Generations of heartache, suicides, fame and fortune lead TAPS Ghost Hunters to the Lemp Mansion located in St. Louis, MO. It is reported that a total of four members of the Lemp family have committed suicide over the early part of the 20th century. Along with this disturbing history several ghosts are reported roaming throughout the mansion. Unfinished business and the guilt of taking one's own life is a likely cause for this phenomena, but who exactly are the ghosts?
When TAPS arrives to the location, they are given a quick run through of the spirits that are supposedly haunting the building, but have history and hearsay combined to create a macabre tale of doom? The tour guide/owner of the Lemp Mansion lists specifically the names of the alleged apparitions. Troy Taylor founder of American Hauntings, wrote this on his Facebook status after the episode was aired September 29th.
"There was no "Zeke Lemp" and Charles Lemp never shot his dog in the basement -- or anywhere else for that matter. Who believes this crap? And better yet, what kind of idiot makes it up? I love the so-called "ghost hunters" who believe that history is worthless. Trying doing some actual research -- maybe someone would take you seriously!"
And in doing my own quick research, I too have not found anything about Charles Lemp shooting his dog in the basement, nor is there any mention of a Zeke Lemp. It also appears from Taylor's comment that it may not have been TAPS' first mistake of not throughly researching the background of a case upon the actual physical investigation.
While I do love TAPS Ghost Hunters, I can't help but wonder about the quality of the research, and if this was poor research, I can give you several reasons on why the ghost community would be upset. First, and foremost, paranormal research is a questionable field. In order to gain credibility, researchers need to actually be serious about the work. All of the work requires research, and the background research is the foundation of a physical investigation. It is the essential building blocks. Who is haunting the house is an important factor. As you all know the more one tells a story, the more blown out of proportion the story becomes therefore the less credible it is. This is almost 100 years worth of story telling! Investigators have to get to the bottom of it, and educate the people living in the dwelling as well, because they want to know who and what is potentially haunting the dwelling!
The second reason people are upset in the paranormal community, is that there are groups popping up ALL over the place claiming to be seasoned in investigating, when in fact they are not. It is so important to be educated about the field. The fact remains that every group is NOT going to get on TV and if you have a TV show the groups should really be trying to set up an example of what the profession is about. This field requires hard work and dedication. It is not all fun and games, running around with a flashlight, mini dvd, and voice recorder yelling at ghosts floating around . Investigators need to get the facts straight before they can prove anything. It is critical to present the facts to the paranormal community in the most scientific way possible. It would also be wise to verify what the client claims to be "facts".
The fact remains is that this is not the glamorized field that everyone thinks that it is. Although it has come a long way and great strides have been made to prove the existence of ghosts (the fact that we are even talking about it right now) it still has an even longer way to go. Strolling into the house without knowing the history behind it is a bit more than an oversight in my opinion. Educating the owners and public that those figures in history did not exist would have proved beyond helpful resolving the haunting. Stunts like this reinforces the fact that paranormal research is not taken seriously by the scientific community.
Please find attached a link to Wikipedia about the Lemp Mansion. I have also looked at other sites and there are no mentions about shooting the dog or even Zeke Lemp.
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