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Monday 29 May 2017

Ghosts of Shepherdstown Season 1 All 6 Episodes Review

                                                        Image result for ghosts of shepherdstown
1.1 Welcome to America's Most Haunted Town.
The haunting at the bakery/sweetshop, was a meeting of the minds: the investigators and getting to grips with what was actually happening and what they were dealing with.
Elizabeth almost fainting from the powerful energy - something dark and Nick picks up on the EMF spiking.
The local town historian, Dana commenting on German Street and Queen Street.  New also was plotting the activity on the map.  The bakery window where they threw out the body parts, where Elizabeth felt the presence, which was a hospital during the Civil War.  The safe omitting EMF energy.  The sound Elizabeth heard by the safe was audible, as if the safe was willing itself to be opened.  I enjoyed how they drove around in their truck: like a Paranormal S.W.A.T team, 'yeah we're on the case.'
There was someone breathing or sighing which Elizabeth heard, at 24.22 minutes.  Finding the shoe in the safe which was used to ward off and protect against witchcraft and evil entities. The voice recorder that Nick used and the questions he and Bill asked and to Bill's question of, "what Unit were you a part of?"  Sounds to me like it says 'First Battalion', rather more than "take the medicine." They wouldn't really have had medicine if any, around then and supplies would've been scarce.   But the EVP is more relevant.  As Lorie found in the basement that the man was a Major Alexander Tinsley and Chief of Surgery and they found the saw there too.  The Major wanting forgiveness for not being able to save the soldiers.  The EVP doesn't say anything about the saw as no ‘s’ sound comes through.  Megan resembled the woman Alexander loved.  It's so helpful to their investigation and cause when they find photographs of people who lived through the period too; further authenticating what someone looked like or their reason for being there still in spirit form.
Nick feels if they had the Civil War re-enactment they could honour him and thereby put him to rest and acknowledge him.  Nick coming up with the ideas to help these spirits find peace.
1.2 Do You Know You're Dead?
Nicole, who lived on the college campus housing heard a girl in the hallway and thinks she took her glasses, with reported poltergeist activity in the home.  As they found a collection of objects in the basement.   As well as salt lines which were keeping something evil in or out.  Then there was the shower turning on.
Next time they need their own handheld cameras, or the Go-Pros on their head, cos we don't want to see their faces every second, it's their surroundings and what they're seeing we need to experience too.  As for the rocking chair moving, there's not much to tell with that, that's not really exciting or connected to anything, which is why no one made a big deal out of it.  That sort of activity has been encountered many times before anyway. There was documented poltergeist activity anyway.
Nick finds they teach a paranormal class at the university and saw students carrying out spirit board sessions.  Which is scary in itself cos they really don't know what they're messing with and shouldn't be able to do this.  They don't need encouragement.  Even the most seasoned investigators shy away from this, including Nick.  As well as finding many suicides and hangings amongst the students, like the nurse and an exorcism in one of the halls.  A girl in a dress was reported to be stealing things at the university.
The EVP girl's voice at 20 minutes sounds like she's saying, "something, getting ready."  Nick does suggest using the spirit board but warns against it cos of the negative energy attaching itself. Elizabeth does this with Lorie and Nicole.
Lorie senses water (see later episodes as this was a key element running through the eps and the connection.)
The spirit board comes through with the name "Anne."  "Water" comes through after asking what happened to her and there was a flood in the house and she perhaps doesn't know that she's dead...
They search the gravestone with Dana and Nicole finds the fallen gravestone with 1879-1889. Elizabeth thinks they should have a ceremony to guide her home and help her move on.  Wonder if that EVP of the girl's voice was significant in the sense she was getting ready to move on and that she would be helped to do this by Nicole finding the gravestone and Elizabeth with the ceremony.
Not forgetting the thunderstorm now when Nicole felt suffocated in her home again and all the cameras when everything died.
At 43.00 sounds to me like it's saying "...trying to kill you."  Since Anne has left the house after the ceremony; there must be something more sinister there, as why would Anne try to suffocate Nicole, with her asking,      "why are you visiting?"
"Still in the room with us?"  
Answer: "yes."  As for the ‘killing’ part, was this a future warning?
Note these are my opinions and comments only gathered from what I watched and observed.
1.3 She Didn't Have A face
West German Street, near German Street where the bakery was in 1.1.  At least the police were more open to such activity in this town instead of just dismissing it.
Elizabeth sniffs the smell in the front room and experiences the ceiling falling down near the stairs, which we missed on camera, that's why they need their own cameras.  They as investigators, will know exactly what to film and what to document.  Cos they need to focus on the location and surroundings and less on their faces.  Elizabeth senses a child in the attic.
Dana finds out about the Snyder’s and Barry Snyder was a newspaper owner.  The horse carriage that his wife, Laura Ida was on, had an accident and her daughter was Ray Ray.  That decapitation was more than an accident - get the feeling Laura was pushed off the carriage.  She hit her head on the ground and died in the house.  The second photo Elizabeth shows the others looks like a woman from a distance.  Lots of the cases, such as the last two, concentrated on and led to the discovery of a child and shoe.  Nick tells them Laura was with her daughter when the 'accident' happened.
That doesn't appear to be a coincidence. [I just thought of the faceless woman I saw!  Yikees!   Briefly as I tweeted Elizabeth: "few summer’s ago someone rang bell 2am twice, told them to stop, looked like woman without face when she stared back. Scary!"]
The great grandson of Laura has Ray Ray's journal and she was 12 at the time, as well as being a psychic.  In the journal where she wrote that, "death was looking over my shoulder...I got it out of the house but not away from my family."  Meaning she managed to keep it away from the house but couldn't keep it away outside. She closed all the doors and windows and felt "death following me all summer."  Like Harry and Susan in 1.4.
Could that "killing" EVP from 1.2 be relevant here in reference to "death following" and got its hands on her mother.  Such an eerie feeling though and I only said that since all of the cases were related in some form or another.
Nick again feels they need to guide Ray Ray to her mother so they can move on.  Why the activity was increasing now was just one in a series of questions.
There was that orb behind Elizabeth in the window reflection that came from her head causing her anxiety, trouble forming sentences too and pressure on her chest.  Upstairs in the attic, there are also two orbs seen either side of Nick and Elizabeth, almost as if one was chasing the other. Or as Ray Ray wrote, "following her..."
This episode affected Elizabeth a lot emotionally and also cos of Ray Ray and her heartbreak over losing her mother after having to pitch a battle against death but couldn't keep her mother safe.
     
