Our first house was a little blue house that was
built in 1948 for Navy housing. (The house was close to the base.)

The air conditioner was loud when it was turned on, and I remember
that anytime I was lying in bed, in our bedroom, I heard what sounded
like a radio when I knew there wasn\'t one on. I got up a few times
checking what my husband was listening to on TV, and the TV wasn\'t on or
the programming didn\'t match what I was hearing. Could never make out
what they were saying...my husband said it may have been UFOs (he
sounded like he was almost positive of it. I wasn\'t convinced.)

When my son was around 9 months old, I accidentally locked myself out
of the house when the front door closed behind me when I went outside
for some reason. I don\'t even know how that happened. I frantically
tried to open the front door to no avail. I ran to the back sliding
glass door. Locked tight. My son was in his playpen at this time playing
happily, but I was hysterical. No one was home at the houses on either
side of my house and there was no house across the street. I was too
afraid to leave my baby that long. I ran around to the front door,
trying again. No good. Ran to the back again, and cried out for my
deceased grandmother (who I was very close to ) to please help me. A
second later, that heavy sliding glass door finally opened, and I was on my
hands and knees praising God, and thanking my Grandma. I had never
been so scared in my life.

We are now in our third home, and have stayed in other places with
loud air conditioners, and I haven\'t heard \"voices\" like I heard at
that little blue house.

I used to think I may have been picking up radio signals, because that
is how they sounded!

When it's your time to go, it's your time to go!!
Watch the man on the left walking, crossing the road where there is no car. It is so definite that the coast on the left is clear, and safe to cross. Any person would see it is safe.... however, God knows! Jjust when he is walking halfway across towards the other side, a car that just shoots pass the red-light (no brain!!!), clashed with an on-coming car (from right), pushing it with force, causing it to ram forward, crashing into the man who was crossing the road! If you look very carefully you can still see his actual real ghost standing behind the car... STILL WALKING !

You can see his ghost still walking! Look behind the vehicle in the last frame! He is either still walking or standing on the curb looking back at the accident! This was sent to me in a Email and I discovered his ghost in the clip. This particular clip has been circulating on the net for over a year now, but I don't think anyone saw his ghost until I did.

WATCH THE VIDEO A FEW TIMES AND YOU WILL SEE HIM VERY CLEARLY!

 

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WE VISITED GHOST TOURS IN GETTYSBURG ON JULY 1, 2006. AFTER THE TOURS. WE DROVE
TO THE HUANTED BRIDGE. WE TOOK PHOTOS. WHEN ONE PHOTOS WAS RETURNED THE PHOTO SHOWED A LARGE WHITE BURST OF LIGHT AND SEVERAL SMALL WHITE CIRCLES WHICH LOOKED SIMILAR TO SPARKLER SPARKS. IS THERE ANY WHERE WE COUNLD SEND THE PHOTO TO GET A OPINION AS TO WHAT THIS MAY BE???? THANKS FOR YOURS HELP. WE HAD A GREAT TIME AND HOPE TO VISIT AGAIN........

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Yesterday I was cleaning out my room for painting and I ran across my old ouija board. When I have used the board w/ him, it immediately responds much quicker than with other people. He claims that he has had a terrible experience with one in the past.

Yesterday it said:

Bad things will happen if you don’t stop being so negative.

I thought that was good advise so I wanted to play some more.

Approximately three times it said,

Evil is bad

Other phrases:

The number is 10.

Beware the unknown.

I began having a conversation w/ John about the board. Then it said,

You don’t understand the danger.

The board is mine.

At that point, I said should I just throw it in the garbage. It pointed to “yes” three time.

I threw it away last night in three garbage bags.

Hello my name is Gary and I seem to be able to see more than I want. I have a very high energy level I mean electricity when I walk by a radio it changes stations, if i touch you i may shock you or suck the energy right out of you maybe thats why I see wandering spirits all the time this one I got a photo of. you make the call .

Please respond with your thoughts thanks, Gary Cross I will disclose location after i revisit the location and verify it is all right with them first let me know if you want to go i will consider it.

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The Beat, Fort Meyers, Florida Ghosts

The music was rocking and the line stretched out in front of the club as the big, bald- headed bouncers checked IDs and put on white bracelet straps before
anyone is allowed into the club. Once this bracelet is awarded to both male and female, for sometimes it is hard to tell, male from female, the patrons can move freely in and out of the club, which they do regularly all night long.

