By MIKE MOODY
The Brownsville Herald
Victor Perez loves to tell ghost stories. Unlike most tall-tellers, his stories are true ? so he says.
It?s hard to discredit someone like Perez, whose belief in the supernatural seems unshakable, especially when he starts spinning his yarns. There?s the one about the phantom cook who burns tortillas when he?s in a bad mood or the randy ghost who smells of whiskey and likes pinching ladies on their rear ends.
?That guy was a playboy,? Perez said.
Perez is the founder of the Rio Grande Valley Paranormal Investigators. The investigators have been hunting ghosts, solving supernatural mysteries and performing ?cleansings? ? a more comfy word for exorcisms ? around the Valley for more than 12 years. On Thursday, Perez and fellow ghost hunter George Acosta, a Brownsville native, took a group of true believers on a trek to what they say are some of downtown Brownsville?s most haunted spots.
The event was the first in a series called ?The Shades of History Downtown Walking Tour and Ghost Hunt? and spon-sored by the Brownsville Heritage Complex. About 30 amateur ghost hunters showed up hoping to confirm what all of them seemed to believe: Downtown Brownsville is spook city.
Before the ghost hunting started, Perez, a compact but captivating character, laid down some ground rules: Stick to-gether, don?t be afraid and never disrespect a haunting spirit.
?You never know what we?re gonna get,? Perez warned. ?We do get into the nitty gritty.?
Acosta, a former preacher who calls himself the ?spiritual force? behind Perez?s outfit, claims to have been assaulted ? even ?bitch slapped? ? by an angry spirit.
?I have been pushed and hit by a spirit, yes, but I am not afraid,? Acosta said. ?My weapon is prayer. If something is go-ing on, they put me on the front lines, like infantry.?
Perez called Thursday?s event a ?safe haunting? tour.
?We?ll keep you safe,? he told the crowd. ?We are very good at what we do, but if we see Frankenstein or Dracula, I?ll be the first one running.?
Perez uses tools called ?dousing rods,? a pair of makeshift ghost detectors made out of little more than two old car an-tennae, to detect spiritual energy and distinguish between ?negative and positive auras.? He learned to use these tools shortly after ?crossing over? to the afterlife, he said.
?I kind of died when I drowned at a young age. They brought me back to life, and ever since then, I?ve been able to see things,? he said.
Those ?things? he sees are ghosts.
?Victor is deferent than you and me,? Acosta said. ?He is able to see things you and I can?t.?
Dousing rods and super senses ready, Perez led the group to its first haunted stop, the historic Stillman House Museum on East Washington Street.
Its former owner, Brownsville founder Charles Stillman haunts the Stillman House, Perez said.
?I?ve seen him and even my son has seen him sitting outside on a rocking chair,? Perez said. ?He?s kind of a grouch.?
Perez said the 156-year-old home, now part of the Heritage Complex, is also haunted by the spirit of a young girl who en-joys playing the organ. His dousing rods spun around as he approached an antique organ inside the house. ?She?s here,? he said.
?Mijita, don?t be afraid. No tienes miedo,? he said, seemingly making contact with the spirit.
Members of the group took photos of the area, hoping to glimpse a ghostly image. One photographer, Michelle Marino, was convinced she had captured ?orbs,? energy fields produced by a ghost, on camera.
?I think there are a lot of spirits in downtown Brownsville,? Marino said. ?A lot of people died here, and they don?t want to leave.?
The dead did not walk Thursday night, but Perez claimed to make contact with a few spirits. One, he said, haunts the grounds of the Old County Courthouse/Rio Grande Masonic Lodge No. 81 on East Jefferson Street. The spirit is that of a man named Rodriguez, who was hanged on the grounds more than 100 years ago.
Perez also seemingly made contact with a spirit on the grounds of the Cameron County Courthouse, also known as the Dancy Building, on East Madison Street. The spirit was that of a man who might have worked for the company that built the building, Gross Construction, in 1912. The ghost was looking for his ?patron,? Perez said.
The group also visited the Old Jail Building on East Madison Street and the Immaculate Conception Cathedral on East Jefferson Street.
Perez said the cathedral is one of downtown?s most haunted spots. Spirits of dead priests who served at the 147-year-old cathedral were buried in the front lawn and still roam the grounds, he said. Evil souls seeking sanctuary are known to roam the structure.
?There are lots of evil things in churches. They are looking for sanctions? Perez said. ?They don?t want to pass so they hold up there inside.?
Perez and Acosta led the group past the Old Jail Building on East Madison, where, they said, the ghost of an angry jail guard still oppresses dead inmates. The tour also went by an antique two-story Victorian style home on East Jefferson where the investigators were recently called to investigate spiritual activity.
Throughout the tour, attendees took snapshots and waved tape recorders in the air, assured that they would go home with evidence of the supernatural. Perez encouraged them.
?You will pick up something. Sometimes you won?t see it, but you?ll be able to smell it or feel it or hear it,? he said.
Bobby Gutierrez, a Brownsville native, didn?t need a camera to confirm the existence of ghosts in downtown Brownsville.
?I?ve felt a presence here before. I do believe,? he said.
The Brownsville Heritage Complex will hold two more tours with the RGV Paranormal Investigators on Thursday and Oct. 19. Perez said the tours will take attendees through cemeteries and Fort Brown.
?I guarantee you,? he told the crowd of believers, ?those places do have a lot of activity.
mmoody@brownsvilleherald.com
The Brownsville Heritage Complex will hold two more tours with the RGV Paranormal Investigators The next tour will take the group on a Cemetery Walking Tour at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. The third will be a tour through Fort Brown at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 19. Cost for the tours and ghost hunt is $7 for BHA members and $10 for non-members.
For more information, call (956) 541-5560.
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_com ... 2_0_10_0_C
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