I've had a few days off and I've wanted to finish a project that I have been thinking about doing for about eight years. Today I finally finished it and I'm very happy.
The project is an addition to one I had finished years ago. Both projects are my reanimation machines (or at least props that look like machines that are similar to ones that Dr. Frankenstein would use). The first one from years ago was an old radio I purchased from an antique store. I gutted the radio and set aside the tubes. I cut a large hole in the top and inserted a plasma ball to give it life and add some movement.
Then shortly after completing that machine I found an old glass jar with a wooden top I felt was perfect for the next project that would work in conjunction with the first. The machine I envisioned was something that wouldn't have lights or sounds with it; a prop set inside of it, like a heart, would provide the interest. The inspiration was from the movie Bride of Frankenstein, when Dr. Henry Frankenstein uses a machine to keep a heart beating.
After much recent scrounging around for various odds and ends to add to the second project from craft stores and items I've had laying around the house (like the tubes from the radio in the earlier project), I'm finally finished with the second creation. I feel they complete each other.
What do you think?
Sorry for the long lapse in posting, I’ve been incredibly busy with my job and with life in general. So much has happened since my last post I’m still trying to take it all in. So I will start with my most recent outing.
Anna and I recently enjoyed a photography exhibit at Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau. The photographs were by photographer Arthur Drooker and from his book American Ruins. The photos where shot in infrared and taken across the US. It was a treat to see these prints up close instead of in a book.
The photos themselves had a bit of a sepia tint to them that added to the warmth they evoked. The infrared added a sense of mystery, but not in a macabre way that Simon Marsden portrays. I got to talk with Drooker about his work and working with IR and could have talked much longer if it were not for other interested visitors to the museum wanting to talk with him also. We talked f-stops, researching subjects and places to visit. The only thing I felt was missing for the evening was a good glass of wine. They served sparkling grape juice.
While researching how to photograph with IR and looking for inspiration I did come across his work and found his work wonderful but not exactly what I truly wanted to accomplish.
After talking with Drooker I felt I was heading in the right direction with my technical skills and vision for my own personal project. If anyone has the chance to see his work in person or purchase his book you will not be disappointed. Of course we had a photo postcard autographed by him to remember that wonderful evening.
Here are a few links to enjoy:
http://www.americanruinsbook.com/
http://http://www.arthurdrooker.com/
Since my last post we haven’t traveled often for my haunted project. I have taken a few pictures on other trips not relating to the haunted subjects themselves and have come away with some great images. More on those in the near future.
The haunted road trip last week went extremely well. I had such a wonderful time traveling to all these haunted places and being creative with my photography. This has been a dream come true for me and after looking over some of the pictures I have captured I’m very pleased with the results.
Over the course of the week I shot about a place a day. Depending how near to other places I was, I shot two. The weather worked well to my advantage despite the two inches of snow that fell Monday morning. The weather was cold for the most part which added to feeling of autumn.
My girlfriend came down half way through and she was able to go to few places for the rest of the trip. We went to a cemetery in Chicago and a haunted house in Woodstock. We took back roads and along the way stopped at a few antique places and talked with local residents.
I shot a ton of images! I wanted to cover every angle and ideas that flowed through me. I wasn’t sure when I would have the chance to return so I needed to get what I could.
Depending on our schedule I want to take another haunted trip in the very near future, maybe in the fall, hopefully next year but we will have to see since a trip to Germany is planned for next year. I’m excited to see what we can get from there.
I had to leave Bloomington around 5 a.m. Saturday to be there
by 8 a.m. Of course I woke up an hour before I needed to so I had very little sleep.
Sunday was exactly what the weatherman said it would do. Lots of rain, hail, and snow so I spend all day Sunday watching hockey and planning the next days trip.
I’m currently in Decatur IL. Looking at my photos after spending a cold day shooting at Greenwood Cemetery and various mansions around the town. I’ll be staying overnight because if the weather turns better I hope to go back and see if the previous places are worth reshooting with sunnier light.
Here are a few images I have enjoyed so far. I hope they give a sense of melancholy and foreboding.
The next few days I’ll be going towards Chicago. I’m excited to see what those places hold for me there.
"The Ghost in man, the ghost that once was man But cannot wholly free itself from Man, Are calling to each other thro' a dawn Stranger than earth has ever seen; the veil Is rending, and the voices of the day Are heard across the Voices of the dark".ALFRED LORD TENNYSON (1809-1892)This post marks a bit of a change in the direction I’m taking this blog. My GFAnna suggested I should make this blog more personal. Sharing my experiences and feelings I have when visiting these places alongside the history would make for a more interesting blog. I felt she was right. I felt the postings where a bit stale. I decided from here on out I will add a bit more personal touch to my haunted blog. I’ve had a few experiences while at these haunted places and I would love to tell what has happened.
Shooting with Infrared film back in those days was a very difficult process. The camera had to be completely light tight; only a manual controlled camera could be used. Since the new auto-focus cameras used IR itself as a mechanism to focus and keep track of the film moving inside, the camera would fog the infrared film. The ultra sensitive film had to be handled in a special way and the developing was equally as challenging. Thinking back, what really kept me from shooting with IR film was the price, which ran about $15 per roll for 36 exposures and had to be special ordered. Not very practical for a photographer on a mere reporters’ wage. Just to buy 4 rolls would have cost me about $60.
For centuries the Indian burial mounds of North America have long been a mysterious and otherworldly place. The mounds were mostly constructed near water for funerary or ceremonial use. Native Americans believed themselves to be of the land and that their souls became one with it in the afterlife. Upon death, the departed did not go to heaven but lingered upon the earth.
