Haunted Happenings - What a Mistake!
My friend and I wanted to visit Tutbury Castle near Burton on Trent for an overnight paranormal investigation. Because it cost so much to hire the castle for the night, we were forced to go with another paid group. In this situation we normally choose CEPI (Central England Paranormal Investigators) as they're so good, but unfortunately this also makes them very popular so events sell out quickly. Also CEPI don't normally visit Tutbury Castle at the time of writing.
Haunted Happenings were visiting the Tutbury Castle on the 27th June 2008 from 11pm until 7am. Although we'd never used this group before, they were very reasonably priced at £39 per head and the date was convenient for us to visit. I still didn't trust the group completely, so we phoned up for more information. On the phone Hazel the owner sounded very professional. My friend Peter has physic abilities and can experience trance mediumship (when a spirit takes over your body) and it can often become violent so we wanted to ensure this was acceptable. CEPI have plenty of security and are well trained for trance mediumship, they certainly go out of their way for this to happen under safe controlled conditions. Hazel of Haunted Happenings explained that yes, they're always ready for this and they also want this to happen. She even said that they have plenty of security and it won't be a problem. Apparently we could use any equipment too during the investigation. She also said the group was non-profit making like CEPI. Everything sounded similar to CEPI, very professional and serious until we actually arrived - it couldn't be had been more different.
Firstly everyone except Peter (my friend) and myself were newbies and seemed quite scared, this wasn't an initial good sign as no-one actually returned to their events for a 2nd time. On entering the base camp at 11pm, we was initially greeted my a man dressed in medieval costume who was taking our names for the event. We were given an old style certificate saying that we had survived the night. I initially wasn't impressed by this as we wanted a serious investigation, but was prepared to take it from there. Hazel (the owner) then advised everyone about suitable behaviour for the event, no swearing or violent behaviour what-so-ever which is fair enough. I then questioned about trance mediumship (getting taken over Etc.). They implied that no-one should be taken at all or they will be lead away, possibly to security for the rest of the night. On being introduced to the rest of the team, none of the group seemed to have much knowledge of the paranormal what-so-ever either. One of the staff members was totally new and didn't seem to have even been to a paranormal event at all, not even as a guest. Also none of staff except the man in costume wore any ID what-so-ever so throughout the rest of the night, we didn't even know who staff were. A few times I spoke to guests think they were staff, this was embarrassing.
There was no energy building before the event what-so-ever (later the staff were skipping on the spot, telling us that this is how to energy build).
At about 11.30pm we were taken on a dismal history tour that was very poorly acted by the gentleman in medieval dress. He worked for Haunted Happenings, not for the Castle itself, so had poor knowledge and experience. The talk was totally flawed as many apparent facts fell down under scrutiny. It was very boring and somewhat pathetic. This finished at about 12.30am, where we had a short break. Peter was then told to "keep it down" as not to scare the newbies when he simply spoke about trance mediumship and past paranormal experiences.
At around 12.45am we were taken with 2 so called mediums to various locations. They then in my opinion started what seemed like a very poorly acted and written "play" that was totally flawed in every way. We weren't even allowed to talk despite before hand being told to tell the staff everything we feel no-matter what. I wanted to interact - but wasn't allowed. In the first location, the medium slowly described a woman in white dress who was strangled, this was then apparently "Mary Queen of Scots". There was no emotion what-so-ever, very bland and nothing like what I've seen with CEPI. The woman medium even started crying, which was so fake that it was an insult to our intelligence. Peter picked up totally different vibes, but the staff didn't want to know when I tried to tell them. I was then worried he was going to be taken by a spirit and needed the staff to check on him, but the staff still weren't interested. I again tried to tell staff that Peter was picking up interesting information, but was told nastily to "shut up" as these are "highly paid mediums" at work, which is rubbish. We tried to use our Infra Red Thermometer which we were beforehand told we could use, but we were told to put it away. I was then very concerned about Peter who was breathing heavily and was then forced to whisper to see how he was against being told to "shut up repeatedly". Peter was even told to close it down in a nasty manner, staff didn't show the slightest concern what-so-ever for him throughout. We then watched similar awful performances without being able to talk in various locations. Afterwards in the break the medium confronted us in a nasty manner telling us we were "very rude" talking and not telling the rest of the group despite trying to tell them many times, but being told to "shut up". We felt like we were close to being thrown out at this stage. We remained calm throughout, but was obviously very upset. Peter just wanted to leave altogether and demand a refund, but unfortunately there was no-where else to go and our train back to Birmingham wasn't until the next morning.