The club is called The Beat and as soon as the owner and bouncer found out that a ghost research project was underway in the old abandoned Greystone Hotel next door they approached a part of the group that was still in the process of gathering their equipment from their car, parked out front. The owner said proudly that his place used to be a morgue and where his patrons were dancing, used be the crematorium of Fort Myers and he was anxious for us to see it and feel the vibes.

Upon entering the smoke filled club, we were immediately approached by an unusual looking man who was in his 50’s with a full head of pitch- black hair and tattoos that went on forever. His name was Hot Rod Tad and he had worked at the Beat for over a year and had witnessed some strange activities.

He said the most unusual thing was the vibration in a certain area of the bar, near where the crematory stack once was. Tad said couples that got along really well would end up fighting if they stayed in that area for very long. He saw it happen time and time again and was anxious for us to sample the vibration for ourselves.

Grabbing this writer’s hand and Sprout’s, the founder of the Peace River Ghost Trackers, took us deep into a rocking, dancing, smoke- filled club that had flashing neon lights which was enough flash to cause “Sense Depravation”. It was an unreal setting coupled with a sea of strange looking people with weird outfits and weirder hairdo’s.

We checked out the area under the stairway that led to somewhere undetermined and quickly fled the room. It would not be surprising that this environment would lead to irritability and violence but it may have nothing to do with the ghosts. However, it is more likely that it is the ghost of a young nineteen- year old man who was fatally stabbed in a street fight on a Tuesday night in September of 1928, long before The Beat Club was even thought of. The cause of the fight has been lost to history but perhaps could be found in old 1928 police records. In any event, the young man died on the sidewalk.

His widowed mother took her son’s body from a chapel to an Atlantic Coast Line train for conveyance to Mobile, Alabama for burial. The young man’s name was Elmo Browning and he may be who roams the place that now houses The Beat looking for the man or men who did him in.

Shadows of a large, male figure is often seen on the wall as if floating up the stairs and then suddenly disappears. Patrons feel someone whispering in their ears, despite the loud noise of the music and often feel someone bumping up against them on the dance floor when no one is close enough to do it.

If you care to visit this haunted club, The Beat Incorporated Club is located at 1528 Hendry St. between Main and First Street.

I was out taking pictures on our front porch of the sunrise in Ridgefield, Washington. When I pulled them back up on my digital camera, one looked like a spirit of someone was looking into the side of my picture. As you can see by the picture numbers they were taken in sequence. What do you thinkit is?

Thanks,
Whisper
(AKA Cheryl)

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This picture was taken at the Devil's Den in Gettysburg... On 4-3-05. There were not any reenactors there at that time. I made for certain that during my trip, I did not take any pictures of anyone dressed in Civil War era clothing because I was there on a ghost hunting trip. The first photo is the full size picture, the second is a close-up of the soldier.

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February 12, 2006 My Mother took a picture of my Daughter and our dog. We just recently got the pictures back from being developed and in the picture, we noticed was something really weird.

To the right of my daughter looks like a women with long hair, holding on to my daughters arm like she is protecting my daughter, to the right of the women looks like a wolf of some sort. I am attacthing the picture for you to look at. Please email me if you have any advice. Thank you so much.

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SUBMITED BY: Ellen Bain Smith

I saw Robert in Key West a few weeks ago at the Customs House. I took one photo from his right side--no problem. I moved to his left side and took another photo. This time my digital camera made a whining noise and cut off.

I will try to send you the 2 photos. Make of it what you will.

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On Mardi Gras Day February 28th, 2006 my husband and I toured the
St, Louis Cemetery Number One. I found the Legendry tomb of Marie Laveau, just by walking in as if guided by some unseen power. My husband and I could feel a strong force pulling us to the tomb even though we had never been there before. I knew it was Marie Laveaus' ghost doing it for we could hear drumming and a large black cat ran out before us from beside a tomb next to hers.

At the base of the tomb were many offerings, and upon this tomb plaque on the ground rested a small plaster statue. Yes, we had found a Monkey and a Rooster Cock.

Had I not been to this web site and seen the many stories and information on this real New Orleans voodoo statue I would have left it there scared to touch it. But I knew it was the real deal. It is dated on the back 1930.

