Centro Asturiano de Tampa
October 21, 2007
Pictures (above) from Mary. Digital camera.
Brandy's report:
10-21-07
6:20 - 8:55 p.m.
Rainy conditions
Present: Brandy, Denise, Mary, Debbie, Evie, and potentials: Jesse, Kim.
Reporter and manager.
This was not our typical investigation style. We arrived at the Centro Asturiano of Tampa at 6 p.m. and started our investigation at 6:20. The manager gave us a brief history of the location:
In 1902 a committee of ten members of the Centro Asturiano of Havana, residents of Tampa, created the original club. Its primary focus was as a health center to help others coming into the Tampa Bay area. The original hospital was located in a separate building than the one that we were investigating, and was more of a day clinic (run, according to the manager, similarly to the first HMO).
The original club building was built in 1907, but burned down in 1910. The second building, the one currently standing, was created in 1914. The building has three main floors: the first floor, including a gymnasium, where the men used to hang out, the second floor, where women stayed, and the third floor, containing a ballroom, for the children. It is the third largest theatre in Tampa, holding 1040 seats, and was formerly the largest theatre (as recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records).
The club was initially connected with a hospital, which closed in 1991.
In the 1930’s, during the Spanish Civil War, there were two flagpoles, which flew the two flags. The arguments between supporters of both factions who attended the club drove the president of the organization to remove the flagpoles early one morning.
In 1974, the building was added to the Register of Historic Places. Al Lopez, a well known sports figure, was also a member of the club.
After the discussion on the history of the building, the SPIRITS were taken on a tour.
Second Floor:
Office: 2.6 EMF, 74 degrees.
Contained one of the original safes of the area.
Office 2: 2.8 EMF, 74 degrees.
Storage room (former ticket room) and Hallway: 1.4 EMF, 72 degrees.
Library: 1.2 EMF, 75 degrees. Note: The library holds old documents and images of Spain, etc.
Theatre: Upon entering, Evie and I both had strange EMF activity on the meter. The EMF ranged from 1.2 to 3.0, and the needle went back and forth. The meter typically does this with cell phones, but no one had a cell phone with them. The wiring was checked and it did not cause EMF to fluctuate.
Standard EMF picked up to a 1.6. It felt hot in there, despite registering only 74-75 degrees. EMF registered on the stage (there was an electrical box). I felt dizzy walking across the stage, but the manager did tell us that the stage was slanted (for “up stage” to make the actors look taller) which explains that sensation. We climbed into the balcony and the stairways around the stage; no real activity, though there was a lot of dust. I felt dizzy on the stairs, but it was likely a reaction to the dust, or my own fatigue.
Tried to get readings, asked if anyone was present with us. EMF did not respond.
Third floor: Ballroom
74 degrees, EMF 1.0
I noticed rather unusual orb images on my camera. The orbs appeared to be in the same area, but upon further examination I believe that they were caused by pollutants in the air.
I did try to see if anyone was with us after I had a spike on the EMF meter.
(spike)
Q: Is anyone here with us?
Spike.
Q: Can you confirm that you are here?
No response.
Q: Can you confirm that you are here? Spike.
Needle dropped to 1.0; there was no response when I asked “Are you male?” and “Are you female?”
First floor: On the way to the first floor, we observed some possible lightning outside.
La Condita: This contains the longest onyx bar in the world.
This was the former billiards room. EMF was 1.2 – 1.3 EMF, room was 72 degrees.
Below ground: basement: Gymnasium. EMF 1.2. It also contained a racketball court and basketball court: 1.4 – 1.2 EMF.
First floor stairwell: Denise suggested that we do an EVP session. I asked questions and the reporter translated them into Spanish. The only things of subsequent response were to the following questions:
(With the pre-instructions to make the meter spike for yes).
Are you associated with the theatre? (Spike)
Are you an actor? (no response).
Manager: Are you a caretaker? (Spike)
Did you live on the 4th floor? (no response).
Do you know the manger? (Spike).
It did not respond to any of the dates that we asked it (Were you alive in the 1900s….etc.)
Discussion of investigation:
Kim: 2 cold spots in theatre (near orchestral pit)
Mary: Cold spot at railing of orchestral pit; good orb captured in Salon
Jesse: Apple perfume smell (but we did determine that one of our members may have worn that).
Debbie: Orbs in theatre, feeling of catwalk that someone was standing there; ballroom felt “heavy”
Evie: Theatre: Might be someone there; EMF reading when we got in there.
Jeanne: Theatre, her EMF did jump
Brandy: Balcony had orbs (determined to be dust), odd EMF reading in theatre.
Denise left early due to not feeling well. She said that the only thing she felt was pulling her to the first floor; the only name she got was “Heather”.
Manager report: Felt watched in theatre. All other questions for the homeowner document were “no”.
Brandy’s research: Spoke with Maureen Patrick (of the Ybor tours; a wonderful local area historian). She said that there were two stories related to the building – a presence in the theatre and a presence in the gymnasium. We had no more information on the ghost stories. The manager has a video with a story of the haunting of the building, but we were not able to view it (City TV: CTTV, channel 15 – 2004).
Post investigation: This was not our typical investigation. Due to the size of the building, the lateness of the investigation, fatigue weighing on several of the members (myself included), we did not go back through to the areas of activity. We did agree that the theatre is where we would like to concentrate our time when we go back.
The post investigation did not produce much; I did look at over 250 images and determined that the orbs that I have are all produced by dust. My 25-minute film also produced nothing, including the EMF attempt.
The building is a gorgeous place and well worth the visit. I am sorry that I did not know of it before – it is a magnificent architectural structure and a valid piece of Tampa history. The haunting appears to be mild, friendly (and quiet) and associated with the theatre itself. This matches up with standard ghost haunts – theatres are quite popular. I would like to go back to do just the theatre and see if we can hone in on the entity any more.
