Final Day of my Halloween Contest wek and we are talking Haunted Places. It wouldn’t be Halloween without talking spooky places where ghosts scare unsuspecting people.
Some of America’s Most Haunted Places are as follows:
Bell Witch Cave (located in Adams, Tennessee)
There is no greater ghost story in the history of American than that of the Bell Witch of Tennessee. It would require an entirely separate book to chronicle the strange haunting that occurred in Robertson County between 1817 and 1821 (and I have written one — see my book Season of the Witch for the complete account) but in short, the family of a local farmer named John Bell was plagued by a mysterious and violent spirit for nearly four years. The haunting involved spectral creatures, disembodied voices, unbelievable violence and even resulted in the death of John Bell — all at the hands of the infamous Bell Witch.
*****
Lincoln Theater (located in Decauter, Illinois)
The Lincoln Theater, located on North Main Street in downtown Decatur, is one of only two of the city’s grand theaters that remain standing today. It opened in 1916 with a large seating capacity and a sprawling stage. It was a labyrinth, and remains so today, with its mezzanine, high balcony, basements and sub-cellars. The theater holds many secrets, and according to some, many ghosts.
*********
Waverly Sanatorium (Lousiville, Kentucky)
One of the legends told of Waverly Hills involves a man in a white coat who has been seen walking in the kitchen and the smell of cooking food that sometimes wafts through the room. During their initial visit, they found the kitchen was a disaster, a ruin of broken windows, fallen plaster, broken tables and chairs and puddles of water and debris that resulted from a leaking roof. The cafeteria had not fared much better. It was also in ruins and the team quickly retreated. Before they could do so though, several of them reported the sounds of footsteps, a door swinging shut and the smell of fresh baked bread in the air. A quick search revealed that no one else was in the building and there was certainly no one cooking anything in the kitchen. They could come up with no logical explanation for what had occurred.
********
Alcatraz (San Franciso, California)
Alcatraz, which earned the nickname of the “Rock”, was the ultimate American prison. Bloodletters and badmen and assorted public enemies like Al Capone, Alvin Karpis and Machine-Gun Kelly and others, called this place the end of the line. For 29 years, the damp, fogged-in prison kept the country’s most notorious criminals put away from the rest of the world. The heavy mists, cold wind and water and the foghorns of the bay made Alcatraz the loneliest of the prisons.
********
Gettysburg Battlefield (Southern Pennsylvania)
Most Civil War enthusiasts would say the battle which was fought near the small Pennsylvania town in 1863 was the greatest battle of the war…. or at the very least, a turning point which led to the fall of the Confederacy. For ghost hunters, the mere mention of Gettysburg conjures up images of haunted buildings, strange battlefield encounters and restless ghosts.
**********
Link to more Haunted places in America: http://www.prairieghosts.com/mosthaunted.html
So many places have haunted houses and fields that I can not name them all or I would be here all day.
CONTEST TIME: What other place do you think should be on this list?
ANSWER ON THE BLOG PLEASE!
The contest week closes Oct. 31st, 2009 and winner to be announced on Nov. 1st on blog and readers loop.
Comments
No Responses to “Day 5 of Halloween Contest- Haunted Places”
Leave a Reply
The Villisca Ax Murder House!
Nearly lost among the rolling hills and fields of southwestern Iowa is the tiny town of Villisca; a quiet, peaceful place of only a few hundred people — and one tragic and enduring mystery. It was here, in June 1912, that a horrific mass murder took place, wiping out an entire family. The murder was never solved, casting a pall over Villisca that still lingers today.
Happy Halloween!
Tamsyn
In a city of Reading,PA a woman murdered her children..she was Molly Hackett and I am not sure what caused her to do the act as it was many years ago..the house was rumored to be haunted with scream of the children..there were quite a few of them. susan L.
Since I am from Louisiana, I have plenty to pick from:)
I would say St.Louis Cemetary in New Orleans!!
crystal palace saloon in tombstone arizona.the ghost of big nose kate,doc holiday’s lover, is said to haunt the place along with assorted ghostly cowboys.
