Featured Paranormal Investigator
Ghost Hunter
"Well, The Future Only Knows..." My name is Karen Isaksen. I'm 48 years old, married for fourteen years and have three cats. I work with the elderly assisting and aiding them with their daily chores. That is one part of my life. The other part of my life is a learning process on what happens after death. My own experiences brought me to this field of study. As a young girl I could see spirits - or as I called them, “ghosts.” I didn’t think anything was wrong with it. I felt it was a natural process in life. I think I felt my first ghost at eleven or twelve years old. My best friend (still to this day) Connie’s home was “haunted” and I use to feel him, knowing it was male. I spent a lot of time at her home and practically lived there. But I hated being alone in her room and always felt him peering over my shoulder. He was not an angry ghost. I felt he was lost or confused. There was a night I saw him twice. Connie was having a Sweet Sixteen sleep over. Another friend - who I will refer to as "Pat" - and I were pretending to hold a séance. We were sitting on the floor and Connie was sitting on the bed and we were smoking and joking around. From out of nowhere I saw a spirit appear behind Pat - only half of him - and I saw his hand touch her shoulder. She instantly cried, "Get it off of me!” and kept repeating that phrase, "Get it off of me! Get it off of me!" I knew there was no way she saw what I saw. Later on when we were down stairs we were trying to make sense of this and again I saw a misty white form glide down the stairs. The next morning my friend told me she saw the same thing. I’ve had many experiences throughout my life and consider myself "a sensitive." I can sense other peoples' vibrations. Some people may call my feelings intuition or gut feelings. Dreams, especially, hold a special power in my life. Here is one I’ll tell you of: I had just recently gotten divorced. I was twenty one years old and my husband and I had been separated for a year. I knew my mother-in-law had cancer from the time I met her, but I was out of the loop with information about my ex and his family, so I had no idea about the well being of my former mother in-law. Well, this one night I had a dream of Phyllis and she came to me deformed, decayed and rotted… She said, “Karen, I am so sorry for my appearance, but I did not know how to show myself to you. I just wanted to let you know that I passed, and thank you.” The very next day I got a call from a friend who told me Phyllis passed on a few days before I had my dream. Now fast forward my story to December 15th, 2005: My husband Eric and I went to South Carolina to look at homes to buy. We were taken to the town of Ridgeland. The real estate agent, Jeff, took us to many houses. There was one house that stood out from the others. It was located in a private development called "Heritage Woods." It was a quaint little area settled nicely in a wooded community. As we approached this house I was getting an unsettling feeling. This house was seated at the end of a cul de sac on an acre of wooded property. One of the main attractions for my husband was a woodshed were he would be able to tinker around with his cars. The shed was huge and located at the back of the property. Jeff's cell phone rang when we pulled into the driveway. Eric and I got out and proceeded to walk towards the woodshed. The shed had a huge window through which we looked inside. We checked the door. Finding the door unlocked we walked in. I immediately felt a cold air. It was December but this was a different cold air than the chill of the season. A wrenching smell hit us like a wall. My husband said it was a far worse smell than a dead and rotted animal. I took only four steps into the shed and felt anger. Eric walked in further and said "Something is not right here." We walked out. Jeff was off the phone and we walked into the open garage and the back door leading into the house. The door was unlocked, which we thought was odd. The kitchen was cold like the shed and again we smelled that disgusting odor to which I can not put a name. Dead bugs were everywhere on the floor, in the sink, in the cabinets. The house showed signs that the family that had last lived in it last left in a hurry. Dirty dishes were in the sink, old food was still in the refrigerator. Boxes half packed lay about the house. Half the furniture remained and half was gone. Again I felt the anger I felt in the shed. I was rattled suddenly by cold and horrible sensations in the upstairs bedroom and bath. I said finally, "Lets get out of here!" Going out through the front door Jeff wanted us to see the shed one more time. I didn't want to but Eric for some reason - I guess because he would have really liked to have the place if it was normal - joined Jeff and walked back into that shed while I stood at least twenty yards away. They walked in and out within minutes. As soon as they walked towards me I saw something hit the shed door and make a huge BANG! It startled the men and they turned quickly to the door. I later told Jeff to, "Never show me a house like that again!" He replied, "What? You mean like the haunted house in Heritage Woods?" Eric and I went back to the house the next day to take some pictures. We couldn't get into the house but we did take photos of the woodshed (picture below). I got into this field out of curiosity. I felt there had to be more people like myself. I started a search for such people on the Internet. I do this kind of work because I am curious about life after this. What I plan in the future…well, the future only knows, but I would love to learn to help the earthbound spirits move on. That is my goal - to help the lost souls. -30- |
Karen Isaksen and Diane Hill study an
image in the camera's the viewfinder
at Lakeview Cemetery in Patchogue:
The Lakeview Cemetery Investigation
image in the camera's the viewfinder
at Lakeview Cemetery in Patchogue:
The Lakeview Cemetery Investigation
-30-
Write to Karen at kareksen2000@yahoo.com
Photo by Karen Isaksen
Karen Isaksen
A Long Island
Seeker of the Paranormal
"...I would love to learn to help the
earthbound spirits move on. That is my goal
- to help the lost souls."
