Eve Harker has been studying and working with cleansings for over 30 years. Using different tools from old traditions from around the world, Eve has learned a lot about the different ways for cleansings, protection, and removal of negative energy/spirits have been done.

The Harker’s store has been open for over 6 years and is located in the mid-town district, pulling from our years of study and application to provide a wide variety of tools for different purposes to help promote a safe, clean, and stable environment. The Harkers make their own products as well for those who cannot burn incense/smudge sticks or are allergic as well. They have performed many house cleansings (including our own) over the years too.

Conference Presentation

Eve and her husband Brian Harker own Luna Datura’s Curious Gifts. Eve will be covering the different types of smudge sticks and sprays and the appropriate ways to cleanse and remove energy/spirits.

More Information

Luna Datura’s Curious Gifts Website

Chris Fleming is a spiritual counselor in private practice, a world-renowned paranormal investigator and medium, a fine artist, and a public speaker touring at events, colleges, and universities throughout the United States about paranormal topics and life after death.

Chris grew up in a haunted house as a child and currently lives in one. For over 24 years Fleming has appeared on several paranormal-themed television programs such as Ghost Adventures; Ghost Hunters; Psychic Kids; Portals to Hell; and the award-winning “Curse of Lizzy Borden.” Chris is best known for presenting on the international TV series Help! My House is Haunted; Dead Famous; and his most recent Haunted Scotland and Haunted Ireland.

Conference Presentation

“Lessons from the Dead and an Afterlife”

Chris Fleming shares what he has learned from over 50 years of communicating and dealing with spirits and what he witnessed during his near-death experience.

Amber Kresol (she/her) is a part of Haunted Rockford’s research and tech team. She is a lifelong Rockfordian and a Librarian who has worked at the public library for over 20 years. After getting a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology/Sociology, Amber earned her Master’s Degree in Library & Information Studies at UW-Madison. She spent most of her library career focused on teen services but has recently gone to the “dark side” when she joined the Local History Department in February 2022.

As Kathi Kresol’s daughter, it’s no surprise Amber caught the “History Buff” bug. Growing up with a mom who planned entire road trips around visiting historical places and dead folks, the love of honoring the people who came before us was ingrained in Amber early in life. Her interests involve educating people on Rockford’s history, assisting in research strategies, and participating in exciting community events.

When she’s not sharing her enthusiasm for local history, you can find Amber strolling through cemeteries, cleaning gravestones with 815 Stone Scrubbers, traveling, reading about the death industry, cross stitching macabre designs, or annoying her Wife with morbid facts about body decomposition.

Contact Amber

Email: akresol@gmail.com

Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana confirmed Monday that a 1966 Chevrolet Impala, linked to the 1976 disappearance of Clarence Owens and Everett Hawley, has been pulled from the Pecatonica River. Eyewitness News WTVO WQRF.

See March 12, 2024 interview with Haunted Rockford’s Kathi Kresol:

Kathi Kresol, and others, were featured in an article on the Northwest Quarterly Live website. The article “The Ghosts That Haunt Us,” by Jim Taylor was published October 23, 2023.

“It was 1862, and Robert Hall Tinker was enthralled. The future Rockford mayor was visiting Switzerland and had fallen in love with the country’s architecture. Three years later he began to create a little piece of Switzerland of his own, on a bluff overlooking Kent Creek in Rockford.

“The completed cottage, known today as the Tinker Swiss Cottage, is an architectural gem that combines Swiss, Gothic and Victorian styles. Tinker carried his first wife, Mary, over the threshold in April 1870, then mourned at her funeral in the parlor 31 years later. In 1904 he married Jessie and, four years after that, became a father at 71 to an adopted son. Tinker lived a long and prosperous life, serving as Rockford’s mayor, ushering in the city’s first public library, perfecting his sketches and paintings, and creating a lush landscape around his 27-acre estate. In 1924, at 88 years old, Robert Hall Tinker died in his beloved cottage.

“Some say he never quite left.

“Paranormal places abound in our region. They’re filled with fun stories of spectral sightings that continue to entice our curiosities. Whether or not you believe in ghosts, these spirits still like to make their stories known.”

Read the complete article on Northwest Quarterly Live: Ghosts

As part of their “Behind The Brand” series, Rockford Buzz, a go-to source for finding the latest and greatest happenings in Rockford, Illinois, published an interview with Kathi Kresol on October 31, 2018.

“To uncover what makes local organizations tick , you must go back to their founder. Kathi Kresol is Haunted Rockford. She is the heart of the organization, and everything you see comes from her brain and her passion.

“When I got to sit down with Kathi to discuss how Haunted Rockford came to be, she seemed to have an endless supply of stories to tell. Honestly, I could have sat there all day and listened to everything she had to say. The way she tells these stories with respect to the folks who have passed is admirable. They aren’t just things for her to tell and forget, each one stays with her and you can hear in her delivery that she truly cares. Whether they died of natural causes or were victim to terrible circumstance, it doesn’t change her demeanor. She wants to tell their stories and it allows them to live on.

“If I had only a few words to describe Kathi, they would be – Intelligent, passionate, pleasant, caring, and fun.

“After a close personal experience with the paranormal, Kathi became obsessed. There wasn’t a way to get any answers other than researching it by herself.

“Consumed by a need to tell these stories, Kathi traveled all over the United States – going on ghost tours and teaching her homeschooled children lessons of history by taking them places and telling them the stories she had come to learn.”

Read the full article here: Rockford Buzz: Haunted Rockford

Watch the two-part interview of Kathi Kresol, done by Michael Kleen, Rockford Author and Publisher, November 12, 2017:

Part One:

Part Two: 

“Kathi Kresol shares the haunted side of Rockford,” introduction by Sydney Jason, October 27, 2023.

“Kathi Kresol, author of Haunted Rockford Illinois and founder of Haunted Rockford Paranormal Events is talking about some of the most haunted places here in Rockford. Kathi started studying and writing about the hauntings in Rockford about 19 years ago.”

Read the complete introduction and watch video: The haunted side of Rockford

At Haunted Rockford, we’re very proud of Kathi and happy to share this News with you.

“Everyday heroes are all around us. Parents, emergency responders and teachers come quickly to mind. But what about the small-business owners, conservationists, philanthropists and quiet leaders among us? It’s easy to take for granted, but it’s important to recognize the many ways these heroes inspire us to dream more, do more, be more. So, we’ve found 25 individuals who have left a mark on our regions by inspiring others through acts of courage, vision and passion.” — Northwest Quarterly, Annual Guide 2023.

Photography by Samantha Behling, Northwest Quarterly, 2023. Used with permission.

April 17, 2023 article by Jim Taylor about Kathi Kresol at Northwest Quarterly

Steve Bartel (left in photo), and Josiah Henson (right) are the owners and operators of Haunted Conover Square Ghost Tours. Steve’s day job is a Mechanical Designer at Collins Aerospace and Josiah is a Field Operations Specialist for Stryker Surgical Solutions.

Both Steve and Josiah have been interested in the paranormal since an early age. They have been on countless paranormal investigations together and both are seasoned investigators who have a passion for sharing their paranormal experiences with people new to the field.

Participants in tours with Steve and Josiah have the opportunity to ask many questions and learn different techniques practiced in modern paranormal investigating.

Conference Presentation

Steve and Josiah will be sharing updated evidence collected within the walls of Haunted Conover Square.

More Information

Visit the Haunted Conover Square Ghost Tours Website