Think of everything out there in the world that you’ve known or heard to be haunted in your life. Houses, cars, prisons, asylums, bars, restaurants, museums, dolls, and even churches. Everything you’ve ever heard or read about that deals with paranormal or supernatural activity typically exists within something easily tangible. This may be a first here for us at Frightfind, but there are some paranormal mysteries out there and none are more inexplicable than the recent theory that a lake…Lake Lanier in Georgia….is haunted.
Is Lake Lanier Haunted?
Lake Lanier sits within northern Georgia, about fifty miles to the northeast of Atlanta. Created as a reservoir by using water streams from both the Chattahoochee River and the Chestatee River, Lake Lanier actually contains fifty-nine square miles of water surface up against nearly seven hundred miles of shoreline. Even though it has fought through vicious drought periods, the lake remains one of the more popular spots for swimming, fishing, boating, and aquatic leisures of all types. But is the lake itself haunted?
Since Lake Lanier was formally dug and constructed in 1956, area experts believe that close to 675 people have died in the lake. The reasons vary from boating accidents and drownings to untimely suicides as well. While most bodies from these tragic events are recovered, there is still a contingent of some bodies believed to be buried underneath the lake. When the land area was first being dug out in 1956, there was said to be an older, somewhat informal, and quiet old cemetery believed to be on the property. In what some believe to be a bad spiritual move, some bodies were dug up and moved, but some that were buried in unmarked graves weren’t.
The Lady of the Lake
One of the most absolutely terrifying and yet common reports are about swimmers coming in contact with ghosts in the water. Many times swimmers are out frolicking in the water, only to feel an underwater hand or arm wrap itself around a swimmer’s leg. Some people have escaped an early watery grave, confessing that it felt as if they were being dragged under even though they were swimming alone. Other times, boats have inexplicably gone off course and collided with other watercraft resulting in injuries and death. One terrifying apparition is said to be the Lady of the Lake, a pale white specter who not only moans along the shoreline moaning about her ghostly state, but is said to do it with absolutely no hands.
Today Lake Lanier has upwards of nearly seven million visitors a year coming from all around parts of Georgia and surrounding states to enjoy all the water activities. Will an underwater spirit make a grab for your leg? Or will you spot the Lady of the Lake? Remember, according to some paranormal theorists, spirits cannot escape running waters.
Mineral Wells is considered by many to be a sleepy, small-sized Texas city that sits just an hour due west of Dallas. With a population barely at sixteen thousand people, this unassuming location has managed to go through American history with virtually nothing groundbreaking to happen other than it was the site of spring training for the infamous 1919 Chicago “Black Sox” World Series scandal. However, with the uptick in people who are becoming more and more curious about paranormal and supernatural activity in general, Mineral Springs is in fact hiding one of the more chilling surprises in Texas. The Baker Hotel right there in the heart of Mineral Springs has endured the ages, and there are ghosts inside providing proof of just exactly that.
Is the Baker Hotel in Texas Haunted?
The Baker Hotel was first conceived as an idea for locals all the way back in 1890 as a way to make a handsome profit off the recent mineral water boom. For many years, profiteers were coming in and making small fortunes on the rich mineral water deposits of the area. The locals seized the momentum and asked reputed hotel architect, Theodore Baker to come in and design a hotel that would help capture profits for the burgeoning city. Construction was completed in over a year and the finished product resulted in a magnificently sized hotel at fourteen stories tall, over four hundred guest rooms, and even two ballrooms for societal events.
Over the next forty years, the Baker Hotel was the top go-to spa destination for wealthy Texas families looking to vacation. The local mineral springs provided water for the curing and healing spa pools, plus one of the largest hotel air conditioning systems was installed, thus making the hotel a major draw for people against the sun-scorched Texas heat. Success was fleeting for the hotel as the nearby Army base of Fort Wolters had closed down, and with more people moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the hotel declined rapidly. In fact, the hotel fell on such hard times, that it was officially shuttered in 1972. For the next thirty-five years, the Baker began to suffer from break-ins and routine vandalism. But it’s the haunting stories and eye-witnesses reports as of late that have begun to surface which have this one of the most haunted places in north Texas.
The amount of paranormal activity believed to be going on inside the hotel is absolutely staggering. First, there are rather substantial amounts of unexplained physical activity that go on inside there. Since being abandoned all these years, paranormal groups who have gained access inside first hear the thunderous sound of hotel room doors opening and closing without anyone inside them. Closer examinations by some investigators about these mysterious doors opening and closing, and they find themselves being touched or even shoved by unseen forces away from the doorways.
The Baker Hotel’s Lady in White
One doorway in particular that seems to be active more than others, is up on the seventh floor and is a suite that was said to belong to Earl Baker’s (Theodore’s nephew) mistress named Virginia Brown. The exact date isn’t truly known, but what is known is that when caught in a torrid affair with Earl, Virginia committed suicide. Decades later, the spirit which paranormal investigators label, the Lady In White, is spotted most often on this seventh floor wearing a period white dress with flowing spectral light. Vicious cold spots, along with a mysterious perfume scent that comes out of nowhere from a room with a most active door, has this being one of the more haunted spots in the entire hotel. However, Virginia’s hallway isn’t necessarily exclusive to just her wandering spirit. There’s also the spirit of a small boy that people have claimed to spot peeking out from behind many doorways and hallway corners of the hotel. His origin is totally unexplained, but his presence is thought to be that of a mischievous yet genial spirit.
