The vast North American wilderness
is home to evil forces
thought only to exist in nightmares,
but the terrible creatures that roam here are all too real.
Professional ghost hunters exploring haunted areas
are prepared for anything.
The cave should just be up that way.
But that still won't save them.
Let's go.
Aah! Ah!
Ahh!
It snapped in my head, "We're going to get killed."
Go-o-o ba-a-a-ck.
The voice had told us to go back.
We didn't listen.
Aaaah! Aah!
If you're there alone,
you're doomed.
Hunting for spirits is a dangerous occupation,
even for those who devote their lives to it.
I definitely believe that there's things out here that
I don't think we'll ever really fully understand.
You're entering a territory
of someone or something that you just can't perceive.
So you have to be very careful.
Brian, Jesse, and Becky
are dedicated paranormal investigators.
My team's called Phantom Elite Paranormal.
We not only just hunt ghosts.
It's anything from the occult to experiences people
are dealing with and just don't understand.
Being part of a professional group
does not make one immune to the dangers.
Something could go south very quickly.
Tonight, the team is headed into the fabled ruins
of the Maribel Hotel in Wisconsin.
The site is linked
to one of America's most notorious criminals.
The hotel was built in the 1800s,
once owned by Al Capone.
History tells us that a lot of gruesome deaths
have happened in this location.
Some say Al Capone brutally murdered dozens of people
and stuck their corpses inside whiskey barrels
and buried them in many caves scattered around the area.
The hotel burned to the ground years ago,
but the ghosts of Al Capone's victims
are said to haunt the land.
Jesse and his colleagues have come seeking them.
We had been looking for an intriguing case
to go investigate and this really drew us in.
Ready?
Yeah, let's do this.
You guys know what they call this place, right?
Yeah.
The locals have a nickname for this place
and it's called Hotel Hell.
People have seen figures and flames and dark entities.
What's the matter, Beck?
Wanna take a pass on this one?
It's supposed to have like a portal to hell.
Come on. It'll be cool.
Take an hour, tops.
Yeah, there's three of us.
It's gonna be fine.
Okay, let's do this.
We expected just another normal, you know, hike,
but what ended up happening was just phenomenal.
The team realizes they're not the only ones
exploring the grounds tonight.
Looks like there's somebody else here.
Probably just some kids.
A lot of times, hauntings are connected to the people
and, other times, it's connected to the places that you're at.
The buildings aren't there anymore.
That doesn't matter to them.
The energy of that place is still the same.
Hey! You comin'?!
The area that surrounds Maribel is just woods.
As they venture into the dark forest,
the investigators attempt to contact
the victims of Al Capone.
The whole onslaught of paranormal research
and looking for physical evidence
has developed a lot of different types of technology.
Gimme the box.
A ghost box is just a plain ol' radio
that scans through radio frequencies.
Now, EVPs or spirits, supposedly,
are supposed to talk through the ghost box.
Hello.
Is anything out here?
Just try to go right off the bat
and just trying to get something to respond with our equipment.
Hello!
Is anything out here with us?
And... nothing.
We didn't get anything.
The cave should just be up that way.
Okay. Let's go.
Hello!
We start going down the path.
Aaaaaaah!
- Aaaaaaah! - Get down!
All of a sudden, you hear these kids.
They're screaming for their life.
Aaaaaaah!
Whoever got there ahead of them now regrets it.
Sounded like somebody was gettin' murdered, basically.
Just blood-curdling scream.
Aaaaaaah!
We heard kids screaming.
We had no idea what was going on.
Aah! Aah! Aah!
We could see these kids running, booking to their cars.
It turns out some teenagers came seeking a bit of fun
and paid the price for it.
The thrill-seeking people come in on a Saturday night
and it's been too horrific, too scary for them.
Hello.
Is anything out here with us?
A ghost is the soul of someone that has come out of the body
and, when we come out of our body,
we have free will here,
so we have a choice to either cross over
and go into the light; or we can choose to stay here.
Guys, I think we should go back.
Did you guys hear that?
It definitely did feel like something was watching us.
We all felt uneasy.
What the hell was that?
I heard some weird noises.
You guys hear that?
Yeah.
Once we did get closer to the caves,
you know, I just kept on hearing noises,
like something was either
walking around in the brush or throwing sticks.
Oh, my god.
Al Capone. Do you know him?
It wasn't 'til I brought up Al Capone
that things actually start interacting with us out there.
Do you know Al Capone?
Al Capone.
Do you know him?
Now, the team gets a ghostly warning.
Did Al Capone bury your body in the caves?
