Antietam Paranormal Society: The Beginning
Jeremy, Ryan, and myself were best friends. Our children grew up together and remain friends to this day. We had lasagna night on Thursdays and we hung out many of the weekends. We met at an amateur rodeo in Williamsport, Maryland in 2001. Jeremy was a bullfighter and Ryan was a rider. In those days we chatted about a lot of things but one of the interests that we all had in common was the paranormal.
In the early days we had MTV's Fear, which was a series that strapped a camera to a person's chest and sent them out alone in a dark, haunted location. I would have to say the match struck at this point lighting a mediocre fascination into a full blown flame. A few years later we were introduced to Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures. While Ghost Adventures was edgy and dark, Ghost Hunters brought a more formal and organized approach to paranormal investigation. By now the flame from the match lit a fire! For years we soaked up all the shows we could, learning and searching for more.
In 2008 we decided to take the plunge and go on a public ghost hunt at the West Virginia Penitentiary for Ryan's birthday in June. While we had been reading and watching all we could, this interest far surpassed sitting on the sidelines, we needed to experience it for ourselves. I think in that time we saw that locations were really beginning to open their doors to paranormal enthusiasts and it was the opportunity we were waiting for! That public ghost hunt was amazing. We ate pizza that was provided by the location early in the night, which we learned immediately, you don't eat pizza before an investigation. We met some amazing teams that were so willing to talk and share information. One such team that I don't think is even in existence any longer is Eidolon Paranormal out of Michigan. They were amazing. We had plenty of experiences that burned that fire brighter. If you haven't been to WVP, go. It's a really cool place.
While I would like to say those early years we went to every single location we could find to do ghost hunts or investigations, we didn't. I personally spent a lot of time researching the paranormal on the internet. I created a MySpace for our team, a Facebook page, and I started creating our website. We got our first member in 2009. We did a few locations that we can't name but most of all we watched paranormal television and researched the paranormal from our homes. Books, websites, and more; we created bylaws for our members and we networked with other teams to learn all we could.
Later in 2009 was when things really started getting interesting. We spent two weekends of 2009 doing public ghost hunts at Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Jeremy and I really got to know the people at the Asylum and eventually began helping with events. Ryan left the team for a time but Jeremy and I kept the lights going, so we could be the trio again. From 2009-2011 we did so many investigations it still is a bit crazy. We did private residences/ businesses and local historic spots like the Creekside Manor haunted house, Engine One (First Hagerstown Hose Company), The Dagmar Hotel, and the Masonic Temple (formerly Friendship Lodge #84). Those early years were full of excitement and we generated a lot of interest but above all that research I had done to create a really good foundation for Antietam Paranormal Society built something that has stood 15 years. We learned so much in those few years that has carried us through and we continue to learn even to this day.
No matter the distractions through the years we have maintained our mission-- "Our Investigations are not for the purpose of labeling a
site as "haunted" but rather as an experience to document and collect
data to further our understanding of the unknown and to help those who are
experiencing paranormal activity. As a paranormal investigation and research
team we hope that by using our equipment and our senses we can further educate
ourselves and others." And we plan to continue to uphold this mission for years to come.
Rebecca Boyer
Co-Founder/ Case Manager
Antietam Paranormal Society
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