I'm sure those pros agree that, as a paranormal investigator, it's my goal — as well as the goal of every member of Jersey Unique Minds Paranormal Society — to present the truth.
So, when JUMPS was asked to fabricate paranormal activity, it was a very different request from what we usually get.
"Late last year, we were contacted by a former client," said JUMPS Founder and CEO Doug Hogate Jr. "He wrote a script and someone bought it, and he said he wanted JUMPS to be a part of it."
The movie, called "Remorse," is the story of Doug and Lori, an engaged couple who purchase an historic mansion to restore and live in happily ever after.
One evening, after leaving a party where the couple got into an argument, there's a car accident and Lori dies.
Doug decides to continue restoring the house, as it was their dream, and eventually begins to witness paranormal activity.
During a trip to the local hardware store, Doug learns that an evil woman formerly lived in the home where she tortured children in the basement.
That's where JUMPS comes in.
"He said he wanted JUMPS to be investigators in the film," Hogate said.
So, we traveled to Horsham, Pennsylvania, to visit the Penrose Strawbridge Mansion — a real, historic location — where "Remorse" was being shot.
"The idea was basically, we investigate the claims that were written into the movie script," Hogate said.
The movie legend is that an evil woman would bring children over from Ireland to be servants on her farm, but she would keep them in the basement, and periodically gas them and kill them all.
"The hardest part was that we had to act like we were experiencing something, but it was just for the movie," Hogate said. "It was hard to fake it. The most difficult thing was to react to something that wasn't there."
However, to make it a bit more believable, Hogate and JUMPS Director of Operations BJ Hoffman made sure to startle us by dropping things in the dark, slamming doors and making it like a Halloween haunted house. I loved it.
While the movie shoot was fun and a great opportunity for us, Hogate discovered that the building has real paranormal claims and inquired about conducting an actual investigation at the location.
"While we were there, I spoke to the people who live there now and they told me about some real activity that happens there," he said.
Claims include footsteps, voices, shadows and a reaction to smoking.
"Apparently the former owner didn't like anyone to smoke in the house," Hogate said. "One time, the current owner went to light a cigar and someone touched him. He said if anyone smoked, that got a reaction."
During the investigation in June, JUMPS investigators did, in fact, witness some unexplained footsteps and captured a few EVPs (electronic voice phenomenon) on digital audio recorders.
"We got an EVP while three investigators were on the first floor in the living room," Hogate said. "They were doing an EVP session when a voice was recorded that sounds like '(something) right here.'"
Hogate joined them shortly after that EVP was captured and asked if there was something hidden on the property.
"The property owner asked us to see if we could find out where she hid her riches," Hogate said. "According to legend, the original owner hid either jewelry, gold or money somewhere on the property."
Just after he asked if there was anything valuable hidden on the property, a voice was captured but the words aren't clear.
In addition to the EVPs, Hogate was in one room with another investigator when they both heard footsteps in the next room.
"We went to look and couldn't find what it was," he said. "One of the other teams was two floors up and the other was on the far side of the house, in a separate basement."
The last piece of personal experience came when an old radiator on the first floor shook on its own. The radiator system wasn't on because it was summer and the weather was warm.
"That scared us," Hogate admitted.
So while the real evidence wasn't as "dramatic" as the staged scares, Hogate said he thinks it's possible that the Penrose Strawbridge House may have a spiritual resident.
"Based off the claims and the evidence we got, I think it's just as the current owners guessed," he said. "I think the former owners could still be there living in the house. But she still has a say in things. If you smoke in the house, she has a fit."
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