The Bones and Ghosts of St. Bernard's Prep School

 I went to St. Bernard's Abbey and Preparatory school today.  It is a truly beautiful place that is fun to wander and explore. From the strange little grotto in the back to the Gothic buildings that house the dormitories of St. Bernard's School, there is a sense of magic about the place.  According to shadowlands haunted place index, the school is haunted by the ghost of a little boy that watches students while they sleep and a phantom monk that can be seen floating in the mist. I haven't yet found any further evidence to support this write up, but there is a haunting beauty to the place that lends itself to a sense that there may be ghosts waiting behind corners and in shadows.  The church has a reliquary and the bones of the saints fill a glass case in the back lending their spirit to the place.  The tradition of collecting the bones of dead saints has always fascinated me.  In the middle ages, the popularity of relics lead to great pilgrimages and the stories of amazing miracles were attributed to the power of the dead remains of deceased saints.  The little reliquary at St. Bernard's was a beautiful reminder of old traditions and dead saints.  Here are a few pictures of St. Bernard's abbey and its lovely reliquary. 

The Ghosts of the Rawls Hotel

The Rawls Hotel is in the Southern most part of Alabama.   It is located in Enterprise, Alabama far from the larger cities like Birmingham or Mobile.   Its history doesn't seem to be marred by murder or tragedy.   Its story is the story of a normal historic, small town hotel.   Japheth Rawls was a developer who had made some profit from turpentine plants.  He decided to invest his money in a small hotel.   He and his wife built the Rawls Hotel in 1903 and named it the McGee Hotel.  It was a small building in the Spanish Mission style.  In 1928, when Japheth passed away,  Jesse Rawls took over the hotel and began remodeling it.  He added two three-story wings to the structure and the Rawls Hotel evolved into a town center.  It was elegant and pretty and  many gatherings and meetings were held in the building.  The Hotel was conveniently placed next to the railroad so travelers to Enterprise could enjoy a pleasant night in a luxurious hotel.  In the 1970s, the hotel fell into disrepair and may have been forgotten if it weren't for Hayden Pursley.  Pursley purchased the building and renovated it.  The Rawls is now a bed and breakfast that is famous for its hauntings and ghosts.

It is my hope to travel down to the Rawls some time in the next several months to learn more about the ghosts that are said to linger in its halls.   The stories say that there are many children ghosts in the old hotel, but I don't know where they come from.  None of the stories seem to explain the presence of so many children ghosts in the hotel.  There is a little girl who has been seen by many visitors and the voices of children are said to come from the wine cellar.  Orbs are frequently seen in photographs and visitors describe feeling a presence in the hotel.  

Mr. Rawls is also said to haunt this old hotel and many have described seeing him in the halls.  He is said to stand by and watch decoration and renovation of the building and his spirit is thought to be interested in the well being of the hotel.   Many of the apparitions of the Rawls are said to linger on the third and forth floor.   The Rawls is listed as one of the most haunted hotels in Alabama.   Hopefully, I will discover why some day in the near future.

Searcy State Mental Hospital and The Horror Novel That Has Been Lost in Its Shadows

  

A year and a half ago, I decided to write a blog. I had just signed a contract with Lachesis Press to publish my first novel, Circe, and that was my inspiration for Ghost Stories and Haunted Places.   Circe was inspired by the hospital I did my internship at, Searcy State Hospital in Mt. Vernon, Alabama.   I didn't believe much in ghosts when I worked there, but I knew the place had to be haunted.  The very walls oozed with some unseen presence and whispered of ghosts.   My book, Circe, has had a long and complicated road.  It was the first book I wrote and I've had three books published between the writing of Circe and its publication, but it looks like it might actually be published this October.  I'm thrilled and terrified, because Circe is my darkest work.   I always have to love it, no matter how the book does, because it inspired this blog.  Yet ,Circe is a book that haunts me.  It has been  struggle to publish and took me years to write.  It has been my most difficult book, but here it is, hopefully, ready to be published in October.    So as I get ready to see this lugubrious horror novel in print,  I thought it would be appropriate to re post my blog post about the location that kept me up so many dark nights writing and dreaming of the monsters that might lurk in the shadows of Searcy State Hospital.  

Searcy is one of my favorite haunted places. I did my internship here a very long time ago and I fell in love with it's history and it's white chipped walls. Everything about this old hospital spoke to me. It was even more remarkable because most of those who worked there and lived there every day were oblivious to it's history.  Searcy State Hospital is located in Mt. Vernon, Alabama. Prior to being a state hospital the old hospital has a long and dark history that is very difficult to find, but easy to see upon casual observation. The hospital is encased in long, chipped, white walls that seem as old as anything in the United States. From outside these walls, you can see a battered watchtower that gives testament to the fact that the hospital is in the same location as a 300 year old fort. The fort bears witness to American history. It was originally a French fort and then a Spanish Fort. It switched hands during the Louisiana Purchase and became a US fort. After the US took possession of the fort it was converted to a military arsenal and became known as the Mount Vernon Arsenal.