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Jeanne's Report:
Central Asturiano Club. Six members of the SPIRITS and two potential new members were present for this investigation. We met in a meeting room with the manager of the club, and a newspaper reporter. She is doing a story on our investigation. The manager told us some of the history of the place, then took us on a tour. We took some of our equipment along on the walk through. First we saw some of the offices, then continued around the halls and into the theatre. The theatre was large, and when we walked along the front row of the seats, I got an spike on my EMF meter. I hovered around that area to see if it would happen again, but it didn't. We went up on the stage and saw that there were several floors with dressing rooms on either side. We walked up the stairs and looked around on those floors. It was dark, and a little precarious, so I came back down earlier than some of the rest. We looked around in the balcony, then went to the ballroom on the upper floor. I got no unusual EMF readings or anything in my pictures there. We went down to the bottom floor to see the gymnasium. Then we stopped and rested on the stairs for a while to review our pictures, etc. We decided to try a question and answer session for EVP's. We used Debbie's computer and Brandy's EMF meter. Unfortunately, I didn't have my recorder with me because we never went back up to the meeting room to get the rest of our equipment. Brandy was asking the questions, and our reporter was repeating them in Spanish. We got meter spikes to many of the questions. I don't know if any EVP's were captured. Debbie is reviewing them. By this time, it was getting late, and we decided to wrap it up for the night. We discussed returning for further investigation at another time, and the manager agreed to let us do it. The place is very large, and we would happily go there again. When I checked my photos later, I didn't get anything unusual. Only one with a small orb that looks like dust.
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Centro Asturiano Tampa
10-21-2007
Debbie’s Report
What does one say to a to a request to ghost hunt a building with a cultural history that can trace it’s clubs members heritage back to 7th century Spain? Well, you say, “We’ll be right there!” and that is pretty much how the SPIRITS of St Petersburg became acquainted with a stunning portion of Tampa history, The Centro Asturiano Club.
SPIRITS members, Brandy, Mary, Evie, Jeanne, Denise and myself along with 2-potential members arrived on an overcast rainy Sunday evening at the Centro Asturiano Club in Tampa. We were introduced to the general manager who briefly touched on the nearly 100 years of social Spanish history of this beautiful 3-story building. Complete with ballroom and a full theatre the ghost hunters of the SPIRITS went right to work. Though we were unable to fully utilize our standard hunting techniques, we were able to cover a vast amount of space within the walls of the club in approximately 3-hours.
It is hard to imagine that with a building this old and this lovingly preserved that a kindred spirit or two does not linger in some form of a place-memory or residual energy. I would have been very happy to sit quietly for several hours in either the Ballroom or the Theatre, with its 1004 seats, in the dark, just filming with IR and listening. We believe we may have encountered one male entity that was a past caretaker of the theatre but no EVPs were encountered. We did use our representative reporter from the Centro mi Diario or Centro Tampa Newspaper as an interrupter. When listening for EVPs I tried to listen with an ear towards Spanish as well, however, no evps were recorded. No evidence of phenomena in any pictures or on film was captured.
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Evie's report
First I would like to say that I felt sincerely honored to be permitted to tour the building. There is an incredible amount of history in that building and a lot of artifacts so I would be surprised if there was NO paranormal activity.
The only place I felt there might be something was in the theater. When we first walked in, my emf meter started going crazy and it lasted about 20 seconds and went back to normal. I could not find anything in the area that woud recreate that type of meter reaction. I did not have any bad feelings anywhere in the building but I do feel there is someone watching over the theater.
Because of the size of the building, we were unable to do our usual thorough investigation but if we were allowed to go back, I think we should concentrate our efforts in the theater area.
Out of 21 pictures, I had 5 with possible orbs.
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Jesse's report:
History: In the past this was a club for Spanish and Cuban immigrants that came to the US and worked in a lot of the factories in the area. The club was used as a social gathering. First floor was for men, second was for women, and the third floor was for the children. The Club also offered an HMO health care for its members. At its peak there were around 15,000 members making it the largest immigrant club in the area. Currently the restaurant is still open for business Tue – Fri for lunch. The theater is still active, which contains 1040 seats, 3rd largest theater in Tampa. The gym has long since been abandoned.
Investigation: Do to the size and time constraints this was more of a preliminary investigation. I arrived on site around 5:50pm. It was light rain and a little gloomy out. As I was sitting in the car waiting, I was hoping for heavy rain and a lot of lighting, being close to Halloween it would have been a nice touch for the old lovely building. The building is a large square building, and looks to be made from red brick that’s been painted. Do to the widening of the roads, they are now within a few feet of the main entrance. Everyone arrived right around 6:00pm. After a quick introduction with the reporter and manager, we headed inside.
I took the outside stairs to the second floor. We meet up in a café/bar area. The room had old dark wood card tables, the corners covered in decorative metal. Each corner had a boxed in area under the table. I guess that was to place your drink to keep from knocking it over on the cards? But really not sure. With the dark small decorative tiles on the floor, really gave the place an old cafe feel. After offering everyone some coffee, we headed over to the meeting room.
The meeting room had a long table and some old documents on the walls. Here we sat and listen to some of the history behind the place. Then we headed out to do a tour and some light investigating along the way. I was running video. From there we went across the hall to the office area. Had one of the original safes located in there, otherwise pretty much an office area, it did have a easy button to push on one of the desks. Continuing down the hall on the 2nd floor was a liquor closet, and museum area. At the end of the hall was the entrance to the theater.
The theater area is fairly large. Doesn’t look like much updating has been done, but it just adds to the character of the theater. Original seats and a large stage area. On both sides of the stage are dressing rooms, with stairs going up to different levels. We ventured up the stairs in the dark to check things out up top, wasn’t much up there, but the area could use a little dusting. After wondering around the stage a little longer and through the chairs, we headed up to the 3rd floor.
This is where the Ball room is located. In the corner of the room there is a raised platform for bands to play, and a large wood dance floor for the main area. The wood floor was very creaky every place you stepped. After a few minutes here we headed into the balcony of the theater. Additional seats and statues lined the walls and a clear view of the stage down below. We spent some time here, but nothing exciting happened. So we headed down to the first floor.
On first floor is the restaurant and kitchen, we did not have access to these areas. Also located here is the men’s member only gym. Which is now used mostly for storage. Inside was a racket ball, basketball, exercise, and a shower area. There was some exercise equipment still in there, looked like it hadn’t been used in 50 years. In the shower area, there was a old wood sauna box, the kind you stick your head out a hole and close the door. So I took one for the team and climbed inside. Was hoping for some kind of interaction with the paranormal from past energy, since I’m thinking there have been a ton a hot sweaty naked men in it, but didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary. Wonder if that’s why none of the women got in there? So after my photo shoot in the sauna we headed back out to the main hall on the first floor. Here we started some EVP work.
