My
Top Ten recommended great Haunted Location
research books to investigate in no particular
order are:
Haunted
Places: The National Directory: Ghostly Abodes,
Sacred Sites, UFO Landings and Other Supernatural
Locations
Encyclopedia
Of Haunted Places: Ghostly Locales From Around
The World
The
Worlds Most Haunted Places: From The Secret
Files Of Ghostvillage.com
Real
Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places
The
Field Guide to North American Hauntings: Everything
You Need to Know About Encountering Over 100
Ghosts, Phantoms, and Spectral Entities
Ghosts
of Gettysburg: Spirits, Apparitions and Haunted
Places of the Battlefield
Haunted
Places in America: A Guide to Spooked and
Spooky Public Places in the United States
The
International Directory of Haunted Places
The
Complete Idiot's Guide to Ghosts and Hauntings
Hanz
Holzer's Travel Guide to Haunted Houses: A
Practical Guide to Places Haunted by Ghosts,
Spirits and Poltergeists
I personally think these will make a fine
addition to anyone's personal haunted library.
Haunted locations are places around the globe
that are reportedly or popularly alleged to
be haunted by ghosts. Haunted Places - haunted
houses, theatres, inns, museums cemeteries...
Reports of these haunting's are often fueled
by historical facts, stories, and folklore
and urban legends. Although relayed through
reliable sources, these tales can often be
subjective in nature. Here on this site you
may often read about encounters with real
Ghosts in the Most Haunted City in America,
But what about around the world?
Some
Of The Most Scariest Places To Visit
Any place or
location can be scary, but what makes it the
most haunted? The paranormal? Some tell that
there are a few strange haunted places on
the face of the Earth where Satan will manifest
to you in full form to take your soul. Russian
legend tells of a witches' sabbath taking
place on St. John's Night (June 23-24) on
the Lysa Hora (Bald Mountain), near Kiev or
Brocken in Germany. Or Walpurgis Night, Walpurgisnacht
(or Hexennacht, meaning witches´ night),
the night from April 30 to May 1, is the night
when allegedly the witches hold a large celebration
on the Blocksberg and await the arrival of
Spring.
The Ghosts
of Edinburgh Castle One of the largest ghost
hunts ever conducted results in dozens of
strange experiences, unexplained photos...
and perhaps more questions than answers. The
most haunted abode in Scotland is the Close
of Mary King in Edinburgh. It was built in
the 1600s, and it contained hundreds of people
during the plague of 1645 when they were quarantined.
Voices, dogs, and a lady clad in black have
all been recorded.
Even Mount
Everest has its ghost in resident, probably
the ghost of climber, Andrew Irvine, who tried
to reach the summit in 1924 with George Mallory,
but disappeared on his journey upward. Two
climbers in 1975 said that they occupied a
snow hole with him, and other climbers have
seen a ghost too.
Ireland has the Temple Michael, a quint church
and castle positioned on the blackwater river,
with a close proximity to Youghal, Co Cork.
The place is not used, and it overlooks the
blackwater river. Visitors and local inhabitants
of the region claim to have heard shrieks,
screams, lights in motion, static on cameras
over the church grounds, twigs that break
without explanation, and coffins that close
and open of their own accord.
In Japan, the tomb of Masakado near Tokyo
is said to be haunted by the ghost of Masakado.
During the 1920's, the Office for the Ministry
of Finance was built on top of it. In 1926,
the minister of finance and 10 staff members
died of disease. The tomb was restored. After
WWII, however, they attempted to construct
over it again. The driver of the bulldozer
died, however, when it overturned.
The Brocken,
or Blocksberg, is the highest peak (1,141
metres) in the Harz Mountains in Germany (located
between the rivers Weser and Elbe) and also
the highest peak of northern Germany. Although
its altitude is below alpine dimensions, its
microclimate resembles that of mountains of
2000 m altitude. The peak tends to have a
snow cover from September to May, and mists
and fogs shroud it up to 300 days of the year.
The mean annual temperature is only 2.9 °C.
The Brocken has always played a role in legends
and has been connected with witches and devils;
Goethe took up the legends in his Faust, in
which he also referred to the mountain. The
Brocken spectre is a common phenomenon on
this misty mountain, where a climber's shadow
cast upon fog creates eerie optical effects.
