The Mystery of Aunt Artie’s - Spirits, Orbs, Shivers

Do you wonder what possesses a ghost hunter to go out and look for spirits and ghosts? I am sure if you would ask one, you would get a variety of answers. For me, it is knowing every time I have a paranormal experience, I have experienced a truly remarkable miracle. Who could have ever thought that you could actually interact with someone who has left this world? It doesn’t stop and start at just hunting for ghosts, but to research the history of the places we are invited into. To truly try to understand why a place may be active, you need to know who occupied the building and what may have happened to bring them to stick around and not move on.

I am going to share my experiences, talk about local and other haunts and answer any questions you may have about the paranormal. Let’s get started.

I have become a close friend of Judy Gwinn, proprietor of Aunt Artie’s Antique Mall in New Albany, Indiana. I came to know her via a former owner of this three-story building who suggested we look into its history. We were told stories of apparitions being seen, and strange noises that seem to come from nowhere; we wanted to check it out. Let me say, when I say "we", these investigations included the group I established under the name of Southern Indiana Ghost Hunters Team. We have, in the past two years, checked out Aunt Artie’s four or five times now and want to reveal what we have uncovered.

This three-story building was built in 1852 to fill a need for a place of entertainment. Opening night was in 1853. High-end musical acts and plays were performed there on the third floor. Offices and stores occupied the first and second floors. When the Civil War broke out the building was a meeting place for political rallies and eventually, for only a short time, a Civil War hospital. You can get a sense that this place went from wonderful evenings of entertainment to suffering and death in a relatively short span of time. So, it is not surprising that you can feel that some spirits still enjoy the music, yet others are trapped in a period of misery.

Judy shared experiences of her family and employees with me. One in particular involved her son who while working in the basement had "something" tap him on the shoulder. To this day, he will not go back down there. The other big experience happened on the third floor where a rocking chair was spotted rocking all by itself. On that note, I want to tell about a picture taken by a member who caught an elderly lady in a rocking chair on that floor. Every November, Judy has a holiday open house, and a string quartet plays holiday music on the second floor. We guess this ghostly lady was sitting and enjoying the music. After all this was originally a place of entertainment. During our first investigation there, we got pictures of several orbs on the third floor and in the basement. Orbs are considered to be energy of spirits. You will find orbs in different colors; blue, orange and white are three prevalent colors you will pick up in pictures that are not normally seen by the naked eye. We also discovered an abnormally high EMF (electromagnetic field) reading through the center of the building on all the floors. We have yet to get a definite answer for this. We can only figure that there is water flowing under the building that would bring such high readings, or that it is paranormal, maybe a door to the other side. EMF’s are used to pick up on abnormal high-energy readings. After all that is what ghosts are, energy.

On another night there, two members who were stationed in the basement experienced two bright floating orbs; these were actually seen but, unfortunately, not photographed. On our last trip there we probably had the most remarkable experience. Some of our group and a relative of Judy’s were sitting quietly listening and waiting to see what might happen. It didn’t take long before we felt the temperature drop and we started snapping pictures. Keep in mind, we did not see anything, but we could feel that something or someone had joined the group. The hair on everyone’s arms raised and it was like we were sitting in a freezer. When the pictures were checked, you could see a steady movement up the stairwell of a shadow over the top of us.

Aunt Artie’s Antique Mall is a wonderful place to look for antiques, and has a very friendly staff. The mall is located at 128 West Main Street, New Albany, Indiana. Call 812-945-9494 for their hours of operation.

Take the time to stop in and check out all the treasures. Who knows, maybe you will find the deal of a lifetime to take home with you. And maybe, just maybe, you might sense an invisible shopping partner helping you make your decision.