By: D GIZZLED
My team and I went ghost hunting in a local cemetery and found some interesting things.
Our Background
A few of my friends and myself had recently decided to take up the new fad that is sweeping the country, ghost hunting. We had decided that since we were not entirely sure that we believed in ghosts, we would see if ghost hunting was worth our time and effort. We have all been friends for a long time now and are all well informed in electronics. At one time we were all in a band together and my buddy has all of our sound and video equipment left over from that experience. I am currently going to school for Computer Networking, and he is going to school for creating videos. All in all our group of investigators at this point in time are: Myself, my buddy Brandon, My girlfriend Tara, and Brandon's girlfriend Shana.
Our First Investigation
We decided that our best bet to start out investigating was to go to a location where we knew there were dead people. We decided collectively to go to a cemetery way out in the woods where no one would bother us, or think of us as vandals. None of us had known the names of the cemeteries we wanted to investigate just where they were. We decided to go to the cemetery that Brandon had thought of. On the way there we all realized that we were all thinking of the exact same cemetery! Weird right? We all thought so.
After arriving we all started clambering out of the car, and we knew that the piercing cold air would cut our investigation very short. We turned on our digital voice recorder and video camera as soon as we started getting close to the cemetery, hoping to catch as much footage as we possibly could. We made an initial sweep of the cemetery taking as many photographs as possible and recording everything on video and the voice recorder. By the time our initial sweep had been made none of us had any sensation left in our fingers.
At this point we decided to split up into two separate teams. The girls wanted to go together with the video camera, so Brandon and I decided to take the digital camera, the infrared camera, and the voice recorder. We started walking around and I started asking questions into the ever thickening darkness, such as “Is anyone here,” “Would anyone like to talk to us?” “Can you let us take pictures of you?” We were hoping for any kind of activity. We had been investigating like this for around thirty minutes and had experienced only two things. We were walking and at one point I walked through a very cold spot that completely took my breath away, and Brandon's camera had turned off just before he took a picture. We were hoping that the girls had experienced things as well.
When we started to regroup the girls said that they heard a groaning noise and a light in the corner of their eyes. So we decided to call it a night and go back to the house to go over all of the evidence we had collected.
The Evidence
We did not get anything on the video camera whatsoever, however we captured some pretty awesome photographs that we could not explain, and also we discovered on the voice recorder a little giggle when I had said “Why do you think that this gravestone is the only one facing the other direction?” The photographic evidence we had collected was in total around twenty photographs of things we could not explain. We collected photos of orbs, some very large, and some very small. A very bright red light surrounding some flowers on a grave, and a very unexplainable lamp light in the background. Remember we were deep in the woods and there were no homes or people around us. We decided to call the investigation a success for our very first attempt.
Conclusion
We had all decided that ghost hunting” was a very fun and revealing experience for us, and have decided to continue our search for life after death.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Half Dog
By: Ritu Beri
I was ten at the time,along with my younger brother and sister,when my mother and father bought the one hundred and some odd years old house for a scant 9,000. The owner however,obviously threw in a few extras. The first of which I experienced a year or so after we were in the house. I first saw what We came to call "halfdog" in the front hall going into the living room. I'd see the tail end of a small black dog running into the room. I did not say anything to my family thinking they would say I was joking. Little did I know,that my mother,brother and sister had seen the very same ghost I had countless times.
A few years later,we had moved the living room into where the dining room had been. One night as I sat on the sofa playing my guitar,I saw something out of the corner of my eye,seeming suspended near the ceiling,of what appeared to be a black door closing, surrounded by some kind of "bubbles". I looked in shock closer,and watched it close completely,until it vanished. Again,! ! I kept it to myself,and while talking to my sister,found out that she too,had seen the same thing in the same place as I. My mother one night,awoke at around 2 or 3 am,and while going from her room,was held in by some unkown force. She described it as "Someone standing there in front of me". She could not get out of the room.
My sister had the most terrifying of all the experiences in her room. She had just turned out her light after doing some homework,when she heard a whispering voice calling her name. Thinking it was Me or my brother playing a joke on her,she said"I know it's you,so stop it". It kept up until she sat up and noticed a white figure,on her floor crouching down beside her bed. She jumped over the figure and went screaming down the stairs where me,my brother and mother sat watching television. she never slept in the room afterwards. Among the many things we heard and saw,(footsteps in the attic while we slept,shadows)no harm other than a good fright,ever became us. Years l! ! ater,I got married,had children and ended up renting the house off my mother after her divorce from my father. My wife became the next believer in the house and it's ghosts,after seeing a shadow peer at her from a hallway in the same room as the "black door"my sister and I saw. We moved out shortly after,and the house was sold. I've wondered many times since then,if the new owners inherited "our"old ghosts,and if they too,seen and heard things. One thing is for sure,the new owners also became landlords to some "unearthly"tenants.
I was ten at the time,along with my younger brother and sister,when my mother and father bought the one hundred and some odd years old house for a scant 9,000. The owner however,obviously threw in a few extras. The first of which I experienced a year or so after we were in the house. I first saw what We came to call "halfdog" in the front hall going into the living room. I'd see the tail end of a small black dog running into the room. I did not say anything to my family thinking they would say I was joking. Little did I know,that my mother,brother and sister had seen the very same ghost I had countless times.
A few years later,we had moved the living room into where the dining room had been. One night as I sat on the sofa playing my guitar,I saw something out of the corner of my eye,seeming suspended near the ceiling,of what appeared to be a black door closing, surrounded by some kind of "bubbles". I looked in shock closer,and watched it close completely,until it vanished. Again,! ! I kept it to myself,and while talking to my sister,found out that she too,had seen the same thing in the same place as I. My mother one night,awoke at around 2 or 3 am,and while going from her room,was held in by some unkown force. She described it as "Someone standing there in front of me". She could not get out of the room.
My sister had the most terrifying of all the experiences in her room. She had just turned out her light after doing some homework,when she heard a whispering voice calling her name. Thinking it was Me or my brother playing a joke on her,she said"I know it's you,so stop it". It kept up until she sat up and noticed a white figure,on her floor crouching down beside her bed. She jumped over the figure and went screaming down the stairs where me,my brother and mother sat watching television. she never slept in the room afterwards. Among the many things we heard and saw,(footsteps in the attic while we slept,shadows)no harm other than a good fright,ever became us. Years l! ! ater,I got married,had children and ended up renting the house off my mother after her divorce from my father. My wife became the next believer in the house and it's ghosts,after seeing a shadow peer at her from a hallway in the same room as the "black door"my sister and I saw. We moved out shortly after,and the house was sold. I've wondered many times since then,if the new owners inherited "our"old ghosts,and if they too,seen and heard things. One thing is for sure,the new owners also became landlords to some "unearthly"tenants.
Chinese Ghost Story
By: Kevin Yee
Hi, my name is Kevin and I'm from Canada. I have a very interesting story to tell you that I believe to be true. This story took place a few months (July of 1997) ago when I was back in Hong Kong.
When I was in Hong Kong, I lived with a relative of mine in a apartment complex. We would visit some of the sites in Hong Kong and spend lots of money. We decided to go to one of the tourist sites that contained a cemetery. We arrived and to our surprise there were lots of people there that day. I walked around, looking at tombstones and wondered about the designs (some tombstones where designed for specific reasons, the chinese are deeply superstitious about these things). while I was walking by myself, I heard what I thought was my mom calling me. I went to her and asked if she had called me, her answer puzzled me. If she hadn't called me, who did?
That night I was determined crash and sleep. As I was laying in bed about shut off my lights, I heard my name being called again. I got up and went outside, thinking it was my mother again. I walked pass my parents room and peaked in, they were sound asleep. I thought nothing more of it and went to bed.
I spent a good 2 hours awake thinking about the voice I heard. When all of a sudden, I heard it again. This time I was really scared, and I didn't answer the voice. It kept calling me and calling me until it just stopped.
The next morning I told my parents and relatives what happened to me the previous night, my uncle looked at my shockingly and said "Kwai Mau".
My mother use to tell me, "when you hear someone calling your name, don't answer back until you know who's calling you, or you will meet up with 'Kwai Mau'". Kwai Mau is a legend about a black cat that comes during your sleep, and inflict wounds on you. Sometimes, it will actually come and take you away. It is said to be evil and will call out to it's victims, waiting for their response. When it's victim responds, the cat takes that as an invitation. Anyway, I think it's best that I explain the origins of Kwai Mau:
"Kwai Mau use to be a living person that was cursed by evil and was doomed to roam the earth for eternity as a black cat, the only way it can find rest, is to feed on humans. It can only do so, if it was invited when it calls out it's victims". The person who was cursed or the evil presence was not identified in the story, needless to say, we all assumed it was only a story.
Did I encounter a "Kwai Mau"? I'd like some feedback. Thanks
Hi, my name is Kevin and I'm from Canada. I have a very interesting story to tell you that I believe to be true. This story took place a few months (July of 1997) ago when I was back in Hong Kong.
When I was in Hong Kong, I lived with a relative of mine in a apartment complex. We would visit some of the sites in Hong Kong and spend lots of money. We decided to go to one of the tourist sites that contained a cemetery. We arrived and to our surprise there were lots of people there that day. I walked around, looking at tombstones and wondered about the designs (some tombstones where designed for specific reasons, the chinese are deeply superstitious about these things). while I was walking by myself, I heard what I thought was my mom calling me. I went to her and asked if she had called me, her answer puzzled me. If she hadn't called me, who did?
That night I was determined crash and sleep. As I was laying in bed about shut off my lights, I heard my name being called again. I got up and went outside, thinking it was my mother again. I walked pass my parents room and peaked in, they were sound asleep. I thought nothing more of it and went to bed.
I spent a good 2 hours awake thinking about the voice I heard. When all of a sudden, I heard it again. This time I was really scared, and I didn't answer the voice. It kept calling me and calling me until it just stopped.
The next morning I told my parents and relatives what happened to me the previous night, my uncle looked at my shockingly and said "Kwai Mau".
My mother use to tell me, "when you hear someone calling your name, don't answer back until you know who's calling you, or you will meet up with 'Kwai Mau'". Kwai Mau is a legend about a black cat that comes during your sleep, and inflict wounds on you. Sometimes, it will actually come and take you away. It is said to be evil and will call out to it's victims, waiting for their response. When it's victim responds, the cat takes that as an invitation. Anyway, I think it's best that I explain the origins of Kwai Mau:
"Kwai Mau use to be a living person that was cursed by evil and was doomed to roam the earth for eternity as a black cat, the only way it can find rest, is to feed on humans. It can only do so, if it was invited when it calls out it's victims". The person who was cursed or the evil presence was not identified in the story, needless to say, we all assumed it was only a story.
Did I encounter a "Kwai Mau"? I'd like some feedback. Thanks
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Chicago's 10 Most Haunted Places
1. Bachelor's Grove Cemetery
(Midlothian Turnpike & 143rd Street , Midlothian) Many diferent types of hauntings have been reported at this isolated little cemetery. From Orbs, to Apparitions, to Strange Lights, to phantom cars, and even a disappearing farmhouse. Also rumored to be a drop spot for mafia victims during the 1920's and 1930's.
2. Harpo Studios
(1058 W. Washington Blvd. , Chicago) Rumored to by haunted by the people who died on July 24th, 1915 during the Eastland disaster. After drowning and being pulled out of the Chicago river, the dead were brought to the building to be held until they could be identified and picked up by their families.
3. Hooters on Wells Street
(660 N. Wells, Chicago) Waitresses working in the building have reported hearing phantom footsteps in the basement storage area. They also claim to hearing their named being called when no one is present. Phones and electrical equipment periodically have problems and malfunction, and bartenders have watched as the jukeboxes turn themselves on and off.
4. Resurrection Cemetery
(8900 S. Archer Avenue, Chicago) Resurrection Cemetery is said to be the home of Chicago's most famous ghost called Resurrection Mary. Said to be the spirit of a girl who was struck and killed by a car in front of the cemetery. Reports of a disappearing woman in white and a phantom hitch-hiker have been recorded since the 1930's.
5. Excalibur Night Club
(632 N. Dearborn, Chicago) The building was built in 1892. Reports of objects moving on their own, and glasses falling off of the shelves have been reported since 1985. Roaming cold-spots and voices calling out have also been claimed by employees and customers alike.
6. Congress Plaza Hotel
(520 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago) Built in 1893. The Congress Plaza hotel has had many paranormal reports and ghostly sightings in it. From phantom noises coming from the old fashion ballroom. To poltergeist activity like electrical appliances turning on and off on their own. The Congress is definately one of the most haunted hotels in the city. One of the hotels more famous ghosts might be that of the legendary gangster Al Capone. Capone once owned the Congress hotel and he used it as his headquarters.
7. Graceland Cemetery & Chapel
(4001 N. Clark Street, Chicago) One of the strangest stories reported at Graceland cemetery is that of a life-sized statue memorializing a 6-year-old girl named Inez Clark who was struck and killed by lightning. It is claimed that the statue disappears from its glass case during thunderstorms and that the ghost of the little girl goes roaming around in the graveyard until the storm is over. This Cemetery also has an unusual bronze statue of a hooded figure called Eternal Silence. There is a legend that if you look into the statues eyes you will glimpse the afterlife.
8. Clarence Darrow Memorial Bridge
(57th street & S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago) Located next to the museum of Science And Industry building. The Clarence Darrow Memorial Bridge is said to be haunted by the ghost of Clarence Darrow. A lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, Darrow was best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering a 14-year-old boy named Bobby Franks. Darrow died from heart disease on March 13th, 1938. His ashes were scattered across the bridge and the Jackson Park Lagoon which overlooked Darrows home on 1537 E. 60th street. Every year on the date that Darrow died, a wreath laying ceremony is held to commemorate his life and death. Reports of visual apparitions have been circulating here since 1990.
9. Rosehill Cemetery
(5800 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago) Rosehill Cemetery is the biggest cemetery in the city of Chicago spanning over 350 acres. Dating back to 1859, it is also the cities oldest cemetery as well. The remains of over 200,000 individuals are buried here. John G. Shedd, Aaron Montgomery Ward, and Richard Warren Sears are all buried in the cemeteries large community mausoleum which is said to be haunted by Ward. Another smaller mausoleum at Rosehill, the Hopkinson crypt, is also said to be haunted. Reports stating that on the anniversary of the death of Charles Hopkinson, a soft but grusome moaning rises from his crypt.
