The area around the El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico border has historically been a violent one. In the days of Western lawmen, it has even been said that Wyatt Earp himself was offered to help marshal the area, but he considered it far too dangerous of a job. Such a violent area of gunslingers, outlaws, gamblers, and Native Americans had the institution of a cemetery come rather quickly after El Paso was formally founded. Concordia Cemetery is chock full of old western graves, holding the mortal remains of many a man, woman, and child. For paranormal investigators, Concordia also is said to hold something supernaturally sinister as well.
Is the Concordia Cemetery in El Paso, Texas, Haunted?
Concordia Cemetery was constructed and had its first burial all the way back in 1856. Covering somewhere around 53 acres of land, it is best estimated that the cemetery is said to hold between 60,000 to 65,000 graves. Due to the unique location of El Paso as a border town, just about every sort of group is buried within the cemetery. Freemasons, Mormons, Chinese railroad workers, Mexican-Americans, Buffalo Soldiers, Jewish families, and Christians all seem to have their own informal sections in different areas of the cemetery. While these people lay to rest, some have been known to visit the cemetery with evil intentions on their minds. In fact, notorious serial killer “The Nightstalker” Richard Ramirez was known to visit the cemetery and perform Satanic rituals in the dead of night.
Paranormally speaking, Concordia is absolutely all over the place when it comes to supernatural activity. One of the more active spots is the infant section of the cemetery where newborns are buried. During some paranormal tours that have been hosted there, women who have had C-Sections have reported feeling a tingling sensation on their scars when passing the infant section. Other times people have heard childish jabbering and laughter in this area as well, without any children in the vicinity.
Another area of the cemetery has been labeled “the vortex” by paranormal groups because of the sensation of being pulled by an unseen force. Late at night, visitors have claimed to see a woman dressed in white off in the distance passing between rows of crumbling tombstones before disappearing into the night. Some locals have warned about entering the cemetery at night as it is still informally used by practicing Satanists as a spot to conjure up dark forces and any leftover ritual items are not to be touched or disturbed lest dark energy can befall you!
The Concordia Cemetery is highly visited in El Paso each year by locals and tourists alike. Paranormal groups in El Paso have been known to run tours inside the cemetery with the most popular dates being between October 31 and November 2 when the “Day of the Dead” ceremonies take place and activity is said to be at an all-time high.
Cemeteries and graveyards are places where the dead are buried and the living go to mourn and remember them. It can be a common thought to those who enter past those cemetery gates, that there are perhaps spirits there. Waiting and watching, but nonetheless, they are trapped or wandering the grounds in a supernatural purgatory. To most people, seeing or knowing the spirit of an innocuous man, woman, or child roaming the cemetery grounds can be brushed off without concern. However, when you encounter and enter into a cemetery that is haunted by a dark entity, then your perception and complexion are liable to change completely.
In northern Knoxville, Tennessee is the Old Gray Cemetery. Adjacent to the Knoxville National Cemetery, the Old Gray was first established all the way back in 1850. Contained within a sprawling thirteen acres, the Old Gray Cemetery is home to nearly 5,700 graves. Being the second oldest cemetery in the city of Knoxville, the Old Gray (which was named for poet Thomas Gray) actually appears on the National Register of Historic Places and is known for its plots containing the remains of senators, colonels, mayors, legislators, and even a governor. The antiquated yet ornate tombstones set coolly against the serene backdrop of the nearby Smoky Mountains make this cemetery a picturesque one. However, when the sun goes down, something far more sinister makes itself known to unlucky visitors.
Is The Old Gray Cemetery Haunted?
The entity said to be haunting the cemetery is referred to as Dark Aggie. The description of this terrifying spirit vary, but it chooses to manifest itself in the shape of a man but clouded by a black mist. The timing of Dark Aggie appearing is closer to that of sundown when the cemetery doesn’t really have anyone there. Straggling visitors have reported seeing Dark Aggie simultaneously walk and sometimes float, within the rows of tombstones. For the more unfortunate, they have reported Dark Aggie being alerted to their presence and chasing them out of the cemetery in pure terror. Some people have reported that before seeing Dark Aggie, they have mysteriously heard an unseen entity whisper their name. Spinning around naturally, they find nobody living to be in the vicinity. Visitors have also reported a crying sound to emanate from the rear area of the cemetery as well as a whistling noise of unexplained origin. One of the more interesting occurrences is people who have taken photographs inside the cemetery claim that blurry shapes and malformed orbs appear.
Dark Aggie is said to be haunting the Old Gray Cemetery to this very day. Informal paranormal investigations of the cemetery haven’t yielded much in terms of origin for this potentially malicious entity, but the most echoed advice is that if you see Dark Aggie, remain still and do not bring attention to yourself or else if you do you risk being chased off the property.
If there is one thing that rings true about the paranormal, is that it can exist anywhere, anytime, and in places of unlikelihood. Hawaii is the fourth-smallest state, covering a little over six thousand square miles and hovers near a population of 1.5 million. Often forgotten due to its location, Hawaii is not to be dismissed from the paranormal community. Believed to be inhabited as far back as 300 A.D., Hawaii is packed with countless ghost stories and haunted locations. One of the more haunted locations on the island? The Manoa Chinese Cemetery.
