Capital Area Paranormal Society

Located near Louisville, Kentucky, Waverly Hills Sanatorium is number one on the list of most paranormal investigators located here in the heartland. . Completed in 1926, this massive structure was built to isolate the vast number of tuberculosis patients that were so prevalent in the area. Waverly Hills was not just a top notch medical facility; it was a self-contained community with its own post office, water treatment plant and even produced much of their own food.

With the advent of antibiotics in the 1950’s, the need for TB clinics waned and in 1962 the complex was redesigned/renamed as the Woodhaven Geriatric Center. Although their mission was primarily as a nursing home, it also supported dementia and severely mentally handicapped patients. It was closed by the State in 1982, under some controversy.

It was just before 8pm when we rolled up to the gates, catching a picturesque view of deer promenading about the grounds. After a brief introduction, we were permitted to walk the exterior of this massive gothic style building which is surrounded by wildlife. The crowning glories were of course the Gargoyles adding to the eerie ambience.

After our exterior stroll, we met with the gracious owner, Tina Mattingly who gave us a tour of the interior of the complex and then let us loose to explore at our leisure. Perhaps leisure is not quite accurate. While trying to get our video cameras set up Dave and I kept running into issues.

The 4th floor has been reported with activity, specifically a shadowy entity referred to as the creeper; needless to say we felt it was highly desirable to have video covering that area. To start, the batteries in Dave’s IR lights were drained, although he insisted they were new. I offered my IR lights and even checked the batteries before we confidently continued to the other levels. When I reviewed the video later, I saw that just as we were walking away the lights were fading, leaving the entire video nothing but darkness.

Dave and I regrouped with the rest of our team and made our way to the infamous Death chute. It is said this tunnel is so long that it starts out in one zip code and ends in another. My accelerated heart rate assured me that was a truthful fact! Walking down the slope was not an issue; however the trek back was far more of a challenge. I’m happy to report that we all made it back, not adding to the body count, although we did need to stop and take a few “EVP” breaks.

After we emerged from the tunnel, we lingered in the adjacent hallway. The EMF detector that Lydia was holding began spiking. Mark and Angel walked over and their K2 meter started to light up as well. Angel was suddenly overcome by a nauseous feeling, so she left the area with Mark and Elaine.

In the meantime, at the other end of the hallway Dave thought he heard someone drop the “F” word. Admittedly that could have easily been any one of us; however no one owned up to saying it. Upon review, it was caught on two of our recorders, and as Dave was relating the incident, another male voice chimes in and repeats it.

While setting up my video camera in that section, we heard a child’s voice resonating through the hallway and then footsteps shortly after coming from above us. We maintained vigilance in that area and noticed in the direction of the death tunnel it would get lighter, than plunge into complete darkness. It happened several times but we were unable to ascertain a cause. We left the camera running and moved on to the morgue.

After the much needed respite, Dave and I decided to check our video cameras and put in fresh batteries. As we were on the 3rd floor, I thought I saw something run across the end of the hallway. When I shined my light in that direction, I saw 2 balls lying on the floor. It is said that a little boy named Timmy enjoys playing with balls, so I don’t know if it was a ball rolling or an animal. Whatever the case, it was fast, low to the ground and appeared a yellowish color.

We had some interesting results using the Ovilus that night. Although we rarely get names, in the operating room we got Wayne and Murphy, in the lobby area Carol and Jim came up on more than one occasion. Oddly when Angel mentioned those two names she had a bright light hit her face. 

Hoping to stimulate some paranormal activity in the electroshock room, Dave and I pulled out lab coats and surgical masks. We brought enough for everyone save one. Fittingly Mark volunteered to be the patient in our little charade.

Elaine did a fantastic job of performing a mock electroshock procedure. Suddenly the K2 meter Angel was holding spiked to highest level. Dave tried to pull out the spirit box only to feel the frustration of dead batteries again. While he left to get replacements, the rest of us remained in the room. The Ovilus said “Human” as the K2 continued spiking, followed by the word “run”. We all felt chilled by that one. At that point, the REM pod we had placed on the concrete floor just outside the door in the hallway, started going absolutely nuts! I was standing by the doorway and felt a tug on my lab coat.

We split up at that point with Mark, Angel, Lydia and Elaine heading to the cafeteria. While they were sitting there, the Ovilus responded with the words Clyde, light, supper and paranormal.

At that time, Dave and I were attempting to set up a video camera in another location. While trying to get it adjusted, we saw the lower torso of a person wearing white shorts through the video camera lens. Dave questioned who it was standing in front of the camera, but as we looked up there was no one. Looking back, we saw it vanish from the view finder. We realized the only place it could have gone was through a solid wall. As we continued our struggle with the camera, I heard whistling. At this point I’m actually surprised it wasn’t a taunting laugh.

Around 3am, we decided to do a last walkthrough. Mark and Dave were adamant about taking on the creeper on the 4th floor so we ladies elected to return to the death tunnel and sit by the entrance. I brought a toy chicken and asked Timmy if he could make his presence known, we would leave it for him. Elaine took several photos during that time that were very curious. The Ovilus said “Grandma”, and then the name “Carol” popped up again followed by “Green”. When we asked how old Timmy was, the number “Seven” came up.

After paying a brief visit to the operating room, we made our way back up to the 5th floor. While I was taking some pictures, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a person in a white lab coat next to me. Because they were so close, I decided to move so that I didn’t accidently bonk into them. As I turned, I was astonished to see that Lydia and Elaine were standing several feet away with their backs turned and Angel was on my other side. I glanced around again only to discover that no one was there! As we left Angle caught a glimpse of a shadow figure at the bottom of the staircase.

We eventually ran into Mark and Dave. Although they did not have a run in with the creeper, they said the REM pod was very active. After spending time on the floor without any additional action, other than Mark having issues with his camera, they decided to leave. As they went to retrieve the rem pod it started going crazy again, so much so that Dave thought it looked like the whole unit was spinning.

I must say, Waverly Hills will accelerate any paranormal enthusiast’s heartrate, even without a trip down the chute. We were treated very well by everyone and it was heartwarming to see they have put so much effort into restoration. CAPS will certainly find a way to make it back, and I think I’ll start stockpiling my battery supplies now.