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On 14.7.2018, from the evening hours until the early morning of 15.7.2018, we conducted a paranormal investigation with the consent of the owners of Fear House (FH). The basic finding and reason for the investigation became the observation of employees who experienced and saw something that they still cannot rationally explain. In this report, we compile all the data we have collected as part of this investigation and it also serves as an informational output for a filmed documentary (attached at the end of this article).

 
Testimony

The main reason for the investigation at the location of 32 Vodičkova Street was a number of testimonies from FH employees. These testimonies were both filmed on camera and interviewed in person at the site on the day of the research.

Testimony of Beata F.

- "It happened to me that I came to work and the barmaid upstairs was totally terrified. She claimed that she heard me screaming from downstairs, but that was impossible because I had just come to work. And it wasn't the first time something like that had happened. My colleagues have plenty of experience of hearing their other colleagues in their absence."

- "It also happened that we had a tour where there was a girl and we managed to scare the girl really badly. And the moment we touched her, she screamed in fear and that's when all the fuses blew."

- "At Fear House we have a lot of props and toys that are really old. And one of the oldest and scariest toys is a stuffed bear that I had a really bad experience with. What happened to me was I was holding it (I hadn't had a bad experience with it before), I walked into the room, I threw it on the bed, I left, and about three seconds later I came back into the room and the bear was sitting in the middle of the floor."

Testimony of Martin W.

- "We were hanging the dolls by a string and after five minutes they suddenly fell. The strings split in the middle and fell off. It happened about ten times. The last time was six months ago."

More spoken testimony off camera:
- The bed next to the room with the Ouija board is supposed to creak on its own, as if someone is sleeping restlessly in it. The duvet is also supposed to move around in it.

- The chairs at the bar are supposed to move on their own.

- the massive metal cage in which people are locked during events has once moved several centimetres without anyone being locked in it or touching it, in the presence of at least one witness.

Location

FH is located in the very centre of Prague, next to the Lucerna Palace and Wenceslas Square. Historically, it is the very core of the city, which has been shaped into its present form since the reign of Charles IV, who began the reconstruction of the capital and laid the foundations for the Horse Market (formerly known as Wenceslas Square) as one of the focal points of the new city.

The house in which the FH is located also has a deep history, but it was not essential for this research.

The building stands in an area where there are many tourists and locals who present many different acoustic sensations. Other sounds travel through the waste and ventilation ducts, allowing voices from other floors of the building or more noise from outside to filter down.

Investigation

We arrive at Fear House between 7 and 8 p.m. We prepare our equipment and wait for the last underground searches to take place. The bar itself is in full operation, the guests are being haunted, and music is playing, which can be heard everywhere on the floor and its reverberations can be heard in the underground, but to a degree that will minimally affect our investigation.

The first phase of the investigation: Information

During the first phase of the investigation, we measure the natural electromagnetic (hereafter EMF) field on three dedicated instruments: the K2 meter, the TM198 EMF meter and the Mel meter. Although they have different calibrations, they all show strong electromagnetic fluctuations from normal, which we can, however, simply evaluate as a consequence of the presence of an electric current.

In fact, thanks to the ventilation, fuses, circuit breakers in the photographic rooms, the ventilation room by the main staircase and in places in the autopsy room, there are abnormalities in the electromagnetic field which essentially form a kind of Faraday cage in the rooms. That is, a place that is shielded from other electromagnetic influences coming from the environment (for example, when using the Ghost Box, this device did not tune any radios, which would normally happen in a normal environment). The values emitted by the apparently stray currents there, for example in the photo room, are highly above the limits. For fuses, it goes up to over 150 Milligaus.

This electromagnetic radiation could explain the sudden power outages and certain spoken testimonies (such as the frightened girl who blew the fuses or the voices of FH workers who are not at work). But why are they happening? It is possible that there is a power surge somewhere, or poor insulation or earthing in some places. There may be multiple explanations, but the implications are clear. In an area with these fluctuations in the EMF field, some individuals may get a headache after a short period of time. They may feel increased stress or otherwise be mentally unstable. Ironically, this may also help them to absorb the atmosphere of the horror underground. A shorter stay there should not be detrimental to health. However, if some people work in it for several hours a day, it can have a detrimental effect on their psyche and, over time, their health. There may be perception of delusions, i.e. single rest unreal sensations such as sound alone without image, image alone without sound or sensations of touch. These delusions could then develop into hallucinations after a long time, when, for example, the unreal sound and image merge into a perfect whole, indistinguishable from reality. But this is a very rare phenomenon.

The direct effects of such elevated EMF fields on human health have so far only been very basically mapped (mainly overseas), and these studies are generally discussed, for example, at www.cancer.gov.*

Experts believe that fluctuations in the EMF field may be behind the rational explanation of some paranormal experiences. Also that being in such spaces may not be healthful for some people.