They also find the shutters were moved in the downstairs window, which was opened and now halfway closed and catch it on video. There also appears to be a shadow on the wall and it doesn't appear to be light from the outside, just before the shutter closes and isn't a car light.  
Lorie senses a negative entity over the entire town also in reference to Ray Ray's mother and the voice in the attic telling them to "get out."  As well as the rain contributing to heightened activity and as I said, one orb seemed to be chasing the other around the attic...
Dana discovers that Laura fractured her skull, broke her neck and ruptured a blood vessel.  See I don't think it was an accident.  Elizabeth also picked up on Ray Ray's eyes, like we did.  They looked so haunted.
1.4 Grave Stalker
A gunshot is heard near the clock tower.  Nick with his investigative notebook and Elizabeth had one too, making them look very investigative!  Ha. Cari hears a woman cry and a gunshot and has a feeling of being followed.  Cari being the only one who heard it.  Elizabeth uses her pendulum to sense energy.  If the answers are a 'no' then there's circular movement, 'yes' is a straight line and if the answer is ‘unclear’ then it won't move.  Once again they find themselves near the river and Elizabeth commenting it's a spiritual conductor.  The bridge overlooks the town run; she senses energy from the wall.  Nick's compass spins on the wall instead of finding a direction and stopping movement.   The EMF also spikes up to 19.
Dana tells them Thomas Shepherd built the fort and the wall is a remnant of the fort.  Love the board stringing, relevant for solving clues. Paranormal CSI.  [Sorry.]   The wall seems to have an energy vortex which Nick feels is kicking up activity across the town.
There was Prospect Street and the student housing.  Then the train tracks where they followed the activity to, the EMF leading them here. That figure by the rock was creepy almost as if it was dragging something.   They are led to a house which was built in the 1890's and is haunted.  Dabney Chapman, the owner, tells them of a young woman Susie Farrell, was who walking with a friend and saw a man she knew, Harry Smoots.  (Dabney sadly passed away later after filming. RIP.)  Elizabeth and her notebook too!  She has a sinking feeling inside the house, falling off her feet as Susie was brought into the house as well.  She would've had that feeling when she was shot, though it was outside. Nick hears a female cry on the EVP, which wasn't played back for the audience!!
Cari is being stalked and they think it's Harry.  Elizabeth gets cold spots at Cari's house where she saw a man in the window.  Also they get an EVP reply, "don't ask the question."  Elizabeth outraged and warning the spirit to not touch her without her permission.  
Dana says Harry had mental problems and he OD-ed on morphine.  The library used to be a jail and Elizabeth said Cari was by the library.  The photo Elizabeth took with her camera (again on my Twitter and below) and is also explained there: where you can see a bearded man and a woman.  Susie was shot by Harry, explaining the gun shot heard and Susie died in what was now, Dabney's house.

