This was my first tourism shoot of last year, I remember distinctly getting out of work, my wife picking me up, leaving my car, and starting our several day adventure. By the time we reached our destination it was well after midnight. Now this place seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The GPS had us turn down a dirt road. I remember saying "This is the type of creepy road you get murdered on"- at that EXACT moment, the Carpenter's song "We've Only Just Begun" came on the radio. If you are a horror fan, you'll know this song was featured in "1408"- basically when the shit was about to hit the fan. If you haven't seen it, it is a great movie starring John Cusack. This is probably the only time I was creeped out on one of these trips.
So we arrive and first thing I do is step in a puddle of water - wet feet = #1 pet peeve. Then I notice that it is PITCH BLACK outside, and had no clue how I was going to do these night shots with a small flashlight. Grass is wet, about 6 people hanging out in the house, and I'm exhausted. Now this is stop #1 of about 20 for the weekend.
Here is the story written up on the Haunting of this home from the team I work for:
"The Haunted house in Hinsdale, perhaps the most famous haunted house in New York State, has all the elements of a good ghost story, a mysterious history, straight sightings, explainable events and even a couple of exorcisms.
The house on McMahon Rd first gained notoriety when a book, "Echoes of a Haunting" was published in Sept 2000 by Clara Miller. Clara and Phil Dandy lived in the house along with their children in the early 1970's and were visited by many spirits during their time there. The family was so haunted, that they called in Father Alphonsus from St Bonaventure University to perform an exorcism on the house, which worked for a short while, but as time went by the Dandy family lost the battle and ended up leaving the property.
In 2006 Discovery channel filmed an episode of A Haunting based in the events at the house. Forward to 2016, current owner of the house Daniel Klaes uses the house as a research facility for paranormal investigators. The spirits are still there and he has uncovered even more to the history of the house, including many events that have happened on the outside of the house on the property. Klaes even wrote a book, "Hinsdale House: An American Haunting" released in 2016. The house one again made it to national TV and was featured on Destination Americas Paranormal Lockdown in April 2016 and then again in October of 2016 on TLC for the Halloween special of Paranormal Lockdown.
Though it took a while and many tries, I found 3 small flashlights and placed them around and took really long exposures. The people (seemed like teenagers) were all great and helpful- none would stay in the house alone- me, I just wander and if something happens- it happens (finally). Everything turned out well- except for my wet feet.
About 4am we ended up at our hotel, which was very close, so we did go back so I could get a few daytime photos. Just in case I didn't have enough for my editor.
Hope you enjoyed, I actually ended up having a good time- even with the wet feet. If you ever have a chance, you should try to visit. I know I am going to pick up the book that was written about this home. I'll be honest, people at these places tell me the stories and sadly, I'm in a time crunch and I'm really just trying to find good angles or interesting things to photograph.