The Bell Witch is creepy! For the most comprehensive and documented account, go to Pat Fitzhugh’s bellwitch.org site and buy his big book. I used to stand in front of the mirror and do the Bell Witch trick, but nothing ever happened. I know she is real though. Happy Halloween!
Since I’m from Ottawa, Ontario Canada…I thought it would be appropriate to post a scary Canadian place…
A lot of paranormal activity has been reported to occur at the Chateau Laurier (very ritzy hotel right by the Parliament Building). The Chateau is a large hotel that is rather attractive despite the eerie feeling you are greeted with when you enter the premises. One of the ghosts that you may encounter is actually the founder of the hotel. While on an expedition to bring back furniture from Europe, he unfortunately perished in the sinking of the Titanic. Numerous residents of the Chateau, as well as those who work at the hotel have reported to encounter a variety of ghosts. Other odd events include strange noises and shaking. The ghost of a small girl is also said to haunt the premises.
Happy Halloween!!!
I think that the Winchester House in San Jose California needs to be added to the list. I have actually been there and you feel things… I went there before I knew it was suppose to be a haunted house and was just overall bad feeling from entrance to exit.
raine, the simple answer is almost any cemetary in the dead of the night, and expecially on Halloween.
Sandie
Since I Live Five Minutes From Boston I Thought I Would Share One From My Neck Of The Woods.
Fort Warren
Boston, Massachusetts
Used as a prisoner of war camp during the Civil War, Georges Island is said to have many ghosts. It is reported that one ghost may be heard playing “John Brown’s Body” on the harmonica. In another story, one woman dressed as a man to get into the island to see her lover, a rebel prisoner. Subsequently, she was hanged in a black dress given to her by the warden’s wife. It is said that the woman may still be heard screaming today.
http://www.realhaunts.com/united-states/fort-warren/
There was this house I was taken to when I was 15 or 16, deep in the backwoods of West Virginia. My best friends Mom had family in Derbin. It was at least an hours drive from there. We walked in just as the sun was setting, and the piano started playing all by itself. Then, a few minutes later, a spirit of a woman in her 30′s dressed in 1800′s(early) glided halfway down the stairwell before disappearing. A moment after that, we all heard a “thump-thump-thump” and a head came rolling down the steps and came to rest at our feet. When I reached over to pick it up. . . it disappeared before our eyes.
The story in those parts goes that the husband murdered her in a jealous rage, and she’s never been able to find peace. All I know is I saw it with my own eyes, and it’s stuck with me since. I don’t know the name of the house. The Mom of my friend passed on about 8 yrs. ago from cancer, and the girls and I drifted apart.
If you’re talking American History, I’d say the Winchester House. Have a great Halloween/Samhain all. Blessed be!
Here’s one in the US:
The Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana
This place was once a glorious plantation, but after 10 murders and at least one confirmed suicide this place has become one of the most notorious and famous stops for ghost hunters of all ages. The plantation was built in 1796 and is now operated today as a Bed-N-Breakfast. Some of the claims of haunting is disembodied voices, the laughter of children playing, objects moving on their own, and in several reports, shadowy figures have been seen wandering around the grounds, inside and out.
http://www.myrtlesplantation.com/
I haven’t been there but I would think the Edgar Allan Poe National Historical Site would be very creepy! I would love to plan a vacation around haunted places. How about the Lizzy Borden home? That would really be creepy!
the farm yard just a few miles from my home place where I grew up; it is said that a ghost roams the farm yard so one night my cousin and I and our boyfriends took a drive out there and stopped on the approach. The gate had a lock on it so couldn’t go any further. We waited for a couple of hours but nothing happened.
I live in Pa and we have a lot of places that are said to be haunted. In Gettysburg,PA theres a house where a young woman was baking bread and a bullet came through the door and hit her in the back killing her. Her sister was up stairs resting from just having a baby. Its called the Jenny Wade House. they say her is still there baking bread.
Also, lets not forget Amityhall the house where the son killed his whole family because he stated the house told him to do it. But since then someone has lived in that house with no problems from any ghost…
Thanks