Of all the hauntings in Va this one was by far one of the interesting. I had to include this one on my page simply for that fact. This story has appeared on TV on the Montel Williams Show. It has also been the subject of many articles in the newspaper and magazines, not to mention the fact that the family has been visited by many psychic experts, including a team from the Virgina Ghost and Haunt Research Society. With that in mind, here is the story:
To many the house located in Chesapeake, Va is just a normal house, except that is for the family which lives in it. Owned by Gary and Kimberlie Keffer, this house to them is a haunted one. So far to date there have been all manner of manifestations, strange noises, and talking. In fact the family has seen quite a share of ghostly phenomenon ever since they came to live there. Gary Keffer is a lifelong resident of the area. So when the farm came up for sale in the 70's, Gary and his new bride, Kimberlie decided they wanted to buy it. This house is believed to have dated back to the early 1800s and had been the life long residence of a family called the Shaddinger's. There's quite a story behind this family, one filled with mystery to say the least. They bought the house in 1905. There were 4 children. Three boys and 1 girl. The girl is said to have starved to death at the young age of only 23, although nobody knows why. One of the sons lost his leg when he was just a boy. Supposedly, he stepped in some boiling water. When he was older, his parents and him had a violent falling out. He left, never to return. Nobody knows where he is at to this day, if he is even still alive. Walter was one of the sons that lived there. After his parents died, he stayed in the house and continued to farm. Gary, the current resident, remembers Walter from when Gary was just a child. He recalls that he was a big, big man. He was nearly deaf and enjoyed the company of the neighboring children. The children would rap on the porch with a tree limb to get his attention. He was known at the "gentle giant". After Walter's wife died, he stayed there alone. But Gary and some others noticed how strangely he behaved after this. Gary says, "There would be days when he would go out and sit in his car and read. He would sit there for hours, usually until it got dark." Eventually, Walter got older and sold the house to the Keffers, but by this time the house had deteriorated to the point that it couldn't be saved.
They burned what was left of the old house and bulldozed some of the rest of the rubble into the now basement. The family moved in about 1979 and things were quiet for about a year. Then one day Kimberlie was making spaghetti. Her two sons, Gary and Jaime, were in the kitchen with her. Kimberlie says that when she was young her mother used to sing an Italian song- A Tarantella when she was making spaghetti. All of a sudden someone started singing the song. There was no one in the kitchen except Kimberlie and her two sons. Kimberlie recalls, " I sat down and told them we were going to have a little prayer."
The Keffers say that the manifestations seem to peak in the winter and fall months. Kimberlie says, "It seems like they are on summer vacation." Eventually, the family could distinguish who was present by smell. The Civil War veternal is associated with the smell of cherry pipe tobacco. "Mr. Tweed" smells like he could use a bath. Kimberlie says that it's like he has tried to mask his odor with the splashing of men's cologne, but he still stinks. Then there's "Audrey", the Victorian lady. When she is around you can smell the distinct odor of cloves. Kimberlie says that they are most active when when is being done on the house, or when things are being changed around. Kimberlie recalls," They don't like change. When we were having our roof repaired after a hurricane, they made all kinds of noise. It sounded like they were rolling bowling balls around. There's an aweful lot of thumping and bumping."
It seems at times that the unseen guests did not like some of the "mortal" guests. When visitors used the downstairs bathroom something would turn off the lights while they were in there. Many a guest came screaming out with their pants at their ankles. It got so bad they now keep a flashlight in there. At other times people have experienced cold spots in the house. Kimberlie's sister and family came to visit at one time and they came down the next morning wearing heavy coats and mittens. Although the temperature in the house was normal, her sister said she nearly froze to death. Kimberlie believes that maybe the ghosts of the house got curious and went in to check out who was in the house that was new. Still another time, company came over to the house and while they were all sitting and talking, a heavy three inch steel cylinder appeared out of nowhere and instead of falling straight down to the floor, it slowly floated down.
Mr. Tweed has materialized when guests were in the house. He is considered the "ladies man", because one of the women said he was blowing on her neck. They said it had to be Tweed because of the smell. On yet another occasion, he followed a co-worker who had come to visit Kimberlie, back to the woman's office. When it was found the he was missing from the house, the other entities became very upset. Lights flashed on and off and the entire house was in chaos. When he got home, Kimberlie said that things settled down.
