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winchester.tour
winchester.tour
From: RNoe@ix.netcom.com (Ralph Noe)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.ghost-stories
Subject: Winchester House Visit: Something's There!!!
Date: 13 Feb 1995 09:59:23 GMT
Hello All,
I too am a lurker but have read a great deal of the excellent posts
placed here. However something happened at the Winchester House in San
Jose last weekend that I thought others would be interested in and I
look forward to hearing from others who may have experienced similar
incidents in this house.
We arrived at the Winchester House last Saturday morning. I was
concerned about my wife's and I's schedule for the day so wanted to be
the first if possible to tour the house I'd heard so much about over the
years.
That Saturday morning about 9 a.m. was a cloudy and quite cool day.
Unlike Los Angeles where we reside, the town of San Jose is one that
evidently knows how to relax on weekends so consequently we were the
first arrivals at the house. We found out the house didn't open until
9:30 a.m. so we used the extra time to get a couple of doughnuts and
coffee and sat in the parking lot. The house is barely visible from the
front with large walls and all one can see is the large turrets on the
mansion.
Finally 9:30 a.m. arrived and we went in and got our tickets for the
tour, which were $12 each but if you have AAA or just look in any of the
magazines in the area you'll find two dollar discounts easily. The first
tour we found out began at 10 a.m. and of course we wandered around the
gift shop area. If you ever visit at one end of the gift shop is a
display of a model of the Winchester house which was done in
gingerbread! What a great job! There's a description of how many
ingredients were used to make the model, so don't miss it.
At 10 a.m. we queued up with about 12 other people for the tour. Upon
entering next to the kitchen area I was immediately aware of a musty
smell which isn't unusual considering how old the house was. But more
importantly the house was cold and damp. As we stood in the entrance
area I noticed my fellow tourists looking somewhat nervously around and
there was no laughter. Perhaps it was the early hour ... I busied myself
with getting my camcorder fired up. Finally our guide appeared, a young
man of college age who had a fine speaking voice but seemed to be
reciting a litany he'd memorized.
As we moved through the mansion I hung back farther and farther from the
group. I wanted to shoot videotape and I waited until the others exited
the room before shooting. The house was very dark and I had trouble
shooting through the viewfinder. They've strung some electrical lights
but the light seemed to dissipate very quickly and deep shadows were
everywhere.
Anyway about halfway through the tour I caught up with the group in a
small room. The room had what I would call an alcove over by some
stained glass windows. The partitioned off area was about three feet by
six feet and was rough framed so the walls extending into the room
itself rose only about three feet high. My wife and I wandered over into
this small area to take a closer look at the stained windows. While we
were standing there I heard what seemed to be a scream. It was a woman's
scream, full of fear and terror. It wasn't very loud but the intensity
of it caught my attention at once. I immediately looked at my wife who
asked if I'd heard it. I said yes. I was beginning to become annoyed
because this house is known as a historical landmark and I've never
heard anyone talking about ghosts. I admit I thought someone was playing
a trick on us and using a tape or something. We both then exited this
small area and were talking to each other about the scream. Our fellow
tour members, who had been standing just outside this small area
evidently heard nothing at all! As we talked people looked at us but
said nothing about hearing any noises. I began to view the house a
little differently after that.
Shortly thereafter we moved into the area where Mrs. Winchester was when
the great earthquake of 1906 hit. According to the guide she was trapped
in the rooms and had to be rescued. She then ordered the rooms sealed
and they were never reopened until after she died. The rooms seemed to
be colder than the rest of the house and the shadows are deeper and the
smell of mustiness and something else permeates the area. Anyway I hung
back from the group until they departed the area. I then proceeded to
shoot the area with my camera. There's one small room with no light at
all and you have to strain your eyes to even see what's in there. This
room definitely gave me the creeps and I hurried to catch up with the
rest of the tour.
The tour takes approximately one hour to complete and I noticed as I was
departing the house my battery for the camera had gone almost completely
dead. Now this battery is a two hour battery and I've used it many
times. It was completely recharged and it's always given me a solid two
hours worth of use but despite only having shot approximately 30 minutes
of tape it was now depleted. I had to choose the remaining shots very
carefully.
Now the strangest part of all happened. We went back to the hotel
afterwards to recharge the battery and to get a bit of rest before our
next stop. While recharging the battery I hooked the camera up to the
room's TV set to check the footage. In the room where Mrs. Winchester
was when the earthquake hit I panned the room. At one doorway there
appeared on the tape an image of what appears to something like
protoplasm forming! I was panning from left to right and this image
appears to be stationary! You can see what appears to be strings of
something like cobwebs which are floating towards each other! I couldn't
believe what I saw! I had noticed absolutely nothing when I was shooting
the tape, but the room was very dark and I was looking through a
viewfinder. Shortly past this shot something else happens. My camera has
a counter option which one can turn on and it shows a count of the tape.
It's a distraction and I never use it. However at one point in filming
this room the image kind of shakes and in the middle of the frame for a
split second appears the counter image! This image never appears on the
tape unless you activate it and it is always on the very top of the
image. I'm totally bemused by this anamoly. I've not had the tape
analyzed yet but several friends have seen it and are as bewildered as I
am. Has anyone had this or something like it ever happen? I'd be willing
to dupe copies of this for serious researchers. I'm not into this for
sensationalism or profit, I'd really like to know what it is on the
tape. If it's something natural, so be it. But in ten years of
videotaping all kinds of different areas I've never had this happen.
Anyhow, one other quick note. I know opinions are divided out there
about why Mrs. Winchester built this wonder. Some think a spiritualist
told her she'd never die if she kept building and others say it was
spirit appeasement. I don't know about the latter but I saw letters from
her attorney and her replies in the museum. It makes it clear she was
obviously considering her death and wanted to clarify her will. So much
for the never dying theory in reviewing that correspondence.
Incidentally, when she died she had the land, house and contents sold at
auction and all monies received were given to those who had worked for
her. Haunted or not, mentally disturbed or not, Mrs. Winchester and her
house are a must if you're in the Northern California area. Sorry for
the long post but wanted to make sure I covered all the points. I look
forward to your responses.
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