Brandy asked most of the questions. The reporter would ask the same question in Spanish. I’m still intrigued how the EMF beeps in response to questions vs when no questions are being asked. From there we headed back to the meeting room on the 2nd floor to discuss what we had found.
At the time, I had found nothing, and experienced nothing. After careful review of the video, audio, and the couple photos, I still found nothing. With the roads being so close to the building you do pick up a lot of extra noises, still nothing that sounded like a EVP, on the first floor there is a motor that whines down, and it sounds like it’s saying getout getout getout when you’re on the 2nd floor.
This is a very interesting place with a lot of history. I would like to spend more time there to see if anything does go bump in the night.
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Kim's report:
As I reported on site, the only things I noted were the "cold spots" near the rail at the orchestra pit towards the left as you face the stage and another one on the stage towards the left front while facing the audience. I really did not get any other senses that there was anything else going on in that building at all.
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12-17-07
Investigation: 12/17/07 1:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Kimberly
Began quiet walkthrough, with Mary and Jesse. On first walkthrough, did sense cold spot along the audience wall, stage right in the first and second sections. Checked for air leakage from outside, but none in that area. Mary's thermometer also showed large temperature variations in that general area. The second time we walked back through, I did sense an energy that was following me as I walked up the aisle to the stairs to the balcony.
When I was on the balcony, I got a spike on the EMF meter almost dead center of the balcony, as well as a sensation of an energy around me. I walked away for several minutes and returned to that spot, and once again the meter spiked.
As we were on the balcony and Brandy was asking questions in the far corner, she asked if the entity was a custodian. The meter spiked in response to this question.
Upon the full group's return to the balcony, the meter spiked when asked if the entity enjoyed watching the dancers, and if the woman entity was his spouse. The meter also spiked when asked if it gave "disinformation."
Interestingly, I also had a sense of the entity (cold sensations) in the same spots as on our previous investigation at the railing stage right of the orchestra pit, and on the stage toward the left side.
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Centro
12-17-07
1:45 p.m.
64 degrees
EMF set on the 0 – 100 scale
Note that air comes in from the outside; temp is 62 degrees nearer to the wall.
Upstairs: Tense energy reported by Verna. ON the stairwell, close to the stairwell the energy started.
She believes that he, a male entity who is well dressed in a white suit with matching black tie, hat with black stripe (Panama style?) stays in this area. I asked “Are you present” and I had a spike on the meter. I asked if it would confirm, and the meter did not respond. It also did not respond to gender questions. Verna sensed that he was a regular here; he was a nice dresser. He may have been from the 1950s. EMF responded to “music”, “are you a member of the theatre” are you an “overseer, custodian, of the theatre” and “Do you know the manager”. Temperature dropped from 65 – 63.
We went into the balcony near the ballroom doorway; Verna heard laughter. EMF was at a 1.2, staff from Centro may have been in the ballroom. Temperature flux from 64 – 66 degrees.
First floor: On the right side of the front section there were temperature drops reported. Temps went from 64.9 – 51.7 according to another thermometer used by the group. Several reported that the 3rd seat in the 1st row in the second group of seats had a woman sitting in it.
Al, the manager, did say that men gave away their seats to women for the front rows. Men would often sit on the balcony.
Kim also said that she felt an energy near the orchestra pit.
While we were discussing the investigation, Mary and Verna both noted that they saw a man walking on the catwalk. Al reports that he had several people report seeing a man on the catwalks who vanishes as soon as he is spotted.
We believe that there are two separate entities that were interacting with us. We went up to the catwalks to see if the other entity would communicate with us. Verna felt that he was ashamed and elusive. No real results up there.
We returned to the balcony and asked additional questions. The entity responded to:
Likes Christmas, New Years, Is a patron of the arts, likes dances. Likes to watch the dances. He prefers Spanish. He confirmed that he likes to watch dances. He is Catholic and Spanish. When asked what years he remembers, the meter spiked on 1977, with a spike, 1971, 1967, and 1964. He responded to being married, that his wife came here, and she sometimes comes post death with him. He is in the ballroom, he interacts with others, he knows the curator. There are three spirits in the theatre, one is not nice. One or two come and go. This spirit said that he was a joke teller, and told “tales” (lies), he likes to be here, and that he knows Al.
At the end of the session, I interviewed one Centro employee. She reported that she felt a presence on the stage about 2 years ago when they were re-doing the stage floor. She felt someone standing right behind her, hovering behind her. When she turned around, there was no one there.
12-21-07
Note: Checked outer walls again and saw that several spots where we had drafts last time had been sealed.
Video Review:
Balcony:
1st few minutes: beeps heard, determine that this is Jesse’s video equipment.
Interview with Night Staff. Reports seeing a woman in long dress. A few weeks ago he and another employee heard voices coming from the ballroom. Voices and music were heard in the ballroom around 6 p.m. The voices spoke English.
Four years ago he saw an old man and an old woman standing on the stage, holding hands.
I asked him specifically about the man in the balcony. He reports a well-dressed man in old fashioned clothing. I asked him to describe the outfit – it was a black suit, hat, and out fit. The man in the balcony is different than the ones on the first floor.
Reports hearing creaking across the floors.
Ballroom: As we go into the ballroom, the ice maker is on and can be heard in the background.
Verna asked if there was someone upstairs, hears someone upstairs. Not sure if anyone is on the roof as she heard that Latin music and people talking. At that time we dismissed it, but later we determine that the party has not yet started. I set the camera down on the bar to record. After about 15 minutes, I pick the camera up again. We are trying to get the entity to communicate with us. Verna and Debbie start pcking up an area of activity. We try to record the entity via EVP and video with no response. We started to feel some heat and we were looking around the area to determine where the heat would come from. Suddenly, there was a white orb moving across the screen. It appeared o move into the area of activity reported earlier….I had not recorded any dust a Voices and music were heard in the ballroom around 6 p.m. I do not have my camera light on at all during the investigation; video shows only theatre lighting and nothing else. I cannot determine why this image appeared. After reviewing it, and the rest of the footage, several times, and also comparing this rod with dust images, I determined that there was a difference between dust and the rod. I shut the camera down for a moment to show others the rod image…We continued with the video of the room. I video the room again, then set the camera down. Still no dust or replica images. As we finish up and get ready to move to the ballroom, there is a popping sound heard – both of us – Verna and I – heard it. It does not seem to appear on video. Immediately after Verna asks “What was that?” another rod goes across the top of the screen. At one point, I said “Just let it show up for us” and a final image moves across the bottom of the screen. Those were the only images on the video that showed up only when the entity was questioned.
