It’s a fantastic accomplishment in such a short period of time, but there is still much more work to do. Not just renovations that still need to be done on the house, but for the construction of a free standing museum to show case the fascinating history of the Hinsdale House. Dan has already began accumulating artifacts that he wants to preserve and display. He has pictures of people that have lived in the Hinsdale with not only physical mementos that have need left behind but also EVPs and stories relevant to them. I have a lot of respect and admiration for what he is creating for the paranormal world now and for future investigators. He has an energy about him that cannot be denied and I am looking forward to doing a follow up Spot Light on Dan when he breaks ground on building the museum.
Dan Klaes has been intertwined with the paranormal realm long before he had set foot in the Hindsdale. As a child he lived in a home with living and sweetly mischievous spirits that resided there before his family moved in.
“I didn’t know what they were; I thought they were little ghosts. They were more like family to me. They would play pranks on us. They would draw on the ceiling. My sister would always her stuffed animals perfect on her bed every day. When would go back and they would all be in a pile in the middle of the floor. We could hear singing and hear creaking on the floor like someone was walking around the floor. Other things in the house would get moved around and you could see shadows. Nothing malicious at all at that house.
As an adult Dan went back to his childhood home and bought it for his family and it turns out that his children had similar experiences as he did growing up. He shares that his wife saw a little girl walking up the stairs. Singing could be heard. Once again stuff animals and other objects were moved around. Later he went to a psychic and without sharing any of his past or present experiences with the house she was able to to share that his house in fact was home to two child spirits; a boy and a girl. It turns out that the previous owners of the house had two children (a boy and a girl )that both died of cystic fibrosis. Dan had later found painting of the two children in the garage and in the attic of the house. Dan has a theory of why the children have stayed in the home.
"I think that is what they are attached to because they are of them in their childhood. Playing with a dog. Also, of scenes of them playing. They are really cute.”
What Dan is working hard toward is not for the fame, attention, or admiration. What drives him is preservation, education, and the seeking out the answers as to what lies ahead for all of us after the life in our physical bodies ends. At this time he is the co-founder of Greater Western New York Paranormal Society. This investigation team has been made up of the same six people since 2001;I find that very refreshing as more often or not teams loose members or dissolve completely within a year or two. All six share the same vision: For some day all things that are called paranormal or supernatural to become apart scientific law or understanding. The drive to knowledge and understanding is what keeps Dan and his team going. They understand that to find these answers, they cannot do it alone. Not only is the Hinsdale open to teams to investigate but Dan also has it open to the public for ghost tours. Dan explains that if a team is seeking a location for incredible evidence or if a curious person is seeking out an experience, The Hinsdale is the place to go. It is just about about unheard of for a person to set foot on the property and not have an experience of some kind.
Before one sets foot in the house the paranormal energy on the property in of itself is intense and it has reported that a lot of the activity began outside and worked its way into the house. The woods that surround the Hinsdale seem to be particularly active. A man on Dan’s team has been scratched. They have captured a picture of a white mist that appears to be the apparition of a woman hanging from a tree. Perhaps most interesting of all is the unusual orbs colored blue, yellow, and some purple. I myself have never heard of orbs of such colorations in all my research and interviews. These orbs have have been captured by many different people and some with very expensive, high quality cameras. The unexplained activity outsides seems to flow seamlessly to inside the house it self. An example of this is shown on the Haunted Hinsdale website has a fascinating and clear picture of a shadow figure standing just outside of an open door way. Dan shares that this is not an uncommon phenomena.
“A lot of person have seen him. He mostly stays on the outside of the house. Many psychics has picked him up and many people have captured him in pictures. We think that he is apart of the family, the brother that died in 1943. Although we had another family come up and said that thought that their dad was there. That the shadow figure could be him as well. That family had a cabin up the hill and they were very fascinated with the house. This family was related to the Midnicks that owned the house in the 80’s.”
Brace yourself when you step inside the front door of the Hinsdale. The paranormal normal world is alive, active, and intelligent. From full body apparitions to disembodied voices; it has all been experienced at the Hinsdale House. However there is one particular room dubbed “The Portal Room”, and for good reason. Dan does take people to this room often or go into it when he is on his own for that matter. Dan search heavily for the right words to that could shed light on what it is like to me in this room.
“I’ve never felt like something was going to follow me home. I’ve never felt scared to be in the house, but this room (what everyone calls The Portal Room) feels heavy when you walk in there. This room was actually boarded up and didn’t even use it. They said that is where everything was coming from. In the winter time there are flies in there. I don’t know where they come from but there are flies all in there like it is the summer time.”