Go-o-o ba-a-a-ck.
Just plain as day, words coming through the ghost box.
The voice was a little bit deep.
It wasn't really clear, at first.
Go-o-o ba-a-a-ck.
It told us to go back
and we didn't listen.
- Ah! - Aah!
- Brian! - Brian, what's wrong?
Brian, are you okay?!
What's wrong? What's going on?
- Ah! - Aah!
Brian, are you okay?!
You have to stay humble
when dealing with paranormal activity.
You don't know what you're going into.
You don't know what risks are at stake.
Brian, Jesse, and Becky
are a team of paranormal investigators
venturing onto the grounds of the Maribel Hotel,
a haunted landmark once owned by gangster Al Capone.
What the hell was that?
But before they even reach the ruins,
the ghost of one of Capone's victims is warning them away.
Ghosts, they don't wanna be bothered.
They don't want to be harmed.
They're just doing their thing.
You're coming into their place, you know?
You're in their house. Get out.
Al Capone. Do you know him?
Trying to determine what was going on, you know?
We're trying to get answers.
Go-o-o ba-a-a-ck.
A voice had told us to go back.
Go-o-o ba-a-a-ck.
Did Al Capone bury your body in the caves?
Go-o-o ba-a-a-ck.
Suddenly, Brian is overcome.
Brian, are you okay?
The spirit energy is too much for their equipment to handle.
Are you okay?!
Something touched me on the back.
Brian!
Are you okay?!
Brian, say something! - Oh, my back,
- What's wrong! - It's burning!
Oh, my god! What's on your back?!
Brian, take off your jacket!
Where I was touched, there was a mark on my back
of a handprint.
Oh, my god! What's on your back?!
Oh, my gosh!
Brian, are you okay?!
No.
It was a pretty bad idea, not to listen to the voice.
Okay, I've had enough.
- Yeah. - Let's get outta here.
Let's go.
Okay. Okay.
Let's go!
We just wanted to get back to the car.
We thought the night was over.
Aah!
It's clear to the team why the teenagers fled the area.
Aaaaaaah!
They try to do the same, but find they can't.
As we're walking, it seemed forever,
seemed like forever.
What the hell?
We were just here.
Are we lost?
Don't tell me that we're lost.
We were all disoriented and just had no clue where we were.
One of the tactics spirits incorporate is
messing with us through misdirection.
I wouldn't be surprised if there were entities
who took great pleasure out of doing this kind of thing.
We were just like panicking.
We didn't know where we were.
We should be back to the main path by now.
I don't recognize any of this!
Why is this taking so long?
There may be even more sinister reasons
why the investigators are being led astray.
It's that way.
Worst case is that could become a trap.
It's that way.
It got weird and everything got heavy.
- Let's go. - As they're pulled
even deeper into the woods,
the sense of dread and danger grows stronger.
I think that the voice was warning us
and, because we didn't listen to it, it drew us towards it.
I feel like that we're being watched this whole, entire time,
like something, something just is not right about this.
Where are we?!
I feel like we're walking in circles.
It's... It's around here, somewhere.
It just... It's that way.
Let's look at the map.
It's hard to explain what was really going on at that moment.
We were lost.
We felt like we had no sense of direction.
I don't recognize any of this!
The... The parking lot should be here!
We're all just standing around, like getting out a map,
trying to figure out where we were
and how to get back to the car.
Guys!
C'mere.
Soon, they arrive at the very destination
they sought to avoid.
What is that?
Must be the hotel.
But... But how? How?!
That's Hotel Hell.
We were just shocked that the hotel ruins were like
right there as we stepped outta this clearing.
Was not expecting to end up at the hotel.
I'm like "Holy...
Are we actually at the hotel?"
Inexplicably, they find themselves guests
at the Maribel and something evil has come to greet them.
All of a sudden, I just see this huge, black
thing like
come out of the door.
I usually don't see things, so I was pretty freaked out over it.
I really thought, "We're going to get killed."
When you go into a location, as an investigator,
you have to be very careful.
A team of paranormal investigators
is trying to get as far away as possible from Hotel Hell.
Instead, a demonic force Guys!
Has led them right to it.
Guys!
It was a little harder to breathe,
the closer we got to the hotel.
This place felt definitely dark.
It had a weird, weird vibe to it.
We shouldn't be here. We shouldn't be here.
How did we get here?
And, all of a sudden, I just see this huge, black thing.
Oh, my god. - Shh!
It was just huge.
It took up the entire doorway.
It was a dark spirit.
Dark energy.
I don't really know how to explain it,
any more than that.
Shh!
