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South Jersey Paranormal Research of Camden County will investigate the Somewhere Inn Time Mansion on Central Avenue tonight to determine whether the 106-year-old home has the kind of spirits that can't be bottled.Owner Scott Robel insists he is not making it up. He thinks his place might be haunted."It's not a publicity thing, although it seems to be taking off that way," he said.

He and his wife, Nancy, were renovating the Victorian home last year when things started to go bump in the night. He repeatedly heard noises that sounded like an intruder was breaking in from the third-floor fire escape and setting down burglary tools on the hardwood floor."I grew up in Atlantic City, so I'm really paranoid about that anyway," he said. Whenever he heard the noises, he ran up the stairs to investigate. Each time, the only thing askew was his feeling of security."It's like when you know somebody is on your front step and you're just waiting for them to knock," he said. "You just know somebody is there." South Jersey Paranormal Research, a group of a dozen part-time poltergeist hunters, will conduct an "investigation" of the bed and breakfast tonight from 9 p.m. to midnight. The inquiry is closed to the public, but the group will present its results at an open lecture here later this summer. On Friday, the Robels taped black plastic trash bags over all the windows in their house to darken the rooms at the request of the ghost hunters, who do their best investigating in the dark. This is the first time Nancy Robel encountered the inexplicable. She watched the parlor chandelier shake for no apparent reason and heard footsteps with no feet. She was so unsettled, she asked her Lutheran minister about the experiences."He told me there are some things in life we can't explain," she said. "But this house is so full of love, I'm not worried about anything bad."
 
If any house in Cape May County is ripe for haunting, it's this stately manor. With its Gothic architecture, dormer windows and mansard roof, the home looks like it was plucked from an Ann Rice novel. All that is missing is the dark and stormy night. "When we first bought it, it had that 'Addams Family' feel. It was pretty creepy," Scott Robel said. People in this resort love a good ghost yarn. Visitors can take paid ghost tours of local haunts such as the Flanders Hotel. With the success of movies such as "The Sixth Sense" and television shows such as "The X-Files" and "Crossing Over," the supernatural is less on the fringe. "Whether you believe in ghosts or not, everyone has had a paranormal experience," South Jersey Paranormal Research founder Susan Bove said. "A lot of times, people just want verification that they're not nuts. Their biggest fear is we won't find anything."

The group will use the cameras and audio recorders to capture any unusual sounds or images. For evidence of the unreal, she points to imperfections that resemble water spots on the photographs taken at supposedly haunted sites. She makes note of any noises called "electronic voice phenomena" or EVPs for short. The researchers note the time of every observation and then Bove maps it on a spreadsheet to identify any coincidences. "Sure, there are some skeptics," Bove said. "But others think it's absolutely fascinating. Even if they don't believe, they say, 'Show me.'" The Robels said they just want to learn what they can about their uninvited guests.
 
"I'd like to see if they could put a personality to the person," Scott Robel said. "And find out why they're here."

To e-mail Michael Miller at The Press:
MMiller@pressofac.com
      

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