Located on the island Oahu, and sitting just a mere three miles west of Honolulu, The Manoa Chinese Cemetery has the distinction of being both the oldest and largest Chinese cemetery in Hawaii. The cemetery was built all the way back in 1852 and stands out among other island cemeteries due to the particularly ornate decorations which are also accustomed to Chinese cemetery standards, such as facing both the water as well as being lined by trees. Aged granite lions and dragon-like statues are peppered throughout, while a banyan tree appears to be the cemetery centerpiece. Feng shui plays a popular role here as the Chinese believe in the principle of geomancy and its role in placating unstable spirits into a more harmonious role in the universe. With such a concept, spirits here are certainly alive and well.
Is The Manoa Chinese Cemetery Haunted?
One of the more peculiar paranormal activities here is the presence of children. Naturally, the cemetery possesses a quietness, but visitors have claimed to hear the undeniable laughter of children despite none being visible. At other times visitors have noted the crying sounds of infants without any around. Near such graves in the evenings, visitors have claimed to see orange orbs flurrying around over the tombstones. In many descriptions, the orange spots appear to be cinders from a fire that doesn’t exist. Within Hawaiian culture, there is the belief of the “akua lele” which is described in similar circumstances, is that of a flying god who brings about death and bad luck to some.
In 2008, a Honolulu police officer was dispatched in the middle of the night to a noise complaint at the Manoa Cemetery involving possible trespassers. Arriving, the officer spotted a pair of what looked to be young teens hiding behind a tombstone. He approaches the tombstone only to find that the pair had disappeared. Walking back to his patrol car, the car’s radio suddenly turned on with the volume all the way up. Nobody was there to turn it on, and the officer switched it off only to see a mysterious force turn the radio back on and drive the volume dial up before his very eyes.
The Manoa Chinese Cemetery is still one of the most popular tourist destinations on the island of Oahu. The cemetery itself is also one of the more visited ghost tour spots on the island, however, if you go and see a bring orange flying orb….get out as fast as you can!
The Snedeker House – The Haunting in Connecticut House
Among paranormal historians, there are certain haunted house cases that are classic and legendary in their activity. Amityville out on Long Island is top of the mark when it comes to infamous haunted house cases. The Smurl Haunting in West Pittston, Pennsylvania showed that when a family is haunted, nobody is off limits. The Entity House in Culver City out in West Los Angeles was so active that the photographs documenting the activity still cannot be replicated today. Hard to believe at times, but there are haunted house cases popping up more and more in the paranormal community even today. The Bothell Hell House outside Seattle, WA breaks about every rule in the book, while The Screaming House of Union, Missouri literally screams at its unlucky inhabitants. The origins of such haunts are all wholly unique and terrifying in their own chilling and sometimes violent capacities.
The Snedeker House that inspired The Haunting in Connecticut
One such house that should be considered among the legendary haunted ranks is the Snedeker House of Southington, Connecticut. The town of Southington itself is that of perfect Connecticut small-town charm, but in 1986 the town was thrown into a frenzy of media chaos when a family reported their new home as being haunted. With details scarce and emerging at the time, media pundits and paranormal investigators alike were unaware, but the claims from the Snedeker’s would later be referred to in paranormal lore as, “The Haunting In Connecticut.”
Where is the Haunting in Connecticut House?
The House that the film The Haunting in Connecticut is based on is located at 208 Meriden Avenue, Southington, CT 06489.
The Snedeker’s Story of The Haunting in Connecticut
In 1986, the Snedekers were a family that struggled in a lot of ways. The father Allen was a former stone mason who was suspected of having struggles with alcoholism. His wife and mother of the children, Carmen, was a waitress in between jobs and finances definitely became a sensitive situation. This financial hardship was further complicated for them when their eldest son Phillip was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which is a rare and sometimes deadly cancer that attacks the body’s immune system with intensity. The Snedekers looked to get Phillip into a cancer treatment hospital as soon as possible and they found one located outside Southington. Packing up what belongings they had, they moved to Southington in search of a new home to live while Phillip was to endure a series of cancer treatments. Looking for something with size, as they had four children plus two nieces that eventually moved in with them, the family found a duplex-style, multi-story home to rent. From the outside, it was two floors, on a quiet street with plenty of room for everyone and at least near the hospital. The price range being amazingly affordable the Snedekers jumped at renting the home. Little did they know that this picturesque Connecticut home was also formerly the town’s funeral home. The Hallahan Funeral Home to be exact.
Moving into their new home, and funeral home, the Snedekers and their children each took off to choose their new bedrooms. Phillip of all places chose the basement. Teenage angst, seclusion due to illness, or just morbid curiosity itself, Phillip nonetheless marked out this area as his new domain. Upon moving his furnishings downstairs into the basement, the family soon discovered a hidden collection of antiquated mortuary equipment. This discovery was not solely limited to the basement as the massive home also had some leftover furnishings in different parts of it as well such as bedroom dresser drawers. Inside the drawers, the Snedekers found a few photographs of what can only be described as pictures pertaining to people being prepared for funeral burial. Another room was a former coffin room that still held plenty of coffin pieces in there to give anyone a sure fright. The biggest shock also came on an extended bit of the property where some headstones were found indicating that bodies were buried on the actual property itself. A quick check with the town’s assessor of real estate property confirmed that the home was indeed the former Hallahan Funeral Home. The idea of living inside of what was once a funeral home did bring about some initial concerns for the Snedekers, however, given their financial commitment to the home as well as Phillip’s future cancer treatments to consider, they decided to stand firm in their new rental.