                                       
Dana also mentions the figure at the train tracks and about being thrown in front of the train, which is what Harry tried to do?  Nick feels it was residual energy leading them there and then to the town. To Dabney's house.  Dana mentions circling the tracks and back to town in the same route over and over. Nick refers to it as, "his hell - his dark energy is still out there."   There's a man in the photo Elizabeth took over Lorie's shoulder with a beard and she uses a sage ritual to get rid of Cari's attachment. Elizabeth's photo (which I mentioned earlier) she thinks might have a light shutter speed issue, but you can definitely see faces there!  Nick talks of tracers, tracing the light sources and can cause blurriness.
Elizabeth questions why she saw a figure in the house and her dog barked, when Cari saw the man inside her house in the window when she was outside.  There must be another dark presence affecting the town as Lorie said in the previous episode.  Elizabeth accompanies Cari and her daughters to the river for a picnic, where the dog barks near the river.  Again more water activity.
1.5 It's Behind You
(September 2015)
A DB floating in the water is spotted, a woman with dark hair.  One of the Vic's was named Elizabeth.  
Nick saying, "Shepherdstown is a weird Twilight Zone of paranormal experiences."  The town run leading to the river and Nick was in hot pursuit of what he saw, something in the river, which vanished from the thermal camera and could be debris.
Lorie says the energy drew her to the river and there was an angry man in the water.  There's a splash and he was dumping a DB.  She sees a woman in the water, named 'Izzy or Lizzy'.  As well as another woman and the angry man has a scar on his face, shouting, "you little bitch."  He killed them. Elizabeth, yeah creepy with the same name.  (See next ep about the EVP saying 'Elizabeth' which I'm sure I heard; but don't know if it was in reference to this Elizabeth (Lizzie) who was murdered or in reference to our Elizabeth?)
The murdered girl's name was Mary Elizabeth and she was 18.  Shelby was the other one who was 16. Dana researches they were from Maryland, just as she is, from Dana's hometown of Beltsville. Clippings from 19 June 1956 and 1st June 1956, show they were picked up by a man in a car and Lorie had the sense it affected their throat.
Elizabeth has an IR case over her phone becoming a thermal camera when they go investigating in the woods.  Lorie says Shelby was killed first and Lizzie tried to get away.  They hear lightning and then what sounded like a tree falling or could be a body being dumped or falling too. Lizzie ran to the water.  
Nick heads off to check out the sounds in the woods at night.  They find an upside down cross on the rock which is a sign of evil witchcraft.   So they had rituals here.  Nick feels his body is in a whirlwind near the cross.  Nick has two figures surrounding him on the thermal (my Twitter pics again) in a dress, they definitely look female.  Nick runs off after a red light he sees and there's a figure behind him, as said.  As well as a woman touching Bill's shoulder causing him nausea and dizziness. Lorie adds they need to lay their spirits to rest and release them to the light.  It was so brave of Nick to go running off like that into the woods, as he always does and to be surrounded by the two figures, creepy still, even if they may have been Shelby and Lizzy.  Or could just as easily have been a witch or two.

             
Dana finds an article from 16 June 1956, mentioning a scar faced man and he was never arrested.  SO he got away with it and even in death he still appears to haunt this place.  That was sad that they didn't get justice for what happened to them and he just went free, perhaps to murder some more.  He doesn't even appear to have gotten his comeuppance in death either still lingering here.  But with the ceremony releasing Lizzy and Shelby hopefully he can't harm them anymore and make them re-live their pain over and over.
The upside down crosses perhaps something to do with the witch, see next ep and Nick was spot on with that connection.
Tweets to Elizabeth re ep 1.5:
Me: "you mentioned shutter speed, it may be matrixing.  I see man's face in your pic."
Elizabeth in reply: "I do see that.  It is interesting it happened at that moment because none of my pictures did that before or after. 25 July 2016
Me: Hope you get a S2 & if u do, get your own handheld cams!  Miss 2 much action and makes head spin with some filming! ha"
Elizabeth: "Haha yeah I hear yah!" 4 July 2016
1.6 Redemption
Princess Street near woods
Claire heard a baby crying in the basement.  The taps turned on, re the shower at the student housing in 1.2, what I said as well.  Elizabeth heard a woman and a baby crying, she was trying to be a mother.  The presence of the well remnants in the basement and she felt the woman had done something wrong.  Nick commented on how Elizabeth is the strongest in the whole group to experience or sense spirits.
The stringing on the map almost looked to be forming a pentagram: star shape and I emphasis almost. Who knows if that would've happened if they needed to, or had to continue with their investigation; if they hadn't found the connection and gone on for longer.
Elizabeth got a sense of remorse and Nick comes up with the witch reference again.  Elizabeth explaining the use of the Ghostbox and how it scans through frequencies.  She finds another shoe in the wall, the shoe find of the century! - But seriously another shoe: reaffirming the witch theory.
The female voice definitely says, "poison."  At 32.41 sounds like the voice says, "Elizabeth"?? and the high pitched screaming can also be heard at around 32.44 minutes.
They find the town run at the back of the house. It was alleged the woman poisoned the town children.  Lorie mentioned how in colonial times they accused a woman of witchcraft and poisoning the town's water supply.  However she wasn't a witch.  Claire reminded the woman of her own baby as she was pregnant.  Dana found there was an outbreak of dysentery and this caused the deaths of the children.  The water was contaminated from an unnatural source.
Elizabeth suggests a ceremony and Lorie feels a potency charm will release the woman and lift the curse.  Which they do.
Nine days later there's no reported activity.
Nick commented on how he's been investigating all his life and Shepherdstown isn't like anything he's seen before.
At the end of the ep, and as Elizabeth and I said in a tweet, why did they float the shoe on the river?

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