Shepherd College and George the Ghost by Steven Holz
In January 2025, Steven Holz recounted his transformative experience with the paranormal at Shepherd College in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Initially skeptical, Holz, a Resident Assistant, organized an investigation led by Beverly Litsinger of the Maryland Ghost and Spirit Association. Upon Litsinger’s arrival, her infrared temperature gauge unexpectedly dropped from approximately 65°F to -9°F, hinting at potential paranormal activity. The investigation began in Turner Hall’s basement, rumored to be haunted by a spirit named “George.” Using an EMF detector, they initially recorded readings between 15 and 20. Holz, challenging the existence of George, provocatively demanded an EMF reading of 80. In response, the detector’s readings escalated, peaking at 85, profoundly impacting Holz’s beliefs about the supernatural. This experience led him to conclude that spirits coexist with the living and merit respect.
To be honest, I have never been a true believer in spirits or ghosts. I’m the kind of person who needs to see things to believe: it’s not enough to get “strong” feelings. Even though I’m not a true believer, I am extremely interested in paranormal activity. In my research I came across the Maryland Ghost and Spirit Association and began emailing the president, Beverly Litsinger. She was a great help and provided me with much needed information about how to investigate spirits.
As a Resident Assistant at Shepherd College, Shepherdstown, WV., I am required to provide programs for the residents. I decided to bring Beverly in to investigate some of our local ghost stories. She was very gracious and agreed to come to my school and investigate.
As we waited for her husband to park the car, Beverly was showing me how some of her instruments worked. Now, keep in mind, that this is early fall and the temperature was around 60-65 degrees. As she was showing me her infrared temperature gauge, the temperature jumped from 65 degrees down to negative-nine degrees. At this point, I still was not a true believer. But, that wouldn’t last long.
Here’s how I decided that spirits are true and are always around us:
We started in my residence hall, Turner Hall. We have a legend of a ghost named “George,” and he is said to roam the hall. Part of the legend of George is about him dying in the basement, so, of course, Beverly wants to start there. Well, we were having trouble communicating with George. Her EMF detector was maintaining a level of approximately 15-20. It didn’t go above 20 the whole time we were down there. Being the typical non-believer that I am, I decided to challenge George by verbally telling him that I don’t believe in him and if he was really in the building I want to see an EMF reading of 80 degrees. Beverly looked at me and kind of shook her head as if to say, ‘you don’t know what you just did,’ and we watched the EMF detector to see what would happen. Nothing happened at first, and, just as I was about to say, “I told you so,” the thing jumped to 25, then 35, then 47, then 55, and finally stayed at 70 for a while. After staying at 70 for a while, I said something along the lines of, “What, you can’t get 80?” and the thing climbed to 85!
Well, I about crapped my pants. From that moment on I believed and respected George. There is no doubt in my mind that spirits walk among us and deserve our respect. If you don’t believe this story please email me and I’d be willing to give you more detail. Ask Beverly for my email. Until then, enjoy your investigations!
SOURCE: v2 MGSA Oct 2003