Haunted as the seventh floor is, the most terrifying area is thought to belong to the basement area. In the summer of 1948, a teenaged elevator operator was engaging in horseplay with the manually controlled elevator in the basement area. One thing led to another, and a slip while the elevator was engaged, led to his body being cut in half. Hideous and awful as his death was, you can imagine the pure terror of investigators who have claimed to see the young man’s ghost in the basement. How do they know it’s him? Because whenever the ghost is spotted, it is just his upper torso only drifting across the floor. The absolute fear of seeing this has caused many if not all paranormal investigators to immediately flee the basement in sheer terror.
In 2010, restoration plans were being outlined by the city of Mineral Wells to try and bring about a complete construction overhaul of the Baker Hotel. An estimated sixty-five million dollar contract has been laid out in which owners of the hotel hope to have it fully reopened in 2022. For now, the site is under construction and off-limits to the public unless explicit consent has been given. But with pushy spirits and a torso ghost in the basement, that should be enough to keep the living away from the Baker Hotel for now.
There’s something about the performing arts stage that both the living and the dead find so intoxicating. For the living, if you’re performing then the adulation of the adoring fans creates a certain emotional high that isn’t easy to take away. For the dead, this same high creates such an attachment that even the throes of the might and unknown afterlife aren’t enough to drag you away from it. One such existing venue today is the Ryman Auditorium in none other than Music City itself, Nashville, Tennessee. And judging by the paranormal encounters there, it is one really haunted place to see a concert at.
Is The Ryman Auditorium Haunted?
Technically you could say that the Ryman Auditorium was started all the way back in 1885. A highly charismatic evangelist minister named Sam Jones held a tent revival on the grounds were the auditorium stands now. A riverboat captain named Thomas Ryman was in attendance at this Christian tent revival and was passionately moved by the words in Jones’s sermon. Pairing himself with Jones, Ryman helped to gather up the funds to construct a building that could be used in a tent revival capacity. A dream venue that took nearly six years to build and was originally the Union Gospel Tabernacle.
Popular plays were ushered through to perform at the Tabernacle, which also was the regular site upon which one would hear one of Jones’s powerful sermons. Musical acts were approved at times, and even John Phillip Sousa came through to conduct one of the most rousing performances ever initially held there. Even the famous women’s rights speaker Susan B. Anthony came through to give lectures. By 1901, a stage was added to bring in even more selected acts such as orchestras, and higher profile lecturers. However, in 1904, Thomas Ryman passed away and Rev. Sam Jones further dedicated the official renaming of the venue to the Ryman Auditorium. It is said that upon this announcement, that the Tabernacle members gave one of the longest standing ovations in the auditorium’s history. Rev. Jones died eighteen months later, and the Ryman began to change ownership from various hands.
Presidential conventions and debates, Russian ballets, Vatican choirs, and even Harry Houdini himself all came and performed at the Ryman in one capacity or another. In 1943, one of the biggest acts in music history came to the Ryman, and that was the Grand Ole Opry. Country music’s hottest and upcoming acts all performed there for the whole world to hear. From all the reports of various concert goers, one of them is still said to remain until this day.
The Ghost of Hank Williams
Hank Williams Sr. was a popular country-western crooner who died in 1953, yet makes his presence known today. Various employees at the Ryman have reported seeing a pale, and ghostly figure that resembles Williams Sr. standing in the adjacent alleys and backstage areas of the venue. The manifestations are said to accompany a white mist that surrounds Williams Sr’s spirit, which is said to include his trademark cowboy hat as well. Even more, chilling on the scare factor charts is that Williams’s voice can be heard singing one of his personal country music songs when nobody else is even in the building at all.
Hank Williams At The Haunted Ryman Auditorium
Williams died far away in Oak Hill, West Virginia, but it is said that his death was from the “Grand Ole Opry Curse”. The curse has no official origin behind it, but close to thirty-five different country musicians have suffered tragic deaths after performing there including Jim Reeves, Texas “Ruby” Fox, Stringbean Akeman, and Patsy Cline to a name a few. In fact, while Patsy Cline’s spirit isn’t seen at the Ryman, just like Williams Sr. her voice has been heard singing a ghostly tune.
Aside from the many sightings of Williams Sr.’s spirit, there is also one particular entity that is unnamed which people have called, “The Gray Man”. This ghostly specter is a pale man dressed in a gray suit that can be spotted during rehearsals, backstage meetings, and even in the last row of the balcony when it has been cleared after a show. It is believed he is the one responsible for the lights going on and off without explanation during performances, unexplained cold spots, as well as musical equipment malfunctions. While his presence isn’t malevolent, it is chilling at best if he’s spotted anywhere in the building.
The ghost of Thomas Ryman himself is believed to be one of the many ghosts haunting the venue. When a turn of the century performance featuring the racy French opera Carmen, guests during the performance remarked to have seen the ghost of Ryman himself shuffling through the audience! Even more alarming is that knowing Ryman was such a devout Christian who would never have approved of the opera while alive, took to causing such unexplained onstage mishaps and noises that no other performances of Carmen were carried out there.
Today the Ryman Auditorium truly stands as a classic Nashville landmark in the city. Musical groups, plays, lectures, films, and even professional wrestling matches still tour through with regularity. But if the ghost of Thomas Ryman is spotted, one must note that the particular artist that night might not be one of his favorites!
It is hard to imagine that the Civil War reached far and away from the battleground states in the Deep South, all the way to California. Secessionist and southern transplant John C. Breckenridge had relocated to the newly founded Golden State and in the shocking 1860 Presidential Election, had actually received more than double the votes Abraham Lincoln did in this particular area. In a panic, Union enthusiasts boosted their efforts to have a presence in California, and in particular the Los Angeles area. Sixty plus acres were canvassed and a military installation named Drum Barracks was erected overlooking Los Angeles Harbor. Nearly one hundred and sixty years later, this now Civil War museum is the only of its kind in Hollywood, and it is most haunted.
