http://www.sylviashults.com/sylvia/
Book Review: Fractured Spirits By Sylvia Shults
I recently went out to the Peoria State Hospital with Haunted History of the Paranormal show and had the privilege of meeting and investigating with this amazing author. I bought the book from her and began reading away. To say I couldn’t put the book down is an understatement. Finished in a few short hours. It is very well written and an easy read. I could hear Sylvia’s personality coming through as I read. Lets get into the book…..
The foreword was written by another well known paranormal author Troy Taylor. He talks about some of the history of the hospital and the amazing Dr. Zeller. He also talked about his experience in the hospital. (p3) “I have been writing about ghosts, haunting, crime, and the unexplained in Illinois for more than twenty years and while there are a numbers of places that I can say are truly hunted - there are few that have had the effect on me that the old asylum has had.” I have to agree wholeheartedly with him there. There is something about “the old asylum” that just drew me in and keeps pulling me back. I can not wait to get back in there.
In her introduction, I love how se says she is ok if you are a skeptic. (p10) “Enjoy the stories for what they are: just interesting stories. I hope I entertain you.” She is not out to change your views or beliefs on the paranormal, just wanted to get the stories out.
“The little ghostie” What is that you say. This is one of the features I love about this book. She has a little ghost picture throughout the book that will tell you when she has a picture or EVP you can look at on her book’s facebook page. I feel it really gives the book an edge. Anyone can just type out the spirits said go home, but to actually be able to listen to it, gives you a look into what she heard as she wrote this book.
What author would tell you in their book to go buy books from other authors about the same subject. Mrs. Shults does! You can tell by that act right there how passionate she is about the hospital. She is not just out to sell sell sell. She wants you to get as much information and stories as you can get.
When I was at the hospital, I was listening to the history and all about the amazing Dr. Zeller. In her book she explains about he was a one of a kind doctor. He believed in humane treatment of his patients. He kept the patients active by having them grow their own food, make their own clothes, take care of other patients that had the same illnesses, etc. He found it helped them. He was also way beyond his years, there are stories of him recognizing Post Partum Depression and Post Traumatic Stress, he didn’t just say “oh well, they are crazy” he worked on helping you get through your issues and actually healed people.
Sylvia Shults includes a chapter on the rumors surrounding the hospital and its buildings. And boy are their a ton of them. I like that she dedicated a chapter to set the story straight.
One of the best things that I believe have happened to that hospital is the addition of Chris Morris. She has so much passion for that old building. She talks about it as if it were one of her children. Sylvia talks about her in the history section of the book. As I read, I can hear Chirs enthusiastically telling the story of the history of the building. When she starts talking you almost get sucked back in time and you can see everything as shares the stories as she was there back in its opening hours.
After the history she gets into her paranormal investigations she conducted through the process of collecting information for the book. She tells stories about Christopher, a spirit that has taken a liking to her the story of a jerk in the basement who doesn’t like a person she was investigating with. That is a fun story to read!! Not nice language from that particular spirit.
She moves the stories along from the Pollak Building to the Bowen Building. There are numerous stories about that place that has me itching to get in there. She tells about when the building held a fundraiser and had previous employees there. (p129) “According to Richard Weiss, that four hour tape contains around seven hundred distinct EVPs.” ummmm I’m not calling him a liar, but that is extremely hard to believe. Guess it is something I would have to hear with my own ears to believe. So many factors to consider there. If it is a fundraiser, then there were a lot of people in the building. I don’t know.
She goes back to the Pollok hospital stories, and starts talking about a little girl evp that was captured. We were standing in the same spot, trying to recreate the same results and what do you know? We audibly heard a little girl. Amazing!
A few times when I was in the building I would feel like I was being touched on my back or on my arm. I called it out several times, and Chris explained about the nurses. Sylvia also explains this in her book. When the nurses thought you (the patients) were in a place you shouldn’t have been they would gently guide you back to the correct area first by putting their hand on your shoulder, then by guiding you by your elbow. Guess I should have stayed with the group! Naughty me.
She explains another scenario that me and the group of people I was with experienced as well. She explains how you can hear footsteps in the basement after you have come upstairs. We all waited at the top of the stairs with our video cameras and voice recorders pointed down the stairs and all of the sudden we hear footsteps. We all got wide eyed and mouthing to each other.. “You hear that??????” You would think she wrote the book about our experience, but apparently these things happen often. There were other things she talks about in her book that we experienced as well.
(P201) “People ask, “Well, if there wasn’t any abuse, why is the asylum so haunted?” The answer is simple: this was home.” This is something I completely agree with. Why stay somewhere you hate, I would pick somewhere that I felt happy and loved and taken care of.
When talking about talking to people about the hospital she said people were enthusiastic to share, (p202) “But it is the women that are most vocal about their passion for the Peoria State Hospital.” Maybe there is something to that. I am a woman, and I am in love with that old building. I can honestly say, even after only spending a few hours there, if I could only pick one place to go back to investigate for the rest of my life, I would pick the Pollok Building. It is something you have to experience yourself. There is a little cemetery I believe it is named Cemetery 2, just outside the building. I could sit there for hours and just relax. It has such a peaceful feeling in it. After being in the building I do feel I had the advantage reading this book. I could picture the places she talks about and relate with my own experiences. I suggest everyone takes a trip up to Peoria, IL to check out this amazing place.
