewed me because of the two experiences I had so someday whenever they publish their findings, I may be mentioned in this book. 

  This past week, the Croatian Sensation returned along with his wife and child.  We decided to go to our haunt and see what was up.  When I entered, I felt a strange presence once again.  I sat at the bar and started feeling weird.  My face felt like it was on fire but my arms felt like they were ice cold but they were warm to the touch.  We heard more stories of occurrences from the bartender including the tale of a Friday the 13th wedding reception where 3 different people saw an apparition as well as more photos being taken and having a smokey presence appear in the photo.  One such photo was of the bride and two of her bridesmaids.  It appeared as if they were being engulfed with this smoke.  None of them were smoking.  As for the apparition, the owner said how he put his special baked beans on the buffet and had to go back to the kitchen for a spoon.  When he returned there was a man dressed as a cowboy looking at the beans.  The owner turned around and the person had vanished.  Then another bartender went to get something on the buffet and he saw the man dressed as the cowboy staring at the beans.  He went to get the owner but before he could say anything it disappeared.  Then a member of the wedding party came to the owner and asked, "IS there supposed to be a guy dressed like a cowboy here?"  The owner said he would take care of it.  This is strange because as I mentioned earlier there were gunfights and supposedly a few guys were killed an buried at this establishment and another guy from the old days got drunk and fell down the stairs.  Is the apparition him?  Who knows but as I already said there was an EVP.  One of the paranormal researchers asked, "I hear there are cowboys here, where are they?"  They clearly pick up, "Here's a boy."  No one else in the room. 

  The owner also talked about a skeptic who saw a little girl playing around in the back room and that made her run screaming from the bar.  Another patron brought his little child into the bar and she asked, "Daddy are all those kids supposed to be hear?"  The father looked and saw nothing.  The little girl then asked if she could go play and the father gave her the affirmative.  A few minutes later he looks at his daughter dancing in the area where the EVP was collected.  It wasn't like a simple kid dance, no, it was as if she was dancing and locking arms like in a square dance type deal.  She was laughing and giggling. 

  The Croatian Sensation brought his son into the bar.  He went nuts.  He was running everywhere, laughing, and having a grand old time.  We didn't think nothing of it until he started waving and saying, "Buh-bye, buh-bye!"  Then as the night was winding down, the owner came out to talk with us and that is when I got hit.  I started feeling an electric current all around me.  I went to the bathroom.  As I walked through the back room, in the area where the little girl was spotted, where the cowboy was spotted, where the EVP was collected, and where the other little girl was playing, I walked through an ice-cold spot.  There were no air conditioners running.  I went through this ice spot and just felt sick.  I went into the bathroom and just felt ill.  I came out and the spot was gone.  At the bar, I started feeling the electricity and I was feeling like my face was on fire despite being ice cold.  Then something hit me in the chest.  It caused me to have an asthma attack.  I felt as if I was being attacked.  We soon left.  I am anxious to go back to the Old Baraboo Inn.

  If only I knew more bloggers in my area.  I would plan to have a Xanga meet and greet at this bar.  Oh and for the under 21 crowd, this is Wisconsin so you'll be safe.  If anyone ever visits a place called Wisconsin Dells, I'm not far away and neither is the Old Baraboo Inn.  Let's have ourselves a ghost-hunting expedition.

  
  This is the Croatina Sensation with his son.  You may have to enlarge this but if you look at the ceiling fan and the deerhead directly under it there is a strange spot.  It wasn't there when I snapped the photo.
  
  I thought maybe I could catch something in the dining area and dance floor but I didn't.  Look at the TV.  You may have to enlarge.  Above the man on the left there is another strange circle.
  
  The owner calls this guy "The Nightwatchman".  He always freaks me out when I go through that area.
  
  This photo is of that one active area I mentioned.  Where I am standing is about where I walked through the spot that was ice-cold.  He does have an air-conditioner back there but it was not running and definitely not running during the winter when some of these other occurrences took place.  Yes there is another strange dot but that is actually there.  He had a clock on the wall so the paint hadn't faded.

  I hope you enjoyed...seriously...Xanga meet-up?

  • 5:19 PM
  • 45 Comments