History
The Forest Hills Hotel is situated in the town square in the oldest part of Auchtermuchty, Fife. Established in 1738, this building is one of the oldest properties in the town: Town House 1738, MacDuff House 1597, Parish Church 1779-81. The hotel, a former coaching inn and once known as the Boar's Head, still retains its Olde-Worlde charm with low oak-beamed ceilings, narrow passages and shuttered windows. Very little is known about the hotel's history despite it having been at the heart of the community for so many generations.Auchtermuchty is situated 12 miles NE of Strathmiglo and takes its name from the Gaelic uchtar and muc, translating into upland of the swine.
The small town earned itself a Royal Burgh Charter in 1517 due to its thriving weaving industry which came to a halt in 1912. The Burgh became bankrupt in 1816 and was sequestrated for its corporation property, except for the Steeple Bell, Customs, Jail and Town House. The weaving industry was replaced by other industries such as sawmills, linen factories and distilleries which in turn gave way to its oldest industry metal beam and scale making.
Paranormal Activity
The Investigation
Outside conditions: Weather: dry, still, cold Moon: waxing moon in Aquarius
Investigators present: Katrina, Natalie, Mike, Tori, Bozzie, Paul
Equipment Used:
Camcorders: nightvision Sony Hi8 analogue, Sony DCR-HC35E digital
Digital cameras: Sony cybershot 3.2mp, Lumicron LDC4013 4.1mp, Epson Photopc 2100Z
Digital voice recorders: Olympus set at high quality recording
Thermometers: 2 in/out digital thermometers, Infrared thermometerr
Preliminaries 9pm-12am
After a quick tour of the building the team returned to base to collect equipment and to set up trigger objects. Upon entering the room, Natalie exclaimed that she had thought one of the team was sitting to the right of the doorway near the corner as she entered the room. She turned to face in that direction only to see nobody which had surprised her. Tori remarked on an unpleasant odour in the room as she entered which had not been noticable previously. She also remarked that the team was definitely not alone in this room and that a spirit was watching from the sidelines. Mike loaded his camera with batteries and attempted to take photos of the function room. The camera immediately stopped working as the batteries had drained. This was quite strange as the batteries were brand new and of good quality and had just been removed from the packet. These were replaced by another set of batteries and the camera then worked as normal. Photographs were taken of the team standing in front of the door at this time. There appears to be a face-like image behind Natalie's left shoulder in the first photo. What appears to be an eye and nose is visible and it looks as if the face is looking towards Natalie. In the second photo, the image is more blurry but appears to have moved and is now more face-on. The last photo is the doorway with nobody in front of it to show what was actually behind Natalie in the first two photographs. These photos are on the Paranormal Discovery forum for discussion. These photos are not thought to be paranormal in nature but are a good example of pareidolia or the brain's natural ability to make faces from random patterns.
Trigger objects were set up on the bar beside the doorway into the function room. This room was chosen as items had been known to move in there before and also because this would not be in use for some time as the guestrooms would be the location for the first vigil. Several items were laid out on A4 paper which was taped down onto the bar to avoid it being accidentally moved or blown about. Various items which may have appealed to different individuals were set out: old keys, old coins, a crucifix and a brooch of a miniature portrait of a lady. The camcorder was arranged so that it was filming the whole piece of paper and part of the doorway into the room. A digital voice recorder was left beside these items on top of the bar. It was placed inside an anti-static sleeve to reduce any possibility of picking up any radio interference.
Next on the agenda was another quick tour of the building to take photos, notes and baseline measurements. The top 2 floors of the hotel were not liked by any of the team and were felt to have an uncomfortable atmosphere. It was thought that something unpleasant may have happened at that level, maybe even a murder. Various unpleasant sensations were felt by different team members during this walkround, for example, pressure on the head, feeling as if they were swaying, pain in the shoulder and nausea. Tori and Natalie both felt that there was a spirit presence following the team around the building, watching what was happening. Tori became briefly unwell after leaving room 5. As she entered the landing the colour drained from her and she felt a sudden wave of nausea and had to sit down on the bed for a minute or two to compose herself. Tori had also felt something touch her back as she stood between the beds in room 5. She said it was as if somebody had brushed passed her. She had thought at first that one of the team was behind her but quickly discovered that she was standing in front of the wall and nobody was behind her.
The guest rooms on the lower levels did not offer much, except that room 11 was not liked by Natalie at all. Bozzie also shuddered and exclaimed that he had the feeling of something passing through him. The room temperatures down on the lower areas of the hotel were noted to be 2-3 degrees less than the upper floors which is understandable. Room 8 offered an emf reading 2-3 feet above the bed which cannot be explained. There were no obvious signs of electric cables running under the bed. Video footage from this room during the walkround revealed a surprise. There is quiet but distinct laughter audible as Mike sits down on one of the coffee tables. He laughs for a second or two but this laughter is not him and lasts for several seconds. The most strange thing is that nobody in the team heard this at the time yet it was recorderd on video. No other guests were staying at the hotel and there were only a few customers in the front bar at this time. As mentioned before no noise from the bar could be heard and room 8 is actually the furthest away room in the basement. None of the team were laughing at the time except for Mike as mentioned. The video clip will be added soon.
