Locations Visited: Central Bar Market
Background Information (Central Bar Market):
The Central Bar Market was founded in 1866 by a business-stallion named Braeburn. Today, it's owned by a descendent of his, Braeburn IV. The building is teeming with activity, stemming from the many deaths that occurred in the building, the first being Braeburn's own death from a heart attack in his office in 1874. Employees report feelings of chest pains whenever they sit in the office's chair for several minutes. The Appleloosa Hose Company's Rescue Squad has been called over no less than 5 times for these incidents over a period of 30 years.
Meanwhile, in 1885, a tragic mining accident at the Gravelson Mine left 32 miners dead. Because the coroner's office was overburdened by the tragedy, the bodies were temporarily stored in a 3-storey high storage room in the Central Bar Market. Numerous people have reported that the room stays cold even when the temperature exceeds 40 degrees celsius outside, as well as EVPs.
The 2nd and 3rd floors are currently used a storage, but until the 1960s, the 2nd floor housed a casino. In 1932, a casino patron was shot and killed when he was caught cheating by another patron. The murderer was eventually electrocuted for the crime at the Old Dodge Junction Prison in 1933. The Casino closed in 1964 and moved across the street. On the 2nd floor, one employee remembers hearing a gunshot followed by screaming and shouting in a room, but when he opened the door, it was completely empty.
The 3rd floor was a hotel until 1935 and was often frequented by miners and prostitutes alike in the late 1800s to early 1900s. In 1899, a local prostitute was found brutally murdered in Room 13. Thus began a series of 5 murders in the area until 1902, when the perpetrator, Red Bounce, was caught attempting to kidnap another woman. He too was executed in the Old Prison, this time by hanging in 1904, making it the last of its kind in the Appleloosa Province. After him came the Electric Chair Era. Mares and fillies who go into Room 13 often feel uncomfortable, even when they don't know the room's dark past.
I had first heard of the haunting a here several years back, when me and Octavia had been part of an orchestra that had gone to Appleloosa for a competition. At the time, Vinyl Scratch had been with us as well. We visited the bar and overheard several employees talking about an incident where one of them noticed a mist in Room 13. I went over and talked to them. I had no idea that we had been drinking in a haunted building!
Shortly after the competition, Vinyl reported seeing a figure staring at her from the 2nd floor. We went over to check with Braeburn, but he said no one was on the 2 abandoned floors at the time. Thus began my fascination with the building. After returning to Ponyville, I went on a ghost hunting forum and, to my surprise, found out that barely anypony had ever heard of this highly active location, with most of them being focused on the old prison in Dodge Junction.
Since information was needed for the investigation, I contacted Applejack about the Apple family's past. She provided invaluable information about Braeburn's branch of the family. She stated that the Apple family owned and operated many businesses in the Appleloosa area, including the Gravelson Mine, during the 1800s and 1900s. Even today, the Apple family, specifically Braeburn's branch, remain a powerful force in business and politics in the Province of Appleloosa. When I mentioned the hauntings at the Central, she told me that she was not surprised about how much activity there was.
ACCOUNT OF THE INVESTIGATION:
The 3 of us began the investigation at 19:00 Hours, or 7:00 PM. We spent the first 30 minutes setting up 6 static cameras throughout the building: 1 in the bar, 1 in Room 13, 2 in the large storage room, 1 in the old Craps Room on the 2nd floor, where the murder took place, and 1 in the old office.
At 19:45, Octavia said, "Let's host an EVP session in the bar. Braeburn said that there are many voices heard in the main dining area." I agreed and the 3 of us went into the dining room.
At 19:47, I began recording with a digital voice recorder. To begin, I said, "If there is anypony in here, you are free to talk to us. We won't harm you. We're nice people. We love conversations." I recorded for 2 minutes before I turned the recorder off and played back the audio.
To our surprise, we got something. At the 1:45 mark, it captured footsteps. We did not hear this at all at the time it was recorded. Then, at 2:06, a faint male voice was heard. We believe it says, "Welcome." Yet again, we initially didn't hear this.
Now it was Lyra's turn. Holding a TriField EMF Meter, she began recording and said, "Thanks for the kind words. Do you have anything else to say?" She recorded for 3 minutes.