I also went to the Voodoo Museum New Orleans, and saw one there on display, very different from the one I found. We went to several locations and talked to Voodoo People to see if they could tell us more about it then what was on your web site. The one on the altar of Marie Laveaus' Voodoo Shop House of Voodoo on Bourbon Street, was larger then mine but seemed more sharper in it's carving style... But mine is special for it belongs to me now.

I am happy to say I made my wish and will be glad to let you all know when it comes true!

I also am curious to think that the bottom name on the plaque at Marie Laveaus' Tomb, might it be the Devil Baby Of Bourbon Streets name, does anyone know for sure?

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On November 11th, 2005 my wife and I toured the
Birdcage Saloon in Tombstone Arizona. It is known as the most haunted spot
in Arizona. During its opening of 9 years there were 26 murders committed
inside. This was the hangout for the likes of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.
If you saw the movie "Tombstone" , then you will remember the Birdcage. In
the rear of the Birdcage they have the original Hearse, called the Black
Moriah, which was used to transport all cadavers to Boot Hill. My wife and
I were alone in the the building and I was snapping shots randomly. I
>snapped a shot of the Hearse and upon download to the computer this face
appeared in the reflection.

A couple of things about this photo. It is currently being examined by a
Canadian film crew and has already been examined by a paranormal research group in Canada >called HAPIA. HAPIA believe the photo to be authentic and has given it to the film crew for further inspection.

If you zoom in on "his" right eye you will see that it is extremely large
and you can even make out the pupil. He appears to be wearing a Henley type
shirt, however, according to HAPIA there are in fact NO shoulders ! The
lower right portion of the face appears to be BEHIND the pipe which is
behind the hearse.

Dan in Tucson

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Ghost Photo taken at The Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana February 19, 2006

This photo was taken in the afternoon, house locked and empty, no one
else on the grounds. Next to the arrow I see what appears to be an African
American staring out of the window. Zoom in 2 or 3 times to get a better view.

Please let me know what you think.

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I think some of the most haunted places are the
Lizzie Borden b&b, the Amityville house, and the land where Sharon Tate
was murdered.

SUBMITED BY: Cassarah Brown

There is a house next door to me and my family and we heard ever since we have been here that the house next door is haunted. And this is how the story goes well the people that use to live there told us that there was a boy that hung himself in the basement and every night the family would go to bed in the middle of the night at 2 o clock in the morning he would go in the kitchen open the fridge and leave the fridgerator open and then he would turn the tv on and when he heard something coming down the stairs he would hurry up and run down in the basement and he does this every night

I have a feeling that my sister and her
husband\'s grave might be haunted.They have a bronze plaque which is a marker not a headstone .I often leave flowers at the grave site and when i
return a few weeks later they have disappeared . Today their grave site was
covered in thick ice.We did have some snow last week but the temps
were a lot warmer than usual this week and the snow was pretty much melted away. All of the other graves in that area did not have any ice
covering their markers just my sister and husband\'s grave site. Why would that happen any way?

Fulton county in alpheretta GA is a haunted
place. There was 6 children that have died in it because of being poisoned.
Now you can go in the school and hear screaming, \"HELP, HELP\"

I thought maybe this would be something interesting for your web site.

I took this picture myself!!! At the moment this happened all I had available to capture a photo with was my cell phone.

I was asked to do a walk along with a local investigation team. I arrived at the house before the crew did, so I began a conversation with the lady who lived there. She was briefing me on the story behind her request for help. And the story alone was enough to send chills over my body.

She told me about what she believed to be a haunting in her home, which revolved around a miscarried pregnancy she had more than 30 years ago. She claimed that only a few days after this tragedy she and her husband began hearing a baby cry coming from the nursery they had prepared. They eventually blamed the sounds on their imaginations and grief.

She continued to say that every so often this sound continued to be heard and eventually led to the door to the nursery rattling by itself as if someone from the inside was trying to open it. And she stated that every time she entered the room she was overcome with nausea.

After the death of her husband recently, she said these events started becoming more noticeable, even to visitors in the house. The investigators still had not arrived, and they had all of the equipment used to investigate such a situation. However I decided to venture to the nursery by myself just to look around. I was a little shocked to find that the lady had locked the door using a dead bolt lock. Inside I found a crib and rocking chair sitting perfectly preserved among the faded and ragged walls of the room.