The back bar was felt to be a calmer and a more positive place. Tori felt that this area was more female dominated whereas she had felt that the rest of the hotel was linked to a male spirit. As she went through the archway Tori remarked on a change in energy within this room. She was also drawn to the wall behind the chairs along an outside wall in the farthest away area from the bar.
A quick rest break was followed by the whole team spiritually preparing for the investigation: grounding, centering and protecting. During this time as the team were standing in a circle on the dance floor Katrina also comments on a foul smell which had appeared again. Paul stated at this time that he felt the urge for no logical reason to shout out obscenities and had managed to restrain himself from doing so.
12am - 1.30am
The team decided to split into two groups - one male and one female. The male team headed downstairs and the ladies to the guest rooms on the top floor so as to be as far away from each other as possible. The hotel was closed by this time and the owners had retired to their room on the first floor.
Group 1
The men started off in room 8 where several orbs were filmed some apparently in response to requests for a sign of spirit presence. They then moved to room 11 where more orbs were filmed. A fluctuating EMF reading was detected above the bed in this room but a check showed no socket or cables visible to account for it.
The members of this group returned to the function room at the agreed time and Bozzie approached the trigger objects to check for any movement. As he leant forward the glass door to the corridor suddenly shut, almost hitting him. This door had been wedged open and the wedge was noted to still be in place after it closed. Two witnesses were present and this was caught on video. The camcorder filming the trigger objects caught part of the door in shot as it closed. The flooring was noted to be carpet and the door had not shut at any time during the evening by itself in that fashion. Paul tried to push the door to see how easy it would be for it to swing shut and it needed quite a push until half-way closed when it would then swing of its own accord. This event is also being discussed on the forum.
Group 2
The female members decided to brave the upper floor which had been disliked earlier.
Room 5: whilst sitting on the bed Tori felt a draught like a breath on her face. She turned round to see if Natalie was facing her to account for this but Natalie was facing the other way. Soon after Katrina felt cold and shivery but there was no discernable change in temperature and the room was failrly warm at 18 degrees. An odour like food was smelt and Katrina and Tori went to the landing outside to see if it was from downstairs. The smell was not noticeable out of the room but very strong in it. A member of staff had been seen in the kitchen earlier and so this was attributed to him cooking.
Room 4: Various requests for activity were made with no response. As Tori and Katrina were sitting on the bed a humming noise was heard by them both and was thought to have been made by each other. Natalie also heard it and thought it had come from their direction. This sound was caught on video. It should be mentioned, however, that the owners' room was below this one.
1am - 2.30am
Some time was then spent in the other areas of the hotel which had been missed earlier: the bar, the back bar, tea-room and remaining guest rooms upstairs.
Public bar: this area felt very homely and nothing was detected here
Tea-room: again nothing was detected
Back bar: the atmosphere appeared to be different to the team's earlier visit. Tori was aware of a spirit presence, probably female, who did not want to show herself in any way. She felt that this spirit was standing over by the bar. Calling out was attempted to get some activity but nothing was witnessed. Everyone present agreed that this area was very 'flat' and unaturally quiet. No noises were audible at all, not even the usual sounds of creaking and cracking often heard in older buildings, especially those with wooden beams. It was decided to leave this area to investigate upstairs.
The bedrooms upstairs were not active at this time either. A little bit of excitement was felt when returning to room 6 where the internal window of the secondary glazing was found to be wide open. It was refastened only to blow open again due to a light draught from outside.
On the way back to the function suite Paul and Katrina both heard a noise which to them sounded like a female voice. This was coming from behind them in the direction of the back bar or stairs. It was hoped that this had been recorded but was not. Some taps and clicks were heard as the team approached the kitchen. Upon investigation nobody was there and it was assumed that the sounds had been caused by the fridge motor.
Glass Divination
Whilst setting up various orbs were filmed but could have been dust particles as furniture had been moved around. Tori turned round at one point only to see a male figure standing in front of the double doors (the one that had closed earlier). He was fairly short only just reaching the 'no smoking' sign on the door.
Two video cameras were posotioned to film the table and the four participants. The voice recorder was also set to record. Protective measures were put into place by Tori before the start of the session and unfortunately the equipment was placed so that it was outside of the protective circle. This proved to have been an oversight and a disadvantage as far as evidence collection was concerned. Several noises were heard throughout the glass divination session but not all were recorded as the tapes had run out. The session lasted longer than the team anticipated and nobody felt happy about breaking the circle to renew the tapes.
