Iowa filled with paranormal activities

Source: press-citizen.com

Rachel Gallegos • Iowa City Press-Citizen • September 24, 2009

Jerred Albaugh, 14, said he doesn’t think the stories about paranormal activity or ghosts are creepy.

“It’s pretty cool,” the Iowa City teen said.

Albaugh said he’s been on a ghost tour of Chicago — where he snapped a couple pictures of what he thinks are ghost orbs — and been to see Iowa City’s Black Angel.

On Wednesday night, Albaugh and about 120 others attended a presentation at the Coralville Public Library to learn about other haunted locations throughout the state.

Paranormal researcher Chad Lewis is the co-author of the book “The Iowa Road Guide to Haunted Locations.” Although his educational background is in psychology, Lewis said he’s spent the last 14 years traveling the globe in search of the paranormal.

“If it’s weird in the world, I’ve traveled in search of it,” he said.

Lewis shared spots where paranormal activity has been reported throughout the state.

At the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery in Palo, 12 steps lead up to the cemetery during the day, Lewis said. At night, however, a 13th stair appears, he said.

“If you are afraid of ghosts, this may be one place you want to avoid,” Lewis said.

In Iowa City, there is the “Black Angel of Death.” The legend is that the bronze statue turns darker and darker black every Halloween because of the souls it harvests each year, Lewis said.

Cemeteries aren’t the only place to find stories of paranormal activity, he said. In Iowa, many of these places have been turned into tourist locations, he said.

One example is the Villisca Axe Murder House, where two adults and six children were murdered in 1912. The house is available for people to rent for the evening if people want to spend the night, Lewis said.

People who have stayed there have reported hearing screaming children and seeing a man walking around with a bloody ax, he said. About 80 percent of people who try do not stay the entire night, Lewis said.

In his 14 years of traveling, Lewis said he has “yet to have anything take place that I would say is 100 percent paranormal.”

Lewis encouraged the audience to not just believe stories of the paranormal, but go on their own road adventures.

“You live in one heck of a weird state,” he said.