Drum Corps of 10th Veteran Reserve Corps, Washington, D.C., April 1865
With the faraway threat of the Confederacy reaching the actual shores of the Pacific Ocean, the actual founder of the small Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington (which overlooks Los Angeles Harbor), Phineas Banning had written to President Abraham Lincoln warning him if the Union presence wasn’t increased, not only would the chances of California joining the Confederacy be possible, but also Lincoln would not be re-elected. In return, President Lincoln then sent military aid to be utilized on massive amounts of land that Banning, along with then Los Angeles Mayor David Wilson, had donated for the Union cause. By January of 1862, the military installation was finished and given the name of Drum Barracks, after the somewhat obscure Union Col. Richard Drum of San Francisco. Despite Drum never even reportedly setting foot on the military property, due to Drum’s brevetted military actions as a Colonel on the West Coast, it was named in his honor.
During its heyday in the Civil War, the Drum Barracks at any time had between two and seven thousand soldiers stationed around the area. The trick of having a Union territory presence in Los Angeles seemed to benefit Banning in his original idea. The mere sight of the Drum Barracks then served as a deterrent for any Confederate sympathizers and eventual Indian War fighters. By 1873, with the Civil War long done, the land was sold back to Banning and Wilson and portions of the area had weathered the elements before in 1927, it was labeled a California Historic Landmark. Later in 1986, the surviving building was fashioned by the City of Los Angeles into a sixteen room Civil War museum. Open for business to history buffs, it wasn’t before long that paranormal activity at the museum began to surface.
Is the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum Haunted?
The most telltale sign that paranormal activity has occurred according to former Drum Barracks curator Marge O’Brien, is that the lights come on. The museum hosts regular tours and part of the policy and procedure after every tour has ended, is that the visited room’s lights are turned off, windows closed, shades are drawn, and doors locked. O’Brien claimed that after the last tour of the day she would often ensure this policy was followed in every room, only to return to open up in the morning and find all the lights on, doors opened, windows open, and the shades up.
Forrest Neal was employed in his former role as caretaker at the museum when he was warned about the paranormal activity which he dismissed quickly. During a sleepy summer morning in 1989, Neal was at the museum by himself doing maintenance when he heard a thunderous set of footsteps trampling all over the museum. It was more than enough to make a firm believer out of him ever since. Although these two staff members aren’t the only ones who have come across the paranormal there.
A volunteer who preferred to remain anonymous used to visit the Drum Barracks, and routinely clean the rooms after tours. One day she had cleaned a room and per policy, drawn the shades, and locked the door. Walking outside to leave, she turned to glance at the museum only to see the very shades she drew down, open wildly before her eyes! Another maintenance employee came early in the morning to conduct repairs and he was met with the pale specter of a Civil War soldier asking him where his lost love “Maria” wandered off to.
It wasn’t before long that a psychic researcher was brought in to investigate the museum. Psychic Barbara Conner encountered several spirits roaming the museum including a forceful one of a decorated soldier who complained in a chilling appearance to her about his left boot not being tied properly. O’Brien performed research on this particular soldier spirit and found out that it belonged to none other than a Colonel Curtis. It was documented that he was the longest-serving colonel at the Drum Barracks during the Civil War, and that part of his left foot had been amputated due to frostbite and always wore a loose boot whenever he walked.
Another wandering spirit was what many call, the Lady of the House. She’s been spotted in period piece Civil War clothing either outside on the porch area or inside with her ghostly specter floating and fading between rooms. Later during an investigation, Conner revealed to staff that the female spirit’s name is in fact Maria and that she was the wife of Colonel Curtis himself. As hauntingly tragic as the couple is, there have been reports of a ghost child at the top of the stairwell who has been known to toss objects down the stairs in a playful manner. Is he related to the Curtis’? Records don’t reveal a child, but nonetheless make the ghost child’s origin all that more fascinating.
Today, the Drum Barracks is as popular a museum destination as ever in the Los Angeles area. Public visitors, school groups, and the paranormally curious are constantly booking a reservation. While admission is free, the museum does encourage visiting donations whenever possible.
The image of castles bring up supremely dark, tall, and gothic stone structures that are firmly entrenched in the mountainsides of an Eastern European area like the ever chilling horror staple of Transylvania. A powerful and foreboding sign of the dark power held inside, a castle is always considered a structure of many secrets. For those not inclined to make the trip to a faraway Eastern Europe, the Franklin Castle in Cleveland, Ohio has enough scares to send a shiver down most spines.
Is the Franklin Castle Haunted?
Sometimes referred to by locals as the Hannes Tiedemann House, the Franklin Castle is a Victorian styled stone house that many say is quite haunted. Sitting in the heart of Franklin Boulevard, this real-life four-story castle boasts over twenty-eight rooms that host an estimated eighty windows throughout. The home was built in 1882 at the behest of a wealthy German immigrant and banker named Hannes Tiedemann. Hannes and his wife Louise had three children that all died within the home, including Hannes’s elderly mother. Death of course inside the castle had a way of extending itself outside the home, as the Tiedemann’s had three other children all die as well. As a way to grieve, Hannes took to constantly remodeling the home, adding more windows to the inside and menacing gargoyles to the outside.
Rumors by the locals began to spiral out of control, where it was believed that not only were hidden rooms built underground by Hannes but also that grisly murders (other than the deaths of the children) were carried out in the castle as well. Louise died in 1895, and shortly thereafter, Hannes ended up selling the home to another family before he himself passed away in 1908, thus an entire family dead within the castle. The castle and its accompanying property began to change many hands over the years. But with all of the different changes in ownership, along with them came ghost stories that were steeped in madness itself.
