“Time takes it all whether you want it to or not, time takes it all. Time bares it away, and in the end there is only darkness. Sometimes we find others in that darkness, and sometimes we lose them there again.” ― Stephen King

As I mentioned in Part I a couple of entities were sighted by one of the owners, the physics guy. While working on a window, he saw an elderly woman with thinning silver hair down her back in a white nightgown near the staircase.

Someone else on a tour also saw an elderly woman in the window, describing her to a tee. One woman while on the staircase in the tour blurted out, “her name is Violet.”

Another guy who visited The Manor, with a relative who once lived on the property, asked if they had ever seen Rose. When Cindy asked what her middle name was, he replied, Violet.

In some of these rooms a palpable loneliness clings to the walls with the last flecks of peeling paint. In others, unease buzzes like an angry swarm of insects.

The cemetery across the street from Edinburgh Manor, above and below.

The picture above is one of mine. I used a really fun app called: Photolab.

We heard racket toward this side of the building, this end of the hallway. This was another room I found myself drawn to. I did not really know the story behind this one, but there were a few objects left behind, which can be strong paranormal conduits.

Some of their belongings pictured above still right where they left them.

This room was one of the last rooms on our tour before Cindy left us alone. My legs suddenly felt like they were made of lead, my hands trembled, and my heart thudded in my ears. I knew before she told us the story behind the room that something happened, I just wasn’t sure what it was.

According to Cindy, a female resident had been consistently harassed by either a male resident or an employee, she was unsure which. One day, he caught her alone, and raped her in the bed in the right-hand-corner (pictured above). She was not sure if it was the exact same bed.

Some paranormal groups have done experiments with a balloon, and a domino. They both move around the room on their own.

Cindy closes all of the doors, drawers,, and amours before she leaves, and when she returns they are usually open.

People have felt like they were restrained or they could not breathe upon entering the room. I felt extremely uneasy, like I could have jumped out of my skin-almost full-on PTSD-panic-attack mode. For those who would like to understand the symptoms a little better: My On-Going Battle with PTSD: I Showered with The Curtain Open Today.

One day Cindy noticed the curtain had popped off, and she came back the next day to fix it. The drapes were hanging above the window once again, and her boyfriend was not the one who fixed it. Neither of them could explain what happened.

The next room, more than just a mop closet, was once a resident’s room until his suicide in the 50’s (confirmed by an eye-witness who found the body). The room is about the size of a very small walk-in closet or bathroom. The man who last stayed in the room lived with his mother until she passed away. In his 50’s at her time of death, his siblings were unsure what to do with him, as none of them wanted to take him into their homes. By the sound of it, he was unable to completely care for himself, so his brother committed him to The Manor.

Grief-stricken and home-sick for his mom, he vowed to leave Edinburgh Manor, and the hopelessness eventually overtook him. Out of desperation, he kept his promise, hanging himself in the tiny room. As Cindy showed us the space, we looked up at the ceiling, trying to pinpoint the area. Everyone always looks up, but he didn’t hang himself from the ceiling. She turned toward the direction in which we came, and pointed at the chair. He sat down in the chair, tied the sheet around his neck, hung it from the doorknob, and slumped down. A gentleman who used to work here actually saw the body, so we know for sure that was how he passed away.

As I gazed out the window at the gray February sky, the world tilted upon its side as my head swam; the years of depression, and anxiety swirling around me. I imagined what he felt all of those years ago.

Video of the room.

This is a room  (the largest communal room), where Cindy said the spirit of a little girl is rumored to haunt. They say her name is Suzanne, Susan or Suzie, she is between the ages of 7-10, and she is from the depression era. She was dropped off at The Manor and never picked back up. If you watch The Ghost Adventures episode that features Edinburgh Manor, they talk about the little girl, and they find some historical evidence linked to a child that once lived there alone. When people first encountered her spirit in The Manor, she was extremely angry, with very good reason, but she has calmed over the years. This is one reason I feel more often than not most spirits are just as we are -people, they might be angry or confused people, but people nonetheless.

Visitors to The Manor have reported hearing her singing, and running down the halls. She also enjoys playing with the toys in the room (especially light-up-toys), holding the hands of the living (which can feel like tingling in hands/fingers or coldness), and she tugs on clothes. Something yanked the pocket of my coat in one of the other rooms, so I wondered if it was her. I also had some experiences after we left, which I will share later in the article.

I spoke directly to Suzie while in this room, asking her to sing to me, hold my hand or tug on my clothes. It wasn’t until I was in another room that I felt the distinct tug on my coat. Shortly after that, I captured an anomaly shortly thereafter.

According to Cindy, people often see a child peering down from the windows of this room, and someone captured a woman’s face in the mirror.

