The Dunstable Hitchhiker

In October 1979, Roy Fulton left his local pub and accidentally wandered into a horror story. Driving home that night, he allegedly stopped to give a lift to a random hitchhiker, somewhere on the cold and lonely roads outside Dunstable.

The guy got into his car without a word and the two sped off into the night. After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Fulton awkwardly tried to make small talk. When that failed, he lit a cigarette and turned around to offer his passenger one. The guy was gone.

At no point had Fulton slowed down. At no point had the hitchhiker had any chance to leap from the vehicle. And yet there was no one there. Fulton’s story may match many other tales of ghostly hitchhikers, but it was so convincing that the national papers covered it. In the years since, the story has resurfaced across the UK in various forms, but never in such a simple and chilling way as the Dunstable tale.

MAD BUTCHER

Most people think of Eliot Ness and immediately associate him with Al Capone. However, the famous American lawman was also involved in one of the most infamous and brutal serial murder cases in United States history, only this time Ness would not get his man. In fact, to this day the Cleveland Torso Murders, perpetrated by a man known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run, remain unsolved. In fact, his inability to find the murderer is said to have been the cause of his descent into alcoholism.

From 1934 to 1938, the Mad Butcher brutally murdered thirteen people, generally leaving only the torsos of the corpses behind. In all, seven men and six women were murdered, with only two victims ever having been identified. Two men were arrested in suspicion of being the Mad Butcher, but they were never convicted. The first suspect, Frank Dolezal, had originally confessed but later recanted, and died in custody. The second suspect, Dr. Francis Sweeney, failed a polygraph test but was released due to a lack of evidence. Ness’s journal hints that he knew who the killer was but could never prove it. And if the untouchable Eliot Ness was unable to prove who the killer was, that’s probably a pretty good indication that these are murders that will go forever unsolved.

Beyond the Gravestones

Why Are Thousands of People Disappearing From National Parks?

Thousands of unsolved missing person cases are occurring in National Parks and Forests in the US and around the world, and one researcher has been feverishly looking into the mystery. David Paulides, former law enforcement officer and current private investigator, has published four books detailing these disturbing disappearances, leaving others to speculate about the cause.

Every year, thousands of people go missing. Many of these cases are solved, or at least the cause can be reasonably ascertained. Strangers kidnap kids for ransom or worse, estranged parents kidnap their own children from former spouses, and crimes lead to disappearances of a clearly criminal nature.

Then there are cases that are truly inexplicable, like the ones detailed in Paulides book Missing 411 and the three volumes published since. These cases differ in strange ways from other missing person cases. They are happening in remote areas of National Parks, monuments and forests, and federal agencies are not keeping track or sharing information.

All of the cases that are meticulously documented in the books have happened in 52 clearly defined geographic clusters. The Rocky Mountains and Sierra Pacific range are two areas where cases are concentrated. Colorado, Michigan, Georgia and Arkansas are other hot spots. Other countries are also involved, with many cases documented in Canada and Europe.

High altitude locations, berry patches, swamps and boulder strewn landscapes are typical locations where people are going missing. Many of the victims are physically fit, well equipped with outdoor gear – and even hunting weapons – and are familiar with the area from which they disappear. A large number of cases involve people who vanish suddenly while hiking or camping with family and friends.

A large percentage of victims whose bodies are found are missing their shoes and socks, even though they went missing in cold weather where being shoeless could be a death sentence in itself. The shoes are seldom found. The majority of victims are male, mentally handicapped in some way or in the genius intellectual range.

Bodies are also found at higher elevations than where they were last seen alive, defying explanation as to how they could have gotten to such an inaccessible place. In one case, a physician went hiking to a winter cabin with friends. They had all been there before and were in excellent physical condition and equipped with new snow gear.

The missing man vanished after going ahead on the trail a short distance and was then found two weeks later, miles away, hundreds of feet higher in elevation than when he was last seen, in a steep ravine with all his snow gear and emergency equipment and provisions unused and his shoes nowhere to be found.

The Great Amherst Mystery

Famous poltergeist case which took place in 1878-79 in Amherst, Nova Scotia. The focus of the case was 18-year-old Esther Cox, who lived in the overcrowded Teed home with her sister Jennie, her other sister Olive and her husband Daniel Teed, her brother William, Daniel Teed’s brother John and the two Teed boys.

