OVERNIGHT Investigation Review: Abbey Monastery

This post will be my review of the OVERNIGHT YouTube channel's investigation of what they call 'Abbey Monastery' and 'The Holy Cross Abbey Monastery'. Online, this location is known simply as 'The Abbey' and is located in Colorado, relatively close to Colorado Springs which is south of Denver. I am yet to do a post discussing the history of the members of this team and so I can only judge them based on how they conduct their investigation in this video, along with how they put the video together. As there are no psychics involved in the video, this doesn't matter so much, but it means I can't give them the benefit of the doubt if they end up 'coming across' a particular way. Anyway, we will see, and I will try my best to treat them fairly. I will go over the videos introduction up until the investigation starts, then discuss the first part of the investigation, followed by the second part of the investigation. After this, I will discuss my overall thoughts and conclusion. 

Introduction

In the introduction to the video, we are informed that this is investigation number 23 of 30 from the OVERNIGHT channel's USA road trip series. We are then introduced to the three investigators from the channel who feature in this video: Elton Castee, Corey Scherer, and Corbin Reinhardt. They also have a team member called Evan with them who one of the cameramen. I'm not sure who the other cameraman is in the video, but there is definitely another. 

Elton then provides a narration of the locations history. He provides lots of details, including that the building finished construction in 1925, and also mentions the hauntings. Personally, I think this introduction is really faced paced and is lots of quick information to take in, but that may be just me. I can understand people have probably clicked the video to get spooked, not for a history lesson, so I can understand why it's seemingly rushed over. Elton also says it's 'the most emotional investigation' they've ever done. This is something I will take note of for when reviewing their other investigations as I feel saying this kind of thing is quite the trope. 

We are then introduced to Dennis as the 'resident ghost hunter' of the Abbey. The team mentions that this is the first church that they will have investigated, which I personally find interesting given I know they've investigated many places including the Warren museum. It makes me wonder if this is their first church because others have said no, or if they just haven't been asking. It also makes me wonder how haunted a church would be given the whole 'God's house' notion. One thing that is clear from the team meeting Dennis is that they are all extremely friendly. There is lots of laughing and joking, and a really positive energy is portrayed by them all. 

Dennis then tells the team some of the buildings history and gives them a tour. On the tour he says specific experiences and more history, along with information on the ghosts there. He seems particularly interested in one spirit he calls 'the crawler'. He also mentions that there is a location where they (the monks) 'kept the bodies'. Dennis also shows the team his own little hub of paranormal equipment and security screens. He has cameras through the entire building and shows the team a particular clip of a door swinging open, seemingly untouched. 

I've got to give credit to this portion of the video, because I can't think of how it could be put together better. You, as the viewer, don't just see Dennis tell the team about the door or see them see the footage on a blurred screen in the background, but they make sure that we can clearly see the footage that Dennis is showing the team. I've also got to give credit to Dennis too because the footage is really good and I think he does a great job of explaining why the door shouldn't open as it does. He says to open it youve got to lift it from the ground because of how much it drags along the floor, and in the footage you can clearly see that the door seemingly glides open effortlessly. The camera has a good view of the hallway too so you know no one is in the hallway pulling a string. My only criticism would be the open door opposite. Someone could be stood in there pulling string, but I'm doubting it because of what the video shows a little later on.

Dennis then let's the team use his tesla coil after Elton spots it and says he has a couple of big ones at home which he always wants to bring on investigations but never can as places always say no to for fire safety reasons. A note then appears on the screen letting us know that an extra hour worth of investigation footage is available on Patreon. I have mixed feelings about this. I think that if you are conducting an investigation into something then you should let the public see it for free. I don't like the notion of gaining evidence and then withholding it for money when the evidence you have could be important in determining the validity of something. It's like saying you've got pictures of an apparition but you can only see them if you pay to see them. Stuff like that should just be put out into the public. However, with that being said, I understand they want to be paid in order to fund their investigations, and so I think they've done it right. Assuming of course that the extra footage isn't crucial evidence. If its more of them having a good time, or trying to get results but failing, or even if it's them replicating results we see in the free video such as the tripwire lighting up, then this is all fine to have as paid for footage. 

The investigation: Part 1

As mentioned earlier, the team does something incredibly good regarding the door footage. The first part of their investigation is Dennis showing them the door in person. Not only this, but Dennis and Corey try to recreate the door footage. Then, even better than this, when Dennis shows how far the door naturally swings whoever put together the video shows Dennis' footage again to show us the comparison of how far out it naturally swings and how far out it swung in the footage Dennis had shown. I really like how they approached all of this. You can even see the marks on the floor from where the door has dragged, which you can see in the screenshot I've included above. It's great that they all went through so much effort to show how hard it is to open the door and how extreme the footage was in comparison to what can normally happen. 

