Michigan Paranormal
Research Association

 Hey everyone! This is where we'll be posting some ghostly/paranormal stories to share with the rest of us. If you'd like to submit your story please e-mail us or post it under the story blog.

-Samantha, Founder/Director-

    Previous investigator K. Baskin and I had been looking for a new and interesting place to conduct an investigation. We had always talked about finding some terrifying abandoned insane asylum or psych ward but had come up with very few options. DeHoCo an abbreviation for the Detroit House of Corrections is located in the Northville/Novi area and was shut down in 1986. This property is currently owned by the Kojaian Management Corp. of Bloomfield Hills and is closely guarded by the county and state police. I do not recommend trespassing and even thinking about damaging the property. Not only is it highly disrespectful but you’ll be sure to have your ass thrown in jail. Search for “Detroit House of Corrections” on Youtube.com and you’ll find several videos with footage of the grounds.

Baskin and I had driven by the location several times prior to our visit but had never gotten out of the car to search further more. Baskin had explored DeHoCo previously with two other friends on more of a juvenile basis and was there for nearly two or three hours. Nothing paranormal was experienced by them. In a completely different context and with our respect Baskin and I ventured to the location on a full moon (we’re both water signs Scorpio and Pieces; highly intuitive and psychic) and had a very different result. Within being there a total of 10-15 minutes Baskin and I encountered some scary but extremely interesting occurrences.

We entered through the front building facing 6 Mile via a window…mind you it was very small! I forced Baskin to go in first after being told I was to venture in there by myself, ha! It smells of antiques and old stale air. Paint hangs from the walls as if it were from some warped reality that existed in Salvador Dali’s twisted psyche. None the less it’s a creepy place and there is definitely activity of sorts there. As soon as you begin walking through the building the atmosphere immediately changes and suddenly you’re alone…even though your best friend is walking beside you; you’re alone and being watched intently. It feels like everyone is standing in the doorways along the corridors watching a dead man walking or something like fresh meat that’s already being summed up by the occupants. It feels like you’re going to prison, what else can I say! We walked up a short flight of stairs and entered a room to the left which consisted of the infamous prison-cell bars. There was only an outside perimeter of the room and the rest was a rectangular area enclosed by these bars. Essentially you were looking at some mass holding area and could walk around the outside of it.

Baskin and I like to feel as if our safety is ensured so I had brought a knife with me (drug addicts and homeless people are the most of your worries with locations like these). As we were rounding the room Baskin and I decided to claim that we didn’t, “feel anything.” Which was a dumb idea because at that point in time Baskin had witnessed an apparition manifest itself before him; I was looking in the direction of the opposite side of the room. The knife arched itself back and came too close for comfort for me in Baskin’s hands. As we turned the second corner, Baskin and I both heard one of the most eeriest sounds in my life. You know how prisoners used to rattle and drag their cups or spoons along the bars? At the opposite corner of the room a long and drawn out sound echoed through our skin and I wanted to leave. The same effect as when someone drags their fingers across a piano’s exposed strings…ah! It is also a perfect sound effect for when your hairs stand straight up on the back of your neck-which happened simultaneously. I immediately lied to Baskin and myself and claimed that my marshmallow of a L.L. Bean jacket had slid across the bars next to us and was the culprit. We then both suggested that it would be a good idea to leave. We checked out several other rooms and then left with huge relief. It was one of the first times where I didn’t want to take any pictures because I didn’t want to see what was in them…guaranteed there would be evidence of some sorts.

I’m planning and hoping to schedule a permitted investigation by the property owners very soon.   

