BOONVILLE, Mo. – On Halloween many witches, ghouls and all kinds of creepy creatures roamed around the metro celebrating the spooky night. For one central Missouri woman, entertaining strange spirits has become a way of life.
From the outside, a three story home in the heart of Boonville appears to be an unassuming, ordinary place. But appearances can be deceiving.
“You could just feel the energy was different than any place I had lived,” homeowner Linda Claas said.
Once you step inside Claas’ “A Touch of Claas” salon, spa, bed and breakfast and home…
“Things moved without a reason, disappeared,” Claas said.
The experience is like no other because the 65-year-old grandmother, who lives alone, says her 16-room house is haunted.
“I’ve seen the orbs. I’ve seen things move,” Claas said. “I was giving a lady a haircut and the brush on the table just started moving, wobbling back and forth.”
She says she’s had countless close encounters with spirits…or orbs. Orbs are bright, circles of light she’s seen swirling around her 92-year-old home and business all the time.
“Maybe they were here before. Maybe they came to visit people that have walked through the doors and decided to stay,” Claas said. “They’re very protective in their own, strange way.”
The spirit-receptive soul said there’s nothing strange about the spirits, who she believes one night three weeks ago mysteriously turned on her vacuum cleaner.
“I was upstairs in bed, on the phone and the I-Vac went off…twice. Sort of eery. You could hear steps, but there was no one here,” Claas said.
And three years ago Linda said a realtor caught several of the spirits in a picture in her kitchen, because the spirits didn’t want her to sell the house to the realtor and his wife.
“As he looked at the picture on his camera, he was a little in disbelief,” Claas said.
Linda said for the last seven years she’s had encounters with spirits here at her home and she’s not the only one, who is convinced this house is haunted, but in a good way.
“I’ve seen doorknobs turn on by themselves; water faucets turn on,” Salon employee Bridget Bonecutter said.
But this salon employee said her own hair-raising experience with one of the spirits left her speechless.
“And my hair just went straight out, over to the side and I looked at Linda and I said, ‘Do you see my hair doing that?’ and she just laughed at me,” Bonecutter said.
For nearly a year, a curious Hector Lugo and his “Tenth Dimension Paranormal Group” have been tracking specters and talking to the spirits orbiting around Linda’s haunted house.
“Orbs are, the best way to explain it, you’ve see the Wizard of Oz where the witch comes in on the bubble and then all of a sudden she turns into a figure? That’s basically what we consider orbs,” Lugo said.
On the night FOX 4 visited Linda’s unpredictable place, Hector and his would-be ghost-chasers, set up eight surveillance cameras around Linda’s home. With their high-tech motion sensors in hand, they say they detected at least five friendly spirits.
He said the child-like spirits love being in Linda’s upstairs bedroom.
“Hello, I’m Hector, is there anybody here that would like to talk to us? Thank you. Red for yes, green for no,” Lugo said.
After taking time to communicate, Lugo came to a conclusion.
“My personal opinion, yes, this house is haunted,” Lugo said.
And if you’re still skeptical about the spirits here, Linda says:
“There’s nothing to be afraid of, come by and try it, it’ll be a pleasant experience” Claas said.
The salon is located at 807 Main Street in Boonville, Mo. They can be contacted at (660) 882-2600 and free tours are available. Click on this link for more information.