10. Jane Addams Hull House
(800 S. Halsted street, Chicago) A national historic landmark, Hull House was built in 1856. In 1889 Miss Jane Addams opened up the house to help hundreds of people. Her campaigns for social and labor reforms were well known the world over and she won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 for her efforts. One of the most famous stories to come out of Hull House is that of the devil baby. Rumors that Jane Addams took in a baby that had horns, pointed ears, and a tail were so wide-spread, that within a few days hundreds of people came to Hull House trying to see it for themselves. To this day it is still unknown weather or not a devil baby ever existed. Jane Addams herself believed Hull House to be haunted by a previous owner of the house, Mrs. Charles Hull, who died in the building. From full body apparitions, to loud phantom foot steps, Hull House is definately one of the most haunted historic sites in the city.
(Midlothian Turnpike & 143rd Street , Midlothian) Many diferent types of hauntings have been reported at this isolated little cemetery. From Orbs, to Apparitions, to Strange Lights, to phantom cars, and even a disappearing farmhouse. Also rumored to be a drop spot for mafia victims during the 1920's and 1930's.
2. Harpo Studios
(1058 W. Washington Blvd. , Chicago) Rumored to by haunted by the people who died on July 24th, 1915 during the Eastland disaster. After drowning and being pulled out of the Chicago river, the dead were brought to the building to be held until they could be identified and picked up by their families.
3. Hooters on Wells Street
(660 N. Wells, Chicago) Waitresses working in the building have reported hearing phantom footsteps in the basement storage area. They also claim to hearing their named being called when no one is present. Phones and electrical equipment periodically have problems and malfunction, and bartenders have watched as the jukeboxes turn themselves on and off.
4. Resurrection Cemetery
(8900 S. Archer Avenue, Chicago) Resurrection Cemetery is said to be the home of Chicago's most famous ghost called Resurrection Mary. Said to be the spirit of a girl who was struck and killed by a car in front of the cemetery. Reports of a disappearing woman in white and a phantom hitch-hiker have been recorded since the 1930's.
5. Excalibur Night Club
(632 N. Dearborn, Chicago) The building was built in 1892. Reports of objects moving on their own, and glasses falling off of the shelves have been reported since 1985. Roaming cold-spots and voices calling out have also been claimed by employees and customers alike.
6. Congress Plaza Hotel
(520 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago) Built in 1893. The Congress Plaza hotel has had many paranormal reports and ghostly sightings in it. From phantom noises coming from the old fashion ballroom. To poltergeist activity like electrical appliances turning on and off on their own. The Congress is definately one of the most haunted hotels in the city. One of the hotels more famous ghosts might be that of the legendary gangster Al Capone. Capone once owned the Congress hotel and he used it as his headquarters.
7. Graceland Cemetery & Chapel
(4001 N. Clark Street, Chicago) One of the strangest stories reported at Graceland cemetery is that of a life-sized statue memorializing a 6-year-old girl named Inez Clark who was struck and killed by lightning. It is claimed that the statue disappears from its glass case during thunderstorms and that the ghost of the little girl goes roaming around in the graveyard until the storm is over. This Cemetery also has an unusual bronze statue of a hooded figure called Eternal Silence. There is a legend that if you look into the statues eyes you will glimpse the afterlife.
8. Clarence Darrow Memorial Bridge
(57th street & S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago) Located next to the museum of Science And Industry building. The Clarence Darrow Memorial Bridge is said to be haunted by the ghost of Clarence Darrow. A lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, Darrow was best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering a 14-year-old boy named Bobby Franks. Darrow died from heart disease on March 13th, 1938. His ashes were scattered across the bridge and the Jackson Park Lagoon which overlooked Darrows home on 1537 E. 60th street. Every year on the date that Darrow died, a wreath laying ceremony is held to commemorate his life and death. Reports of visual apparitions have been circulating here since 1990.
9. Rosehill Cemetery
(5800 N. Ravenswood Ave., Chicago) Rosehill Cemetery is the biggest cemetery in the city of Chicago spanning over 350 acres. Dating back to 1859, it is also the cities oldest cemetery as well. The remains of over 200,000 individuals are buried here. John G. Shedd, Aaron Montgomery Ward, and Richard Warren Sears are all buried in the cemeteries large community mausoleum which is said to be haunted by Ward. Another smaller mausoleum at Rosehill, the Hopkinson crypt, is also said to be haunted. Reports stating that on the anniversary of the death of Charles Hopkinson, a soft but grusome moaning rises from his crypt.
10. Jane Addams Hull House
(800 S. Halsted street, Chicago) A national historic landmark, Hull House was built in 1856. In 1889 Miss Jane Addams opened up the house to help hundreds of people. Her campaigns for social and labor reforms were well known the world over and she won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 for her efforts. One of the most famous stories to come out of Hull House is that of the devil baby. Rumors that Jane Addams took in a baby that had horns, pointed ears, and a tail were so wide-spread, that within a few days hundreds of people came to Hull House trying to see it for themselves. To this day it is still unknown weather or not a devil baby ever existed. Jane Addams herself believed Hull House to be haunted by a previous owner of the house, Mrs. Charles Hull, who died in the building. From full body apparitions, to loud phantom foot steps, Hull House is definately one of the most haunted historic sites in the city.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Mount Penteli Greece: The Strange Goings on at Ntavelis’s Cave
By: GhostyGal
About nine miles from the center of Athens, in Mount Penteli, is a huge cave connecting a series of subterranean tunnels. It is a site that exudes a powerful aura and that has been the focus of intrigue and paranormal phenomena since earliest recorded history.
Not surprisingly, it has also been the site of many places of worship through the centuries. Follow one particular tunnel and you are led into a colossal underground chamber, with a small pool and an ancient temple to the primitive New Stone Age Greek God, Pan, the half-man and half-goat protector of shepherds.
In the nineteenth century, the infamous highwayman thief, Ntavelis (also spelled Davelis), used the caves as a hideout for his band of seventy men. Together, they committed many atrocities against local villagers, commonly dipping their victim's feet in boiling oil until given the information they sought. In one much told story, Ntavelis kidnapped a child, a young girl, and left her tied on Mount Penteli, displayed for her family to see she was still alive, while they frantically tried to raise the ransom. Indeed kidnapping, particularly of children, provided Ntavelis's staple income. Ntavelis was ultimately killed by a group of vigilantes from a village near Delphi. Subsequently, his name was forever linked to the caves.
Today the rituals of both New Age and Satanist covens are evident in the cave. Strange symbols adorn the walls, and periodically victims of animal sacrifice are found at the entrance to the cave or surrounding tunnels. It seems the aura of the cave has changed and now attracts an altogether more sinister presence.
Throughout its history, locals told of strange orbs of light, ghostly apparitions, hazy green mists, and strange sheep like creatures with piercing luminous eyes. In the 1960s and 1970s, paranormal investigators at the cave began to report a variety of new phenomena. A lot of what they experienced here involved strange electrical faults-lights surging, even without battery power; cameras refusing to work in certain areas of the cave, and photographs where faces were covered by a green haze, or, more bizarrely, where the camera and hands appeared in the photo, almost as if the eyes of the photographer had taken the picture. Tourists reported photographs where they saw themselves twice, their actual bodies and a representation of themselves apparently “carved” into the rock formations behind them.
At this point the caves were sealed off to the public, as they became the focus of a frantic top-secret NATO project, involving the blasting of new tunnels through the rock. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, all military operations at the site were abandoned. Machinery remained uncollected. New tunnels led merely to dead ends, old tunnels filled in, apparently pointlessly. NATO's purpose at the site has never been established. (What is known that many of the workers at the site have since died of cancer, and that, coincidentally, many boxes of abandoned anti-cancer drugs were found in the cave after the troops moved out. But the paranormal phenomena continued, and the investigators moved back in.
New mysteries began to be uncovered. A child's footprint were found, imprinted into a concrete floor-while it was still wet-that had been laid by military personal in one of the new tunnels. The footprints showed that a barefoot child walked up to a dead end where the rock had not been blasted, but did not walk back again. As if the child had either vanished into thin air or walked through the wall. A strange doll was seen hanging against the mountainside, at such an inaccessible spot that a member of the army's special forces was the only person able to reach it, though not without considerable effort. Overnight, a replica doll was seen in the exact same place. Who, or what, had gone to such extremes lengths to place the unearthly doll in such a spot was never established. Rumors of dark, shadowy forms also began filtering through.
The road that accesses the area of the cave has also been the subject of many strange occurrences. At one point the road clearly appears to be an incline, and yet there are many reports of cars stalling and rolling uphill. The strangest of these reports is of an abandoned vehicle that (judging by track marks in the snow) appeared to have traveled across a steep, near vertical incline of rough, rocky terrain without any apparent damage to the undercarriage. Scientific investigations at the site and inside the cave indicate highly irregular electromagnetic readings and a degree of anti-gravitational energy.
Even more disturbing were accounts of the bizarre an inexplicable behavior of some of the investigators themselves. Many of them wandered out of the cave dazed and confused, claiming to have experienced “lost time” and panic attacks, and have been rumors that some investigators failed to return at all. Inexplicable phenomena continued to be reported at Ntavelis's Cave. What unearthly entities are at force remain a mystery.
About nine miles from the center of Athens, in Mount Penteli, is a huge cave connecting a series of subterranean tunnels. It is a site that exudes a powerful aura and that has been the focus of intrigue and paranormal phenomena since earliest recorded history.
Not surprisingly, it has also been the site of many places of worship through the centuries. Follow one particular tunnel and you are led into a colossal underground chamber, with a small pool and an ancient temple to the primitive New Stone Age Greek God, Pan, the half-man and half-goat protector of shepherds.
In the nineteenth century, the infamous highwayman thief, Ntavelis (also spelled Davelis), used the caves as a hideout for his band of seventy men. Together, they committed many atrocities against local villagers, commonly dipping their victim's feet in boiling oil until given the information they sought. In one much told story, Ntavelis kidnapped a child, a young girl, and left her tied on Mount Penteli, displayed for her family to see she was still alive, while they frantically tried to raise the ransom. Indeed kidnapping, particularly of children, provided Ntavelis's staple income. Ntavelis was ultimately killed by a group of vigilantes from a village near Delphi. Subsequently, his name was forever linked to the caves.
Today the rituals of both New Age and Satanist covens are evident in the cave. Strange symbols adorn the walls, and periodically victims of animal sacrifice are found at the entrance to the cave or surrounding tunnels. It seems the aura of the cave has changed and now attracts an altogether more sinister presence.
Throughout its history, locals told of strange orbs of light, ghostly apparitions, hazy green mists, and strange sheep like creatures with piercing luminous eyes. In the 1960s and 1970s, paranormal investigators at the cave began to report a variety of new phenomena. A lot of what they experienced here involved strange electrical faults-lights surging, even without battery power; cameras refusing to work in certain areas of the cave, and photographs where faces were covered by a green haze, or, more bizarrely, where the camera and hands appeared in the photo, almost as if the eyes of the photographer had taken the picture. Tourists reported photographs where they saw themselves twice, their actual bodies and a representation of themselves apparently “carved” into the rock formations behind them.
At this point the caves were sealed off to the public, as they became the focus of a frantic top-secret NATO project, involving the blasting of new tunnels through the rock. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, all military operations at the site were abandoned. Machinery remained uncollected. New tunnels led merely to dead ends, old tunnels filled in, apparently pointlessly. NATO's purpose at the site has never been established. (What is known that many of the workers at the site have since died of cancer, and that, coincidentally, many boxes of abandoned anti-cancer drugs were found in the cave after the troops moved out. But the paranormal phenomena continued, and the investigators moved back in.
New mysteries began to be uncovered. A child's footprint were found, imprinted into a concrete floor-while it was still wet-that had been laid by military personal in one of the new tunnels. The footprints showed that a barefoot child walked up to a dead end where the rock had not been blasted, but did not walk back again. As if the child had either vanished into thin air or walked through the wall. A strange doll was seen hanging against the mountainside, at such an inaccessible spot that a member of the army's special forces was the only person able to reach it, though not without considerable effort. Overnight, a replica doll was seen in the exact same place. Who, or what, had gone to such extremes lengths to place the unearthly doll in such a spot was never established. Rumors of dark, shadowy forms also began filtering through.
The road that accesses the area of the cave has also been the subject of many strange occurrences. At one point the road clearly appears to be an incline, and yet there are many reports of cars stalling and rolling uphill. The strangest of these reports is of an abandoned vehicle that (judging by track marks in the snow) appeared to have traveled across a steep, near vertical incline of rough, rocky terrain without any apparent damage to the undercarriage. Scientific investigations at the site and inside the cave indicate highly irregular electromagnetic readings and a degree of anti-gravitational energy.
Even more disturbing were accounts of the bizarre an inexplicable behavior of some of the investigators themselves. Many of them wandered out of the cave dazed and confused, claiming to have experienced “lost time” and panic attacks, and have been rumors that some investigators failed to return at all. Inexplicable phenomena continued to be reported at Ntavelis's Cave. What unearthly entities are at force remain a mystery.
Ghost Story 100% true
By: Neil Carl Scholes
This is a story that happened to our family in one house, i swear this is true
I can’t say I believe in ghosts even though I was involved with this story, the matter is I didn’t see anything for myself I have to go off what other people saw during the year.
We (my family) moved to a house about 7 years back, I never liked the house from day one there was always something about it that gave me the creeps, my little brother was the worst in the house he hated it.
This house was haunted I know it sounds crazy but I promise you this is no lie this house was haunted, it was haunted by a Victorian girl I never saw her or had any experiences but more then one person in the house did.
The first time she came to light was when my little brother would never go to the toilet by himself, the toilet was located downstairs at the bottom of the stairs, if you opened the door you could see straight up the stairs, my brother would never shut the door and make my mum sit on the stairs watching hi. When asked why he one day told us because of the girl who waits on the stairs, he said she looked no older then ten and wore a black frilly dress.
We at the time thought he was making this up and how wrong would we be in the end, the next event was when we had a sleep over and a load of our cousins and friends came to stop, in the middle of the night about four of them woke up I cant remember how many they said they could hear running on the stairs and when they went to look there was no one there. They never came back to stop again, even then I had my doubts though most people were beginning to believe it was haunted.
Then one day when me, my sis and bro all stopped out leaving my mum and dad alone in the house they said that all the time they was in the living room they could hear some one running around in my bedroom they checked several times but went hey got into the room it stopped and no one was there.