As you can see from the above image, Dennis very clearly tries to replicate the door opening but when he let's it naturally open, it doesn't get very far at all before it snags on the ground and stops. I think it's really impressive that they went through this much effort, especially to show Dennis' footage again. Yes, it doesn't mean that this wasn't faked somehow, but I think that it shows the OVERNIGHT team believes it and wants to put across to us how extraordinary it was. 

Next the team splits in two. Elton, Corey, and the unnamed cameraman are one group who go and investigate the safe, and Corbin, Dennis, and Evan are the other group who go and investigate somewhere unspecified. Now, I wasn't too sure how to approach going over the rest of the investigation as there is lots of cutting back and forth between both groups, but only briefly. So, I'm going to do a quick summary on what happens in Corbin's segment and then focus on Elton's as I think through the whole investigation Elton's group gets the better and more interesting results. 

You can see Corbin and Dennis in the image above in a hallway and they are investigating with a device which is similar to the Ovilus device Corey and Elton use, which is basically a random word generator which spits out words in accordance to environmental changes around them. Corbin hears a knock which Dennis doesn't seem to hear, and the device during their investigation says 'caution', 'I'm lost', 'bored', 'again', 'rich', 'no thanks', 'electric', 'watch', 'Judith', 'dead', 'spell', and 'possessed'. When Judith is said through the device, Dennis points out that the name is significant as Judith was 'the rat'. Unfortunately we don't get any elaboration on that, unless I've just not made the connections. 'Spell'and 'possessed' are also conversation points, especially as these are provided back to back. It leads Corbin and Dennis to speculate on if the spirit was cursed as they may have been 'possessed by a spell'. This is then the end of the first part of their investigation as Elton and Corey then regroup with them. As I said earlier, not much happened in Corbin's part, so now onto Elton's. 

Elton and Corey investigate what they recognise as a safe. They are using the Ovilus device, which as mentioned earlier says random words. It is believed a spirit can manipulate the environment around them which leads to the device saying what the spirit wants to say. You can see Corey holding this device in the image above. At the entrance to the safe, the words 'leave', 'kill', 'applet', and 'satan' are spoken. Elton then points the device at Corey to see if it will say anything, which it doesn't, and then when Corey points it at Elton still nothing is spoken. It's only when the device is pointed back at the safe's entrance that is says a new word; this being 'shirt'. Corey speculates that it's said that because he just pointed it to Elton's shirt, and Elton speculates that perhaps the spirit was calling them satan and telling them to leave as they had just been to investigate the Stanley Hotel and hadn't been blessed between locations. 'Cut' and 'flow' are then spoken, and a note appears on the screen as Elton comments about hearing 'Evil' be spoken which says Elton thought he had heard the device say evil earlier in the investigation even though they didn't have this device on them at the time. It would have been better to have footage of this, but the note is appreciated. 

'Demand' and 'woman' are then spoken as they all enter the safe. Elton makes a comment as they reach the back of the safe about one of the two doors at the back being a safe inside the safe. The device then says 'numb' as he enters one of these doors and he responds by saying 'as I said it's a freezer'. Now, there could be editing at play here with stuff being cut out, or I could just not have heard him, or he could just have mis-spoke, but Elton does not mention a freezer until he says 'as I said it's a freezer'. He may have just thought it and thought he said it, but him saying 'as I said it's a freezer' puts more validity into the word being 'numb' if he had actually said freezer. If I misheard him, please correct me if I'm wrong and I will edit this post to reflect that. 

  

Elton and Corey's minds then start wandering to what the safe within the safe which was quite possibly a freezer could have been used for. As Corey and Elton discuss, the device then says 'record' and 'grave'. Elton points out that there were no records of the graves of the people who died at the abbey. The device also says 'Lynn', 'curse', 'stirred', something particularly inaudible which could have been 'curse' again, and 'Zee'. Elton continues speculating that there could have been a twisted history to the location regarding the safe and that there could have been a dodgy monk who had inappropriate relations with young boys. 'Storm' and 'earth' are then spoken. Elton continues to speculate by saying 'kill' and 'satan' could have been spoken because the spirit saw three more guys walk in. 'Past', 'reservation', and 'adultery' are spoken next. 