About a week after Esther’s boyfriend, Bob MacNeal, tried to rape her at gunpoint, scratching noises were heard in Esther’s bedroom and she screamed to her sister Jennie that there was a mouse in the bed with her. As Jennie rushed to her aid, she saw a cardboard box move by itself- and of course, no mouse was found. The next night, Esther’s face turned bright red and her body swelled to twice its normal size. While Esther cried that she was dying, a loud booming noise was heard outside.  A few days later, Esther was still alarmingly swollen. Her bedsheets were torn off her while she was sleeping and thrown at John Teed, who immediately left the home, swearing never to return. The rest of the Teed family sat on Esther’s sheets to try to keep them in place. When the local doctor visited to examine Esther, plaster flew off the walls and chillingly, the words “Esther Cox, you are mine to kill!” appeared on the wall above her bed. When the doctor prescribed morphine the next day, he was hit by a volley of potatoes, which struck so hard that he was actually knocked across the room.

Loud noises continued for weeks and the lurid story hit the newspapers. A local minister witnessed a bucket of cold water come to a boil while sitting on the kitchen table. Esther fell into a trance and told that Bob MacNeal had tried to rape her. Jennie proclaimed that the haunting was Bob’s fault and the poltergeist began rapidly knocking on the walls as if in agreement. In future messages the ghost wrote on walls, it would often sign itself “Bob”. 

When Esther caught diptheria, the haunting ceased but it started back up again when she recovered. She got a job at a restaurant owned by a neighbor, but while she was at the restaurant, she was hit on the head with a scrubbing brush, oven doors clanged open and things stuck to her like she was a magnet. She was given special shoes with glass soles in an attempt to reduce some of the phenomena but she said the shoes gave her headaches and nosebleeds. She also began to hear voices in her head which threatened to stab her and burn the Teed home down.Lit matches sometimes rained down on her from the bedroom ceiling and one of her dresses once caught fire while it was hanging in the closet.

When a magician came to Amherst, hoping to make some money exploiting the phenomena, the poltergeist threw carving knives, an umbrella and a chair at him. Pins were jammed into Eshter’s hand, fires broke out in the house and a trumpet was heard playing in the home. Later, a small silver trumpet was found. No one could remember seeing it before. Esther’s brother George found himself forcibly undressed in public three different times by the poltergeist and the family cat was levitated five feet in the air.

Concerned that the poltergeist trouble would affect the property’s value, the Teed’s landlord asked Esther to leave the house. She went to work on a local farm but when items disappeared, she was accused of theft and when the barn burned down, she was accused of arson and sentenced to four months in jail. During her time in the big house, the poltergeist activity stopped entirely and never returned. Esther was able to return to a normal life that included whispers about whether she engineered the poltergeist herself and a lifelong drinking problem. 

The Belle of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky

One of the most haunted places in Louisville KY is the Belle of Louisville, a well-known steamboat that is considered to be one of the city’s crowning jewels.

The ship was previously known as the Idlewild and during World War II, Captain Ben Winters apparently decided to install some gaming tables and slot machines on the ship.

However, authorities soon raided it, and the Captain suffered a heart attack during it. He passed away in his cabin, but according to employees and visitors, he certainly did not leave!

Several strange occurrences have been reported in the years since his death. Including the main wheel in the pilot house moving on its own. Despite the bridge being locked down, several crew members have seen the Captain in his dress uniform around the ship.

Captain Winters is by no means the only spirit haunting The Belle of Louisville.

There are also reports of a deckhand named Floyd hanging around. Floyd was crushed to death by one of the pitman arms that control the paddle wheel and ever since the crew say that they can hear Floyd whistling a jaunty tune, just like he was known to do when alive!

Sunland Hospital
Orlando, Florida

Sunland Hospital in Orlando was initially built to serve as a tuberculosis hospital, but it was later re-purposed as the Sunland Training Center for Retarded Children.

Over the years that it was in operation, there were numerous allegations of abuse, neglect and health code violations.

The hospital was torn down in 1999 and only the old administration block remains. The property is now a park, but it seems as though many of the former patients are still lingering here.