Like this is what those kids were running from.
They seen this 8'0" tall, dark guy.
Weird fear just like took over.
I can't explain it like and I can't express what I felt.
Just terror.
He's coming this way.
We gotta get outta here. - Oh, my god.
Putting two and two together,
it was time to get back to someplace safe.
- Oh, my god. - Let's go. - Let's go. Let's go.
Okay. Aah!
The crew retreats, yet, for now,
they can't bring themselves
to completely abandon the mission.
I did not feel like it was really a great idea
to stay out here when we could become a target.
Ghosts will create situations
that make people emit fear.
He can hear us!
Could this be the ghost
of one of Al Capone's victims?
The team has no idea why it lured them to the ruins,
nor what it wants from them.
That's what I think evil is:
someone who goes into that negativity,
goes into that darkness, and it can go to extreme levels.
I was adamant that we needed to leave
and we needed to leave now.
It was a fight for life.
I'm like, "Run.
Let's get outta here."
We took off down the trail.
Aah!
Brian, he doesn't run from anything,
so, the fact that he's bookin' it down the trail,
I know we're in trouble.
Run!
We took off running.
Just when it seems
like things can't get any worse,
the entity changes into something
even more malicious and deadly.
When an entity takes on a human form,
it expends a lot of energy
and sometimes it'll morph into a pure form
and, in this form, they're considered to be more dangerous.
Brian saw a light floating down the path at us.
Aah! Aah!
Lights were glowing as they're coming towards us.
Both: Aah!
Aaaaaaah!
Entities or paranormal spirits
manifest themselves as balls of light
and I think that's what this light was,
that came down the path.
I think it was the manifestation of that dark entity
that Becky saw go through the doorway.
Aah! Aaaaaaaaaaah!
So we head back, running, to the cars.
At this point, we're terrified.
Whatever is chasing us was probably not good.
- Go, Beck! Go, go! - Aah! Aah! Aah!
Aaaaaaah! - Go, Beck! Go!
We wanna believe that there's life after death,
find substantial proof that, when we die,
something else happens.
Hello. It's natural
for us to be curious about these things.
Is anything out here?
It's spooky. Sometimes we get a thrill from it.
However, we're meddling with something...
Go-o-o ba-a-a-ck.
And it's extremely dangerous.
Aaaaah!
Paranormal investigators Brian, Jesse, and Becky
have the tables turned when the ghosts they were hunting
come after them.
Come on, go, go.
Run, run.
We could see the edge where the parking lot is
and the edge where the light was shining.
Gettin' to that light was like our only safety.
Aah!
I stop and I look back,
put my hand up,
and I visualize myself
stopping whatever it was from following us,
energy-wise.
I yell out...
No farther, you hear?!
You stay out there, you hear?!
Almost immediately, we got a response from the darkness.
"Rawhh!"
This piercing growl out of the darkness
was a reply to me threatening it.
Brian's tactic appears to work.
It felt like whatever was chasing us
was staying at the end of the path.
Go, go, go.
We threw our equipment in the vehicle
as quickly as we could.
Whatever it was
definitely did not like what we were doing out there.
Regardless, we got in the vehicle
as quick as we could and headed back home.
The Phantom Elite Paranormal team
survives their blood-chilling experience at Hotel Hell.
But it isn't enough to scare these professionals
out of the woods for good.
One year later,
Brian and Jesse are about to tempt fate again
in the pursuit of another evil spirit
and, this time, they bring another new member:
Debra.
I believe in just about anything.
I think you have to keep an open mind,
'cause you really don't know until you see it.
Once you see it, it can't really be unseen.
So, Meridean, Wisconsin, is thought to be haunted
by the spirit of Mary Dean.
Mary Dean is said to have lived in the early 1900s.
One version of the legend says she was jilted by her lover
and committed suicide in the nearby lake,
but death didn't end her anger.
It only made her vengeful.
Now, she haunts the forest along the shores,
looking for victims.
Mary Dean was a passenger on board of a steamship
coming up from the Chippewa River,
who died suddenly and was buried onshore.
A flood eventually washed the body away
and they say that her spirit continually roams
around the island.
According to legend, Mary Dean is said to be a ghost
that lures people directly to their deaths.
It's like they're just attracted and compelled
to go into the water and, potentially, die.
There's a lot of accounts of death out there.
There are ghosts that are what I would call isolationists.
They will take refuge in nature.
Some ghosts choose to be near water
because they can actually draw energy from that.
They sometimes have a hard time leaving that
and it's part of the soul's journey to learn how to let go.
It reminded me of a siren.