Then my brother ran in the living room crying one day, when my mum entered the kitchen one of the pans had been knocked of the cooker on to the floor, my mum shouted at my brother but to this day he claims he saw a hand grab the pan and throw it down.
Then the last two events are what made us move from the house, these two both happened on the same day we moved a week later, first event was when my dad could hear running in my bedroom again and I should have been in my mums room waiting for my sis to finish in the bath, she would be in the bathroom and me in my mums room next to bathroom, she was scared.
He got to the bottom of the stairs as he did so he saw a girl run along the landing into my mum’s room, where I was sat on her bed. He then shouted up telling us both to stop playing around and for my sis to get in the bath like she was told!
I told my dad my sis was in the bath as I’m sat I’m in mums room waiting for her to finish.
Then that night my dad awoke and turned to my mum telling her to look at the bottom of the bed, my mum did, her and my dad both saw the girl in the black dress stood their watching them.
All these events happened as far as I can tell I never saw anything myself but why would they all lie, I still find it hard to believe in ghosts, my cousin who live son the street as told me that since then three people have moved in the house and moved back out because of the little girl, maybe they do exists, scary thoughts.
This is a story that happened to our family in one house, i swear this is true
I can’t say I believe in ghosts even though I was involved with this story, the matter is I didn’t see anything for myself I have to go off what other people saw during the year.
We (my family) moved to a house about 7 years back, I never liked the house from day one there was always something about it that gave me the creeps, my little brother was the worst in the house he hated it.
This house was haunted I know it sounds crazy but I promise you this is no lie this house was haunted, it was haunted by a Victorian girl I never saw her or had any experiences but more then one person in the house did.
The first time she came to light was when my little brother would never go to the toilet by himself, the toilet was located downstairs at the bottom of the stairs, if you opened the door you could see straight up the stairs, my brother would never shut the door and make my mum sit on the stairs watching hi. When asked why he one day told us because of the girl who waits on the stairs, he said she looked no older then ten and wore a black frilly dress.
We at the time thought he was making this up and how wrong would we be in the end, the next event was when we had a sleep over and a load of our cousins and friends came to stop, in the middle of the night about four of them woke up I cant remember how many they said they could hear running on the stairs and when they went to look there was no one there. They never came back to stop again, even then I had my doubts though most people were beginning to believe it was haunted.
Then one day when me, my sis and bro all stopped out leaving my mum and dad alone in the house they said that all the time they was in the living room they could hear some one running around in my bedroom they checked several times but went hey got into the room it stopped and no one was there.
Then my brother ran in the living room crying one day, when my mum entered the kitchen one of the pans had been knocked of the cooker on to the floor, my mum shouted at my brother but to this day he claims he saw a hand grab the pan and throw it down.
Then the last two events are what made us move from the house, these two both happened on the same day we moved a week later, first event was when my dad could hear running in my bedroom again and I should have been in my mums room waiting for my sis to finish in the bath, she would be in the bathroom and me in my mums room next to bathroom, she was scared.
He got to the bottom of the stairs as he did so he saw a girl run along the landing into my mum’s room, where I was sat on her bed. He then shouted up telling us both to stop playing around and for my sis to get in the bath like she was told!
I told my dad my sis was in the bath as I’m sat I’m in mums room waiting for her to finish.
Then that night my dad awoke and turned to my mum telling her to look at the bottom of the bed, my mum did, her and my dad both saw the girl in the black dress stood their watching them.
All these events happened as far as I can tell I never saw anything myself but why would they all lie, I still find it hard to believe in ghosts, my cousin who live son the street as told me that since then three people have moved in the house and moved back out because of the little girl, maybe they do exists, scary thoughts.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Myrtle's Plantation Ghost
Many ghosts roam the halls of this bed and breakfast, built in 1796 by General David Bradford. There have been ten murders in the house, plus at least one suicide. A frequent visitor is the ghost of Chloe, a former slave hung for murdering two little girls. General Bradford's son-in-law, Clarke Woodruff, cut off the black woman's ear for eavesdropping, and she took her revenge by mixing oleander into the children's birthday cake. Ghosts from the slave graveyard on the property still report for chores and the ghosts of the two children poisoned by Chloe play on the verandah. This photograph shows what many believe to be the ghost of Chloe seen standing between the two buildings. The Myrtle's Plantation is located on Hwy 61, 3 miles north of St. Francisville, Louisiana and reservations for the B&B can be made at 504-635-6277.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Hampton Court Ghost
This remarkable image first appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times (12-21-03) and was apparently captured with a closed-circuit security camera at Hampton Court Palace in London, England. The palace was built in 1525 on the River Thames 10 miles west of central London and was one the the places that King Henry VIII lived. Jane Seymour, his third wife, died there giving birth to a son, and her ghost is said to walk through one of the cobbled courtyards carrying a candle. No one seems to know what this ghostly figure represents but according to security, it sure looks like a ghost.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Haunted Auditorium
By: Matt
Hi, I am currently a Senior in my high school in South Jersey. I have been working on plays in our school as part of the crew for 3 years now and I have heard a few stories from friends about a semi-young women wearing an all white dress. One of my friends has seen her the most. As of for being there she doesnt bother us much, she does though like to be funny and pull pranks on us. One time I was all alone up in the booth with all the lighting and sound controls while only about 3 others were in a completely different part of the Auditorium at the time, I had the sound board on at the moment and the volume up somewhat.
I turn for just a second and turn back and the volume is turned up. The strange thing it I didn't here anything and the board itself is on a slant so it couldn't have slide by itself. I have
never seen her before but I have felt here being there. She's very nice besides the pranks she pulls. I hope to learn more about her and get to her who she is and was more but there isn't any information about any deaths at the school since it is very new. I hope to see her some day.
Well thats my story thanks for reading it.
Hi, I am currently a Senior in my high school in South Jersey. I have been working on plays in our school as part of the crew for 3 years now and I have heard a few stories from friends about a semi-young women wearing an all white dress. One of my friends has seen her the most. As of for being there she doesnt bother us much, she does though like to be funny and pull pranks on us. One time I was all alone up in the booth with all the lighting and sound controls while only about 3 others were in a completely different part of the Auditorium at the time, I had the sound board on at the moment and the volume up somewhat.
I turn for just a second and turn back and the volume is turned up. The strange thing it I didn't here anything and the board itself is on a slant so it couldn't have slide by itself. I have
never seen her before but I have felt here being there. She's very nice besides the pranks she pulls. I hope to learn more about her and get to her who she is and was more but there isn't any information about any deaths at the school since it is very new. I hope to see her some day.
Well thats my story thanks for reading it.
Monday, April 21, 2008
SHADOW PERSON IN CEMETERY!
By: Tess
We were taking pics at a cemetery where some 9/11 victims were buried. It was sunny, not windy, a perfect October day... there is a shadow person and at first you will think its the shadow of the angel statue,, but when you look down,, you can clearly see the shadow of that angel, and it is not part of the trees either, we studied this pic for a long time and believe it is a shadow ghost.
We were taking pics at a cemetery where some 9/11 victims were buried. It was sunny, not windy, a perfect October day... there is a shadow person and at first you will think its the shadow of the angel statue,, but when you look down,, you can clearly see the shadow of that angel, and it is not part of the trees either, we studied this pic for a long time and believe it is a shadow ghost.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Frightening Happenings in the Basement
By: discodevil
I have always believed in ghosts but never thought that my house was haunted. But one night, I had a vivid dream that took place in my house. I dreamt I was another person running from something. The furniture in my dream was different and looked older than the furniture that was in my house at the time. I woke up and for some reason, I was really terrified.
Shortly after, I would hear things like footsteps, doors opening/closing, and occasionally, heavy breathing at night. It always took place around two in the morning. Eventually, I started going to bed earlier and would be asleep at that time so I would not hear it. But on the occasional nights where I would be awake, I would hear those noises.
Once my mom's boyfriend moved in however, all strange noises stopped. I volunteered to let him have my room, so that meant that I had to sleep in the basement. I moved all of my things down there. Once he moved out, I was comfortable down there and decided to stay.
Shortly after he left though, I started hearing those noises again. This time they were louder and distinctly closer to me than they were when I slept upstairs. Once, I'd even heard what sounded like someone stomping on the stairs going down into my room, but when I look, nothing is there.
For a while it was only noises, but eventually it started to turn a bit more frightening. There are two rooms to my basement, one is the room I sleep in and the other is a storage room, sometimes the door to the storage room would be unlocked and open. At first I thought it was just my mom or sister going to get something, but the few times I've asked them about it and they say that they didn't go in. Also, there have been times when my new personal heater would not shut off... Until I would get up and turn on the lights.
Once when I was investigating a noise that sounded like heavy breathing from my bed, I saw someone in the corner. It was a shadowy silhouette of a tall man. At first I thought it was in intruder, so I turned to get a weapon and when I looked up, he was gone. It was a little past two. My room is not big, and there is nowhere to go except for up the stairs or into the storage room. I was only turned away for two seconds at the most. I did not hear anyone run up the stairs, nor did not hear the storage door open (it is very noisy, takes a lot of force to open, and was across the room from the shadow.)
Another time, I had a friend spend the night. (I did not tell him about the noises or what I had seen.) I fell asleep before he did. The next morning, he told me that around two he thought he heard someone whistling. He looked to see if it was me, but it wasn't. He said that he looked up and saw a dark, tall, silhouette standing in the corner. He said that he tried to wake me up but I wouldn't move. When he looked back, the shadow was gone.
One night, I came home from my neighbor's around two in the morning. I was not tired because I'd taken a long nap that day. Walking up to the house I felt like something was not right. Just to be sure, I looked around and everything was normal. I was lying in my bed and I heard footsteps coming toward my room. It sounded like it stopped right at the top of the stairs. I figured it was just my mom making sure I was home and I rolled over and attempted to go to sleep.
Then, I heard heavy footsteps coming down my stairs. It turned over to look, but nothing was there. I got spooked, but after a while nothing happened so I tired to go to bed. After a few minutes, I heard something walking toward me, it stepped on a few pieces of paper. I looked over, and the paper was moving like someone had stepped on it and then stepped off only nobody was there. I had my heater on, but at that moment, it got very cold, and all of sudden I was very sleepy. I lied down in my bed, and right when I was about to go to sleep, I felt something pressing on my throat. At that moment, I got up. But I would want to go back asleep. The same thing would happen each time I was just about to go to sleep, but each time it would get more and more intense.
When it started getting too intense, my body involuntarily started flailing around, like it was struggling. As my body was struggling, it felt like something was trying to hold me down. Each time it would stop, I would start to get sleepy and fall back onto my bed, but my body would start moving around like it was not only fighting the sleep, but fighting what was holding me down. At first, I had no control over my body. It felt more like I was on a roller coaster and my body was the machine. It felt like I was just going along with it. When I thought of that, I tried to scream, but my screams came out muffled. I tried to get up and run away, but I would get pushed back down. I tried to grab my phone, but my phone got thrown across the room by whatever force was keeping me from getting help.
At one point, the force got very powerful out of nowhere. I remember seeing my arm in front of me while I was sitting up, and that was the last thing I saw. I was moving, I felt my head moving, I felt my body moving, but the only thing I could see was that moment where my hand was in front of me while I was sitting up. The next thing I saw was my ceiling. After a few moments I realized that I was lying half off the bed. I felt myself convulsing and I could not move. The next thing I remember was waking up a few hours later and going to work. I was back in my bed the way I usually sleep, and I could remember what had happened. Just to make sure it wasn't a dream, I looked next to me for my phone (where I always keep it no matter what), but it was across the room.
I don't know what happened. Ever since, I've slept in my house only three times. I will only go into the basement if I really need to, or if somebody is with me. When I told this story to a friend, he got scared and said that he thinks I got possessed. Everyone else thought I was crazy.
I have always believed in ghosts but never thought that my house was haunted. But one night, I had a vivid dream that took place in my house. I dreamt I was another person running from something. The furniture in my dream was different and looked older than the furniture that was in my house at the time. I woke up and for some reason, I was really terrified.
Shortly after, I would hear things like footsteps, doors opening/closing, and occasionally, heavy breathing at night. It always took place around two in the morning. Eventually, I started going to bed earlier and would be asleep at that time so I would not hear it. But on the occasional nights where I would be awake, I would hear those noises.
Once my mom's boyfriend moved in however, all strange noises stopped. I volunteered to let him have my room, so that meant that I had to sleep in the basement. I moved all of my things down there. Once he moved out, I was comfortable down there and decided to stay.
Shortly after he left though, I started hearing those noises again. This time they were louder and distinctly closer to me than they were when I slept upstairs. Once, I'd even heard what sounded like someone stomping on the stairs going down into my room, but when I look, nothing is there.
For a while it was only noises, but eventually it started to turn a bit more frightening. There are two rooms to my basement, one is the room I sleep in and the other is a storage room, sometimes the door to the storage room would be unlocked and open. At first I thought it was just my mom or sister going to get something, but the few times I've asked them about it and they say that they didn't go in. Also, there have been times when my new personal heater would not shut off... Until I would get up and turn on the lights.
Once when I was investigating a noise that sounded like heavy breathing from my bed, I saw someone in the corner. It was a shadowy silhouette of a tall man. At first I thought it was in intruder, so I turned to get a weapon and when I looked up, he was gone. It was a little past two. My room is not big, and there is nowhere to go except for up the stairs or into the storage room. I was only turned away for two seconds at the most. I did not hear anyone run up the stairs, nor did not hear the storage door open (it is very noisy, takes a lot of force to open, and was across the room from the shadow.)
Another time, I had a friend spend the night. (I did not tell him about the noises or what I had seen.) I fell asleep before he did. The next morning, he told me that around two he thought he heard someone whistling. He looked to see if it was me, but it wasn't. He said that he looked up and saw a dark, tall, silhouette standing in the corner. He said that he tried to wake me up but I wouldn't move. When he looked back, the shadow was gone.
One night, I came home from my neighbor's around two in the morning. I was not tired because I'd taken a long nap that day. Walking up to the house I felt like something was not right. Just to be sure, I looked around and everything was normal. I was lying in my bed and I heard footsteps coming toward my room. It sounded like it stopped right at the top of the stairs. I figured it was just my mom making sure I was home and I rolled over and attempted to go to sleep.
