“By night, I’m a professional jazz musician. Even later at night, I investigate the paranormal,” is the way Eric Mintel introduces himself on his popular show “Eric Mintel Investigates.”
Eric has had a fascination with all things paranormal since he was a child. “I grew up hearing Bucks County ghost stories,” he says, and certainly ours must be one of the richest counties in terms of otherworldly activity. Together with his friend, Dominic Sattele, a spirit medium, Eric formed “Bucks County Paranormal Investigations,” later changed to “Eric Mintel Investigates.”
“I never knew when we went to Pennridge High School together that Dom was a medium. Then 29 years later, he came back into my life when a mutual friend suggested he might be helpful to our investigations. Dom has been on many cases where I don’t say anything to him about the strange occurrences, but he’ll go right to the spot where the activity has taken place. It’s amazing to have him on our team.”
Since its inception, Eric’s people have investigated everything from ghosts and werewolves to UFOs.
In “Ghosts At The Golden Plough Inn: The Haunted History of Peddler’s Village,” Eric and his team relate the story of Thomas Betts, the original postmaster in the 1700s of the first post office in Lahaska, the very spot where the inn now stands. Apparently loathe to give up his old job and still wearing colonial garb, Thomas is rumored to haunt one of the guest rooms.
In “Mysteries of the Plumsteadville Inn,” Dom feels the presence of his father in the ballroom, a location with a lot of supernatural activity. He says his father’s 40th birthday party was held in this spot. He would eventually die of lung cancer.
Later, walking around the inn, Dom smells heavy smoke only to be told by the proprietor that the place was badly damaged by fire in 1965.
“Secrets of the Wedgewood B&B Inn” relates the story of 12-year-old Sarah, a slave girl who was separated from her parents during their escape on the underground railroad. Guests sometimes hear her calling, still searching for her mother and father.
“Mysteries at McCoole’s Red Lion Inn” talks to a bartender who got her hoodie yanked from behind one night and a bottle of vodka spontaneously coming off the rack and smashing to the floor. Twice.
Eric says of McCoole’s, “There’s been incredible activity there, both in 2018 and when we did the followup this last May ranging from orbs to shadow figures to disembodied voices. We will be premiering that video soon!”
Sometimes Eric and his team travel outside of Bucks County to explore. Eric says the segment “The Beast of Bray Road (Alive and Well)” changed his perspective considerably. “The beast is supposed to be an upright canine dog man/werewolf creature. We went to Elkhorn, Wisconsin never once thinking anything but that we’d do a great documentary and get to talk to some interesting folks about their experiences.”
“I never thought we would actually run into this thing, but we did on the night of October 3, 2021. Folks can see what happened on the video. We experienced the beast firsthand and close-up. Too close for comfort. We had a trifecta of paranormal activity that night that we still can’t explain.”
Eric may have encountered UFOs personally. “In 2016, my fiancé and I were traveling over the Stockton Bridge when out of nowhere we saw five orange orbs about 300 feet above the bridge. They appeared, did what looked like a search grid together, and then disappeared one by one.”
Eric’s most recent video, “What Waits at Water Wheel Tavern” offering a presentation, followed by dinner and a Q and A period, will premiere on Oct. 26, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets are $60. Call 215-348-8300 to reserve.
His show can be seen on YouTube, Facebook and several cable stations.
When not chasing down ghosts, werewolves and UFOs, Eric can be found leading the Eric Mintel Quartet, a group of world-class virtuoso jazz musicians.
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