Spirit 1
A nasty male spirit was first to make himself known. Several contradictory and inconsistent answers were given to questions put to him. However, by a combination of the glass' answers and the information provided by the mediums it was ascertained that this man had worked and lived at the hotel in the 18th century. He visits the building because he still feels it is his property and disliked the team being there. He was thought to be the spirit who had been following the team around the building earlier. Although unable to harm anyone he had the intent to do so. The man indicated that his name was Frank Newman - he actually used the glass to write the initials on the table, one at a time. This was the first time the team had witnessed this. A story unfolded where this Frank had murdered his brother because of jealousy in one of the bedrooms upstairs in the hotel. He had strangled him. He was too afraid to move on as he was scared that he would be punished for what he had done. Tori and Katrina both thought that they heard distant humming/singing. Natalie commented that this Frank had not scared away the other spirits in the hotel as he would have everyone believe. The team then helped Frank move on which he should have done centuries before. The details of this will not be made public.
Spirit 2
After Frank had left Katrina asked everyone to look under the table to see what was touching her leg. She stated that her leg was tapped several times. Nothing was seen to account for this. Immediately after a lady named J S came through. She had frequented the pub and had died in the 1960s. She was in her 40s when she died and visits the hotel because she liked it so much. Natalie described her clothing and hairdo of being from that era and that she also wore a hairband. The lady indicated to the team that she would do something in the room which would be caught on film. The glass actually slid across the table towards the camcorder at a request for a physical sign of her presence in the room. Nothing was captured on film, however, at this time. Her name has not been disclosed as she may well have living relatives given that she died so recently.
Spirit 3
Another male spirit was sensed. He, too, indicated that he had worked and lived at the hotel. No further information was gained about this man other than that he may be grounded at the hotel rather than visiting.
Spirit 4
Various noises were heard from within the room while this particular spirit was communicating via the glass, indicating that he was quite a joker. "Raspberry" type noises were heard by Natalie coming from behind her by the doorway and a miaow-like noise was heard by Katrina and Natalie which was thought to have come from the space between them. Later while talking to this man a very loud giggle was heard from over by the bar which took everyone by surprise. Movement was also seen by all 4 team members at different times from behind the bar by the pillar as if somebody was hiding and peeking round momentarily. This spirit was thought to be male, very young, perhaps even a teenager when he died and to have some type of learning disability. He, too, had lived at the hotel and had died by choking on a coin or something similar. His name was given but will not be made public for the same reasosn as before. He also died quite recently within the last 40 years but is not grounded at the hotel. In fact, this spirit had made himself known to Tori several weeks prior to the investigation when he was seen by her. He is well built with light hair and young in appearance.
Activity continued even as the session was closed down. A large orb was filmed and it appears to be leaving the glass on the table. As it does so a strange noise was recorded which was not heard at the time. The team cannot think of an explanation for this noise as three of the team were sitting motionless at the time and only Tori was standing as she closed the circle and was not touching anything.
Conclusion
Here is a review of the evidence gathered from the investigation:
EVP/audio: no notable EVPs were recorded on the digital voice recorder. During the vigil in room 4 faint voices were recorded via camcorder - these were heard at the time by all three investigators present. Although very faint on the recording, it seems to be a man and a woman's voice speaking. One possible explanation for this could be that the owners' living quarters were on the floor below, but the voices were interpreted by those present as coming from within the room. The sound clip below is also a camcorder recording and was not heard by any of the team at the time:
1. Here is the strange laugh recorded in room 8. The voice has been compared to a clown or Punch and Judy. Mike is caught on film and does laugh but this strange laughter is much quieter and of much much shorter duration. The laugh seems to start off high pitched then becomes low then turns into a whistle very quickly indeed which makes it all the more strange. This is unexplained so far.
Video/photo: the door swinging shut, apparently of its own accord, was captured on video. Unfortunatley, only part of the door was in shot, but there were two members of the team who witnessed the incident. Team members had walked through the doorway several times without it shutting and upon trying to replicate the movement of the door shutting on its own, it was found to take quite a lot of force to get the door to move, due to the wedge being in place. Even if the wedge had not been pushed in underneath the door properly, it would have stilll taken considerable force to move the door. Orbs were captured on video in both room 8 and at the end of the glass divination session (where an orb of light appears to leave the glass). The only notable photographs were the ones mentioned above with the 'faces' looking over Natalie's shoulder. However, after thorough examination of these photos and the photo of the area without Natalie in it, it has been agreed that these faces are due to pareidolia - they are infact formed from the shapes on the side of the machine which is sitting on the bar.
Trigger Objects: no movement was detected.
Temperature: no significant fluctuations.
EMF: all readings normal, except in room 8 where a high reading was recorded above the double bed. No explanation can be found for this.
Glass divination: although all those present heard noises, saw movements in the same area and experienced varying sensations throughout the session, there was little in the way of evidence gathered. An unexplainable noise was captured by one of the camcorders at the same moment an orb was filmed leaving the glass and some of the names provided via the mediums may be able to be traced at a later date.
The Paranormal Discovery team felt that the Forest Hills Hotel was an active location, worthy of investigation. Several spirits were picked up over the night, the most notable being the malevolent spirit of Frank and the friendly, mischevous spirit who also made himself known during glass divination.