Then, I heard heavy footsteps coming down my stairs. It turned over to look, but nothing was there. I got spooked, but after a while nothing happened so I tired to go to bed. After a few minutes, I heard something walking toward me, it stepped on a few pieces of paper. I looked over, and the paper was moving like someone had stepped on it and then stepped off only nobody was there. I had my heater on, but at that moment, it got very cold, and all of sudden I was very sleepy. I lied down in my bed, and right when I was about to go to sleep, I felt something pressing on my throat. At that moment, I got up. But I would want to go back asleep. The same thing would happen each time I was just about to go to sleep, but each time it would get more and more intense.
When it started getting too intense, my body involuntarily started flailing around, like it was struggling. As my body was struggling, it felt like something was trying to hold me down. Each time it would stop, I would start to get sleepy and fall back onto my bed, but my body would start moving around like it was not only fighting the sleep, but fighting what was holding me down. At first, I had no control over my body. It felt more like I was on a roller coaster and my body was the machine. It felt like I was just going along with it. When I thought of that, I tried to scream, but my screams came out muffled. I tried to get up and run away, but I would get pushed back down. I tried to grab my phone, but my phone got thrown across the room by whatever force was keeping me from getting help.
At one point, the force got very powerful out of nowhere. I remember seeing my arm in front of me while I was sitting up, and that was the last thing I saw. I was moving, I felt my head moving, I felt my body moving, but the only thing I could see was that moment where my hand was in front of me while I was sitting up. The next thing I saw was my ceiling. After a few moments I realized that I was lying half off the bed. I felt myself convulsing and I could not move. The next thing I remember was waking up a few hours later and going to work. I was back in my bed the way I usually sleep, and I could remember what had happened. Just to make sure it wasn't a dream, I looked next to me for my phone (where I always keep it no matter what), but it was across the room.
I don't know what happened. Ever since, I've slept in my house only three times. I will only go into the basement if I really need to, or if somebody is with me. When I told this story to a friend, he got scared and said that he thinks I got possessed. Everyone else thought I was crazy.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Haunted Recreation Centre in Canada
By: Bernice Morin
Hello, I have always believed in the supernatural as I am of Native American descent and through out my life heard many tales of the unexplained. This story took place just a little over at year ago.
My partner and I were separated at the time and I had moved myself and our two children to my sister and her family's home of Dryden, Ontario, while I worked things out. My daughter was taking evening swimming lessons at the local recreational centre and I would usually use the gym facilities or the sauna. Well on this occasion I'd gone over by myself later on, closer to closing, which was at 9pm.
I decided to hit the shower at around 20 minutes before closing. I'd already taken my shower and was standing in front of an automatic dryer drying my hair, as I hung my head down. I suddenly felt this feeling of being watched, or least the feeling of someone waiting for me to finish, thinking that maybe they wanted to use the dryer, I turned to take a look and saw someone quickly disappear around the corner. I thought, "was that really someone?", because it wasn't like a solid, with colors or a shape, it was just a movement of something quick, real quick, so I responded by quickly following after it, to see who it was.
As I turned the corner, it turned the other corner (which led to the pool). I took a few quick steps after it again and at this point I stopped dead in my tracks and realized that it wasn't a person, first it was way too quick and it had been more of a black shadow, not solid but a motion... but I knew that I'd seen something. I stood rooted on the spot for a bit, hair still damp, just realizing that I'd seen someone who was not a solid person. After a bit I went and retraced my steps and knew that what I'd seen was not a person and yet I could not explain it. I wasn't so much afraid as in disbelief that I'd just seen something I could not explain, but wanted to.
Well, I packed my things hastily and left. As I walked to my car I looked back and the building seemed to loom at me in the darkness. I mentioned it as soon as I got home. It was so real that it would not leave my mind. I finally told my sister and brother in law that I was going to find out about the place, and they said "if it was haunted they would have heard about it" since the town was so small and everything was local news.
Well the next time I was at the sauna I met a man. We chatted and I got to talking about my last experience in the changing room and I tried to brush it off as nothing, suddenly feeling real dumb, but he went on to tell me that a plane had crashed at the local airstrip in the 60's or 70s (can't remember) and that 14 people had perished. He said that there had not been enough room at the local morgue so the community decided to keep the bodies cool at the local hockey arena, on the ice. The arena eventually burned down some years later, but the new recreation facility had been built on the site. We parted ways and I was apprehensive of taking my shower after that sauna session, I just expressed my respect and understanding to the spirits and went without a shower and hurried out.
I approached the lady at the desk to say goodnight and surprised myself by asking "So how are the spirits in here?" and to my surprise she answered, "Oh, there are lots of them, but they're OK. They only usually come out at night towards closing." She then went on to tell me that the big mirrors in the weight room usually had a child's finger prints every morning, even if they are thoroughly washed the night before. I said good night and left.
Of course my next mission was to see the finger prints for myself. I made a point of arriving right at opening and went straight to the weight room and sure enough, the child size finger prints were there, not close to the floor where I expected them to be, but above, like someone would have had to lift a child to make the prints, but they were there like four or five of them.
I impressed my brother in law the skeptic with my thorough investigation. I have since searched the internet, but to no avail. I have since moved back to British Colombia in the west of Canada and reconciled with my other significant, but I will always remember the night the residual energy from the night on the ice at the Recreation centre of Dryden, Ontario.
Anyone know of this history or experienced anything at the Dryden Recreation Centre that coincides with this story. I think it is a well kept secret in Dryden, with the locals who have deep roots in the town, if so, are you willing to share?
Hello, I have always believed in the supernatural as I am of Native American descent and through out my life heard many tales of the unexplained. This story took place just a little over at year ago.
My partner and I were separated at the time and I had moved myself and our two children to my sister and her family's home of Dryden, Ontario, while I worked things out. My daughter was taking evening swimming lessons at the local recreational centre and I would usually use the gym facilities or the sauna. Well on this occasion I'd gone over by myself later on, closer to closing, which was at 9pm.
I decided to hit the shower at around 20 minutes before closing. I'd already taken my shower and was standing in front of an automatic dryer drying my hair, as I hung my head down. I suddenly felt this feeling of being watched, or least the feeling of someone waiting for me to finish, thinking that maybe they wanted to use the dryer, I turned to take a look and saw someone quickly disappear around the corner. I thought, "was that really someone?", because it wasn't like a solid, with colors or a shape, it was just a movement of something quick, real quick, so I responded by quickly following after it, to see who it was.
As I turned the corner, it turned the other corner (which led to the pool). I took a few quick steps after it again and at this point I stopped dead in my tracks and realized that it wasn't a person, first it was way too quick and it had been more of a black shadow, not solid but a motion... but I knew that I'd seen something. I stood rooted on the spot for a bit, hair still damp, just realizing that I'd seen someone who was not a solid person. After a bit I went and retraced my steps and knew that what I'd seen was not a person and yet I could not explain it. I wasn't so much afraid as in disbelief that I'd just seen something I could not explain, but wanted to.
Well, I packed my things hastily and left. As I walked to my car I looked back and the building seemed to loom at me in the darkness. I mentioned it as soon as I got home. It was so real that it would not leave my mind. I finally told my sister and brother in law that I was going to find out about the place, and they said "if it was haunted they would have heard about it" since the town was so small and everything was local news.
Well the next time I was at the sauna I met a man. We chatted and I got to talking about my last experience in the changing room and I tried to brush it off as nothing, suddenly feeling real dumb, but he went on to tell me that a plane had crashed at the local airstrip in the 60's or 70s (can't remember) and that 14 people had perished. He said that there had not been enough room at the local morgue so the community decided to keep the bodies cool at the local hockey arena, on the ice. The arena eventually burned down some years later, but the new recreation facility had been built on the site. We parted ways and I was apprehensive of taking my shower after that sauna session, I just expressed my respect and understanding to the spirits and went without a shower and hurried out.
I approached the lady at the desk to say goodnight and surprised myself by asking "So how are the spirits in here?" and to my surprise she answered, "Oh, there are lots of them, but they're OK. They only usually come out at night towards closing." She then went on to tell me that the big mirrors in the weight room usually had a child's finger prints every morning, even if they are thoroughly washed the night before. I said good night and left.
Of course my next mission was to see the finger prints for myself. I made a point of arriving right at opening and went straight to the weight room and sure enough, the child size finger prints were there, not close to the floor where I expected them to be, but above, like someone would have had to lift a child to make the prints, but they were there like four or five of them.
I impressed my brother in law the skeptic with my thorough investigation. I have since searched the internet, but to no avail. I have since moved back to British Colombia in the west of Canada and reconciled with my other significant, but I will always remember the night the residual energy from the night on the ice at the Recreation centre of Dryden, Ontario.
Anyone know of this history or experienced anything at the Dryden Recreation Centre that coincides with this story. I think it is a well kept secret in Dryden, with the locals who have deep roots in the town, if so, are you willing to share?
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Chillingham Castle-One of most haunted places in the UK
Chillingham Castle is widely regarded as one of, if not the, most haunted places in the country. Dating back over 800 years this castle was built for one purpose and one purpose alone, killing. In the heart of Northumberland the castle was the first line of defence, preventing the Scots getting over the border to invade England back in the days of William Wallace when the castle was ruled over by King Edward I (Edward Long shanks). It has a truly amazing, yet horrific history and that's why its one of the most haunted places on Earth. Ghost-story.co.uk decided to take a tour of the castle to see if it deserved its fearsome reputation, this is our report.
The Dungeon is a very small room with markings scratched into the mortar where prisoners have kept count of how many days they have left to live. The prisoners could expect to have had their arms and legs broken before being thrown 20ft down a hole into the Oubliette and left there to die, either from starvation or their injuries. Sometimes prisoners would start to eat chunks of flesh from others and even their own bodies in a vain attempt to prolong their life. It has been reported that if you look down through the grate covering the Oubliette you can see the remains of a young girl looking back up at you. These are the remains of the last person to be killed here. Many people have experienced things here, orbs have been seen and photographed and some people have actually picked up emotions from the room. The room has a depressing feel to it.
We took several photos using a digital camera but they did not show any abnormalities, however one of the party noticed his camera's battery had dropped to half power from a full charge in just a few minutes. One of the party had brought an EMF detector to try to find any abnormalities in the electromagnectic field, we located several hot spots where the readings would be significantly higher than the background readings.
Next up is the Torture Chamber, nearly all of the torture implements are in perfect working order and each is as sick and deranged as the next. The floor is on a slope, this was so the blood could drain away down to one side of the room. For many thousands of Scots this will have been the last place they ever saw. The torturer here was a man called John Sage, he was a major celebrity in his day. Before he was a torturer he was one of King Edward's best men in the battlefield, and had worked his way up to the rank of Lieutenant. Sage was injured one day whilst at battle, his leg was wounded and he couldn't fight anymore. Sage begged Long shanks to keep him on in some capacity and he was given the role of castle torturer. Sage was a brutal man, he hated the Scots and he revelled in the role, even devising some devices of his own.
There is a boiling pot, gadgets for gouging eyes out, barrels full of spikes that would have had a prisoner tied in and rolled around until the flesh was ripped from the body and they died in agony, there are cages that would have been attached to a prisoners stomach and a starved rat would be put inside and the only way out for the rat was to eat his way out through the victim! Some of the things the prisoners would have endured at the hands of this man are unimaginable. Sage tortured upwards of 50 people a week for the three years he held down this job. There are many torture devices on show. The guide tells us he never comes down here on his own as he has felt a malevolent presence here on more than one occasion.
A tour of Chillingham Castle
Chillingham Castle Paranormal Investigation
The Dungeon is a very small room with markings scratched into the mortar where prisoners have kept count of how many days they have left to live. The prisoners could expect to have had their arms and legs broken before being thrown 20ft down a hole into the Oubliette and left there to die, either from starvation or their injuries. Sometimes prisoners would start to eat chunks of flesh from others and even their own bodies in a vain attempt to prolong their life. It has been reported that if you look down through the grate covering the Oubliette you can see the remains of a young girl looking back up at you. These are the remains of the last person to be killed here. Many people have experienced things here, orbs have been seen and photographed and some people have actually picked up emotions from the room. The room has a depressing feel to it.
We took several photos using a digital camera but they did not show any abnormalities, however one of the party noticed his camera's battery had dropped to half power from a full charge in just a few minutes. One of the party had brought an EMF detector to try to find any abnormalities in the electromagnectic field, we located several hot spots where the readings would be significantly higher than the background readings.
Next up is the Torture Chamber, nearly all of the torture implements are in perfect working order and each is as sick and deranged as the next. The floor is on a slope, this was so the blood could drain away down to one side of the room. For many thousands of Scots this will have been the last place they ever saw. The torturer here was a man called John Sage, he was a major celebrity in his day. Before he was a torturer he was one of King Edward's best men in the battlefield, and had worked his way up to the rank of Lieutenant. Sage was injured one day whilst at battle, his leg was wounded and he couldn't fight anymore. Sage begged Long shanks to keep him on in some capacity and he was given the role of castle torturer. Sage was a brutal man, he hated the Scots and he revelled in the role, even devising some devices of his own.
There is a boiling pot, gadgets for gouging eyes out, barrels full of spikes that would have had a prisoner tied in and rolled around until the flesh was ripped from the body and they died in agony, there are cages that would have been attached to a prisoners stomach and a starved rat would be put inside and the only way out for the rat was to eat his way out through the victim! Some of the things the prisoners would have endured at the hands of this man are unimaginable. Sage tortured upwards of 50 people a week for the three years he held down this job. There are many torture devices on show. The guide tells us he never comes down here on his own as he has felt a malevolent presence here on more than one occasion.
A tour of Chillingham Castle
Chillingham Castle Paranormal Investigation
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
GHOST IN GROUP PHOTO!
By: Channy
A friends friend moved into a new house with her family. This photo was taken of her and a group of friends before a night out. Her younger sister (bottom right) began to cry saying that the other little girl had told her she wasn't allowed to be in the photo. As she was the only child in the house at the time everybody was puzzled by this. When looking at the photograph it became apparent that the "other little girl" was a ghost (as seen between the legs of the second and third person from the left).
A friends friend moved into a new house with her family. This photo was taken of her and a group of friends before a night out. Her younger sister (bottom right) began to cry saying that the other little girl had told her she wasn't allowed to be in the photo. As she was the only child in the house at the time everybody was puzzled by this. When looking at the photograph it became apparent that the "other little girl" was a ghost (as seen between the legs of the second and third person from the left).