I closed the door and sit down in the rocking chair. 30 minutes had passed before I noticed the temperature of the room dropping drastically but still no sounds or activity. As I was leaving the room to return downstairs. I heard the door knob rattle. I knew I had not caused this, I turned and walked back in the nursery and the rocking chair I had just left was turned facing the window, when I left the room the chair was not in this position. Since I had no equipment, I resorted to moving my hands above the crib where in one spot the air was much cooler than anywhere else in the room. I did not see anything, but decided to use my phone cam to snap some pictures. Immediately I saw this image that appears to be a perfect apparition of a baby.

The investigators returned to this room later and found nothing like this, but did record drastic temperature fluctuations above the crib.

I am including the original photo taken from my phone as well as the one I opened in a program to highlight the possible apparition. If you could look at these photos and give me your opinion it would be much appreciated!

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SUBMITED BY: mrmay24@yahoo.com

I don't know what to say except that Granger,
Iowa\'s cemetery( outside of Des Moines Iowa ) is by far the most violent.
We have a report on evp of a kid telling us to \"get the $#@$ out\".
While a few moments later a part of a gravestone went flying right at us
hitting my friend in the head. These are true. I never belived in this
stuff, but now I do. I WILL NEVER GO TO THIS PLACE AGAIN!

 

SUBMITED BY: Ashley

The Villisca Axe Murder house is the scariest
place that I have ever heard of. I have been there once and drove past
often. In case you don\'t know it is where the Moore family and the
Stillinger girls were brutally murdered. All but Jo Moore were killed
with the blunt end of the ax. No one to this day knows who killed them.
The children like to play with you too. If you bring toys that they
like they will play with them. Catherine Moore and the Stillinger girls
are the most interactive. My boyfriend grew up in Villisca and told me
about the place. I thought that he was full of crap and that it was
just some story until I looked it up and realized that these events did
in fact take place. Everytime we visit his mom, we drive by there and
there is usually and eerie lime green smoke or fog around the left hand
side of the roof. It is really really weird. You can just tell that
it is haunted. When you walk in you can feel it. I never even believed
it until I went there. They have it completely restored to the way
that it was in 1912. You can still see the ax marks in the ceiling where
it was hit with the back swing. Those are in the parents room. It
should really be checked out. Whatever you do don\'t go in the attic. It
is really just... don\'t go in there. The children\'s room and the
blue room are where you get the most activity. They like to pull your
hair and tug on your clothes. It is just... I can\'t even explain it. If
you are there around 1am and you hear the train, look the hell out!
That is when the killer who also haunts the house comes in and the events
that took place that night reoccur. I want to go back again on June
10th, 2012. It will be exactly 100 years since it happened and I know
that it will be even more scary, but I don\'t know if I should go or not
because lord knows what will happen.

Official Site of the Villisca Axe Murders www.villiscaiowa.com

www.rense.com/1.imagesG/ghost1.jpg

SUBMITED BY: Frogs03@dandy.net

I was on the bus, going back to my house from
school, when my friend decided to take picture of the sky and trees. i
saw something at first move, didn't think anything of it, and then she
took this picture (that i sent) and it was 2 girls next to each other
smiling, i don't look like that, and my friend doesn't look like that. At
first i was laughing because it was a funny face. I looked at the seat
behind me, there was a guy but it wasn't a reflection of him since he wasn't near the window. And the seat in front of us was empty. The girl doesn't have any eyes, & they're both see-through.

*I saw it 1-26-06
*at around 12:15 i saw it
*Happened in NJ
*nothing smelled weird, or felt different.
*i saw it go by really fast
*it was cold,windy, and partly sunny. around 40 degrees

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Chicago - Harpo Inc. - Haunted by victims of the Great Chicago Fire. It is now Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Inc. main studios. People refuse to stay in the building after dark for fear of the ghosts. - Update/Correction February 2005 - Harpo is haunted by victims of the Eastland ship wreck disaster. It was the armory at the time and was used as the Morgue. It was not around in 1871, in fact, it would have been in part of the city that not developed yet.- February 2005 update/Correction: The true story is Harpo is haunted by the victim of the Eastland Ship Disaster of 1915 on the Chicago River. Harpo Studio was at the time an Armory and was used a temporary Morgue for some of the 830 dead. Oprah talks freely of the ghost in the building and shows no fear of them.