The Ghosts of Franklin Castle
One of the most disturbing accounts of the Franklin Castle is that Hannes Tiedemann was in fact a murderer. In fact, there was a long-standing belief that he purposefully hanged one of his own daughters up in the attic of the castle. Was Tiedemann under the influence of something inside the castle? One of the Tiedemman’s older children, Carl, was regarded as a normal young man before coming to live at the castle. When he was grown up and had left, it was noticed that he was suffering from particular maddening bouts of nervous tension so much so that he ended up committing suicide by jumping off a bridge.
A lot of paranormal theorists muse that there’s some sort of dark energy within the castle that can change the mental state of someone similar to what Ronald DeFeo experienced inside the notorious Amityville House. Not just the people like the Tiedemann’s who lived inside the house felt the need to express this possible diabolical energy from within. In 1970 the Cleveland Police and Cleveland Fire Department responded to a fire at the castle. Once there, they found a man who had seemingly wandered off the street and began setting small fires inside each of the rooms. When asked why he would possibly do such as thing as he had no connection to the house, he merely stated that he had to burn down the castle because “it was pure evil.”
Helen Mirceta was once a former resident of the Franklin Castle during the early1980s and she is still personally shaken by the haunted castle to this day. Among the more terrifying paranormal encounters, physical attacks seemed to be fairly routine. Being pushed down flights of stairs and overwhelming bouts of depression were common for Helen. However, one of the more disturbing things to occur at the castle happened to her husband who would routinely hear the sound of babies crying….from within the walls!
So distraught by what they would hear, the Mirceta’s had taken to putting a tape recorder in a room and locking the door, thinking that perhaps someone was playing tricks on them. When they would play back the audio cassettes they would hear babies screaming, children crying, and the muffled sounds of a man’s voice yelling into the recorder. After having a child, Mircetas eventually moved out of the castle. During a renovation of the castle sometime in 2004, construction workers found bones within the walls. Pathological testing on the bones revealed them to be not only human bones but were incredibly brittle and roughly placed them to be over one hundred years old which would have had them put there sometime during the Tiedemman’s tenure in the castle.
Sometime during the late 1980s, a psychic medium had actually taken up staying at the castle. She caused an incredible amount of controversy among the local historians who had actually been able to have it added to the National Register of Historic Places by claiming that there was a curse on the property. Even more disturbing was the fact that she claimed Hannes visited her dreams and confessed to committing murders in the castle. Today, the Franklin Castle is currently the home of Norton Records Record Company but is still known as the most haunted property in all of Ohio.
Tableau by definition is a motionless figure or group of figures that are artistically depicted from belonging to a certain point or scene in human history. Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” or Vincent van Gogh’s “Self Portrait” are among some of the more fitting and popular examples of a tableau. But what if we here at FrightFind told you that there is an open kitchen bar down in New Orleans that is haunted by a smattering of ghostly entities that resemble a tableau itself? Not only does such a place exist, but even better….the place is actually named Tableau.
Is Tableau in New Orleans Haunted?
Tableau is, of course, one of the more popular establishments in all of New Orleans. Sitting on at the corners of Chartres and St. Peter Street, this open kitchen bar that’s built within a vintage stage theatre was first formalized in 1916 although historical records date part of the actual brick and mortar building to go as far back as 1789. The Le Petit Theatre right there in the heart of the French Quarter drew in many Mardi Gras crowds with a fanciful offering of musicals, dramas, and comedy routines. Over time it has been one of the more historical New Orleans mainstays and with the wildly successful open kitchen bar area within it, Tableau is a very popular destination. However, it also seems that it is a very popular destination for ghostly spirits as well.
The Ghosts of Tableau
To start there is the spirit of a particularly self-conscious Civil War Union soldier that has been seen inside Tableau. Visitors recount seeing a younger man in Union solider dress blues who appears to be straightening his gloves, lapel, and even hair all in the direction of what is just a normal wall. While the Civil War certainly had some troops go through New Orleans, what could possibly be the story behind this one lone soldier caring about his appearance some 155 years later? Nobody has ever gotten the chance to ask because the moment anyone treads in his general direction, he completely disappears!
Within the stage area, there is also said to be the wandering spirit of Caroline. Decades ago she is said to have been romantically involved with a theatre worker there and depending on the version of events, was tossed post-coitally from the rafters above to the stage area where she died. Actors now speak about a feeling of dread and uneasiness along with vicious cold spots in the stage area. Sometimes the curtains have been known to bristly and move about wildly without anyone moving them on either side.
Of all things in 2017, a YouTube video surfaced of camera footage from the bar area. A bartender is quietly sweeping the floor when a dozen wine bottles on their racks fly off and smash across the room. Think we’re kidding? Check out the footage and when you’re in New Orleans, check out the Tableau for yourself, if you dare.
5900 West Midlothian Turnpike, Midlothian, IL 60445, USA
Located just minutes from downtown Chicago in the outlying area of Bremen Township is the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve. An innocuous forest area known for its hiking trails, walking paths, and viewing points of natural wildlife that many locals find pleasant. However, deep within the heart of this heavily wooded preserve is an isolated, one-acre cemetery than many locals say is the most haunted location in the entire Chicago area. Bachelor’s Grove looks pleasant upon approach, tranquil and unoffensive to most, yet the supernatural activity here is one of the reasons this place is locked and entry is forbidden after sundown.
Is The Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery Haunted?