It was already 2am with only just over 1 hour to go before it started getting light. We were again told to be quiet and keep it down in future as we were scaring the newbies - the opposite of what was promised on the phone beforehand. The group then split up to start vigils. From then on we couldn't even be part the group and were told to do our own thing elsewhere in the location away from their vigils. Even more annoyed and upset, we did at least have some enjoyment and experiences on our own, but there was no security or help in place what-so-ever and the group clearly had little or no training. Also the event was so badly organised that no-one knew where anyone was so it was hard to eliminate noises. Peter felt like he could be taken by a spirit on a number of occasions while on our own, but was forced to fight it as we would certainly had been kicked out and the staff wouldn't have been able to help even if they were around. It then got light quite quickly as most of the darkness was wasted beforehand.
Later Peter further confirmed the incompetence of the staff when he spoke to one of the 2 apparent "mediums", asking for advise on the "3rd eye", she hadn't even heard of the 3rd eye asking Peter what it was. How can a medium not know this very basic information? In my opinion this clearly proves she isn't a real medium. Also another member of staff admitted that they were a profit making company after all, which again is the opposite of what we was told on the phone.
At the end of the night at around 4.45am when all but a couple of staff had gone home, we were finally allow to join the rest of the group in the final "seance". We went to the only place that was still fairly dark during what was now daylight, the group called it, "the dungeon". Only the leader Hazel attended who clearly would have been in very serious trouble if something really did kick off. The only other staff were packing up the opposite side of the grounds well out of communication distance and the staff had no radios either. We joined arms in a circle, but the Hazel didn't seem to have a problem breaking the circle at any time. She stamped on the floor to attempt to get paranormal activity and kept seeing "red orbs" and weird figures and flashing lights, which we simply didn't see, except for reflections. Peter breathed loudly at one point and the Hazel made a big thing of it. I told her that it was Peter, she looked and then looked away and still went on how incredible it was.
The event finished at just turned 5am (much earlier than advertised) where we at least had a croissant and jam. We then left at around 5.45am (7am advertised).
In summary the night was terrible, the staff were often impolite and arrogant. They clearly had very little knowledge or experience of the paranormal what-so-ever. They showed no interest in anything throughout the night and certainly had no passion what-so-ever. The "mediums" where in my opinion clearly fake. Hazel lied on the phone beforehand, saying anything we wanted to hear until she had our money. Saying all this newbies may be satisfied as they don't know anything better and could be easily lead by the staff. I don't think they wanted us there as they were worried about being exposed. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY - WAIT FOR CEPI who will give you an amazing night, which is safer and better in every way. CEPI staff are committed and are there because they are passionate about investigating the unknown, NOT because they want your money as they are not a business. They are well trained, polite and the events are very well organised. If you want to go to the theatre, go with Haunted Happenings, but be prepared for some bad acting!
PS: Since the investigation (if you could call it that) we have looked on their website, they're currently advertising jobs including for "story tellers" amongst other positions. I've also noticed they often run more than one investigation on the same night, so you won't always get the same team.
Disclaimer:
The above document is my own personal opinion. It shouldn't be taken as fact and we ask you to draw your own conclusions. Although we do our best to be as accurate as possible, we take no responsibility for any mistakes made. If Haunted Happenings would like to respond to this document, we would be glad to publish it below.
This entry was posted on Sunday, June 29th, 2008 at 6:11 am and is filed under Ghosts and Spirits, The Paranormal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
