My Adventures at Zak Bagan's Haunted Museum

Chapter 1- Standing In Line

**NOTE: The day I visited the museum would change my life and lead to all sorts of adventures. Here is the moment it all started. For the most part, it is details from my experiences told with fictional characters to keep private identities of who it happened to safe. Most of the experiences are my own and true. If you are wanting to visit the museum or have had experiences visiting and are wanting to sort it out, my narrative may help you. Where possible, real pictures are used from my trips to the museum. The above picture is from standing in line at the museum.

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I'd been wanting to go to Zak's museum since I'd been watching all the episodes about it. From the Deadly Possessions episodes to the Haunted Museum special, I felt I knew all the things already inside it before it even opened. But hey, I was a Ghost Adventures fan for years, so it was almost an extension of my obsession with the show and the crew that investigated.

So, finally I had saved money for a trip to Las Vegas. Not such a problem since I lived in California, but difficult because I needed to find time off from my busy programming job in the Silicon Valley just to get there.

So here I was, a few months after the opening. The opening of the museum had a bit of a sad start since one of the worst mass shootings happened literally the day before it was scheduled to open on Oct. 1, 2017. It had to be pushed back a few days with a vigil too that Zak planned to honor those that were lost. Coincidence? Maybe, or maybe not. It's just that weird things happen with this place, and the fact so many haunted items are all together in one area in Las Vegas? Maybe nothing, right? But a person can't help to wonder.

So, there I was, finally, in line for the Haunted Museum that cold December day. It was the 30th of the year (2017), and I was excited for the New Year to start. Luckily, the line wasn't too long today, and I could easily make friends with the other people in line. There was an overhang canopy over the line area, most likely for shade in the summer. A man dressed all in black with an overcoat and black top hat handed me a clipboard with a waiver on it. Most of the doormen were dressed similar, like friendly morticians from the early 1900s.

I looked over the form as I was waiting. It read basically like anything that would keep the owner from getting sued for silly things. I'd read Zak's books. He had a lot of strange claims made against him, even down to a woman saying he astral projected and impregnated her daughter. No wonder he had a waiver saying the management and owner couldn't be held liable for any ghost attachments, scratches or injuries that might be incurred on your visit in the museum. I was initialing all the small print when the person next to me said, "Kind of weird, isn't it, this waiver."

"Not really. I can see why Zak wouldn't want to be sued. People could claim all sorts of weird supernatural things happening to them, and try to get money out of him."

"You think it's real?" Her voice held a genuine hint of fear to it. "The scratches. Having a ghost follow you home?"

I shrugged. "Not sure. This is my first time."

"Hi, I'm Amber." She held out her hand.

I shook it back saying mine, "Hi, I'm Michelle."

She cocked her head slightly, like she was confiding in a friend. "You a big Ghost Adventures fan?" 

"Yeah, you?" I felt relief not only finally talking to another fan, but one here at the museum. I was sure though, the whole line was probably full of Ghost Adventures fans too.

She continued. "Yeah. I've been waiting for this place to open for a while. I'm so excited that it finally did."

I smiled. "Me too. I can't wait to go in." 

She looked around for a moment, lowering her clipboard. She moved closer to me and whispered, "Hey. I've had some weird stuff happening to me before visiting. I literally have been having dreams about this place."

Now I was shocked. "Yeah, me too."

She let out a breath. "I thought I was crazy, but knew I had to come and check this place out. I was having dreams about this woman, and her name was Sarah. She kept hanging out by the Kavorkian Van. She wanted to let me know that it wasn't a spooky or horrible thing that happened to her." She let out a breath again, sighing. "It feels better to talk to someone about this."

I nodded. "Yeah. I know how you feel. I was having a dream about a little girl standing in my living room. She was really spooky, and when I woke up, I could still see her in my mind's eye. I couldn't make her go away."

"You must be sensitive too, like me." She shook her head. "Wow, that is weird. At least Sarah seems positive, even if she is a spirit that died in the van. A little girl is creepy. What do you think she was?"

"I'm not sure. That's why I'm here. To find out." I tried to hide my nervousness. It was true about the dreams, and the little girl dream had freaked me out some. But I was determined to find out what was going on. It was one of the reasons I was here.

"Well, I'm glad I bumped into you in line." She smiled back.

"Are you both done with your forms?" One of the spooky like mortician looking doormen stood next to us, gesturing to the clipboards.

"I'm done." I took the waiver off, and handed the clipboard back to him.

"I still got a little more to finish." Amber got back to initialing, and turned the paper over to initial more on the back, signing the bottom. The doorman/security guy waited patiently for her to finish. She handed the clipboard to him when she was done, and kept her waiver.

The line started to move ahead of us, letting the people into the lobby in small groups.

"This is going to be an interesting experience," I said. 

I couldn't wait to finally go through those double doors.