Burials in Bachelor’s Grove are said to go back as far as 1834 when a portion of German immigrants settling to the area were buried here as well as workers who perished on the nearby Illinois and Michigan Canal. Eighty-two burial plots are thought to be here, however, the cemetery is abandoned and overgrown. A local rumor is that Chicago mobsters from the 1920s and 1930s used to come here and bury bodies of those they killed. The cemetery has a sordid little history on-site as well. In 1966, a hunter in the preserve found a murdered teenage girl on the cemetery grounds. In 1989, a woman lures her jilted lover to the cemetery only to murder him to a nearly mutilated capacity. In 1993, a man was found nearly beaten to death after a shady and unspecified criminal deal went afoul in the cemetery. But just how haunted is Bachelor’s Grove?
This may be a paranormal first, but an actual phantom ghost house has been physically known to manifest and then disappear. Stories and encounters of this vary wildly, but the depiction of the sighting is that of a dark and dilapidated farmhouse with a trail leading to it. One of the more bizarre stories is from people who while hiking to the cemetery become lost along the way. Their previous hiking path disappears and it is as if they are being drawn into the ghost house by some sort of strange supernatural energy. Reports from people claim they feel disoriented and lose a sense of direction, although none of the people ever make it to the floating ghost house because they end up fleeing in terror from this nightmare. Nomadic ghost houses are not the only unexplained roaming entities, a series of mysterious lights are commonly reported. Vast glowing orbs that have claimed to have been sized at up to four feet in diameter are spotted appearing, floating, disappearing, and then reappearing again on both hiking paths adjacent to the cemetery as well as in tree-lines. The floating light orbs have been described as ranging in color from a deep yellow hue, all the way up to a burning red.
The Ghosts of Bachelor’s Grove
One of the most famous associations with the cemetery today stems from a photograph taken at the cemetery that many say is one of the most convincing and authentic pieces of paranormal evidence to date. In 1991, a woman named Judy Huff entered the Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery with a paranormal investigation group. She was tasked with using an infrared camera to take pictures of the cemetery and anything that stood out as needing to be documented for their investigation. When the investigation was done for the day, Huff found herself being strangely compelled to take a few snapshots in the direction of some tombstones. When the film was developed, what she discovered could not have been more shocking. One lone photograph was of a picture of a ghostly figure, sitting solemnly on a tombstone looking downward in the direction of a grave. Over the years many people have tried to dispute Huff, and claim that the photo couldn’t possibly be real. Reputable photographers have examined the actual film negative that Huff kept of the picture from that fateful day and none have been able to prove that the photograph has been faked in any way.
Judy Huff’s Photograph of Bachelor’s Grove Ghost
The famous Judy Huff photograph is not the only instance of a female spirit being present in the cemetery. Known as “The White Lady” or “The Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove”, is a frequently spotted apparition of a taller woman dressed in solid white, carrying around an infant in her arms. She is thought to be buried somewhere on the property next to her infant child who possibly died at birth, the Madonna is spotted in and around times of full moons. Another spotted spirited is known as “The Farmer”. Believed to have been dragged to death by his horse while plowing, people have claimed to spot a ghostly spirit in period clothing stomping furiously behind a shadowy looking horse. If that wasn’t terrifying enough to see, the cemetery has been reported as having a mysterious two-headed ghost that roams the back of the land, while a black ghost dog has been reportedly spotted guarding the entrance.
Today the Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery is still accessible through the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve. Although abandoned, many who visit here claim that anyone who enters here must not come with bad intentions as it is a respected graveyard and in doing anything sinister is likely to cause a most unwanted manifestation. Guarded by Cook County Forest Officers, Bachelor’s Grove is only accessible during daylight hours.
Names and nicknames for cemeteries are always created with the utmost care and respect for the departed and their families. Typically there is a reference to the geographical area included if it is the only cemetery around. Other times, the creators of a cemetery name wish to convey very gentle, almost effervescent terms that describe emotions or even flowers. Grandview Cemetery, also known as Kasey Cemetery, in Elizabethtown, Kentucky seems likes a normal, and formalized name for a cemetery. However, it has been known to some locals and visitors, not as the Grandview, but instead “The Gates of Hell!”
Graves inside the Grandview Cemetery date all the way back into the 1700s, making it one of the oldest cemeteries in the entire state of Kentucky. The cemetery is in a borderline remote location and overgrowth has taken over parts of the land, as graves are scattershot amongst a Kentucky hillside. The origin of the cemetery is a mystery as not a lot of records name anyone officially creating it, however, it is likely called Kasey from a family name in the area. Elizabethtown was established in 1795 and few of the graves in there precede that date. There is little information available about its history, but one thing is certain, and that it’s a supremely haunted location of diabolical proportions.
Is The Grandview Cemetery in Kentucky Haunted?
Spirits here are said to be the supernatural manifestation of Satanic occult practices carried out in the cemetery and woods surrounding it over the last two hundred years. The atmosphere they create is one of invisible fear as few people have reported feeling quite uneasy stepping foot onto the cemetery property. This uneasiness is accompanied by them unexplainably bleeding out of their nose or even their mouth. Not life-threatening amounts, but no doubt getting a visitor’s attention. For those that flee, some people have reported loved ones who visited the cemetery walk away speaking in bizarre tongues and the further they travel from the cemetery, the strange language weakens in strength until their normal speech returns.
Satanic rituals have been reported here for quite a long time. In 2003 there was a discovery made at the cemetery by some locals that including the bizarre finding of dead cats, dogs, deer, and a baby calf. Kentucky State Police were actually called in to check things out, but a detective ruled out animal cruelty as there was no direct forensic evidence found to warrant such crimes. Animal sacrifices here have happened on the property so often over the years that some locals have referred to it as “the Killing Field”. Such sacrifices are said to call upon a witch that lives in the wooded area. People have reported hearing blood-curdling screams in the middle of the day as well as at night with nobody around at all. Unexplained black patches of grass along with blinking orbs that appear and disappear have this graveyard as perhaps the most haunted in the entire state.
