Ghost Hunters: Omni Mount Washington Resort
Ghost Hunters: Season 4, Episode 7 - Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, and Steve Gonsalves along with the full TAPS team headed to New Hampshire to investigate reports of paranormal activity at the Omni Mount Washington Resort.
History of Paranormal Activity at the Omni Mount Washington
Upon arriving at the Omni Mount Washington, the TAPS team met with Fred Hollis, head of security and long-time employee of the hotel. According to Fred, staff and guests over the years have credited the frequent phenomena to one of the hotel’s original owners: Carolyn Stickney.
Carolyn was the wife of Joseph Stickney, the wealthy businessman who had originally conceived of and funded the building of the Omni Mount Washington Resort. After his tragic death just one year after the hotel opened, Carolyn took over the estate and saw to it that her husband’s final project became a success. Though she remarried a French prince and lived with him around the world, Carolyn always returned to the Omni Mount Washington during the summer, always staying in the same suite: Room 314.
“[Carolyn] liked to sleep in her own bed, so when she would travel to Mount Washington [the bed] would come out on the train with her, and actually would have been with her at her time of death,” said Erin Izzo, Front Desk Clerk for the Omni Mount Washington. The bed in question, shown to the TAPS team on their tour of the hotel, is a large, wood, four-poster bed with a white curtained canopy.
Because guests can book Room 314 for the night, staff at the Omni Mount Washington have received reports of individuals waking in the middle of the night to find the ghost of Princess Carolyn sitting on the bed. Other guests of the Princess’ suite have reported feeling something brush against their feet, or seeing Carolyn sitting by the bed and taking her hair down, pin by pin.
Reports of strange activity haven’t been isolated to the room of the hotel’s former owner. As the TAPS team toured the hotel with the head of security, Fred shared more accounts from both guests and employees alike. In one account, a senior employee staying in the South Tower where staff could rent living quarters, heard a tap on her bedroom door late in the evening. When she opened the door to look, she saw a white, shadowy figure, which promptly disappeared. Today, members of the Omni Mount Washington team report feeling emotionally and physically heavy when entering the South Tower, so much so that the sensation makes it hard to walk.
Next on the tour of the resort, the TAPS team visited the Wall of Names, where employees of the Omni have left their signatures over the decades. The Wall of Names is located behind and above the dining room, and at least 15 separate guests have reported hearing thumping coming from the direction of the Wall as they enjoy their dinners. According to staff and hotel security, this area is locked during all dining hours.
The TAPS Investigation:
Despite decades of guest and staff reports of paranormal activity within the Omni Mount Washington Resort, the TAPS team from Ghost Hunters were the first paranormal investigators to formally assess the hotel. The team set up their equipment throughout the hotel, including within Room 314.
“One very interesting point about this room is that this is the actual bed that the princess slept in when she slept in this room. She may have a tremendous emotional attachment to that bed, which may give her a reason for sticking around this room,” said Tech Manager Steve Gonsalves, hopeful that they might soon be making contact with Carolyn herself.
Once set up, the team began to investigate. Grant and Jason headed first to the Wall of Names, where the two added their signatures to the wall. Next, Jason went down to the dining room to determine whether he would be able to hear Grant walking around in the Wall of Names room if he were eating his dinner - he could. Based on their best guess, the thumps heard by diners are most likely the sounds of someone walking around the room.
Meanwhile, Steve and Dave Tango - another member of the TAPS team - made their way to the South Tower where hotel staff once slept. The pair stumbled upon a series of hidden stairways, which led to passages behind the bedrooms and up towards the rafters of the resort. As they explored, using only flashlights to see in the dark, they began to hear creaking and thumping noises coming from above.
Steve and Dave decided to investigate the sounds further by performing EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) work, which is a method of recording disembodied sounds. The pair asked for any entities to reveal themselves, to make sounds, and to come towards them, recording on specialized equipment to be sure to pick up anything they might not be able to hear.
While Steve and Dave worked to converse with entities in the South Tower, Grant and Jason moved on from the wall of names to the infamous Princess Suite, Room 314. Princess Carolyn’s old room was the hotspot of most paranormal reports at the hotel, and guests and staff had reported seeing full apparitions and experiencing strange phenomena like doors opening of their own accord, or tubs filling on their own.
Using EVP techniques, Steve and Dave asked Carolyn questions about herself, her room, and her bed specifically. If Carolyn was emotionally attached to the room, her feelings could have created a kind of imprint, thereby becoming a residual haunting. Residual hauntings have no idea that humans exist, and do not perceive the things that happen to the thing or space they inhabit. Residual hauntings repeat and replay like a tape recording, and will occur whether someone is there to witness it or not.
After completing their investigation of Room 314, Jason and Grant headed up to the South Tower. Upon arrival, the pair heard a loud clatter just a few feet from them. When they turned and searched the floor with flashlights for the source of the sound, they discovered a large shard of glass laying by their feet. The glass was unlike the glass in the two windows nearby, and neither Jason nor Grant could determine where it had come from. Moments later, the team heard what sounded like footsteps running above them in the passageways that Steve and Dave had discovered earlier.
Standing in the rafters, recording with special equipment, Jason and Grant both heard shuffling, and the sounds of fabric shifting. Then, Grant experienced a sudden ‘cobweb effect’, as if he had suddenly walked into a spider’s web that wasn’t there.
Paranormal Findings & Analysis
After spending a night in the Omni Mount Washington Resort, the TAPS team returned to headquarters to assess their findings. Here’s what they discovered:
Wall of Names: This area does not seem to be haunted. When the team split up, they were able to hear one another walking around in the room with the wall from the dining room below.
South Tower: Footsteps caught on audio recordings, possible confirmation of haunting.
Room 314: Audio of a female voice caught by EVP equipment - the voice speaks over and seemingly responds to the voices of the investigators. When asked direct questions, the same voice can be heard on EVP recordings responding in muffled sentences.
When asked “Princess, are you there?” the EVP equipment registers the voice replying with “Hello? Is there someone there?” When asked “Princess, can you at least let us know you’re in here?” the EVP equipment registers the voice replying with “Of course I’m in here. Where are you?”
