Nicole and Michael Kobrowski Explore the Unexplained
Photography Provided
The official website for Unseenpress.com, Inc. touts “Real Ghosts. Real History. Real Indiana.” Co-owners Nicole Kobrowski and her husband Michael are partners in the unique business of ghosts, and many people have engaged in their haunted tours, haunted overnight experiences, and consultation services for help with supposed unwanted spirits and entities.
Nicole has been fascinated by the supernatural since she was a child. She describes a Scholastic book she read as a child that featured the alleged ax murderer Lizzie Borden.
“I couldn’t imagine that someone who donated the bulk of their estate to ‘furry friends’ could be a murderess, but there is strong evidence to suggest that she was, regardless of never being charged with the crime,” says Nicole, who loves scary movies and has watched Sammy Terry, a television horror host, since she was a child.
During the 1970s and 1980s, it was not uncommon to have someone committed to an asylum if they claimed to see ghosts. Although Nicole grew up in an alleged haunted house, it was not a topic of conversation. Much later she and her sisters all experienced events she says were suspicious and inexplicable. Nicole says the family who now lives in that home claims to experience various oddities different from what Nicole and her sisters experienced.
Nicole met Michael online during the early days of the internet. They engaged in conversation in a ghost-themed chat room. Michael was in Germany at the time, and Nicole followed her heart and moved to Europe for five years before the two of them moved to the Indianapolis area.
The Kobrowskis started participating in ghost tours on Halloween in 2001, formally incorporating Unseenpress.com, Inc. at that time. Their tours, known as Historic Indiana Ghost Walks and Tours, combine history from their extensive research and a healthy dose of ghost-related content. Tours are currently scheduled in downtown Indianapolis, Westfield and Noblesville.
“As the crowds grew over the past couple decades in Broad Ripple, we had to curb our walking tours due to the size of our tour groups and the massive number of people out and about in the Broad Ripple Village,” Michael says.
Some parts of Broad Ripple are tied to stories of hauntings including Broad Ripple Park, The Monkey’s Tale, Butler University, the Indiana School for the Blind, Crown Hill Cemetery and Broad Ripple Brewpub.
One local story includes a little girl supposedly seen on the swings at Broad Ripple Park. Historical reports indicate that a young girl died in a roller coaster accident when the park was home to a large amusement park more than 100 years ago. Legend has it that on a still day with no wind, a swing was moving. The girl has been reported as visible in either a plain or floral dress, with ankle socks and Mary Jane shoes.
Further back in the park, at the river’s edge, a canoe of Native American traders has supposedly been seen paddling by.
According to another local legend, in the early 1900s two boys were fishing in the Millersville Road footbridge area across from the Indiana State Fairgrounds, and one of the boys fell in the water. People have claimed to see the boy on the bridge and hear him splashing into the water. During a bus tour several people were reported to have felt ill at the location, including Nicole, and one person passed out upon claiming to have experienced a vision of the drowning event.
The Kobrowskis also offer their help to people who claim their homes are haunted. For investigations, they heavily vet the homeowners with a questionnaire. They believe homeowners should attempt to communicate with any spirits they claim are inhabiting a house, and try to let any alleged spirits know whether they are welcome or not.
Depending on the homeowners’ personal beliefs or needs, Nicole may direct them to their pastor or minister, or other types of investigators and cleansers.
For overnight investigations and private home consultations, the Kobrowskis use professional gear for data collection, including thermal cameras and temperature gauges as well as photography equipment.
Nicole and Michael have authored fourteen books and are currently collaborating on another. Titles include “Encyclopedia of Haunted Indiana,” “Fractured Intentions” (which focuses on Central State Hospital in Indianapolis), and “Betti Meets a Ghost,” which is for kids. They also created “The Big Lizzie Borden Coloring Book,” which is for adults and contains historical information. The couple is currently working on two ghosts books and a psychological thriller set in Indiana.
The Kobrowskis’ books are available on Amazon.com and unseenpress.com, which includes a calendar of walking tours, store, contact page and more.
