Maine Ghost Hunters Society logo courtesy of MGHS
As many Maine residents know, our state has its own share of reportedly haunted locations and AMHI, the Augusta Mental Health Institute, is one such place.
The institute opened in October 1840 and closed its doors in June 2004, making it the oldest psychiatric hospital in the state and one of the oldest in the country. During that time, there were 11,500 confirmed deaths, with many of the bodies buried in unmarked graves throughout the campus.
On May 22, 2010, Maine's own Maine Ghost Hunters Society, or MGHS, will investigate AMHI for the very first time, starting at 8 p.m. In addition, MGHS will also host a live 30-minute broadcast during the investigation through their weekly radio show Maine Paranormal Radio. Granite State Productions will be on sitie to record the entire investigation, which will later be released on DVD, so keep an eye out.
Below are a few questions that were submitted to Jim Williamson of MGHS regarding the investigation.
Q: How did this investigation come about?
Jim: We've been trying to get into AMHI for some time. Chris Osgood from Granite Sky Productions, and one of the group's founders Julie Velez, finally got permission for us to investigate. Chris approached us about a month ago, and we've been working steadily towards it since.
Q: What excites you most about this investigation?
Jim: The most exciting part of this investigation, and I think this goes for the entire group, is the fact that we are the first group to officially have access to the campus. Quite a few people have illegally probed areas of the campus, but we'll be the first group to be recognized as having investigated.
Another exciting thing that we're going to be doing is a live broadcast on our weekly internet radio show. At 11 every Saturday, we do an hour-two hour long broadcast at www.maineparanormalradio.com, and this week we'll be doing a half hour show during the investigation.
Q: When do you think the DVD will be out? Will it be listed on MGHS's site?
Jim: As far as when the DVD will be out, I really have no idea. After we investigate, and go over our evidence, it's in the hands of the production company. Given how long editing, and things of that nature take, it could be a few months.
Once everything is set, we will have it up at www.maineghosts.org and as soon as our evidence and conclusions are finalized, those will be up there as well.
Q: What are some of the myths for those that aren't familiar with them? What are some of the reports?
Jim: I moved up here to go to UMA in 1996, and ever since I moved to Augusta, I've heard rumors about two places in particular being haunted. The Devil's Footprint in Manchester, and the AMHI Campus. Reports vary from disembodied voices, to full out apparitions.
One story I heard a couple of years ago supposedly came from a janitor who worked in the buildings. There are tunnels connecting many of the buildings to the morgue from when they treated T.B. patients there. Not wanting to panic the other patients, they would wheel the bodies through these tunnels so no one would see them.
The janitor was cleaning one night, and happened to be in the tunnels, and on two sides of him were doorways. As he was cleaning he saw some movement in the corner of his eye, so he turned to look, and through the glass he could see several faces peering out at him. As he moved closer to the door he could see that people were trying to open the door and get at him.
While this shouldn't sound unusual in a mental hospital, this particular area had been closed for quite some time because of asbestos being in the building. The janitor packed up his stuff and left for the night because he had been so shaken. That's a pretty extreme case, but one that I think embodies the expectations that people have when they hear about former mental hospitals.
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Comments
I've been wanting to do a story on Buffalo Psychiatric Center for quite some time. Maybe I'll try to hook up with a local chapter of Ghost Hunters to get an in! I think it would be a great experience.
That's awesome!!! Did they get anything? Another story would be cool.
I'm not sure what kind of evidence the MGHS crew found. I do know from speaking with Jim that it will take some time to review the evidence. However, I did ask Jim prior to the investigation if he would be interested in a follow-up interview, and he said yes. So hopefully within the next week or two, I'll have an update.
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