Verna asked if there was someone upstairs, hears someone upstairs. Not sure if anyone is on the roof as she heard that Latin music and people talking. At that time we dismissed it, but later we determine that the party has not yet started. I set the camera down on the bar to record. After about 15 minutes, I pick the camera up again. We are trying to get the entity to communicate with us. Verna and Debbie start pcking up an area of activity. We try to record the entity via EVP and video with no response. We started to feel some heat and we were looking around the area to determine where the heat would come from. Suddenly, there was a white orb moving across the screen. It appeared o move into the area of activity reported earlier….I had not recorded any dust a Voices and music were heard in the ballroom around 6 p.m. I do not have my camera light on at all during the investigation; video shows only theatre lighting and nothing else. I cannot determine why this image appeared. After reviewing it, and the rest of the footage, several times, and also comparing this rod with dust images, I determined that there was a difference between dust and the rod. I shut the camera down for a moment to show others the rod image…We continued with the video of the room. I video the room again, then set the camera down. Still no dust or replica images. As we finish up and get ready to move to the ballroom, there is a popping sound heard – both of us – Verna and I – heard it. It does not seem to appear on video. Immediately after Verna asks “What was that?” another rod goes across the top of the screen. At one point, I said “Just let it show up for us” and a final image moves across the bottom of the screen. Those were the only images on the video that showed up only when the entity was questioned.We tried to question the entity (custodian) in the lower rooms. No response. We tried to go downstairs to communicate with him (replicate our first interview) with no luck. Panned across the theatre seats, nothing.
We tried to do an interview downstairs, but there was too much noise and no real response.
We attempted to do an EVP in the balcony with little response. We seem to have attracted the female entity, but she was not highly responsive. We asked if we went downstairs if she would manifest for us, and the needle spiked.
The first floor had a “hot spot” that was observed by several individuals in the far right section of the theatre. Meter did respond only to confirm that she was there. After we had no other response did we go back up to the balcony, which is when the mist appeared on the IR cameras.
Mist discussion: We have some debate to the mist. I believe that it is paranormal as it does not dissolve, as mists tend to do, but cohesively manifests on tape, moves to the right, then down, then vanished. The problem is that during the filming with the IR cameras, the site was disrupted as a party was set up downstairs. Lights were turned on when the mist appeared. It was observed by an eyewitness standing with the monitor. The rest of the group was upstairs.
Overall: I do believe that the theatre is haunted. I’ve had enough people tell me that they feel that there is something going on in the theatre, though few have offered to post experiences to the site. I’m thrilled with the EVP (saying “aqui”) and the mist image.
Misc: Both before and after I went to Centro, I had dreams about the investigation:
Pre-investigation: Last night I dreamt that I was eating lunch in a cafe with a friend. These two teenager girls (maybe 19 or so) came in claiming that they were doing EVPs. They had a dual set of speakers (one new -- black, sleek and modern, one old -- 1970-ish) hooked up to a device, which was also hooked up to a monitor. They recorded with this device in the cafe for about a minute, watched the tape in secret, then told me that they "had" something. I watched the video, listening intently (the sound came out of the old speakers very badly -- with pops and scratches, but well out of the new speakers, but it was distracting). I couldn't hear anything, though they started to get excited saying "do you hear that?" However, what I did see was a black cloud start to form at the top of the screen (in the video). THAT I got excited about. I wanted to watch the image again, but I heard a male voice (coming from the "real world") saying "Breakfa--" -- as if I was being summoned to get up and go to breakfast by some calling me in my own house (sort of like the old ranch calls -- loudly and as if shouted over a great distance). It was so loud that it actually jarred me awake (nothing like waking up hearing a strange male voice bellowing over one in bed). Of course, it was just me and the pugs (darn) but it was really really strange. I have no idea what to make over any of it. Was the dream interrupted by a sound that was mis-interpreted by my mind? Was the dream inspired by something a bit more paranormal (than usual) going on in my bedroom? Or, of course, am I just crazy? (Maybe it was really the pugs trying to wake me up -- they LOVE breakfast time. However, which of my little boys has a deep base voice is beyond me! However, it proves my theory that pugs are part human and that they can communicate with us ;)
Post investigation: Wow, this was strange. I was up until 2 a.m. last night, then up at 7 to get the pugs up and fed. Stayed up until Mom left for church (9:30-ish) then went back to bed. Got up at 11:30. I had yet another dream....I think this related to our hunt. Too hard to say if it's subjective or not.
In the dream, we are meeting in Ybor. I recognize it because I am wearing what I am wearing now (sweats) and I am afraid that my students will see me. It is a Saturday, and we did investigations in one place a while back in this dream. We are all gathered to share evidence, as we've sorted through it and organized it.
In the dream, we are investigating a woman named "Angela". She is quite hispanic, living during the 1920's or 30's. A photograph hanging in her home (which we had a photograph of) showed her to be beautiful, young. In this large, old time photograph (probably 8 x 10 or 11 x 16, which indicates she had some money), she is seated in a chair. She has on a long white dress (expensive, lace and buttons on the collar), somewhere on it is a floral pattern. Now that I'm awake, I don't know what that means, other than it was a flower pattern either thorughout the dress -- very light, not gaudy, or there were small flowers sewn up into the chest and collar. Small flowers, I think, over a neckline that went up to mid-neck -- almost Victorian dress. She has dark hair that she's pulled up into a bun. She is young -- 20's (?) and seated with her legs together, hands in her lap, back straight, looking at the camera in a serious manner (almost like a painted portrait). Next to her, standing slightly askance to the "photographer" is a handsome, somewhat older man with a mustache and in a suit. They are linked together -- he's in his 30's, maybe late 30's, and they are possibly married, or courting, at this point. I didn't focus much on him.
During the investigation we did some research and found out about her life. When she was young, she loved to Salsa (which may not match this time period). She was VERY well known and loved for her dancing; before she was married, men would line up to dance with her. The announcer/DJ/MC at the club where she danced (Centro?) would also make a big deal of her coming into a place -- "And here is our very own ANGELA!" type thing (one of the SPIRITS members actually mimicked how he would have inflected and spoken in this dream). She felt special, a great deal of pride with this.