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
A day after my father's funeral
By: Stefan
Last week my father died after his fight with cancer, and we had the funeral on last Saturday. The day after (Sunday) I went to the funeral, with my Mother, girlfriend and my mentally handicapped brother...with the intention to make some pictures over there...
I've shot several pictures with my Minolta Dimage 5 Digital camera, and all pictures are clear, it was not raining and the lens was 100% clear.
I see a weird cloud in this picture, as I'm curious what other people think of it I send this picture to this web-page.
Last week my father died after his fight with cancer, and we had the funeral on last Saturday. The day after (Sunday) I went to the funeral, with my Mother, girlfriend and my mentally handicapped brother...with the intention to make some pictures over there...
I've shot several pictures with my Minolta Dimage 5 Digital camera, and all pictures are clear, it was not raining and the lens was 100% clear.
I see a weird cloud in this picture, as I'm curious what other people think of it I send this picture to this web-page.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Bloody Marry
By: Feefo
wt ur going to read Now is true and totally not a funny joke as eevry one in our family thought i swear ,,
well,, it all started when me and my cousin sarah made a research about that bloody marry that attaks you if u say her name 13 times in the mirror,,
we decide NOT to do it bcz we THOUGHT it was sooo true, but we were so bored that night soo we wanted 2 act a movie about that bloody women,,
however,, it was abot 2:45 ,,so we acted like it was a sleepover and we were soo so bored then we decided to try out the horror game of b-marry ( do not say her full name ! ) ,, and we stood infront of the mirror n ssaid her name 3 times (( her brother was videoing us .))...
when it was over, after like 2 hours,,sarah started to feel a litttle pain in her stomach,, after 5 minutes she was like crying and shouting bcz she felt like some 1 was scratching her stomache from inside after maybee 2 hours she felt abit ok,,!
then wen me n her bro went down 2 the kitchen 2 get some food or snackz ,, she went to the toilet,,and in less than 2 minutes she came crying 4 us and she just couldnt stop !!!
then when she could barley talk she said that she saw a figure of a girl wearing black holding a knife and have wet hair !! we went togather to that bathroom ,,we saw her too but it was too dark to tell,, so we all ran to her mam n woke her up n wen she went thier she was just gone,,
n through all night we could hear soundz of screaming so we couldnt sleep,,
wt ur going to read Now is true and totally not a funny joke as eevry one in our family thought i swear ,,
well,, it all started when me and my cousin sarah made a research about that bloody marry that attaks you if u say her name 13 times in the mirror,,
we decide NOT to do it bcz we THOUGHT it was sooo true, but we were so bored that night soo we wanted 2 act a movie about that bloody women,,
however,, it was abot 2:45 ,,so we acted like it was a sleepover and we were soo so bored then we decided to try out the horror game of b-marry ( do not say her full name ! ) ,, and we stood infront of the mirror n ssaid her name 3 times (( her brother was videoing us .))...
when it was over, after like 2 hours,,sarah started to feel a litttle pain in her stomach,, after 5 minutes she was like crying and shouting bcz she felt like some 1 was scratching her stomache from inside after maybee 2 hours she felt abit ok,,!
then wen me n her bro went down 2 the kitchen 2 get some food or snackz ,, she went to the toilet,,and in less than 2 minutes she came crying 4 us and she just couldnt stop !!!
then when she could barley talk she said that she saw a figure of a girl wearing black holding a knife and have wet hair !! we went togather to that bathroom ,,we saw her too but it was too dark to tell,, so we all ran to her mam n woke her up n wen she went thier she was just gone,,
n through all night we could hear soundz of screaming so we couldnt sleep,,
Sunday, April 13, 2008
I've Seen Many Things ~ Ghosts & Paranormal Experiences
By: Derek Casey
When I was young my grandparents on my moms side lived in a very old apartment house. My grandmother was full blooded Cherokee and believed very much in ghosts. She lived in the very last apartment in the up stairs. My aunt and her son lived in the first apartment on the right at the top of the stairs.
Granny and Suzie (my aunt) always told my mom that the house was haunted, but mom never believed them. Granny would always baby sit me. Me and Arlin (my first cousin) would play in the hall.
Me and Arlin would always hear something walking around dragging a leg (at least that is how it sounded). The screen door would open and close at the foot of the stairs, and we would hear it coming up the stairs. One day we heard it while playing in the hall.
Then for the first time we can recall we actually saw a dark figure go into granny's apartment. It moved like it was having trouble with a leg.
Then one night granny was watching us both because Suzie was getting married. Grandpa was in the living room watching wrestling (he loved it), uncle Larry was sitting in the kitchen dining room eating with granny, and Arlin was in there as well. I had been watching TV with grandpa and went to get something to drink. On my way to the kitchen I saw the bathroom door opening and closing and the light going off and on! The light in the bathroom was an old pull string light.
I ran to granny and told her what was going on. Larry stuck his head out of the kitchen and saw it as well and ran back to granny. Granny was not afraid for some reason and walked into the huge single bedroom and towards the bathroom speaking to the thing (a ghost or demon I don't know). She told me to stay in the kitchen, it wanted to speak to Arlin! I sat to where I could see what was going on and I saw Arlin jump three feet into the air. I know there was nobody else in the apartment because I was in the living room and nobody came in.
Well, they finally moved out. The next lady that moved into that house wasn't there very long until she told her daughter that she wanted a rope and a handgun because they were going to kill her. So her daughter got her a rope and a gun. She tied the rope to a steam radiator. She jumped out the widow shooting back into the apartment. Nobody ever moved into the apartment after that.
The funeral home bought the house and it is now the funeral home.
Then me and my mother moved into a house that was very old as well. It had a front door that was mainly glass. When it would storm at night you could see the outline of a man standing in the door, just when it stormed.
One night we went to bed and it stormed. We always dead bolted and locked the door. I heard the door open! When I got out of bed the door was open. I shut the door and locked each lock back. The next morning I told mom she forgot to lock the door and it opened in the night. She told me she had locked the locks before she went to bed.
A little while later I was in the bed and something came into my room! I tried to scream but couldn't. I got up and ran to my moms room. She doesn't believe in ghosts and she says it's just my mind playing a trick on me.
That summer me and six others were playing flash light tag. We were all hiding in a building out behind the house. We all heard somebody behind the building we were all hiding in. Then we saw my friend Troy with the flash light come from the front of the house. He said who ever is behind the building is it! Well, we all came out of the building and ran to meet him. Then we saw it again. We all jumped the fence into the cattle field and ran after it. We ended up in an old graveyard none of us had any idea was there!
A few weeks later me, Chad,and Brian were sitting on a wall on the side of the driveway. There was a light there and we had it turned on. Something walked upright behind us between us and the light because it's shadow passed over and in front of us. Now, I forgot to mention this house is out in the country, and we had no neighbors for about a mile. We all jumped up and turned on our flash lights. There was nobody there. We moved from there not soon enough for me.
My grandmother always said she'd be looking out for me after she passed. Well, she passed about nine years ago. When I have problems in life now I get help from her in my sleep. She comes to me in my dreams and talks to me. I know this is a long story but it is all totally true.
I can go into an old house and just feel that there is something there and when I ask if the people that live there ever have strange things happen they will look at me and say yes. I believe some of us draw spirits and can tell when there is something in a place or home. It has happened to me too many times in my life for me not to believe.
This story is long but it is all true. I have seen many other things in places where friends live, mainly out of the corner of my eye and when I look at it it's gone. I had a pit-bull that drowned in a swimming pool. When I lived at moms I would see something dark about her size by me out of the corner of my eyes a lot. She always protected me and mom in life. I feel she is still protecting mom now after death. I have other small encounters as well but the ones I told about are the best ones. There is also a place I deer hunt that has a small graveyard at the end of a field. I have watched deer walk out of their way coming into the woods from this field. They will walk all the way around this graveyard but never into it.
When I was young my grandparents on my moms side lived in a very old apartment house. My grandmother was full blooded Cherokee and believed very much in ghosts. She lived in the very last apartment in the up stairs. My aunt and her son lived in the first apartment on the right at the top of the stairs.
Granny and Suzie (my aunt) always told my mom that the house was haunted, but mom never believed them. Granny would always baby sit me. Me and Arlin (my first cousin) would play in the hall.
Me and Arlin would always hear something walking around dragging a leg (at least that is how it sounded). The screen door would open and close at the foot of the stairs, and we would hear it coming up the stairs. One day we heard it while playing in the hall.
Then for the first time we can recall we actually saw a dark figure go into granny's apartment. It moved like it was having trouble with a leg.
Then one night granny was watching us both because Suzie was getting married. Grandpa was in the living room watching wrestling (he loved it), uncle Larry was sitting in the kitchen dining room eating with granny, and Arlin was in there as well. I had been watching TV with grandpa and went to get something to drink. On my way to the kitchen I saw the bathroom door opening and closing and the light going off and on! The light in the bathroom was an old pull string light.
I ran to granny and told her what was going on. Larry stuck his head out of the kitchen and saw it as well and ran back to granny. Granny was not afraid for some reason and walked into the huge single bedroom and towards the bathroom speaking to the thing (a ghost or demon I don't know). She told me to stay in the kitchen, it wanted to speak to Arlin! I sat to where I could see what was going on and I saw Arlin jump three feet into the air. I know there was nobody else in the apartment because I was in the living room and nobody came in.
Well, they finally moved out. The next lady that moved into that house wasn't there very long until she told her daughter that she wanted a rope and a handgun because they were going to kill her. So her daughter got her a rope and a gun. She tied the rope to a steam radiator. She jumped out the widow shooting back into the apartment. Nobody ever moved into the apartment after that.
The funeral home bought the house and it is now the funeral home.
Then me and my mother moved into a house that was very old as well. It had a front door that was mainly glass. When it would storm at night you could see the outline of a man standing in the door, just when it stormed.
One night we went to bed and it stormed. We always dead bolted and locked the door. I heard the door open! When I got out of bed the door was open. I shut the door and locked each lock back. The next morning I told mom she forgot to lock the door and it opened in the night. She told me she had locked the locks before she went to bed.
A little while later I was in the bed and something came into my room! I tried to scream but couldn't. I got up and ran to my moms room. She doesn't believe in ghosts and she says it's just my mind playing a trick on me.
That summer me and six others were playing flash light tag. We were all hiding in a building out behind the house. We all heard somebody behind the building we were all hiding in. Then we saw my friend Troy with the flash light come from the front of the house. He said who ever is behind the building is it! Well, we all came out of the building and ran to meet him. Then we saw it again. We all jumped the fence into the cattle field and ran after it. We ended up in an old graveyard none of us had any idea was there!
A few weeks later me, Chad,and Brian were sitting on a wall on the side of the driveway. There was a light there and we had it turned on. Something walked upright behind us between us and the light because it's shadow passed over and in front of us. Now, I forgot to mention this house is out in the country, and we had no neighbors for about a mile. We all jumped up and turned on our flash lights. There was nobody there. We moved from there not soon enough for me.
My grandmother always said she'd be looking out for me after she passed. Well, she passed about nine years ago. When I have problems in life now I get help from her in my sleep. She comes to me in my dreams and talks to me. I know this is a long story but it is all totally true.
I can go into an old house and just feel that there is something there and when I ask if the people that live there ever have strange things happen they will look at me and say yes. I believe some of us draw spirits and can tell when there is something in a place or home. It has happened to me too many times in my life for me not to believe.
This story is long but it is all true. I have seen many other things in places where friends live, mainly out of the corner of my eye and when I look at it it's gone. I had a pit-bull that drowned in a swimming pool. When I lived at moms I would see something dark about her size by me out of the corner of my eyes a lot. She always protected me and mom in life. I feel she is still protecting mom now after death. I have other small encounters as well but the ones I told about are the best ones. There is also a place I deer hunt that has a small graveyard at the end of a field. I have watched deer walk out of their way coming into the woods from this field. They will walk all the way around this graveyard but never into it.
SHADOW GHOST IN THE HALLWAY!
By: Lori
"I filmed this during an investigation at a private residence in Smiley, Texas. This footage was captured using Hi8 film on SONY camera using NightShot feature on the camera. We did a complete lights out and only two of the investigators remained inside—other than that, the house was completely vacant. Both investigators were sitting on the couch behind the camera. We took two pictures and in between the flashes, the shadow moves up and toward the ceiling. Neither of the investigators stood up during this period of “lights out” which lasted for about an hour."
"I filmed this during an investigation at a private residence in Smiley, Texas. This footage was captured using Hi8 film on SONY camera using NightShot feature on the camera. We did a complete lights out and only two of the investigators remained inside—other than that, the house was completely vacant. Both investigators were sitting on the couch behind the camera. We took two pictures and in between the flashes, the shadow moves up and toward the ceiling. Neither of the investigators stood up during this period of “lights out” which lasted for about an hour."
Friday, April 11, 2008
MONK IN ANCIENT ROBES!
By: Andrew Sharp
I live in the South West of England in a town called Weston-super-Mare. Please find attached some very weird photographs I took on the 25th November 2007...They were taken in a Church Graveyard at a place called Uphill which is a small village within Weston, it was at about midnight, taken with a 3.2 mega-pixel camera phone. Having a general interest in the supernatural I decided to snap some pics up there as it's been known for it's ghost stories. It was a misty night and very windy up on the hill where this graveyard is, I snapped several areas of the site and purposely only looked at them when I got home to avoid getting freaked out and bailing out early. Weston is renown for it's ancient Roman history, and I appear to have captured what I believe to be a Monk, in ancient robes. What's scary however, is that if you zoom in which I have included a picture of, you can quite clearly see what can only be described as a skull-like face. I won't be going back to the Church in a hurry!
I live in the South West of England in a town called Weston-super-Mare. Please find attached some very weird photographs I took on the 25th November 2007...They were taken in a Church Graveyard at a place called Uphill which is a small village within Weston, it was at about midnight, taken with a 3.2 mega-pixel camera phone. Having a general interest in the supernatural I decided to snap some pics up there as it's been known for it's ghost stories. It was a misty night and very windy up on the hill where this graveyard is, I snapped several areas of the site and purposely only looked at them when I got home to avoid getting freaked out and bailing out early. Weston is renown for it's ancient Roman history, and I appear to have captured what I believe to be a Monk, in ancient robes. What's scary however, is that if you zoom in which I have included a picture of, you can quite clearly see what can only be described as a skull-like face. I won't be going back to the Church in a hurry!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Elkhorn Ghost Sighting
By: Deborah Raisovich-Lail
I will never forget the morning when I was heading to work as an RN at the old Stevens Clinic Hospital in Welch, WV. It was early as I was on the 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. shift and I had approximately a 45 minute drive from my home in Jenkinjones, WV to Welch, WV. It was very foggy that morning and at first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but as I came closer, I was sure this was no trick of my eyes.
