Bembridge House Investigation August 2023
The Paranormal Housewives would like to extend their sincere gratitude to Chris Hogan, President of Long Beach Heritage, for allowing us to be the first paranormal team to investigate the Bembridge House. The following are the impressions of three of the team members post investigation
From Erin Potter
When I was driving to the house, I had used my GPS to navigate me there and for some reason I turned a different way than the map had told me to go. I ended up in an alley and stopped behind the house. I did not know anything about the house or who lived there when this happened. I was drawn to the back of the house. When I went back around to the front and parked, I let everyone know that we needed to investigate the back of the house because this weird force made me drive to the back instead of the front.
When I stepped out of my car I instantly felt a TON of energy from all over. Not just the house. But as I got closer to the house and moved around the outside, I could feel the energy coming from inside the house. I tuned out the outside energy so I could focus on the inside. There was so much, it was confusing. As we walked into the house, I could feel her; but not as the most predominant spirit. As soon as I stepped foot into the house, I could feel a man standing behind me over my right shoulder. Occasionally, he would touch me on the shoulder as the investigation went on. I never felt threatened by this spirit. I actually felt like he was protecting me, or maybe even liked me. I’m not sure which.
There were a few times I saw a shadow figure dart quickly in my peripheral vision. But of course, once I turned my head, I could not see anything. I saw this shadow figure in the dining room and the hallway downstairs: in front of the bathroom downstairs.
What’s interesting is that when we first went into the kitchen, I thought it would be a great place to investigate, but it’s like we forgot all about the kitchen. We didn’t even go back to it. LOL! I guess Dorothy really doesn’t like to be in the kitchen.
When Kimberly and I were upstairs in Dorothy’s room, we got a couple of hits on the EMF detector. And then we heard what sounded like the people that were downstairs were moving furniture. It was loud. But when we went down to check, they hadn’t moved anything. When we had come back up to Dorothy’s room with the whole group, we got a lot of EMF activity. Spirit was communicating nicely that second time.
The spirits I felt that night were: A woman … .who I think was Dorothy; and the man who stood behind me the entire time I was there, including when we went outside. There was another man that was upstairs only. Also, I sensed a small child; a little girl. I think Jolene said it was a little boy. It just felt childlike, and she/he liked to play with cars. There were a few others that didn’t really come forward to me, but I could feel them on the outside of our investigation looking in; very curious they were.
I feel like we need to investigate this house again. I don’t think we even scratched the service of the activity. Also I think the more times we go back, the more they will open up to us.
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From Kirsten Thorne
Before I ever entered the property, I started to receive impressions regarding Dorothy Bembridge. I share those impressions here, without stating that I am correct, or pretending that said impressions are necessarily accurate. I welcome anyone’s revision or confirmation of the following.
Dorothy was isolated, especially later in her life. I sensed that she might be described as elitist and traditionalist. She could be kind, even sweet, and she was clearly talented as a musician. However, she was also controlling of both her environment and others. She was oblivious to the world outside of her house, and she tended to follow the same paths and routines. She tried to maintain a genteel lifestyle that did not match the reality of her surroundings (and by this, I mean the socio-economic challenges of a Long Beach in decline). She repeated the same routines to keep herself in control of her surroundings, and this may have resulted in a residual haunting of her home (a spirit repeating the same actions over and over in a loop). I got the sense that she might not communicate with uninvited guests in her home.
She valued tradition and formal education over innovation and creativity. Her father had an explosive temper and controlled the household when she was growing up. He frightened her and taught her to keep her authentic emotions under wraps. He taught her that change, transformation, and growth were dangerous. The message: don’t “move on” if you do not have to. Stay safe. Stay here.
For those reasons, there was little communication from Dorothy that night. She was sensed, but her presence was not recorded on our devices. I had the strong feeling that she was keeping us in the parlor and discouraging us from going upstairs. We all felt like we could not leave the parlor. This may have been due to the fact that as guests, that was our appropriate place. However, we learned afterwards that the upstairs fell into disuse after she was unable to navigate the stairs. We were also told that there was a hoarding situation upstairs, rendering it a dangerous place to wander through. Animals entered the house and further degraded the upstairs bedrooms and hallway. I felt that this was another reason that I was discouraged from investigating there. I made the mistake of not listening to this message, and while investigating the brother’s room at the back of the upstairs floor, I was scratched on my back and neck (there are photos to prove this). I felt the scratches the moment that they happened, and Marsha took me back to the bathroom to document them. I have no idea what or who would attack me in such a fashion, but I believe that I was warned not to go upstairs for that reason.
The scratches left me with the sense that something most definitely did not want me there, but the reasons for that are a mystery. After that incident, nobody felt anything at all in the room, as if the psychic energy dissipated afterwards.
EVIDENCE
As far as what we were able to document, we have one anomalous photograph from the backyard that shows two light streaks that roughly correspond to where Dorothy lost her life. I had a professional photographer examine the photograph, and he has no natural explanation for it.
The EVP evidence was faint and perhaps not clear enough to be entirely convincing. I will send along the audio clips via email. There are audible knocks and the occasional disembodied voice.
The “ghost apps” made repeated references to outdoor parties, gardening, enjoyment of the outdoors, and “growing”, in reference to the garden. I have that written evidence documented on the “ghostcom oracle”.
Most of the experiences were personal; the feeling of being touched, dark shadows moving around the house (Ty saw a shadow move across one of the camera lights), and changes in temperature. Jolene clearly saw a figure in white.
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From Jolene Heft (notes)
She says the words “senseless”. She cannot stand jealousy–wants people to know her story; there is a loss of a child–”baby” . . .
Quit looking at her passing–know the full story–There are “holes in the story of what happened to her”.
There is a child–boy and girl–running around and playing. He’s mischievous but funny; she’s cute, but timid.
NOTE: Ask about the 100 year old tree. There is someone or something or both buried on the property.
“Esther” Chair. Maroon or crimson velvet–passed down through the generations.
Seb–salvation–tried to protect her. The little girl wants to hold hands. Starting to see more losses–children, babies?
Lots of biscuits to go with tea.
Typhoid–death.
“Ring Around the Rosie”, singing.
Kids are outside around the aviary.
Male–heart attack.
There is a girl hiding in the corner upstairs in the Carriage House.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
There are a multitude of spirits attempting to communicate in the Bembridge House, and they overlap in time and space. The sheer number of time frames and people made it a confusing environment for mediums and investigators. The energy was palpable, and yet it wasn’t as much interested in direct communication via electronic voice phenomena as providing feelings, sensations, impressions, and a sense of the time period (Jolene received some direct communications, however).
Because so much of what was sensed and recorded was the result of overlap of experiences, the Bembridge House is a difficult site to untangle. It was something like watching several movie scenes at the same time from across 100+ years. There were vast differences in the energy and feelings from one part of the house to the other; the downstairs felt nothing like the upstairs, and the parlor was by far the ‘safest’ emotional space compared to the back of the house. Every room had its own story. We all agree that we need to go back and continue to tease apart the various experiences to come up with a more coherent narrative of what happened in the house over time. There is much, much more to learn from the house and the souls and memories that still occupy it.
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