However, she aged and the dances stopped. A later photograph from her home showed her with drooping skin (especially around the eyes), thin, gray hair still up in a bun, both in a matronly and stylish way (she didn't have it up in a bun so much as pulled into a curl, tucked back. I don't know how to describe this because I don't have the hair to do it, but it looked nice. Harkened back to her youth). In her old age, she regretted being old; she missed being the center of attention and the dancing. Her eyes, in the photograph, were cloudy, and I think that she was blind. She did a lot of thinking back to her glory days.
In the dream had gathered the investigators, Jeanne, myself, one man (but not Jesse -- he was an older man in a black business suite, caucasian, balding...almost looked like another professor) Mary, Verna....I'm not sure who else was there. Jeanne had borrowed my 35 mm camera (which my Mother currently has for her holiday party at work; she hates digitals) and we were trying test pictures with the entity. In one, Debbie was photographed sitting on a bench, outside it looked like, with a lot of plants (sort of one of those old fashioned tropical garden bench spots; the bench, itself, was stone and it was stationed under a tree with large leafed philadendron-like plants all around it. Don't know what those are called, but they are real; I've seen them). Debbie did her "come sit with me" and had her arm out. There appeared to be an outline of a woman's face hovering over the spot where Debbie's arm was. Everyone saw it as an image of the older woman's portrait we had looked at earlier; I kept calling it an ink blot created by the leaves. There was a second photo where the whole body could be seen in an outline sort of way, next to Debbie. Again, I said inkblot but the rest of you aggressively countered me saying that it was an apparition (sniff, whimper). You all were requesting duplicate images of these to study yourselves.
That was it. I don't know what this means or it if has any relevance. I've been talking with Jesse via IM about his video -- he's afraid the mist could have a natural explaination if the camera picked up his IR from the handicam. He's doing what we should -- trying to use the natural to explain it; I've watched the video a number of times, plus compared it to clips he sent of camera 2, handicam, etc. I honestly think that it IS a mist. I thought about this half the night! So, this is sort of on my mind. Even this morning, I was still discussing it with him at 8:30 via IM. It could just be in my brain. However, I thought I had better share it because it's yet another strange dream in 2 days -- one before and now one after the investigation. I'm not really used to this and am not sure what to make of it. Thoughts?
Thoughts:
OK, I was thinking about this last night. There were some connections -- coincidence? -- between the hunt and the dream. For one, the party -- we were not told about it, I had no way of knowing about it. It came as a shock to come in and find out there WAS a party, and it wasn't even until mid-investigation that we found out it was a "Sweet 15" (if you will, not 16, but 15 as per the Spanish community). My dream had two teenagers in it that I tentativly identified as 19, but I normally dream of people my age or older; teens are rare (though it does happen. I do teach college students and they do infiltrate, I'm sure, my subconscious. Particularly when they ask me to change their grades for reasons that are NOT academically sound).
Secondly, the video in the movie -- in the video I did see a black cloud (mist?) forming. In the real life investigation video we may have captured a mist going up the stairs -- a rare event, indeed, and perhaps one of the few, if not the first, that we've gotten.
The negatives: It was a cafe (though there is one assoc. with the theatre); the focus was on sound -- 4 speakers, 2 old and 2 new -- hooked up to a video feed to allow us to "hear" EVPs....though everything was visual. They could "hear an EVP" -- which sounded like white noise and popping to me (though Verna and I both witnessed a popping sound in the same corenr where I got the rod image and while we were discussing the popping a second image goes by my video screen).
Very odd. I just wonder who called me to breakfast. ;) (I know this sounds strange, but that really MAY have been the pets. If I move or breath a hair different after 6:30 the pugs and rats are up and ready for me to feed them. You haven't lived until you have 7 pugs staring at you tensly waiting for you to get up to feed them, and 5 rats clinging to their cages as if they've never eaten before in their lives. Even the hamsters sit there and stare!)
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Report – Centro Austuriano
12-21-2007
Debbie’s Report
Members present: Brandy, Verna, Evie, Mary, Jesse and myself
This is the third investigation of this historic building and my second trip. I arrived a bit early to meet up with Jesse and help load his equipment and mine into the building. We encountered one of the Centro employees who spoke briefly about his paranormal experiences in the theatre portion and ballroom area of the building. Very interesting information and having an eyewitness is always a plus.
The rest of the group arrived at 6:00 p.m. Prior to arriving at the hunt I checked the Centro website and discovered there was a scheduled party that was going to be held in the basement area. This information had not been relayed to Brandy prior to her arrival. Because of the extra activity any audio for EVP work is suspect. Jesse was testing his DVD and IR cameras that he set up onstage. During the investigation there were two individuals who needed to check the stage lighting prior to another upcoming event at the theatre. This too caused corruption of evidence in the area being video recorded. These things happen when an environment as public as the Centro is being investigated.
We began our investigation on the balcony of the theatre outside of the ballroom entrance. The Centro employee that Jesse and I encountered earlier joined us and retold his experience of a man and a woman, clasping hands, seen on the stage when no one was in the building. He described them as being older, dressed in period clothing and the man had a beard. Our witness also stated that the man on the stage with the woman is a different man from the one he had previously seen in the balcony where we were working. This same gentleman related to us two previous experiences, the most recent experience being just two weeks prior to this investigation; where, when setting up the ballroom for a party, he heard music, laughter and talking when no other people were in the building except for him. He did try to find the source of the “party” but no one was found. He said the voices were speaking in English. I asked him for the approximate time of the event and he said about 6:00 p.m. Since we were also investigating at this same time period on the 21st I suggested we try for the ballroom. Two potential paranormal occurrences took place in the ballroom. In the same location in the ballroom where I had previously felt a feeling a heaviness I again experienced the feeling of a “presence”. After several moments and when I was pretty sure that the “presence” was not moving off I caught Verna’s attention who joined me and verified that the “presences” was much stronger where I was then where she had begun to sense the presence from the center of the room. There was also an evp recorded at the time that said either A-key or The Key or Aqui. We had a reporter with us who later reported he had lost his keys during the investigation. I wonder if he ever found them?
