Show Notes
The Brentwood Restaurant is said to be one of the most haunted places along the Grand Strand. You can imagine my excitement when the owners, Eric and Kimberlee Masson allowed me and my team to do an investigation for my unpublished book.
If you haven’t been following my blog or my podcast “Stories in the Cemetery“, I wanted to publish a book that proved a psychic’s abilities by investigating haunted locations with him. The concept was that I would pick him up, not telling him where we were going and have him use his ability to tell me more about the location. We didn’t use any equipment other than simple cameras, a digital recorder for me to recall events during the investigation and of course, Psychic’s marker and notebook for automatic writing.
According to the Massons, many investigators were trying to book a night’s stay to use various techniques to prove that the Brentwood Restaurant was haunted. I will say, that in my belief, any building or home that has been in existence for any length of time has other-worldly properties attached. The Brentwood Restaurant was no different, and Psychic’s abilities proved my theories and more.
When the Masson’s invited us to tour the property during daylight hours before they opened, I was ecstatic. Below you’ll find the chapter of the book that I wrote based on our experience:
The History
The Brentwood Restaurant, owned by Chef Eric Masson and wife, Kimberlee has exchanged hands several times over the past century. The current use, a French Cuisine Bistro is lovely from both the outside and inside décor. Covered in wine corks and old pictures collected by the Massons along the east coast, the restaurant has claims of paranormal activity that simply couldn’t be ignored when researching for new places to visit with Psychic.
Paranormal investigators have long been trying to get into The Brentwood begging to have a sleepover session filled with moving objects and whispers in their ears. There has been one noted investigator, Stephen Lancaster that started the hype around this location, dubbing The Brentwood as the most haunted location along the Grand Strand.
Though this is quite possibly true, during our investigation, there were no strange voices (heard by Photographer and me anyway) or objects moving, or even doors slamming for that matter. No, what we found was a remarkable way to truly prove Psychic’s psychic abilities and allow him to wander through the house turned restaurant freely.
Equipment Used
For this particular case, we used the Sony Recorder to record all audio of the conversations held, Psychic’s intuitions and any possible background noise.
Both digital cameras, the Samsung digital L120 and the Samsung SLR N300, were used to verify any “orbs” that were caught by other pictures.
Psychic and his sketchpad; as always, Psychic used his sketchpad for any automatic writings. Psychic did hear voices throughout this investigation and wrote down each saying that may have meaning during my validations later. Kim was able to validate quite a bit for us after we toured through the house and this is revealed later in this chapter.
Before Our Trip
Just like all trips, minimal research was done on this house prior to the trip. This keeps me unbiased and other than the claim of being haunted, I did absolutely no research on previous owners, the haunting claims et cetera. Psychic, as always was unable to do any research due to the lack of research materials and technology. He was completely blind coming to this case other than knowing that it has haunting claims.
The Car Ride
On the car ride over to The Brentwood, Psychic chose to sit in the backseat to begin “tapping into” whatever spirit(s) may want to come through during our visit. While meditating in my backseat, he came up with this sketch sheet of automatic writing:
Of course, none of us, Psychic, Photographer or myself knew what any of it could possibly mean but the same initials reference, “E.M.” and repetitive numbers would prove truth later. If you notice in the top left corner the letter “S” in between the initials. This was our first clue as to what we would be dealing with. The letters “C” and “P” are also written below the initials. These would also prove Psychic’s abilities through research.
Other clues that came about were “Moved”, “My ending > your start”, “recognition”, “I feel lucky”; all of these would have significance on this case and Kim was able to validate quite a bit for us after the tour.
In addition, take note that “Fish is OK for breakfast” is written on Psychic’s sketchpad. This statement not only brought some light to the previous owner, but also gave us some insight into who was coming through to Psychic.
The Initials
Upon reaching the house, Psychic felt a need to go to a bedroom on one of the upper floors. He was drawn to it as we walked closer to the house. After introductions with Chef Eric and his wife, we made our way to this bedroom. Kim decided to stay with us for the tour, but promised not to reveal anything until after we were finished. Since Psychic was starting to say what he was feeling the moment we entered the house, I got the feeling that Kim was going to have a difficult time not revealing anything until after the tour.
Psychic spoke of the initials piece right from the start, claiming that whoever was coming through to him had the same initials as Chef Eric. Psychic had no idea the last name of the couple who currently own the house and definitely did not know about the previous owners. Chef Eric Masson’s initials, E.M., proved to match that of the previous owner, Essie McCorsley.
