By Bruce Cline, director of the Little Egypt Ghost Society

We set up motion detectors throughout the hotel. At approximately 3:00AM, the motion detector in the Charlotte Room went off repeatedly with corresponding EMF readings of 2.3 to 2.6 milligauss. In the front lobby we took a photograph about midnight that showed the face of a young lady looking in the front window. There was on one outside the hotel at the time. This photograph was positively identified by Sandy Vinyard as one of her former workers who was killed in a car crash about a year previous.

Many times our group would smell the scent of cigars, bacon cooking (at night), lavender and logs burning when none of those items were present in or near the hotel at the time. We would hear voices and the sound of a small dog barking as well as footsteps and doors creaking open and shut upstairs when no one was up there.

There is a small graveyard behind the hotel where several members of the McFarlan family as well as some of the servants and guests are buried. Many of the graves are unmarked.

LEGS in Action - Photo by Bruce Cline

We were at the Rose Hotel filming a TV commercial. After filming, we decided to do a little ghost hunting in the McFarlan Suite. Sandy Vinyard, the proprietor of the Hotel was present with us when she heard the floor start to “creak”. At that moment, Jim and I started getting readings on our K2 and Ghost Meter EMF meters. We were able to trace the EMF field to a location near the center of the suite. We quickly realized that the EMF field was confined to an area the size and shape of an adult human! When we placed our hands into this EMF field, we discovered that the temperature was 15 to 20 degrees cooler than the surrounding area. At that point, the EMF field moved and we tracked it to an area near the fire place. Once again, the temperature inside the EMF field was noticeably cooler than the surrounding area. At this point the eclectic power went off in the McFarlan Suite, but not in any other area of the hotel. After we exited the suite, the power mysteriously came back on. We then rechecked the entire suite and could not relocate the EMF field. We firmly believe that this was the spirit of Tote Wood once again playfully letting us know that he still keeps watch over the nearly 200 year old Rose Hotel.

Happy Hauntings,
Bruce L. Cline, C.P.I.

Bruce Cline is the Director of the Little Egypt Ghost Society based in Carbondale, IL. He is a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army as a Corps of Engineers Officer. He is a former municipal, county and state law enforcement officer. Bruce lives in Carbondale, IL with his wife, Lisa and several cats and dogs.

By Bruce Cline, director of the Little Egypt Ghost Society

Rose Hotel, McFarlan Suite - Photo by Bruce Cline

Oct 5, 2009 – I was standing in the center of the McFarlan Suite in total darkness and took this photo with my digital camera and flash. I was the only living person in the room at the time. Note the image of a man looking out of the far left corner of the mirror. We went back to this room Feb 11, 2010 and tried to debunk this photo. No matter what we did, we could not recapture Tote’s image in the mirror. This photo is positively PARANORMAL.

A close up view of Tote's ghost in mirror in the McFarlan Suite of the Rose Hotel.

This is a vintage photo of Tote Wood at the Rose Hotel.

We conducted several EVP experiments while at the Rose Hotel with very interesting results:
Q. “Are you alone?” A. “YES”
Q. “How do you feel?” A. “FINE”
Q. “Where are you now?” A. “RIGHT BEHIND YOU”
Another EVP captured with our camcorder said: “WE ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS”

Check out part 3 of this investigative report on Monday, and read more about the Little Egypt Ghost Society in this article by the Daily Register. Have a wonderful Christmas!

By Bruce Cline, director of the Little Egypt Ghost Society

By far, our most interesting and productive paranormal investigations have taken place at the Rose Hotel. The Rose Hotel is located in Elizabethtown, Illinois on the banks of the Ohio River. The oldest wing of the hotel was built about 1830, with additions built about 1848 and 1866. It is owned by the State of Illinois and is leased by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency to Sandy Vinyard who maintains the structure as a bed and breakfast. The exterior is restored to its 1866 appearance.

Rose Hotel in Elizabethtown, Illinois - Photo by Bruce Cline

We were invited by Sandy Vinyard to investigate reports of paranormal activity that had been occurring at the Rose Hotel on a regular basis. Sandy and many of her guests have reported sounds coming from parts of the hotel (it only has 6 guest rooms) where no one was present. These noises were said to sound like “a party is going on up there.” Objects have been mysteriously moved, only to reappear sometime later in a different location of the hotel. Pennies, in groups of three are found on a continuous basis throughout the hotel.

Our team captured the image of one of the former servants, Tote Wood, in a mirror in the McFarlan Suite. The image was positively identified by Sandy Vinyard using the hotel scrap book containing old photographs of the hotel and staff. We tried to debunk our photo, even going so far as to video tape the entire process, but could not reproduce the image.

Check out part 2 of this investigative report on Wednesday, and read more about the Little Egypt Ghost Society in this article by the Daily Register.