We later moved back to the theatre where again we tried for both EMF and EVP. We did receive some response to affirm that the entity interacting with us was the same entity from the previous investigation. This entity seems to have a sense of humor. I asked if the entity was that of the woman apparition reported to having been seen sitting in the first row of seats from the stage. The EMF spike yes for this. I then asked if she would show herself to us if we went downstairs, again the EMF meter spiked yes. However, the entity from the previous investigation had indicated it was male. Anyway, that was all we needed to take off and head downstairs.
Once downstairs we did receive some interaction with this entity whom we believe is female. Evie reported a cold spot, along with stronger EMF readings. Verna verified a significant drop in temperature in the seat next to Evie. I continued to both record on the laptop as well as with my camcorder and with another audio device loaned to me by Jesse that allows me to hear what is being recorded as it is recorded. Thank you, Jesse. The cold spot moved off and was rediscovered by Verna between the front row seats and the orchestra pit. I was recording with the video camera on Verna. I began to feel my right arm and cheek growing cold. I asked Verna, “you don’t feel the cold there anymore, do you?” which she confirmed and I alerted her that the cold spot was now to my right. She came and confirmed this until the cold spot moved off to the right where we lost track of it.
Shortly after this episode we were told that a pair of electricians needed to come in and check the stage lighting. Brandy and the rest of the group decided to head back up stairs. I gave Jesse my laptop and choose to stay in the theatre. Mary also said she was staying down with me but she soon left me alone and joined the others. I spoke briefly with one of the gentlemen and kept an eye on our equipment. After these two gentlemen left I decided to entertain myself by watching the monitor set up in one of the stage dressing rooms. I had not been watching very long when a movement occurred in one of the cameras in the upper right hand side of the screen that appeared to be a figure walking up the stairs to the balcony. The other members had just emerged from the ballroom into the balcony and I hollered that I had seen something on the monitor. Jesse was able to rewind that camera and find the image. What I had thought to be an apparition walking up the stairs turned out to be the formation of an anomalous mist. My mind took the pixeling of monitor, coupled that with the mist and led me to believe I had seen a figure walking up the stairs. However, the mist does form the shape of a figure at its apex. We cannot rule it either totally out or in as evidence of paranormal activity. The mist is linked for you to judge for yourself.
EVPs: Because of the party setup in the basement and the visit onstage by the electricians it is very difficult to use any of the audio recordings as evidence of paranormal activity during this investigation of the Centro. There are 5 strong possible evps. The best evp was in answer to Brandy stating “if the answer is yes, you would indicate it by moving the needle to the right?” This is where the answer “Aqui” is recorded. There is another evp that sounds like a long wailing by a female preceded by the sound of a male voice. This was a sound I heard at the time it was recorded. These are the best possibility of actual EVPs. Jesse also sent me his audio recordings from his iAudio device but I have not found any EVPs that were not captured on my laptop. I hope to continue to use the iAudio device of Jesse’s until I can purchase one for myself, as it will help in alerting us to paranormal responses during investigations. I will continue to review the recordings from both the tablet pc and the iAudio UB.
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The SPIRITS have the pleasure of an on-going investigation at Centro Asturiano in Ybor City. The second investigation was December 17, 2007 where we met with a film crew who wanted to film an investigation. They interviewed our founder, Brandy, then followed us around for about 45 minutes with nothing much happening. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to turn paranormal activity off and on. After the film crew left, the director of Centro, Al, and myself were standing in the balcony, just inside the entrance coming from the ballroom. Al started asking questions in Spanish and we started getting spikes on the EMF meter in response to his questions. The responses we were getting led us to believe there might be several spirits hanging out in the theater. One spirit used to come to Centro Asturiano and watch the dancers, while his wife liked to come and watch theater. She liked to sit in the front row of the theater and is still there. We had good responses with the meter for about 30 or 40 minutes and then the responses stopped as quickly as they started and we were unable to get futher reactions. We did time the meter spikes to see if it was anything that was occuring naturally in the area causing the meter to spike. The meter spikes appeared to be random responses to the questions being asked.
On December 21, 2007, we met at Centro for the 3rd investigation Besides the SPIRITS members who were present, we were accompanied by Paul who writes for a Spanish Newspaper and AL who is the director of Centro. This time one of our members brought IR recording equipment and set it up in the theater area. We got several cold spots and some spikes on the meter in the lower level of the theater. We did not get the responses in the balcony that we had on the previous visit but we did request the spirit manafest for us. We got several EVP's on the recording equipment and one of the members who was monitoring the recording equipment witnessed a mist forming. We were able to capture this on the DVR equipment. How exciting is this? Before we can say it is paranormal, we have to prove it is nothing "normal" that caused it, like car lights coming in a window, someone with a flashlight, etc.
We were unable to get the responses on the meter as before but did have the opportunity to interview one of the custodians of Centro who has heard voices and seen shadow people in the theater and ballroom areas.
The strangest thing that happened was when Paul got ready to leave and his keys were missing. We looked all over the theater and ballroom area where we had been and could not find his keys anywhere. There were several keys together so he would have heard them drop if they fell out of his pocket.
We have been unable to "disprove" the mist as being any type of normal occurance and our EVP specialist, Debbie, has some interesting EVP's on her equipment.
This month, we take a foray into a little cultural interaction with the spirits. A reporter for Centro Tampa, a newspaper published in Spanish by the Tampa Tribune, contacted us for an interview and a ghost hunt. Here is the result -- our first multi-lingual publication!
Special thanks to Ms. Perez-Cook, who did a fantastic job of interviewing and working with us.
Una noche cazando Fantasmas
As found on: http://www2.centrotampa.com/content/2007/oct/26/una-noche-cazando-fantasmas/?noticias-locales
En el Centro Asturiano. Especialistas en fenómenos paranormales exploran el viejo edificio
Por Geraldine Pérez-Cook/CENTRO Mi Diario
Publicado: 26/10/2007
TAMPA-- Llegaron un domingo por la noche. Llevaban consigo un curioso cargamento: linternas, videocámaras, equipos de visión nocturna, termómetros y medidores electromagnéticos. Se hallaban en el Centro Asturiano de Tampa, pero no estaban allí para una fiesta.
Eran cazadores de fantasmas, listos para explorar el antiguo edificio. El local estaba vacío. Afuera lloviznaba y caían relámpagos, pero dentro el silencio parecía estremecedor.
