August 19, 2005

The Witchcraft Connection: Metaphysical Investigations into the Paranormal

Resurrection Mary: Part Two
By Marcus Foxglove Griffin

As we approached the entrance to Resurrection Cemetery, I was immediately unhappy about what I was seeing; the old cemetery gates had been taken down and replaced with new ones. For you to understand why this was upsetting to me, it is necessary to relate to you the rather chilling accounts of August 10th, 1976. 

It was on this date at approximately 10:30 in the evening, that a gentleman driving by the gates of Resurrection Cemetery witnessed a most unusual sight. He saw a young woman in a white party dress standing inside the cemetery gates grasping onto the gates iron bars. Disturbed by what he had seen and worried that the young woman had accidentally been locked inside, he stopped by the Justice Police department and related what he had witnessed to the night officer. A patrol car was immediately dispatched to Resurrection Cemetery to check out the report, but upon inspection the cemetery was found to be dark and vacant with no sign of the young woman. The responding officer did, however, discover something that chilled him to the bone. He noticed that two of the bars of the cemetery gate had been pulled apart and were bent at sharp angles. But what really disturbed him was that the bent bars were blackened and scorched, and within these scorch marks were what looked to be skin texture and handprints that had been seared into the metal with incredible heat. Mary, it seemed, had left behind physical evidence! 

But that physical evidence was gone now. It had been my hope to be able to grasp onto the burned and bent bars with my own two hands and see if I get a psychic impression or feeling from them, but that seemed unlikely now. Much to the protest of my teammates, I stopped the van in a no parking zone, jumped out of the van, and approached the gates of Resurrection Cemetery. I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and with hope beyond hope, grasped onto two of the greenish-brown bronze bars of the cemetery gate. Nothing... If there was ever anything imprinted into the bars that could be seen or felt it had vanished along with the old gates. Distraught but still determined, I got back inside the van and drove my teammates and myself past the new gates and into Resurrection Cemetery.

Resurrection Cemetery is plain and simply huge, seemingly endless upon first inspection. I chose one of the cemeteries many asphalt arteries at random, and as we drove around the first bend in the road we witnessed a most curious sight; there were two female deer lying in the shade of two large stone memorials just off the edge of the road. I stopped the van and grabbed my camera hoping to snap off a few shots before the doe’s were disturbed by our intrusion and decided to flee. The first doe turned out to be camera shy and quickly rose to her feet and ran deep into the cemetery. The second doe however seemed more than happy to simply lay in the shade of the monument and have her picture taken. As soon as the LCD display on my digital camera revealed a picture that I was satisfied with, I threw the van into drive and we continued our trek through Resurrection Cemetery. 

As we drove deeper and deeper into the cemetery, the differences between the old and new sections of Resurrection’s funerary grounds became quite obvious. To our right were the much older and decidedly much more creepy tombstones and monuments of Resurrection Cemetery. To our left were modern black marble monuments adorned with gold and bronze saints and angels. I found a spot where I could safely park and the entire team exited the van. The team quickly dispersed into one of the older sections of the cemetery and began the process of trying to pick up on any psychic impressions or strange feelings. After about ten minutes or so of searching, the team reassembled at the van without much to report. Lady Amber put it best when she stated, “it just feels like an old cemetery.” Satisfied that we weren’t going to be able to pick up on much at the Resurrection Cemetery, at least not during daylight hours, we all hopped back into the van and headed for Archer Avenue and Chet’s Melody Lounge. 

Chet’s Melody Lounge, which is across the street and cattycorner to Resurrection Cemetery, has purportedly been associated with many ghostly sightings, including Resurrection Mary. Many unsuspecting motorists have supposedly given Mary a ride, only to have her disappear from their vehicles upon passing the gates of Resurrection Cemetery or Chet’s Melody Lounge. Some have even seen her entering the lounge after unexplainably vanishing from their vehicles. Those who have gone into Chet’s after her were told that no one fitting Mary’s description had entered the bar. 

