By Danielle Nyland
For Damon Keys, his interest in the paranormal started as kid. The house he grew up in seemed to be haunted by a particular entity that has shown itself to multiple members of the family, including his mother and brother. The apparition began as a black mass with minimal details. “The first time I saw it, it was just a tall creature that you could just see its mouth. Over time, the features have become clearer.” Fred Tennant, Damon’s cousin and a partner in Outsider Paranormal, describes it as looking like a “tall old man, with long hair that goes over his ears, and a suit.”
Damon also had a strange experience while sleeping on the couch one night with a different entity or the same one taking on another appearance. “It just shaped my mind for it,” Damon says. “When I was about 12, my brother was doing this with his friends and I tried it out for a little bit but got away from it for a while.”
Fred’s interest grew from an incident he had twelve years ago. Riding his motorcycle along Rt. 18, he hit a deer. While lying on the road after the impact, he heard a woman shaking him and trying to wake him up. He opened his eyes and saw a car with the driver looking down at him. After the driver left to call for help, two other men that had witnessed the accident from their avantage point on a nearby hill came down. When Fred asked them where the woman had went, the men – who had seen the entire accident – told him there was no lady. “After that, I was intrigued by the paranormal,” Fred shares. “I did research on my own and discovered others had near death experiences very similar to mine.”
When his mother passed away, he stayed with his father. While sleeping on the couch, someone covered him with a blanket. When he thanked his father the next morning his dad said that he hadn’t came downstairs during the night. “After the wreck, I noticed more things and had very vivid dreams in which I would see my mom at my house. I’d remember the dreams very clearly when waking up.”
In December 2011, Fred mentioned to Damon that he was going to investigate Hill View Manor in New Castle with a paranormal team. They decide to go to the investigation together and after their experience there, they formed their own paranormal investigation team.
They started simple, with basic gear that included two digital cameras and two digital recorders and began looking into local spots to investigate – which led to a lot of nighttime visits to various graveyards in the area. “We started out like everybody,” Damon says. “We did what we could.”
They’ve investigated many local hotspots, such as Crow Rock, the Greene County Historical Society museum, Horseshoe Bend and Stovepipe, Robena Mine, and numerous cemeteries. These places have provided some of the most interesting experiences the group has experienced: unexplained sounds, screaming EVPs, scratches, strange graffiti, and more.
Outsider Paranormal is often approached to investigate private residences experiencing unusual activity. Unlike some paranormal services, they don’t charge a fee to investigate. “When we go to someone’s home, we’re there help,” says Damon. “We could never charge anyone to help them. I would never be able to do that with a good conscious. Our mission statement from day one was that we were a group seeking to find the truth about the paranormal to help people.”
For residential investigations, the process starts with an interview. Damon and Fred will talk to everyone involved to get a feel for the situation and record theses conversations. Although they never turn away an interview, they do feel it’s the perfect time to take a look at the situation and those involved to make sure that everything is legitimate. Once they decide to investigate, they begin their research into the property. Damon often avoid pre-researching for residential investigations because he prefers to go in with no previous knowledge that could contaminate his thoughts and evidence. “Just because you think it’s an entity that should be there, it could be a lot of other stuff there. If you’re asking for an entity to come talk to you, something will. “
Once they’ve finished the first two stages, they begin the investigation using a variety of equipment – which includes a MEL meter, spirit box, various digital image and voice recorders, and more. After completing the investigation, they begin the process of sorting and compiling evidence. They present the evidence to those involved, share what they think is happening, and give them suggestions as to what they should do next. “If the situation is beyond something that we can fully deal with, we have different people to help with different situations, like demonologists and religious leaders,” Damon says.
Both Fred and Damon consider evidence from their investigations carefully. They look at all external factors that could play into creating certain effects on cameras or voice recordings. After picking their findings apart and whittling it down to only the best, they take that evidence to others so that they can get second, third, fourth or even more opinions. “There’s been evidence that Damon wanted that I’ve thrown out, and evidence that I’ve thought was good that Damon tossed,” says Fred. “We only want to use the best evidence.”
They often share their evidence from various investigations online for further input. But you’ll never see the good stuff online. “We never show the best stuff on Facebook,” Damon says. “But when we do share it to Facebook, we leave it open. We don’t tell you what we think it is, we ask, ‘What do you think it is?’ That way people can draw their own conclusions.”
Outsider Paranormal has been working closely with the Greene County Historical Society and its director, Matthew Cumberledge, during 2019. They’ve hosted multiple ghost hunts at the museum and have plans to continue doing additional hunts. “We’re trying to get the museum recognized,” Fred says. “It has a lot of great history to share.”
Outsider Paranormal will continue to work in the area assisting with the museum and is available for residential investigations. “You can try to stop, but once you’ve seen the stuff, you can’t unsee it. You might as well embrace it,” Damon shares. “There’s been times where I think to myself, ‘Why do I do this?’ But it’s not going to change anything.”
“It’s a weird dynamic. I grew up in a very Christian, conservative home,” he adds. “But I know what’s out there, I’ve seen it myself.”