Signs of Paranormal Activity
The very first sign of paranormal activity inside the house was a series of bizarre sounds that would occur day and night. Mysterious wrappings along with scratching sounds seemed to emanate from every part of the home without explanation or reason. Inside the home was a dumbwaiter of sorts where the chain pulleys would rattle and move on their own without anything loaded into them. Carmen’s young children initially clamored that they were seeing ghosts walking through the home and were so scared that they wanted to leave. She took everything therein as overactive imaginations from her children, but she had an eerie feeling about the place herself. The children often told about the lights flickering on and off and their father Allen got upset about the misuse of electricity and removed light bulbs from rooms.
The dumbwaiter was used for loading and delivering bodies down to the basement area where the mortuary was located and was now Phillip’s new bedroom. Mysterious sounds continued and sudden fluctuations in temperature occurred. One room would seem to be ice cold in the middle of July, while the room adjacent would be normal room temperature. The piercing coldness would then disappear as quickly as it had emerged in a room, all without any logical explanation. Then these mysterious activities gradually increased to become more physical.
Carmen was taking a shower one evening and the shower curtain began to cling to her body. While science can prove this could be a natural phenomenon, Carmen claimed that the shower curtain began to mysteriously rise as it clung to her. She claimed the shower curtain wrapped itself around her face and neck choking her. Blinded with shampoo in her face, her muffled cries for help were eventually heard by her niece Tammy who was staying with them and she pulled and unwrapped the curtain from around her aunt’s throat. Neither could explain what happened.
Little did Carmen realize that the attacks were just beginning for her as she began to be repeatedly assaulted by an unseen force. The assaults would happen at random times when she was completely alone and afraid to reveal these attacks to her husband Allen. Carmen would later reveal that the entity abusing her would become very forceful and slap at her face.
Carmen’s niece Tammy also claims to have been assaulted. Tammy had later described a quilt from her bed levitating off her all the way up to the ceiling. Tammy also claims that she would see a black shadowy face manifest during these terrifying times along with an unexplained whispering. She would cling to her Catholic faith and often would try to utilize her Rosary beads only to have this same force try and viciously rip the Rosary from her grip.
Apparitions inside the home became making themselves known in physical sense appearing as a taller woman with long black hair, pale skin, and piercing black eyes. Another was in the form of a man with whitish-colored hair and often seen in a pinstripe tuxedo. Phillip kept up with his radiation treatments at the University of Connecticut Hospital where he frequented and was noted as having a bizarre change in personality habits and would lash out uncharacteristically at staff. The terror inside the home mounted more and more, where even mopping the floor turned into a nightmare. Carmen one afternoon had taken to mopping the kitchen floor and without any explanation at all, the mopwater turned into blood. The dark red blood now inexplicably staining the floor, accompanied by the stench of a freshly decaying dead body was too much for Carmen and her family. They needed help and needed it fast.
Ed and Lorraine Warren Investigate the Snedeker House
Entering into the situation were local state residents and paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren from The Conjuring fame. It was Carmen Snedeker who called them to investigate their rapidly terrifying situation. While on the phone with Lorraine, Carmen told of gripping her Rosary beads which were coming apart at their very seams by an unseen force.
The Warrens arrived at the Southington home by the next morning with a Catholic priest in tow. A general blessing of the home was conducted by the priest which seemed to have zero effect on cleansing any paranormal entities from the home. Getting into the heart of the matter the Warrens found from local research that the home was built in the 1920s and became a funeral home. One of the funeral workers was supposedly convicted of committing necrophilia in the morgue of the home under the conditions of some Satanic ritual.
The Warrens theorized, as has a large part of the paranormal community, that such heinous Satanic acts can lead to paranormal activity and welcome entities into a place. Accompanying the Warrens during the many days and nights they investigated the house was their nephew, John Zaffis, a future paranormal specialist. Zaffis would later become popular as a collector of haunted objects, he himself experienced the same terror that was affecting the Snedekers firsthand.
One of the more bizarre occurrences one evening was when Zaffis was spending the night in the home, he found himself undergoing phantomania. In paranormal circles, phantomania is a form of sleep paralysis that is rooted in supernatural origin and can cause great mental and emotional anguish. As he was struggling with his own bout of phantomania, Carmen was in another room undergoing the same supernatural attack. Zaffis would later comment on the situation by saying that the terrifying visions accompanying the phantomania were simultaneously occurring in both him and Carmen at the same time.
As word began to spread about the haunting, Lorraine Warren later recalled that a pair of scientific instructors came to debunk the home as being haunted. During the early midnight hours of their first investigation, this pair of scientists ended up fleeing in the middle of the night and were so rattled by it that they actually moved to another state completely after experiencing it firsthand.