Today the Grandview (Kasey) Cemetery is still accessible, albeit a little out of the way from the normal Elizabethtown roads. With its sordid history of witchcraft and borderline demonic activity in the cemetery, it lives up to the “Gates of Hell” nickname to the terrifying fullest.
Witches and hauntings have long been associated with the Salem Witch Trials of Massachusetts. The paranoia during those early Colonial days was all too real, and people lost their lives over actions and accusations. But the persecution of witches occurred again, nearly 160 years later on the opposite side of the United States in the state of Oregon. The sleepy town of Lafayette lies half an hour southwest of Portland and is home to the haunted and wholly eerie Lafayette Pioneer Cemetery. In fact, other than the headstones the only other sign that the land is a cemetery is that someone nailed a board saying “Lafayette Pioneer Cemetery” to a tree. This land is said to hold the spirit of a witch who some say doesn’t like visitors.
Is The Lafayette Pioneer Cemetery Haunted?
Her name was never known and her crime only a half-truth at best, but being a witch even in the mid-19th Century was a crime. According to oral history passed down over the years and reported by locals, there lived a witch in the town of Lafayette. Once she was discovered, she was violently beaten, and then taken out and hung. Her lifeless body was buried somewhere on the cemetery property and people claim that the paranormal and unexplained supernatural activity there is directly attributed to her.
One of the most bizarre and incredible reports of activity associated with the witch is a change in the weather. Not just rain to sun or hail to snow, but it’s almost as if the entire season changes. A hot summer day suddenly has a mid-winter gust to it. Winter winds suddenly give way to a spike in temperatures. If one is to make it inside the small, rusted wrought iron fence then the next experience is that of being watched. Many people who have entered the area claim they have feelings of dread and that they are not welcome. Past those encounters, many people have reported hearing whispering from a female voice. In fact, there is an EVP floating around on the internet that was recorded by a couple at the cemetery who captured the voice of the witch screaming, “run home!” It can’t be said with any degree of accuracy why the witch picks on some visitors as opposed to others, but even genial people visiting with respect have been scratched by an unseen entity here.
Unfortunately for the paranormal enthusiast, this cemetery today is currently off-limits to the public as a “no trespassing” rule has been put into effect by the county since the paranormal antics of the witch have caused a lot of unwanted attention.
Ghost towns are very chilling places that can evoke bits of dread in people because unlike an unseen poltergeist, a ghost town is tangible. Cemeteries, like ghost towns, bring about an even greater sense of dread because not only are they tangible, but they also contain the actual plots of dead people. Pere Cheney, Michigan is recognized as a ghost town by traditional standards today, and the Pere Cheney Cemetery is also recognized as haunted. However, this particular cemetery goes for the paranormal trifecta in that it is haunted by a terrifying witch.
Is The Pere Cheney Cemetery Haunted?
Pere Cheney is a modern-day ghost town in northern Michigan. It was founded in 1873 by a sawmill businessman named George Cheney, who was looking to take advantage of the ever-expanding Michigan Central Railroad. A general store, post office, carpenter shop, doctor’s office, and even a bustling hotel were added. In the late 1870s, the town’s population peaked at a little over 1,500 before tragedy struck. A raging case of diphtheria broke out and by 1917, only 18 people were said to have remained in the town. Once the outbreak occurred, the majority of the townspeople fled and moved away, however, it is thought that as many as ninety townspeople are still residing in the town cemetery. Local oral legends dictate that the town and the cemetery are haunted, and possibly by the Pere Cheney Cemetery Witch.
The most lasting theory on the witch is that her origins are not totally based in witchcraft. The belief is that she was going to conceive an illegitimate child out of wedlock. Due to cultural norms at the time, she was considered an outcast and she voiced her frustration by cursing the entire town, including the cemetery before being banished to the local woods. Another rumor has her being hanged at a large oak tree in the center of the cemetery, but this is only speculation, however, on more than one occasion, vandals have attempted to find her remains near the oak tree.
The witch isn’t the only resident spirit thought to be in this secluded cemetery, people who have visited have reported hearing the disturbing laughter and playful antics of children, although there are none to be seen. Other times, people have walked around the cemetery only to return to their cars and find dozens of child-like handprints all over their cars. Additionally, one of the more common occurrences is the presence of soft-colored orbs that have been reported floating about during the night time.
Pere Cheney Cemetery today is simply a ghost town cemetery forgotten by modern times. The road to visit there is challenging, and even looking at the headstones is more challenging since grave robbers and headstone thieves have made this destination a vandal’s paradise, but recent measures and patrols are being stepped up to make this a safe, and wholly respected place to visit.
A dozen miles outside of Portland, tucked away in the southeastern corner of Maine, is the Smith Anderson Cemetery. This sleepy and tucked away area from the hamlet of Windham is home to what many believe to be the single most haunted graveyard in all of Maine. If famous resident author Stephen King was ever looking for inspiration on a new novel, then Smith Anderson will definitely bring the chills.
Is the Smith Anderson Cemetery Haunted?
The cemetery dates all the way back to the mid-1700s, which is the date of the oldest grave residing there. Two-year-old Elijah Wight, son of a minister, has a tombstone dating to 1744. While the historical date lines up with Elijah’s grave, the name of the cemetery comes from two different families. Reverend Peter Thatcher Smith and his family’s tombs make up a portion of this cemetery. The other comes from a former mayor of Portland, John Anderson, with his family holding a sizable crypt on the property as well. A crypt that some visitors have reported a mysterious banging noise emanating from. This surprisingly isolated cemetery at the end of a long dirt road has over 528 known graves, with possibly more covered by vegetation. Was it mentioned that the spirits here have a penchant for automobiles?