In GHOSTHUNTING ILLINOIS, John Kachuba takes readers on a guided tour of Illinois’s legendary haunted places, including:

On July 24, 1915, more than 800 passengers of the Eastland steamer died when the ship capsized on the Chicago River. The 2nd Regiment Armory at 1054 W. Washington was quickly established as a temporary morgue and nearly 200 bodies were transported to the building. When Oprah Winfrey established her Harpo Studios in the Armory building in 1989, it came as no surprise when employees discovered the building was haunted. Security guards working the night shift reported crashing noises, the sounds of dozens of invisible footsteps marching across the lobby, phantom laughter, and the sounds of a woman sobbing. Others have encountered a ghost known as the "Gray Lady" seen floating down hallways in vintage dress. Harpo employees have no doubt the Eastland tragedy left an indelible impression upon the building.

Harpo Studios, Chicago · The building that now houses “The Oprah Winfrey Show” served as a temporary morgue when a steamer capsized in 1915. Oprah’s employees have encountered the ghosts of the victims floating through the halls.

One of the most devastating, and haunting, tragedies to strike Chicago would be the capsizing of the EASTLAND steamer on July 24, 1915, between the Clark and LaSalle Street bridges. Although it had only just departed the dock when the tragedy occurred, the steamer was bound for Michigan City, Indiana where a picnic had been planned for the workers of “Western Electric” and their families. There were four vessels chartered to take the estimated 7,000 people on their journey across the lake. One of these vessels was the EASTLAND, a rusting Lake Michigan steamer owned by the St. Joseph-Chicago Steamship Company. It was supposed to hold a capacity crowd of 2,570 but it is believed that at least 3,200 were on board. Besides being overcrowded, the vessel had a reputation for being notoriously unstable.

The EASTLAND was moored on the south side of the river and after the passengers were loaded on board, the dock lines were loosed and the ship prepared to depart. What followed was a nightmare....

The overflow crowd, dressed in their best summer attire, even on this drizzly morning, jammed onto the decks, waving handkerchiefs and calling out to those still on shore. The ship eased away from the dock and immediately began to list to the post. As more passengers pushed toward that side of the deck, the boat tilted dangerously. What the passengers were unaware of was that the crew of the steamer had emptied the ballast compartments (designed to provide “stability” for the craft) so that more passengers could be loaded aboard. This would be the undoing of the EASTLAND... as moments later, the ship simply toppled over!

The passengers above deck were thrown into the water and the river became a moving sea of bodies. Crews on the other boats threw life preservers into the river, while onlookers began throwing lines, boxes and anything else that would float to the floundering passengers. To make matters more difficult, the river was now surging, thanks to the wake caused by the overturned ship. Many of the luckless passengers were pulled beneath the water by the current, or swamped by the crashing waves.

Worst of all was the fate of those passengers who had remained inside of the ship when it had departed. These unlucky victims were first thrown to one side of the ship as it turned over and then they were covered with water as the river rushed inside. A few of them managed to escape to the upturned end of the ship, but most didn’t, becoming trapped in a tangled heap at the lowest point of the EASTLAND.

Firefighters and rescue workers arrived within minutes and began cutting holes in the wood above the water line and in the steel hull below it. In the first fateful minutes, a number of passengers managed to escape, but soon, it was simply too late. The rescue workers had to resign themselves to fishing corpses out of the water, which they wrapped in sheets and transferred to the ROOSEVELT, another vessel that had been rented for the excursion. The big downtown stores sent wagons and trucks to ferry the injured and dead to nearby hospitals and makeshift morgues. Large grappling hooks were also used to pull bodies from the water.

By late that afternoon, nearly 200 bodies had been taken to the 2nd Regiment Armory on West Washington Blvd. According to newspaper accounts, a police diver who had been hauling bodies up from the bottom of the river since mid-morning suddenly broke down and became crazed. He had to be subdued by several of his friends and fellow officers. City workers began dragging the river far south of where the ship had capsized, using large nets to stop the bodies from washing out into the lake. By the time that it was all over, 835 of the ships passengers perished, including 22 entire families.

The mystery of the EASTLAND was never solved. There was never a clear cause that could be reached that accounted for the capsizing of the vessel. Several hundred lawsuits were eventually filed but almost all of them were thrown out by the Circuit Court of Appeals, who held the owners of the steamship blameless in the disaster. The EASTLAND was later sold at public auction in December 1915. The title was later transferred to the government and it was pressed into duty as the gunboat USS WILMETTE. In 1946, it was sold for scrap metal.