The Warrens Seek an Exorcism of the Snedeker House
With the initial blessing of the home unsuccessful, the Warrens then contacted the Bishop of Hartford, voicing their concerns that much more Catholic help was needed. In response, the Bishop directed that two priests go to the home to not only bless it again but also hold a sacred Catholic Mass inside the home as well. During the ceremonial Mass, Ed Warren suffered a mild heart attack and believed that this was somehow caused by one of the many demonic entities in the home that held him responsible for the Catholic priests being present.
The Mass itself had whatever was haunting the home very angry but also wounded. Both priests along with the Warrens compelled the Bishop to send in a Catholic exorcist to drive out the evil forces. Without much supernatural interference from the assumed demons in the home, the exorcism seemed to be successful in the sense that the dark and brooding atmosphere inside it immediately felt “lighter.” Lorraine Warren would later comment on the situation by saying that during the actual crescendo of the exorcism itself, a rather large and thick tree mysteriously snapped in half and fell across the yard. Warren claimed that the weather that day was actually quite clear and rather ordinary, but some paranormal theorists claim that whatever was possibly haunting the Snedeker house, actually passed through the tree and snapped it in half.
New owners and a film franchise
After word began to circulate, the national media picked up that the Snedeker home was haunted and the Warrens were at the center of its cleansing. Tabloids and talk magazines alike blasted to the world the horrors that were inside the Snedeker home. The Snedekers eventually moved from the home and it was purchased by a pair of private citizens. The new owners of the home claim that they have not experienced anything supernatural or paranormal since purchasing it. They do however state that sometimes people will take pictures of the house from the street, but nothing sinister has ever come of it.
The story of the Snedekers eventually had Hollywood come calling to tell the story of The Haunting in Connecticut. The hauntings inside the home and even Hollywood’s story are loosely based on true-life occurrences. As for the Snedekers themselves, they have seemingly faded into post-haunting obscurity. Carmen has been known to give rare talks on the haunting that she and her family experienced. She believes that any other family going through a similar situation knows that there is hope.
The film, The Haunting in Connecticut was one of the first to feature Ed and Lorraine Warren in 2009, who helped write the script. Eventually, The Conjuring movie would launch in 2013 followed by Annabelle in 2014, and then The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case, which covered the Enfield haunting in England. The Conjuring universe would continue to expand from there, mixing paranormal activity, great storytelling, and Hollywood intrigue for paranormal fans around the world.
From strictly a paranormal perspective, the state of Connecticut is a very interesting state. Perhaps the most famous haunting ever within it, the Haunting In Connecticut, ranks high in the supernatural stratosphere of the United States. And of course, everyone knows about its most famous paranormal investigation couple, Ed and Lorraine Warren. Yet one of the oldest to ever find statehood, the geographical area that makes up Connecticut today was believed to be inhabited as far back as 1614. Over three centuries worth of graves have been put into the ground and to this very day, some just refuse to rest in peace such as the Union Cemetery in Easton, Connecticut where Ed Warren himself had an encounter.
Is The Union Cemetery in Connecticut Haunted?
The very town of Easton, Connecticut was founded all the way back in 1757. Located in the southwestern corner of the state, Easton was considered a fairly remote location at the time due to the treacherous hillsides that ran along the Aspetuck River. Records are sketchy as to when the ground for the cemetery was first being used. The oldest tombstones in the cemetery are believed to be dated to somewhere in the 1600s, but even then there are unmarked graves that could possibly hint at something older than that. The cemetery itself is only a few acres wide and is flanked closely by of all things the highway junction routes of 59 and 136 right there in Easton where the cars can be audibly heard from the cemetery. But what exactly haunts the Union Cemetery?
The most famous spirit in the cemetery is dubbed “the White Lady”. She has been described as having a long face with cascading black hair on either side of her head and wearing a long flowing, period piece white dress. The White Lady has been known to walk along Highway 59 and many times drivers have encountered her ghostly visage up close and personal when some have even said to have driven their cars straight through her. Police have been called over and over to Highway 59 and Union Cemetery for calls of a woman in white walking around the roadway, but upon arrival, she’s never found.
Local Connecticut artist Roderick Vescey is one of the first ever to bring about attention to his roadway encounter with the White Lady. Driving home late one evening on Highway 59 he encountered a particularly misty patch of very low fog on the roadway. Vescey thought nothing of it as that time of year the weather in Connecticut was habitually damp, but looking back he did begin to question why it affected just that particular area of the road adjacent to Union Cemetery. As he neared his sedan into the low hanging mist, Vescey spotted inside his sedan’s passenger seat, an older man in a bowler hat with a beard and sad expression on his face. A moment later the man disappeared and when Vescey returned his gaze to the road, the White Lady was standing a mere few feet from the hood of his sedan. Without even realizing what was happening and failing to brake, his vehicle passed through her completely. Vescey said that as his vehicle passed into her a giant rush of wind blew across his body and that for the next few miles, everything he saw out of his eyes had an unexplained red tint to it.
