How Moving and Remodeling Affects Hauntings

It is commonly believed that haunting activity can be stirred up by remodeling.  I have heard countless ghost stories with this theme.  Some of my favorite stories about remodeling are from private interviews with people.  For example, one Alabama woman told me the haunting in her house was so negligible that she thought it was all folklore and her imagination until she remodeled the house and then the ghosts started appearing in broad daylight on her front porch.  Neighbors called to see who was milling about their house.  Another story that comes to mind as an example of this had to do with an old hotel that sat vacant for many years.  Finally, it was remodeled and renovated and the quiet hotel exploded with paranormal activity.  Similar stories are all too common. 

Ray Farrel from P9 Paranormal gave an explanation for this phenomena that made a lot of intuitive sense to me.  He said, "Similar to a ghost or spirit held in a location because of an unfulfilled need, are those that are very aware of where they are but have 'gone into hiding' or are terrified of 'moving on'. Many hauntings stem from souls that have a stained life history and refuse to budge from our dimension through fear of what their fate is in the next. It is sometimes the case that their need to continue their misdeeds will overcome their need to stay hidden and if other opportunities present themselves, such as a potential 'victim' coming along, then they will betray their presence. Others though will not dare give themselves away - until something happens to make them feel unsafe."

It seems that any change in the landscape of a location bound haunting can lead to an increase in activity.  We are moving in the next 2 weeks and for many years, my sons and I have come to believe that my mother-in-law wanders about our house from time to time.  She's a pleasant spirit that just makes some noise and turns faucets on and off.  However, as we pack to leave, the activity has become just down right creepy.  At this point, we hope it is her because if it isn't I'm glad we're getting out of house.  There has been some interesting activity surrounding our animatronic Halloween witch.  She's been broken for many years and my husband propped her up at the front door.  She used to have a motion sensor that would cause her to cackle and threaten to eat people.  That motion sensor is so broken you have to punch her in the nose to get her to work.  While my parents were visiting, she went off almost constantly for over an hour, even after she was unplugged.   That could be explained away by itself, but now the baby toys that you touch and sing cute little songs have begun singing on their own and shadowy figures have been seen by both my sons.  Is this another case of alteration in the environment of a haunting causing increase paranormal activity?  Or is it a case of us going crazy with moving stress?  At this point,  anything is possible.  It is probably more likey that we all going crazy.

The Haunting on Larrabee Street

This haunting story has always been one of my favorites because it does not have a history. The haunting on Larrabbee Street has often been compared to the Amityville case, however, the house on Larrabee Street didn't have the history the Amityville house had. It is a haunting that is unexplainable. The spirit that haunted Allen and Deborah Tallman came from nowhere.


The Tallman's moved into the house on Larrabee Street in Horicon, Wisconsin in 1986. At that time, they had a little girl and a boy who was about 6 years old. Deborah Tallman was pregnant. The Tallman's loved their new home and began a fairly typical America life in their new home. Although they loved their new home, The Tallmans immediately began having difficulties in the house. They were plagued by a rash of sicknesses and their cat went crazy, climbing the walls and screaming all night. Deborah was close to her family and her family usually spent a considerable amount of time visiting Deborah. These visits began to decrease in frequency following the Tallman's move into their new home. Both Deborah's mother and sister indicated they felt sick in the Tallman home. They felt sick and suffocated.

It took more than a year for the haunting to escalate and culminate in the events that lead to the Tallman's fleeing their comfortable home. Deborah had her baby girl and the children began to complain more and more about things in their room. The little boy said that a hideous, diminutive, old woman would come into his room at night. The little girl was plagued by visions of monsters. The Tallman's grew more and more tired as their children kept them up night after night. Even their attempts at time away from home were thwarted when the babysitter saw furniture moving on it's own.

The children's nightmares could be brushed off as childhood fancy, but when Allen began to hear things and see things the Tallmans called their preacher. The preacher came into the home and told the Tallmans that their home was in the grips of something from the devil. He told them that the only way to dispel the evil that had been growing in their home was to go to church more. The Tallman's listened to the preacher to no avail. Things got worse. Windows in the basement relocated on their own, the refrigerator door remained open on it's own, the children continued to be visited by nocturnal terrors. Allen saw the garage catch on fire and when he rushed to extinguish the flame he saw a green eyed demon above the door. Allen even saw a full bodied ghost that rose from the floor in a a kind of fog and took form just long enough to tell him that he was "going to die."

Desperate, the family called the preacher again. The preacher came and told them to play church music all the time. The family listened. They listened and their was a brief reprieve before the entity came again. This time the entire family and the babysitter saw the specter just long enough to turn them all white with fear and send them fleeing into the night.

After the Tallman's left their home, the house became a local sensation and lines wrapped around the neighborhood with curious spectators hoping to catch a glimpse of some random terror. Many spectators claimed to have been successful in their desires. Many claimed to see snow blowers running up and down the driveway by themselves and furniture being flung around inside the house. Of course, none of these stories have ever been confirmed, but the stories themselves turned the Tallman house into a local legend that grew with time. Stories of the house being a gateway to hell and blood dripping from the ceilings proliferated and a media frenzy swept incidents out of control.
Despite this, and despite accusations that it was a hoax on the Tallman's part, the Tallman's have shown nothing but the desire to stay out of the spot light. They've turned down interviews and even rejected Oprah when she invited them to be her guest. They seem happiest forgetting the horror on Larrabee street.

Stumbling Upon a Haunted Pizza

I have been meaning to go to Sam and Greg's Pizza in downtown Huntsville, Alabama for sometime.  It is notoriously haunted.  It has been investigated by paranormal investigators and proven to be haunted using all the ghost hunting gadgets such folk use.  It has been featured on the local news.  Psychics have declared it haunted. Yet, for some reason I haven't stopped by.  I even love pizza and their pizza is wonderful. 