There was so much that intrigued me about this particular place.
It's dark and the wind's pickin' up.
Figure we've got about an hour
before the rain hits.
And it's thundering and very windy.
Crazy, the lightning was so bright
and it was so long in the horizon.
More like half an hour, to me.
For the rain, I mean.
What, scared of a little rain?
Come on.
So, where do you wanna start?
Let's try the ghost box.
The team turns to their trusted equipment in their search.
EVPs, it's just a white noise that generates
and those spirits use that noise to communicate with us.
This way.
Mary Dean, are you out here?
We were having trouble getting any reliable readings
off of a lot of our equipment.
We assumed it was from the storm.
Some of that stuff can be affected by that.
The trio may have issues making contact,
but the same doesn't appear true of their target.
Almost immediately, Mary Dean begins the game,
separating the team, one by one.
Bri-a-a-an.
Brian started having signs of something
affecting him severely right away
and he takes off, running, into the woods.
Brian?
Brian!
That probably was a first sign
that something bad was happening.
Deb, wait here!
I'm going after Brian!
I believe he actually suffered some form of possession
while we were there, investigating.
Older ghosts have more experience
in manipulating energy and so, the more experience they have,
the more things that they can do with their energy.
Brian, where are you?!
We're getting separated!
Being possessed is not something that is very common,
but it does happen.
I'm following him, you know.
I don't want him to go wandering off
into the woods by himself in the middle of a storm.
Debra is left alone
and, soon, feels something malevolent
going to work on her.
In the same way that people
display a range of emotions,
ghosts do, as well.
A ghost may have an attraction to one person.
Ghosts will single out people for various reasons.
De-e-e-b.
I can hardly even describe the energy that was goin' on there.
De-e-e-b.
And there was a pull.
De-e-e-b.
I was drawn the other way very badly.
It was so, so mixed up, so... strong.
In Deb's case, something was attracted
to her energy and her frequency
and decided she would be the one to take away and hypnotize.
Something about her character, her makeup, as a person,
was attractive to the spirit.
Meanwhile, Jesse continues after Brian.
Bri-a-a-an.
Brian was acting weird.
This was out of his behavior, to just go running off
into the woods without anybody else there.
Brian!
Jesse feels Mary Dean has
- Brian! - Taken ahold of his colleague
and is entrancing him to a grisly end.
Brian?!
The way Brian was acting, erratically,
running into the woods, it definitely felt like
maybe he was being, some way, possessed...
Brian!
By the spirit of Mary Dean.
Brian?
If I would've just left him, he probably would've just
completely disappeared.
Brian! Unh!
Brian!
And, finally, at that point,
I was able to snap Brian out of it,
from whatever type of possession was going on,
making him so frantic.
Jesse?
All of a sudden, I'm like, "Where's Deb?"
Jesse's like, "I don't know."
Deb?
Deb! - Deb!
Considering yourself a professional
in the paranormal investigating world
doesn't make you immune to danger.
We're just at risk as everyone else.
Brian, Jesse, and Debra
are a team of professional paranormal investigators
who have come searching for the legendary ghost of Mary Dean,
an evil spirit known to lure people to their deaths.
She first sent Brian running off madly through the forest.
Brian!
He very well could've died from...
falling, breaking his neck...
Hey, Brian, where are you?!
We're getting separated!
Or just the spirit of Mary Dean
straight-out killing him.
And, now, the wicked entity has set her sights on Debra.
Each situation of haunting and possession
can be very different, depending on who the person is
and how they handle the fear.
Brian! Unh!
Brian!
Jesse?
Where... Where's Deb?
The feeling of, "Oh, my god," you know,
"These people trust me.
I just lost somebody."
Deb!
Deb, can you hear us?!
We had lost one person that was doing the investigation with us.
We didn't know where she was.
Deb!
Deb! Answer us, if you can!
Deb! - Brian, you gotta stop!
We gotta stop!
"She went out this way."
I'm like "No, let's just go back to the vehicle."
Jesse's like, "We need to go back.
We need to go back."
And I'm like, "No, no!
I'm gonna find her!"
De-e-e-b!
Where are you, Deb?!
Debbie!
So, trying to be logical about
the whole situation,
I mean, Brian could just purely been only concerned
about our friend Deb's safety,
but, you know, it wasn't logical that
she had ran off into the woods.
Jesse suspects Brian hasn't actually rid himself
of whatever forces gripped him earlier...
Debbie!
And that he's still under the sway of Mary Dean.
Deb?!
De-e-e-b! Can you hear us, Deb?!
And he's not listening to me.