Lysa Hora or Bald Mountain is a concept of
East Slavic, and particularly Ukrainian, folk
mythology related to witchcraft. According
to legends, ravens, black eagles, witches
and other paranormal creatures periodically
gather on the "bald mountains" for
their "Sabbath". Mentions of Lysi
Hory can be found in various historical and
literary sources, such as in the writings
of Nikolai Gogol and Mikhail Bulgakov (who
uses it in The Master and Margarita as the
mountain where the Iyeshua (a prototype of
the Christ) was crucified). The exact origins
and factual evidences of the concept are unclear.
Researchers list dozens of supposed "bald
mountains" sites throughout Ukraine and
Poland. The most famous among them are the
Lysa Hora and Zamkova Hora hills in Kiev,
Ukraine, and Lysa Góra in Poland.
Mount Everest - the ghost of a climber has
allegedly been seen by other climbers, two
of whom in 1975 claimed to have shared a snow
hole with the ghost during their climb. Some
who have seen him believe this is the ghost
of climber Andrew Irvine, who disappeared
in an attempt to summit the mountain with
George Mallory in 1924.
Haunted far
below the busy streets of modern Edinburgh
lies a dark, forgotten corner of history.
Discovered in the mid-1980’s, the Edinburgh
Vaults had been abandoned for nearly two hundred
years. Lying beneath the South Bridge, a major
Edinburgh passage, the rooms were used as
cellars, workshops and even as residences
by the businesses that plied their trade on
the busy bridge above. Abandoned soon after
they were built due to excessive water and
moisture, the vaults remain, unaltered, never
illuminated by the light of day.
Bannerman's
- The Haunted Isle This island on the Hudson
River in New York has been the subject of
legend and wild rumors since earliest times.
Some Indian tribes believed it haunted and
refused to set foot on it.
Norway, Porsgrunn
Sykehjem (hospital) is reportedly haunted.
In 2006 when the staff refused to work at
night, a priest was called to bless the hospital
from the ghosts.
CASSADAGA,
FLORIDA is a town where all the residents
are mediums or psychics. The main "business"
in this quaint hamlet, is communicating with
the dead and healing the sick. It is a beautiful
town, very peaceful, with a Gothic look that
invites visitors to stroll the narrow streets.
Almost every home in the town has a hanging
sign announcing the services of a medium.
This is not just a business, it is the combined
religious beliefs of Spiritualism. The residents
and practioners, invite visitors to their
town, but frown on the curiosity seekers.
UNX-researchers frequently conduct psychic
studies with certain Spiritualists in Cassadaga,
in addition, one of our UNX-parapsychologists
is a long time resident of Cassadaga. This
unusual village was founded in 1895, by George
Colby, who was guided to the spot by an Indian
Spirit, who directed Colby to build a Spiritual
Center on the site. Cassadaga is located between
Orlando and Daytona Beach, in Volusia county,
just east of Interstate-four.
The City of Derby, says this site, is the
"Ghost Capital of England." The
site brings together all the information available
on the city's spookiest places, where ghostly
presences are felt and where things actually
do go "bump in the night."
Prague is one of the most
haunted cities in Europe. There are water
goblins under the Charles Bridge, a headless
horseman, a huge fat ghost and a fiery coach.
A golem made of clay ran amok in the Jewish
Quarter and Emperor Rudolph II invited magicians,
astrologers and alchemists from all over
Europe to his court.
The south Suburbs
of Chicago are home to some of the most famous
ghosts in America. Resurrection Mary, Bachelor’s
Grove Cemetery, long abandoned, vandalized,
but not forgotten. But are there places that
just the name strikes fear to those world
wide?
Sweden, The
Palace of Scheffler is the most famous "haunted
house" in Stockholm and is often simply
known by its nickname, the Haunted Mansion,
(Spökslottet).
Haunted Galveston,Texas
No discussion of the history of Haunted Galveston
would be complete without mention of the most
traumatic event in the city's history -- the
Great Storm of 1900.
Founded in
1836, Galveston has a history as old and phantom-filled
as the entire state of Texas. Tales of pirates
and civil war soldiers, of drowned victims
of the Great Storm of 1900 that still wander
the Galveston streets looking for home. These
are but a few of the phantoms of Haunted Galveston.