As old as the cemetery is, the number one most reported experience here has to do with visitors’ automobiles. People visiting the Smith Anderson Cemetery have walked around for only minutes only to return and find there cars suspiciously moved anywhere from five to ten feet. Parking is level, yet there is no reason why so many people report their cars mysteriously lurching forward. Other times, people come back and find all four of their car doors wide open. Nothing is stolen, no signs of breaking and entering; just doors wide open. To date, there is no plausible explanation for the cars being moved but one theory is that they are parked on top of unmarked and deeply buried graves and the spirits want them moved. Cars also have been known to stall out and not start with no known mechanical problems, but then suddenly fire up.
Spirit-wise, noises and supernatural specters are what other visitors encounter the most. People report noises that resemble battle war cries along with chilling, siren-like noises. A shadow figure has been reported to walk amongst the tombstone rows late at night. One of the most terrifying reports is that a small percentage of people have had something follow them home from the cemetery. Some have reported that spirits have followed them home and wreaked poltergeist havoc in the form of loud banging noises, items moving, and the unsettling feeling of being watched.
The Smith Anderson Cemetery is still totally accessible to visitors near the Windham area of Maine. As harmless as the spirits are in moving a car or opening a door, there is a paranormal contingent that may not be as genial. If and when visiting this cemetery, a quiet and respectful decorum is essential.
Situated on the outskirts of the Manhattan city skyline, are the surprisingly Gothic-styled school buildings of Fordham University. Considered one of the “Hidden Ivies” (a cousin to the Ivy League), Fordham has turned out such a wide and famous array of alumni to include Denzel Washington, Andrew Cuomo, William J. Clark, Lana Del Ray, Alan Alda, Cardinal Francis Spellman, and even former student transfer President Donald Trump. With such a wildly successful academic program that boasts a graduation rate of above 80%, just what exactly is the real story behind the paranormal activity on the third-oldest campus in the entire state of New York?
Is Fordham University Haunted?
Fordham University was founded in 1841 under the name of St. John’s College. Jesuits ran the college at first with a heavy emphasis in turning out would-be priests, however, in 1904 both a law school and medical school were opened on campus and the school was renamed Fordham University in honor of the diminutive nearby Bronx village. Boasting an attendance around 15,000 students across nine different academic disciplines, Fordham is everything a prospective student wants….even when it comes to ghosts.
Haunted Keating Hall
Examining the paranormal activity at Fordham, it appears that the activity itself is not confined to a single area. Keating Hall (as seen in 1973’s legendary horror film The Exorcist) had a campus security officer doing a routine safety check for the building late one evening. A strange banging sound emanated from the basement area and upon inspection, to his great horror, chairs were mysteriously sliding across the room and crashing into the wall. The security guard was in fact so scared, that he tripped out of his shoes running in terror and never bothered to get them and quit the job!
The Little Girl of Martyr’s Court
Martyr’s Court is a cross section area of campus that holds two antiquated residence halls. Students in the dormitory there have for decades seen the spirit of a little girl with blonde hair who peeps from around corners in the bathrooms only to disappear when approached. At other times, preceding her presence, doors in the room will mysteriously open or close shut causing more than one student to put in a transfer to a non-haunted room across campus.
The Ghosts of Finlay Hall
Finlay Hall is exclusive to Fordham’s upperclassmen as well as ghostly spirits. Serving as the former medical school location where cadavers were routinely opened up and examined, it has its share of spiritual encounters. Cold spots, mysterious whispers are among some of the gentler haunts here. Other times, students have awoken to the feeling of having a spirit tug at their feet or at other times even shaking them awake!
Queen’s Court Exorcism
Across campus at Queen’s Court, things were so active one night that a resident Jesuit priest who stayed on campus actually had to perform a ritual blessing to ward off the spirits that caused him and the students in the hall not to get any sleep!
Today, Fordham University continues to enjoy tremendous academic success and is one of the few universities that has acknowledged its paranormal activity.
Just the name of Gettysburg alone brings forth a procession of somber thoughts such as the Civil War, Lincoln’s famous speech with its maxims largely unfollowed, the spate of graves and battlefields serving as grim reminders that the specter of death is forever looming on humanity. While Gettysburg has such haunted places as the Farnsworth House Inn and the Gettysburg Hotel, there is one more such place that paranormal enthusiasts can add to that haunted column…..Gettysburg College.
Is Gettysburg College Haunted?
Gettysburg College was originally founded in back 1832. Sitting atop a sprawling 225 plus acres of lush Pennsylvania countryside, the college was first meant to be a sister campus for the Lutheran Theological Seminary. The early success was fleeting as many of the faculty left for the brighter medical schools in Philadelphia, leaving Gettysburg College to founder. Before anything further could be done with the college, the Civil War erupted and before long the many soldiers were paving their battle marches right through the small city.
Due to its optimal location, the college was used as a soldier headquarters as well as an impromptu field hospital that was surprisingly shared by Confederate and Union soldiers alike. After the war, the school slowly accepted students again with mediocre success until former President Dwight Eisenhower became involved with the school and its popularity exploded. However, with a spike in attendance, it wasn’t before long that students and alumni both walked away with greater knowledge of the paranormal activity.
Haunted Penn Hall
Penn Hall is not only the most haunted building on campus, but it is also the oldest as it was built in 1832. Being one of the more established at the time, it served as the field hospital during the Battle of Gettysburg. Reports of the paranormal activity here start innocent enough with lights mysteriously flickering on and off without any provocation or explanation. There are sudden thudding sounds and whispering voices that can be heard in the halls from time to time. However, it is the basement area of Penn Hall that is the most frightening.