Last week a lovely young writer named Stephanie contacted me to do an interview for a local magazine. I was delighted when she invited me to meet with her at Sam and Greg's.  I assumed she knew it was haunted and invited me there because of its haunting, but it was just a wonderful coincidence.  I had heard that all of the paranormal activity associated with this cute little restaurant takes place in the upstairs room, so we sat upstairs.  I believe the activity actually happens in the forbidden region of the restaurant just beyond the lock door, but it was still nice to sit and talk about ghosts next to such a haunted place.

 

On my way out of the restaurant, I asked one of the employees about the stories associated with the restaurant.  She says that the rumors that circulate amongst the staff state that the ghost that haunts Sam and Greg's was once a maintenance man in the old building.  His boss used to like to play practical jokes on him and he was always being laughed at.  Nobody can say for sure if it was all the jokes, or if the maintenance man was just lost in all his melancholy, but, according to the oral tradition, he killed himself in the building on the second floor.  His ghost still wanders Sam and Greg's making mischief to this day.  The staff who talked to me about this says she's not sure she believes all this, but she still finds the story fun and so did I.  

The Haunted Upstairs Area Can Be Seen From the Upstairs Dinning Area

The Upstairs Dinning Area

The Kildare Mansion

I did this post on The Kildare Mansion a couple of years ago.  It has become one of my most popular posts and some of the comments on the post are very interesting and written by those who have lived in the house and experienced it.  I thought I would repost it with the comments so others could read the stories of those who know the house far better than I.  The Kildare Mansion was first famous for it's ghosts.  It was built in 1886 by a wealthy Irishman named O'Shaughnessy.   He built the castle as a reminder of his homeland, Ireland.   He put a fortune into making it the most extravagent house in the area and he did a good job of it.  This giant of a house overshadows everything around it. It has over 40 rooms and is over 17,000 square feet including the massive basement.   In 1900, MR. O'Shaughnessy went blind and his wife Anna sold Kildare to the trust fund established for Mary McCormick who inherited a multi million dollar fortune from her father

Unfortunately, Mary McCormick was mentally ill and suffered greatly during certain periods.  At the time,  treatment options were limited so they kept her locked in the house and had several nurses and staff to take care of her.  During her lucid periods,  Mary a wonderful woman who was known for her kindness and generocity.   For her entire life, she needed nurses to help her care for her mental illness.  Finally she had to retire to a sanitarium,  leaving her beautiful house behind.

From 1932- 1975, the Kildare Mansion fell into disrepair.   It decayed slowly as slums and lesser buildings slowly surrounded it hiding it's beauty in their sullen shadows.  In 1975, the house was purchased by the Reeves, who lovingly restored the house to its original splendor  It was during this time that the house was shown in the tour of historic homes and became a popular visit for haunt jaunters.   The house's basement was notoriously haunted by the ghost of  Mary McCormick.   Still tormented by her madness, she apparently made quite a ruckus at night.

In 2005 the house was bought by a family whose name I won't mention.  Since that time, the ghosts have become the least interesting part of this house.   The house has always been a favorite site for anyone visiting Huntsville because of its historic significance, its beauty, and its haunted history.  Many people drive by the house and photograph it.   Since 2005, however, the new owners have spent a considerable amount of time watching out for anyone lingering near the house.  If you drive by slowly or stop in front of the house,  a woman will emerge screaming at you.  Sometimes she'll curse and sometimes she'll use the garden hose to spray your car.  Other times she'll shine a spotlight on you and others she'll take pictures of you with her cell phone.  No matter what the new owner does, it is always hostile and she seems to always be watching.  She sits day and night waiting for those that linger to long, which might make one wonder if  Mary McCormick's mental illness might not be spreading?   Perhaps the house and its dark secrets have driven the new owner mad?  Perhaps madness is part of the curse of the house?

No matter what the case. Sadly,  the reason most drive by these days is to see the new owner run out and start screaming.  Her wild antics have become a fun attraction for locals who stop by just to see her jump around and scream  Few remember the ghost stories or the house's beautiful history.

The Pizza Parlor Ghost

Tucked away in between a mini-golf course and a old cemetery there is  an old parking lot in the back of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  This parking lot is very unremarkable.   Kudzu climbs down the walls of the embankment above the lot and covers all the parking signs.  Steep hills climb up in ever direction into thick folliage.  The best view from this lot is of the mini-golf course.  As you wander the lot, you can see children cheering and swinging thier clubs.

You would never know that this old piece of pavement used to be a pizza parlor.  It was the first pizza parlor in Gatlinburg. One night, the owners came into the pizza parlor and found that the restaurant was completely trashed.   Food was scattered about the floor, chairs were overturned.  Furniture was thrown in corners.   The owners called the police and things seemed normal for a while.  But the unknown vandals began to return on a regular basis.   The staff would frequently come in to find the place completely trashed.  Finally, the owners decided to put a camera in at night to catch the vandals in the act.   The vandals were caught, but they weren't the vandals the owners expected.  Video evidence showed objects moving on their own and things fliying about at night.

The owners tried to hide the video.  They were afraid word of the haunting would destroy business so they destroyed the tape.  Word of the haunting spread quickly despite the tape's absence, however.   Everyone knew about pizza parlor ghosts.  This actually only increased business.  People came from all over to eat with the ghosts.  Sadly, the pizza parlor was a popular place to eat, but the staff was less than happy to work there.    Those that worked there said that this old pizza parlor was tormented by ghosts.   Objects moved on their own.  Pizza's flew off the counter.   Chairs fell over.   The lights went on and off.  Odd noises filled dark corners at night.   No one wanted to work with the ghosts so the staff fled and no one would replace them.   The pizza parlor had to be shut down because no one would work there.

