By Janay Boyd | Reporter
Even though spring is in full swing, spooky things still linger in the air. Every Saturday, the Dr Pepper Museum hosts its weekly Paranormal Experience — a two-hour tour that reveals a side of the museum far beyond just the drink.
On the tour, museum staff will guide groups of up to 16 people through the historic building, including the usually off-limits basement. Visitors will hear about the museum’s history and explore its paranormal side using investigative tools like EMF detectors, dowsing rods and, occasionally, shadow or spirit boxes.
According to the Dr Pepper Museum, paranormal investigators and staff have experienced everything from shadow figures to disembodied voices and full apparitions.
“We’ve had a lot of history, specifically with the museum, but there have been stories that have been passed down from family members who used to have individuals that worked here,” said Kayla Tatum, the museum’s experience manager. “There were stories passed down from staff who have also had certain experiences themselves here at the museum.”
According to Tatum, the museum is now certified as a haunted location. They had a paranormal investigator visit to uncover the history of who occupied the building during different eras and to gather more personal stories, she said.
Now, the Paranormal Experience tours have been running for over two years.
“It’s more so getting to know the museum’s history, but also going a little bit into that investigation of what are some of the paranormal things that have happened over the years,” Tatum said. “So you get a little bit of both, but I certainly like to highlight for people that the intent behind it is not to go hunt ghosts, but there is that paranormal aspect that can come about from the tours.”
Abilene resident Drake Warner, who attended a nighttime ghost tour, said most tours tend to blend historical storytelling with reports of unusual activity.
“Most tours, I feel, lean heavily on the history of the location along with tidbits of experiences in certain places or rooms,” Warner said. “I figure those parts of the location are the most visited to try and have a paranormal experience.”
Authenticity often depends on the atmosphere and the history tied to the location, Warner said.
“Ghost tours are always going to be a hit or miss thing since it’s never a guarantee, and there’s always a lot of skepticism involved with ghosts in general,” Warner said.
Even so, the museum reserves its main Paranormal Experience for adults 18 and older, with a junior paranormal event offered in the fall for younger visitors.
“We get a hodgepodge, from those that have visited the museum and are just wanting to look at that experience under a lens at night, to those that are truly looking for the paranormal experience and wanting to figure out what the stories are behind what people have seen,” Tatum said.
During one of Tatum’s own experiences, a spirit box was activated, and when a call went out to a spirit, the group’s EMF readers all lit up in a row, as if something had passed through.
“It’s definitely interesting,” Tatum said. “Even if you don’t necessarily fully believe or if you’re kind of half-and-half or full on, I still think that you can get something from the experience.”
The tours start at 8:00 p.m. and end at 10:00 p.m. Tickets are $35 per person and can be purchased here.
