I am now going to be a part of the very first official haunted house investigation in Rutherford County!

Gayle moved to Rutherford County 18 months ago from Athens, Georgia. She saw a picture of the house and says she knew right away that this was going to be her house. So, she bought it! He brick home was built in 1938. However, the man who built the house never lived there. It was purchased by an attorney and he and his wife and family were the first occupants. Gayle has had innumerable strange sounds and experiences since taking residence. She has refinished the hardwood floors herself and has painted the rooms - three bedrooms upstairs and a bath - large living room, dining room, kitchen, office and her bedroom which are downstairs. As we enter the office area of the house and gather around the table which has lit candles in the center, we are ready to begin. Deborah bows her head and begins the investigation with a prayer. After she says that she must begin and end the investigation with a prayer or otherwise a ghost might follow you home! After the prayer, Deborah says she will leave us now and begin the investigation upstairs. We are to remain downstairs and she will announce her return. The reason is that the technical team will now question homeowner, Gayle. The are several sheets of question which must be filled out. Deborah cannot be privy to this information until the investigation is over. The questions asked are mostly to certify information which may later be correlated with Deborah's independent findings. After the clock on the wall ticks off twenty some minutes or so, Deborah's voice is heard as she announces, "I coming down now!" The questions are quickly asked and the form provided is finished.

Deborah Senger, Certified Ghost Hunter, reenters the downstairs office of Gayle. She sits down and gets ready to announce her findings.

But first, let us reveal what Gayle has told the technical team when questioned, about some of her experiences. Remember, Deborah has not been present to hear this. She relates that she has heard someone going up the steps. Sometimes there seems to be a "thump" accompanying the steps. She has heard children's voices in the stairwell as if they were playing. Gayle says there is a lot of activity in the stairwell. She says she is a night person. Up late every evening. One night she claims that the lights went out in the living room at 10 p.m. She openly spoke aloud to the empty room "Don't turn the lights off . . . 10 o'clock is not my bedtime!" The lights were turned back on! Another time, she says a man walked in with a plaid shirt on and a bow tie. He started to go to the owner's bedroom. She has heard voices in the night and the sounds of little kids laughing and playing. She often hears footsteps in the bedroom above hers. Sometimes she smells pipe tobacco. Sometimes she smells Gardenia's. Other experiences she has had recently include movement of objects. Like the candles. An alarm clock set for 4 o'clock a.m. goes off upstairs in one of the bedrooms. When Gayle went up to turn the alarm off, the clock was unplugged! In the last two weeks she has heard dishes rattling, found candlesticks on the floor in the morning when she awoke, hears a ticking sound, and sometimes the room goes very cold!

Now - without this information - Deborah has returned to us and these are her findings. Yes, there are ghosts in the house! In the first bedroom on the right when you go up the stairs there is a woman. In the second bedroom to the right, Deborah says she found a "trickster". A man who wanted to dance with Deborah - and she did! In the third bedroom a woman possibly named Rosalie tells Deborah she wants her footstool returned plus the mirror that used to hang on the wall returned. She also wants the bedroom painted yellow as it was before. She says that this is her house and she wants everyone out! Deborah saw a woman knitting a blanket for her grandson. She also saw someone floating three foot above the floor. The smell of Gardenias filled the air with it's aroma. She looks at Gayle and tells her that one of the ghosts is sleeping with her every night! Downstairs in the kitchen, Deborah says there is a chubby lady drinking wine and a group that seems to be having a party. This is taking place in the dining room. Deborah explains to Gayle that the footsteps in the first bedroom is the thump, thump of the cane of the bedridden woman. This impression is confirmed by Gayle to be her Grandmother. The bed in that room was hers. Deborah also says she detected the smell of pipe tobacco.

We all look at one another and ask some questions. It seems that the ghosts - or spirits - have a lower body temperature than we do. Therefore, that accounts for the cold and hot spots in the rooms. We all go up those wooden stairs and enter each bedroom, one at at time. The flash of cameras are constant. The technical crew is looking to photograph some "orbs" - a ball or energy representing the existence of "spirits". It is exciting when they do get some on the digital cameras. I point my camera in the coldest area of the rooms and also try to photograph an "orb". I look and there, believe it or not, in one picture is a round, bubble like circle. They tell me I just photographed an "orb". We all follow as Deborah constantly checks the temperature in every room. Both she and Gayle mention often that they are getting a chill or a warm feeling. We all return downstairs and once again gather around the burning candles as Deborah says the concluding prayer.

Yes, Deborah Senger - certified ghost (para normal) investigator - says this is definitely a haunted house! Yes, I was there . . . . . . . and yes, after thanking everyone, I leave and start to think about it all as I drive home. And - yes, I wonder, just wonder if there is anyone following me?