At one point Audrey, the Victorian lady, confronted Kimberlie. She recalls, "I heard a noise, like someone pacing. Then I smelled cloves. I was sitting on the couch, when suddenly, I saw a parasol. I didn't see Audrey, just the parasol." Then Audrey spoke. She said, " There are three things I cannot tolerate in this house-dust, clutter, and animals." Kimberlie then asked Audrey who she was. She answered that she was Audrey. Kimberlie then said to her, " Audrey, I have some bad news for you. There is going to be some dust, we have lots of clutter, and we have a dog in the house." She then kind of huffed and was gone.
Kimberlie believes that Audrey is most attached to her oldest son because he was an English major and kept many books in his room. Audrey would rearrange the books in the bookcase and sometimes Kimberlie would hear the sound of the pages being riffed through. Once he was in college, Gary recalls he woke late one morning and saw the image of a small woman. "She was only about 5 foot one or two and she had on a broad brimmed hat and a white, lacy intricate white dress, a social type dress which looked like it was from the late 1800s. She had a parasol, but it was not opened."
Kimberlie's first sighting came in 1990 late one night. She woke up to hear footsteps in the hallway, like someone was pacing back and forth. The hallway is carpeted, but she says that the sound was that of boots walking across a hardwood floor. She got up out of bed and looked into the hallway. There in the hallway was a tall man with a beard. He had a long, heather-grey, double breasted coat, with gold piping on the shoulders. He was wearing boots, square toed at the ends, and wore a sword. Kimberlie did not tell her husband of this sighting, for fear that he would think she was crazy.
Two weeks later, Gary came into the kitchen and told his parents that he had seen a Confederate soldier in his room last night standing next to his bed. Of course, Kimberlie knew that was the same man she had seen. Only then did she tell her husband of the event. Gary pulled his son into the other room and had him describe this Confederate solider. Then he got Kimberlie to do the same. Both matched precisely down to the last detail. One day the water faucet in the bathroom sink turned itself on while Kimberlie was in there. She ran to get her husband but when he arrived the sink was dry- but the toilet was gushing on it's own. Another time Gary was sitting in the dining room and the window blinds opened and shut by themselves. In time Kimberlie has seen the Confederate solider about 6 more times. The most awesome of the experiences was made by the "Big Cheese". He is known to be the most intimidating of the spirits. He is usually most active at night. When he comes around, all of the other entities scatter. It is thought that he may be the ringleader of them all. There are times when his prescence is felt so strongly that Kimberlie has to leave the house. She says he literally takes your breath away. She also describes it as a very oppressive feeling. He usually comes midnight or after. For a long time the family wouldn't get up and go the bathroom late at night for fear of running into this spirit.
There are also ghost children at the house. A young girl has been heard on the front porch yelling out for her mother. There is no one around of course at these times when she is heard. Kimberlie collects dolls. And here's where it gets really spooky. One day one of the dolls lined up on the shelf above the family room had moved onto the lap of another doll next to it. You have to have a ladder to reach where the dolls sit. They also have a checkerboard rug and plastic checkers that moves about on their own. Jamie too has heard the children. He has told of the little girls blood curdling screams from the porch. The heavy scent of roses is sometimes apparent in the house when there are no flowers there. Gary has heard coughing in the hallway when no one was there. Jaime said he heard someone dialing 6-6-6 late one night in the family room. To check this, his father went into the room and dialed several different sequences such as 5-5-5 and 7-7-7 and then 6-6-6. Each time Jaime picked out the 6-6-6 and said that was what he had heard. Doors also open and shut by themselves. There are sounds of crashes, as if heavy objects are hitting the floor. Footsteps are so common in the house anymore that the family pays them no attention. In fact on one occurance Kimberlie and her dog, Sydney heard sounds of footsteps up and down the stairs followed by a loud crash. She then opened the utility door, and asked "are you alright". Of course there was no one there.
