📰 The Ghostly Gazette: Ghost Hunters Capture Strange Phenomena in Spokane’s Historic District

Downtown Spokane, Washington, known for its early 1900s brickwork and narrow alleyways, drew new attention this month after a team of investigators documented unexplained activity in three of the city’s oldest buildings. Their findings—lights, voices, and sudden temperature drops—have reignited debate about whether Spokane’s history still whispers through its walls.

The Investigation

Members of the Paranormal Research Society of the Inland Northwest joined local historians for an overnight exploration of three sites: the Montvale Hotel, the Steam Plant Building, and the Downtown Masonic Temple. Each location dates back more than a century, surviving fires, Prohibition, and waves of urban renewal. Teams equipped with EVP recorders, EMF meters, thermal cameras, and motion sensors rotated through the buildings in the dark hours of October 19th.

According to investigators, the most compelling evidence came from the Montvale’s basement, where faint voices and the echo of a woman humming were captured on audio while no one was present. In the Steam Plant’s tunnels, temperature sensors plunged nearly ten degrees without environmental cause, followed by an anomalous light flash caught on camera.

Mediums working alongside the tech teams described impressions of “residual energy”—moments from Spokane’s early days when the city bustled with rail workers, miners, and hotel guests seeking fortunes or escape. One investigator remarked, “It felt like the walls themselves wanted to talk. Every creak had memory.”

History That Won’t Sleep

Spokane’s downtown core dates to the post-Great Fire reconstruction of 1889. Many of the same foundations still support restaurants, offices, and performance halls today. That continuity makes it fertile ground for hauntings—or, as skeptics suggest, for drafts, electromagnetic interference, and imagination. Still, locals love the lore: ghost walks sell out, and tourists ask for the “haunted rooms” at century-old hotels.

Whether the recordings prove paranormal or not, the investigation reminds residents that Spokane’s history isn’t buried—it’s humming quietly beneath their feet.

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Visitor Information

Location: Downtown Spokane Historic District, Spokane, WA

Tours: Seasonal haunted walking tours are offered through local history groups and private operators. Availability varies by season.

Note: Most sites featured remain active businesses. Please request permission before filming or investigating. Respect all posted hours and property lines.

The Haunting of Sally House in Atchison, Atchison County, Kansas

Atchison, Atchison County, Kansas

Photo: https://visitatchison.com

The Sally House in Atchison, Kansas, is one of the most terrifying and thoroughly investigated haunted houses in the United States. This unassuming two-story brick home on the corner of North 2nd Street may look ordinary from the outside, but its reputation for paranormal activity is anything but.

The house gained national attention in the 1990s when a young couple, Tony and Debra Pickman, moved in shortly after getting married. Almost immediately, they began experiencing terrifying phenomena: lights flickering, objects moving, disembodied voices, unexplained scratches appearing on Tony's body, and even full-blown apparitions. What made this haunting unique was that it seemed to target Tony specifically, leading many to believe something more sinister than a typical ghost might be involved.

Paranormal investigators soon identified the entity as "Sally," the spirit of a young girl who allegedly died during a botched appendectomy in the house. However, many believe the "Sally" story is a lure—an innocent mask hiding something much darker. Paranormal investigators have reported a malevolent presence, claiming the house may be inhabited by a demonic entity rather than the ghost of a child. The dark energy is often described as manipulative, feeding off fear and emotional tension within those who enter.

Numerous ghost-hunting teams, psychics, and researchers have spent nights inside the Sally House. Video footage and audio recordings have captured unexplained voices, shadow figures, and even physical attacks. It's been featured on shows like "Sightings," "Ghost Adventures," and "Paranormal Witness." To this day, people report being scratched, shoved, or overwhelmed with dread while touring the home.

The town of Atchison, known for its many hauntings, has embraced the Sally House as a key attraction, but they also issue strong warnings: this house is not a funhouse-style haunt. Many who enter report feeling sick or emotionally disturbed for days afterward. Paranormal experts urge caution and respect when visiting this notorious location.

Visiting Information:

Address: 508 N 2nd St, Atchison, KS 66002

Self-guided tours and overnight investigations are offered seasonally, often during the fall. Visitors must sign waivers due to the property’s reputation for physical interactions. Bookings can be made through the city of Atchison's official website or the local tourism board.

Spookfest: 1692-1693 Salem Witch Trials- Part 5 Finale

A Witch Woman Speaks

A dedication to the women and men who lost their lives in Salem 1692-1693 🕊 

Bridget Bishop Speaks:

I was not a witch.

I was a wife. A business owner. A woman who wore bright clothes, spoke her mind, and kept my tavern running despite the whispers.

I was born Bridget Playfer, in Norwich, England. I came to the colonies young, hopeful, like so many others. I married three times — the last to Edward Bishop. They said I was too bold. That I laughed too loudly. That I didn’t know my place.

They called me “colorful.” But they meant it like a curse.

I ran a tavern, served cider, spoke with travelers. I lived a life with opinions and presence. I owned property — an orchard. I knew loss. I had children. And I worked hard for every inch of freedom I had.

But then the girls began their accusations.

They said I bewitched them. Said I pinched them with invisible hands, made them writhe and scream. One by one, they named me. Bridget Bishop.

I stood in court. I looked them in the eye and said: I am innocent. I have never done witchcraft. I am as clear as the child unborn.

But it wasn’t enough.

They said I had a third nipple — a witch’s teat. They said I appeared in dreams, wearing red. They brought in neighbors who spoke of dolls and poppets. They paraded fear in front of justice and called it truth.

I was the first to fall.

June 10th, 1692. Gallows Hill. The rope was rough. The silence from the crowd, deafening.

They hung me for being bold. For being loud. For being different. For being inconvenient.

And though my breath stopped, I did not go quietly.

I speak still. In the creak of floorboards. In the rustle of apple trees. In the unease that settles over Salem when the wind changes.

I speak for every woman called “too much.”

I was not a witch. But I was a woman. And that was dangerous enough.

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It didn’t start with magic. It didn’t start with curses or Satan or even fear of witches. It started with whispers. Jealousy. Pettiness. Control. Misunderstanding. Bullying.

Young girls picking targets. Adults believing lies because it gave them power. A society looking for someone to blame — someone different, someone quiet, someone outspoken, someone vulnerable, someone strong. And the word “witch” became a weapon.

It was bullying that escalated into hysteria… and then into tragedy.

And when you bring forward these stories, with the faces of real women, real mothers, real families — it pulls the curtain back on the lies history tried to tell.

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Salem is still haunted.

Visitors have reported hearing voices at Proctor’s Ledge, where nineteen innocent people were hanged. Some say they’ve seen shadowy figures in the graveyard beside the Old Burying Point, or felt an unseen hand brush their shoulder during ghost tours.

In some of the historic buildings — like the Witch House and the Joshua Ward House — people say they’ve heard crying, or felt sick to their stomach for no reason at all. Electronics fail. Cold spots drop like ice. And one name — Giles Corey — is still whispered in fear.

But if these spirits remain, it isn’t because they want revenge. It’s because their stories have been twisted. Sensationalized. Sold on T-shirts. Packaged as Halloween fun.

Their pain has become a tourist attraction.

And the human part — the mother, the child, the woman falsely accused — and the families that loved them, has been stripped away.

Maybe they haunt because no one truly sees them anymore.

Maybe they’ll rest when we remember they were never witches. They were people. Just like us.

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Back then… they called it witchcraft. Today… we call it  "different".

Bullying. Slandering someone’s name. Spreading gossip.

It ruins lives. Be mindful.