There are often reports of disembodied children’s laughter, strange light anomalies and the swings and other playground apparatus moving by itself as though the children who died in the hospital are still here playing.

Tillie Pierce House Inn
Gettysburg, PA

Another one of the most haunted inns in Gettysburg would have to be the Tillie Pierce House Inn. If you recognize the name Tillie Pierce, then it is probably because she became very well known for writing a book that detailed her experiences and the aftermath of the battle of Gettysburg.

She was a teenager at the time and was pulled into nursing and caring for the wounded soldiers. She was witness to many things that were not befitting of a teenage girl including the battle itself, a number of amputations and many other horrors associated with such a bloody war.

The most haunted spot in the inn is said to be The Blue Room. People have reported hearing footsteps walking above them in the attic and have also claimed that someone is sitting on the bed watching them!

Some guests have reported seeing a soldier who constantly walks down the stairs, enters the blue room and then retreats back up the stairs again, almost as though he is patrolling the area!

New Hampshire State Hospital
Concord, New Hampshire

New Hampshire State Hospital in Concord was originally known as the decidedly more creepy name ‘New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane’ when it first opened and it has a very similar history to some of the other asylums in New England, such as Danvers State Hospital in Massachusetts.

In short, the conditions hear were brutal and patients were neglected, abused, tortured and even experimented on.

Like so many asylums of the time, New Hampshire State Hospital was closed down amidst allegations about the lack of care given to patients. However, not before this pain and suffering left a permanent scar on the building!

Although the hospital now lies abandoned it is certainly not empty…

Those who have come to visit report hearing phantom footsteps and disembodied screams.

They have encountered cold spots and seen objects pushed off of tables or shelves by unseen hands.

The elevators have also started working all on their own and anyone who visits says that they feel a constant feeling that someone is watching them very closely.

It is not at all surprising that this old asylum is one of the most haunted places in New Hampshire.

Whitley Jail aka, Columbia City Jail
Fort Wayne, Indiana

One of the creepiest haunted places in Fort Wayne, Indiana is the Old Whitley Jail aka. Columbia City Jail. Established back in 1875, the Whitley Jail now serves as part of a haunted house during Halloween celebrations and as a historical site.

Ghost hunters make their way to the old Jail in hopes of encountering the ghost of Charles Butler. Butler was a criminal who broke out of the jail only to be caught, returned to the jail, and sentenced to death by hanging.

Due to complications during the hanging, he ended up strangling for 10 minutes rather than having his neck broken immediately. His ghost is believed to haunt the jail since.

Witnesses have heard laughter, voices, and footsteps. The ghost of an unknown woman and the ghost a former sheriff are also believed to haunt the jail.

Miss Molly’s Hotel
Fort Worth, Texas

Miss Molly’s Hotel has long been considered to be one of the most haunted places in Fort Worth. This does not really come as much of a big surprise since the bed & breakfast is nestled right in the heart of Fort Worth’s historic stockyards!

The hotel is known to attract mainly two types of guests in more or less equal measures – Wild West romantics and paranormal enthusiasts!

Miss Molly’s started out life as an upscale boarding house called The Palace Rooms in 1910. A short time later it became a speakeasy during the prohibition era before falling on hard times and doing a stint as a bordello!

In recent years it has become more and more known as a haunted location with a number of tragic entities circa the 1940s and 1950s making themselves known.

Most of the spirits seem to be women and they include murdered prostitutes and a lady who died from lung disease.

What is the most intriguing part is that according to visiting mediums, none of the ladies seemed aware that they had passed away!

Over the years, many guests have reported seeing pretty female spirits appearing at the foot of their bed, especially in the Cattlemen’s Room.

There are also reports of a young girl being spotted and she is believed to have died of typhoid in the 19th century.

The spirits here are highly active. Just some of the paranormal activity that they engage in includes creating cold spots, moving guests’ belongings, leaving coins on random surfaces, making the lights flicker, causing unexplained smells and creating shadows.

Without a doubt, this has to be one of the most haunted locations in Fort Worth!

Do you think this creepy pic shows a graveyard ghost (or two)?

