If there are any spirits hanging out at the Briarhurst Manor in Manitou Springs, they may want to head south for the winter.
The 130-year-old mansion, now a restaurant, was one of three finalists for the Sci Fi Channel's "Great American Ghost Hunt." The finalists told their tales on Halloween night during a live investigation of Fort Delaware by the cable channel's "Ghost Hunters" program, with the winner getting a full investigation by the "Ghost Hunters" team.
On Wednesday's results episode of the show, head ghost hunters Grant Wilson and Jason Hawes announced they will investigate all three finalists.
"I get to start telling people all the ghost stories that we have," said Tammila Wright, a local historian who nominated the restaurant for the search. "We're pretty excited."
Wright and her husband, Erick, traveled to Fort Delaware to make the case for the Briarhurst - where strange noises, mysterious footprints and unexplained happenings have convinced them the place is haunted.
The show will tape at the Briarhurst later this winter and the episode should air in the spring, Tammila Wright said.
The Wrights had a couple spooky experiences of their own while spending the night at Fort Delaware, once a Civil War prison camp. Erick Wright saw something large and grey running in the night. Later, Tammila Wright said something roughly as big as herself ran past her and disappeared.
"I felt like someone was running on the left side of me," she said. "I thought it was going to run me over. That really freaked me out bad."