When the parlor was sold, it was sold to a company that turned it into a parking lot.  During construction,  bones from the cemetery beside the pizza parlor were unearthed beneath  the foundation of the old parlor.   The skeletal remains of dozens of people were exumed and buried elsewhere, but the problem still remained.  The first settlers of the regions didn't use proper gravestones.  Sometimes the only thing that marked the graves were jars of stones, so it is possible and probable that bones still may remain beneath the parking lot and the adjacent mini-golf course.  Local legend says that if touists park in this parking lot their cars will have flat tires, dings, and engine problems.   Tourists that play in the mini-golf course can't make the last hole or do worse than they usually would.   I know I've played mini-golf at this course many times and I will testify that I sucked every single time.  Damn ghosts.  

The Five Most Chilling Real Haunted Houses

All ghost stories hold unending fascination for me, but the ones that contain the most mystery are the haunted house stories.  I know I'm not alone in this because there seem to be unending movies and books written about Haunted Houses.  The list is long and prestigious.  The terror held by house hauntings is unique.   You are bound to the haunted location by financial obligation, family, and sentiment.  It is your home that holds the shadows and that can't be easily escaped.  The ghosts or dark spirits can catch you in bed, with your children, and in the shower.   There is a unique vulnerability to being in a haunted house.   So here is my list of the most compelling house haunting stories I've heard.  I've written about many of these haunted houses before, but revisiting them still sends shivers down my spine.

5.   The House on Larabee Street:
This haunting story has always been one of my favorites because it does not have a history.   The haunting on Larrabbee Street has often been compared to the Amityville case, however, the house on Larrabee Street didn't have the history the Amityville house had.   It is a haunting that is unexplainable.   The spirit that haunted  Allen and Deborah Tallman came from nowhere.  

The Tallman's found their dream home on Larabee street and the house slowly turned evil.   At first, the family began to get sick and sickness became nightmares and ghosts and monsters that crawled in and out of the woodwork tormenting the family and their children until they finally flee there home.  For a more  detailed write up on this fascinating haunting you can go to:
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2010/01/haunting-on-larrabee-street.html

4.  The Demon in the Shadows:
This is a haunting I learned about during an interview for Haunted North Alabama.   A young woman came forward and told me she wanted to talk to me and the story she told me was chilling.   This young woman bought a lovely home with her husband and the house immediately showed signs of haunting.  Doors opened and closed on their own.  Light bulbs exploded.  Phantom mists tormented the woman and her family.   Finally, the woman would wake in the morning to find deep gashes in her back where the hostile entity had clawed her.   She and her family had to flee their home.  The complete write up for this haunting can be found in Haunted North Alabama.

3.   A Haunting in Conneticut:
This is one of the most famous hauntings.   It was made into a movie, that was not true to the facts of the actual haunting, but was still an interesting movie.   The real haunting in this case began with a house that had been a funeral home.   The eldest son of the family that moved into this home was driven slowly mad by a hostile entity that lived in the house and when he went to an institution the entity turned to the rest of the family.   Psychics involved in this case say an old evil lived in this house that preyed on the living.   An exorcism was performed of the house and the case resolved, but the family still moved .  You can read more about this case at:
http://www.thecabinet.com/darkdestinations/location.php?sub_id=dark_destinations&location_id=the_haunting_in_connecticut_house

2.  The LaLaurie Mansion:
 This infamous haunted house was home to the famous Madam LaLaurie.  Madam LaLaurie was a sadist and the things she did to her slaves in this New Orleans Mansion are beyond horrific.  She sewed slaves together and removed their appendages and reattached them to other places.   After a fire, the community discovered Madam LaLaurie's sadism and she fled, leaving behind her a trail of ghost stories and a house that is so haunted it screams with ghosts.  You can learn more about this ghoulish haunting at:
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2009/12/this-is-famous-ghost-story-and-any.html

1.  Hull House:
This is another haunting that was so famous it inspired a movie.  Hull House is tucked away neatly on a campus in Chicago.  It was founded by Jane Addams as a refuge for displaced young woman.  Jane Addams was a remarkable woman and the work she did for those in need is admirable on every level.  That is why she hated that Hull House became most known as the house where Satan's baby was born.  According to legend, one of the young women living in this house gave birth to a demon spawn in this house.  Ever since then tails of ghosts and paranormal activity surrounding this location have proliferated.   Hull House is a popular stop on the Chicago Ghost tours and is one of the few places I've photographed in which I got something that looked like a ghost on film.  The story behind Hull House was the inspiration for Rosemary's Baby.   Learn more about this one at:
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2009/12/this-is-famous-ghost-story-and-any.html


I know there are many other house hauntings that aren't on my list.  The Winchester House, Lemp Mansion,  Whaley House, and The Myrtles Plantation all have wonderful haunted histories, but these five are my favorite and the they have stories that give me a chill every time.   For me, this is the perfect time of year to revisit some of my favorite haunted house stories.  With October around the corner and Halloween in the air,  a little scare is the perfect way to set the mood for the season!

