I normally don't like ghosty things, and will pull the covers over my head at the things that go bump in the night, generally speaking. But something told me I should go, since about 90% of my family was going. It wasn't peer pressure; I suppose it was more curiosity mingled with needing a Halloween adventure in the post-Bangalore fiasco. We all now what curiosity did to the cat; nevertheless, not being feline and having but one life to give, I courageously grasped my flashlight and entered the abyss.
We are pretty sure we made contact with two different ghosts/spirits/whatnots. We tried to confirm that the second spirit was not the first spirit following us around. There certainly was some adrenaline in the room when you talk to nothing in particular in the dark, ask a question, and see the flashlight on the floor turn off and on. But, surprisingly enough, it was not scary at all. The scariest moments on the night included a display case of pioneer dolls and a ghost with a sense of humor. My nephew Justin can't hold still and was constantly banging into things. His brother, Chad, asked the ghost if we could borrow a straight jacket for Justin and the ghost turned the light on! We also sang the ghost "Popcorn popping on the apricot tree" and some Christmas carols, which seemed to liven things up. I also asked the ghost if he were unhappy and he said yes. I didn't care to ask any follow up questions. We also asked the ghost to touch any outstreched hands. I quickly shoved mine in my pockets. I have no desire to take the experience that far.
In the end I was tired and could have fallen asleep on the floor; that's how unscary it was, even though we had an eventful night. Part of that was that there were 16 of the living in our company, greatly outnumbering the others, I would imagine. Also was the fact that the museum had many sensored lights we could not turn off. Lastly was the fact that this haunted museum was in the middle of downtown and not on some ill-begotten freeway in the badlands. And we were on surveillance cameras the entire time as well, being monitered by UT's finest law enforcers, including my BIL Dave who was packing heat.
I'm glad I went. It was fun and not scary. But I probably won't be volunteering again anytime soon. I'm curious to see what the EVP picks up.
Links to various stories on the museum include the following:
Deseret News article on young woman we read about in the museum but did not encounter
Sun Oct 24 2010 12:54 riddles in the dark:
Against my better judgment, Susie & I attended a ghost hunt at the Daughter's of UT Pioneer building, across the street from the UT state capitol.