Paranormal investigators Amy Bruni, Adam Berry and psychic medium Chip Coffey are back for another season of “Kindred Spirits,” and this one starts them off on a case that really shakes them up when they hear the disembodied voice of a whimpering baby.
The trio head to Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, where they investigate a facility that once housed the poorest of the poor that had a dreadful rumored history of torture that included starvation and beatings – and a “room” in the basement with shackles all but proves that claim. The building is now a cultural center, but intense paranormal activity terrifies employees and guests.
As they sit calmly in a hallway of the building, they ask for the spirit of William Cage, the worker who was said to have been the worst of the worst, to come forward. Instead, what they very clearly hear is the sound of a child crying. Their reactions are as expected, which you can see in the exclusive clip above.
“It sounds so sad, and immediately we associated it with loneliness, [as if it’s] lost,” Berry said. “You want to associate that the child is by themselves. You want to think the worst, but we have to flip our mindset to be like, ‘OK, OK, OK. We heard a child. Let’s see if we can do something about it.’ Like reaching out to the child, see if they can communicate with us, asking if there is an adult in spirit form with the child. That’s going to make me feel better.”
Berry was also concerned that the investigators’ quest to communicate with the spirit of the man who caused so many who lived there so much pain was the catalyst for the child’s cries. “Did we trigger that sound, that moan and that cry, by talking about someone who was so mean and cruel?” Berry wondered. “Did we energetically trigger that residual activity, which has happened in the past?”
The team was first drawn to this location when a man submitted a video recorded on his phone of the most insanely loud knocking in a stairway of the location.
“Let’s talk about that knocking. When you look at my face watching that video,” Berry laughed. “Like, Amy’s all-in because she’s that’s crazy. And clearly, I think it’s crazy and insane, but when I look at my face, my face is almost like, ‘No way. Like, no way.’ … And also, the one thing I think I said to Amy, I said like, ‘Why didn’t he go up the stairs? Like, we would’ve gone up the stairs. Like it was a no-brainer for us. I was like, I wish we had just gone up the stairs.”
There are obviously some pretty scary moments this season but, Berry said, there is an overall theme: “Remembrance and not wanting to be forgotten and wanting to make sure that their legacy is intact, that what they left behind on this earth is good enough to be recognized.”
“Yes, you’re gonna get scared, but it’s a lesson for all of us, especially during these times in these last couple of years. And so it just makes you take stock in what you’ve got and appreciate your family and your life,” Berry said, adding that, yes, emotionally sometimes it’s very difficult, but nevertheless, he finds it hard to leave because once that happens, it’s almost like we’ve made that connection.
“We always just at least try to do our best to listen, and if we can help, great,” he said. “It’s almost like we’re ghost therapists.”
The new season of “Kindred Spirits” premieres Jan. 20 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on @TravelChannel and streaming on @discoveryplus.