Our Ghost Adventure at Preston Castle

Let me just say first off that I don’t believe in ghosts. However, my best friend, Shelbi, is a huge fan of Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, etc., and I have to admit, I love to watch the shows too.

The guys from Ghost Adventures (see episode here) and Ghost Hunters (see episode here) happened to investigate a place called Preston Castle, which was originally called the Preston School of Industry that opened in 1894. You can read more about the history of the school here. They took in male juvenile delinquents and orphans. Preston certainly saw its share of violence, including the brutal murders of the head housekeeper, Anna Corbin, and one of the male teachers. Several of the boys also died under suspicious circumstances, and one young man was shot trying to escape.

Preston Castle has been closed since 1994, and has been a very popular spot with paranormal investigators. It is now a California State Landmark and is undergoing repairs to the extensive damage inside the building.

Since it's within driving distance of us, Shelbi talked me and our friend Angel into going on one of the tours (they also offer and overnight ghost tour). I decided to humor her and go along for fun.

I brought my digital camera to take pictures of our tour. Oddly enough, orbs started showing up in some of the shots. The only other time an orb has appeared in one of my camera shots is when Shelbi dragged me on a ghost tour in San Francisco, and I took a picture inside a hotel that was reportedly haunted. So, that’s a little strange. Here are some of the pictures I took at Preston Castle.

There was nothing in the initial pictures I took, but at one point in the tour, we were in one of the typical employee rooms, when I took a pic and noticed an orb over the tour guide's head. From then on, I got some really weird pics.

Here is the kitchen. Through that door is the storage space where they found Anna Corbin's body in. She had been strangled and bludgeoned beyond recognition. There were three orbs in this shot.

Here are some various pics I took while we were on the tour.

Poor unsuspecting people.

I took this picture because I loved the woodwork on these doors.

These two orbs appear to be playing musical chairs.

Spooky random stairway orbs.

An orb taking a bath.

Orbs hanging out in the basement that has been converted to a wine tasting/event room. Who can blame them?

And this pic, I like to call The Gates of Heeeeeeeeeeell 

using my best epic scary demon voice.

We also saw some of the X's placed by the 

Ghost Adventures guys for the show.

At Preston, they run some of the paranormal footage while people wait for the tours to start. They had a recording from the infirmary of the gurney below moving on its own.

Ghosts? I'm still not a believer. Shelbi is trying to talk me into getting some ghost hunting equipment and doing the overnight ghost tour. I'll let you know if we decide get that crazy.