Inn at Carnall Hall scares up some ghostly phenomena

BY KATE WARD Northwest Arkansas

“ I’ve actually seen a full-body apparition, ” Ross said. “ I was coming out of one of the rooms in the basement, and my lead engineer was right behind me. When we walked out of the room, something caught our attention and we both turned at the same time. It didn’t have a head or feet — it was just a flowing gown. It came out of the wall, went across the hallway and went into another wall. ”

Though the encounter was one of many strange experiences witnessed by Ross, he’s not alone.

“ I went up to a room in the middle of the day, looking for a toy that a guest had lost, ” Macy Springer, front office manager, said. “ When I was leaving, something caught my attention, so I turned around and on the bed, next to the window, an indention was made. ”

As she tried to fluff the comforter, Springer said she felt resistance.

“ It was like someone was sitting on the edge of the bed, ” she said. “ As I was walking out, something caught my attention, and I when turned to take one more look, the indention was already back. I was like ‘ OK, whatever. ’ ”

Located on the University of Arkansas’ campus, the Inn at Carnall Hall was originally built in 1905 as the first women’s dormitory in the state. Last used as a dormitory in the 1960 s, Carnall Hall subsequently housed various academic departments and even a fraternity house before falling into disrepair and closing in 1991. The building was recently transformed into a 50-room hotel that also houses Ella’s restaurant — a dining establishment known for it’s traditional French cuisine.

Jason Reddecliff, the hotel manager, said similar unexplained phenomenon have been known to occur at another historic hotel in Arkansas.

“ I’ve stayed at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs a bunch of times, and usually, I get that creepy crawly feeling, ” he said. “ I’ve never had that feeling here, but some of the employees and guests have witnessed some strange things. Being at a historic hotel, you always have a ghost around somewhere. ”

After being abandoned for nearly a decade, Carnall Hall reopened in 2003. Since then, reports of strange experiences have continued to surface.

“ I was taking pictures for a room for a guest, and in the reflection of the furniture, you can see a face, eyes, a nose and a mouth, ” Springer said. “ The facial expression looked scared, like I had surprised them. ”

To put the ghostly rumors to rest, Reddecliff phoned the Central Arkansas Society of Paranormal Research Western Arkansas Division.

Founded in Hot Springs by Karen Shilling, CASPR has been in existence for nearly 10 years.

“ I’ve always been interested in the paranormal, particularly ghostly encounters, ” Shilling said. “ I’ve had so many personal experiences that I knew there was something that co-existed beside us in an unseen world. I wasn’t on a quest to prove to the world that ghosts exist, it was more of a personal quest. I also wanted to find people who were like minded. ”

It wasn’t until last November of this year that Shilling partnered with Shannon Huber and her husband to form a CASPR branch in Northwest Arkansas.

“ By having a branch up here, I knew we could reach an area that I couldn’t cover by myself, ” Shilling said.

Saturday marked the first investigation conducted by CASPR-WEST in Northwest Arkansas, but Huber hopes for it to be the first of many.

“ We’ve already had a little activity since we got here in my hotel room” Huber said. “ I turned the lights off in the bedroom and walked in to the bathroom, and when I came back out, the lights were all on again. ”

Huber said all paranormal investigations typically begin after dark.

“ Things tend to be more active at night, ” she said.

During the investigation, Huber said CASPR members utilize several thousand dollars of high tech sensory equipment.

“ We use digital cameras and camcorders with super night shot, ” she said. “ We also use electromagnetic field detectors and digital voice recorders. It’s an electronic voice phenomenon. When you play it back and hook it up to your equipment, you can hear something that might not be heard with the naked ear. ”

Huber said paranormal detection is conducted in a scientific manner.

“ We look at everything, ” she said. “ Some things can be explained, but the things that can’t be explained are paranormal. After we conduct the investigation, we submit the evidence and study it. Then, a few days later, we come back and tell them what we found. ”

Though Saturday marked Huber’s official investigation, Shilling is no stranger to Northwest Arkansas.

“ I’ve investigated many haunted locations in Arkansas and Missouri, ” she said. “ I investigated the Air Museum about two years ago, but unfortunately we didn’t find a whole lot. We also investigated a private residence in Fayetteville. ”

Huber said guests at Carnall Hall seemed curious as to what was going on.

“ We didn’t tell them what we were doing, ” she said. “ If they asked, we just told them that we were investigating some reports of paranormal activity. ”