Rendlesham Forest

Woodbridge, UK

The incident at Rendlesham Forest may be one of the best pieces of eyewitness evidence for alien existence. We may never know the full story of what happened between December 26 and 27, 1980. It is one of the few officially documented UFO sightings where witnesses claim to have seen a craft land.

James Penniston was sent as part of a team to investigate an aircraft crash after strange lights were observed emitting from the trees. What they saw was a strange triangular aircraft, unlike any they had seen before. Officer Jim Penniston’s witness account describes a craft made from smooth, opaque, black glass and was covered in hieroglyphic-like characters. When they approached, their radios malfunctioned and the air seemed to pop and fizzle with electricity. After they inspected the aircraft, the lights emitting from the side started to burn brighter, and the aircraft soundlessly rose from the ground. The soldiers chased it into a field, where it abruptly shot upward, shining brilliant lights down on them. At that moment the witnesses lost consciousness. When they came to, they were back in the forest. 

The morning after the incident witnessed by Burroughs and Penniston, indentations on the forest floor were spotted, as well as damage to the trees in the area where the lights had been seen. Radiation levels recorded at the site of the indentations were also reported to be unusually high. Burroughs, Penniston, and Col. Halt have been the most vocal in saying they believe what they saw was extraterrestrial in origin, but they are not the only eyewitnesses. Everyone involved was instructed to never speak of this event, and the following investigation was classified and apart from eye-witness statements no official documents have ever been released to the public.

The Crouching Boy

Uploaded to Reddit in 2016, the submitter explains this photo of his father was taken by his girlfriend in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado. Taken on an iPhone but zoomed in, he claims there was no one around at the time. His girlfriend also saw nothing when taking the photo. She didn’t realize the mysterious figure crouching in the grass was in the picture until they returned home.

Backyard Apparition

In 2009 Patrick Heil snapped this picture of his backyard. In the upper-left hand corner appears to be a dark presence staring straight back at him. If this figure wasn’t creepy enough, Patrick claims there was no-one there at the time he took the picture.

The Salem Inn

Salem, Massachusetts

The Salem Inn was the 1834 home of Captain Nathaniel West, a successful sea captain and merchant. It later became the home of Civil War General Williams Cogswell. General Cogswell also served as mayor of Salem. The current owners bought the property over 35 years ago and converted it into the Salem Inn.

Since then, the owners have expanded the Salem Inn into two other buildings, the Peabody House, built in 1874 and the Curwen House. Curwen House was built in 1854 by James and Samuel Curwen.

It is said that there are three spirits in the Inn. The owners don’t believe any spirits are haunting the Inn but staff and guests have had several experiences, just read the journals in the rooms.

The first is a woman who is referred to as Elizabeth, perhaps after Nathaniel West’s wife, who divorced her husband for his extramarital affairs. Others refer to the spirit as Katherine.

There is also a little boy who is heard running up and down the staircase and through the halls. Staff have heard a child giggling when there are no children in the Inn.

The third ghost is that of a cat, the Inn has no cats, but guests report seeing one dart down the hallway or into a room.

Some of the strange occurrences the guests and staff have experience include that classic ghostly behavior of thievery. Countless times, members of the staff have complained of coal logs vanishing from the fireplaces, and even freshly set up candles disappearing from the surface on which they were placed upon.

One room that has achieved legendary status at the inn is Room 17. It is within this room that guests and staff alike have claimed to have experienced the most activity. Reports of items mysteriously moving from one location to another and the sight of unexplainable shadows are not uncommon. The ghost of Room 17, is believed to be a woman who was killed by her husband. This betrayal by her husband, has lead to her spirit’s ill treatment of any man who stays in the room. Usually when a man does spend the night in Room 17, she’ll become quite active in order to disrupt their sleep. She achieves this by causing loud noises in the closet, and stomping around the room. It’s been said, if you leave a tumbler of whiskey, or any alcohol for that matter, she just may leave you to a restful night of sleep.

The last of this spirit triangle, is believed to be the ghost of a child. The staff have said that they’ve heard the sound of a child giggling, at times when there were no kids saying at the inn. Some staff members have also heard light footsteps following them around the inn. Footsteps so faint they could have only been made by a child, but upon turning around expecting to see a kid in need of assistance, they are baffled by the discovery of nothing.