-Samantha, Founder/Director-

    This was probably one of the most vivid and accurate "death premonition" I've had. It was about October 2005. My grandma had been widowed about 9 years ago after my grandpa died when U of  M overdosed him with Chemotherapy. Before his death they had bought "Cody" their golden retriever. I used to not like Cody because I was about 2-3 years old when he was a puppy and my grandma always excused his humping me as "oh hes just playing, he thinks she is his play mate". So I definitely had something against Cody, haha. Eventually, though, as Cody grew older I began to sympathize for him seeing that the "simple things", like climbing into the car, were no longer simple. He always had allergies but as he turned 13 it became much worse. One morning I was dreaming and I dreamt that my grandma had called me crying saying that "Cody's dying". Literally 30-45 minutes later I woke up and saw grandma on the caller I.D. I had totally forgotten about the dream until I saw her name. I picked up the phone assuming that my dream was just, well, a dream. I listened for her voice and she was crying, bawling. I rarely, if ever hear my grandma cry and this concerned me. I asked her what was wrong. "Cody has cancer". And I probably shouldn’t have told her but it just came out of my mouth. "Grandma I just dreamt that". And in no way, I bet, was that comforting. My grandma still misses her dog. He meant the world to her. Other than her brother, he was all she had after becoming a widow. Sometimes my mom joked about grandma loving Cody more than my mom. Cody was a good dog and I know he is happier now and no longer suffering from allergies and cancer.

-Samantha, Founder/Director-

    During the process of my grandpa’s death, there were many weird and strange things that were happening around the house and in our lives. Around 2-3 weeks before the passing the lights would burn out in our basement quite frequently even when my mom would change the bulb within that week. Another scary event was when my sister, her friend from Ohio and I were in the basement playing with the Karaoke machine that was a gift from the past Christmas. We were recording ourselves singing spice girls on it and listening to the results. We thought we were pretty good. As we played back our first recording there was a voice that did not resemble any of ours and it truly scared the shit out of me. It sounded slow and demonic. As if you were to take a tape recorder and put it on slow and backwards. It slurred out my sister’s name and that’s what did it for me. Steph and Annie left to go up stairs but I couldn’t walk past the furnace room to get up the stairs. The Karaoke machine was directly in front of the vent that connected with the furnace room and I had a bad feeling. I opened the basement porch door and walked all the way around the house to get up stairs. I told my mom and she played the tape back and there was nothing to be found. She burnt the tape. As the time progressed we began to visit my grandma more often seeing as grandpa was in critical condition and we weren’t allowed to see him a lot. My sister and I were in my grandma’s house in my mom’s old room when we saw a shadow sink right through the floor. It was a dark black human outline that just disappeared into the floor. I went and told my mom and she didn’t explain why she was worried by it. My sister still to this day doesn’t like admitting that. She’s not really into the paranormal as much as my mom and I are. I saw it out of the corner of my eye but close enough to directly seeing it that I knew I wasn’t imagining. Plus I didn’t fully understand what that meant. Now I know they are like death omens. Some people call them shadow people. One night my mom was having a nightmare and she woke up feeling worried and scared. She doesn’t remember the dream but when she woke up she heard a voice say, "remember the time". She looked at the clock and it was time like 4:06am or something like that. She got up and waited for the phone call saying that grandpa had passed away. They never called. She was grateful that her intuition was wrong. She decided to send my sister, dad and I to Florida to go see our other grandparents so we wouldn’t have to deal with death. That didn’t really work but she also wanted my dad to have a vacation because he was working 7 days a week for the summer. Finally the time came and the hospital called my mom and told her that she should come in because they were going to lose him. My mom arrived at the hospital and my grandpa remarked, "Isn’t this a bitch?". I am glad he saw some humor in that with his last moments. He was completely covered in tubes and wires and it was horrible. As he passed mom looked at the clock and it was 6:04pm. The reversed time. They had overdosed him and fully knew they were responsible but we never came close to winning in court. That night while we were asleep my dad was praying and wished grandpa good health when suddenly he heard grandpa’s voice saying, "Mark, its okay. I’m alright." My dad was never a believer in paranormal stuff but his voice was clear as day he said. He called my mom and she confirmed that he had just passed. The past five years I've had dreams where I get to visit grandpa. I walk over to him across some railroad tracks and we hug and I cry. Its very vivid and I believe I am actually visiting with him. I cry because I am so happy to see him because he is greatly missed.