Lemp Mansion

Hi, my name is Becky and I live in St. Louis, Mo.

I went with a group of friends last week on a tour of the Lemp Mansion in St. Louis. It is one of America's top 10 real haunted houses.

First, a little history of the Lemp family; four members of a beer brewing dynasty in the 1800's and early 1900's committed suicide, 3 of them in the house. You can check out the rest of the history by going to www.lempmansion.com. The story is pretty long, so I will not bore you with details.

The tours are given every Monday night, and any other time by appointment. It is also a bed and breakfast, for the brave.

We started our tour out by signing a release that if anything happens to us, the owners are not responsible. A little freaky, but I signed it anyway. Then the psychics give about an hour long talk about the history of the house, and what to expect or not expect. Then, we started on the tour. The group was rather large, being October and everyone wanting to go somewhere and get the pants scared off of them.

We started off by going into a room that used to be an office for the company. Two of the family members have shot themselves to death in this room. The air was very thick, and I could not breathe, but I wasn't going to go anywhere without this group of people. We continued on throughout the house, which is pretty decent sized. Two floors of rooms, and then the attic where most of the activity is. Nothing really happened that we noticed on either of the first two floors. We get to the attic, and that is a different story.

There were two large rooms that everyone was instructed to go into and stand along the walls. Then we were instructed to set our flashlights down in front of us on the floor. The psychics then invited the spirits in to check us out. We were also told to watch for subtle changes in the atmosphere and to just look around.

My finace was to my left, and my friend Michelle was to my right. Something flew up to my face on the left, and I thought I was going to get hit, but I didn't. The vibe I got was that it was a curious spirit that really wanted me to know it was there. I freaked, looked at the floor, and looked to my left to see what was there. Now, my fiance is standing there fidgeting, and I could not see him, all I saw was complete black. I got a little scared, but for some reason did not run out of the house screaming. I told the group something was near me. Another person on the other side of Michelle got pushed by a spirit, and was freaking out. Nothing happened to my fiance, nor to my friend.

We picked up our flashlights and by this time were allowed to freely wander the house. I felt like my fiance and I were being followed; not a nice feeling.

We decided to go back down to the main floor into the main room. I picked up some dowsing rods, and went off to a free space in the room. I started out by holding them in my hands and asking which way was yes, and which way was no. I got a response; the rods moved to my left for yes, and to my right for no. So now I am standing there still wondering why I haven't run away screaming. I just stood there and felt an incredible male energy right in front of me.

My next step was to figure out who I am talking to. By this time, my fiance came over to see what I was doing, and he stood to my right and watched in almost complete horror as the rods moved each direction on their own as I asked the spirit more questions. I asked the spirit if my deceased father came with me tonight, and the rods moved to yes. I asked if I was talking to Charles, on the people who committed suicide. No. Ok, am I talking to Billy Lemp? Yes.

A quick story about Billy Lemp: He committed suicide in the first room we went to. About 1922, I believe. He lost the empire and prohibition closed the brewery down about that time, and he shot himself. But, the psychic told the group that Billy will make sure that you know he is with you, and there will be no mistaking it. He also likes young people, and I am 28. I look a lot younger, though.....lol

Ok, back to the questions. I was asking if he was happy we were there, and the rods about flew out of my hand to the no side. I started getting nervous, and I was telling my fiance that he should try this. He shook his head no, and then I felt the spirit get aggravated with me for talking to my fiance. I don't know how I knew it, but I was taking attention away from the spirit by talking to my fiance. I immmediately returned my attention to the spirit. I asked if I was being respectful; yes. I kept asking questions, some of them I do not remember because it started to hit me that I was talking to a dead man, and this conversing of yes and no questions was going on for quite a while. My friends were all standing along the doorway, waiting to leave. I decided about 10 minutes later to thank the spirit for talking to me, and say goodnight. I then set the rods down on the table and my friends and I left.

We got out to the parking lot and all talked about the house. I was starting to freak out at what happened to me, and I really wanted a cigarette............lol

We stood outside and talked for a while, and nothing happened to anyone else in our group except for me. What an experience!!

I think we are going to go back again, it is almost addicting. I hope you have found my story interesting, and sorry it was so long.