Other initials (or letters) also came about through Psychic’s automatic writing. The letter “C” we found was a reference to Essie’s husband, Clarence. On Psychic’s sketchpad, there’s also a note that reads, “Always watching” with an arrow pointed to the “C”. Psychic believes that though Clarence was silent through our tour, he was and is always watching over the businesses that have taken over the home since his death.
Also written is the letter “P” and Psychic’s instinct tells him that Essie did not get along with this “P” person. Kim was able to validate that a “Mary Platt” took over the home after the McCorsleys and the two did not exactly get along. This information came from a descendent of the McCorsleys.
Repetitive Numbers
Psychic also notated the repetition of numbers from the start. When asked which numbers were repeating, he claimed to hear the numbers 15 and 17. Though I could not find the relevance to the number 17, the number 15 proved to serve several dates in later research. This was one clue to add to another.
Essie McCorsley’s death on October 15th also marks the date of the closing of the sale of The Brentwood Restaurant for the Massons. “My ending > your start” was written in the first sketch of automatic writing done by Psychic. This writing done by Psychic now made sense.
Wait, there’s more to this “15” number. During the investigation, Psychic felt the need to stand by the front door as Kim was just about to show us underneath the stairwell where the Brentwood computer is kept. Psychic felt someone collecting “dollars” at this front door, and then heard the whisper “1954”. Psychic went on to explain that in 1954, the person collecting dollars, did not collect any money. At the time, we had no idea what he meant.
What we did find out is that Hurricane Hazel came through Little River, South Carolina (the location of The Brentwood) on October 15, 1954. This was not only another repetitive 15, but could also mean that Essie was not charging people to come into her home for protection from the storm. Although there is no written evidence that Essie took people in from Hazel, it was too ironic that underneath the stairs was a focus when Psychic heard the whisper. Could the passage underneath the stairs have been a storm barricade that Essie used to protect her neighbors from the hurricane? I have no evidence that says this didn’t happen.
Lucky Recognition
“Recognition” and “I Feel Lucky” is written on Psychic’s sketchpad and these two phrases had no meaning to us on our way to The Brentwood. We pulled in to The Brentwood’s parking area to find that the actual street name is Luck Street. Although, The Brentwood’s current location is not the original, we still felt there was a connection here.
The “Recognition” written, Psychic felt as though it was a gracious recognition, as if Essie was saying “thank you for the recognition.” Again, we had no clue what Psychic was referring to until we asked Kim about it later. She remembered while pointing out the original location of the house that there are two streets just a bit down the road from the original location named after Essie. Those two streets form a crossroads of each other and are named McCorsley and Bessent. Kim explained that Bessent was Essie’s maiden name.
This not only proved the “recognition” writing, but also the “moved” that Psychic felt the urge to write twice.
End of Chapter
Afternotes
Something on the Stairs
Granted, although it seems that I never finished this chapter, I recall something on the stairs that wasn’t there the first time we passed through. We usually did several passes, following Psychic around to see what he would come up with next. I’m not sure exactly why I didn’t include this in the first draft of the chapter, but I distinctly remember something on the stairs that wasn’t there originally. It was something hard and tangible, not something that would have been quiet when hitting the hardwood floor of the steps.
Ladybugs
Regardless, my experience at The Brentwood Restaurant is one to remember. Although, we had no paranormal activity happen while we were there, we found one more thing interesting.
At the beginning of our tour, after meeting Chef Eric Masson, the four of us, Psychic, Photographer, Kimberlee and myself all moved to the front room of the house to discuss the process we go through and terms of the tour.
We regrouped in the same room in which we started and happened to notice the ceiling was covered in ladybugs. According to Kimberlee this had never happened before. During my research, I found that ladybugs are a symbol of luck in many cultures. This could be more to the meaning of Psychic’s auto-writing of “I Feel Lucky”.
Fish is OK for Breakfast
I should also note that I never explained the “Fish is okay for breakfast” in Psychic’s auto-writing. As it turns out, the fisherman that stayed at the McCorsley home would bring fish for Essie to cook for them. Therefore, “Fish is okay for breakfast”. Kimberlee explained this to my team and I during our regroup and we all found it hilarious since it made no sense at the beginning.
I have to say I feel lucky indeed after having the experience I did with Psychic and The Brentwood Restaurant. It was another case where I felt that his abilities were proven yet again.
This week’s sponsored book is Book One: Growing Dim. If you love Greek Mythology tales about the Underworld, you will be enthralled to follow the new Shade (Hades) on his new adventures. This is the first book in the series.
I’m a writer/podcaster and now you know one of the many influences of why I write what I write.
Thanks for reading,
Nick
More than just a Blog
This is episode 4 of the Stories in the Cemetery podcast.
E49: 2023 Prediction Reveal – Stories in the Cemetery
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