Certainly young children or pregnant women should not go to such locations.

We have recorded the following data in each of the underground rooms:

Photograph room: average of 0.5-0.9 Milligauss within a metre or two of the fuses, this figure rises rapidly to a maximum of 157.9 Milligauss. (measured by Mel Meter, K2 meter and TM198).

Corridor with bags and curtains: average of 0.5-0.9 Milligauss, increasing to 10 Milligauss near the ceiling (measured with K2 meter and Mel meter).

Autopsy: average 0.5-0.9 Milligauss, in places measured by K2 meter up to 10 Milligauss (measured by Mel meter and K2 meter).

Doll room: diameter 0,5-1 Milligauss. Basically, we did not observe any higher fluctuations there that night (measured with Mel meter).

The room in front of the entrance to the actors' dressing room: an average value of 0.5-1 Milligauss. As the EMF meter approaches the ductwork, the EMF field exhibits significant fluctuations of up to 10 Milligauss above normal. TM198 concretizes these values above 6 Milligauss, which is within the range of even what the K2 meter shows. The stronger EMF radiation is near the pipe wall (see photo on page 10).

Staircase: A Mel meter reading of 1.1-1.2 milligauss was measured at the stairwell, which appears to be related to the air duct that runs across the hallway and continues into the adjacent room at the entrance to the actors' dressing rooms. (measured with a Mel meter)

Second phase of the investigation: Intervention

Shortly after midnight, when FH was already closed to the public, we begin the second part of the investigation aimed at obtaining data that would clearly indicate that there may be some paranormal activity.

In the first phase we were primarily after data that would give us a valid insight into how the real environment here behaves and what form it takes. Shortly after midnight, we attempt to implement interventions that aim to disrupt this collected data about the normal behavior of the environment. From these we could then read whether the reactions are still rational or irrational, and therefore whether the place may be exhibiting some paranormal activity, and if so, whether it has a disposition to act intelligently, which is one way to further concretize these phenomena.

We started in the photography room, but concluded that electromagnetism from the circuit breakers continued to affect (probably within the ventilation lines) the data on the instruments even after they were thrown out, and so we could not carry out the research as we had originally imagined.

A similar problem arises in the downstairs bar, where we cannot record sound for analysis due to the server being unpluggable and constantly beeping, so after careful consideration we decide to focus the research on the room with the dolls and the room with the bed and Ouija board.

The doll room was researched by Michala Valešková herself, who took advantage of the electromagnetism there and the Faraday cage effect to use the Ghost Box device. We don't normally use this device because it monitors radio frequencies, which of course are filled with radio stations and thus emit various sounds. Here in this environment, however, no radio stations can be picked up. As mentioned above, the local electromagnetism is completely shielded and thus anything we would hear in this environment with the Ghost Box would not be affected by this rational factor.

Emotionally, Michala Valešková assesses the whole space with the dolls as strongly depressing. This is exactly how it was conceived and it fulfils its given function to perfection. However, the K2 meter, thermometer and Ghost Box do not record any energy anomalies or other possible paranormal phenomena from the time period investigated here. This is also confirmed after analyses during the following months after leaving FH. Nothing mysterious or unexplained is detected in this area.

We all then move to the room with the Ouija board, next to the room with the bed (see picture on page 13), from which you should hear the creaking of the wood, as if someone is rolling around in it, and the duvet should move on its own and move across the bed.

On the table with Ouija are stacked dice, and above them a bell is hung behind the chandelier. We have a K2 EMF meter with us and so far no anomalies are registering here. We've turned off the horror effects here and the lights are off. It is completely quiet here, which is now and then disturbed by sounds from the next room - the bar.

Ondřej Bezouška breaks away from the other members after a while and goes to the aforementioned bed, where he stays alone for some time.

During the end of the second phase of the investigation, we have not yet found anything mysterious that would confirm the paranormal activity seen by the bar staff here. Therefore, we plan to further dilute the group and end the investigation in the conditions where the paranormal sightings should have occurred. That is, when the FH staff were alone.

Third phase of the investigation: Isolation

Most of the testimonies about the mysteries are related to the FH basement, the room with the Ouija board and the adjacent room with the bed.

We have already explored the cellar alone (Misha and Ghost Box in the second phase of the investigation) and now Ondřej Bezouška will be completely alone at the Ouija board, imaged only by an IR camera (see picture below) set on him.

Michal and Kamil will focus on the bar itself this time. According to the witnesses, the chairs are supposed to move spontaneously. This is also why this room is being captured by another of the IP cameras we have with us.