The Keefers added a sun porch. When the dog would play with the smaller dog's blankets, unseen hands would tuck the blankets back neatly. In time, they tried to be rid of the spirits of the house. They called churches but only got negative replies and one priest even hung up on Kimberlie. Others said the house was full of demons. Kimberlie has tried a variety of different methods but nothing seems to phase them at all. They have tried house blessings. Some have tried going room to room and told the energies that they were dead and to go to the light. They even had a Native American girl come over and place sticks around the oak tree out front, in case they were on ancient Indian ground. Again nothing. They sprinkled salt on the carpets, the list continues. Nothing has really worked.
The dolls by far in my mind were the creepiest. Kimberlie in the last two or three years acquired some new dolls. Two of these dolls were "Beanie" and "Cecil". At night when everyone was asleep, Beanie would shove Cecil off the shelf to the floor. No matter how many times Cecil was put back he would be found the next day knocked down. Beanie was then banished from the house and stays in Gary's workshop. On a visit to Williamsburg, Kimberlie found a small doll, about 8 inches long. She was in a cardboard box with a bunch of other dolls. She took her home and put her on the fireplace hearth, and when Kimberlie looked back over the doll's face expession had changed. Then she noticed it again. This time Kimberlie got out of the house. When Gary came home, he took the doll to his workshop. Later when they brought her back in the house her face got black and blue. It bruised right before their eyes! When a friend came over the doll's eyes moved left to right. Her fingers also moved.
When the family appeared on the Montel Williams Show in November of 1999 the dolls were taken with them. One of the guests at the show was internationally known psychic, Sylvia Browne. Both Browne and Williams freaked out at the appearance of the dolls. Williams even said that Beanie resembled the classic horror movie doll, Chuckie. Brown stated, "There's something creepy about that doll. Dolls are strange. This doll carries really, really bad vibrations. That doll would make great firewood... There's something wrong with the atmosphere. I love antiques, but whenever you buy anything new or especially antiques, feel them. See how you feel. Because the person that owned them before, the person that made them, will put their energy in. I don't like either one of them, but that one- that one underneath, that would be in my fireplace in two seconds!"
Browne was able to describe two of the entities in the Keffer house- Audrey, who she said was a woman in a Victorian dress, and the solider in a Confederate uniform. From being on the show, this brought attention to the Keffers and a request for a visit from members of the Virginia Ghost and Haunt Research Society. Several memebers came to the house in February 2000. They were not disappointed. Kimberlie asked at one point that the men leave the house so she could bring out the little doll that bruises- because she apparently only does this in front of women. She sure did it too. She bruised! One side of her face turned ashen gray. She also had bruises during the Williams show, but this was for some reason not including in the airing.
The group that came to the house from the Va Ghost and Haunt Research Society said, "This house had it all- apparations, orbs, voices, footsteps, strange mists or fog rising from the floor, floating objects and even direct orders from the spirits themselves. In individual reports members said:
Several of their watches stopped when they entered the house.
Cameras malfunctioned. One lady had the entire film catridge eject when she took a Polaroid picture.
Fresh tape recorder and camera batteries died.
When shown an old photo of the Shaddinger farmhouse, a metallic cross was seen in the corner of the picture.
A clicking sound-as of the edge of a coin- was heard on the bookcase glass in the family room.
One memeber said as soon as he stepped into the living room a "presence" was felt in the corner of the room. Another said he experienced a "heaviness in his chest" others "an oppressiveness"
One felt a tugging of his shirt sleeve
Several felt the impression of being watched. Some said they had strange vibes. One said she had chills up and down the entire length of her body
They all said the dolls were very creepy.
One bedroom was described as acting as a vacum for sound. There is a very eerie stillness and silence to it.
A digital camera recorded dancing lights
One memeber observed he saw a tall white figure standing in the kitchen, but it went by so fast I couldn't get a picture of it.
The group was impressed with their experience and even told Kimberlie they would like to come back for further investigation. Here's one more thing that happened that was not used on the Montel Williams Show. The crew came to the house to film segments there for later airing but also had problems with equipment. Some of the equipment would not work inside the house, even though it had been checked beforehand. When they went out to their van, they found it locked, but they had not locked it. Even then, their keys would not unlock it. They also saw lights that came on by themselves and one member reported catching an image of a grayish figure walking across the family room.