Spirits Active on Ghost Hunt

July 19, 9pm: It is a beautiful night in Memphis, with cool, dry weather providing relief from the heat and humidity of the Memphis summer. Backbeat Tours is about to venture out on the "Ultimate Memphis Ghost Hunt,"  a special one-night-only ghost-hunting tour to four of the most haunted places in Memphis. Patrick Herrington is leading the tour for Backbeat, but it is Kristeanna, Jess, and Savannah of Ghost Girls Memphis that are the real stars. They are the professional ghosthunters that will help us uncover any lurking spirits we come across.

We here at Backbeat Tours have seen our share of ghosts. So much so that they've become almost routine for us. We've seen orbs and phantoms, felt cold spots, suffered camera and equipment malfunctions, even been touched once or twice by something that wasn't quite there. More than one guide has had a ghost follow them home. (Kristeanna has recommended that we get some lavenderite beads to prevent this from happening in the future.)  But what we experienced on July 19 would have made even the most jaded skeptic stop dead in his tracks.  

The Orpheum Theater:  Right before the tour, we got surprise permission to come inside the Orpheum Theater. Yes! Thank you, Orpheum! The Orpheum is famously haunted by a young girl named Mary, but there's been evidence of other ghosts there as well.  Being able to go inside when the place was empty was a rare treat.

Mary's balcony

The auditorium and stage, so magnificent during shows, takes on a decidedly eerie atmosphere when deserted.  From our vantage point on the stage, we stared into the empty audience looking for signs of spirit activity. One of our guests, Tyler, was using the infrared gun to catch ambient temperatures. A slow scan of the audience showed fairly consistent temperatures reading between 17.9 and 18.2 degrees Celsius. Then, Tyler pointed the gun at the mezzanine seat that is said to be Mary's favorite, seat C5. I looked over his shoulder to find that the temperature was shooting up and down rapidly. It spiked to 26.4 degrees and held for a few seconds, before returning to the ambient temperature we had seen earlier.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the stage, Jess from the Ghost Girls was doing an EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) session with some of our group. The voice recorder was running while Jess and guests asked Mary questions about herself. Jess asked Mary if she missed her parents. On the recording you can hear a long sigh (which was kind of heartbreaking). Another guest asked if she likes some shows better than others. After a few seconds, we heard what sounded like a "yes," followed by a pause, and then a "no."

That's not one of our guests - at least not one of our living ones!

I went over to talk to Kristeanna, a medium as well as a ghost hunter. During our conversation, she kept looking down at her side. I looked at her kind of funny, and she told me that the spirit of a little boy kept pestering her. The boy didn't like Mary and was unhappy we were so focused on her. 

While we were talking, a dark shadow caught my eye in the upper balcony and shot straight through the whole theater. I looked up to the balcony to see no one there. When I turned back to Kristeanna, she asked, "Did you see that, too?" Kristeanna had seen the same moving shadow that I had and was still getting glimpses of it moving from place to place.

Historic door

Woodruff-Fontaine House: Folks who've read our previous blog post on the Woodruff-Fontaine House know that the house is said to be haunted by the spirits of Mollie Fontaine and Elliott Fontaine.

In the front foyer of the house is a door that is part of the home's history and was signed by construction workers who took part in building the house. When we first arrived, Kristeanna put her hand on the door, and got visible goosebumps all over her arms. We already knew that our visit to this Victorian mansion was going to be ... interesting.

It didn't take long after entering the home before we started registering paranormal activity. A couple on the tour had taken the EMF detector in the house and were standing at the back of the foyer. An EMF detector is designed to read spikes and dips in electromagnetic activity. Sometimes, these spikes and dips can be a sign of paranormal activity.

The EMF detector started going off loudly whenever it was placed next to a glass case of Virginia Fontaine's personal belongings (a fan, a clutch purse, a pair of gloves, and theater glasses). When the couple stepped away from the case, the detector quieted. This went on as a kind of funny game for about three minutes (buzzing near the case, quiet away from the case). Then, the couple moved away from the case and the EMF detector continued buzzing. Whatever was creating the EMF spikes had moved to an antique chair in the room!

A ghost was sitting right there!

Upstairs, we entered the Rose Room, where Molly Fontaine's baby and husband died. The room was the focus of the investigation done by TAPS from Ghost Hunters (the episode aired on the Sy-Fy channel in February of 2014). As we walked into the room, it became eerily quiet. We looked around the room and the attached nursery for awhile, when we noticed that an indentation on the far edge of the bed had appeared out of nowhere. The bed was blocked off, so it wasn't from our group.

The Rose Room, when we arrived

See the indentation, just past the dresses?

One of our guests, Brittany, joined Kristeanna and Savannah in an EVP session and video in the Rose Room. Brittany told the spirit that she was sorry to hear of the loss of Molly's husband and baby in that room and she hoped that Molly could find peace. At about that time, Savannah thought she saw something move the rocking chair in the corner. She panned over to find orbs flying out of the corner right at Brittany. We counted 20 or so orbs while Brittany was talking to Molly.

The Green Beetle: The basement of the Green Beetle was where Memphis' elite in the 1950s would meet for dinner and political talk. The basement is pretty spooky, but then most basements are. This one, though, appears to be haunted. One guest said that he felt someone touch his neck and several others said that they felt like someone was standing behind them.