He's just running into the woods,
just screaming, yelling for her.
- Bri-a-a-an. - Deb!
Where are you?!
Bri-a-a-an.
- Deb. - Deb! Deb!
Bri-a-a-an.
Jesse, this is not good!
We have to find her!
I wasn't having any luck, gettin' Brian to see reason,
so, I followed him.
Bri-a-a-an.
Can't you feel that?
Brian was acting weird.
He's a little more sensitive to paranormal things.
There's something out there.
At the time, I was still under the influence
of whatever's going on.
We gotta get back to the parking lot, man.
Bri-a-a-an.
I remember that Jesse, at that time,
he's really trying to get me back to get to the car.
Bri-a-a-an.
Wouldn't listen to me, trying to talk sense
into getting back to the vehicle,
so it definitely seemed like Brian
was being pulled into or drawn into the woods
by some unknown entity.
I think I wasn't looking for Deb.
I think something wanted to be found out there.
Bri-a-a-an.
With Brian acting crazy, in general,
it now had me completely scared and freaked out.
There's something out there.
It's trying to pull us further away.
I'm still captivated by whatever's tooken control of me.
Through all of this, Debra is left on her own,
an easy target for Mary Dean's deadly intentions.
All I heard was the wind and the rain and the thunder.
It was crazy, crazy-loud.
De-e-e-b.
We leave kind of an opening for something else to step in
and, so, in those cases,
souls of ghosts or Earth-bound spirits
see that as an opportunity
to actually step into our physical realm.
And that gives them the ability to have
more interaction with the physical world.
Now, the storm is rolling in, full-force.
Brian and Jesse finally catch up with Debra
and, now the real terror begins.
Did you see it?
Did you see it?! See what?!
At one point, Brian thought he saw
a figure of somebody standing.
That sense of dread, the scary feeling that I felt.
The sight of Mary Dean entrancing their friend
is clearly visible to the terrified Brian,
but not to Jesse.
Did you see it?! See what?!
Jesse doesn't see it.
After shining a light directly out there,
I seen Mary Dean out there.
When your logical mind is engaged,
it will tell you that things aren't there.
That's because your logical mind is engaging and saying,
"There's nothing there."
It seems only Brian can see Mary Dean
luring another victim to her demise.
Wait.
Just wait.
There!
And finally, at that point,
I was able to snap out of it.
Now, the malevolent spirit is clearly visible to all,
but it may be too late to stop her.
Just the fact that there's no one to help you.
If you're bein' sucked into the spell,
you're doomed.
A team of Elite Paranormal investigators
has come seeking the murderous ghost of Mary Dean.
Jesse has freed Brian
from his possession at the spirit's hands,
but, then, they realize their colleague Debra is missing.
Deb!
Deb, can you hear us?!
The idea of spirits scares people.
The big part of it is because
people are afraid of what they can't see.
After searching the woods, they finally find Debra.
But something's wrong.
- There! - And we saw like a flash
and, finally, at that point,
we saw the figure of Mary Dean.
And it looks like Mary Dean
is ready to take another victim to her doom.
I really can't explain it. It was scary.
De-e-b!
Brian manages to sever
Mary Dean's hold over his teammate.
They think they're free, and that whatever spell
Mary Dean cast on them has been broken,
but the angry spirit isn't done with them yet.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!
- Brian! - Get in!
Aah!
Go.
- Just drive. - Just go.
- Just drive. - I was concerned, especially,
for Brian's safety, being he was the one
getting attacked, so, it was time to go
and get away from this dangerous place.
The crew gets out alive,
their most frightening encounter since the terror-filled night
among the ruins of the Maribel Hotel,
Hotel Hell...
when the ghosts they were hunting
came hunting them.
What the hell was that?
Stuff happens, but,
it's not the first time that
messing with these things...
Go-o-o ba-a-a-ck.
Even, no matter how experienced you are,
can get outta control.
- Ah! - Aah!
And it was just phenomenal, one of the craziest things
that we've ever had happen to us, as a team.
I definitely think that we were lucky to get away that night.
Aaaaaaaaaaah!
The entity clearly wanted to harm us, in some way.
- Go, Beck. Go, go! - Aah! Aah! Aah!
I honestly think the only thing that saved us
was that we were there together and not alone.
Tonight,
Brian, Jesse, and Debra feel the same way.
Everything that's happened out here, all, as a whole,
I'd have to say that
it was definitely like an omen to stay away from this place.
We haven't gone back to Meridean, Wisconsin, since.
The team has learned how easily the ghost hunters
can become the ones who are hunted.