‘Paranormal Lockdown’ Ends First Season At Kreischer Mansion

While it can be sad to find a house haunted by some past misfortune that’s occurred within its walls, it’s particularly tragic when it darkens a beautifully restored historic mansion. From a Victorian suicide to a modern-day mob hit straight from The Sopranos, Staten Island’s Kreischer Mansion has two deaths on his hands, so Nick Groff and Katrina Weidman from Paranormal Lockdown spent 72 hours looking for paranormal activity on the latest episode of the show.

Kreischer Mansion is one of two homes that used to stand on the property, belonging to brothers Charles and Edward. After Edward’s suicide, Charles allegedly conducted many séances on the property trying to contact his brother and supposedly opened a doorway to the afterlife or another world. Charles’ house burned to the ground, but Edward’s remains on the property to this day.

There was also a mob hit on the property when a man was lured there, stabbed several times, then drowned in a small reflecting pool in the yard. After that, his body was dragged down to the basement, where he was cremated in the house’s furnace which has since been replaced.

Day One of Paranormal Lockdown

Weidman and Groff first spoke with the former owner, Joe McBratney, who had planned to turn the mansion into a restaurant, but was unable to complete his dream due to the hauntings. He told the pair about waking up one night and seeing a woman that he felt was the widow of Ed Kreischer. He spoke about physical manifestations, such as stabbing sensations and was convinced that the woman he saw was trying to tell him something. Unfortunately, he finally had to let the house go.

“I’m gonna tell you this right now, this house consumed me. I have to fix it, I have to do this… No, no… I can’t do that. I can’t be a father, I have to fix the house… I was like a puppet to the house. I had to run from it.”

He also reported people “feeling hands on them” when they were in the basement, which is one of the main areas of reported activity along with the second floor.

The first night, Weidman and Groff started having problems with battery failures that would occur throughout the rest of their 72 hours. As Weidman explained, this is a fairly typical phenomena during paranormal investigations where spirits draw on the energy in electrical devices to try to build up their own energy to manifest.

Groff got a major case of the chills and Weidman was having back pain, similar to symptoms reported by McBratney. Weidman also felt something touch her arm, startling her, and Groff felt a stabbing sensation in his leg. The Geo Box said Katrina’s name and said, “I’m dead,” “murder,” and confirmed it was brought to the house by a séance. But the most compelling piece of evidence the first night was the EVP the pair captured saying, “I’m Edward Kreischer.”

Day Two of Paranormal Lockdown

Weidman told Groff she had a dream that a man in a trench coat and hat had his back to her, and kept looking over his shoulder at her as if to tell her to follow him if she wanted to find answers. Upon reviewing the tape recorder they left running as they fell asleep, searching for EVPs, they heard “better watch out” loud and clear.

After finding no evidence in the basement, they returned to the second floor, where Weidman’s mic battery died in the same room that drained a battery the previous day. The pair split up for separate EVP sessions, with Groff hearing footsteps running in circles through the first floor, and Weidman hearing banging noises and something being thrown.

Poltergeist threw something at @KatrinaWeidman #ParanormalLockdown

— Nick Groff (@NickGroff_) April 9, 2016

Day Three of Paranormal Lockdown

Even as Groff and Weidman were still eating breakfast, they turned on the Geo Box and immediately got two messages: “Edward’s here,” and “Kill him.”

For their final night, Groff and Weidman arranged to have a séance on the property, calling in psychic medium Colleen Costello, to help them close the portal that had been opened by the séances conducted by Charles Kreischer after his brother committed suicide.

Groff experienced a tingling sensation and Costello’s hands were shaking, then they felt a coldness in the room. Costello said she kept hearing spirits saying, “You bastards, hahahah,” but Weidman and Groff both felt whatever was in the house they were trying to communicate with was staying in the room upstairs. Reviewing the tape recording of the séance, they heard an EVP saying “I’m so sorry,” then “I’m coming downstairs.”

Paranormal Lockdown has been a refreshing break from so many so-called paranormal shows that are blatantly fake and meant to be funny, even if they pretend otherwise. Many fans are happy to see a show taking the paranormal seriously again, and hope that Paranormal Lockdown returns for another season, as do Weidman and Groff. Viewers can only hope Destination America listens.

Thank u every1 4 tweeting&watching #ParanormalLockdown! It was an incredible season & we couldnt do this w/out u! @NickGroff_ @DestAmerica

— Katrina Weidman (@KatrinaWeidman) April 9, 2016

[Photo courtesy of Destination America]