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Tales from Michigan's past that are sure to make you shiver
GHOST STORIES

Samantha Meinke
Greater Lansing Woman

When Nicole Bray was 7, her family moved to an unusual home in Ionia. • "Lights went on and off by themselves and I always felt like someone was in my room," Bray says. "My dolls would get moved, and I slept with the hall light on until I was 16." • Most terrifying to Bray was a perpetually cold corner of the garage, an area she would avoid at all costs. • As Bray grew up, her childhood trepidation gave way to a fascination with ghosts when her father validated her fear of the garage by admitting a previous owner of the house had committed suicide in the cold corner.

That led Bray to found the West Michigan Ghost Hunters Society. The group, like other ghost-hunting groups in the country, aims to find scientific evidence of ghosts and other paranormal phenomena in the form of photos, audio and video recordings.

Bray soon discovered she wasn't the only one looking into ghosts in Michigan - not even the only one in Ionia.

"In November of 2004, I was asked to investigate a house in Ionia," she says. "When I called the family to find out more information about it, it turned out to be my childhood home."

Whether or not you believe in ghosts, they're a good excuse to visit some incredible historic locations in Michigan.

"A lot of people believe only famous places are haunted and that's not the case," says Cindy Blake, founder and president of Michigan Ghost Watchers. "They're in small-town America, too."

Blake says ghost stories are an interesting way to learn about a place's history.

"The history of a location is very important. It's a big part of what we do," she says. "We learn as much as we can about a place."

Both Bray and Blake have investigated a number of haunted locations open to the public or paying customers. Take them up on their recommendations and spend a night or weekend exploring some of Michigan's haunted places.

Felt Mansion, Holland

The mansion, completed in 1928, was the home of the Felt family until it was sold in 1949 to St. Augustine Seminary. In the late 1970s, it was used as offices for the Dunes Correctional Facility, which was on the grounds.

According to the West Michigan Ghost Hunters Society, visitors have seen opening doors and windows, at least two ghosts and an odd pink light. For $40 (which reimburses WMGHS for the house's rental fee) you can ghost hunt in the mansion from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Oct. 26. Or you can visit the mansion on your own during the day for a regular tour, which costs $7.

Info: www.feltmansion.org or (616) 335-3050.

Terrace Inn, Bay View

This national historic landmark opened in 1911 and is the only building open year-round in Bay View, a community just north of Petoskey that was founded in 1875 as a Methodist camp.

"We had lights going on and off in rooms with no one there," Bray says of a weekend investigation her group conducted. "We captured EVP (electronic voice phenomena), which go under the range of human voices in hertz, so it's physically impossible for us to make those sounds. The basement of Terrace Inn has an extremely interactive entity. We'd ask it, 'Do you live here?' and it answered, 'I'll prove it.'

"When we were asking, we'd hear nothing, but a few seconds later heard a noise from an adjoining room and the pull switch of a light had been pulled and the light went on. Later when we found the question on tape we heard the voice and that was when the light turned on."

Info: www.theterraceinn.com or (800) 530-9898

The Historic Holly Hotel, Holly

The Historic Holly Hotel, Holly

Holly Hotel, now a fine-dining restaurant listed on the National Register of Historic Places of the United States, has been serving food continuously for centuries.

Blake recommends checking it out for other reasons. "They're very open about their spirits," she says. "They'll give tours and talk about their ghosts."

People often see Mr. Hirst, the hotel's first owner, or smell his cigar smoke. He is said to not like noise or renovations at the hotel. They also see Nora Kane, a beautiful lady who often appears in wedding photographs and whose flower perfume is often smelled all over the building.

Check out the hotel in October, when it offers explanations of the spirits with guest speakers, a seance and ghost stories.

Info: www.hollyhotel.com or (248) 634-5208.

Ramsdell Theatre, Manistee

If visiting the theater because it's where James Earl Jones first performed as Othello isn't enough for you, consider visiting because it was built for T.J. Ramsdell in 1903 by noted Chicago architect Solon Berman and remains one of the finest examples of architecture of that era due to the diligence of Ramsdell Restoration Committee.

The committee's president, Nancy Lyon, says Ramsdell's ghost has been sighted in the theater, as well as a mysterious woman.

Though Lyon hasn't seen them herself, she has had unusual experiences in the building. "There have been times I know I've turned lights off in a room and I'll go out to my car and have to go back in to turn them out again."

Info: www.ramsdell-theater.org or (231) 723-7188.