Galveston was the first Texas city to have
electric lights, electric street cars, a post
office, naval base, a newspaper, public library
and hospital and many other products of civilization.
Galveston is rich in history and was the area
known as the "Strand" encompasses
many of the most historic buildings in the
old city including the 1894 Grand Opera House,
many museums, shops and eateries. The Galveston
Strand was once called "The Wall Street
of the Southwest" because it's location
and climate attracted so many of the formidable
"old money" families of the Northeast.
This barrier island also boasts one of the
country's largest bird migratory flyways,
beautiful beaches and amazing, rich salt marshes.
In the early 1800's the island was used as
a headquarters by the famous buccaneer pirate
Jean Lafitte who used the remote and trackless
surroundings to hide his treasure and further
his clandestine trade with outlying territories.
Legends abound of the buried treasure left
behind by Lafitte and his men and treasure
hunters still seek the lost booty to this
day. In 1821, Lafitte was ordered to leave
by the American forces aboard the warship
"Enterprise." Lafitte sailed out
of Galveston aboard his frigate "Barataria
Bay" was never seen in Galveston again
- at least not by any living eye.
This
ghost tours has been voted by you America
as one of the Top Ten Most Haunted, Best Tour
to see a ghost, and Best Scariest Ghost Tours
to experience in America!
http://www.ghosttoursofgalvestonisland.com/
MOST
HAUNTED CITIES AMERICA Is your city a real
haunted city? Did your city make our Top Ten
Haunted Cities in the United States list?
Find out here who has the most ghost! Haunted
Americas Most Haunted City!
Plan
your visit to one of the most haunted cities
in America here!
<
VISIT HERE TO SEE FULL LIST>
Haunted
Civil War Battlefields
The National
Register of Historic Places is the United
States' official list of districts, sites,
buildings, structures, and objects worthy
of preservation. As of December 2005, the
list includes approximately 79,000 entries,
including many icons of American culture,
history, engineering, and architecture. Battlefield
ghosts of the Civil War, including strange
screams, dark figures and headless phantoms,
ghost campfires and marching dead Confederate
ghost soldiers.
American Battlefield Ghost Hunters always
suggest that planning ahead can often make
the difference between a good ghost hunting
trip and a great trip to National Battlefield
Park. Explore these pages to discover the
essential things you need to know before you
leave home—how to get around the park,
where pets are allowed, how to stay safe,
and more important a ghost photo or ghost
story to read and plan to investigate.
GETTYSBURG
GHOSTS
The
most deadly battle of the Civil War took place
in 1863 in the tiny Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg.
Union soldiers were low on ammunition and
losing the fight, nearly capitulating them
to the advancing Confederate army. Then, as
they used up the last of their gunpowder,
a ghostly George Washington on a white stallion
appeared before them, urging them on to victory
— an event that ultimately turned the
tide of the war. That's the way the legend
tells it anyway, and to this day, the people
who live in and around Gettysburg maintain
that George Washington's ghost rides regally
across that same battlefield every summer.
Of all the forlorn, countless souls awash
in time, none reach out to us more than those
of the dead at Gettysburg . . . Their presence
on earth was silenced forever by death. Or
maybe not." -- Mark Nesbitt.
Mark
Nesbitt, author of the best-selling Ghosts
of Gettysburg book series recently won two
national awards for his six-volume collection
of tales of paranormal happenings on the battlefield
of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, site of the 3-day
Civil War battle. His popular Ghosts of Gettysburg
Candlelight Walking Tours® and many books
tells more of the whole story.
Also
see His latest book here:
This ghost tours has been voted number 1
in america by you our readers, Haunted America
Tours as the Top Ten Most Haunted, Best Tour
to see a ghost, and Best Scariest Ghost Tours
to experience in America!
http://www.ghostsofgettysburg.com/
For
a full list of America's Haunted Battlefields,
Their ghost stories and ghost photos Visit
here now.
Though the battles have long ago ended and
the sound of cannons and muskets is but a
distant memory, there are some souls who are
still waiting for the call to “Retreat”
– and for them, it may never come!
Make plans to visit a Haunted Battlefield
today!
