"This building was initially the coffin house, at the height of the Spanish flu, bodies were piled in the basement pretty high. It used to be a morgue and a bank," explained Nelson Nauss, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Ghost Guild, a registered nonprofit serving as the official paranormal resesarch team for the City of Raleigh's Mordecai Historic Park and Theatre in the Park.
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"We collect data from people's experiences, and then we go and we hypothesize different explanations," Nauss said.
Nauss and two Ghost Guild members conducted an investigation at Death & Taxes on September 17.
"We did the whole building," Nauss said. "We had three members that night. Kelly was basically asking for interaction. Then, Alison came up and did her investigation, and she basically experienced the exact same thing. And, so I came up and I had a slightly different experience. When I started getting the exact same, periodic hit, it pretty much sounded just like a loud slap on a chair, which I don't know how to explain that," Nauss explained.
The Ghost Guild spent several hours investigating the building and researching the experiences people have had in the building. They will now take their findings and look for patterns to better understand and explain paranormal activity which Nauss says should not be feared.
"There's different ideas on hauntings," Nauss explained. "Some people think that the buildings could be haunted. Some people think the land could be haunted. Some people think objects could be haunted."
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As for the Death & Taxes building, Nauss says a lot of activity has been felt in the basement.
"This is absolutely a gorgeous building. We recommend anybody come here, luckily, the restaurants on the first floor," Nauss joked.
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The Ghost Guild has investigated several Raleigh locations including:
- Mordecai HIstoric Park
- Theatre in the Park
- NC Museum of History
- The Borden Building at Fletcher Park
- The Tucker House
- The Joel Lane House
- The Norwood House
- Death & Taxes
- Seaboard Station
Other North Carolina Locations investigated by The Ghost Guild:
- USS North Carolina in Wilmington (18 times)
- Temple Theatre in Sanford
- Bellamy Mansion in Wilmington
- Poplar Grove in Wilmington
- Burgwin-Wright House in Wilmington
- The Carolina Theatre in Greensboro
- Multiple locations in Salisbury
- Multiple locations in Murfreesboro
- Multiple locations in Lincolnton
- Multiple locations in Wilkesboro