Old Burying Point Cemetery

Salem, Massachusetts

In Salem, Massachusetts, you’ll find the second oldest cemetery in the country, the Old Burying Point Cemetery. The Burying Point was established in 1637. For its age, every occupant at the Burying Point unquestionably holds historical importance. But, one of the most interesting names etched into the ancient gravestones belongs to John Hathorne.

Along with Hathorne, you’ll find most of the names associated with the Salem Witch Trials at Burying Point. From the memorial for the wrongfully accused to the headstones of their pious chastisers, Old Burying Point Cemetery is a step back into a time when the line between the wicked and the innocent blurred. Others who were laid to rest at Old Burying Point include Mayflower passenger, Captain Richard More, and the last governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Simon Bradstreet.

Since the first bodies were laid to rest at Old Burying Point, there have been many strange occurrences. The occurrences were widely believed to be supernatural, as this was the era of the witch. It is also because of this era that many choose to discredit these accounts of paranormal activity as a good case of hysteria.

Nathaniel Hawthorne once wrote, “There is a fatality, a feeling so irresistible and inevitable that it has the force of doom, which almost invariably compels human beings to linger around and haunt, ghostlike, the spot where some great and marked event has given the color to their lifetime; and still the more irresistibly, the darker the tinge that saddens it.”

Paranormal Activity at Old Burying Point

Sensitives who have visited Old Burying Point have reportedly become overwhelmed with the sensation of sadness and despair. Even while just walking through the graveyard, the heavy feeling of depression descends and sends innocent passerby into feeling as though there is little hope to be found in the world.

Over the years people have successfully captured EVP of voices from the beyond at Old Burying Point. Also captured at the cemetery via photographs are mysterious shadows, emanating lights, orbs, white mist and even apparitions.

One of these apparitions belongs to Mary Bright Corey, who died on August 28th, 1684. She was the second wife of Giles Corey, who later became an unfortunate victim of the Witch Trials. Giles died from his inflicted torture on September 19th, 1692, just after the eighth anniversary of Mary’s passing.

Another ghost that has been seen is the figure of a woman who appears in the back corner of the cemetery. She is usually spotted wearing a powder blue dress, whilst holding a picnic basket in hand. Sometimes, she is also accompanied by a young boy. It is the believed the two spirits were mother and son, and died in a fire.

The Ghostly Lady in White

In addition to the other ghosts spotted at Old Burying Point, another apparition that has been seen with great frequency is a Lady in White. However, she seems to be a bit camera shy, as there is little photographic evidence of her manifestations.

Normally, once the cameras come out, the Lady in White transitions into bright orbs or vanishes altogether. Although, on at least one occasion, an expertly timed photograph was slightly able to capture an image of her figure.

The Lady in White has allegedly even been spotted in the parking lot to the cemetery, as well as near by in buildings and restaurants. Though, it’s entirely possible these sightings are of different spirits.

Ragged Cot Inn
England

The Ragged Cot is a 17th-century coaching inn and is said to be haunted by a mother and child who died there. The story goes that one night the landlord of the inn decided to hold up a stagecoach. His wife went after him to stop him from carrying out the robbery. Unfortunately, she was holding her baby in her arms as she confronted him. Pushing her aside, both his wife and child fell to their deaths down the stairs. 

Horrified at what he had done, he hid their bodies in a trunk. When the police arrived shortly after to arrest him for the robbery, mysteriously the bodies of his wife and child were found back at the foot of the stairs where they had died. As he was led away by the police it’s said the apparitions of his wife and child were seen walking back up the stairs disappearing into the darkness.

Since that time, guests and staff have reported hearing unexplained noises around the Inn. The sound of a struggle has been heard near the stairs followed by the sound of a body falling. The sounds are believed to be the bodies of Bill Claver’s wife and child tumbling into eternity.

Ghostly Face Photographed at an Abandoned Hotel?

The photo was reportedly taken at an abandoned hotel and appears to show a ghostly face peeking from behind some bushes. The image was posted to Reddit, where one user named “HRMark” claims they were present went the picture was taken.

In response to a theory that suggested to face was a hanging potted-plant, “HRMark” said, “I was there when this was taken, and there was nothing hanging like that anywhere near.” He also added that one of his friends reportedly saw some strange activity while inside the hotel. “Another guy with us went upstairs inside the hotel and saw a lamplight coming from one of the rooms.”

