Haunted House: Eerie things are happening; ghost hunters confirm

When Michelle Staley finally opened My Granny’s Attic Antiques, Collectibles & Local Art in Lenexa she could not have been more thrilled.

Now something else is thrilling her. Staley believes her store at 9230 Pflumm Road is haunted.

The Lenexa resident has been collecting and selling antiques for 26 years and coveted the location for her store for 12 years, when it became available for rent last August. The historic Lenexa house was built in the early 1900s as a duplex. The first tenants were Dr. Percy L. Jones, his wife, Louise (Legler) Jones, and William Kelly, a mailman for the railroad. Jones, one of the first doctors in Lenexa, had his office in the basement. He is buried a few blocks away in the Lenexa Cemetery on Pflumm.

In the fall, Staley began moving her antiques and collectables into the space, displaying the items to make the house look like a home. The main floor has all of the original built-in cabinets, hardwood floors and pocket doors. Upstairs, there is an antique reference library. 

After opening, Staley said strange things started happening. Objects move from where she places them, she has felt someone touch her on the neck, the back door opens and closes on its own, and she has heard voices and someone walking around upstairs.

“When I was moving in I would set something down, like glue or polish, and I would go back to get it and it would be gone,” Staley said. “I would come back later and it would be where I left it. At night when I was here alone, I would hear footsteps upstairs like someone was walking on hardwood floors instead of carpet.

“One day I was going upstairs and I fell forward like something pushed me, and I felt a jolt of electricity through my body. After that I saw a small black figure running up and down the stairs like a child. I don’t think I was pushed, I think they were playing and I was just in the way,” Staley said. “I have had customers comment on seeing things, as well as hearing someone walk up to them only to find they are the only one upstairs.”

Recently, after Staley sold a vanity from an upstairs bedroom she heard someone crying.

“There was nobody there, but it was this heartbreaking sob,” she said. “So I sat on the floor where the vanity used to be and started talking about what we do here about selling furniture. I felt so compelled, then I got the shivers, but the sobbing stopped and I haven’t heard it again.”

The spirits are friendly, Staley said, but there is one aspect of the haunted house that she finds unsettling – the basement. In one area of the basement, she experiences physical symptoms.

“I feel very cold, my ears plug up, I get dizzy and light-headed, and sick to my stomach. It’s almost like I hit a wall,” she said. “I was getting a little panicky because the activity down there has increased. One night I was working late in the room over the basement area, and I heard a knock. I looked out the front and back door and didn’t see anyone, so I went back to what I was doing. The knocking got even louder, to the point where it sounded like somebody was pounding on the floor right under me. I could feel it under my feet. I grabbed my stuff and went home. … I have no doubt I’m not alone.”

After that experience, Staley decided to call for help. She has contacted spiritual guides, clairvoyants and paranormal investigators. She also placed an ad on Craigslist to find someone who could perform an exorcism. The Travel Channel series “Paranormal State” has contacted Staley about coming out to film her store.

Three paranormal investigation teams have visited the store. Through their research, two of the groups confirmed what she has been hearing and seeing. One group caught an image of a man in the front window, which Staley said looks like Dr. Jones.

Missouri Paranormal Research group returned Saturday evening to attempt to capture more electronic voice phenomenas, or EVPs. During the previous visit, team leader Paul Cameron said he captured digital voice recordings of a male and a child.

“The guy’s voice came from the room in the basement,” Cameron said. “We also had a little girl interact with us. We were doing a see and speak thing… the chicken goes cluck, cluck and the cow goes… and on the video tape you can hear this little voice go ‘moo.’ We had another researcher with us that saw a shadow figure running on the stairs.”

Cameron, who has been ghost hunting for about a year, said the team has captured readings on every floor in the house. He believes there is something in the basement and a closet in an upstairs bedroom.

“We want to be able to help people at least get to the bottom of it,” he said. “We’re just trying to find answers. I’m a fundamental Baptist and I believe in salvation, so I want to know why there are ghosts. The only way to find that is to investigate them.”

Staley said she is desperate to find a solution to rid the store of ghosts.

“A psychic called me and told me to go to the basement and just listen to what they have to say,” she said. “He said I need to go down there by myself and explain to them why I’m here and that I want them to leave, maybe even compromise with them that when I’m here they go away and when I’m not here they can do whatever. I was told that what’s in the basement is unhappy and is ready to move on. I’ve also been told that the spirits may not be attached to the house, that the house is a paranormal weigh station or a ghost motel, a beacon for any spirits that are roaming around. One psychic lady told me she could close the portals.

“I’ve had people come and investigate, but nobody can help me understand it or stop it. One of the psychics told me if I was here for a reason the reason would reveal itself, but there’s been nothing yet.”

Sarah Fischer, owner of neighboring Joyce’s Flowers, keeps baskets, decorations and other items stored in Staley’s basement. Fischer said she has never experienced unusual sights or sounds. Staley said a few weeks ago several of Fischer’s items had been rearranged into a maze or path-like pattern.

“It’s a really weird room,” Fischer said. “It makes me feel kind of dizzy and discombobulated, but I don’t feel any ghosty things. My employee won’t come down here alone. I won’t hang out, but I’m not scared to come down here by myself – as long as it’s light out.”

Staley said her landlord and previous occupants, who ran an adoption agency, did not experience any paranormal activity.

“I can’t imagine that with this level of activity going on that you could not notice it, but I also think you have to be open to it happening,” she said. “Some people tend to attract spirits more than others. I’ve been told that I’m familiar to them, not that they’re people I knew, but they see me as the caretaker of the place.

“This is a beautiful antique shop with a very eclectic mix of inventory. It is a comfortable place to be and having the spirits here only adds to the history and ambiance of the shop.”

Staley emphasizes that the building does not house evil spirits and she is not afraid, nor should her customers be.

“I don’t want people to feel uncomfortable here. Nothing’s going to happen, nothing’s going to jump out at you,” she said. “I’m working on creating a tea room and children’s Victorian dress-up space in the basement, but I can’t do anything with this going on. I’ve never been fearful, I’m just curious. It makes you question everything you learned in Sunday school – you die and you either go to heaven or you go to hell and that’s it. I want to know why the spirits are here, do they love this house or did they die tragically? Is it because of the things that are here?

“I will stay here as long as I can. This had been a dream of mine for more than 20 years, and it’s not often you get to live your dream.”

FAST FACTS

Staley has posted some of the recorded spirit voices captured in her store on her Web site, www.mygrannysatticantiques.com/evps/.

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