Not So Silent Hill ~ A Trip to Centralia, PA.

Old Sign of Centralia, PA [Misspelled Centrailia]

Have you ever had a “paranormal” or “supernatural” experience? What about one that made you inexplicably believe in something other than the physical realm? Have you ever been to a place where you could feel the energy? Well, my experience in Centralia, Pennsylvania was one of those moments.

My close friend and I had traveled there one day. I had come to visit her one Memorial Day weekend and we took a drive over.

We’re both very attuned people and I’d say she’s one of the only people I can really relate to in the ‘witchy sense’ atop of just feeling a soul connection to her as a person, but that’s a different story, lol. In short, I’ll say, we just… work.

Anywho, we were driving, well, she was driving, but nonetheless we were on our way to check out the area and not really thinking much of it. We knew it was considered the ‘Real Silent Hill’ and wanted to see what it was like. 

Centralia is a town in Pennsylvania that lives atop a coal mine. A coal mine that is still burning… since 1962.

It used to be a very lively little town but now, when you get there, it’s very desolate. Only about 4 houses are still in the vicinity and if you didn’t know where you were you could drive right through/past it.

Centralia, Before

Centralia, Now

Well, we took that drive and at a certain point we passed a house (just when you are first reaching the ‘town’ and the intersection.) I noticed a feeling as if things were somewhat slower as well as a kind of anxious feeling starting to build but I didn’t say it out loud at the time because I thought I was ‘buggin-out’ but then my friend mentioned that it felt like her car was ‘lagging’ and I immediately was like, “Yes! Okay”, so I’m not crazy.

That’s when we realized we were about to hit the intersection. When writing this, she reminded me that we also didn’t realize where we were because her GPS had started acting up. I completely forgot about this but when I asked her to recount her experience, she brought it up.

And hey, you can believe me or not but once we hit the intersection my anxiety shot up in seconds. Once we had passed that house it seemed that it was kind of like a sign that we were in the town, and from there everything somewhat went downhill. 

I could physically feel my body starting to shake harder and a pressure started in my ears.

I felt… off.

When I looked at my friend, she said she felt nauseous, and she looked a little pale. 

We both had different “symptoms” but we were sure that we were picking up on something.

Now, some people may say it’s due to the gasses being emitted from the still burning coal mine, but the only reason I’m not 100% sure on that is because 1. Why would the feeling come on so abruptly? and 2. There were other cars driving around. There were even some people walking around in random spots and they seemed fine…but you can think what you want.

So, as I couldn’t think straight (and before we really realized what was happening) when we were driving up to the intersection my friend said, “Which way should we go?” 

I pointed Left and said, “Right,” Lol.

She was like, “Okay?” and turned Right. 

But we had to pull over. The feelings we were getting were coming on strong. When we pulled over, I honestly just wanted to get out and curl over to put my head on the ground, but I didn’t. I couldn’t control the shakiness I felt, and it was becoming more difficult.

I know she was feeling things too, but I honestly can’t remember much about what she felt because I was so focused on “what the hell was going on with me?”

She said she wanted to turn around and go the other way because the Cemeteries were that way and I said, “Sure,” so we made a U-turn and drove to St. Ignatius Cemetery.

Entrance of St. Ignatius Cemetery

As soon as we parked in front of the gates, the energy was slightly less intense. We got out and walked inside and immediately felt a little better. There was still a lingering feeling of energy, but we could actually concentrate and focus. I wasn’t feeling as much pressure in my head and I wasn’t shaking as much.

So, there we were, walking around the small cemetery, leaving coins where we felt called and just talking.

At the back of the cemetery is a large white cross and we both started walking towards it.

In looking at the cross, I had a picture of it on fire in my mind, but my friend turned and said it out loud.

She said something like, “I don’t really identify with the cross but I feel like we should go over there…” and “I picture fire there,” she pointed, and I was like, “Oh my go-yes, me too!” We kept walking and reached the cross and just looked at it. In fact, I believe she walked around it because she felt she needed to. She also noticed a headstone hiding all the way at the back by the fence and left some coins there.

When we turned around, we heard a shuffling noise by the grave but there wasn’t anything there.

She said, “You’re welcome,” to the headstone and smiled and we continued making our way around.

As we walked, I randomly got an image of a little boy running past me as well as an old woman in a nightgown. I started to feel a tickle in my throat and coughed a bit before mumbling to myself that, “someone died while coughing?” 

Perplexed, I brushed it off and didn’t think anything of it until later.

We kept walking (not directly next to each other, we let each other do our own thing and wander and would randomly talk to one another when we felt like it) and I kept getting random feelings in my right and left ear. It felt like hearing something but not. Like when someone tries to get your attention to turn your head. 