Ghost Girls in action

Earnestine & Hazel's:  This restaurant and bar, considered by many to be one of the most haunted places in Memphis, never disappoints. I had to get up my nerve to go up the stairs, because in the past, the spirits have pushed me, pulled my hair, and whispered into my ear. One time, I caught a glimpse of a phantom woman turning a corner here. On a previous ghost investigation, with Backbeat Tours' ghost guides Erica and Patrick, the Ghost Girls got a clear EVP of a woman's soft voice. Kristeanna had commented that she bet that the floors of this place could tell a lot of stories. After a moment or two, the spirit responded "yes ... in the ground."

Fortunately for me, Earnestine & Hazel's was somewhat quiet this July night. Tyler did pick up a bit of a stalker while going from room to room. Kristeanna caught several pictures of him in different rooms with the same orb/figure behind him. Could it be the Green-Eyed Girl who is reputed to follow men home from the bar? I hope Tyler has some lavenderite!

Exploring upstairs at E&H, check out the orb
on the empty blue wall, near the baseboard

If you missed the Ghost Hunt, no worries. We've got new ghost hunting equipment that you can enjoy on our nightly Haunted Memphis Walking Tours. And stay tuned - we may offer another Ghost Hunt again in the future. For video of the tour, visit the Backbeat Tours' You Tube channel and the Ghost Girls Memphis You Tube channel.  If you would like to arrange a private Ghost Hunt for your group of 10 to 35, call our group planners at (901) 527-9415. 

If you are concerned about paranormal activity in your own home or office, give Ghost Girls Memphis a call. They really are the best! You can call them at 901-730-2566 or email them at ghostgirlsmemphis@gmail.com.

By Meagan May, Ghost Hunter and Tour Guide Extraordinnaire

Memphis' Most Haunted: Woodruff-Fontaine

The Woodruff-Fontaine House is reputed to be one of the most haunted places in Memphis, so as a ghost hunter and lover of all things historic, I couldn’t resist exploring the mansion for the Backbeat Tours blog this Halloween. Arriving at the lovely French Victorian home, with its Mansard roofs, arched windows, and colonnaded porch, I was swept into a more elegant era, one of bustles and corsets, tea parties and salons. Underlying all that shininess, though, was a complex romanticism of death. 

Knowing all this, I shouldn’t have been surprised at the level of paranormal activity in the house, but my two hours touring the house with Ms. Elena Williams brought chills to my spine. According to Ms. Elena, the same could be said for the crew of SyFy Channel’s Ghost Hunters, who had investigated the house just a few weeks prior. The episode is scheduled to air in January.

Ms. Elena made quite the first impression, with her soft, feminine manner and rich Southern accent. Dressed in black Victorian mourning attire, she could have been a ghost herself, she seemed so otherworldly. Ms. Elena, however, was quite human, a board member and former president of the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities (APTA), the organization that restored the home and continues to maintain it.

We sat down on antique furniture and began our interview in the parlor, which was adorned with the black fabric hangings that would have been de rigeur on the passing of a loved one, all for the home’s current exhibit Mourning Memphis. I asked Ms. Elena to tell me about the home’s most famous ghost, Mollie Woodruff. Ms. Elena explained that Mollie, the daughter of Amos Woodruff, was married in the home to the first of her two husbands. Mollie never had a child that survived to adulthood despite three miscarriages and a stillborn baby.

Mollie’s bedroom, the Rose Room, so named for the rose patterned paper that decorates the walls, is frequently the site of spirit activity. Guests touring the mansion may see the rocking chair move, feel a drastic temperature change, or see the bed sheets rustle. Ms. Elena pointed out that some days they have to smooth the sheets multiple times, even if no guests have gone upstairs. Lights turn on and off by themselves in the rose room and throughout the house on a regular basis.

But the goosebumps began when Ms. Elena told me about her experience with another ghost, Elliott Fontaine. One afternoon at dusk, she came up to the house to double-check everything for a big tour group that was coming through the next day. She figured that, if anything spooky were going to happen, it would be in Mollie’s room. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred, so she made her way up to the third floor. As she came up the staircase, there was man sitting at the foot of the stairs to the fourth floor tower room. “It was very… I don’t know what the word is beyond frightening,” she said. Initially she thought it was a guest that had been locked in the museum after closing. The man was completely lifelike, not translucent as some spirits are. She then realized it was an apparition of Elliott Fontaine, the son of the second family to live in the mansion, whom she recognized from photographs. Ms. Elena closed her eyes, opened them, and he was gone. It was, she said “so frightening. Your mind can’t believe what your eyes are seeing.”

Yes, the spirits at the Woodruff-Fontaine continue to be extremely active. According to Ms. Elena, the Ghost Hunters crew said the house was one of the most haunted places they had filmed. So when you visit the house – and I HIGHLY recommend you do – just make sure to say hello to Elliott and Mollie. You are a guest in their home, after all. 

The Woodruff-Fontaine House, 680 Adams Ave., is open for visits Wednesday through Sundays noon to 4pm. Coming this December, don’t miss the Dead Poets’ Society Dinner, where guests dress in costume and entertainers portray dead poets of the past. For details visit www.woodruff-fontaine.com, or call 901-526-1469.