Upon entering Chet’s Melody Lounge, team WISP was greeted by a single employee; a barkeep named Lisa, who upon seeing us enter the lounge abandoned the game of video poker she was amusing herself with. After setting us up with a round of beers, Lisa disappeared into a small kitchen behind the bar to prepare us an order of deep-fried mushrooms and mozzarella sticks. Other than Lisa and us, Chet’s Melody Lounge was completely empty. We choose a small table near the back of the lounge where we sipped our beers and waited for our snacks. It was very hot in Chicagoland that day, and the bar's single window air conditioner was having a hard time keeping the place cooled down. Lisa promptly arrived with our food, and before she could escape back to her videogame, I asked her a single question, “What can you tell us about Resurrection Mary?” A broad grin came over Lisa’s face, and she said she would be more than happy to share with us what she knew. I informed Lisa that we were a team of metaphysical investigators working on an article for Ghostvillage.com. Lisa inquired as to the meaning of the word “metaphysical,” and after satisfactorily answering her question; she began telling us her tales. 

It came as no surprise when Lisa informed us that inquiry about Resurrection Mary at Chet’s Melody Lounge was an almost weekly event. “As a matter of fact,” Lisa said, “there was just a guy in here having lunch with the head Caretaker for Resurrection Cemetery asking him questions about Mary.” Lisa then informed the two female members of our team that, “Mary doesn’t show herself to women or those who come looking for her.” While I have never heard of an encounter with Mary by a ghosthunter or paranormal investigator, what Lisa stated about Mary not appearing to women is contrary to many reports. While it is true that men have reported the majority of Resurrection Mary encounters, reports of encounters by women are hardly unheard of. After sharing with us some more basic information about Mary, most of which we already knew, Lisa informed us that Chet’s Melody Lounge was also haunted by something other than the ghost and legend of Resurrection Mary…

Lisa stated that on more than one occasion, racked balls on the pool table (which has long since been removed) have broke by themselves as if struck by the invisible cue of a spectral pool player. She then stated that the television set mounted to the wall would sometimes turn on and off all by itself. I noticed that the TV was made by General Electric, and I told Lisa that I used to own a GE television that did the same thing, and that it turned out to be faulty wiring rather than a ghostly sit-com aficionado. Unshaken by my comment, Lisa went on to tell us about a friend of hers that would no longer go into the basement at Chet’s due to several ghostly encounters. These encounters occurred while Lisa’s friend was retrieving bar supplies for her when she was too busy to get them for herself. Lady Amber asked if we could check out the basement for ourselves, but Lisa declined due to insurance reasons. After a few more questions and answerers that bore little relevance to our current investigation, we asked Lisa if there was a nearby restaurant where we could get a full-blown meal. Lisa said that there was a place called Rico D’s directly across from the Willow-Brook Ballroom (one of Mary’s most famous haunts) that had really good pizza, and unsurprisingly, was also haunted. We thanked Lisa for her time, beer, and the snacks, and headed for the front door. Lisa followed us up-front and went to work washing glasses behind the bar. Just as we were on our way out the door, I remembered something that I had forgotten to ask Lisa about; the stories I had heard of people buying drinks for Resurrection Mary and leaving them at the end of the bar for her. Lisa said that every Halloween the owner of the bar would mix a Bloody-Mary and set it at the end of the bar for her. Lisa also said that occasionally someone would buy a drink for Mary and leave it at the end of the bar as well. I couldn’t resist the temptation, so I ponied-up the $3.75 for a Bloody-Mary and left it at the end of the bar for our quarry, even though I was fairly certain that it would be dumped in the sink by Lisa or gulped down by the town lush long before Mary could get her ectoplasmic fingers on it. 

As we walked out the front door of Chet’s Melody Lounge, the bright daylight was almost blinding after having sat in a dimly lit bar for the last hour and a half. I somehow managed to snap off a quick shot of the front of Chet’s Melody Lounge with my digital camera, and then told the team that we should probably head down to the Willow-Brook Ballroom and maybe Rico D’s and wait until dark before continuing our investigation. Before a decision could be reached on this course of action, Lord Samsun spotted a caretaker across the street in Resurrection Cemetery. Sampsun said that he would like to see if we could catch-up with him and ask him a few questions. We all quickly agreed to his request, so we hopped in the van and began our hot pursuit. The graveyard race was on!

Next month: Resurrection Mary: Part Three 

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