But the story of the EASTLAND does not end there.....

In recent years, the armory building, where most of the dead were taken during the disaster, has been incorporated into Harpo Studios, the production company owned by Oprah Winfrey. As one of Chicago’s greatest success stories, Oprah came to Chicago in 1984 to host the WLS-TV talk show “AM Chicago”. Within a few years, she had recreated the program and it was re-named the “Oprah Winfrey Show”. She has since gone on to become the host of the most popular talk show in television history, a film star, producer and well-known personality.

But all of the success and attention that the show has brought to the former armory building has done nothing to put to rest the spirits of the EASTLAND. Many who work here claim that the ghosts of the perished passengers are still restless in the new studios. According to Dale Kaczmarek’s book, WINDY CITY GHOSTS, many employees have had strange encounters that cannot be explained, including the sighting of an apparition that has been dubbed the “Gray Lady”. In addition, staff members hear whispering voices, the laughter of children, sobbing sounds, old-time music, the clinking of phantom glasses and marching of invisible footsteps. The footsteps (which sound as though they belong to a large group) are frequently heard on the lobby staircase and nearby doors often slam shut without assistance. A large number of the staff members believe this to be a very haunted place!

The site of the disaster is not without its chilling stories either. Today, the site is marked by a historical plaque, commemorating the memories of those whose lives were lost. Some say it is marked by other things as well..... namely cries of terror from the victims of the tragedy. For many years, passersby on the Clark Street Bridge claimed to hear cries and moans coming from the river, along with the bloodcurdling sound of terrified screams. Perhaps the horror of the event impressed itself on this place, where it continues to replay itself over and over again....

The EASTLAND disaster continues to be remembered, in more ways than one!

The EASTLAND disaster occurred between the Clark and LaSalle Street bridges, along the Chicago River in downtown Chicago. Harpo Studios is located at 1058 West Washington Blvd.

www.prairieghosts.com/eastland.html

 

 

David Pratt's Top Ten Haunted Ghost Tours

1.) \"Haunted History Ghost Tour\" New Orleans, LA
2.) \"A Ghostly Experience\" Ghost Tours of St. Augustine, FL
3.) \"Savanna\'s Scariest Ghost Tour\" Savannah, GA
4.) \"Ghost\'s & Legends of Charleston\" Charleston, SC
5.) \"Ghost walk of Gatlinburg\" Gatlinburg, TN
6.) \"Sleepy Hollow of Gettysburg Ghost walk\'s\" Gettysburg,PA
7.) \"Fells Point Ghost Tours\" Baltimore, MD
8.) \"Austin Ghost Tours\" Austin, TX
9.) \"Original Ghost Tour of Key West\" Key West,FL
10.) \"Salem Historical Tours\" Salem,MA

Westfields Golf Club -- A Hauntingly Fine Golf Experience
By Jeffrey A. Rendall,

CLIFTON, VA -- In the Mid-Atlantic region, there's little doubt that spirits of the past are neighbors of ours -- in one form or another. Without getting into belief systems, there are battlefields, stately Colonial mansions, shipwrecks, museums, parks, relics and cemeteries -- monuments to what happened here. There's a tangible connection to bygone years that few other places in the country share.

It's also well noted that many of the area's golf courses share in that heritage, either through name or occupation of historic property. The number of layouts with some sort of "history" is too many to name here.

The elevated, undulating green on 13 will give you fits if you don't hit it close.

But some even carry intangible connections with them. Westfields Golf Club in the upscale Clifton neighborhood of Northern Virginia is such a place. Westfields opened in October of 1998, a Fred Couples/Gene Bates signature course featuring the best in parkland style golf, with tree-lined fairways, elevation changes, panoramic views and exquisitely manicured playing surfaces.

It's also got some entities you probably won't get to see. Gene Bates, Fred Couples' design partner, explains: "One of things I found most fascinating when building Westfields was the land's history. There's an old Confederate fort to the right of the driving range area, which we subsequently donated to the county to serve as a park. The land also served as a field hospital during the Civil War. Locals say there've been a lot of ghost sightings around the fort. The land's being haunted because of the hospital and all the things that took place there."