I was nearing the turn-off to go across Elkhorn Mountain and suddenly a man appeared on the side of the road near the turnoff. I slowed up as I thought it was someone I might know or thought maybe there had been a car accident up ahead. I got a good look at the image. It was a middle-aged man who had a long trench coat on and a poor-man hat on his head (pancake style hat with brim). He appeared to be trying to flag me down so I slowed down, but as I approached him slowly, he just disappeared. I was really shook up and after all these years I wondered what the significance of this incident was. What had happened in that area that would leave a soul in a state of un-rest?
I have told many of my friends and family about this incident with hopes of someone knowing of something that may have occurred at this area that would leave this place haunted, but no one knows anything. I recently seen another article about the Elkhorn Ghost on your site and now I know that I am not the only one that has seen something in this area of McDowell county near Anawalt, WV.
I will never forget the morning when I was heading to work as an RN at the old Stevens Clinic Hospital in Welch, WV. It was early as I was on the 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. shift and I had approximately a 45 minute drive from my home in Jenkinjones, WV to Welch, WV. It was very foggy that morning and at first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but as I came closer, I was sure this was no trick of my eyes.
I was nearing the turn-off to go across Elkhorn Mountain and suddenly a man appeared on the side of the road near the turnoff. I slowed up as I thought it was someone I might know or thought maybe there had been a car accident up ahead. I got a good look at the image. It was a middle-aged man who had a long trench coat on and a poor-man hat on his head (pancake style hat with brim). He appeared to be trying to flag me down so I slowed down, but as I approached him slowly, he just disappeared. I was really shook up and after all these years I wondered what the significance of this incident was. What had happened in that area that would leave a soul in a state of un-rest?
I have told many of my friends and family about this incident with hopes of someone knowing of something that may have occurred at this area that would leave this place haunted, but no one knows anything. I recently seen another article about the Elkhorn Ghost on your site and now I know that I am not the only one that has seen something in this area of McDowell county near Anawalt, WV.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The Customs House
By: Buloy
The Customs House (
building is also home to a mysterious “Woman in Black” whose image has appeared before many visitors over the last century and a half. Along with the ghostly apparition, many residents have reported hearing disembodied voices, feeling unexplained drops in temperature and finding locked doors forced open. The House is now used by the Ontario Workers Arts and Heritage Centre (OWAHC), who recognize the importance that the “Woman in Black” has on
Hycroft Mansion (
Madison’s Haunted Inn (
Ceperley House (
Dundurn Castle (
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Hallucinations
By: Unknown
Ok...I have had a few hallucinations in my life. This is all that they are mostly to me and so I still watch out for signs of brain fungus and whatnot that could be tied into my obsessive anxiety. But because twice physical objects were moved and that I was able to touch the differences in the environment I feel free to write them as a ghost sighting together. The first two were when I was small. One time when I was scared of the dark I slept in my parents bed with both of my parents. Now this happened so long ago that I can no longer remember how true it all was, details, or what all could have happened to surrounding objects. I just remember that it was a very strong hallucination one that was good enough to scare me for a year. The second is when I lived at my aunts for a year, I saw a skinless woman in the closet that felt as though it went physically inside me and stared at my soul's nakedness mocking the touch it could reach. There are two in high school that were very real but I want to hide them because I feel like they had good reasons to not be understood by anyone and were not evil and trusted me and need privacy. Ok if these bored you because of their lack of physical interaction wait until you hear what happened to me when I was in the hospital for mental health treatment. I got in trouble for yelling at my parents in public and they thinking I was no longer being myself wanted me adjusted to another type of anxiety medicen. One time while sleeping there I saw a small chubby skinless child like thing, and it moved to me suddenly. It held loose wires that shot out electric energy. I felt my connection to the phantasm and felt a pang of love it had towards me and I felt safe but it told me through this that it wanted me to understand its job. In the connection I think it was I felt it sexually rub its self that's how it make a person wet, and it still had the loose wires. See it wanted me to understand it's nightmare device. There were like two of them later in the room. They never came close. They were working I could tell. Ok, than the next one while in that hospital is when I woke up and I heard people talking about me. My curtain was around me. I closed it myself. But it opened it. Quick and professional like. It looked, and the connection said it was more true, like the elves comic book writers invented. Long ears, brown skin, with long features and it grinned. It looked more like it was warning me. Mixed in with "I like you a little, but this is what my body says I have a fetish for." And it's face expression somehow told that itlikes operating on people and having sex with them and that's why it looks the way it looks now. Then when it left I got up and closed the curtain entierely all around me once more. The curtain really was opened but the elf hallucination was probably placing over the real human doctor that opened my curtain I've seen that happen in movies. That we hallucinate over the real person. But I've read articles that say you can tell the difference between hallucinations and real events when you are intelligent enough at the time and I remember using abstract thought through the entire event. (There is a slight chance they had to drug me for some reason! and that it was too strong for me to remember).
Ok...I have had a few hallucinations in my life. This is all that they are mostly to me and so I still watch out for signs of brain fungus and whatnot that could be tied into my obsessive anxiety. But because twice physical objects were moved and that I was able to touch the differences in the environment I feel free to write them as a ghost sighting together. The first two were when I was small. One time when I was scared of the dark I slept in my parents bed with both of my parents. Now this happened so long ago that I can no longer remember how true it all was, details, or what all could have happened to surrounding objects. I just remember that it was a very strong hallucination one that was good enough to scare me for a year. The second is when I lived at my aunts for a year, I saw a skinless woman in the closet that felt as though it went physically inside me and stared at my soul's nakedness mocking the touch it could reach. There are two in high school that were very real but I want to hide them because I feel like they had good reasons to not be understood by anyone and were not evil and trusted me and need privacy. Ok if these bored you because of their lack of physical interaction wait until you hear what happened to me when I was in the hospital for mental health treatment. I got in trouble for yelling at my parents in public and they thinking I was no longer being myself wanted me adjusted to another type of anxiety medicen. One time while sleeping there I saw a small chubby skinless child like thing, and it moved to me suddenly. It held loose wires that shot out electric energy. I felt my connection to the phantasm and felt a pang of love it had towards me and I felt safe but it told me through this that it wanted me to understand its job. In the connection I think it was I felt it sexually rub its self that's how it make a person wet, and it still had the loose wires. See it wanted me to understand it's nightmare device. There were like two of them later in the room. They never came close. They were working I could tell. Ok, than the next one while in that hospital is when I woke up and I heard people talking about me. My curtain was around me. I closed it myself. But it opened it. Quick and professional like. It looked, and the connection said it was more true, like the elves comic book writers invented. Long ears, brown skin, with long features and it grinned. It looked more like it was warning me. Mixed in with "I like you a little, but this is what my body says I have a fetish for." And it's face expression somehow told that itlikes operating on people and having sex with them and that's why it looks the way it looks now. Then when it left I got up and closed the curtain entierely all around me once more. The curtain really was opened but the elf hallucination was probably placing over the real human doctor that opened my curtain I've seen that happen in movies. That we hallucinate over the real person. But I've read articles that say you can tell the difference between hallucinations and real events when you are intelligent enough at the time and I remember using abstract thought through the entire event. (There is a slight chance they had to drug me for some reason! and that it was too strong for me to remember).
Monday, April 7, 2008
Haunted Places in the Philippines
Philippines has many haunted places where ghosts and paranormal activities manifest.
A place is considered to be haunted when the presence of spirits such as ghosts of dead people is at a very high level.
Meaning they could always manifest anytime of the day - day and night times.
The hauntings could be the result of a tragic history of a certain place where tens and hundreds of souls were trapped in the area.
There are famous haunted places in the Philippines that could be the subjects of paranormal investigations.
Baguio City - Diplomat Hotel - This was a Seminary during the early 1900, world war 2 came and several priest and nuns were killed some of them beheaded by japanese occupying forces. This was converted into a hotel after the war. In it self it was pretty eerie, big rooms with to king size beds bibles at the side tables and the rooms are dimly lit. Clerks, bell hops, and hotel guest, complain of wailing even during day time, and when night comes, apparitions of headless priest roam the corridors, some even say that they see ghost carrying their heads on a platter. Haunting s are not limited inside the hotel for when you stroll outside the compound you would see neighboring houses with crosses painted on their doors and windows, and are kept shut when darkness falls.
Baguio City - Philippine Military Academy - Several ghosts haunt this place. Sometimes late at night a platoon can be heard marching in the parade grounds. A ghost of a cadet dressed in parade uniform and left in one of the lockers still appears. A ghost of a priest who was beheaded during the Japanese occupation period appears here as well as the ghost of a white lady.
Baguio City - Teacher's Camp - It is believed that this was once a battlefield of the native citizens there. Ghosts of native warriors, as well as spirits that are still restless, are reportedly seen there.
Corregidor - Hospital Ruins, and bunkers - Sounds of activities can be heard within the area of the hospital ruins, which were destroyed during WW2, sounds such as footsteps, and rumblings of normal hospital activities. Around the bunker area, sounds of ghostly moans can be heard, assorted noises as well.
Corregidor - Malinta Tunnel - Witnesses report eerie sounds and seeing a spirit near by.
Davao City - Juna Subdivision - Champaca Street - ghosts caught on video and seen by the naked eye.
Diliman Teacher's Village - Claret School qc - Many stories were spread since 97 the first was the high school student who jumped from the 5th floor to the ground that appears when the area is silent and the 2nd is the headless priest. That school is said to be an old cemetery.
Espana - Manila - University of Santo Tomas - Ghosts and wailing voices are heard from the 3rd and 2nd floars of UST Main Building. Since this is the oldest building in the oldest Catholic university in the Philippines, it is undoubted that some Spanish friars and Filipino souls were tormented and killed in this place.
Iloilo City - Central Philippine University (CPU) - This school was founded by American Missionaries and during WW2 many of the missionaries were executed by the Japanese.
Iloilo City - Central Philippine University (CPU) - Football Field - A female ghost is said to be seen jogging on the tracks early in the morning. She is said to join you while you are jogging and strikes up a conversation and will disappear after she passes a certain spot. Several students, teachers, and the school president have reported jogging with her.
Iloilo City - Central Philippine University (CPU) - Ruby Hall - A school janitor as well as students and teachers have reported that wile passing by the building at night after it is locked down, one classrooms lights would always be turned on while everything else is shut off. They have reported strange imp like creatures running around the classroom. This is one of the most haunted halls in the university. This is a medical hall and it houses several cadavers for the use of the med. students. From cold spots and moving furniture, to sometimes being pushed or tripped while walking.
Iloilo City - Central Philippine University (CPU) - Valentine Hall - The ghost of a dead female student haunts the women’s restroom, several female students since the early 70's have reported seeing her. The ghost is usually seen during noon. Classes have been interrupted because of screams from the girls. According to the students she appears behind them while they are looking in the mirror while doing their make up or fixing their hair. The ghost of Rev. Valentine who was beheaded can be seen on certain nights standing at the entrance of the hall dedicated to him. The ghost is reported to be headless.
Katipunan - Quezon City - Balete Drive - Balete Drive is a residential area famous for the apparition of a white lady. It is told that there was a teenage girl who was raped by a cab driver in the 50s in that area. It is possible that the lady of Balete is seeking revenge. Never walk alone at night in eerie Balete Drive.
Katipunan - Quezon City - Miriam College - on the 2nd floor ladies comfort room of the caritas building a nun haunts the bathroom and is said to peak over the stall while girls are using the bathroom. A face can be seen when you look above the door, but there are no feet when you look below the door.
Katipunan - Quezon City - Miriam College - CSC - there was also this "manananggal" that lives there. It used to be a student that was hit by a car inside the campus. Rumors are that every school fair, someone faints.
Katipunan - Quezon City - Miriam College - Immaculate Heart Of Mary Hall - One witness claims that when they where in Grade 3 encountered that a spirit scratched her ankle when they were doing the 99 steps. And then, when she came back to the corridor, she was crying. And then she told us all to cover our nametags and never shout our name until class time.
Katipunan - Quezon City - Miriam College - Miriam Of Nazareth Hall - in the Grade 2 bathroom, there was this girl who was washing her hands, and there was a demon that came out of the toilet bowl. The girl prayed hard but nothing happened.
Katipunan - Quezon City - University of the Philippines Diliman - Ghosts sightings at the College of Education, College of Science Library, Palma Hall, College of Mass Communication, UP Main Library.
Makati City - Asian Institute of Management - A Professor died of a heart attack a few years ago in one of lecture rooms on the third floor of the main building. There are voices; shadows and cold spots can be felt in that specific room where the professor died. His car remains in the faculty parking area even until now.Makati City - International School Manila (Former Campus) - Fine Arts Theatre - One year, one of the high school students was acting as the stage manager for the Community Play. The theatre was already uncomfortable for her when it was dark, but one night, on her way out, she was leaving through the front doors of the auditorium, something she couldn't see followed her up the aisle. Very aggressive, very menacing and very scary. She ran out the door just in time as they slammed shut behind her. Suffice it to say, she never stayed in the theater alone again.
Manila - Arellano high school - there are spirits mostly seen by the students and teachers because when a building in front of the school collapsed by an earthquake many years ago, the remains were placed in the said school. so the spirits were staying in that place.
Manila - De La Salle University - A chapel located on the 2nd floor of the De La Salle University -main Building is haunted by several ghosts said to be the victims of a mass killing during World War II. They start haunting the place when evening has crept in and the area is already silent. Sightings of headless monks and screams of people are being heard there during rainy nights.
Manila - Film Center - When the construction of Film Center at the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex was rushed in the early 1980s for a film fest, the ceiling scaffolding collapsed killing several workmen who fell to the orchestra below. Rather than halt construction to rescue survivors and retrieve the bodies of dead workmen, cement was poured into the orchestra, entombing the fallen workmen. Some of them were buried alive in the orchestra. Various ghostly activities were reported on the site including mysterious sounds, voices and poltergeist activity. In the late 1990s a group called the Spirit Questors began to make visits to the film center in an attempt to contact and appease the souls of the workmen who were killed in the building. Some of these spirits claimed to have moved on but a few allegedly remain.
