House of Wills Part 2: The Hauntings and Restoration Efforts

Now to the ghost stories! To recap in 2010, Eric Freeman purchased the property in attempts to turn it into an after school program for troubled youth. Parts of the funeral home are off limits for tour groups for safety reasons. This place however is popular with ghost hunters and other paranormal groups. 

The Current Condition of the Building

Prior to being bought, the building would be occasionally occupied by vagrants in the few years the building was abandoned. There is also no heating in the building as running it would cost thousands of dollars. 

What makes House of Wills so haunted?

According to the owner, there is a power plant right next to the funeral home. He believes the electrical energy is what causes the strong spiritual activity in the funeral home. 

The Auditorium

Restoration of the old funeral home is very costly. The ceiling has been badly damaged from years of rain, snow and age. Large gaping holes cover the ceiling.

The Egyptian Parlor

According to the owner, guests report activity in the sitting area of the parlor. Usually it's a weird sensation or seeing shadows. 

The Apartment

This space was used as Mr. Wills residence. One unique touch that the owner gave up there was the Ohio room where a textile of the state is on the wall. 

The Green Room

We were shown the doll room. Aside from the dolls there was also a hospital bed covered in fake blood. The owner mentioned that to deter people from breaking in to steal copper, he put up some bizarre things to creep out potential robbers. 

As for the dolls, one unexplained phenomenon allegedly happened. So guests were advised not to take the doll as paranormal things would follow you. Once a guest took a doll unbeknownst to the owner and a day or two later frantically called him to take the doll back as weird things were happening to them. The obvious moral of the story is do not steal, but to determined kleptomaniacs out there at least do not steal creepy looking dolls. 

The Basement 

There are reports of disembodied voices heard. If you were to look at a vintage post card of House of Wills this is where the caskets were displayed. Also this was the area of the building once used as a speakeasy.  

Public Opinion of House of Wills

It is believed many people who live around the area only associate House of Wills with death and do not know the rich history behind it. Restorations are still being worked on and supposedly when an annual ghost tour comes up something new is added or shown. I recommend keeping a look out every October as it is when tickets to view the former funeral home are available. Paranormal investigators can also reach out if interested in conducting an investigation. There are plans for the building to turn into a youth outreach center and offer filmmaking for kids to express themselves. I see this being an interesting building especially with the Egyptian parlor where kids can experiment with film.