The Arsenal switched hands again several times and was taken by the Confederates during the civil war only to be passed back over the United States again in 1862. From 1887 to 1894, The Arsenal became a Barracks and was used as a prison for the captured Apache people. The most famous of the Apache people to be held in these barracks was Geronimo. There is a door in the lobby of the old hospital that is labeled as the door to Geronimo's cell.   It is beautiful and intricate.  Sadly, history notes that Geronimo was not kept in a cell during his stay at Mt. Vernon.   He was allowed freedom to wander the barrack, so the door is just a lovely bit of folklore.  The infamous Aaron Burr was also held at this secluded prison at some point after his notorious gun fight.


In 1900 the Barracks were transformed once again and the prison became a mental hospital. Searcy hospital was built as the African American mental hospital in Alabama. Conditions in the hospital were beyond questionable and at one time there were over 2000 patients in the crowded hospital and all were seen by one psychiatrist. All patients were expected to work in the fields.

The hospital was desegregated in 1969, but it’s history is all around it. The hospital is still in used today, and although the residents live in new buildings, many tell stories of ghosts and devils that linger in the white walls and abandoned buildings that surround the new facilities. These stories are usually ignored, because the patients are crazy, but I’m not the only sane person who saw a few ghosts while they were working there.

Hopefully, the book really will be released this fall.  I've had several contracts on Circe and watched them dissolve.  It has been ten years since I started writing this book and thirteen years since I saw the haunting walls of this fog encased institution.  Thirteen is a good number for a horror novel.

Dead Man's Bridge

Ditto's Landing used to be a thriving port town.  It is now a ghost town.  It really isn't even that.  It has vanished completely.  In 1807 James Ditto started to ferry people across the Tennessee River from what is now Ditto's Landing.  This business grew and by 1827, the town of Whitesburg was born as a thriving port town.  Hundreds of tons of cotton went through Whitesburg every year.  They went up and down the river.   By 1907, the town was dead.  It was killed by trains and faster modes of transportation.  What is left at Ditto's Landing isn't much. It is still a pretty place.  The old Whitesburg Bridge still stands gracing the landscape.

The Whitesburg Bridge has had more than its share of tragedy.  In 1916 David Owen ran for the office of Judge.  He ran against Judge Lawler.   By some strange circumstances,   David Owen met Judge Lawler on the Whitesburg Bridge and shot him.  This would be the first of a series of strange deaths on the now quiet bridge.  The Sheriff then shot himself on the bridge.  His son shot himself on the bridge and a well known Lawyer shot himself on the bridge.  For whatever reason, the bridge seems cursed by death.

Today, you wouldn't have known that the bridge was haunted.  It was a quiet day and fisherman dangled their lines into the serene water beneath the bridge.   At night, they say the ghosts of the men who died at this bridge still walk.  You can hear their screams in the dark and a few fishermen even claim to have seen the ghosts of dead man's bridge.  Even in daylight, I caught a few peculiarities on film while photographing the bridge.  Strange lights appeared in many of my photographs.  The picture below shows my son standing next to one of a dozen strange lights I photographed on the bridge.

The Ghost of the Lynched

The Madison County Courthouse looks new.  It is the center of downtown Huntsville, Alabama and it is known for its interesting architecture and murals.  The structure that stands there today isn't more than forty years old.   Its uniquely modern architecture and style dates it, but it was not the first court house to stand in down town Huntsville.  Madison County dates back to the early 1800s and four courthouses have stood in the location where the current courthouse resides.  The County courthouse holds many ghosts, but the most famous ghost that still lingers in the courthouse is the ghost of Horace Maples.  

Horace Maples was lynched in front of the Madison County Courthouse in 1904.  He was a black man and the mob that lynched him was brutal and ruthless.   They beat him bloody and hung him from a tree.  They cut off his finger and in the night while he dangled, bleeding and helpless, he was shot three times.  The proceeding court cases and controversies made national news and I found numerous clips about the trials of those who were in the lynch mob in the New York Times.   Apparently, Madison County did not want to prosecute those that lynched poor Horace Maples.  Racism was deeply entrenched in Alabama culture and the locals didn't see it as a crime.   In order for the court case to carry on, the federal military and state militia had to be called in to keep the peace.  Nineteen members of the lynch mob were indicted for the killing of Horace Maples and this became a landmark case showing people throughout the South that lynching was a crime, no matter what the race of the victim.

