'Ghost Adventures' Recap: 'The Myrtle's Plantation'

The Myrtle's Plantation, courtesy the Travel Channel

BY NOWAL MASSARI

This week the "Ghost Adventures" crew pack up their gear and head to St. Francisville, Louisiana to investigate the Myrtle’s Plantation. Currently a bed and breakfast, the plantation is on many lists of top American haunted locations. The guys begin their tour with the general manager of the B&B, Teresa. The most famous spirit is a slave girl named Chloe. According to local legend, Chloe was the mistress to homeowner Clark Woodruff, and when he broke it off, she baked a birthday cake laced with oleander for his children. Cornelia and James Woodruff died, though it is still unclear if they were murdered. Chloe was reportedly hung in the front yard, however there is no proof she acually existed. Another famous legend in the home is an allegedly haunted mirror. Though there have been many photos taken with strange things appearing in them, the crew try to explain them away as being smudges or lighting.

Legend has it that the Winter family lost their three-year-old daughter, Kate, to yellow fever in the home in the 1800s. It’s said that a voodoo priestess, Cleo, was brought over from a neighboring farm to try and heal the girl. Unfortunately, Kate died and William Winter blamed Cleo for the death of his daughter and hung her. A few years later, William Winter stepped out the front door and was shot. He crawled into the house and died in his wife Sarah’s arms, on the seventeenth step of the staircase. Reports claim that people often stop on the seventeenth step after hearing or feeling something strange. As for the room where young Kate died, it has been said that the large four-poster bed will shake and move as if there is an earthquake, but nothing else is moving in the room. There are deep gouges in the floor under the bed, which lends some credibility to the claim.

Interviewing Teresa, courtesy the Travel Channel

The guys call on Jeff Belanger, GA researcher, to find a voodoo historian in the area. Jeff asks them why they didn’t inquire with Miss Hester Ebey, an employee of the residence. They had asked her but she denied knowing anyone. The crew ask general manager, Teresa if they can bring in their own person to perform a voodoo ritual before the lockdown, however she tells them that the owners would not allow it. They decide instead of doing a voodoo ritual, the guys decide to bring in an expert as a trigger object.

Upon speaking with Robbie Gilmore, local voodoo practitioner, they find that he is very close with Miss Hester and he even considers her his mother. Zak brings up the fact that Hester denied knowing anyone that practiced voodoo, and Robbie says that he isn’t surprised as it’s not common knowledge that he practices. He is also not surprised that the B&B doesn’t allow voodoo, or anything similar, to take place in the home. He says that the people at the plantation know and understand the great power of voodoo, and don’t want to stir up any other-wordly wrath. Simply summing up his thoughts, Gilmore says, “The living can’t harm the dead and the dead can’t harm the living. But if the living try to harm the dead, the dead will harm the living.”

The lockdown begins in nerve center, with Billy Tolley and Jay Wasley keeping a vigilant watch. Inside the plantation, the guys stand at the foot of the staircase and begin to make their presence known. Zak suddenly feels a gust of wind around him, but Aaron debunks it when he finds that the air has been left on. When Zak asks for a sign of the spirits presence, a very loud and unexplained sound is heard by the group and caught on camera. Going into the livingroom, where the bang came from, they begin to conduct a session with the SB7 to try and get verbal responses. After receiving no responses there, they head to the staircase where Mr. Winter allegedly died. Zak sits on one of the steps and asks the spirits to tell him what number step the man had died on, when a woman’s voice comes through and says “behind you.” When Zak excitedly repeats “behind you,” the same female voice says “yeah!” He asks who the woman is behind him and the same female voice says “Winter.” If you’ll recall, William Winter died in his wife Sarah’s arms.

Myrtle's Plantation interior, courtesy the Travel Channel

After going upstairs, they hear a door close as well as footsteps. Jay and Billy confirm that they heard it as well. Nick sees a door moving slightly and goes into the room. Zak heads into the room where Kate Winter died and the bed has been reported to shake. Laying on the bed, Zak introduces himself and directly after he hears two loud noises. He radios Billy and Jay, who again confirm that it wasn’t his imagination. Aaron comes into the room, where he notes the cold temperature, and Zak plays back the recording for him. At this point, Zak asks Aaron to get into the bed with him to experience the moving bed and Aaron laughs saying that this interaction would make a perfect “Talk Soup” ("The Soup") clip. Nick joins them in the bedroom, but there isn’t room for all three of them in the bed. And as Zak put it, “That’d be weird.” At this point, they all head back to nerve center to touch base with Billy and Jay, who have some startling evidence to show them.

Billy tells them that while they were on the stairs, a man (William Winter?) is heard screaming in agony. The guys didn’t hear it with their ears, but it was captured on the boom mic. After Jay plays them the female voice saying “Winter,” Nick and Aaron head back inside to take photos on the extremely active staircase. They feel a heavy energy and suddenly hear a loud rattling sound coming from the parlor. Zak comes in and they tell him to go on the other side of the door to check it out. The static camera in the parlor captures the noise and causes the camera to malfunction. At the same time, a dark mass appears and is captured on the infrared camera, appearing behind some chairs. Though they try to debunk it, they can’t explain it and they believe these things are all connected.

Nick, Zak and Aaron, courtesy the Travel Channel

Using a ball as a spirit object, the crew try to communicate with Sarah Winter or her three-year-old daughter, Kate. Nick tells a spirit to hit the ball down the stairs and it flies down the stairs, knocking into the camera and making it jerk. Extremely excited, Nick and Zak apologize to Kate for their reactions. Before continuing, they show a night watchman what they captured. He tells them that the children probably thought it was their ball and he’s not surprised. Working there, he’s not only heard stories of things going on in the house, but he is familiar with psychics and has had a few experiences himself. They go back into the house with the watchman to try and debunk the ball moving on its own. After blowing on it and having the ball stay in place, Zak gently taps the ball and it flies down the stairs in a similar fashion.

Even though some of the claims of Myrtle’s Plantation still remain a mystery, it is clear with the evidence captured during lock down that there is in fact paranormal activity occurring within the 216 year old residence.

Don’t forget to lockdown next Saturday on the Travel Channel when the GAC head to New York to check out two separate locations, including one that’s rumored to be haunted by George Washington.