Ghost Hunters Share Experiences at Longacre in Farmington Hills

Tom Lundy and Robin Lemkie have seen and heard their fair share of spooky stuff.

Representing GHOSM (Ghost Hunters of Southern Michigan), which Lemkie founded 18 years ago, the two shared stories of their contacts with ghosts Friday night at in Farmington Hills. The closed organization has six or seven active members, most from Downriver communities, who travel to cemeteries, buildings and even homes where paranormal activity is suspected.

"When we first get to a home, people are scared already," said Lemkie, who is a "sensitive," someone who can feel and communicate with spirits. She said the group purposely asks people not to tell them anything about the suspected ghostly activity, so that their readings are not suspect.

Generally speaking, the ghostly images and noises aren't experienced at the scene, but they show up when the group goes through their photos and recordings afterward. In one case, at the Scarab Club in Detroit, a building rife with spirit activity, a piece of paper with marks on it was left in a basement room, and the door was closed and locked. When members returned 20 minutes later, additional marks had appeared on the paper, Lemkie said.

Two photos provide evidence that Longacre House itself may be haunted. According to the City of Farmington Hills, which owns the house, an eerie, unexplainable photo taken a few years ago shows an image gazing forlornly down from the window of the Bride’s Room. Another photo, shown during Friday's event, shows a ghostly arm reaching toward a tower of appetizers displayed in the dining room.

With attendees at Friday night's event, Lundy and Lemkie toured the house and talked about the signs of paranormal activity. In the library, Lundy said a particular odor can appear.

On a previous visit to the house, he said, "One of the things we noticed was the smell of cigar smoke."

Julie Hanson, Lynn Otwell, James and Stacy Wenklert from Farmington Hills and Julie Stone of Plymouth, a former Farmington Hills resident, came to the event because they've done some ghost hunting themselves.

Otwell said a group of nine friends started got interested in the hobby when they learned about the Mansfield Reformatory in Ohio, a former prison where the movie The Shawshank Redemption was filmed.

"It's fun," Hanson said. "It's interesting, it's history."

Otwell is the skeptic in the group, but she said she liked listening to GHOSM's "EVPs", or electronic voice phenomena. 

Stone has a personal stake in ghost hunting.

"I know I have something in my house," she said. "Weird things have happened. A calendar my ex-mother-in-law gave me ended up on the floor, on my birthday ... Somebody who slept in my basement once said they would never do it again."

For more information about GHOSM, including a calendar of upcoming events, visit the organization's website.