The first time it happened in my right ear and when I turned my head in that direction, all I saw was a church in the distance. I was like, “Oh cool, a church,” and thought to myself, "I wonder if that has anything to do with here.” [Note, that I am not from Pennsylvania, and I did not know any history on this place -other than knowing it was the ‘real silent hill’, which has nothing to do with the actual story- except for the fire still burning.]

The second time was right after I had the coughing moment, and something told me to go over to a grave that was on the side of the cemetery. 

My friend and I were walking back towards the front when it happened and I said, ‘Wait-” and pointed to the side. She said, ‘Yep, I heard it too,’ so we walked over and rested some coins on the graves, said hello to whomever was trying to get our attention, and made sure we weren’t disrespecting anyone's resting place.

We continued on and made our way to the front of the cemetery. We noticed a few names that we found out later were connected to one of the residents of the town said to be one of the last people still living in the town as well as other people who were around during the fire (which, yes, I know, is not uncommon.)

Then we were almost out of coins, so we decided very specifically where to put the last two.

My friend noticed a headstone of two women. One of their birthdays was her daughter's birthday and the ‘death day’ for them was the 27th of May, which was the day before. She was like, “Look, that one, It has (my daughters) birthday!” So, we placed the coins and gave everyone a farewell.

When we left the gate and got back in the car the vibes started to change again. She began to drive but her nausea was back and the butterflies in my stomach and the pressure in my head came back as well. 

It got to a point where I had to hold my hand to my ear because it was uncomfortable, and I had to keep my eyes closed because I couldn’t focus. I kept getting random images in my mind of people walking, and not just people but what looked like old workers and miners. I pictured a priest, and someone being angered, and I felt like there was just a loudness in my mind.

I couldn’t tell you what my friend was feeling but I thought to ask her when I decided to write this so I will incorporate that below, but honestly, kudos to her for driving us out of there when I know she wasn’t feeling right either.

So, as I said, I asked her what she remembers so that I could include it here because I felt it was only right to take into consideration her perspective and experience, so, here, in her words, is her account of the events:

“I remember not knowing where we were and driving through this ‘tunnel of trees’ and saying, “Dang, I’m nauseous right now and I feel like we gotta hurry. And then we realized because the GPS was acting weird that we were in fact in Centralia.” 

She also said that she remembered, “The anxiety, the rushed feeling like we gotta go, hurry, get out. The sadness at the cemetery and being pulled to that area, saying it feels like there was a fire here, by the cross and I said something like, "I don't really indulge in the cross, but I feel we must go, and you were already en route.”

Now, of course people see things in their own way but I’m happy that we have such similar memories that, you the reader, can form a cohesive story between us.

So, as we were driving away from the cemeteries, I don’t even remember the scenery because like I said, I just couldn’t concentrate on what was outside.

It felt like there were so many things coming to my mind that I couldn’t 'hone in on' one. I kept getting this thought of the workers being upset with someone and the priest kept coming into my mind as if yelling. I distinctly remember saying, “Ok but I didn’t do it,” out loud because I felt like things were overwhelming and that they were trying to tell me how upset they were about something.

[Again, I didn’t know any of the history at this point.]

As she drove, we tried to find the ‘graffiti highway’ but couldn’t. I don’t know if it was because we were too out of it or because they hid it well, but I think it was the former. 

Birdseye view, Centralia

We went around in a, somewhat, circle of about a four-block radius of the ‘town’ and then decided we couldn’t deal anymore, so we left.

As soon as we got far enough away, we felt better.

My shakiness was gone. I could hold my hand steady again. The pressure was gone in my head and ears. We just felt… lighter. 

When we got back to her house, I immediately started googling the history of the town. I was so confused as to what just happened and yet so intrigued to understand it all.

It felt like my ‘ability’ was turned all the way up and I admit, I was a little excited afterwards. 

You see, although while we were there it did not feel pleasant, once we were back home and clear headed again, I was so confident that what happened was in fact “supernatural” I couldn’t help but want to know more.

I mean, I’ve felt things before, and I’ve had other strong experiences but not in this way. It was like my body got a full-on experience of what I was capable of, but I just wasn't prepared for it.

Like a radio that is turned all the way up, you can hear it, you can't help but hear it but it was too overwhelming to deal with and truly understand.

So, as I said, I started researching the history of what happened, and I came across a few things that stood out.

I’ll go with the most obvious, the church. The church was in fact a part of the town's history and was said to be the only safe place because it was on top of a rock and not coal, so it wouldn't burn.

Which leads me to the second part of that, which is the priest.

