There is definitely something unexplainable happening at the George Little House on Kalum Street.
That’s what a team of paranormal investigators found after their first day of touring the refurbished home of city founder George Little and his wife, Clara Little.
Built in 1914, the house was moved in 2004 to its current location along the rail line and is now a community cultural facility and Via Rail station.
“There’s a higher than normal number of electronic voice phenomenon (EVPs) that I’ve gotten from an average first investigation,” said Peter Renn, president of the Vancouver Paranormal Society (VPS) and director at the Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), an organization that famously starred in the popular show Ghost Hunters, which ran on Syfy from 2004 to 2016.
Paranormal Northcoast British Columbia (PNBC) was formed last year by Kitimat’s John Powell and Danny Nunes, and together they began looking into locations around the area thought to be inhabited by spirits. They welcomed Renn after he moved to Kitimat from Kamloops last year, and brought on computer technician Joel Walling, who also hosts a weekly podcast called the ‘Paranormal Nightstalker.’ Together, the team has more than 50 years of combined experience in investigating the paranormal.
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Because their field isn’t recognized in the scientific world, Renn said they can’t confirm their evidence as definite examples of a haunting. But they can go through what they’ve gathered, rule out any possible explanations, and then present their findings to the client.
“We can’t say it’s haunted — no one is qualified to say the house is haunted. But we can validate and present our findings on what we’ve discovered at that time,” Renn said.
They visited the George Little House after they were invited by the house’s manager Debbie Letawski, who has had many strange experiences over the past decade. She and other employees have felt a presence so strong in one of the office rooms upstairs that she finds it difficult to be in there for long.
“There is a real heaviness in different rooms. Like someone is pushing on you, where you just feel drained and there’s no life in you at all,” said Letawski. “Sitting in that desk, I knew something was in there with me.”
The team swept the house with an array of equipment ranging from high-tech gadgets to read electromagnetic fields, recorders to pick up EVPs, and capture photos of potential spectors using motion-sensored infrared lasers. Investigators say each session is under a controlled setting where explainable sources of footsteps, voices or creaking are first ruled out.
“We try to find a logical explanation first, and if we aren’t able to we validate what the client has felt or seen,” said Renn.
Gathered in what used to be the Little’s master bedroom on the main floor, Walling pulled up a photo taken of a shadow that resembles a person seated almost crossed-legged on the bench. The investigators said the room was under a controlled setting, meaning there was no one else around to set off the cameras.
“The picture before it, there was nothing there. Then we had the picture after and there’s this thing in it,” Walling said.
“When I did my own enhancement on it, you can actually make out a short sleeve, an arm…I can see the stitching in the pattern. A normal shadow should not have a pattern.”
During one investigation, Nunes ventured into the upstairs office where Letawski said she felt a particularly heavy presence. The investigators say they are able to communicate with potential spirits by using a “spirit box,” an app that randomly sweeps the radio wave spectrum. This tool is used as a source of raw audio to give potential spirits a way to communicate and answer questions, Nunes said.
“I was left alone up there in that one room and we definitely got some very interesting, very specific audio evidence,” he said. When he asked for a name using the box, he recorded a response that sounded like the name 'Clara.'
“It’s a little bracing when you have an experience like that, where you take a spirit box device and you ask specific questions, and you get a specific response that only relates to this building… then yeah, you’ve got something.”
Letawski believes this was a reference to Clara Little, who is thought to have passed away inside the home. She said when she heard some of the findings that the team had uncovered, it gave her peace of mind.
“You know, I knew. I just knew,” she said.
This is just the beginning of the team’s investigation in Terrace - they’ve also done investigations at the Heritage Park Museum and Hirsh Creek Park in Kitimat. They’ll be presenting their findings at Heritage Park on Wednesday at 7 p.m., though it may be hard to find a seat. Organizers say all available spots have been taken, but a waiting list has been set up. If you have an investigation tip or want to find out more about the group, visit their Facebook page.
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Here’s a list of some other Halloween haunts to check out this week:
Oct. 26: Ksan Society and TDCSS ‘Halloween Extravaganza
A spooky evening of dancing, drinks, costumes, and fun! Event starts at 8 p.m. at 3320 Kalum St. All proceeds from the event will be used to fund poverty reduction programs. Tickets are $25 each at Misty River Books, Sight and Sound, TDCSS, The Ksan Society, and Kermode Friendship Society.
Oct. 27: Haunted House fundraiser
Youth Volunteer Corps presents a Haunted House fundraiser from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Skeena Mall (4741 Lakelse Ave). All proceeds go to NARA and Variety Children’s Charity. Please call 250.638.1330 for more info.
Oct. 27: Zombie Walk 2018
Zombies need brains, but people need food. Bring a food bank donation to the Terrace Sportsplex arena from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. and join the walk - but keep an eye out for any zombie hunters.
Oct 31: Halloween Howl
Trick-or-treat amongst heritage buildings at the Heritage Park Museum (4702 Kerby Ave) for their 17th annual Halloween Howl event from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Admission free or by donation.
brittany@terracestandard.com
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