This was an investigation by the Colorado Paranormal Research that I had the opportunity to attend. We were given a tour of the house by one of the owners who gave us some background of the disturbances that had been occurring. The home was built in 1908 with the original idea of turning part of it into a theater space. The theater, which is located in the basement, opened officially in 1911.

We were told about a photograph that hung in one of the office spaces. It was possibly taken in the early 1900’s or late 1800’s and portrayed a middle-aged woman seated at a desk with a fountain pen, writing in a book. There was no indication of who she was or when the photo was taken on the back of the photo. The owner was warned that when the photo was taken down from the wall, more paranormal activity tended to occur. Before we made our way into the basement and split into teams, we removed the photo from the wall in hopes that it might encourage a response. We were also told about a previous owner and theater director who had a particular dislike for placing shoes on surfaces in the dressing rooms, like tables and shelves, because it supposedly brought bad luck.

In the basement theater, cameras and recording equipment were set up and we attempted to record EVPs. During the recording, three of the four of us noticed shadowy movement in the back of the darkened theater which looked like the outline of a figure standing up from a seat and then sprinting down the row of chairs to the opposite side. There was also an unexplained spot of water on the table on the stage where we sat. There was apparently no source. There had been a performance earlier that evening, but no water or liquid was used and no pipes were damp or dripping overhead.

As we left the theater to move upstairs, we walked through the dressing room and one of the team noticed a large splotchy white substance that had dried on the front of her shirt. When she had been introduced to everyone hours before, it was not there. It smelled like vanilla and had the consistency of dried icing. The theater had served pastries early after the show, but she had not eaten or touched one. The other team members checked their fronts for icing or other substances. We moved up into the living room, and removed the backing from the photo of the woman, hoping to find some indication of who she was, but to no avail. As we prepared to move into the salon, one of the other team members looked down at her jacket and noticed the same sort of dried icing on her front, which had not been there just half and hour before. We moved into the salon and felt no disturbance and spent some uneventful time.

Upstairs in the dressing room, we sat on the floor toward the back of the room and attempted some more EVP recordings. We all noticed that the doorway would darken and then lighten,. When it darkened, there was a physically oppressive, constrictive feeling that was felt by all four team members independently, along with an overwhelming feeling of fatigue. The temperature initially in the room was 58 degrees, but after we noticed physical effects, it had gone up to 66 degrees. We then moved into the groundskeeper’s room and noticed a more pronounced darkening in the doorway. There was no wind outside and no source of shadows. The feelings of oppression and constriction were more pronounced to the point where was all wanted to leave the upstairs without any further investigation.

Apparently in the costume storage room across from us, the owner told us two shelves containing only shoes had collapsed, leaving the wall studs exposed. The shelves appeared to be attached very securely and did not seem to have enough weight to do the damage that they did to the wall. The shelves were not on the same wall, but in an L formation near a corner, and apparently not attached to one another. The owner informed us that this is where a figure of a man in a military uniform had appeared repeatedly over the years.

The recordings I made yielded no unusual sounds or activity and we are awaiting the footage of the IR cameras to be studied as well as reports from other members of the investigative team.