'Past', 'reservation', and 'adultery' are then followed by 'tease', and 'spread'. This is when Elton comments that 'no fridge has a door like this' referring to the fact it has a proper door used for a safe. He also says you don't need a freezer for any money or gold. 'Hike', 'trapped', and 'wood' are then spoken. I've got to say that it does seem very much like the words are all pointing in one direction, however, things will have been cut from the video and we don't know if this is a complete list or just part of it. 

Elton is then very respectful as he leaves the area and says to the spirit that they can join them later and tell them their name when they feel comfortable. Evan says sorry to the spirit, and then 'shy' is spoken on the device as they are all leaving. Elton makes a connection between him saying 'tell me your name when you feel like it' and the device saying 'shy'. They then leave and regroup with Corbin and Dennis. When they regroup, one of the devices says 'witch' and Corbin tells Elton and Corey that they were just discussing the possibility of a witch being involved. Dennis then says 'do you want to see where they kept the bodies' and for some reason Elton responds to this as though this kind of thing had never been mentioned to them before. During their tour Dennis did say that there was a location where they 'kept the bodies', so I'm not sure why this seems to be an unknown revelation to Elton, or why he treats Dennis mentioning it now as being some sort of confirmation to their speculations in the safe. 

The investigation: Part 2

Again, I will do the same here as I did earlier where I firstly write about Corbin's group, and then Elton's group as they split up yet again. Dennis and Corbin possibly go to investigate the freezer in the safe, although I'm not sure. It just looks like a similar space with similar shelving. They briefly turn on a spirit box which flicks through radio stations to say the words the spirits want to say, although a big disadvantage of this is not only are you interpreting what can be a hard to hear word, but there is lots of static. This made it very hard to hear the words in the video, and was almost too loud to hear what the investigators were saying. The words the spirit box says are 'Anne', 'Anne', 'angry', 'doors', 'that was me', and 'service'. Corbin says he hears a noise and you can faintly hear it in the video. The spirit box is then turned off. Corbin says he heard the noise again and Evan says 'I think so', although doesn't sound too convinced. Corbin then says he heard it again and this time Evan says he heard it, and you can in the video. 

They then move into a different space and turn the spirit box back on. They also use a magnetic torch where the magnets in the torch have to touch in order for it to be turned on. It is thought that spirits can use their energy to complete the connection and switch on the torch. The device says 'monster', 'haha', 'sam', and 'my name'. The torch also turns off during the investigation but then switches back on at the same time the device which detects vibrations indicates that vibrations have been detected. You can see this indication in the above image. Corbin is pointing to the device, which looks like a small black box, and the dot which is lit up on this box is an indication of vibrations being detected. Later in Corbin's investigation you can see the torch slowly flicker off and then suddenly switch back on as 'hi' is said through a device. 

Corbin then says he can hear things and comments on how sound really carries in the building. They question if they can hear the other group, but they determine that they can't. Corbin comments that he can hear a noise like a big door slamming, and after a while Dennis says he can also hear it but that to him it sounds more like rustling. This is then it for Corbin's side of the investigation. Not at all much happens aside from a couple of words spoken, some really faint noises, and the torch flickering occasionally. 

As you can already see from the image above, Elton and Corey's investigation was far more eventful, although this is largely due to them using more visually pleasing equipment. They set up the tesla coil in the pictured room, which is supposed to put energy into the environment for spirits to use, and they set up touch activated trip wire and a cat ball. They also set up a music box, but there is near to no mention of that during the investigation and it doesn't go off. The above image shows the tripwire lighting up, untouched, when it needs something to touch it for it to light up. You can see everyone seems to be a good distance away and so it shouldn't have lit up. I could argue that it needed new batteries, or that perhaps it was faulty, or just needed a moment for sensors to calibrate after setting it up. We don't know how long it had been since they placed it there and switched it on so the devices sensors could have just been settling. However, the tripwire becomes far more convincing as the investigation progresses. 

As the investigation progresses, the tripwire keeps on lighting up when no one is near it. This rules out the settling period thing I mentioned earlier, and this is why I say the tripwire becomes more convincing as the investigation progresses. Elton speculates that it could be because of where they are sat and as they get up it lights up again. They comment that this could be Corey getting up as he was sat on one end of the chair the tripwire was connected to, but then it goes off again afterwards. I would argue that second time was due to settling. 'Cried' and 'ah' are then spoken through their device and Elton comments that they had been there for over an hour later but still the same story. He also says he's going to fall asleep. The words 'front', 'beware', 'place', 'project', 'say', and 'our' are then spoken and Elton keeps saying he's going to fall asleep. 