earthbound spirits move on. That is my goal
- to help the lost souls."
| The Woodshed |
| Karen's Tools Sensitive, Medium abilities Kodak 5.0 megapixiel digital camera Digital voice recorder Light Motion Detector |
| "Finding the door unlocked we walked in. I immediately felt a cold air." |
| "The house showed signs that the family that had last lived in it left in a hurry." |
by Karen Isaksen
| Story above |
What happened in
The Woodshed?
The Woodshed?
Orbs in the haunted Hougton Mansion
in North Adams, Massachusetts.
in North Adams, Massachusetts.
Paranormal Investigator
Karen Isaksen stands with
Investigator Erica Popino
in an upstairs room in the
haunted Houghton
Mansion. Karen is a
"sensitive" and feels spirits
when they are present.
Here she is pictured using
her abilities to detect spirit
activity in the room. In the
background are members
of the Berkshire
Paranormal Group, which
hosted CONTACT II, a
weekend long conference.
Karen Isaksen stands with
Investigator Erica Popino
in an upstairs room in the
haunted Houghton
Mansion. Karen is a
"sensitive" and feels spirits
when they are present.
Here she is pictured using
her abilities to detect spirit
activity in the room. In the
background are members
of the Berkshire
Paranormal Group, which
hosted CONTACT II, a
weekend long conference.
Her Spin On Things
P.A.S.T. Investigator
| Isaksen and Popino later participated in the legendery "Great Seance" in the mansion's ballroom. John Widders committed suicide in the barn behind the mansion after his beloved Mary Houghton died in a car accident. Widders was driving the car. He was the family chauffeur and lived in this room before he took his own life. |
Photo by Karen Isaksen
Notice the white dots on the
ground. Sparkles often
appear when spirits manifest.
ground. Sparkles often
appear when spirits manifest.
Karen
Isaksen
Isaksen
The Pine Hollow Cemetery Investigation
Sweet Hollow Road, L.I.
See video of Karen at T.A.P.S.
Ghost Hunt at the Houghton Mansion
Ghost Hunt at the Houghton Mansion
Click on arrow to start video
At The
Hoosac Tunnel
Hoosac Tunnel
What are the lights in this photo
taken at Lakeview Cemetery in
Patchogue, New York? Why does
one of the light bands sit on the
face of the person in blue?
Obviously, the lights are not from
the street or another nearby source.
taken at Lakeview Cemetery in
Patchogue, New York? Why does
one of the light bands sit on the
face of the person in blue?
Obviously, the lights are not from
the street or another nearby source.
Photo by Karen Isaksen
| Haunted! |
Mists at Lakeview Cemetery, Patchogue, New York
Photo by Karen Isaksen
Mists at Lakeview Cemetery, Patchogue, New York
Karen's art work illustrates
Long Island's Most Haunted, a
book of the paranormal by The
Paranormal Adventurers.
Long Island's Most Haunted, a
book of the paranormal by The
Paranormal Adventurers.
Artist