Brandy Stark, fundadora de la organización Spirits of St. Petersburg, coordinaba a sus seis acompañantes.
Uno tomó el termómetro; otro, el EMF (detector de magnetismo); otro, el EVP (equipo que mide voces); otro, las linternas, cámaras, libretas y grabadoras.
El edificio del Centro Asturiano fue reconstruido en 1914, tras haberse quemado. La edificación original data de 1907. Pertenece al registro nacional de lugares históricos y su historia está impregnada de algo que para muchos es espeluznante: fantasmas o espíritus vagabundos que, como cualquier otro visitante, se desplazan por sus tres pisos.
A tono con la época de Halloween, aquel grupo de especialistas en temas paranormales estaba allí para comprobar, de primera mano, si son ciertos los rumores sobre la presencia de seres de ultratumba en la vieja edificación.
CENTRO Mi Diario invitó a Spirits of St. Petersburg, un grupo de voluntarios creado en el 2002, a realizar la exploración. Sus miembros visitan a menudo cementerios, lugares antiguos y sitios supuestamente embrujados, y en ocasiones casas comunes y corrientes.
Se desplazaron primero al segundo piso. Caminaron por las oficinas y el salón de reuniones sin detectar nada. Sin embargo, al entrar al teatro los equipos de detección electromagnética se agitaron de pronto. Los exploradores dijeron que se trataba de una presencia, pero no la pudieron identificar. ¿Sería un celular?
Después, el grupo subió al escenario. Los termómetros detectaron entonces dos puntos con temperaturas más frías que el ambiente general. Según los cazadores de fantasmas, podría haberse tratado de una presencia sobrenatural. Pero en las viejas escaleras, a un lado del escenario, sólo reinaban el polvo y la madera crujiente.
En el tercer piso, los exploradores llegaron al salón de bailes. Según algunos de ellos, sintieron que alguien los observaba, pero los equipos no reaccionaron.
Se desplazaron entonces al primer piso, donde en la época de apogeo del Centro Asturiano había un club masculino con gimnasio y cancha de juego. Los cazadores de fantasmas intuyen una presencia y deciden que hay que trabar contacto. Unos se sientan en las escaleras, otros, en las bancas.
El EVP y el EMF están listos. El primero, parecido a una laptop con micrófono, grabará las voces de los vivos (o de los espíritus); el otro, parecido a un termómetro, debe emitir un pitido cuando su aguja se mueva al producirse una respuesta. Alguien activa el micrófono. Al Frederick, director ejecutivo del Centro Asturiano y una reportera, acompañan a los exploradores.
Todos están a la expectativa. ¿Pero qué esperan?
Stark, quien asegura haber dedicado su vida a estudiar fenómenos paranormales, dijo que "un fantasma es una especie de mente sin cuerpo". Agregó que éste puede estar molesto, triste, lleno de emociones o aferrado a un lugar. Ella misma inicia la sesión.
Stark pide en voz alta a una "presencia sobrenatural" que hable ante el micrófono. Por ser un sitio frecuentado por hispanos, el grupo pidió a la reportera que tradujera las preguntas al español.
"¿Hay alguien aquí?", pregunta Stark. Se escucha un bip.
"¿Eres un hombre?". No hay respuesta.
"¿Eres un actor?". Silencio.
"¿Estas asociado con el teatro?". Bip.
"¿Hablas inglés?". No hay respuesta.
"¿Por qué estas aquí?". Silencio.
"¿Fuiste miembro del club?". No hay respuesta.
"¿Conoces al gerente?". Bip.
"¿Te gustan las reparaciones que se están haciendo?". Silencio.
La sesión se interrumpe poco después. Una de las integrantes del grupo dice que ha escuchado una voz con el nombre de Heather. Pero al hacer preguntas, el EVP y EMF no reaccionan.
Tras cuatro horas de búsqueda, el grupo está agotado. Todos se dirigen a empacar los equipos.
¿Hay, pues, fantasmas en el Centro Asturiano?
Según Stark, la primera fase de la investigación detectó allí orbs, unos círculos anormales de luz que aparecen en ciertas fotografías. La mayoría de ellos, sin embargo, parecían estar más relacionados con el polvo que hay en el lugar.
"El teatro tiene una actividad mediana de presencia fantasmagórica", dijo Stark, aludiendo a que el EVP no registró voces. Aun así, dijo que hubo una presencia cuando se hicieron algunas preguntas.
Stark advirtió, sin embargo, que no hay que tener miedo a los fantasmas. "Muchos se asustan y se lastiman, porque salen corriendo".
Frederick, el director, no está tan seguro. El sigue pensando que alguien lo observa mientras camina por el Centro Asturiano.
Para comunicarse con nuestra reportera gcook@centrotampa.com o 813-259-8477
Photo, below, by G. Hooks.
A rough translation of the article, by Kimberly Dietrich:
A Night of Ghost Hunting
(In the Centro Asturiano, specialists in paranormal phenomena explore the old building)
By Geraldine Perez-Cook
Tampa – They arrived on Sunday night carrying curious equipment: lanterns, video cameras, night vision equipment, thermometers, and electromagnetic meters. They were found in the Centro Asturiano of Tampa, but they were not there for a party.
They were ghost hunters, ready to explore the old building. The locale was empty. Outside it rained and thundered, but indoors, the silence paused the tremors. Brandy Stark, the founder of the organization, Spirits of St. Petersburg, coordinated it with 6 accomplices. www.spiritsofstpetersburg.com
One took a thermometer, another the EMF (magnetic detector), another, the EVP (machine that gauges voices); others, lanterns, cameras, notebooks, and recorders.
The building of Centro Asturiano was built in 1914, after it burned. The original building dated to 1907. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and its history is very rich and goes back: ghosts or wandering spirits or other visitors move on all 3 floors.
Around Halloween, this group of specialists on the subject of paranormal check firsthand the rumors of otherworldly beings in old buildings.
CENTRO Mi Diario invited the Spirits of St. Petersburg, a group of volunteers founded in 2002, to carry out an exploration. Their members visit small cemeteries, old places, and sites supposedly bewitched (haunted), and on occasion, houses, apartments, and commons.