Ed Warren himself had a particular paralyzing encounter with her. Ed reportedly spent an entire week at the cemetery overnight, observing a bizarre series of paranormal lights that culminated with a chilling encounter on September 1, 1990, at precisely 2:40 am. Warren observed the wild flickering of paranormal orbs and lights when he heard a woman weeping somewhere in the cemetery’s distance. Traipsing along rows of faded tombstones in the dead of night, Ed began to follow the lights and noticed that they began collecting themselves and forming into the shape of the White Lady. Ed claimed to approach her spirit when a series of crudely shaped black shadows that resembled the form of a dog and it refused to let her spirit drift towards him. Warren said that instead, this mysterious shadow seemingly forced her spirit to drift toward the Highway 59 roadway area.
The exact history of the White Lady may never be truly known, nor will the origin of the black shadow that Ed Warren encountered in the cemetery that night. Of all things, Ed Warren did record the encounter on a VHS tape that he had left running in the cemetery that night and the tape’s contents remain securely locked up in the Warren’s Occult Museum.
Visit our historic 200-year-old farm along the banks of the Merrimack River and experience one of New England’s most unique Haunted Attractions.
Experience fear, fun, laughter, and excitement as you journey through our haunted woods and discover the secrets earthed in our ominous cornfield. Immerse yourself in the macabre grounds of Ravenwood Estates.
Situated on 157 acres at Chris’ Farm Stand in Haverhill, Massachusetts, Ravenwood Haunted Farm is located 45 minutes north of Boston. Easily accessible from I-95, I-93, and I-495 with FREE parking onsite.
Spend the night out and make memories at Ravenwood Haunted Farm this Fall. #FearTheRaven
Ravenwood Haunted Farm Open Dates & Times for 2019
Running times for the attraction are from Dusk until 11 PM on the below dates.
Friday – September 27
Saturday – September 28
Friday – October 4
Saturday – October 5
Friday – October 11
Saturday – October 12
Sunday – October 13
Friday – October 18
Saturday – October 19
Friday – October 25
Saturday – October 26
HALLOWEEN: Thursday – October 31
Located in a quiet corner of Toms River, New Jersey, Solve The Room escape rooms is anything but quiet. With 4 escape games – Jail Break, Escape The Bar, Mob Hit and Pharaoh’s Tomb – to choose from, our missions are sure to tickle your taste buds. The missions can accommodate between 2 to 6 players each and each mission lasts 1 hour. Team-building events can be organized for groups of 8 or more players. Special group rates are available for 18 or more players. Puzzles that are pleasure to crack and a high level of immersion are what place Solve The Room NJ in a place of their own in the Escape Room Hall of Fame.
The Wood Haven Estate VRBO @ James River, Wood Haven Road, Nixa, MO, USA
Opens Friday the 13th of September, 2019 @ 7 PM
The Two Most terrifying experiences in the ozarks. One place. one price. enter. we dare you. These are 20 acres you’ll never forget!
****WARNING**** You will be subjected to extreme, persistent, emotional distress. If you make it out, you may never be the same. One thing is for sure… YOU WILL NEVER FORGET THIS!
Upon entrance, you will be dumped into the horrifying, pitch dark woods/thicket or the zombie-riddled river bank. Your choice. We’re not 100% sure what might happen to you after that. Everyone’s experience will be different. What we do know is that you probably WILL NOT complete the Forest of Terror & Haunted River experience from start to finish. You likely don’t have what it takes. In the unlikely event you actually find the final exit, a nice little surprise will be waiting for you! You won’t soon forget this either.
You never know what might fall out of a tree or pop out of the river, so you might want to get yourself mentally prepared for the unknown. We’ll leave it right there. THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. If you are weak, you might consider a different haunted experience. If you’re afraid your girlfriend might dump you for being a coward, don’t chance it. Consider yourself warned! By purchasing a ticket, you accept our Liability Waiver and agree to adhere to the RULES . We are not liable for anything, including accidents.
New Bern, North Carolina is a sleepy coastal town on the Atlantic Ocean. Picturesque with small-town charm, it is a welcome tourist spot away from all the hustle and bustle of nearby Wilmington, and even Myrtle Beach. Land originally packed to capacity and then some, the Cedar Grove Cemetery was the best place to bury a loved one. Emotions at any cemetery are always high, but have you ever heard of one where the actual cemetery gate itself weeps for you?
The cemetery itself was constructed all the way back in 1800 and it is considered one of the oldest cemeteries in North Carolina. Clocking in at just over thirteen acres, the cemetery is situated in the heart of New Bern’s downtown area near the historical district. A massive and surprisingly detailed gray, coquina shell wall surrounds the cemetery, as well as a staggered triple entrance arch that was added in 1853. Known by many locals as “the Weeping Arch”, it is in a paranormal class all its own.
Is the Cedar Grove Cemetery haunted?
The Weeping Arch dates all the way back to not long after the cemetery was first constructed. Even then, people were remarking that when passing underneath the arch, small droplets of water would descend and fall onto a person, although sometimes the water has a red-rust color to it. Activity picked up over the decades to where the droplets would manifest if a funeral party were to pass underneath. Somehow a twisted urban legend developed that anyone passing under who gets hit with a droplet will be marked for death next.
The cemetery is also said to house over three hundred Confederate soldier graves on the property. Various paranormal enthusiasts have spoken about grave robbers turning out in the cemetery sometime around the turn of the Twentieth Century. These particular robbers dug up Confederate graves to try and cash-in on any Civil War era memorabilia. However, once the graves and bodies were disturbed, it is believed that this somehow awakened the spirits. People have reported seeing spirits of men in period piece Civil War clothing walking around tombstones before disappearing.