To learn more about haunted houses you can go to this link and read more:
http://www.halloweenexpress.com/ghosts-and-haunted-houses.php

Our Dearly Departed

I'm not sensitive to ghosts and I'm not easily spooked, but last night I just about jumped off my sofa.  I was sitting on my couch, watching television like a giant slug.  I heard the dogs barking and looked up at the cat walk.   Both my dogs were chasing what looked like a person walking across the catwalk.  I went crazy.   I was alone in the house very late night with my children and seeing a strange person wandering down the hall being pursued by my frantically barking corgis was enough to set me off.   I went to grab a weapon and pursued the intruder up the stairs.  I was armed and dangerous.   Both my children were upstairs and I didn't want anything touching them.  Suddenly the dogs stopped barking and wandered down stairs.  I did a thorough search and found nothing up stairs.  Both my children were sound asleep and cocooned under a nest of covers.  The house was still and all was quiet.  The dogs slept.

This left me with a bit of a mystery.  There was clearly someone upstairs.  My dogs saw it.  I saw it.  It was an adult person.   I sat down to ponder whether or not both the dogs and I had accidentally ingested LSD when my husband came home.  He reminded me that his mother had died two years ago last night.  He was sad.   I had completely forgotten about the day because I forget all birthdays and anniversaries by default, but now I had to wonder if my unexplained event and the date were related.  I've heard stories of ghosts that only return on the anniversary f their death.  Perhaps this is what I saw.   I saw my mother-in-law going upstairs to check on the grandchildren she loved so much.   I hope so.  There is actually comfort in that thought.  There is comfort that somehow those who have left us can still come back and check on us and make sure we are alright, that they can love us from afar even if we can't always see them.  It is certainly more comforting than my accidental ingestion of LSD theory.  Either way, I'll light a candle for my mother-in-law today.  She and I had our differences, but I miss her now that she is gone. 

The Limits of Paranormal Belief

"Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside the range of normal or scientific explanation or that indicates phenomena that are understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure."

I write about ghosts and hauntings and I obviously have a strong interests in ghosts and hauntings.  When I began writing true ghost stories in my blog a little over a year ago,  I was mostly interested in the folklore and the ghost stories themselves.  Oddly,  I had given little thought to the theory or reality behind the stories.  I just loved the stories.  I had a few paranormal experiences myself involving hauntings, but I had no opinion whatsoever on the world of the paranormal outside of the ghostly.  Over the last year,  I have met so many other people that are interested in the paranormal and otherworldly that I've had to question my belief in all paranormal things.  Of course, the world of the paranormal is incredibly broad and includes ghosts, UFOs, cryptology, esp, witchcraft, faith and spiritual healing and many other topics.

This brings me to my main question.   As people who are interested in the paranormal, where do we draw the line?  As paranormal enthusiasts do we believe in everything paranormal or just one or two things?  I think that line is different for all paranormal enthusiasts.  I also find the line is completely variable.   I've known people who believe in aliens but think ghosts are ridiculous or who believe in ghosts but think Bigfoot is nonsense.    I know people that love ghost stories but think magic and witchcraft is foolishness.    I found this chart on wikipedia.  This survey questioned people as to whether or not they believe in certain areas of the paranormal:
Farha-Steward  Poll  Results for Belief/ Disbelief in Paranormal Topics (Don't Believe is Not on  Chart)

                                                              Believe         Not Sure
astrology                                                  17%        26 %                
channeling                                                  10%           29%
clairvoyance and prophecy                         24 %          33%
communication with the dead                     16 %           29%
demonic possession                                  40%             28%
ESP                                                         28%             39%
extraterrestrials visited Earth in the past     17%             34%
ghosts/spirits of the dead                          39%             27%
haunted houses                                        40%             25%
psychic/spiritual healing                            56%             26%
reincarnation                                            15%             28%
telepathy                                                  24%             34%
witches                                                     26%             19%


Other surveys by different organizations at different times have found very similar results. A 2001 Gallup Poll found that the general public embraced the following: 54% of people believed in psychic/spiritual healing, 42% believed in haunted houses, 41% believed in satanic possession, 36% in telepathy, 25% in reincarnation, and 15% in channeling.   So, it seems that almost half of the population believes in ghosts, hauntings, and faith healings. Almost 65% of those surveyed, either believed in or were open to the possibility of hauntings being real.  However, very few people embrace the notion of aliens having visiting the earth and clairvoyance. 

Lately, I've been drawn to magic and witchcraft as a paranormal endeavor.  As a good Catholic girl,  I was brought up to believe this is evil, so I can't practice it.  But I've enjoyed reading about it and learning about its history.  This is something most people do not believe in within the paranormal realm.   This week I did an experiment, just to see what happens.  I cast a spell.  Of course,  I chose one that called to St. Rafael, St. Michael, and St Gabriel.  This seemed natural to me as Catholics pray to the saints and ask for their intervention often enough.  The spell called for me to light some candles and make three wishes.  One impossible wish, on wish for love, and one wish for business and ask the above angels to help obtain said wishes.  I did so.  Interestingly, the candle for the impossible wish (I wished that Japan would have a speedy and painless recovery) went out almost immediately.  The others burned through the night.  The other two wishes were for my husband (love) and for my next novel to be published by one of the two editors that are currently reviewing it (business).    If it works, I may put a check by believing in magic, if not,  I'll still stay in the not sure column. 

So I ask my readers, where do your paranormal leanings go?  Do you draw the line somewhere or does every aspect of the paranormal interest you?  Are there things you believe in and other things your find ridiculous?    I noticed the survey did not include Cryptids.  I would like to know where interest in cryptids would stand on this survey.  I've been reading  the blog Gummerfan's  Monster HQ lately
http://gummerfansmonsterhunterhq.blogspot.com/ and his articles on cryptids are interesting.  I wonder if that is a lesser believed in area of the paranormal?  So let me know where you stand and where your limits of the paranormal begin and end.