Many still believe there is a more conventional explanation for this figure. Some believe it to simply be part of the shrub, while others think it could’ve been a person dressed in a costume.

Ghost Photographed in an Abandoned Oklahoma Building

This image was captured by Reddit user ‘WarWraiths’, who believes it may show an actual spirit looking out the window of an old, now abandoned, commissary building in Fort Reno, Oklahoma.

As with many photos of ghosts appearing in windows, it’s highly likely that this figure was simply a reflection. However, given the buildings old age, it’s also possible that a spirit became attached to the property at some point in time.

Old Idaho State Penitentiary
Boise, Idaho

Everyone knows that prisons are nearly always a magnet for paranormal activity thanks to the melting pot of emotions that soak into the walls of these buildings. Old Idaho State Penitentiary is no different and it has long been considered one of the most haunted places in Idaho.

The prison was established back in 1870 as a one cell house but it very quickly began to grew into a complex of buildings enclosed by a thick wall of sandstone. In fact, part of the prisoners sentences was mining the rock to build the very walls that kept them in!

Over 10,000 convicts have passed through the prison over the course of a century and it seems that not all of them left!

There have been several deaths on the premises including 10 executions and 110 documented deaths due to illness, murder and plain old age.

However, the conditions in this prison were horrific, with inmates being subjected to inhumane treatment so it would not be surprising if the death toll was actually much higher, and those deaths were simply not documented!

Due to the design of the prison, the cells were unbearably hot in the summer months and freezing cold in Winter, plus there was no indoor plumbing so as you might imagine there was a great deal of misery and suffering which has definitely left a mark on the prison.

There are a number of documented paranormal events that have happened in Old Idaho State Penitentiary. The most haunted spot is said to be 5 House where Idaho’s answer to Jack the Ripper, Raymond Allen Snowden was executed in 1957.

It is believed that the murderer’s soul is still haunting the prisons and grounds and he has done even since before the prison closed in the seventies.

Reports of his presence have been made by visitors, staff and prisoners alike! Whenever he draws near, the living are said to be overcome by a feeling of dread and oppression.

Snowden is by no means the only spirit at Old Idaho State Penitentiary. It is a fairly common occurrence for visitors to hear phantom footsteps echoing throughout the halls and disembodied voices are also heard fairly regularly.

Visitors participating in the regular walking tours of the old prison have also been touched and even pushed by unseen hands. There is a very strong feeling of being watched from the shadows and several shadow figures have also been spotted in a number of places around the prison.

Glenn Dale Hospital

Glenn Dale Hospital was built in 1934 to serve as a tuberculosis sanitarium. Sitting on 210 acres in Prince Georges County, Maryland has stood abandoned since 1982. When it was closed permanently due to concerns about the copious amounts of asbestos used in the construction.

The main campus of Glenn Dale consists of a Children’s hospital building and main hospital building, which are connected by a series of underground tunnels and walkways. Each of these buildings has its own morgue and both structures are close to Glenn Dale Road, which bisects the estate and makes the buildings easy fodder for local trespassers who want to match wits with the Washington, D.C Park Police, who routinely patrol the area.

Exploration of the Glenn Dale Hospital grounds is a treacherous experience and not only because the place is closed and trespassers are not suffered lightly. The portions of the buildings that are above ground are in severe disrepair, seeing that they have stood abandoned since 1982. Broken glass litters the ground, roofs and walls are collapsing under their own weight. Rusted metal and other debris litters the campus because of all of the unused hospital detritus that was left behind when the place shut down. The basement and tunnels are in the same condition but with the added hazard of standing water, which rises up to three feet in some places.

Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of exploration is the same aspect that led to the hospital’s closure, large amounts of asbestos. The few people who are allowed into Glenn Dale and this includes paranormal investigators who have gotten permission to visit always wear respirators because of the carcinogens in the air.

The haunted history of Glenn Dale Hospital is much like that of any other long-abandoned institution of similar size. After the tuberculosis epidemic faded, the hospital was repurposed to house the mentally ill. Out of this fact the legend became that the hospital was a home for the criminally insane, who were simply let loose to roam the grounds when the hospital closed. Legend has it that Glenn Dale Hospital had its own crematorium and that the odor of burning flesh still permeates the buildings. There is a smokestack on the hospital grounds but all evidence points to it only ever being used to burn refuse.