Bates ought to know, having spent a significant amount of time in the neighborhood. Bates has earned the reputation of being a very hands-on course designer, and still makes frequent visits to recheck and tinker with the layout.

David Finocchiaro, Westfields' Head Golf Professional, didn't mention the "apparitions" on the property, but did discuss some of its other historic ties: "The thing most folks remember is the Civil War era cemetery on the right side of #13, but seeing as there was a fort here during the war, there're also extensive rifle pits and trenches found all over the place. A couple were even incorporated into the golf course design, on holes 10 and 18."

The driving area is wider than it looks off the 6th tee, but you'd still better hit it straight.

Both Bates and Finocchiaro said an archeological dig turned up a plethora of Civil War accoutrements, such as bullets, buttons and cannon balls. No bones, though. The men aren't there anymore, and their fort's remains are basically a series of earthen mounds, but they've left behind a legacy of physical reminders.

And although their ghosts might patrol the land, there's no getting away from the fact the golf course is 'hauntingly' well done. Bates said there are several things he really likes about Westfields: "I think the bunkering is outstanding. We hear from folks who've flown over the course heading into Dulles -- 'Oh, you're the course with the unique bunkers.' Fred and I wanted to depart from a neat, free flowing form of bunker style -- we wanted bunkers with a lot of peaks and capes and bays... almost like a potato chip style."

With as deep as some of those bunkers are, we're glad he didn't make it a rippled dip chip style.

Bates continues, "Then, we really tried to save as much of the tree cover as possible, without making the course too narrow or tight. We had semi-mature stands of woods to work with -- which in the densely populated northern Virginia, isn't easy to find (at least on a large tract of land). We knew there wouldn't be any houses around the site, so we had the luxury of keeping the trees, so we did."

It's one of the distinguishing characteristics of the property. You're not far from civilization, but you feel like you're in the Virginia forest. Finocchiaro expands on the notion: "I think the fact we have only one home directly next to the course makes it nice to be out there in the woodlands without a lot of outside disruptions. It's nice to not have to worry about hitting into someone's backyard or having a dog barking during your backswing or something like that."

So not only is there an absence of humanity surrounding the course (at least of the living variety), the tree buffers also give a sense of privacy you wouldn't necessarily expect from a site of this smallish size. Bates said after donating the fort parcel, allowing land for a maintenance facility and creating some distance from power lines on one side of the property that they were left with only about 150 acres to lay out the course. Westfields' golf course is a textbook exercise in spatial land management, because you only get the "parallel fairway"feeling on a couple holes.

And as noted before, it's not like it feels tight. "Fred and Gene did a great job making ours a friendly golf course. There's plenty of difficulty if you choose the right tee settings, but if you play the right tees, you're not going to get beat up too badly," Finocchiaro said.

A big drive certainly doesn't guarantee par on the 8th hole.

Bates says one reason why it's such a player-friendly layout is they didn't know what type of market it would serve when they first started: "We knew we wanted to build an upscale type course, but we didn't know if it was going to be a private club, a resort-type course or an upscale daily fee. So we kind of made it appealing to all those types of markets."

"Too many times these days, designers are making courses too difficult. For a resort course or a daily fee, we try to make it look difficult but play easier. You're going to want people to want to come back, and a lot of that will come from having an enjoyable golf experience," Bates said.

Another way to get folks to return is to kill 'em with kindness, and that's Finocchiaro's department: "We look at our golf course as providing a service, and we want our players to go away thinking 'what a fun golf course, what a fun day.' With all the events going on in the world, there are a lot of things more important than golf -- so when people come here, we're trying to help them get away from whatever it is that might be on their minds."

The approach shot on nine calls for a carry over wetlands to a well-bunkered green.

"It's a fun golf course, we have a friendly staff, and I want people thinking 'the guys know what they're doing out here. They provide a fun day for the golfers, and we'll come back.' If we accomplish that, we've done our job," he added.

Yes indeed. But the totality of the experience should be enough, which certainly includes the golf course itself. Number three is Westfields' signature hole (at least according to the yardage book). It's the hole you'll first see when driving on to the property, with beautiful rock outcroppings hugging the front of a large, L shaped green, protected by a pond in front. Tough hole, too, at 223 yards from the back tees.