This is when something really interesting happens in their investigation, which you can see pictured above. Corey starts doing a funny dance and funny voice, which Elton eventually joins in with. The wire starts to light up when Corey does the dance. They say it's been 15/20 minutes since somethings happened, but what we see in the video seems to be constant activity with the tripwire and cat ball from the moment Corey starts dancing. He dances and points at the rope when he finishes the dance. The rope lights up each time he points at it. It does this again, and again. It even does it when Elton joins in, which is what you can see in the picture. 

At first it seems to be just Corey it does it with as when Elton tries it doesn't do it for him to begin with, and then when Corey tries again it does do it again for him. It's only when Elton is properly up and dancing that the rope lights up when he points. The pair then dance round in a circle occasionally pointing at the cat ball and tripwire and as they dance in a circle you can see the tripwire going mental, and the cat ball also lights up. There is even a moment where Elton jumps up and kicks his heels together, but nothing happens, but when Corey copies this the tripwire lights up at nearly the exact moment he kicks his heels in the air. Surprisingly, the cat ball doesn't go off this time which is odd as it was closer. This, for me, rules out vibrations from them jumping as if the devices were being triggered from vibrations then the cat ball should have detected these vibrations but it didn't. Plus, Corey did the exact same motion in the exact same spot as Elton and the tripwire only lit up for Corey and not Elton. 

The investigation ends for Corey and Elton as the two words 'Sam' and 'Faye' are spoken through their device. It's commented that 'Faye' is definitely a last name and Elton speculates that 'Sam Faye' could be the full name of the shy kid they seemed to be speaking to earlier. He also speculates that maybe they had to earn his trust first before a name was provided. Everyone then leaves their locations and meets up together to hear Dennis playing an organ, and then the video ends.

 

My Thoughts

I'm going to start off by saying it is very important to note that during Elton's investigation while he and Corey were dancing, Corey mentions that the music box seemed to be lighting up but then Elton debunks it by saying it was the reflection of the cat ball lighting up. This is the kind of comment I really appreciate in an investigation, because that's how an investigation should be. You shouldn't freak out when something happens, and you should try to figure out anything that does happen. As a result, I have a lot of respect for this investigation and this team. They were told about the door opening, so they viewed the footage, they showed us the footage, then they showed themselves trying to recreate it. You also see Elton jump up and down when the tripwire was going off to see if he could set it off with his own vibrations. 

Elton in particular seems to be the most questioning of the group, and I would say Corbin is the least questioning. Now, with Corbin I'm a little suspicious. Whenever a noise apparently happened, it was always him who said they heard it. Evan seemed unsure one time, and Dennis disagreed over the nature of the noise a different time. Granted, you can hear a couple of these noises in the video, but it's odd to me how only one person is pointing these noises out. 

Everything else seemed great though, aside the two blips from Elton. One blip being thinking he said freezer (unless that was cut), and the other being his reaction to hearing there was a location where bodies were kept when he should already have been well aware of this. The most interesting part of the investigation, for me, is from just before Corey starts doing the funny dance. The atmosphere goes from the both seeming like they are falling asleep to them both seeming like they have plenty of energy to dance, jump around, and just laugh. I've witnessed this kind of thing in one of my own investigations and think it could be down to a spirit present influencing the behaviour of the people near it. The spirit could have been providing them with energy, or perhaps could have been influencing their thoughts to make them dance. 

Either way, I definitely think all the laughter definitely helped increase the activity Corey and Elton experienced with the tripwire. I think they were with a positive spirit, quite possibly the spirit of a child, and as the name 'Sam' came up throughout the investigation, I do think this spirit was called Sam. I don't really have anything else to say on the investigation. It was a well made video, with good questioning of what was occurijg during the investigation. Even as they discussed theories on what the words could be alluding to, they were questioning it. The only member of the team who always seemed certain on things was Corbin, and if he is always so certain then I think he needs to work on that, but everything else was really great. I also appreciate how real the investigation was. People weren't running away screaming, there were dead spots shown, and there wasn't frequent talk of demons and apparitions. The activity was simple, the investigators kept their heads, and they questioned everything. You can't really ask for anything more. 

If you want to watch the full video of OVERNIGHT'S investigation, you can click the link below:

OVERNIGHT'S Abbey Investigation

Thank you for reading to the end of this post! I really hope you enjoyed it. If you have any comments whether that be about the blog, experiences of your own, or even places you would like for me to investigate, then you can comment and follow on here, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or Reddit, and you can email thetrueparanormal1@gmail.com for a quick response to any questions.