Manila - Ozone Disco - Once there was a disco there and it caught on fire people tried to get out but people were pushing and panicking so no one got out. Some people hear disco music in their houses at night and see faint people dancing and no one can explain how.
Manila - Rizal Park area - Near the Rizal Park in Manila has the angry spirits of dead Japanese soldiers in the ruins of a building outside of the park. many Japanese soldiers died in the building when it was blasted. Reports of a cold presence and menacing feelings.
Muntinlupa - San Jose Village - An overgrown black bird with powerful wings can be heard circling the village whenever there's a pregnant woman. It's wings are so powerful that you'll sometimes feel like its windy but only on the place where you're standing at.
Muntinlupa - San Jose Village - St. Bernadette St. - From 12 midnight onwards, a lot of tricycle drivers have already encountered the white lady who loves to get a free ride. More often, this lady would be sitting beside the driver. Other times, a red lady is said to roam around the area following people who dread to walk this haunted street at night.
Muntinlupa - San Jose Village - St. Clemence Street - Another white lady haunts St. Clemence Street where her hair stands up and appears to be very angry.
Muntinlupa - San Jose Village - St. George Street - At St. George Street you can sometimes hear someone calling you but the voice is hidden in the tall grasses beside the street.
Muntinlupa - San Jose Village - St. Joseph - a mysterious headless priest is said to haunt the playground and the hill beside it.
Muntinlupa - San Jose Village - St. Peter’s Street - Ghostly apparitions of people partying near an old cave at St. Peter's Street can be seen during unholy hours from 12mn to 3am.
San Juan Greenhills - Resalest educational center - A principal who haunts the students and stole money from them, people said that the haunted principal is a greedy ghost who lives in that school.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
HAUNTED ALCATRAZ
By: Buloy
Prior to its discovery by Europeans, Alcatraz was viewed as a barren white rock---white because it was covered with pelican droppings--thus receiving the name of La Isla de los Alcatraces or "The Island of the Pelicans," by the Spanish. However, it wasn't until the 1850s, that the importance of this tiny island as a defensive position was realized. Finally, the military decided to build a fortress in case an unfriendly ship might decide to enter the Golden Gate. The Army Corps of Engineers began to construct an impenetrable and imposing structure in 1854. The original construction estimates of $300,000 did not take into account the wind, rain, fog, strong ocean currents, lack of water, lack of vegetation, and the fact that there was only one possible spot to land equipment and supplies.
Construction began with the erection of a temporary wharf for supplies. This was followed b
y wooden shops, storehouses, barracks and offices. Those who couldn't make it in the gold fields, became reluctant laborers on Alcatraz. The labor force carved out roadways and other features as the fortress slowly took shape. It was only a matter of time before Alcatraz began taking human life. During 1857, while a crew was excavating along the roadway between the wharf and the guard-house, a 7,000 cubic-yard rock landslide buried a team of laborers: Daniel Pewter, age 50, of Ireland and Jacob Unger, 25, of Germany were the first known deaths on Alcatraz. On a cold December day in 1859, the Third Artillery arrived on Alcatraz with a group of eleven anonymous soldiers of Company H---the first prisoners to be incarcerated in irons in the basement cellroom of the guardhouse for crimes not recorded in the army files. Alcatraz was now a fully operational fortress and prison. By Aug. 27, 1861, Alcatraz was designated as the official military prison for the entire Department of the Pacific. Living conditions were grim. Men slept side-by-side, head-to-toe, lying on the stone floors. There was no running water or heat in the cells, sanitary facilities were almost non-existent, and disease was rampant. After the Civil War, confederate sympathizers caught celebrating the death of President Lincoln were sent to Alcatraz. In 1868, the Army designated Alcatraz Island as a prison for military convicts and malcontents of society. By the late 1800s-early 1900s, Indian chiefs and tribal leaders of Arizona and Alaska were incarcerated along with some of the worst thieves, deserters, rapists, and repeated escapees from the Army. Alcatraz again became a disciplinary barracks for U.S. Army military incorrigibles, as well as a health resort when soldiers returning from the Spanish American war convalesced there.
On the morning of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Alcatraz shook, but sustained little damage. That same year, four prisoners tried to paddle to the mainland on a butter vat, only to have strong currents bring them back. Driftwood was used during escape attempts in 1912, 1916, 1927 and a ladder was used during a escape attempt in 1929. All of the men werecaptured or surrendered, victims of the cruel currents, and cold water. In 1911, Alcatraz was officially named the United States Disciplinary Barracks---an official Army Prison which included both U.S. Army prisoners as well as German seamen who became prisoners of war.
The social upheaval of the 1920's and 30s, and rampant crime sweeping American provided Alcatraz with new life. Daring escapes, gang-related murders and mass rioting were a menace to an orderly prison. Attorney General Homer Cummings supported J. Edgar Hoover in creating a facility which would instill fear in would-be criminals by creating a place where prisoners could be safely controlled and could not escape. In 1933, the prison facility was formally turned over to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. During 1934, Alcatraz became a an escape-proof, maximum security prison, where only the most hardened convicts were brought.
The first residents of newly created Alcatraz, received numbers 1- 32, with Frank Bolt
having
the distinction of being Federal Prisoner #l while serving a five-year sentence for sodomy. He was followed by Charles Copp (Robbery and Attempted Assault), Leon Gregory (Robbery, Assault, and AWOL), Joseph Harrison (sodomy), Forrest Henry (Robbery and Assault), Clyde Hicks (Sodomy), Ralph Hills (Robbery and Assault), Albert Hoke (Robbery), Alan Hood (Sodomy), and Frederick Holme (Sodomy and False Enlistment) to round out the first ten inmates. AL Capone was the first celebrity on the first train to Alcatraz, arriving in August1934---He was given the number 85.
Guards armed with machine guns, ensured that there were no escapes. Many convicts found Alcatraz the end of their career in crime, as well as the end of their lives. For twenty- nine years, the fog-enshrouded island, with its damp, cold winds, and isolation made Alcatraz one of America's safest prisons. The shell of steel and reinforced concrete confined ruthless men to a life of deprivation, rules, and routines that proved almost intolerable. When one adds the fact that the convicts could hear party boats pass by, and see the San Francisco city lights,it is little wonder that some preferred death to this kind of isolation. Failure to acquiesce to prison rules resulted in confinement in "D" Block, the treatment unit. Here, men could leave their four- by-eight-foot cells only once in seven days for a brief ten-minute shower. Life was hard on Alcatraz, just the way Warden Johnston envisioned it. His motto was, "Take each day of your sentence, one day at a time. Don't think how far you have to go, but how far you've come." For many prisoners, Alcatraz became synonymous with hell.
There were a number of escape attempts from Alcatraz, but the bloodiest occurred on May 2, 1946 involving, Bernard Coy, Joseph Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Clarence Carnes, Marvin Hubbard, and Miran Thompson. It cost the lives of three inmates and two guards, with 17 guards and one prisoner wounded. The trial afterward, resulted in the execution of twomore convicts who took part in the aborted escape.
Attorney General Robert Kennedy officially closed the doors of Alcatraz on March 21 , 1963. From 1963 until 1969, the prison was unoccupied. Today it is maintained by the Golden Gate National Recreation Area where almost a million visitors per year pay to see "The Rock". To get there, take a seat aboard the Red & White Fleet ferry service. Reservations can be obtained by contacting (800) 229-2784.
The reputation of Alcatraz, like the solid ground it was built on, represents a lasting reminder, that no man is above the law, and for some, it is an eternal payback for their crimes against humanity---kind of an paranormal prison. Here are some of the stories.
During a Sightings visit in 1992, several of the Park Service staff confirmed the haunted history of Alcatraz. Many rangers had experienced unexplainable crashing sounds, cell doors mysteriously closing, unearthly screams, and intense feelings of being watched. Sightingscalled on psychic investigator Peter James to walk through portions of the abandoned prison to get his impressions. James began to pick up on the voices of the tortured souls driven mad since it's inception as a prison. He also sensed unusual vibrations of abuse, mistreatment, fear, and pain. His overall impression of Alcatraz was, that it had an energy like no other he had ever experienced---a persistent and overwhelming intensity that engulfed the island.
Some of the more haunted locations on Alcatraz appear to be the Warden's House, the hospital, the laundry room, and Cell Block C utility door where convicts Coy, Cretzer and Hubbard died during their escape attempt in 1946. The most haunted area on Alcatraz, is the "D" cell block, or solitary, as it was often called. To most who go there, a feeling of sudden intensity pervades the cells and corridor. Some rangers refuse to go there alone. It is intensely cold in certain cells, far colder than normal---especially cell 14-D. This cell is often times so cold, that wearing a jacket barely helps---even though the surrounding area is twenty degrees warmer. It is no wonder the area was called "The Hole."
When authors, Richard Winer and Nancy Osborn visited Alcatraz, they ventured down to solitary with a park ranger. As Osborn entered cell 14-D, she immediately felt strong vibrations coming from within. Winer and the ranger followed Osborn, and within seconds, each of them experienced an intense tingling sensation in their hands and arms---theywere convinced that something or someone was in there with them. The far corner of the cell where they were standing, and feeling the intense energy, was the exact spot where the naked, shivering prisoners would huddle, night after night, in the unforgiving darkness. Osborn said that she had never felt so much energy before in one spot.
Renowned ghosthunter Richard Senate, and a psychic spent the night on Alcatraz as part of a
KGO radio promotion. They chose Al Capone's cell as a place of temporary refuge. According to Senate, emotions seemed to drip from every corner of Alcatraz as the long night progressed. He and the psychic visited the spots where rangers said they heard marching footsteps, and clanking metal; however, nothing happened. Finally, Senate locked himself in cell 12-D, where an evil and persistent ghost is rumored to dwell. As the thick, steel door was closed, Senate immediately felt icy fingers on his neck, and his hair stood on end. He knew he was not alone. Additionally, the psychic picked up on the twisted and dismembered bodies of uniformed men. Both left the island convinced that Alcatraz had its own special energy.
According to Antoinette May, much of the paranormal activity on Alcatraz occurs around areas associated with the penitentiary's worst tragedies. One of them is the Block C utility corridor, Cell Blocks A and B, with the eeriest area centering around cell 14-D---where it is always cold. According to May, gifted psychic Sylvia Brown accompanied by a CBS newsteam, investigated parts of Alcatraz. As Brown toured the prison hospital she picked up cards and notes tacked up on a wall, and the letter "S." A ranger confirmed that the "S" probably stood for Robert Stroud who spent ten-and-a-half years in the hospital, in the very roomthey were standing. He also had hundreds of notes and cards tacked up all around him. Brown sensed strong energy in what used to be the therapy room, and the prison laundry room, where at least one prisoner was murdered.
Co-author, Michael Kouri, visited Alcatraz Island in July of 1984 with his uncle. After several preliminary psychic impressions, Kouri reached cell 14-D, and entered. He first felt a "tingling sensation", which began at his fingertips; then, a very intense feeling of cold engulfedhim. In a slight trance, he began to communicate with the spirit of a man of small stature; who had his head shaved and was left in "The Hole." The spirit, in obvious pain, "told" a horrifying tale of being beaten, his leg broken by guards, and left in solitary confinement---hehad squealed on a fellow inmate---the year was 1939. Kouri then tried to lead the poor soul to the light. [Note: Kouri's other unique experience with a visitor, is truly remarkable, as well as an interview with the wife of an ex-warden---but you'll have wait until the book comes out.
A former guard related his stories about Cell Block D (particularly cells 12 and 14), and the frightening remnant energy lingering in the subterranean portion of the prison. During his stint during the mid-1940, convicts were often confined in one of the 14 cells in "D" Block (cells 9-14 were called "The Hole," because they contained no windows, and only one light which could be turned off by the guards. The darkness made it seem like a hole in the ground---hence the name. On one occasion, an inmate was locked in "The Hole". Within seconds, the inmate began screaming that someone with glowing eyes was in there with him.
The man's screaming continued well into the night, until there was silence. The following day, the guards inspected the cell---the convict was dead, a horrible expression etched on his face, and noticeable hand marks around his throat. The autopsy revealed that the strangulation wasnot self-inflicted. Some say he was strangled by a guard who had enough of the man's screaming---although no guard ever admitted it, even to the other guards. Others believed it was the restless, evil spirit of a former inmate who exacted his vengeance on yet another helpless soul. To add to the mystery, the day after the tragedy, several guards, performing a routine lineup of the convicts, counted one too many people. At the end of the line, the guards witnessed an extra body---that of the recently deceased convict. As everyone looked on in stunned silence, the figure of the ghostly convict vanished into thin air!
A number of guards from 1946 through 1963, experienced something out of the ordinary at one time or another. From the outer rim on the grounds to the deepest caverns, there was constant talk of people sobbing and moaning, horrible smells, cold spots, and seeing the "thing" with glowing eyes. Even groups of phantom prisoners and soldiers have appeared in front of startled guards, guests, and the families who lived on the island.
Sometimes the old lighthouse (long since demolished) appeared out of a dense fog, accompanied by a ghostly whistling sound, and a great flashing light which passed slowly around the entire island, just as if the Lighthouse was still active. The spectacle would then vanish before the startled eyes of guards and visitors. Phantom cannon shots, gun shots, and screams oftentimes sent seasoned guards falling flat on their stomachs thinking that prisoners had escaped and obtained weapons. Each time, there was no explanation. A deserted laundry room would sometimes emanate a strong scent of smoke, as if something was on fire. Thesensation of the choking smoke would drive guards out of the room, only to return a few minutes later, the area now completely smoke free---the phantom smoke occurred many times over the years.
Even Warden Johnston, who didn't believe in ghosts, encountered the unmistakable sounds of woman sobbing, as if coming from inside the walls of the dungeon while he accompanied a number of guests on a tour of the facility. As if that weren't enough, an icy, cold gust of wind blew through the group, chilling them to the bone, just as the sobbing stopped.
The now burned-out shell of the Warden's House, has also been a focal point for sightings since the 1940s. During a Christmas Party, several guards witnessed the chilling apparition of a man wearing a gray suit, brimmed cap, and mutton chop side burns. When the men saw theapparition, the room turned deathly cold, the fire in the Ben Franklin stove was extinguished, and after less than a minute, the man vanished.