The Cedar Grove Cemetery today is one of the more popular tourist destinations in New Bern and even earned a spot on the National Register of Historic places in 1972. Today the cemetery is fully accessible by the public and welcomes visitors. One of the more popular events held adjacent to the cemetery is the yearly Ghostwalk, hosted by the New Bern Historical Society. It’s a weekend-long, family-friendly event that takes visitors of all ages on a historical tour of the cemetery as well as around town while educating them on the various spirits of the past……just be mindful and forewarned of the Weeping Arch.
There are many names for cemeteries. Graveyards, catacombs, repositories, necropoleis, ossuaries, and even resting places. None of these individual names for a cemetery causes one to pause upon hearing. However for those in and around the Baltimore, Maryland area, whenever the Westminster Burial Ground is brought up in conversation, people tend to give an eerie silence about such a location. And rightfully so.
Is The Westminster Burial Ground Haunted?
The Westminster Burial Ground is a very old cemetery located in the heart of the city of Baltimore. It was built all the way back in 1797 to serve as the local cemetery that was used by the First Presbyterian Church of Baltimore. The parishioners of the church that helped bring about its construction included William Patterson who was a civic architect that was influential in many of Baltimore’s surroundings and Col. John Eager Howard who was a decorated commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The cemetery remained virtually untouched until 1852 when the Westminster Presbyterian Church was erected over a portion of the cemetery which contributed to a smaller arrangement of underground catacombs. In fact, the cemetery has such an incredibly rich historical value that it was actually added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Without a doubt, the most famous and most frequented grave in the entire cemetery is of melancholic poet and author, Edgar Allan Poe. Born in 1809, Poe was a ne’er do well that bounced around from a flurry of odd jobs to even a stint in the United States military. Struggling with family problems as well as periodic bouts of alcoholism, Poe turned to poetry as a way to try and cope. Many women in his life tragically died including his younger wife, Virginia Clemm. Many editors were critical of Poe’s later works as they lamented and dwelled on his many themes of beautiful women dying tragically young. On October 3, 1849, Poe was found, “in great distress, and in need of immediate assistance” according to the man who found him staggering about the streets of Baltimore at night. In a fevered and delirious state, Poe finally succumbed to death all the while muttering the mysterious name of “Reynolds” over and over before he passed. All medical, hospital, and death records for Edgar Allan Poe were officially declared lost and the intimate details of his death were never known.
Edgar Allan Poe Tombstone
After he passed, Poe was buried in the Westminster with an elegant tombstone marking his grave. Sometime in the 1920s, the figure of a man clad entirely in black, accompanied by a silver-tipped cane and using a hooded scarf and hat to obscure his identity, became a frequenter at Poe’s grave in Westminster on the anniversary of his death. In the early morning hours, the mysterious figure would enter and then leave roses along with a bottle of cognac at Poe’s grave. The tradition carried up all the way until 2009 when the visitations mysteriously stopped. Notes left by the figure included such statements as, “Edgar, I haven’t forgotten you”, and “The torch will be passed”.
While the mysterious “Poe Toaster” annually visited Poe’s grave, another entity has been spotted there for decades, Poe’s spirit itself. Many visitors to the Westminster who have gone in hoping to catch a glimpse of Poe’s tombstone have walked away totally surprised to have seen Poe’s ghost standing by the grave itself. Described as being in period dress, with dark matted hair, and a sad expression, his ghost is also spotted in the nearby Presbyterian Church. Many paranormal enthusiasts claim that Poe, even in death, is still longing for something unknown to the world.
One of the more terrifying entities in the cemetery is the “Screaming Skull of Cambridge.” According to various oral legends, the skull belonged to that of a minister in the area who was brutally murdered. Details are sparse, but it was rumored that there was a terrible shrieking noise associated with the minster’s body and that cement was stuffed into the skull somehow and buried in the Westminster. Today people have reported hearing an incredibly high-pitched, piercing scream that comes from the area where the screaming skull is said to be buried.
Another popular spirit in the cemetery is that of Lucia Watson Taylor. Just sixteen years old when she passed away in 1816, Lucia’s ghost is one of the more spotted specters. Long dark hair and in a flowing white dress, visitors to the cemetery have reported seeing her ghost kneeling in front of her own grave, hands clasped and in prayer before fading completely away. And for any troublemakers to the cemetery, there is said to be the spirit of a nineteenth-century groundskeeper who is said to walk the rows and vocally call out any loud visitors before he shuffles off and fades away.
Today the Westminster Burial Ground is still fully accessible and highly visited by the public making it one of the more popular places to visit in the entire city of Baltimore.
Stull Cemetery lies in the most unincorporated area of Douglas County, Kansas. This bleak, and semi-isolated cemetery appears on the surface to be nothing more than a rural and eternal resting place for northeastern Kansas folk. However, what is it about this cemetery that was rumored to cause His Holiness Pope John Paul II to actually give Vatican pilots instructions to fly around it when he visited the United States in 1993?
Is the Stull Cemetery in Kansas Haunted?
