Ghost Intervention: Pennsylvania Poltergeists

Ghost Intervention aired on TLC in 2009 and stars case manager Raiya Davidson, intuitive medium Sierra Campbell, and clairvoyant medium channeler Dawn Clare.  I'd never seen it before, so I recorded an episode called "Pennsylvania Poltergeists."  The episode begins with Raiya, Sierra, and Dawn going to Concordville, PA to investigate the home of Jack and Carolyn Hanlon, who have lived in the house for forty-two years; some of their children (who are now grown) have heard footsteps on the stairs, smelled smoke, and seen a “dark figure pacing up and down,” and daughter Anne Marie says that the paranormal activity increases whenever they makes changes in the house.  The house used to belong to Alexander Scott, a Union soldier who bought the house in 1847 and died there in 1898.  Jack says that one time when he was in his office, the door kept opening by itself when he was home alone; the third time it happened, he said, “Mr. Scott, get in or get out,” and the door stayed closed after that.  Two of Jack and Carolyn’s daughters have seen the ghost of a young girl standing by the dresser in their parents’ bedroom.

Raiya, Sierra, and Dawn visit the house while the family isn’t home, so they won’t have any preconceptions about the case.  Dawn senses two young girls in the backyard, and the younger one is afraid of the well.  When Sierra enters the living room, she senses someone political who was associated with the Civil War and guns; she also senses the name Alexander.  She senses a nanny and the names Katherine and Anne Marie associated with the house.

The women meet with Jack, Carolyn and theirs daughters…Katherine and Anne Marie!  Dawn says that she sensed men with guns at the edge of the Hanlon’s property and that she feels that they were associated with the Civil War; Anne Marie tells her that both she and Katherine had recurring dreams about men coming out of the woods with guns.  Sierra tells them that she thinks the nanny gets annoyed every time they remodel the kitchen.  Anne Marie asks why the spirits are there, and Dawn says she thinks it’s because it’s a loving home.  Sierra tells the family that she doesn’t think they have anything to fear from the spirits.

On the drive to the Hannum House in Glen Mills, Sierra talks about a dream she had the night before where a little girl came to her and said she needed protecting and showed her some stuffed animals.  The Hannum House is one of the oldest homes in the country (built in 1695), and Kim and Eric, who have lived there for nine years, realized they had ghosts the day they moved in when Kim heard a scream and saw a man who was “dressed in full colonial war attire” come down the stairs and disappear into the fireplace.  Most of the paranormal activity takes place in the attic; Kim and Eric have seen a black figure up there, and Kim says that if they try to talk to the spirits, they start “thumping stuff and knocking on things.”  Kim and Eric’s tenant once went into the basement and saw two men, but when Kim checked, no one was there.  In the master bedroom, Kim and Eric heard footsteps and a voice saying “Mommy?;” they thought it was their daughter Emma, but when they looked in the hallway, she wasn’t there, so Eric walked down the hall to her bedroom, where he found her asleep in her bed.  In Emma’s room, toys and other objects would fall on the floor and wake her up, and spirits sometimes came up to her and tried to talk into her ear.

When Raiya, Sierra, and Dawn arrive, Sierra feels the spirit of a little girl around a tree and a “sense of neglect.”  Dawn says that she had a dream about the house, and there was a brothel and a bar in it; she also senses that the house was used for prayer at one point.  Dawn feels male spirits in the basement who were colonial soldiers.  In Emma’s bedroom, Raiya and Sierra see several stuffed animals, including one that Sierra saw in her dream.  Sierra senses the little girl that she sensed outside in the room, but does not think that Emma tries to communicate with the spirits, she just is aware of them and scared.  Sierra feels like the attic was used to hide people, possibly Native American women “who have been sold for prostitution and work,” and that many of them were killed or got pregnant and were sent away.  In the basement, she senses a spirit named Samuel who lived there in the 1700s after he was shot and needed a place to recover; she says that he warned her that the basement will flood within the next few weeks and that he’s been trying to get Kim and Eric’s attention to tell them to move everything out of there.

Dawn and Sierra meet with Kim and Eric, and Dawn tells them about her dream; they tell her that the house has been a church, courthouse, tavern, and brothel.  Sierra tells Kim and Eric about what she sensed in the attic, and Kim says there were women held in the attic in the past; Sierra asks if the name Samuel means anything to them, and Kim says that she has seen the name when researching the Hannum genealogy.  Sierra says that Samuel was in charge of the home’s maintenance and wants to stay in the house and help them.

I enjoyed Ghost Intervention, but not as much as most of the other paranormal shows I've written about on the blog.  However, it wasn't scary at all, which was nice since I watched it while I was alone. ; )

My rating: 7/10