The Archetypes of Hauntings

The more I read about hauntings and discuss hauntings the more I have come to believe that hauntings fall into very similar categories and types.  I am open to disagreement on this subject, but it seems  to me that no matter where you are in the world most hauntings fall into one of several categories.  In psychology I am not much of a Jungian.  I tend to be a cognitive behaviorist, but when I read about folklore and even when I hear ghost stories that are true ghost stories, I hear patterns in them that correspond a little with Jung's archetypes.  Carl Jung was an early psychologist who believed  in something called a collective unconscious.  He believed all people drew their thoughts from a similar source and this accounted for why people from every different culture had myths and stories that were very similar without ever having known each other.  For example; most cultures have a dragon myth and a Cinderella story. He also believed we all had universal symbols that we use to interpret the world.  Jung's main archetypes included the Great Mother, the wise old man, the child, the beautiful woman, the devil, the trickster, the scarecrow, and the shadow. These archetypes symbolize core desires within us. I think many of the hauntings I've explored fall into similar archetypes as these and I'm going to break down and explain some of these hauntings.

The White Lady Ghost Story:  These are some of the most common ghost stories.  There are also green lady and grey lady ghost stories that follow the similar pattern of a beautiful young woman, often betrayed or hurt in love, who somehow dies and leaves a tragic ghost behind.  This would fit into Jung's beautiful woman archetype.

Poltergeists:  Poltergeist literally means noisy ghost.   It is a haunting that causes much commotion.  Objects move and break and are thrown about.  Many people now believe that poltergeist hauntings are somehow connected to one person.  This person is usually an adolescent going through great turmoil.  Some believe it is the adolescent themselves who is causing the haunting.   This type of haunting conforms to Jung's trickster archetype.  The haunting is caused by one person who is causing a lot of commotion.  Loki would love it.

The Crying Child:  I've seen a lot of this type of haunting around bridges.  Almost every town in Alabama has a cry baby hollow ghost story.  I've also seen weeping children in houses and buildings.  Usually, the child has a sad story and their crying ghost is the lingering remnant of their tragedy.  This conforms to Jung's child archetype.

Demons:   I don't hear these ghost stories often but when I do they are the most horrifying and terrifying ghost stories.  I've had several people tell me stories about being tormented by a hostile spirit of some kind who is clearly malevolent and will often work to cause bodily harm against the person they are tormenting.  This conforms to Jung's devil archetype.

The Guardian Ghost:  I've heard many stories about helpful ghosts.  These ghosts usually begin as a classic haunting but when trouble arises they are quick to help.  These ghosts would fit the great mother archetype.

The Classic Haunting:  The classic haunting is the most typical ghost story.  Someone has died in a house or building a piece of them remains.  They are usually attached to the building itself and have some connection to the location for some reason or another.  These hauntings would fit into Jung's shadow archetype.  They are the opposite of the rational self.  They are the unexplainable things that connect us to the other side and chaos.

I'm not entirely sure why haunting types seem to fit so neatly into the Jungian archetypes.  Jung himself would argue that this is just more proof of his theoretical collective unconscious and his belief that ghosts represent some part of our core desires.  I'm not to sure about that.  Maybe  there is something that connects us all in life and in death and draws us to similar stories and places, but I think it more the part of what makes us human than some outside consciousness.  I would tend to believe his theories on core desires would come closer to the truth in this matter.   Whatever the cause,  it is fun to look at ghost stories like this.  I may not agree with Jung much but his way of looking at the world certainly hits home in many instances.

The painting above is by an artist named Renee Gandy.  This paintings name is Shadow Archetype.  You can find her work at http://fauvestudio.blogspot.com/2009/07/shadow-archetype.html.  Her work is also available on Etsy.

Should We Fear Ghosts?

The long history of ghosts and ghost stories is deeply rooted in horror and fear.   From such classic horror stories as The Haunting to the ghost lore that saturates folklore ghost stories are given a malevolent quality.  They are told around the campfire to scare children and they are brought out at Halloween to add to the spooky quality of the holiday.   Ghosts are supposed to be scary.  Almost every ghostly movie made capitalizes on this fear of ghosts.  From The Grudge to The House on Haunted Hill to  Thirteen Ghosts, ghosts are almost always scary and bad.

As I begin researching my second book, I have to wonder why ghosts have become associated with fear and terror.  Almost all of the people I interview who have had encounters with ghosts describe them as harmless and sometimes even beneficial.   The ghosts are scary in the same way bugs are scary.  They don't harm anyone, but they are scary because we have learned to fear them.  They are scary because they are unknown or just creepy, but I haven't encountered many true ghost stories in which the ghost itself is malevolent.   In fact, most of the really true scary supernatural stories I've gathered seem to be more drive by malevolent, nonghost spirits or demons.  They don't seem to be connected to a deceased person, but rather to some other kind of hostile entity.

 Many of the true ghost stories I've read step beyond being just neutral and are actually benevolent.  I heard one story in which the ghost protected a home owner from a burglar and another in which a ghost protected their child from a fall.  It seems to me that ghosts are like living people,  they can be good, neutral, and occasionally bad.  So why do we naturally fear them so much?  Should we fear ghosts at all?  I've spoke with people who say they've lived in haunted houses for years and never had any problems, just odd occurrences.  My family has a house that has been filled with odd, ghostly occurrences for the better part of a century and it has never bothered anyone.  It does keep you up at night, but it is never scary.  So why are we so naturally afraid of ghosts?  Is it a fear of the unknown or a fear of death or some cross between the two and will there be a point when that fear fades?  I've never really been afraid of ghosts, so I can't entirely answer these questions on my own, but I believe that ghosts shouldn't be feared unless they've been shown to be malevolent.