Dan and his team are no strangers to cameras as their investigations are all uploaded on to their YouTube channel : GWNYS. Each episode is raw, informative, and professional. The camera work is of high quality and without unusual editing cuts which to me shows the integrity in the paranormal work that Dan and his team does. It was interesting to me when Dan pointed out that the spirits of the house are so use to having teams come in it seems like they have learned how to manipulate the equipment and can do so without being asked. Being use to having cameras around on an investigation helped prep Dan and the spirits of the Hinsdale House for an unexpected event. One day not to long ago Dan received an odd phone call. The gentleman on the other end wanting to know more about the house and being rather secretive at first. After more phone conversations it was revealed that the gentleman on the line worked with a paranormal investigator whom you (the readers) may or may not know and he was interested in investigating and filming at the Hindsdale. What an amazing opportunity for the Hinsdale to get the history of the house out there. My hope is when this is made public that it will lead to more donations when a large audience learns the importance of the Hinsdale not just for the paranormal field but to preserve the history and people that created that history.
“I get a lot of requests for filming but something about this request for me was different. They knew about the house and very knowledgeable about the history. I liked what they had researched already; which told me what they were going to do with the filming. They were going to present truth to what has actually happened there. They knew there stuff and I gave them a shot.”
When it came time for the actual filming and investigation Dan was right there working the film team the whole way. The energy and dynamic that Dan had with the crew made it feel like to him that he had been investigating with them for years. Dan shared with me that it was a very successful filming and investigation. Naturally he could not give all the juicy details away. What fun would that be?
“It was very very natural. He definitely knows his stuff and is probably one of the nicest people I have ever met. Any questions I had he answered them. He is a great investigator and teacher. He comes up with a lot of good ideas and experiments and different ways to handles things when you are investigating. It was very interesting and cool to watch him work. He took some chances and tried a few things. It was really cool.”
One thing that Dan would really like to add into his own investigations is the spirit box that costs about $1,000.00 and created by George Brown and it uses EMF, radio waves, and vibration as opposed to just the radio waves. Dan reported that the spirits seemed to have an easy time manipulating it and using it to communicate. It makes sense to me as it is believed that spirits are on all different vibrational levels, that if something was created to be on the same plain as they are it would be easier for them to use the device.
“George’s theory is that often a spirit is trying to communicate, but there is no way for them to speak. So he incorporated the ghost box, the EMF, and the vibration that work simultaneously together.”
Dan spends a lot of time in the house not just in investigating, but also in giving tours and over seeing the renovation of the house. There are plenty of stories out there of folks that have become obsessed with a haunted location to the point that it seems that the spirits of the location seem to take over and control the person. That does not seem to be the case with Dan. He has not experienced any negative entities following home. Though he has seen and been involved with cases off possession Dan himself calls in a priest as he and his team are not comfortable in dealing into such cases on their own. Though there is a spirit of a woman named Flo that seems to always be around to answer Dan and be around him when he is in the house.
With the advancement in technology, the expanding knowledge life and death on Earth and the wider range of acceptance of the paranormal world Dan is optimistic that within his lifetime that a deeper understanding of what happens to us after we leave this physical world will be found. What I learned from Dan during with interview was to be prepared and look at the greater picture. When I research people to do the Paranormal Spot Lights on I see now that I really brush the surface of what the people I want to feature are all about. I felt that I went into this interview with Dan very unprepared. I thought I was going just going to talk about the restoration of an old historic, haunted house. I wasn’t expecting to get a peek inside the mind of a man with a grand vision for the future of paranormal research. I’m not going to lie at first I was rather intimidated by him at first. If he sensed my uncertainty he did not make note of it to me. He really is an inspirational man with a goal greater than himself in his soul. He wants to share with spirits and history of the Hinsdale with everyone with a willingness to open their minds and see beyond this physical world we live in. He wants to also make note that the Hinsdale and the spirits that live there are not evil or malicious. Despite the history and the exorcism that took place there is it not a poltergeist house or a place to be thrill seeking. Since the exorcism there have been no reporting of any true demonic or very malicious encounters taking place since then.
To get in contact with Dan you can follow him on Twitter: @DanKlaes. Also, follow the office Twitter fort the Haunted Hinsdale project: @HauntedHinsdale.
Dan’s Facebook: www.facebook.com/danklaes
Also, search for the Haunted Hinsdale Restoration Project on Facebook
Follow Dan’s Team on Twitter: @GWYNS
To donate, book an investigation or tour, and get more information on the Hinsdale House got to:
http://www.hauntedhinsdalehouse.com
Dan Klaes of the Haunted Hinsdale House