The suites have beautifully wood-carved fireplaces, marble in the bathrooms, intricate woodwork and antiques. One such room, The Gold Suite on the second floor, is named for its gold and yellow decor. The suite has a Victorian parlor set of furniture, an antique Queen-sized bed, elegant draperies and an oak ornamental fireplace with fluted columns.
Built in 1910 by the prominent businessman George Brumder for his eldest son George Jr., this regal home served a wealthy Milwaukee publishing family as a residence for nearly 10 years. The family’s fortune grew from a number of German language newspapers, bibles, and sheet music, and then later shifted to banking and manufacturing. The mansion was sold in the early 1920's, to Sam Picks, providing refuge from his work in Chicago gangster organizations.
With upkeep on the mansion being excessive, the house served as a boarding house in the late 30's; then in the 1960's the neighboring Lutheran Church bought the Brumder. By 1997, the upkeep and repair work needed for the house presented a major challenge for the church. Carol Hirschi, willing to move into the now derelict neighborhood, bought the Brumder, along with its physical and otherworldly, challenges.With the mansion in a state of disrepair and institutional in appearance, Carol began the painstaking task of transforming the Brumder Mansion into what is seen today. Hirschi generated income for the renovations by converting the building into a Bed and Breakfast in 1998.
Carol Hirschi believed multiple ghosts are haunting the house with most of the activity centered on the Gold Suite. A visiting psychic confirmed Carol's impressions when she reported seeing the ghost of a woman and a child. Several experiences made Hirschi more familiar with these two entities.
The first night Carol spent in the Gold Suite with her dogs in the bed, she felt a presence and heard a stern voice in her head demanding her to remove the dogs immediately. In another instance she dreamt of a face of a woman staring down at her from one of the home's ornate ceiling medallions.
The most frightening of the bizarre experiences in the Gold Suite happened when Carol entered the room several days after someone checked out, to find several drops of fresh blood in the bathtub. Thinking blood was leaking through the ceiling and someone had died in an upstairs room, she went to investigate but found nothing.
Guests staying in The Gold Suite sometimes have intense dreams. If they have a dog in the room, they often dream of a woman sternly lecturing them to remove their pets or harm will come to them. Upon waking, patrons are filled with a strong desire to remove the animals. Guests have been locked out of the room even though the deadbolt of the door locks from the inside of the room. A German marriage certificate in a large frame with a sturdy wire on the back was hung on the wall; it mysteriously lifted itself off the wall and crashed face down onto the floor, cracking the glass. Upon closer inspection nothing was found to be wrong with the wire or the nails it was hung upon.
The woman is thought to be Susan, a maiden aunt, who came to live with the Brumder family when they moved into this mansion. As a young woman, her betrothed stood her up at the altar; something she never quite recovered from. Susan, also known as Aunt Pussy, spent a number of happy years living in the mansion on the second floor, now known as The Gold Suite. She loved simple furnishings, and followed an uncomplicated way of life. The visiting psychic conveyed a message to Hirschi that Aunt Pussy expressed her displeasure about the fancy furnishings in the renovation, and that she had trouble adjusting to the commotion associated with the Bed and Breakfast.
The second phantom sensed by the psychic, the young girl, may perhaps be the victim of disease or accidental death. She is believed to occasionally haunt the third floor and Emma's Room. Hirschi believed the more mischievous activity can be attributed to the ghost of the child. Carol once purchased a mirror and hung it over the sink of Gold Suite's bathroom. One day the mirror lifted itself off its nail, floated over to the bathtub and was shattered into shards.
Other areas in the homes also experience disturbances. In George's Room a staff member felt a cool breeze brush past her face and hair, billow the curtain, as it drafted through the room with no logical explanation. Guests will often hear objects moving in the bathroom. Silverware laid out on the dining room table the night before would be found turned around on the table the next morning. Guests and patrons of the little theater in the basement began seeing the entity of a woman, dressed in early 20th century clothing drifting through. A friend of Carol's saw a woman in a formal black dress float down the main staircase. In The Blue Room lights turn on and off by themselves. Doors have been heard to slam throughout the night, along with phantom footsteps, and breakable objects that fall from walls, but remain unharmed. In Marion's Room some think an entity of the young girl haunts this space. One ongoing occurrence involves a programmable doorbell which refused to operate when Carol set the tune. It only seemed to work when she left it alone, then it will play tunes randomly. "Happy Birthday" is one of the favorites.
During the winter of 2008 Carol resigned her ownership of the mansion to Tom and Julie Carr. As the years continue to pass hopefully the home will remain a fixture to the Milwaukee area and the Carrs keep the Brumder Mansion as a place where visitors can stay and feel a part of history. But if you decide to stay in the Gold Suite just make sure you leave your pets at home.
Although identified by many resources as one of the most haunted cemeteries in Wisconsin, accounts of paranormal events are elusive.
The hill adjacent to the tranquil, shadowy reflecting pond on the north side of the cemetery downhill from the main offices and mausoleums, has been said to cause strange reactions in some people who walk on it, making them feel sick and fearful.
One visitor reported visions of splintered coffins and shredded corpses, followed by the onset of headaches and bloodshot eyes.
One could suppose that undocumented bitter rivalries many yet extend into the afterlife, especially among the beer barons. One such rivalry might have existed between Valentin Blatz and Johann Braun, both interred in the cemetery. Blatz opened a brewery next to Braun’s in 1850, incorporated Braun’s facilities into his own after Braun’s death in 1852, and finished the deal by marrying Braun’s widowed bride.
A modern brewing club, the Beer Barons, provides an opportunity in October to come out to the grounds to seek the paranormal. The club provides Ghost Tours for interested parties.
Elegant, sophisticated, refined from all appearances. The hallmarks of a beautifully restored and maintained turn-of-the-century mansion. Dark, brooding, and haunted upon closer inspection.