The Cathedral of Learning

 Last year I went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a writer's conference.  While I was there,  I met a young writer who had a passion for ghosts and ghost stories.  She was working on a young adult novel about a ghost hunter.   I was lucky enough to  have her give me a tour of her home town, where she had gone to school.   The first place the young woman took me was an amazing building called the Cathedral of Learning.   The Cathedral of Learning is the second tallest educational building in the world.  It towers above the landscape around it casting a long elegant shadow over the rest of the University of  Pittsburgh.  The architecture is all Gothic revival style so as you step into this tall building, you feel like you are stepping into a medieval Cathedral.   It is truly a Cathedral of Learning.

The Cathedral of Learning was begun in 1926 by Chancellor Bowman and community contributions helped him realize his dream.  The 42 story building contains classrooms, libraries, and a common room.   The most famous rooms in the cathedral are the nationality rooms.  These are a series of rooms on the second floor that have been decorated with historic pieces from numerous cultures so that each room looks like a room from the culture it represents.  According to my guide, it was one of these rooms that was haunted.

The Early American room  looks the part.  It is filled with historic pieces and has been decorated to look like it stepped out of time.   It is a shadowy room that feels haunted.   It isn't just the decor.   Many visitors to the Early American room have described having paranormal experiences.  The stories began 30 years ago, after  a woman donated several of her grandmother's items for the space.   The items had belonged to Martha Jane Poe, a relative of Edgar Allen Poe.  Many of the paranormal events described in the room seem to revolve around Martha Jane's wedding quilt.  One janitor described finding hand prints on the quilt when he was alone there at night.   Other visitors have seen doors open and close on their own and seen objects shift on their own. The baby cradle has been seen to rock when the room is empty and visitors that have spent the night in the room have reported feeling a cold spot.

According to Gretchen McKay of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette,  there are innumerable reports of ghostly activity in this old room and it may be that Martha Jane's ghost still stays with her things.  I didn't have any ghostly experiences in the Cathedral of Learning, but the building's decor certainly gives the building a chilling feel.  I know I would hate to be in the Early America Room alone after dark.

The House that Haunts My Dreams: The Newton-Allaire House

If you have followed my blog regularly,  you know my family owns a large Victorian house in Northern Michigan.   This house was my favorite place in the world as a child.  It was the cradle of all my dreams and the inspiration for my first stories.  It whispered to me in my sleep and made me believe that there was more to life than we can see, touch, and taste.  The house's ghosts were old and they followed you throughout the house.   I loved the ghosts in the house as I loved the house.  It bound me to a history I knew little of and made me part of a family that went back for generations.

Over the last few years, the surviving members of my family have tried desperately to sell and get rid of this haunted piece of our family history.   This week,  I'm going up to make one final plea to keep it.  My mother and I and our families will take a long drive up North.  It is a thousand miles for us and we will see if there is any hope left.  

My dream is that we could rent the house out.  It is a few blocks from the beach and one block to the bookstore and movie theater.  It is a twenty minute drive to Mackinac City and Mackinac Island.   It has 8 bedrooms and is filled with ghosts and histories.  It seems like it would be a good vacation rental and then we could stay in it during our off weeks.   We will see.  This will be an up hill battle.   Either way,  on Monday I'll post pictures of the old house and use a few of the ghost hunting skills I learned last Friday to see if I can talk to some of the ghosts in the house.  I'm hopeful.  The ghosts talked to me when I didn't want them to as a little girl.  I'm pretty sure they should be even more talkative now that I do want them to talk.

I may not blog again until I get there.   I can't wait.  The painting above is one of the many paintings I did of the house.  Even if we sell it,   the house will always be part of me.

A Southern Farmhouse Haunting

Last Christmas, when I started blogging about ghost stories,   I had been inspired by the extraordinary wealth of folklore and ghost stories that the nurses where I work and where my husband work seem to possess.   In rural Alabama,  these stories are as thick as the humidity.    I would sit and listen to the nurses and other country staff tell their stories and I thought that someone had to write these stories down.   My husband brought back stories for me from the hospital he works in, which is much more rural than the one I work in.  Yesterday,  another nurse brought me another story.  Of course,  I'm pleased as punch.   She even had pictures with her!

This nurse is young and lives in a farmhouse way out in the country.  Her farmhouse is over one hundred years old and those that have lived there have kept up with it by rebuilding it and fixing it up with modern amenities as time has past. Originally the house was a log cabin and beneath the brick and modern additions,  the old logs still stand strong.  The old farmhouse has a layered effect that tells the story of the many generations that have lived there.  Within these layers,  are ghost stories.

The nurse says that she isn't convinced her house is haunted.   She's seen things that aren't right, but it takes more than that to convince her.  Even if it is haunted, she feels that whatever is in the house is harmless.   She isn't afraid.  Her husband, on the other hand, is unnerved by the presence.   He feels as if something is always watching him.   He feels like he is never alone and  he has suggested they leave because of this.

The story that is told with the house is brilliant.   Over a century ago,   when the country was still new,   a Native American broke into the farmhouse looking for food and money.   The owner at the time was prepared for this type of event and cut the intruders head off with an axe.    The intruder's head rolled down the stairs.    According to the legend,   you can still hear the head rolling down the stairs and it is this Native American's ghost that still haunts this farmhouse.   The nurse's father says this is all made up nonsense, but even if it is, there is something in the house and that something is always watching.

The Ghost of Wellbeck Abbey

I was talking to a British officer last night and he told me the most wonderful ghost story.  Dinner parties are great for collecting ghost stories.  After a few glasses of wine,  everyone wants to share a story or two.  Although I  gathered several stories and a bit of a hangover last night,  this story was the most historically rich and easy to research so I went with the path of least resistance.