Those who have stayed in the Madison County Courthouse lock up have described seeing men enter and leave through walls.  Ghostly figures have been seen throughout the courthouse accompanied by the usual strange noises, orbs, and odd lights.   It is hard to name all the ghosts that linger in the courthouse as many sad figures have passed in and out of its doors throughout its history, but Horace's ghost is the most frequently seen.   He forever lingers in the place of his tragic death. 

The North Port Ghost

My favorite ghost stories are the ones told to me by people.  I always like to think of ghost stories as the last oral traditions.  These days there a very few stories that are told around the table or camp fire like they used to before television and the Internet.  Ghost stories and urban legends are the last stories the cling to these old traditions and sometimes ghost stories and urban legends can become almost one.  Some friends of mine shared one their favorite stories from their college days with me over dinner this way.  The story was told to me two very different ways.  This is the risk of oral traditions.  They often are told very differently by each person telling them.

The first person who shared this story with me told me that the North Port Ghost was a real story.  He said that if you drive down a lonely road in rural Alabama you will come to a spot where many people have seen The North Port Ghost.    If you slow down,  you might see her wandering the road alone.   According to legend,  the North Port Ghost is the wife of a Confederate soldier.  She wanders the night searching for her husband.   He never came home from the war and she has never stopped looking for him.  Even in death, her lonely specter can be seen all dressed in white waiting for the return of a many who is long go.   She is a classic white lady, forever looking for love that will never come.

The second story I heard was much less fun but still interesting.  She said the North Port Ghost was a snipe hunt.   She claimed upper classman sent Freshmen into the country and told them to drive slowly down a hill while flashing their blinkers.  If this is done properly, the light will catch off a lamp post giving the affect of a ghost and scaring the crap out of the Freshman. 

According to Shadowlands Haunted Place Index,  The North Port Ghost was once commonly seen.   He was the ghost of a fallen confederate soldier who used to roam the area.   The ghost is not seen anymore and has disintegrated into a tourist attraction because the area has become over developed and is no longer rural.

So,  I love my oral traditions and I love this story because it is one that is told again and again, but the true story has been lost somewhere in the telling.  It has become a prank and a joke told to scare college students, but I like to believe the first story is true and that urbanization has driven the ghost away.

The Lady in the Lake

I can't resist.  I know I should, but I can't.  I have too many wonderful ghost stories from Chattanooga to not write at least a little about one of them.  So here is my favorite.   There is an old cemetery on a mountain in Chattanooga.  The cemetery is called Greenwood Cemetery and the most remarkable ghost stories from this cemetery aren't really from the cemetery at all.  It is the quarry across the road from the cemetery that has the most remarkable ghost stories.  The quarry looks more like a small pond than a quarry, but according to local legend, this pond is deep with caverns that drift off into nowhere lurking beneath its murky depths.

There are many stories associated with this quarry.  There are tales of spectral green lights and drownings.   But the most poignant story is the story of a young woman afflicted with polio.   Apparently the disease crippled her and reduced her to a shell of a woman.   Her husband was left to care for her, but he wasn't really up to the job.   He took her out to the quarry and rolled her into the water and watched her drown.

Many tell the story of this young woman.  They say she comes out at night.   She drifts across the water dressed in white.  She is beautiful, like she was before the disease.  She comes with the mist and when the mist touches the ground, the footprints she leaves behind aren't footprints at all.   They are wheelchair tracks.

The Old Jail Ghosts in The Main Street Cafe

In the small town of Madison, Alabama there isn't much to the downtown.  The old buildings are reminders of quiet days when Madison was a tiny town unto itself.  These days Madison is more of a suburb than a town itself.  Everyone drives off to Huntsville to work and the little downtown area is mostly forgotten.  The Main Street Cafe in downtown Madison is one of the reminders of the old days.   It was the old jail house.  Inside the Main Street Cafe, the two chambers that used to be jail cells remain.  The doors have been removed but the barred windows remain.  You can eat in the jail cells.    The Main Street Cafe has been remodeled so the cells are the only pieces of the history to let you know that this  pretty, quaint eatery was once a jail.   Most people don't even know The Main Street Cafe was once a jail.  They enjoy the place for what it is.  The food is good and the atmosphere is pretty.   You can easily forget that the Main Street Cafe has a darker past.  The cafe was once a jail and it still has its ghosts.

According to employees of the pretty restaurant,  the old jail is haunted by a ghost they call George.   George isn't a particularly malevolent ghost, but he does like to mess things up.  He enjoys moving things so that when cupboards are opened in the morning everything falls out.  He enjoys moving objects in the kitchen so that the staff can't find them.  In general,  he just enjoys making a pest out of himself.   The staff didn't know who George was.  They weren't sure if he was a prisoner, but they know he likes to make life more difficult for those who have to work at this old jail.