These are but a few of the "Haunted Alcatraz" stories. When you visit and journey down the now deserted corridors of this world famous penitentiary, keep your wits about you, and all your five senses in tuned, and perhaps your sixth sense will help you encounter some of themany spirits who inhabit Alcatraz.
Welcome to HAUNTED ALCATRAZ,or Hellcatraz, as it was called by some inmates. The history does not begin or end with the use of Alcatraz as a prison and penitentiary, for it was k
nown to Native Americans, and avoided as a place that contained evil
sprits. The energy of those who came to "The Rock" and never left, still remains for visitors from around the world to see, feel, and even hear. Alcatraz is a portal to another dimension, where unexplainable events continue to occur. Whoever, or whatever lurks in the shadows can be heard, seen, and felt. As parapsychologists suggest, where so much trauma and negative emotion have occurred, there is bound to be residual energy---and Alcatraz has the feel of an immense haunted house, complete with fog, and restless spirits. Although the candle may have burned out for Alcatraz long ago, its legend never did.
nown to Native Americans, and avoided as a place that contained evil
sprits. The energy of those who came to "The Rock" and never left, still remains for visitors from around the world to see, feel, and even hear. Alcatraz is a portal to another dimension, where unexplainable events continue to occur. Whoever, or whatever lurks in the shadows can be heard, seen, and felt. As parapsychologists suggest, where so much trauma and negative emotion have occurred, there is bound to be residual energy---and Alcatraz has the feel of an immense haunted house, complete with fog, and restless spirits. Although the candle may have burned out for Alcatraz long ago, its legend never did.Prior to its discovery by Europeans, Alcatraz was viewed as a barren white rock---white because it was covered with pelican droppings--thus receiving the name of La Isla de los Alcatraces or "The Island of the Pelicans," by the Spanish. However, it wasn't until the 1850s, that the importance of this tiny island as a defensive position was realized. Finally, the military decided to build a fortress in case an unfriendly ship might decide to enter the Golden Gate. The Army Corps of Engineers began to construct an impenetrable and imposing structure in 1854. The original construction estimates of $300,000 did not take into account the wind, rain, fog, strong ocean currents, lack of water, lack of vegetation, and the fact that there was only one possible spot to land equipment and supplies.
Construction began with the erection of a temporary wharf for supplies. This was followed b
y wooden shops, storehouses, barracks and offices. Those who couldn't make it in the gold fields, became reluctant laborers on Alcatraz. The labor force carved out roadways and other features as the fortress slowly took shape. It was only a matter of time before Alcatraz began taking human life. During 1857, while a crew was excavating along the roadway between the wharf and the guard-house, a 7,000 cubic-yard rock landslide buried a team of laborers: Daniel Pewter, age 50, of Ireland and Jacob Unger, 25, of Germany were the first known deaths on Alcatraz. On a cold December day in 1859, the Third Artillery arrived on Alcatraz with a group of eleven anonymous soldiers of Company H---the first prisoners to be incarcerated in irons in the basement cellroom of the guardhouse for crimes not recorded in the army files. Alcatraz was now a fully operational fortress and prison. By Aug. 27, 1861, Alcatraz was designated as the official military prison for the entire Department of the Pacific. Living conditions were grim. Men slept side-by-side, head-to-toe, lying on the stone floors. There was no running water or heat in the cells, sanitary facilities were almost non-existent, and disease was rampant. After the Civil War, confederate sympathizers caught celebrating the death of President Lincoln were sent to Alcatraz. In 1868, the Army designated Alcatraz Island as a prison for military convicts and malcontents of society. By the late 1800s-early 1900s, Indian chiefs and tribal leaders of Arizona and Alaska were incarcerated along with some of the worst thieves, deserters, rapists, and repeated escapees from the Army. Alcatraz again became a disciplinary barracks for U.S. Army military incorrigibles, as well as a health resort when soldiers returning from the Spanish American war convalesced there.
On the morning of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Alcatraz shook, but sustained little damage. That same year, four prisoners tried to paddle to the mainland on a butter vat, only to have strong currents bring them back. Driftwood was used during escape attempts in 1912, 1916, 1927 and a ladder was used during a escape attempt in 1929. All of the men werecaptured or surrendered, victims of the cruel currents, and cold water. In 1911, Alcatraz was officially named the United States Disciplinary Barracks---an official Army Prison which included both U.S. Army prisoners as well as German seamen who became prisoners of war.The social upheaval of the 1920's and 30s, and rampant crime sweeping American provided Alcatraz with new life. Daring escapes, gang-related murders and mass rioting were a menace to an orderly prison. Attorney General Homer Cummings supported J. Edgar Hoover in creating a facility which would instill fear in would-be criminals by creating a place where prisoners could be safely controlled and could not escape. In 1933, the prison facility was formally turned over to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. During 1934, Alcatraz became a an escape-proof, maximum security prison, where only the most hardened convicts were brought.
The first residents of newly created Alcatraz, received numbers 1- 32, with Frank Bolt
havingthe distinction of being Federal Prisoner #l while serving a five-year sentence for sodomy. He was followed by Charles Copp (Robbery and Attempted Assault), Leon Gregory (Robbery, Assault, and AWOL), Joseph Harrison (sodomy), Forrest Henry (Robbery and Assault), Clyde Hicks (Sodomy), Ralph Hills (Robbery and Assault), Albert Hoke (Robbery), Alan Hood (Sodomy), and Frederick Holme (Sodomy and False Enlistment) to round out the first ten inmates. AL Capone was the first celebrity on the first train to Alcatraz, arriving in August1934---He was given the number 85.
Guards armed with machine guns, ensured that there were no escapes. Many convicts found Alcatraz the end of their career in crime, as well as the end of their lives. For twenty- nine years, the fog-enshrouded island, with its damp, cold winds, and isolation made Alcatraz one of America's safest prisons. The shell of steel and reinforced concrete confined ruthless men to a life of deprivation, rules, and routines that proved almost intolerable. When one adds the fact that the convicts could hear party boats pass by, and see the San Francisco city lights,it is little wonder that some preferred death to this kind of isolation. Failure to acquiesce to prison rules resulted in confinement in "D" Block, the treatment unit. Here, men could leave their four- by-eight-foot cells only once in seven days for a brief ten-minute shower. Life was hard on Alcatraz, just the way Warden Johnston envisioned it. His motto was, "Take each day of your sentence, one day at a time. Don't think how far you have to go, but how far you've come." For many prisoners, Alcatraz became synonymous with hell.
There were a number of escape attempts from Alcatraz, but the bloodiest occurred on May 2, 1946 involving, Bernard Coy, Joseph Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Clarence Carnes, Marvin Hubbard, and Miran Thompson. It cost the lives of three inmates and two guards, with 17 guards and one prisoner wounded. The trial afterward, resulted in the execution of twomore convicts who took part in the aborted escape.
Attorney General Robert Kennedy officially closed the doors of Alcatraz on March 21 , 1963. From 1963 until 1969, the prison was unoccupied. Today it is maintained by the Golden Gate National Recreation Area where almost a million visitors per year pay to see "The Rock". To get there, take a seat aboard the Red & White Fleet ferry service. Reservations can be obtained by contacting (800) 229-2784.
The reputation of Alcatraz, like the solid ground it was built on, represents a lasting reminder, that no man is above the law, and for some, it is an eternal payback for their crimes against humanity---kind of an paranormal prison. Here are some of the stories.During a Sightings visit in 1992, several of the Park Service staff confirmed the haunted history of Alcatraz. Many rangers had experienced unexplainable crashing sounds, cell doors mysteriously closing, unearthly screams, and intense feelings of being watched. Sightingscalled on psychic investigator Peter James to walk through portions of the abandoned prison to get his impressions. James began to pick up on the voices of the tortured souls driven mad since it's inception as a prison. He also sensed unusual vibrations of abuse, mistreatment, fear, and pain. His overall impression of Alcatraz was, that it had an energy like no other he had ever experienced---a persistent and overwhelming intensity that engulfed the island.
Some of the more haunted locations on Alcatraz appear to be the Warden's House, the hospital, the laundry room, and Cell Block C utility door where convicts Coy, Cretzer and Hubbard died during their escape attempt in 1946. The most haunted area on Alcatraz, is the "D" cell block, or solitary, as it was often called. To most who go there, a feeling of sudden intensity pervades the cells and corridor. Some rangers refuse to go there alone. It is intensely cold in certain cells, far colder than normal---especially cell 14-D. This cell is often times so cold, that wearing a jacket barely helps---even though the surrounding area is twenty degrees warmer. It is no wonder the area was called "The Hole."
When authors, Richard Winer and Nancy Osborn visited Alcatraz, they ventured down to solitary with a park ranger. As Osborn entered cell 14-D, she immediately felt strong vibrations coming from within. Winer and the ranger followed Osborn, and within seconds, each of them experienced an intense tingling sensation in their hands and arms---theywere convinced that something or someone was in there with them. The far corner of the cell where they were standing, and feeling the intense energy, was the exact spot where the naked, shivering prisoners would huddle, night after night, in the unforgiving darkness. Osborn said that she had never felt so much energy before in one spot.
Renowned ghosthunter Richard Senate, and a psychic spent the night on Alcatraz as part of a
KGO radio promotion. They chose Al Capone's cell as a place of temporary refuge. According to Senate, emotions seemed to drip from every corner of Alcatraz as the long night progressed. He and the psychic visited the spots where rangers said they heard marching footsteps, and clanking metal; however, nothing happened. Finally, Senate locked himself in cell 12-D, where an evil and persistent ghost is rumored to dwell. As the thick, steel door was closed, Senate immediately felt icy fingers on his neck, and his hair stood on end. He knew he was not alone. Additionally, the psychic picked up on the twisted and dismembered bodies of uniformed men. Both left the island convinced that Alcatraz had its own special energy. According to Antoinette May, much of the paranormal activity on Alcatraz occurs around areas associated with the penitentiary's worst tragedies. One of them is the Block C utility corridor, Cell Blocks A and B, with the eeriest area centering around cell 14-D---where it is always cold. According to May, gifted psychic Sylvia Brown accompanied by a CBS newsteam, investigated parts of Alcatraz. As Brown toured the prison hospital she picked up cards and notes tacked up on a wall, and the letter "S." A ranger confirmed that the "S" probably stood for Robert Stroud who spent ten-and-a-half years in the hospital, in the very roomthey were standing. He also had hundreds of notes and cards tacked up all around him. Brown sensed strong energy in what used to be the therapy room, and the prison laundry room, where at least one prisoner was murdered.
Co-author, Michael Kouri, visited Alcatraz Island in July of 1984 with his uncle. After several preliminary psychic impressions, Kouri reached cell 14-D, and entered. He first felt a "tingling sensation", which began at his fingertips; then, a very intense feeling of cold engulfedhim. In a slight trance, he began to communicate with the spirit of a man of small stature; who had his head shaved and was left in "The Hole." The spirit, in obvious pain, "told" a horrifying tale of being beaten, his leg broken by guards, and left in solitary confinement---hehad squealed on a fellow inmate---the year was 1939. Kouri then tried to lead the poor soul to the light. [Note: Kouri's other unique experience with a visitor, is truly remarkable, as well as an interview with the wife of an ex-warden---but you'll have wait until the book comes out.
A former guard related his stories about Cell Block D (particularly cells 12 and 14), and the frightening remnant energy lingering in the subterranean portion of the prison. During his stint during the mid-1940, convicts were often confined in one of the 14 cells in "D" Block (cells 9-14 were called "The Hole," because they contained no windows, and only one light which could be turned off by the guards. The darkness made it seem like a hole in the ground---hence the name. On one occasion, an inmate was locked in "The Hole". Within seconds, the inmate began screaming that someone with glowing eyes was in there with him.
Tales of a ghostly presence wandering the darkened corridors in clothing from the late 1800,s were a continual source of practical joking among the guards, so the convict's pleas of being "attacked," were ignored.
The man's screaming continued well into the night, until there was silence. The following day, the guards inspected the cell---the convict was dead, a horrible expression etched on his face, and noticeable hand marks around his throat. The autopsy revealed that the strangulation wasnot self-inflicted. Some say he was strangled by a guard who had enough of the man's screaming---although no guard ever admitted it, even to the other guards. Others believed it was the restless, evil spirit of a former inmate who exacted his vengeance on yet another helpless soul. To add to the mystery, the day after the tragedy, several guards, performing a routine lineup of the convicts, counted one too many people. At the end of the line, the guards witnessed an extra body---that of the recently deceased convict. As everyone looked on in stunned silence, the figure of the ghostly convict vanished into thin air!
A number of guards from 1946 through 1963, experienced something out of the ordinary at one time or another. From the outer rim on the grounds to the deepest caverns, there was constant talk of people sobbing and moaning, horrible smells, cold spots, and seeing the "thing" with glowing eyes. Even groups of phantom prisoners and soldiers have appeared in front of startled guards, guests, and the families who lived on the island.
Sometimes the old lighthouse (long since demolished) appeared out of a dense fog, accompanied by a ghostly whistling sound, and a great flashing light which passed slowly around the entire island, just as if the Lighthouse was still active. The spectacle would then vanish before the startled eyes of guards and visitors. Phantom cannon shots, gun shots, and screams oftentimes sent seasoned guards falling flat on their stomachs thinking that prisoners had escaped and obtained weapons. Each time, there was no explanation. A deserted laundry room would sometimes emanate a strong scent of smoke, as if something was on fire. Thesensation of the choking smoke would drive guards out of the room, only to return a few minutes later, the area now completely smoke free---the phantom smoke occurred many times over the years.
Even Warden Johnston, who didn't believe in ghosts, encountered the unmistakable sounds of woman sobbing, as if coming from inside the walls of the dungeon while he accompanied a number of guests on a tour of the facility. As if that weren't enough, an icy, cold gust of wind blew through the group, chilling them to the bone, just as the sobbing stopped.
The now burned-out shell of the Warden's House, has also been a focal point for sightings since the 1940s. During a Christmas Party, several guards witnessed the chilling apparition of a man wearing a gray suit, brimmed cap, and mutton chop side burns. When the men saw theapparition, the room turned deathly cold, the fire in the Ben Franklin stove was extinguished, and after less than a minute, the man vanished.
These are but a few of the "Haunted Alcatraz" stories. When you visit and journey down the now deserted corridors of this world famous penitentiary, keep your wits about you, and all your five senses in tuned, and perhaps your sixth sense will help you encounter some of themany spirits who inhabit Alcatraz.
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