The officer I was talking with told me a story from his youth when he was still in military school.   He and his classmates were placed at Wellbeck Abbey.  Wellbeck Abbey is in Nottinghamshire and has a long history.  It was founded in the 12th century as a house of God.  After Henry VII dissolved all of the Catholic Church's holdings it was placed in private ownership.Welbeck became the family seat of the early Dukes of Newcastle. In the 18th century, it passed through an heiress into the Bentinck family and became the main seat of the Earls and Dukes of Portland.  While these Dukes owned the Abbey,  the renovated it and extended it a made it larger and more luxurious. The 5th Duke also excavated underground chambers.    

According to my source,  part of the abbey was used as a school and he and his peers were placed in these underground chambers.  They were used as dorms.   He knew nothing of the history of the abbey and is a sensible gentleman,  but he recalls the room he stayed in at Wellbeck as being quite haunted.   He recalls one night waking up in the middle of the night to see what he thought was his roommate waking up and brushing his hair and washing his face.   It was very early, but since it was the military this seemed reasonable and he went back to sleep.  When he woke later to his roommate getting ready he asked him if he hadn't already gotten ready and his roommate said no.  

Later his other roommate (there were three to a room) described seeing a similar event early in the morning.   The officer also describes feeling someone tapping him on the shoulder while he was brushing his hair in the morning.   All three young men, believed their room was haunted.  They felt no malevolence, but they felt sure they weren't the only ones staying in the small room at Wellbeck Abbey.

The Secret Ghost

I was told this story in the strictest confidence.  Of course,  I am retelling it, but I am omitting all names and locations and since I know people all over the nation (even a few in other nations),  I believe there is no way it could ever be traced back to the teller.  A friend of mine who has known for a while that I love ghosts, was telling me about her real estate woes.   She has been trying to sell her house for a long time and has had no success.   In the course of discussion,  she became very nostalgic about the house.  She described how beautiful it was and how, when she bought it,  she had dreamt of raising her children and growing old in the house.   She described it as spacious and beautiful.  It had a pool and lots of land for her children to run and play on.  It was everything she had ever wanted and more and she couldn't understand why it hadn't sold.

So I had to ask, "Why are you selling?"  She hesitated and then told me that it was haunted.  I tried, using all powers of persuasion to get the dirty details on the haunting from her, but she didn't want to talk about it much.  She certainly didn't want it ending up in my book or column.  She believes that if word spreads that the house is haunted she'll never be able to sell it.  She did tell me that the ghost wasn't that belligerent.   It was just always there.  She worried about her children and the impact that have a presence would have on them psychologically and I got the distinct impression that although the ghost wasn't harmful, it certainly wasn't nice.  She didn't want her children to grow up afraid and she felt the ghost filled the house with fear.   She said nothing else.  

The family has already moved and purchased a new house, but the economic ramifications of owning a house that sits empty are large.  She worries about her secret ghost and her empty house and worries that the secret might get out.  Which brings me to the larger question,  should the ghost be secret?  I feel her pain, but what if another family buys the house and then has to go through the same pain?  Is it fair to keep something like this secret?

Home Dark Home

My parents make jokes about their house.   They smile and laugh and tell stories like they only half mean them because they don't want to believe.  My father is an engineer and even when confronted by the unexplainable he tries to break it down to concrete laws of physics and motion.  Yet,  something entirely unexplainable lives in their house.  I thought it was poltergeist activity, but there is more to it than that.

I went home tonight.  My son is afraid to go to the bathroom there.  I have to walk with him and hold his hand.  My husband felt physically ill as soon as he entered the house and when he left he described a weight being lifted from his chest.  My children were playing with my ghost hunting kit a few months ago there and my parent's house lit the EMF up.  It has never reacted to much of anything before, including power lines.  My father's favorite story, which he struggles to explain, is the night in which some boxes stacked on one end of the room all fell over on a ping pong table across the room and crushed it.  The problem is that the table was strong and the boxes were light and there is no way the boxes could have created enough force to crush the table.  He hates that he can't explain it.  He and my mother also can't explain the noises that keep them up at night or the night terrors that often haunt those that sleep in the house.

I lived in the house for a while and was oftened tormented by bad dreams and boughts of depression.  I'm a happy person and have never had feelings like this since.  Other family members describe similar things.  My mother also describes feeling as if something malevolent has been sitting on her chest at night, crushing her.  I've felt this before as well.

I love going home and seeing my family.  I love the warmth of home and whatever is in the house isn't strong enough to harm anyone, but every once in a while its presence is more clear,  more defined and then I shutter.  I shutter knowing that there is something just wrong about the home my parents live in,  that I always think of as home.

The Many Ghosts of Littlecote House

Littlecote House has played a central roll in many of the major events in English history.  Elizabeth I, Charles II, and Henry VIII have all stayed here.  The D-Day invasions were planed here.  Guy Fawkes was tried here.  It was in Littlecote's lovely halls that Henry VIII seduced the one wife he was said to truly love,  Jane Seymore.  Historical events gather around this beautiful mansion like mist and so do the ghosts.

The house was built in the thirteenth century, but the ghosts of Littlecote come from a later time.  In 1575,  Littlecote became the scene of a despicable crime.  The owner, William Darrell was a wild man.  According to legend,  one night a n nobleman sent for a midwife from another village, had her blindfolded and taken to the house where she was instructed to help deliver the baby of a woman.  As soon as the child was born the nobleman threw it in the fire.  The midwife was given a handsome sum to keep her mouth shut, but she reported the crime.  Littlecote was the main suspect in this case, but the midwife could never prove his guilt.  He was arrested and acquitted.  Fourteen years later,  Darrell was thrown from a horse and died.   Legend says that the ghost of the dead baby killed him.  This ghost is called the burning babe and has been seen all over Littlecote since this time.  

