Some people might remember the post about the flood light near the site of an old H.H. Holmes building on the North Side that flickered to the rhythm of Ken’s voice during a tour. He reports that it happens fairly often when he’s there. I finally saw it in action for myself the other night, and can confirm that it’s just about as described. I’m not sure if it’s EXACTLY blinking to the rhythm of my voice, but it does seem to flicker when I’m talking and stop when I shut up.
If we can assume that this is supernatural (and we can’t, of course – you can never assume that sort of thing) and one of Holmes’ many victims is haunting the place in some way, this MAY be the first clue to emerge in decades as to where, exactly, he murdered Emily Van Tassel, who worked at the candy store that he ran under an alias a few short blocks away. It’s not the kind of evidence that would ever, ever hold up in court, but there sure haven’t been any OTHER clues in the last century as to her fate.
note: this location is NOT the infamous murder castle, it’s clear on the other side of town. Holmes had buildings all over the city under various aliases over the years, and we’ve been investigating them quite a lot lately; there will be a whole section on his dealings on this side of town in our upcoming book! If you want to know more about the “castle,” consider our ebook on the subject!
UPDATE from several months later: the light has been acting up so often that I believe it must just be a bad light at this point. However, some weird things have been seen in the area lately. One night last week we arrived to find three hawks sitting on the fence with dead birds in their mouths. Another night there was a brief sighting of a full-body apparation of a woman in black – the sort of sighting so rare that I could hardly believe it. Perhaps it was just my mind playing tricks on me, or swamp gas or something, but quite a few people saw it that night.