Last August of 2018, my oldest daughter, a great friend and I decided to spend the night at Edinburgh Manor. I have been there twice before, here are the links to previous posts with my other experiences there and the history of The Manor: First Post Link Second Post Link and Third Post Link.
I wanted more time in the building to see if I had even more experiences overnight. Boy, was I right! Our trip began with seeing an abandoned house along the way, and a little abandoned motel, which were a fantastic start to the trip! We were a tad behind, and once we made it to the Scotch Grove area, we happened upon a little pug dog. We stopped, and my friend got out to see if we could find the owner, but could find no one. The dog leaned into her like he wanted her to pet him, so she stroked his fur, until he suddenly lunged up at her and bit her hand. He drew blood! We called the dog Alfred for some reason (he looked like an Alfred), so we left his mean dog butt there!
We arrived at The Manor, signed the paperwork, and put our things in the house behind the main building, which was the place in which we planned to sleep. We all had flashlights, our phones, and of course my cameras. We began exploring right away. At first we heard the usual little noises reverberating throughout the building.
None if us are paranormal investigators or any kind of technological experts. We are just three curious people who wanted to have an entire night to explore the place (and take a ton of pictures).
Every time I’ve ever been in the manor, I’ve had the feeling of being watched, and I think that’s a pretty common feeling with these places. The energy here has never felt negative to me, in spite of what Mr. Bagans has said in the past.
There were a few things we found that we did not quite agree with, but not everyone shares the same opinion when it comes to the paranormal. I noticed when we first walked through the building in the basement there were homemade Ouija boards, even though there were explicit instructions near the entrance forbidding them. The owners are against seances and Ouija boards. We also found pieces of paper with Joker written on them, which is the name given to one of the entities residing in the basement (check out my first article for more information on him), which suggests to me they were taunting him. I think this is why the spirit throws things, shoves people, and becomes agitated. One of the owners initially thought he had been locked in the padded room frequently, which implies he was mentally ill. So if they were taunting a mentally ill person, whether living or dead, to me it makes no difference it’s wrong. They were people, so to me they are still people even after death.
Upstairs at one point someone brought in a coffin and left it. The casket was not there the first time I visited. I noticed a ton of activity on that floor in that area. We all felt the casket was a large part of the activity–not that something was attached to the coffin in particular, but rather just what it represents.
The next few photos were taken in the basement, in one of the rooms off of the dining room. It has this old organ and other musical instruments in it.
After I got home, I noticed the anomalies in the next two photos.
We all three noticed activity in another room, the hangers rocked back and fourth in the closet, and Kat actually caught it on video. I captured orbs, and ectoplasm in the photos below.
My friend, Kat had quite a bit of activity in one room, with the name Cathie on the door. Every time she walked into the room or walked by it, her phone took pictures all by itself, but ONLY her phone. It was like that particular spirit identified with her for some reason.
The room below was the women’s and children’s room, and is supposed to be the room that a little girl haunts. The room is large, full of toys, and children’s books, with multiple twin-sized beds. My previous visit before this one, I had dropped off a picture book for the little girl, so while we were there, I read it to her. I also noticed a blue, silk flower on the floor, and we all talked about it. I photographed it, and we noticed it several times during the night.
Later in the evening, we were hearing noises reverberating throughout the first floor. Every time we were in one room, we heard noises in another, or on another floor. We found ourselves back in the room full of toys.
We all three sat down, and heard what sounded like a blood-curdling scream. Goosebumps rose on my arms, and my stomach dropped to my toes. It sounded like it came from outside. We all noticed when any of us went outside (especially one of us at a time) we heard voices on the grounds, but we were the only people there.
We looked out the window, attempting to find any logical explanation for what we were hearing…an injured animal, or an actual live person outside, which was even a scarier thought than a dead person. I worried about how we would get out of there safely if someone was outside. The car was outside, and all of our things had been unloaded in the building behind The Manor. Fear quickly disolved as we discovered the truth. The window was not sealed, and made a squealing sound against the curtain.
The building we stayed in behind The Manor has a main room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and two empty rooms. We stayed up really late exploring the main building, and then went back to get some rest. We brought some air mattresses (because two of us are older with health issues and cannot go an entire night without any sleep), so we went to the back building to rest for a bit. I noticed right away, especially once the sun went down that every single inch of the property had a vibe to it. I continuously felt eyes on me, and when I was outside by myself, I heard talking. Each time I had to go into the kitchen area, I felt extremely uncomfortable, because there were no blinds or curtains and with it being dark outside, anyone who wanted to could see right inside the window. As I looked from the kitchen window up at the Manor, I knew in my gut someone was looking back at me, and my daughter and friend felt the same. The photo below was taken the next morning from looking onto the patio toward that back building where we stayed.
The photo above is of the back of the building. My daughter saw an apparition in one of the back windows while she smoked right before she went to sleep.
As we slept in the building, we heard noises all night. The next day, I used the spirit box app on my phone the next morning. My daughter didn’t want to get out of bed. The words were: room, above, her, touch, and then once she realized what was happening, she jumped off of the mattress, and then the word: up. We were all a little taken aback. While she got ready, I began loading the car in the rain. While I was doing so, something blue blew by, landing briefly on the trunk of my car. I grabbed it, and my blood ran cold when I realized instantly what it was. It appeared to be a piece of the blue flower from the kid’s room or possibly part of a silk flower from one of the nearby graves. Either way, it was creepy.
Newspapers, photographs, and former resident’s belongings still sit on top of tables, beds, chairs, and every corner of the building, like they walked out in 2010 and never came back.
I have some exciting news concerning Edinburg Manor! I’ll be writing a fourth photography book about paranormal Iowa, published by Fonthill Media, the same publisher as my other three books, and Edinburgh Manor will be in the book.
Trish Eklund’s first book, Abandoned Nebraska: Echoes of Our Past, was released in November of 2018. Her second photography book, Abandoned Farmhouses and Homesteads: Decaying in the Heartland is due out in 2020, and a third due out in 2021. Trish’s photography has been featured on Only in Nebraska, Raw Abandoned, ListVerse, Nature Takes Over, Grime Scene Investigators, and Pocket Abandoned. She is the owner and creator of the photography website, Abandoned, Forgotten, & Decayed. Trish has an essay in the anthology: Voices From the Plains Volume III by Julie Haase, and the anthology: Hey, Who’s In My House? Stepkids Speak Out by Erin Mantz. Her writing has been featured on The Mighty, Huffington Post Plus, Making Midlife Matter, and Her View From Home. She has written four young adult novels and is hard at work on her first adult novel.
Photo of Trish by Don Shepard of Don Shepard Photography: Link.
Categories: Abandoned Buildings, Edinburgh Manor, The Manor, Paranormal, Haunted, Haunted Iowa, Trish Eklund, Uncategorized