In 1857, the tiny area of Stull was just beginning to surface on maps. Originally it was called Deer Creek due to the abundance of deer that were spotted around the nearby water source. The settlement was mostly people from Pennsylvania Dutch Country as well as a small contingent of German settlers who had recently fled from the German Confederation. The small town eventually added its first and only postmaster in Sylvester Stull for who the town is named after. At its peak, Stull is said to have had only fifty people living in the area. However, the number of dark entities said to be inhabiting the Stull cemetery is thought to be extremely numerous and one of the reasons why this place is called, “the Gate to Hell”.
What’s infamous about the Stull Cemetery is that there was a dilapidated stone church on the property. Once built in 1867 and called the Stull Cemetery Church, it had suffered greatly over the years due to the harsh north Kansas weather. The roof to the church was largely gone and one of the more disturbing reports by visitors was that it did not get wet from the rain. People have claimed that although it may be raining, once they enter the church, despite the roof missing, somehow the interior of the church remained bone dry. Paranormal theorists have reported that there was a large amount of black magic ceremonies performed inside the church. Something akin to the once Christian church being abandoned and rites to Lucifer performed inside, it somehow corrupted the already crumbling altar inside and forever tainted and poisoned the consecrated grounds on which it stood.
The belief is that so many black magic rituals were performed here that whatever supernatural portal to Hell was opened, was permanently left open. In fact, there were few reports of a single staircase inside the church that many claimed were twisted into the ground and that they at one time led to a doorway to Hell itself. Sometime in 2002, the church was mysteriously demolished with nobody knowing what truly happened or who authorized its destruction. The remaining visible stairs were said to be filled in with earth and overgrown vegetation today covers up any remaining traces of the stairs or stone bits from the church.
In 1974 a local University of Kansas student newspaper published some local student accounts of experiences inside the cemetery. Many walked away with the impression that if you visit the cemetery on either Halloween or on the date of the Spring Equinox, that Lucifer himself will appear to you. Naturally these reported experiences along with other paranormal events at the cemetery caused it to be bombarded with visitors. The property owners of the Stull Cemetery had local law enforcement intervene and eventually quelled the bi-annual, late-night visits.
In witchcraft circles, the tree represents a sacred foundation that provides a powerful spiritual essence. The Stull Cemetery had one particular tree in particular, a tall pine tree that was slightly blackened at the base from occult ritual use. Oral legends spoke of occultists using the tree for rituals and that some were caught and actually hanged at the tree itself. Many people claimed that they had come in contact with the ghostly specters of witches that had been hung at that very tree. So many people made the tree a destination and spectacle to visit while ignoring the sanctity of the cemetery, that the property owners had the tree officially taken down in 1998 so as to quiet the intense fascination with it.
The Stull Cemetery Tree that was removed.
For any casual visitors to the cemetery, their supernatural experiences vary wildly in their intensity. Some people who have visited reported feeling dizzy and then ultimately losing a sense of time. Not in the respect that time passed quickly, but that time altogether has fast-forwarded past them. The supernatural belief of this is that if there is indeed a gateway to Hell on the property, the intense attraction of it is so strong as to cause disorienting lapses in time. Chilling and downright frightening noises and screams are heard by visitors as well. The cemetery is indeed in a very rural part of Kansas with no visible signs of life around, yet bloodcurdling screams and unearthly noises have been reported as being heard by visitors.
The Stull Cemetery is still accessible by the public, but for limited hours due to all of the paranormal commotion that it has caused over the decades. To date there are no paranormal groups or activities allowed inside the cemetery and local law enforcement is strict on trespassers, especially those on Halloween. If the land is indeed haunted enough to keep the ultimate leader, exorcist, and head of the Catholic Church from even flying over it in an airplane, then that should speak for itself.
Day Tours....Just show up at the house tues-sun 1:00pm-3:30pm cash only for tours. We are closed on Mondays.
The Midwestern United States has a long history of bizarre killing sprees, with the most infamous being the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas. The murder was aptly documented by author Truman Capote in his book In Cold Blood. Years before the 1959 slaying was another, one that had double the body count and was so gruesome that it knocked the sinking of the Titanic off the front-page headlines.
Murder comes to Villisca, Iowa
Villisca, Iowa in 1912 was home to a quiet and small corn farming community. Favorite among the residents were the Moore family, led by parents Josiah and Sarah. The two had four children in Herman, Mary Katherine, Arthur, and Paul. On a sleepy summer night in June of 1912, the Moores invited their daughters two friends, Ina, and Lena Stillinger, to go with them to a late-night church retreat which was a popular activity in the smaller community.
After taking in the church retreat, the Moore’s and their daughter’s friends went home to retire for the evening. In the early morning hours, a mannerly neighbor named Mary Peckham discovered no activity in the normally chore busy home. Puzzled by the stillness she fetched Josiah’s brother Ross, who came with his spare key to the house.
Moore never stepped past the front of the house parlor as he laid eyes on the two bloodied bodies of Ina and Lena Stillinger, with a farming axe beside them. Immediately the local policeman Hank Horton was brought to the scene and he discovered one of the most bloody mass killings of a family the state of Iowa had ever seen.
