Alabama’s Most Haunted investigates Spring Villa Park
Laura Leigh Chesser
Opelika Parks and Recreation
Spring Villa Park has a long history of rumored paranormal activity. On Saturday, September 8 a team of investigators from Alabama’s Most Haunted is coming to see if they can answer the question “Are there ghosts residing at Spring Villa?”.
Alabama’s Most Haunted consists of a six-person investigative team who shoot hour and a half long documentaries at some of the most haunted places in the state. So far, they have investigated and found activity at the Jemison-Van de Graaff Mansion in Tuscaloosa, Kenworthy Hall in Marion, the Crooked Creek Civil War Museum in Cullman and The Josephine Hotel in Union Springs.
“We have always been interested in the paranormal, so we decided to put together a film crew to investigate some of the most haunted places around to learn their history and investigate claims to see if there is any truth to the stories,” said Kevan Walden, Alabama’s Most Haunted investigator.
The team will use night vision cameras, audio recorders and spirit boxes to detect spiritual presences at Spring Villa. The audio recorders can catch voices that would normally be inaudible. Spirit boxes use radio waves and act as conduits to the spiritual world. Those tools combined with the experience of the team members should give insight into what, if anything, is residing at the park.
According to Walden, some of their members are more in tune with the spiritual world and seem to have more interactions during investigations.
“One of our members, Shawn, always has the most stuff happen to him,” said Walden. “He has gotten touched, he has had his shirt pulled, he has had his leg squeezed, he gets weird feelings and sometimes he gets really sick where he has to leave.”
Alabama’s Most Haunted will not be the first paranormal group to investigate the property. There have been numerous other groups who have braved the big house, hoping to find evidence of paranormal activity. There have been reports of flashlights being turned on, piano keys playing, children crying and playing and other voices speaking to investigators.
Jeff Pokorny, Spring Villa Caretaker, has lived at Spring Villa for 20 years. Through the years Pokorny has noted several curious incidents including suspicious behavior from his dog, items disappearing and reappearing days later, mysterious figures appearing in photos and one convincing story about a painted over deadbolt lock, but he has said there has never been anything malicious or evil that has occurred.
“I don’t stay up at the big house much, so there could be more things that happen that I don’t know about,” said Pokorny. “I don’t go looking for them though. I just keep the house up and keep the grass cut for them.”
Once completed the documentary will air on WCQT TV27 in Cullman for two weeks. Following it’s on-screen debut, it will be uploaded to Alabama’s Most Haunted YouTube Channel in January.
To stay up to date on the investigation, follow Alabama’s Most Haunted Facebook and Instagram pages.
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