At the same time, sounds are coming from the bar into the room with the Ouija board.

And so, after 3 a.m., the final phase of the investigation begins at the Fear House bar in Prague.

It is also important to mention that Ondřej Bezouška is not at the Ouija board by chance, he already has experience with similar cases. Coincidentally also from Prague.

All activities in his surroundings are closely monitored. Air temperature, electromagnetic field, sounds and, of course, the image with two cameras, one of which takes pictures in the IR spectrum.

Ondrej asks questions, tries different methodologies of work so that something intelligent will manifest itself, if it is there. They are trying out communication, different types of activities that the local workers might have been doing when their transcendental experience occurred. All of this with the goal of it being picked up not only by the investigator, but primarily by technology.

However, all efforts yield one single finding: values quite normal for any room where no paranormal activity is registered. All is calm. Not a single blanket on the bed moves. The Ouija board does not move, the bell does not ring, and the dice on the table hold their position.

The only mysterious sound is in the direction of the closed door at the bar. And that's where Kamil and Misha are, trying to get to the bottom of the mysterious sounds.

Kamil and Míša first examine the chairs (see picture below) to see if any have moved since the bar closed. This can be disproved after examination, which is confirmed by the IP camera footage.

Clicking and whirring noises are also soon detected, from the central computer in Fear House and the coffee machine nearby. Even after closing time, there is a larger number of devices operating here, which, in addition, also audibly permeate the adjacent rooms and may therefore be the cause of some pareidol acoustic experiences for some lone actors, which may be reinforced by the visual appearance of the place.

So after 4am we pack up all our equipment and leave the whole Fear House bar area around 5am.

The hours of visual and audio material collected are then subjected to a detailed analysis that takes several months.

Analyses

For months after the investigation, an evaluation of all the data was underway. And from this data we can conclude the following...

- The analyses confirmed the rational fluctuations in the electromagnetic field as we described them in the first phase of the paranormal investigation at the Fear House.

- The analyses did not confirm that we have recovered any material in the Fear House underground that would corroborate the evidence of paranormal activity described by some of the workers there.

- We were only able to conduct limited research in the bar area, as some of the equipment necessary to keep the entire establishment running could not be disconnected.

- In the room with the Ouija board, a sound was recorded on a tape recorder that we have not yet been able to explain. Between 3:40 and 3:50 hours, a clear and distinct sound similar to the meowing of a cat was recorded. However, according to the camera, there was no cat in the room at the time and neither was anyone else in the room. The sound effects in the room were turned off. We were all in the next room at the bar at the time, which is also remotely audible on the footage.

Conclusion

The investigation at the Fear House in Prague's Vodičkova Street was a technically and staff intensive but all the more interesting research, which yielded a number of findings that lead to a whole network of rational reasons that may be behind the local perception of paranormal activity. You have detailed them in the first phase of the investigation and they are fluctuations in the electromagnetic field due to poor wiring.

These anomalies, which could also affect human health if a person stays in such an environment for a long time, can have their negative consequences on the readings and their distortion by the given pathological phenomena in the EMF field.

On the other hand, the investigation in the room with the Ouija board nevertheless produced one record that even we could not explain rationally. A sound that was not heard by any of us because no one was in the room at the time and according to the camera footage there could not have been any originator of such a sound. We suspected that it may have been the sound of a cat meowing from another floor of the house, transmitted to the interior of Fear House through the ductwork, but tests we then conducted several months later did not confirm that sound propagation through the ductwork was the explanation for the anomaly. And for that reason we take it as the only record so far that we have not been able to rationally refute. Thus, an EVP qualitative category 2 with a 55-65% chance of proving paranormal activity.

Summary

Fear House is a truly unique haunt full of horror props, dark atmosphere, and talented actors who know very well how to scare others. Based on their testimonies of paranormal activity, we conducted an all-night investigation here from July 14-15, 2018.

From the course of that night, we have come up with a web of rational causes that explain some of said testimonies. Other sightings remain shrouded in a veil of mystery.

We cannot say that there is no paranormal activity. However, on the night of the survey, we did not pick it up on cameras, thermometers, EMF meters and sound meters, except for one possible recording.

However, as part of calming conditions for local employees in the future, we recommend checking the wiring at Fear House and reducing electromagnetic radiation to the surrounding area. This should assist in eliminating the perception of false paranormal activity in more sensitive individuals. It would also help with any further investigation when the devices are no longer overwhelmed by the energies of the electronic devices in question.

Addendum 2020: the Prague Fear House has had an electrical overhaul and the haunted exhibit has been expanded with new rooms and remodeled.

The official document

- the document is in Czech language with English subtitles
- English subtitles can be enabled in the video settings on the bottom bar of the player