Haunts from Peoria's Past
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Like many other cities, Peoria is home to numerous legends of resident ghosts and haunted buildings. Adults, rebellious teens and fearful children alike spend hours investigating supposed hauntings, trying more than anything to satisfy their curiosity. Some of these explorers are a bit more involved in the paranormal and have made careers out of trying to prove or disprove the tales. Our own curiosity prompted us to do some research on the subject as well—here’s a look at some of what we dug up.
When it comes to the haunts of central Illinois, there’s none more famous than the Peoria State Hospital for the Incurable Insane located in Bartonville. When it opened in 1902 under the direction of Dr. George A. Zeller, the hospital was a revolutionary mental institution. Under Zeller’s direction, the facility utilized innovative therapies and treated patients with dignity and respect, unlike many other facilities of its time.
And, perhaps there’s no living person more familiar with the Bartonville hospital than Pekin’s Rob Conover of Conover Paranormal Investigations. In his years as a paranormal investigator, Conover has taken many people through the old hospital. He claims to have helped 28 of its spirits cross over to the other side, and says there are still two who refuse to leave.
Investigating the Other Side
Conover describes what he does as “clearing spirits,” or “helping them through the light.” In essence, he believes that, for whatever reason, the spirits of some people don’t leave earth after they die like they’re supposed to. Typically, after just a few hours of conversation with the spirits, Conover can help them understand what it is they need to do to move on. Some of them, he said, need help gathering the courage to go into the light and experience the uncertainties of life after death.
A former marine and a private detective for 18 years, Conover was pushed into the paranormal investigative business after a traumatic accident. “I think that sometimes when people experience emotional or physical traumas, a part of the brain they never used before gets opened up, and I think that’s what happened to me,” he recounted. “It took me a year to deal with it, and another year to decide if I wanted to do anything with [my gift] or not.” He eventually embraced it and now focuses his time and energy on helping others by using the abilities he has been given.
Conover doesn’t claim any of the credit for the work he does clearing spirits. Calling himself a tool of God, he explained, “When I get called to these houses or businesses to help these people, I think that it’s because it’s time. I give God credit for everything I do.” Conover explained that he had very little faith before his accident, but through this work he has been called to do, he has come to believe with certainty that there is more to life after death.
A Cool, Electric Feeling
When he begins a case, Conover first talks with the family about their situation and reassures them that they will soon have their house back. He then does a walk-through of the house, during which he locates the presence of any spirits and determines how many there are. “If I walk into an area and they’re there, I know it immediately,” he said. “The feeling I get is kind of like sticking your finger in a light socket. There’s no pain, but there’s this cool, electric feeling from head to toe that lets me know I’m in the presence of a spirit. That’s when I start talking to them—letting them know who I am and that I’m not there to harm them, but to help them.”
Part of Conover’s gift is his ability to converse with spirits. While others around him are unable to understand what the spirits say, Conover says he hears them very clearly, as if he was talking to a living person.
When asked if spirits usually want to leave or if they fight to stay, Conover explained that the most reluctant ones are those who lived evil lives. “I always give God the credit because, for some reason, I always find the right thing to say that helps them move through that light.” He said they usually stay only if they have unfinished business, want to tell someone something, feel guilty or are afraid of what will happen when they cross over.
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Through the Light
Through the light is a phrase Conover uses often when discussing how he helps clear spirits from homes. He describes it as “the most beautiful light-blue with white streaks in a doorway that you’ve ever seen.” No one he has taken with him on a case has seen the light as Conover does, but he credits it with helping him do his job from the very beginning. The feeling he gets when he sees it is just awesome, he said—it’s what has kept him in the paranormal business.
Conover said it takes about two hours, on an average case, to help a spirit through the light. When he finally clears the house of the spirit, everyone in the building knows it right away. “The entire atmosphere of the house immediately changes. It gets calmer, it gets more normal.”
He recounts the tale of one house in which the spirit was so cold that the homeowners had turned up the thermostat to compensate for it. After Conover helped the spirit leave, they had to turn it back down because there was such a drastic change that everyone began sweating from the heat.
Paranormal Peoria
Rob Conover isn’t the only paranormal investigator in town. There are a number of loose-knit groups who investigate the possible haunts of Peoria, including the Central Illinois Paranormal Investigative Team, Central Illinois Paranormal Association and Central Illinois Paranormal Investigators. Each of these organizations takes people on tours of local haunts, trying to determine whether the sites are actually haunted or if the story is just that—a story. Whether true or not, we can’t say. All we know is what we’ve been told. a&s
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