At 19:53, we all heard a disturbing EVP say, in a low-pitched voice, "Get you..." Octavia said, "Holy [expletive], did you hear that?" Lyra quickly replied, "I did. I just [expletive]ing did. That was freaking creepy."
I replied to the voice, "Who is going to get us? Are you Red Bounce?" We got no reply and decided at 19:54 to split up.
Octavia went upstairs to the 3rd Floor. She sat in the hallway and received no activity initially. Then, just as she was about to leave, at 20:03, she heard footsteps, which were also captured on the camera's audio and her recorder's audio. At this time, on the X Camera in Room 13, the footsteps were heard, and a small mist appeared for a split second near a window. At the same time, Octavia's EMF meter had a spike in activity.
She quickly asked, "Who are you?" After recording for 2 minutes, she played back her recorder and at the 1:22 mark, heard a voice say, "Who are you?" This disturbed Octavia. She replied, "I'm Octavia Melody. Are you the mare murdered here?"
After recording for 3 minutes, she played the tape back again. She received a clear response at the 1:56 mark. At that time, a female voice said, "Yes." Octavia could be heard reacting to the EVP with shock. She then followed up by giving the mare her condolences. She said, "I'm sorry Red Bounce murdered you. What he did was horrible. I was sexually abused myself when I was younger. Nopony should ever have to go through that pain. Nopony. If you feel trapped here, you shouldn't. You are free to go and move on."
After 5 minutes of recording, she got no response, so she left. However, at 20:18, the X Camera in Room 13 picked up what sounded like a female crying for approximately 30 seconds.
Lyra went to the large storage room. At 20:15, before she entered the room, the X Camera in the room picked up one of the most compelling pieces of evidence to date. A full-bodied apparition walked past the camera and disappeared. Lyra had no idea what she was in for.
She went in at 20:17 and began using an EMF Meter to try and pick up unexplained EMF activity. She didn't have to wait long, because 2 minutes in, she received a large spike in activity, a whopping increase from 0.2 to 3.5 in 2 seconds. At the same time, the X Camera in the room picked up footsteps nearby that Lyra was unable to hear.
Lyra immediately asked, "Who is here with me?" She waited 6 minutes and received no response. She decided to leave after this.
I went to the 2nd Floor to investigate the Craps Room. I started by asking a series of questions in regards to gambling. After asking 3 questions, I got a response in the form of a loud bang on the wall in the room. I jumped up and cursed. I then asked, "Do you think you overreacted when you killed the cheater?"
The response I got over my Digital Voice Recorder was chilling. It said, "Die." I didn't realise I got this until I played back the recorder. I decided that, for my own safety, I would return downstairs at 20:03. At 21:25, unexplained footsteps were heard from the X Camera in the Craps Room.
At 21:00, we all met back downstairs. For the next 5 hours, we analysed the footage we had received so far.
At 02:00, we resumed the investigation and went together onto the 3rd floor. By that point, the X-Camera had also captured unexplained footsteps at least 3 times over the 5-hour-period.
We went to Room 13 together and decided to ask more questions. For the first 32 minutes, we received no replies. Then, Lyra asked "What do you want to do to Red Bounce?"
The response was sudden. We all heard a low-pitched growl come from outside of the room. Lyra said, "Holy [expletive]. That is [expletive]ing demonic."
At the same time, our DVR captured a male voice say, "Shut up."
For another 26 minutes, we received nothing. Then, Lyra felt a slight tug on her mane and shouted "Sweet Celestia, what the [expletive]?!"
I replied, "Red Bounce, you don't scare us!" Then, we all heard another growl. We all ran to the 1st Floor in fear of what would happen next.
The next several hours were quite uneventful, apart from a few odd footsteps here and there.
We wrapped up our investigation up at 7:00 in the morning. By then, everypony was visibly shaken by the investigation, but we were happy that we had collected proof of the building's hauntings.
CONCLUSION:
After reviewing our evidence for several days, we presented Braeburn with what we collected. He was certainly shaken and disturbed by what we had seen and heard. He said that now, he could rest easy at night, knowing that he and his fellow employees weren't crazy.
Rating: Definitely haunted. Not for the faint of heart.