The next room was another room Cindy said often has a strange effect on people, and she had a couple of stories to go with it. The first was, similar to the blue room, some people have a visceral reaction upon entering the threshold. Cindy was physically stopped from entering the doorway one day during a day-tour, it was as if my feet were actually glued to the floor. She had no explanation other than for some reason she was not meant to go into the room at that moment. Just like the blue or purple room, some people report feeling dizzy, uneasy, and nausious inside the room, while others notice nothing.

One of the sheriff deputies told Cindy they would receive calls when people would disappear, because the staff only had a short period of time to find them before they had to call the Sheriff. This was the room they would usually find them, and it was fairly often. One night he saw a dark mass in the room. There were other reports of shadows in the room.

As you look at the sequence of photographs I took of the room, these have not been altered in any way (with the exception of the black & white). In the photos with the toy truck, I could see an area of mist in some of the photographs, and then in others a very dark shadow. However, in the area of the bed with the cherry pillow-case, you can also see the shadow in the first photo below as it moves into frame, so was it a camera malfunction? I’m honestly not sure in this case. I can say that my camera has not done this before or after, so if it was, why did it malfunction in this room? Again, I’m not sure. It is interesting that a shadow appeared when there were stories of black masses and shadows being seen in this room.

But is it paranormal? That is for you to decide. If you truly want to know if the room is haunted, contact Cindy for a tour or an overnight investigation.

The mirrors below were also inside this room, and as you can see, it was not dark inside this room at all the way the shadowy photos make it appear. Also, scroll back to the beginning when I start talking about this room, to the photos of the doorway. You can see how bright it is inside the room. As I stated, I am torn on this one. The mist, I think might be something, but the shadows, I am just not sure. I would love to hear your thoughts!

One of the other strange things about The Manor according to Cindy, is the puzzle pieces from the jigsaw puzzles end up all over the building and beyond. Sometimes people even end up accidentally taking them home. They have been found in suitcases, on shoulders, and even in someone’s hood.

Cindy, among others has seen a huge black, wolf-like dog outside on the property at night. They knew it was not really there, and they had no explanation for it.

I encourage everyone who is curious about the paranormal to check out this historical building full of voices from the past, but you might get more than you expected.

I didn’t think anyone or anything supernatural followed me home, but we had some strange things happen after we left. My first experience was about a week or two after we got back to Omaha. I was driving at the time, alone in my truck. I felt fingers in the back of my hair, almost like when a child braids your hair. If you have ever had small children, nieces, nephews, siblings, that feeling is unmistakable. I tried not to think to much of it at the time. In the same week, I had a dream someone styled my hair in a bun. I woke up with a Bobbie pin on the top of my head, and one little strand in a weird shape. I had no explanation for this. Was I styling my hair in my sleep?

We began to notice other small things. Bottles of laundry detergent flew off the shelf in our laundry room on more than one occasion (located in the basement) once at one of my daughters, something flew off of the shelf in our garage, footsteps, shadows, and strange dreams. One night, I woke the sheets wet and clinging to me with sweat, sitting upright in bed. The strange thing was, my eyes were open, and I was repeatedly striking myself in the eyeball (and not gently) without comprehending what I was doing. Once lucid and awake, I got up and went into the bathroom, disoriented and frightened. It took a few minutes for the fuzziness in my vision to wear, and my eye resembled a grape tomato. I also had very strange dreams all night, and found out I was not the only one in the household having nightmares and bizarre dreams. I cleansed the house with holy water, sage, prayers, and candles after that happened. Most of the activity calmed down.

Was the behavior in the middle of the one of the residents from The Manor who followed me home messing with me? Perhaps someone with mental health issues who felt tormented, confused, and misunderstood? Maybe they were trying to communicate how they felt being locked up. Perhaps it was just a strange dream that drove me to this behavior. All I know is I am a believer in the paranormal, and I absolutely believe in the power of prayer.

Trish Eklund is the owner and creator of Abandoned, Forgotten, & Decayed, and Family Fusion Community, an online resource for blended families of all types. Trish’s photography has been featured on Only in Nebraska, ListVerse, Nature Takes Over and Pocket Abandoned. Check out the new Bonanza Store for AFD merchandise! Follow on Instagram and Facebook. Trish is regularly featured on The Mighty,  Huffington Post Divorce, and Her View From Home.  She has also been featured on Making Midlife Matter, and The Five Moms, and has an essay in the anthology, Hey, Who’s In My House? Stepkids Speak Out by Erin Mantz.

Categories: Asylum, Decayed Iowa, Ghost Adventures, Haunted Iowa, Paranormal, Trish Eklund, UncategorizedTags: & Decayed, Eidenburgh Manor, Ghost Adventures, Ghost Tours, Haunted, Iowa, Paranormal, Photography