Six and eight are probably the heart of the front nine -- two long and difficult par fours at 473 and 467 yards respectively. Finocchiaro says they're inspiring to look at, and difficult but fair to play. "From the tee, you'll see that there's a lot out there, but the challenge is right in front of you. They both require a good drive to get home, and second shots that require some thought. You need to think about the best side of the fairway to hit, then leave a good angle into the green."

On the backside, holes thirteen through eighteen will leave an indelible impression -- and might be what you remember most about Westfields. Thirteen and fourteen are short par fours -- and thirteen's noteworthy for the cemetery that comes into play on the right side off the tee (you get a free drop if you're in it). Fourteen's potentially drivable at 285 yards, but you'll need to shape it left to right in order to make the green.

Fifteen's a beautiful par five, 554 yards and uphill. I wouldn't have thought it reachable, but Finocchiaro made it in two from the blue tees. Impressive hole.

Sixteen, seventeen and eighteen make up an excellent closing stretch. Sixteen is a short but challenging par four at 384 yards. The second shot's over a pond to a very shallow green, protected by a bunker in front and thick rough long. The green is extremely wide, so expect a long putt if you miss on the wrong side.

Seventeen's a wonderful short par three at 160 yards, with challenges in the water and sand variety. It's also pleasing to look at.

It'll be hard to forget Westfields' 17th hole. Straight out of Fred Couples' imagination.

Eighteen's the hardest par four on the backside. Long at 443 yards, and the second shot must carry wetlands to reach the putting surface. Nothing like a challenging forced carry for your last iron shot of the day. Couples certainly wants you to earn your par on the final hole.

Westfields is a true gem in Northern Virginia, and its interesting history and ghostly part-time inhabitants only make it more so. The conditioning of the course, the beauty of the clubhouse and the nature of the land combine for a great day of golf.

Almost a hauntingly good time.

Details:

Westfields Golf Club
13940 Balmoral Greens Avenue
Clifton, Virginia 20124

Phone: 703-631-3300
FAX: 703-648-0999

Website: www.westfieldsgolf.com

Course Designers: Fred Couples/Gene Bates
Head Golf Professional: David Finocchiaro

Tees Yardage/Slope
Boom-Boom 6897/136
Blue 6811/132
White 6308/130
Green 6308/130
Red 5229/120

Rates:

Mon-Thurs, $75; Fri-Sun: $95.
Twilight rates (after 3:00 p.m.):$50; Fri-Sun: $55. Replay rates: $39.
All rates include tax, greens fee, cart fee, and practice balls.

Westfields Golf Club is affiliated with the Marriott Westfields Resort & Conference Center. Phone: 1-703-818-0300; Fax: 1-703-818-3655
Reservations (from U.S. and Canada): 1-800-635-5666; Sales: 1-703-818-0400

Note: You can play Westfields on your home computer, too, as part of the Microsoft Links 2001 game.

 

Hello,my name is Chanda Cumberledge. I have a very weird story about the Ouija board that I still have nightmares about,literally. It happened about 6 years ago at one of my friends birthday parties. We were all down in her basement and lit candles and thought that the Ouija board would be super fun and that there was no way that it could hurt us...

Well I have had a history with the supernatural for as far back as I can remember, so I did not want to do it. But I did.

After I put my hand on the pointer I don't remember anything else for a period of 1 hour,and when I came too I was alone in the basement and heard my friends upstairs crying. They told me that after they asked the first question I put my head down and would not look up until they asked another question.When they did the board did not answer them but I lifted my head and they said I answered them. They said I threatened to kill one of the girls and they said when they asked my name that I gave them a name that I knew, but they did not,and I never told them about. Come to find out the name I gave them was a friend that took her life 2 yrs prior to this incident .I sometimes have dreams about what happened .I regularly dream of the discussion between myself and the group of girls, but its not me. I have never asked anything else about it. I try not to think about it, but I will never play with one of those things again.

Thanks for your time.
Chanda Cumberledge

I really think that people should look at the bourbocam, I have seen so many unexplained things in the past few days, by looking through the archives that it\'s really turned me from a skeptic, to a true believer in something unexplainable. One example I found a all dark figure that stands by a pole next to the cats meow, between 6:30 AM to 6:45ish, on the 24, and it was there again on the 26th, I do not want to send you the photos I downloaded because I would probably get in trouble, by some kind of law, but I recommend more people check out the camera archives, it\'s chilling.