We now continue with Part 2 of the Paranormal Investigation of the Amargosa Hotel. Read Part One if you haven’t already.
Gearing up
We were planning to do the investigation on Friday, October 8, 2010. We were originally going to get rooms at another hotel so we wouldn’t have to sleep at Amargosa when we were done with our investigation, but the way things turned out, we decided to just stay at Amargosa. Matty and Pam were not happy about this, and I wasn’t feeling too great about it either, but I figured we’d be safe enough as many people sleep there throughout the year with no problems. We considered having Dana stay awake all night to protect us and patrol between rooms to make sure no one went kittywompus in the middle of the night. We were taking all kinds of precautions. You can never be too prepared!
I got together with Dana ahead of time to go over items we’d need for our little adventure. He was way ahead of me though. He’d already thought of flashlights, walkie talkies, glow sticks, dust masks, door stops, Leatherman tool, gloves, cameras, extra batteries, rope, headlamps, first aid kit and more. And of course we knew to bring snacks and water.
Maury told us to wear close-toed shoes, long pants, and to bring a sweatshirt in case it got cold at night. And we had extra clothing for our overnight excursion.
Mission briefing
The night before our adventure I assembled my team for a mission briefing so we could discuss our plans and what to do if the worst happened and someone was being influenced or possessed by something at Amargosa. Maury and I had discussed this at length and I wanted to make sure my team knew what to do. Here briefly is what I explained to them.
First, there’s a difference between influence and possession. If you are possessed your consciousness is completely pushed aside and you have no awareness of what you are doing. When you “wake up” you have no memory of your actions. If you are influenced you are still aware of everything that is happening to you but are pushed aside, and you have a strong desire to say and do what the entity is telling you to do. It’s like the other consciousness takes the driver’s seat and you are relegated to the backseat, watching, and trying to get control back.
Signs of influence or possession include angry outbursts, violent attack, walking backwards, sobbing, inability to focus, confusion, dizziness, altered personality, altered eyes, and the like. Signs of psychic attack include feeling super tired, sick to your stomach, drained, fearful, and anxiety/panic.
The member of our team least likely to be influenced or possessed was Dana, which I was counting on since he had the best chance of physically restraining someone who did become influenced or possessed. We all knew that if Dana became influenced that it would take all of us to restrain him. So one of the reasons I chose Dana to be on the team was because of his muscle. I knew he could single-handedly restrain any one of us. I told Dana that if anyone became possessed to gently restrain them until Maury could help the person push out the influence. I believe Dana’s response was, “If any of you come at me, you’ll get an uppercut to the chops and I will lay you out.” Nervous laughter ensued, and I said, “No, seriously, you can’t beat us up because when we come back it’s us who will be injured, not the entity.” He said, “Look if someone is attacking me, I’m going to react, and my natural reaction is going to be a gut shot or a punch to the face. I suggest you don’t get possessed and attack me.” Okay, moving on then…
Driving out
At 3pm on Friday, October 8, my team assembled at my house for the 1.5 hour drive up to Amargosa. Dana decided to take his own car because he had to be at his Search and Rescue training by 9am the next morning to fastrope off some towers. I was concerned he wouldn’t get enough sleep since I knew the Amargosa investigation could easily go until 3 or 4 in the morning. But Dana assured us he’d be alright. I had him take his own car in case he needed to bail while we were sleeping. So Dana and Matty piled into Dana’s BMW sports car while Pam and I got into my Honda CRV. Once we got on the freeway Dana took off like a rocket and Pam and I didn’t catch up for a very long time. 😉
Once we got rolling I phoned Maury to let her know we were on our way. She told me not to go to the Amargosa directly but instead to stop at Longstreet Hotel and Casino, about 7 miles before Amargosa, so she could give us her own mission briefing. I tried calling Dana to let him know of the change in plans but the loud music, police radar, and road noise in his car must have drowned out my call. Eventually when they stopped to buy snacks, urinate, and put more rocket fuel in Dana’s Batmobile, I was able to explain the situation to them. We all made it to Longstreet without incident by 4:30pm.
Meeting at Longstreet
The first thing the boys did when they got to Longstreet was go take photos of the big fake cow. Then they found a real cow and Dana made friends with it. We went inside and decided to grab some dinner at the café there. This place was pretty deserted, but the food was good. We had a nice meal and then Maury arrived.