They moved first through the second floor. They walked through the offices and the assembly hall detecting nothing. When they gathered at the entrance to the theater, the electromagnetic detection equipment agitated right away. The investigators asked if they were dealing with a presence, but it did not identify itself. Seria un celular? (Loosely translated, Will you be in our cellular?)
Afterwards, the group rose to the occasion. The thermometers detected spikes in temperatures that were colder than the ambience in general. The ghost hunters then tried to engage the supernatural presence. But as they rose, they only found dust and creaky wood.
On the third floor, the explorers arrived in the ballroom. Some of them had reactions to observations but the equipment did not react.
They then moved to the first floor, when in the apogee of Centro Asturiano, the men’s club with gymnasium and playing court (handball court). The ghost hunters sensed a presence and decided to try to make contact. They sat down on the stairs, and others on the benches.
The EVP and EMF were ready. At first, it seemed a laptop with a microphone recorded the voices of the living (or of the spirits); the other, it seemed a thermometer, should emit a noise when its needle moves, producing an answer. Someone (something) activated the microphone. Al Frederick, executive director of the Centro Asturiano and a reporter accompanied the explorers.
All were expectant. But expecting what?
Stark, who assures to have dedicated her life to studying paranormal phenomena said that "a ghost is a mind without a body." I add that this can be uncomfortable, sad, full of emotions, or grasped to a place. She initiates the session.
Stark asked aloud for the supernatural presence to speak into the microphone. This being a place frequented by Hispanics, the group asked the reporter to ask the questions in Spanish.
"Is there someone here?" asked Stark. We heard a beep.
"Are you a man?" No response.
"Are you an actor?" Silence.
"Are you associated with the theater?" Beep.
"Do you speak English?" No response.
"Why are you here?" Silence.
"Were you a member of the club?" No response.
"Do you know the manager?" Beep.
"Do you like the repairs that are being done?" Silence.
The session itself had a small interruption. One of the members of the group heard a voice with the name of Heather. When she asked the question, the EVP and EMF had no reaction.
After 4 hours of searching, this group was exhausted. They were all directed to pack their equipment.
Therefore, are there ghosts in the Centro Asturiano?
According to Stark, the first phase of the investigation is detection of orbs, circular abnormalities of light appearing in certain photographs. The majority of them appear to be related to dust in the place.
"The theater had medium activity of presence of ghost," said Stark, alluding that the EVP did not register voices. Even so, some said there was a presence when some questions were asked. Stark said that nevertheless, one must not fear the ghosts. "Many are frightened and they are injured because they leave running."
Frederick, the director, is not so sure, this one. He thinks someone watches him while he walks in the Centro Asturiano.
To communicate with the reporter, gcook@centrotampa.com or 813-259-8477
Call for Centro Asturiano Stories, possibly for use in a documentary. You may either e-mail stories or post them in our guest book. Click HERE to e-mal. Please give us permission to post the story (we will NOT post names or e-mail addresses without permission). You see our story -- now please let us know YOURS!
Brandy's images: Dust?
Brandy's images: I took multiple shots of the area in the balcony where discussions were taking place. Only one produced any form of manifestation. Dust or orb?
Video of a mist image captured during the third investigation:
An EVP from Centro: ("aqui" -- here)
Published on Centro, 2 - 2008:
The venue for the Rock Your Horror Art and Music Festival has its own haunted history
By Julia Stewart, COMMENTARY
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Share this article Published: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Red curtains scale the walls of the massive and historic theatre with dark wood and theatrical fixtures. The grand chandelier in the foyer creates an unusual ambiance.
This eerie social club is the Centro Asturiano de Tampa,allegedly one of the most haunted buildings in theTampa Bay area.
The Centro Asturiano, built in 1902, hosts events from weddings to charity benefits, and it’s the site of this year’s Rock Your Horror Art andMusic Festival.
Jared Wells and TimSzafranski of PrahaInternational Entertainment group have spent monthscoordinating the event.
“When we startedtalking about doing aHalloween event, we knew it had to be here,” Wells said. “There is so much culture and history in this building.”
Wells and Szafranski seem excited about the venuebecause of its rumored high levels of supernatural activity and ghosts. This makes the venue a prime location for a Halloween bash.
“There have been numerous reports of people seeing the ghosts of a man and a woman in 1930s vintage clothes,sitting in the front row of the theatre,” Wells said. “Also, people claim to have seen the ghost of an old man sitting in the rafters above the stage. That is where the theatre’s caretaker lived for years back in the ’50s.”
In 2007, a St. Petersburg based ghost-hunting team,Serving ParanormalInvestigation ReportingInformation Through Study (SPIRITS), explored thebuilding. Their audio equipment picked up a Hispanic man’s voice answering “si” when they asked if ghosts were present. Video footage revealed black mist clouds, which according to SPIRITS founder and President Brandy Stark, is a rarity in the world of ghost hunting.
“I’ve been in this business for 13 years and have seen only a handful of actual moving video footage in aninvestigation,” Stark said. “My team has done over 400investigations, (and) the CentroAsturiano was one of the most unique places I’ve seen.”
“There was anoverwhelming presence there. It was very femininedownstairs and masculine on the second and third floors, just as it was at thebeginning of the 19th century. (It was) very divided in gender,”she said.
Students wary of spirits should have no fear, though.
Stark said that while she has no doubt there is a supernatural presence at the building, there seems to be no reason to be afraid.
“Always be polite to spirits. They deserve respect just like the living,” Stark said. “I don’t think the spirits mind thecontinuous use of the building. As long as you respect them, they are not going to bother anyone.”
On Saturday, the haunted house will feature live music by bands like “The Malah” and “The Soular System,” as well as live sets by DJ Craig Heneveld and Von Garden Jr. There will be a live art show and a cash prize costume contest, which should attract a good number of students if they’re willing to pay foradmission.
“I just think it would be really cool to celebrateHalloween in a supposedly haunted building,” said junior Melissa Dowling, a business student. “I’m sick of the same old house parties on Halloween. I want to dosomething different this year.”
Rock Your Horror Art and Music Festival is definitely something different on theHalloween
to-do list, as long asattendees remember to be polite. No one wants tooffend the spirits on the spookiest night of the year.
The festivities begin at 9 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $13 inadvance and $15 at the door. For more information, visitrockyourhorror.com.
For the full SPIRITS report on the Centro Asturiano, complete with audio and video, visitcentralflghosts.homestead.com.
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