Mike Kleen’s year-round interest for the paranormal inspired him to create a Ghost Club at Eastern, and he picked a good time to start it: just before Halloween.

The Ghost Club investigates haunted areas around Coles County, taking paranormal investigating equipment to different sites to find a place that is truly haunted.

“The purpose of the club is to expose different ways that our society explores the supernatural through fun,” said Kleen, a senior philosophy major.

After reading a book by Raymond Moody that popularized near-death experiences, Kleen concluded that no one has really learned anything from studying the paranormal, so he would rather have fun and learn through investigating and looking at other ways popular culture portrays the supernatural.

During the club’s meetings, which are open to anyone, paranormal phenomena is discussed.

“At the first meeting, we shared our personal experiences (with the paranormal),” Kleen said.

Gerty Heumann, a junior psychology and political science major, helps Kleen explain the technical side of parapsychology during the meetings.

“If you don’t take it serious, it’s fine. We won’t chop your head off,” said Heumann, who calls herself the “token vice president” of the club.

Kleen started the club, which has about 14 members, so he could meet other people who are interested in ghosts.

“I was surprised,” Heumann said of the club’s turnout. “I thought it was quite large considering most people don’t want to think that something like that is possible.”

Every other week, the club takes a trip to a site that is believed to be haunted instead of holding a meeting.

A field trip on Oct. 14 brought the club to Airtight Bridge over the Embarras River.

On Oct. 19, 1980, a woman’s dismembered body was found near the bridge, Kleen said. Then Coles County Coroner Dick Lynch said the woman was found naked, missing her head, hands and feet, according to a handout Kleen provided before the trip. The murderer was never found, Kleen said.

Since the incident, sororities, fraternities and other college students have used the old bridge as a place to party and drink because of its remote location, Kleen said.

Students held hands with strangers as they crossed the bridge, filled with cracks and potholes. The scent of a dead animal filled the air.

“The creepy thing was it would be windy on both sides of the bridge, but not when you were on the bridge,” said Matthew Binder, a history major with teacher certification.

People are supposed to be able to hear a creepy sound, Binder said, but the club was only at the site for a few minutes and heard nothing.

The following week, the club visited St. Omar Cemetery in Charleston to investigate a “witch’s grave.” The grave, under an old tree toward the back of the cemetery, is marked by the headstone of Granville Barnes, and his wife, Sarah, who died in 1877.

Before the investigation began, Kleen introduced the club to the equipment they would use. A tape recorder, video camera, camera, thermometer and electromagnetic field detectors are all essential, Kleen said.

“Cameras are your proof,” he said.

Kleen stressed the importance of measuring the wind speed, humidity and temperature.

“A lot of times the orbs (in pictures) are just moisture in the air,” Kleen said.

Several of the gravestones were broken, so some members thought they would try to put the headstones back together. When they moved the headstones, the detectors started to show readings.

The club tested its theory that the spirits weren’t happy about the bad conditions of their gravestones by testing the electromagnetic fields around new headstones versus the old, broken ones. The detectors only went off near the old headstones.

“They don’t like it with you mess with their stones,” said Sarah Lokaitis, a sophomore communication studies major.

Kleen said the trip was a success.

“Usually when I go on investigations, nothing ever happens, but this time it did, and I’m happy about that,” he said.

Kleen is a certified paranormal investigator, and he has a diploma to prove it. He took an online course, along with hundreds of other people, through Flamel College in California, an accredited college established in 1960, Kleen said.

Flamel College offers courses in paranormal studies, parapsychology, UFO investigation and astrology, as well as various other esoteric arts and hermetic sciences.

While enrolled in the course, Kleen studied books written by Troy Taylor, author of books about ghosts in Illinois such as “Haunted Alton” and “Haunted Decatur.”

Kleen wrote a book of his own entitled “Tales from Coles County.” It is a collection of fictional stories that are based on real events and historical details, he said, he just “filled in the blanks.”

Kleen has also had personal experiences with the paranormal.

“I was at Wal-Mart at 2 a.m. with a friend, and we were back by the garden section,” Kleen said. “This guy walked around one of the shelves, but nobody was in the section.”

Some of the girls in the club have suggested that they conduct a seance, Kleen said.

The club plans to visit Ashmore Estates, an old “insane asylum” outside of Charleston, Greenwood Cemetery in Decatur and a graveyard south of Mattoon commonly known as “Rag Doll Cemetery.”

“Going to haunted places isn’t the only thing we’re going to be doing,” Kleen said.

He has plans for the club to view scary movies and play card and board games dealing with the supernatural. A guest speaker is also in the works.

“I’m going to have the author of “The Mad Gasser of Mattoon: Dispelling the Hysteria” come to speak at Eastern,” Kleen said.