The Haunted Monkey Candle Shoppe
Cellars are creepy, especially in old houses. That’s why the employees rarely ventured into the cellar of the 100-year-old The Candle Shoppe Of The Pocono’s— spooky things were happening down there!
About four years after the business opened in the large house on Route 611 in the Poconos, those working the closing shift say they could hear strange sounds in the cellar after dark, when the store started staying open late on Fridays and Saturdays. They even refused to walk around the premises alone at night.
Because the business continued growing, the owner got ready to expand, and everyone could no longer avoid utilizing the basement. That’s when the employees told the owner that the store was haunted. She told them they were crazy and brushed off their experiences by saying it must be the furnace making noise or floorboards just squeaking.
As business needs required the use of the basement more and more, old medical equipment and cages were found down there. The weirdness only intensified. There were unexplained pounding sounds and candles would fly off the shelves by themselves. According to some newspaper reports, employees said they heard stampeding sounds and smelled animals, even though the candle shop has an aroma of perfume and wax. Then the owner started to hear the noises herself and was convinced that something unnatural was happening in her store.
Finally, a neighbor filled them in about the house’s grisly history—it was used by a scientist to conduct experiments on spider monkeys that were locked in the basement.
The house was built in 1897. A doctor employed by Pocono Biological Laboratories, which is known today as Sanofi Pasteur, took up residence in 1901. He was working on a smallpox vaccine and a cure for yellow fever. Were the people at the candle shop experiencing the restless spirits of medical experiment monkeys? You can decide for yourself.
Today, The Candle Shoppe of the Pocono’s offers an attraction on the premises based on the history of the house. It’s located in the basement of the shop and has an amusement park-like vibe. There are fake monkeys and skulls and strobe lights and gore. But another focus is the authentic documentation gathered about the doctor, William Redwood Fisher, who lived in the house with his family. No photography or video is allowed inside the actual attraction (but when you reach the bottom, you’ll see a video currently available on YouTube).
The Candle Shoppe of the Poconos has been featured on Animal Planet’s The Haunted and investigated by the Pennsylvania Paranormal Association (not just once, but twice). You can visit the Biological Research Testing Facility turned Candle Shoppe at 1900 Route 611 in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania, which is open year-round.
Have a Happy & Safe Halloween!
Photo Courtesy of Photography by Jennifer O’Malia
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Video from The Candle Shoppe of the Pocono’s
Cheri Sundra © 2016 All Rights Reserved
Cheri Sundra--Guerrilla Historian 