The few people who are lucky enough to explore the grounds find no lack of intriguing paranormal experiences. There are certainly the usual reports of shadow figures and unexplained sounds. The second floor of the general hospital building seems to be a hotbed of these types of activity, with reports of full-bodied apparitions in hospital gowns roaming the halls and disembodied voices either screaming or laughing maniacally. There have even been reports of a pack of ghost dogs roaming around the campus near the children’s hospital. Paranormal activity like this can certainly be found all over the Glenn Dale campus, it’s just that this particular floor seems more active than the rest.

There are a few local legends that concern haunting at the hospital that can’t be directly confirmed or denied, but they are interesting nonetheless. One of these stories concerns a patient who haunts the hospital wearing a straight jacket. He went insane having witnessed the murder of his wife and children during a home invasion. He was so wracked with guilt that he didn’t save his family that he broke into the pharmaceutical dispensary and killed himself by swallowing pills. It is this same guilt that supposedly binds his spirit to the hospital.

The second legend concerns an unnamed police officer who was called to investigate some vandalism that had occurred on the property. A while after he arrived, people in the vicinity reported hearing gunshots. When backup arrived, the officer was found in one of the patient rooms, staring blankly at a bare wall. He had emptied his gun into this wall, firing at something that no one would ever find. True or not, such stories are a vital part of the mystique of this haunted hospital.

Little People’s Village
Middlebury, CT

One of the allegedly creepiest places in Connecticut is Little People’s Village, tucked away in the woods of Middlebury. A complex of crumbling doll-sized houses and odd structures next to the remains of a stone house, it’s rumored to be the damned legacy of insanity brought on by … the little people.

One of the many versions of the story goes that back about a century ago, a man and his wife (who may or may not have been a witch) were living peacefully in Middlebury when she started seeing small fairy folk in the woods around their home. To accommodate these pixie-like creatures, she demanded her husband build a tiny village. As the years passed and the village grew, the enchantment faded into madness. The abandoned smurf-scale town is all that’s left to mark the couple’s anguished demise.

Another variation of the story is that a man living by himself in the stone house heard the voices of the little people, who commanded him to build the village. Eventually, this tale goes, he was driven nuts by the voices, which were now inside his head, and killed himself.

As such, many of the people who visit now claim it’s haunted by the spirits of the little people — or the ghosts of those tormented by them — and that strong fields of negative energy abound. Others claim that if you linger long enough, you can hear the voices of the little people yourself, and that you too will soon be plunged into insanity.

There’s also a “throne” here supposedly carved by the bewitched builder by request of the king of the little people. Local legend has it that if you sit in this cursed seat that you will die within 7 years.

The Rosenheim Poltergeist

In the fall of 1967, known German parapsychologist, Hans Bender, was called into the law offices of Sigmund Adam to investigate and account of a possible poltergeist disturbance. The activity was centered around the offices during the weekends and witnessed by several employees of the firm, including that of 19-year-old secretary Annemarie Schaberl. Upon further investigation, Bender came to the conclusion that Schaberl was to blame for the activity, accusing her of being telekinetic due to her anger of not being happy with her job and a recent breakup with her fiance. Every time she would pass thru a hallway phones would start ringing off the hook with no caller at the other end. Picture frames hanging around the office would turn a complete 360 along with heavy file cabinets and furniture misplacement.

Some of the activity was recorded but was never proven to be authentic or that Annemarie was to blame. Critics and skeptics ran articles around Bender accusing him of “fraudulent accounts” while he maintained that his findings were authentic. A pair of investigators from a German newspaper claimed that they had visited the offices and had found nylon threads attached to office fixtures and a false output on the electric current meter making the phones and lighting fixtures go crazy. We may never know if the Rosenheim Poltergeist was indeed true or just a figment of someone trying to get attention.

Visitation church
Michigan

Visitation Church was built to serve the growing Catholic population. At the time, there were 450 Catholic families within the bounds of the parish but this number rapidly grew so new areas of the church were built. The building today serves its original function as a church.

