Laugh at the ghost stories, then listen to the 'voices'
By CHRIS WELCH
Times Entertainment Writer, chris.welch@htimes.com

Brent Crank, special events coordinator at the EarlyWorks Museum
Complex, isn't saying he believes in ghosts, but this really creeped him
out.

There have always been stories about the Historic Huntsville Depot being
haunted, but like everybody else, Crank just laughed them off. The
depot, built in the 1860s, is one of the nation's oldest remaining
railroad structures, serving as a soldiers' prison, infirmary and means
of transportation during the Civil War and years after.

Some wonder if the Confederate soldiers, who left graffiti on the
peeling walls, are still there. Others wonder about the glow on the
third floor that has been seen by employees and visitors. Why does the
rocking chair rock on its own? Do railroad workers still roam the old
train tracks?

Nobody has ever really investigated them until now. The depot is
conducting Ghost Hunts this year for the first time, and Crank and his
wife, Jenny, decided to tag along with paranormal investigator Tim
Smith, who is conducting the tours.
What they found - heard, actually - spooked them.

"Jenny and my nephew went with Tim just to get a feel for it," Crank,
who many remember from his days on WDRM-FM 102.1 as "Dingo." "We had the
digital recorders turned on, and Tim was asking questions like, 'Is
anybody here? We're not here to harm you.' We didn't hear anything, but
I got this weird sensation something was going on.
"At the end of the tour, we went to listen to the recordings and look at
the digital photography. I felt a little silly doing it, but then we
heard strange voices and whispers ... and we didn't say any of them. It
sent chills and goose bumps all over me. It freaked me out then and is
still freaking me out."

What did Crank hear? Going up the stairs to the second floor and
entering one room, Smith says, "We're just here to communicate with you
tonight" and a man's voice says, "Water." In the room with all the
generals' pictures, Jenny says, "Look at that guy - he's a killer," to
which a female voice replies, "Noooo." In the children's area, Crank
asks, "Should I turn mine on?" referring to his recorder, and a man's
voice says, "Get rid of 'em."
The electronic voice phenomenon recordings can be heard at al.com/go.

"I don't believe in ghosts, and I'm not saying I do now, but there was
something there that made the voices," Crank said. "We didn't do it."
This isn't a haunted house. There will be no spider webs or people
jumping out and scaring you, Crank says. Smith will guide groups of 15
on three-hour tours. Along with the audio and video equipment, he will
use temperature gauges to try to locate the spirits.