Reports of students and administrators using the elevators between floors are nothing new, however in the experiences, the elevators seem to malfunction and instead of going to the desired floor, they’re taken straight to the basement. Once elevator doors have opened, the reports are rather gruesome. People have seen several Civil War soldiers standing around in near full physical manifestation. Their appearance has been deemed frightening as along with this manifestation, their ghastly and bloody battle wounds are fully exposed and manifested as well. Witnesses to this incredible supernatural scene have said that the soldiers seem totally unaware that anyone from the living is standing there in their presence. Some people have even likened this to a powerfully dramatic scene from a war film as even bloodstained surgeons are seen committing to performing impromptu amputations on soldiers.
Haunted Stevens Hall
Across campus is another paranormal hotspot in Stevens Hall. A dormitory that was actually constructed in the early 20th Century as a college prep school that housed only female students, the dormitory is actually haunted by the spirit of a young boy. According to oral legend, an orphaned boy was found by some of the young girl students during a fierce winter storm. His face was a bluish hue from the cold, and they tried to warm him. At some point, a house mother found the boy and some sort of struggle ensued and the boy tried to escape out the window but instead fell and disappeared into the night.
Over the years, residents at this particular hall have claimed to hear a knocking sound outside the room windows as if someone were trying to get in from the outside, even a towering three stories up with no ledges. Alongside the tapping, students have claimed to see the disembodied face of the young orphan boy turned quite blue, pressed up against the glass outside their window. To this day the “Blue Boy” still makes his presence known at Stevens Hall.
Haunted Huber Hall
Not far from Stevens Hall is the reputedly haunted Huber Hall that houses mostly first-year students. Opening in 1917, the hall has accommodations for up to one hundred students, but limitless space for ghosts. Objects that mysteriously move around as well as a host of malfunctioning electronics are little more than enough evidence to convince even the most skeptical that there is life after death. If that’s not enough to convince someone there have also been reports of ghostly Civil War soldiers walking right through the walls!
Today, Gettysburg College enjoys tremendous academic success and remains one of the most historical colleges in the northeastern United States.
Ohio University Acting, South College Street, Athens, OH 45701, USA
Athens is a sleepy small city located in the lower southeastern region of Ohio. With a population just barely above 28,000, this area of the state, at one point in its history, had a fairly large Native American tribal presence from the Shawnee. Whether some are buried in the land of Athens remains up for debate, as does the location of bodies from the former Athens Lunatic Asylum. But what do these final resting places have to do with paranormal activity at Ohio University?
Ohio University was founded in 1804 and was actually started years earlier and was recognized as the first chartered university in the state of Ohio under the former Congress of the Confederation. The first three students enrolled at the university in 1809, while the first-ever bachelor’s degrees were granted in 1815. As the years rolled by, more degrees and programs were added to this public research university which has an endowment somewhere in the $570 million dollar range as well as a student population hovering near 20,000. With so much mild-mannered academic success, what truly lurks in the shadows at Ohio University?
Is Ohio University Haunted?
The most haunted place on campus is said to be Wilson Hall. This dormitory residence was actually built in 1964 and named after former alumni Hiram Wilson. Standing at a simple four stories, this all brick co-ed building has been anything but quiet. Students have claimed that Room 428 has given off the most supernatural activity. The door has opened and closed without anyone there to do it. Disembodied voices are said to be heard emanating from not only the room but down the hallway, as well along with on and off again pockets of freezing cold air. The activity has been surprisingly active as objects have been seen both levitating and being thrown across the room by an unseen force. In fact, students have claimed to see very demonic-looking faces in the door and threshold of the room!
Origins for the paranormal activity here have been lent themselves to a blend of fact and oral folklore. Sometime in the early 1970s, a female student lived in the room who was a heavy practitioner of astral projection. Astral projection is the meditative practice of spiritually leaving one’s physical body to discover the different vibrational conscious planes of existence. It is incredibly dangerous because not only is returning the spirit back into the body nearly impossible, but the physical body can also be temporarily inhabited by a malevolent entity. Eventually, the young woman committed suicide in a bizarre ritual and the room has been sealed shut. Did her own astral projection experiences cause her suicide? Or was it perhaps demon driven? Bizarrely enough, Wilson Hall is situated midpoint in an actual pentagram of cemeteries!
There are surrounding cemeteries that if you look at the campus geographically, Wilson Hall sits dead center of them all including the remains of Shawnee members as well as those from the Athens Lunatic Asylum. Paranormal theorists speculate that the pentagram itself is used in conjurations of very powerful magic and the fact that Wilson Hall is central to them has some wondering if this were the epicenter of some bizarre ritual, given Room 428’s history. Is the power from the mystical practices of the Shawnee? Or the negative energy associated with the asylum? Today Room 428 is still sealed and these questions remain largely unanswered, but if one is in Wilson Hall please steer clear of Room 428. Or not.
Notorious 313 Sinister Detroit History Lantern Tour
Detroit’s original true crime and ghost tour takes you for a stroll on the city’s sinister side where terrifying true stories and ominous local legends from the past are revealed.
Why do downtown pedestrians walk over the dead daily? Who’s buried beneath the Ren Cen? Why do some people believe a busy parking lot, gentrified park, and library are haunted? Why is the spirit of master illusionist Harry Houdini tied to Detroit?
Discover the answer to these questions and more creepy true stories such as Dueling Undertakers, Mob Hits, Last Man Hanging, and Happily Never After on this downtown Notorious 313 Sinister Detroit History Lantern Tour.
Notorious 313: Where the real crime is not taking this tour.