Darrell has also been seen with his phantom hounds roaming the grounds of the old estate.  He is said to be a death omen,  appearing with a coach and horses when a death is eminent.  There are other ghosts at Littlecote.   There is a woman in a pink night dress that appears from the mist and another woman holding a baby who could be one of Darrell's many mistresses.  Littlecotte is now a hotel, so if you are looking for a ghostly vacation,  this might be the perfect stop.

Dragsholm Castle

I love history.   The reason I first fell in love with ghost stories is because of the many layers of history that lurk behind each story.   In Europe,  the layers of history go deeper because the history is so much longer.   Dragsholm Castle is one of the most haunted places in Europe and it is filled with history and ghosts.  Dragsholm Castle was was constructed during the 12th century by Bishop of Roskilde. When the castle was finally completed it became home to royalty and nobles alike.  Dragsholm is one of the oldest secular buildings in Denmark and its history is long and dark.


In the 16th century,  the castle became the residence of the royal family.  During the period from 1536 to 1664, Dragsholm Castle was also used as a prison for noble prisoners. In the large tower at the northeast corner of the castle, prison cells were made.  Some of the most well-known prisoners at Dragsholm Castle include the last catholic Bishop in Roskilde, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the mad squire, Ejler Brockenhuus.   The Earl of Bothwell was subjected to particularly horrible treatment in the tower and was tied to a pillar and left to rot.  He was given just what was necessary to keep him alive and he was said to have gone mad.

The Earl of Bothwell is one of the most famous ghosts of Dragsholm.   The Earl has been seen riding into the courtyard of the castle with his horse and carriage.   Many visitors claim to have heard the horses hoof beats upon the cobbled yard.


The castle is also said to be haunted by two other ghosts. There is a white lady who is said to be a daughter of one of the bovles who owned the castle.   She fell in love with a commoner and when her father found out he was so angry that he imprisoned her in the dreaded tower. She was more than imprisoned, legend says that he walled her up in her prison cell and left her to die.   It is said that every night she returns to the castle and walks around the corridors.  There have been numerous sightings of her.  There is also factual evidence to support this story.  In the 1930's, when the old walls of the castle were torn down, workers found a hole in the wall and a skeleton with a white dress in it.

The last ghost to haunt Dragsholm Castle is a gray lady.  She is the rarest of the three ghost and is seldom seen or heard. She is believed to be the ghost of a young serving girl who died of a tooth ache.   She lingers in the shadows, hiding from sight, looking for a light in the darkness.

If you would like to visit Dragsholm Castle,  you are very much in luck.  During 1937, the castle came into the ownership of the Bottger family who have since converted it into a hotel.   Their website explains their many services and tells about the castle, its history, and the wonderful food that can be eaten where others once died.  You can plan your visit by going to  http://www.dragsholm-slot.dk/en  . Unfortunately,  since my husband's family all lives in France,  we may never sleep in the rooms of Dragsholm, but it certainly would be worth the trip if we ever had the time.

The Ghosts of Flight 191

I flew into Chicago today.   My airplaine landed in one of the more haunted places in Chicago.  Believe it or not Chicago O'Hare Airport is reported to be very haunted.  Ghosts have been seen traversing the halls of this crowded and boisterous airport.  It is hard to imagine anything creepy seeping in through the throngs of people that push their ways through the halls of O'Hare.  Even if there were ghosts there,  I can't imagine noticing.   If a ghost sat on my head there,  I probably wouldn't have seen it in all the commotion.  Never the less,   there have been multiple reports of phantom pilots and stewardesses within this airport.

Thirty years ago,  tragedy befell this famous airport.   In 1979,  Flight 191 crashed and exploded into flames on the runway in front of the terminal.   271 passengers and crew members died in the fiery inferno that followed and their ghosts haven't rested since then.  The common reports of the supernatural at O'Hare are the phantom aircraft that is often seen flying in the skies.  As I wandered the terminal,  I tried to imagine ghosts.  I looked for them, but I saw nothing.   I suppose the ghosts may wait for nightfall.

The Ancient Apparitions of Russell Caverns

Today we drove North again.  We went on a road trip to find the last pieces of the haunted North Alabama puzzle.   We took our time and stopped to view the oddities along the way.   We stopped at Unclaimed Baggage to view the puppet used for Hoggle in the movie "Labrynth".  He's an odd thing to leave in your luggage, but no odder than the ancient manuscripts and other oddities that are placed behind glass at the Unclaimed Baggage Museum. 

Our final destination was Russell Caverns.  Many visitors to these ancient caves have reported seeing ghosts there.   Many have photographed ghosts and others have had ghostly encounters.   The caves were occupied by Native Americans for over 9000 years and archealogical evidence is on prominent display in the cave museum.   It is a short walk to the cave from the museum and it was a lovely day.  They sun filtered through the leaves painting the forest floor like stained glass.   We were the only ones there and the quiet was almost unnatural.  There was no guide and there were no crowds.  We entered the mouth of the cave alone and my son clutched my hand and said he was afraid.

The caves definately had a presence.  It was the type of presence that fills me with an odd calm and a desire to linger.   So we wandered through the small wooded area around the cave and the short path within the gaping mouth of the cavern for some time looking at the displays and reading the plaques.    I took dozens of photos while my boys climbed over the rocks.   My last set of pictures, taken in the same set as the ones above and just a few seconds later, show some very interesting movement.  It was a clear day with no fog or cloud cover.  I'm not sure what is going on in these photos, but I'm open to speculation.