In a scene that eerily preceded the murders Amityville, all six members of the Moore family were murdered in their sleep, with the majority of the killing blows committed to the heads. Josiah Moore’s face was so badly caved in his eyes were mushed to a pulp, while the other victims received minimal strikes.
Nothing was ever taken from the Moore house, but there were plenty of suspects with chief among them being a bizarre drifter named Andy Sawyer and a mass murder named Henry Lee Moore who had been accused in his life of murdering over twenty people with an axe in nearby states and areas, including Villisca.
Hard evidence and motive were fleeting along with the lack of forensic analysis in the 1910s. Sawyer all but confessed, but eventually claimed he didn’t commit the murders but had information on the true murderer that he never revealed. Henry Lee Moore was eventually sentenced to life in prison for other axe murders in nearby Missouri.
Is the Villisca Axe Murder House Haunted?
While the case of the Villisca Axe Murders remains unsolved to this day and the house is a true-crime attraction. The popular television series Ghost Adventures chronicled the crime in depth. Using electronic voice phenomena (EVP), the group asked the house who really killed the Moore family and the EVP picked up a singular reply, “Andy”.
Interested in a tour or even staying a night in the Villisca Axe Murder House? Book a night here.
Las Vegas is a desert oasis that’s capable of quenching the most distinguishing of thirsts. The constant gleam of neon lights, ringing slot machines, and Vegas nightlife draws millions of visitors to the Silver State every year. Located less than one mile off the famed Las Vegas strip on the side street of East Charleston Boulevard is the Zak Bagans’ Haunted Museum. It caters to a different crowd, featuring artifacts and stories of paranormal history. The museum is downright frightening and wholly exciting.
The Dark History of The Bagans’ Haunted Museum
The building itself is an older mansion that was originally built in 1938 by the prominent Wengert family. It was once the largest mansion in Las Vegas which gives Bagans plenty of room to house his objects of the macabre. The house has some darkness in its history as a former owner passed away inside the home. Over the years, the property was abandoned at one point and according to Bagans, it was revealed to him that dark rituals were performed in the basement area of the now haunted museum. In fact, he feels that the building was established with haunted spirits long before he ever took ownership. During its remodeling prior to opening, Bagans had a hard time keeping some workers on the job as many would be fine one moment and then run screamingly off the property after having a paranormal encounter inside. The now eleven thousand square foot museums boasts over thirty rooms jam-packed with some of the most haunted objects from all over the world.
Experience the Paranormal
One of the principles that Bagans tries to make known to visitors is that he is not trying to actively show a ghost or call forth a spirit. Instead, he is offering a place where if possessed ghostly objects choose to interact with a visitor or group, then they will do it because they want to. Some of the haunted objects he possesses are in fact just too dangerous for visitors to be near. One of the most terrifying is the legendary Dybbuk Box. This unassuming wooden box is said to contain the spirit of a malicious entity that is capable of haunting and even possessing a human being. Bagans acquired the box and after opening it with the help of a witch, he then claimed to see apparitions and dark shadow figures. Worse yet was the powerful growling sounds that emanated around the box. Bagans ended up sealing the box closed with a powerful combination of sage and salt to keep the dreaded Dybbuk spirit locked safely away.
What Artifacts are in the Zac Bagans’ Haunted Museum?
While the Warren Occult Museum in Connecticut has the infamous Annabelle doll, the Zak Bagans’ Museum has “Peggy the Doll”. Bagans acquired the doll from a woman in England who claimed that the doll contained the spirit of a young woman who died sometime in 1946 of a chest related medical problem. Too many people close to the former owner suffered from severe chest pains or even mild heart attacks. Bagans now has Peggy the Doll in an isolated room that is not part of the standard tour. He claims that people who come in to see Peggy have suffered chest pains or heart attack related symptoms on the spot. Other times it’s given crippling headaches and even caused some people to suffer a ghastly uncontrollable fit of vomiting! Still so, Bagans does not mistreat Peggy or hide her away but further insists, “I always want to show them respect because the things they’ve caused are quite real”.
Outwardly haunted objects are not the only thing on display in the museum. One of the more innocuous items is a cauldron formerly owned by infamous serial killer Ed Gein, who later inspired the wildly successful Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series. The cauldron was used for everyday work on the Gein farm as well as later used to render dismembered human limbs down to the bone. In the museum, people have reported a sense of dizziness and unease after staring at the cauldron too long. At other times there has been mysterious interference with electronic devices when standing near the cauldron. Gein’s not the only serial killer with property there to be seen by visitors. John Wayne Gacy’s paintings that he made while on death row hang in a hallway as does a portrait of Charles Manson in which his actual cremated ashes were used to paint his portrait eyes with!
The Bagans’ Museum does have separate rooms that contain less supernatural objects such as a room filled with many spooky puppets and dolls. Another has carnivalesque fortune-telling objects, while a nearby room displays celebrity items such as Michael Jackson’s death chair and even torture writer Truman Capote’s medication bottles. Voted “Best Museum by Las Vegas Review-Journal”, tickets and tour slots fill up fast for the museum every day. Bagans is sometimes around the museum to greet fans and visitors as a pleasant surprise. However, visitors must sign a waiver in which they affirm that they are about to see the most haunted objects in the world and must do so at their own risk! That is perhaps the best gamble in all of Sin City.
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