I introduced Maury to the team. Then she pulled out some waivers for us to sign basically saying we wouldn’t sue the Amargosa if we died (or got possessed) while on the property. She also warned us about the scorpions, black widows, snakes, bats and rats on the property and down in Spooky Hollow (the old dusty, disgusting, filthy area where the energetic baddie dwells). Suddenly I was more afraid of spiders than getting possessed. 😉 She told us not to touch the walls in the dark or we could find our hand covered with black widows. We also didn’t want to come in too much contact with the rat droppings as Hanta Virus isn’t something I particularly wanted to contract. Thank goodness Dana told me to get dust masks, the heavy duty ones. He and Matty had shemaghs (giant bandanas) and Pam and I had the dust masks.
Maury also needed to get to know my team so she would know if any of them became “altered” while we were out there. She told us we’d settle in, set up, and start investigating around 8:30. She also told us most of the paranormal activity there happens after dark between 11pm and 4am. We were excited and raring to go.
At 6:30pm Dana gave the bull a final pet goodbye and we drove the 7 miles to Amargosa, pumped and ready to rock.
Arriving at Amargosa
It was a little strange for me to pull up to the Amargosa Hotel. The last time I was there was with a big old film crew and a van full of paranormal investigators from Arkansas, and it was during the day. This time it was dusk, I was with my own crew, and I was in charge of where we went and when. Totally different experience. We checked in at the hotel and were given two keys. Room 8 and Room 20. I knew intuitively that I didn’t want to stay in Room 20 so I nabbed 8 for me and Pam and left the boys with Room 20. I found out later this was a good choice on my part.
Then Maury took us to the café and told us to stock up on food since the café closed at 8pm and we’d be there all night. We got some sodas, but we had just eaten so didn’t order any food for ourselves. I had bags full of snacks for later so I wasn’t worried.
Amargosa Cafe
Settling In and Setting Up
We went to our rooms to settle in and change into our clothing for the investigation. The rooms were okay but definitely not fancy. The beds looked clean though. The bathrooms left a little something to be desired and still sported plumbing from the early 40’s. Dana came into our room with his huge backpack filled with supplies. I put on a small backpack so I could carry my own water, flashlight, snacks, camera, cough drops, dust mask, and chapstick.
Maury and I ran back to the café to pick up her food while the rest of the gang settled in to their rooms. She suddenly began to feel quite nauseous and uncomfortable, which apparently indicates a strong spiritual presence. I felt a noticeable energy there as well, and managed to make contact with a female spirit who desperately sought acknowledgment. That momentary connection proved sufficient, as Maury soon felt better. –Matty
Dana gave me one of the walkie talkies and I tucked it into my jacket pocket along with a Flip video camera. We were all set. But we couldn’t get started just yet. Maury grabbed Dana and took him down to the Opera House to set up. I didn’t realize there was so much involved but they had to lay power cables, set up cameras, and the rest of Maury’s equipment. It took a little while.
Room 3
While we were waiting for Dana and Maury to be ready, Matty and decided to start investigating a room in the hotel. Maury had told us that as long as a room door was open, we could go in and investigate. The doors that were closed had other guests in them. I remembered from my previous investigation that Room 3 was purportedly active, so I grabbed Matty and we went to Room 3 while Pam stayed behind. We walked in and both of us immediately felt another energy or presence in there. It felt like walking through thick soup. Like the air was just thicker in some areas. But we could both feel a presence within that energy. I think I said something like, “Is somebody in here?” and all of a sudden we heard a doorknob rattling. I looked and I saw the doorknob on a door that led to the outside of the hotel start rattling. Matty saw the doorknob to the adjacent room start rattling. We both stood there for a moment, adrenaline pumping, just staring at these doorknobs. I waited for someone to walk through but they just kept rattling. Finally I got so scared I actually shoved Matty aside and ran out of the room. Matty followed soon after. We ran back to Pam in room 8 and collapsed onto the bed laughing hysterically.
This was the epitome of nervous, hysterical laughter. Neither Matty nor Erin were very coherent and this was my first indication that indeed it was going to be a very… long… night! —Pam
Erin did her best Usain Bolt impression in fleeing that room. She’s a team player. 😉 –Matty
I am not saying that what happened was in any way paranormal. It could have been two people standing behind two different doors that happened to start rattling them at the same time we sauntered in from the hall. It would be a hell of a coincidence, but it’s possible that’s what happened. If we were thinking clearly, we would have gone and investigated whether there were humans rattling the doorknobs or whether it was someone non-corporeal. But by the time we told Pam our story and were thinking about investigating, Dana and Maury were ready for us.
The real adventure was about to begin!
Whole Series:
Amargosa Investigation – Part 1
Amargosa Investigation – Part 2
Amargosa Investigation – Part 3
Amargosa Investigation – Part 4
Amargosa Investigation – Part 5
Amargosa Hotel Hallway
Amargosa Hotel Hallway