The old story about this location was known as “The legend of the bloody hand”, but after being informed by a worker of the church this story seems to be nothing more than an urban tale probably started by local children. The story is still below, but doesnt seem to hold truth.

It has been reported by people to see the image of a severed hand within the church, particularly within the sacristy and basement area. The hand is said to appear in varied levels of intensity, as some report seeing a white-ghostly like hand appear and quickly vanish, were others claim to see it as if it were physically real with blood dripping from the stump. Who the owner of the hand is and were it came from seems to remain forever unknown as many people have died close to the property.

The only unexplained happenings at the church were of the old bells which would ring on there own with no explanation until they were removed around 5 years ago.

Seven Gables Road

Dansville, Michigan

The ruins of a cursed home reportedly lie at the end of Seven Gables Road, just beyond the gate. The home once belonged to a witch that cursed the property. Soon after the witch’s death, a large family moved in, but their lives were cut tragically short. Driven mad by the curse, the father hanged his wife and children and then set the house ablaze before taking his own life. Now, people who investigate the property hear blood-curdling screams, spot faces in the trees, and smell the stench of burning flesh.

The Black Bird of Chernobyl

The Chernobyl disaster in April 1986 is arguably the worst nuclear disaster of modern times. Strangely, if reports uncovered following the end of the Cold War are to be believed, many of the plant workers and residents of the nearby town of Pripyat reported seeing a strange, bird-like figure with red eyes in the air above the town in the days leading up to the tragedy. Even stranger, many of them reported receiving strange phone calls with only mysterious noises on the other end before the line went dead.

Many also spoke of experiencing a sudden onset of nightmares. The firefighters and emergency responders who were sent into the immediate vicinity following the explosion also reported seeing a strange winged creature flying through the air, weaving in and out of the smoke while they did their best to fight the blaze and rescue any survivors.

To add even more intrigue to the alleged strange events, a strange cigar-shaped object was observed almost directly over the disaster site for several hours following the explosion. The creature became known as the Birdman of Pripyat or the Black Bird of Chernobyl. Skeptics argue that it was simply a large bird.

Shades of Death Road

 History and legend tell of the Lenni-Lenape people who used to occupy this valley; many of them died of diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis, which were rampant in the area. At one point, they were attacked by a vicious Iroquois tribe along where Shades of Death Road is located. After a horrific battle the Lenni-Lenape were slaughtered, leading many to believe that their tormented spirits haunt the area to this very day, creeping through the misty fog that blankets the valley frequently.

At some points the road runs alongside eerie Ghost Lake, which is blanketed by wispy fog and inhabited by lush foliage and an amazing array of wildlife.

Later, due to the towering, twisted trees that cast a gloomy shadow over much of the roadway, it became known to the locals as “The Shades.” Legend states that there were numerous deaths and unsolved killings along this road; many people were said to have been attacked and killed by wildcats in the region, and a series of murders plagued the area as well. The first alleged murder on Shades of Death was the unsolved slaying of a tinker along with his horse; their corpses were found discarded alongside the road. In the 1930’s, an elderly gentleman in a Model T Ford was brutally bludgeoned to death with a jack handle from his own car, presumably for a few gold coins. His murderer was never caught.

It was around this time that the local population began to refer to The Shades as “Shades of Death Road.”

In the 1940’s, two men- Leon G. Hull and William Crouse Jr.- both constructed fantastic mansions in the dark depths of the woods close to each other, near Shades of Death. By building a dam across a stream which adjoined their properties, the men created a massive lake, which they named “Ghost Lake” due to the ghostly apparitions in the fog wisping over the water. Consequently, they decided to name their property “Haunted Hollow” and the adjacent mountain “Murderer’s Mountain.”

Other reputed rumors of evil included the macabre finding of a male body that was discovered under a railroad car along the roadway, and the acts of a murderous housewife who slayed her husband, then disposed of his head and body by burying it near their home on Shades of Death Road.

During the 1990s some visitors found hundreds of Polaroid photographs scattered in woods just off the road.  Saying that most images showed a television changing channels, others showed a woman or women, blurred and somewhat difficult to identify, lying on some sort of metal object, conscious but not smiling. The magazine claims that the photos “disappeared” shortly after local police began an investigation.