There have been a few different stories about the town and what had gone on but in one of them it was said that the town founder, Alexander Rae was murdered one evening (in the 1800's) and a priest, Father Daniel Ignatius McDermott, had thought it to be the “Molly Maguires” which was the name of a supposed Irish-catholic secret society who was “working to organize a mine workers union to improve wages and working conditions.”

Rendition of the 'Molly Maguires' secret meeting

Photo of Father Daniel Ignatius McDermott

It is said that Father McDermott “suspecting the killers were members of his congregation, began denouncing the Molly Maguires from the pulpit” and in turn he also cursed the town and stated that the only thing standing would be the church. Three of the “Molly Maguires” were also convicted and put to death due to Alexander Rae’s murder and the assumption of their connection to his death.

Now, as I said, there are many different stories of the history of the town but when I read this it seemed to connect well with what was playing out in my mind while we were there.

Also, just to be clear, this event did not cause the fire (being that the fire started in '62), but I do believe that this event could be a factor just because, again, I didn’t know any of this history, and neither did my friend, but the imagery and feelings we were getting seems to correspond with one another.

The next thing was the cross. I found an article that stated the fire had started not too far away from where the cemeteries are now, but I can’t say for certain that it was in that exact spot. 

Next- in my research upon finding that, of course, Centralia was a mining town, which would account for me seeing workers walking in my mind's eye, I also feel it makes sense that I felt some anger whether it be from the priest or the actual workers. 

It only hit me later that, “Of course someone might have died from coughing,” as well, because again, there was a fire, and there were miners.” I literally smacked my forehead and chuckled at myself when the obvious connection hit.

Now, I can’t say for certain which the coughing had to do with being that I had saw a young boy and an older woman but, in my gut, I know it’s connected somehow. Perhaps I was picking up on multiple 'pasts', I can't say for sure but I do think that besides whatever is there, that there is also a lot of residual energy playing out, but that's another conversation to have (or entry to make, lol).

Another thing were the names. Some of the names that we noticed/ that stood out to us, had been mentioned in a few articles as people who were connected to the town in important ways.

But that’s not all. The kicker is what I found when I was looking at the dates. 

It was found that the fire was said to start on May 27th, 1962. The same day that was on the last headstone. As well as the day before, for us, in the present. 

We had come to Centralia the day after the Anniversary of the fire.

Now, in my research, I couldn’t find anyone having the same physical symptoms as us. Even when looking at the gas effects, I didn’t see anyone who reached the level of intensity that we had. 

And I’m not saying this to try and say you have to believe me, but I tried searching for anyone having even similar ‘psychic’ symptoms and there was nothing written about it. There weren’t even any articles or videos in regard to people trying to see if there was psychic energy there. A lot of people were just referencing Silent Hill and talking about the history of the priest and what not.

So, in telling you all of this, I say again, Decide for yourself what you believe. All I know is how I felt and what I experienced. 

I do want to go back, however. 

I want to see if my friend and I return, if we wear masks, as well as go on a different day, if the energy will feel different. 

Perhaps it would be multiple trips. One to go back on the same day with masks. Another to go on a different day without masks. And another day to go on a different day with masks. And so on, just to cover all ‘control’ options in experimenting.

I also want to make it around the town more. As mentioned, we didn’t really make it as far as we would’ve liked, and I do want to go back and see the rest of the cemeteries as well.

Now I know you may be thinking, why would you want to put yourself through that again?

But I have to say, I just feel like I wasn’t properly prepared at the time that we went. I don’t think either of us were. I mean who would’ve expected what we felt when everyone else who seems to drive over there is fine? 

All I know is that this experience also helped me to feel what my ‘ability’ feels like on a ‘higher’ level. When I say that, I mean that because it was like the meter was turned all the way up, when it came back down, it gave me a clearer sense of what my intuition and abilities feel like on a smaller level.

I now know what the pressure in my ears can mean. I now know what images in my mind can look like. I now know how my body will react to certain things. And I now understand what certain things feel like, and so on. 

Overall, this experience helped me get more in tune with my already active abilities and it helped me to trust myself more. Which I feel makes for gaining better connections.

I don’t know if it did the same for my friend, but I enjoyed our time together and as I said, I want to go again. I’d also like to go to a few other places, but I’ll save the list for another time, lol.

I hope you enjoyed this ‘journey’ and if you want to share your own experiences, please don’t hesitate to comment below.

Blessed Be🔮

[OutsideSources: Centralia: Gateway to Hell | Normal Paranormal, The “Silent Hill” church – Last church standing in Centralia – Canadian Military History (militarybruce.com), Centralia, Pennsylvania – A Lost Town – Legends of America, What to do in Centralia: Pennsylvania's Toxic Ghost Town - UncoveringPA, + google for images and search history]