<
VISIT HERE TO VIEW FULL TOP TEN LIST >
The UK and Ireland are covered in places
of haunted battles, where the blood stained
the land for many years after the event. Bowerchalke
(Wiltshire) - Between village and Woodminton,
Headless horses can be seen and the sounds
of fierce fighting can be heard here - the
area was the site of a battle between Roman
legionnaires and the Britons.
Dartmoor (Devon) - Cadover Bridge The sound
of battle can be heard near the bridge, the
screams of the dying and injured, and the
clash of sword and shield.
In general where ever a great historical
battle took place the dead soldiers walk and
reenact the fights which took their lives.
HAUNTED
CASTLES
The Royal Palace in Stockholm is supposedly
haunted by several ghosts, including the so
called White Lady (vita frun) and the Grey
Man (grå mannen). The White Lady is
said to appear when someone in the royal family
is about to die, and old King Oscar II even
writes about her in his memoirs. Some believe
that the Grey Man is the ghost of Birger Jarl,
the founder of Stockholm. The Stockholm Metro
is reputed to be haunted by the ghost train
Silverpilen.
"Tower
of London" ranks as one of the most haunted
Castles in Britain.
Burgh Castle
Once a year the sounds of clashing swords
and Roman and Saxon screaming can be heard
in this area. Another ghost reportedly observed
here during dark nights is a figure that plummets
from the ramparts.
Dalhousie Castle,
SCOTLAND- a grey lady who's even been photographed
many times.
Walachia, Transylvania,
The Haunted True Realm of the Impaler Prince,
The Authentic Vampyre, in the Carpathian Mountains
of Romania stands one of the many castles
of Dracula the dark lord.
Scotland too
has many haunted castles. Culzean Castle,
Edinburgh Castle, Eilean Donan Castle Glamis
Castle, Inveraray Castle, Balgonie Castle
, Craignethan Castle , Stirling Castle, St.
Andrew's Castle, and Stuart Castle.
Dragsholm Castle-Hotel
was built in 12th century by the Roskilde
bishop. When the building of the castle was
completed, it became the residence for both
kings and several noble families. Now it is
owned by the Bottger (since 1939) family who
has converted the castle into a hotel. However,
as many other castles from that age, it has
its own story to tell. Actually, the castle
has three ghosts: A gray lady, A white lady
and the ghost of the Earl of Bothwell.
Brissac, Loire
valley, France Jacques de Breze suddenly sold
the castle as a result of the double assassination
of his wife charlotte and her lover. The ghost
of Charlotte still haunts the castle
Okiku's Well
at Himeji Castle is often said to be haunted
by the ghost of Okiku. She is supposed to
rise from the well at night and count to nine
before shrieking and returning to the well.
Some stories, however, locate the haunted
well in the Canadian embassy in Tokyo's garden.
Wales Caernarfon
Castle, Conway Castle, Ruthin Castle-Hotel
and Caerphilly Castle whereA ghost of green
lady flies from turret to turret at Caerphilly
Castle. Ghost of soldiers patrol the battlements.
At the flag tower there is a smell of perfume
at all times.
Ireland's Leap
Castle, Ross Castle-Hotel, The ghost that
haunts Ballygally Castle, Ireland which has
been turned into a hotel, is said to be Lady
Shaw, Who enjoys herself knocking at doors
of the different hotel rooms.
Ballygally Castle was built in 1625. Now
a hotel "it is the only 17th century
building in Northern Ireland still being used
as a residence today". The original beam
ceilings and antique pine furniture which
decorate the hotel?s guest rooms "give
the feeling of what stylish living was like
in the last century".
Not to mention the ghost, who is said to
be that of the former Lady of the castle.
Lady Isobel Shaw's ghost is reputed to be
rather playful, she loves to knock on the
doors of the guests; apparently she is quite
amused by their reactions when they find no
one there.
Located on the Antrim coast at Ballygally
Bay, Ballygally Castle is near the famous
"Nine Glens of Antrim" and the Giant?s
Causeway. Views of the Antrim Mountains and
the Irish Sea are just part of the lovely
scenery that can be enjoyed from the coastal
and glen walks.
HAUNTED
HIGHWAYS AND CROSSROADS
Rosedale, Mississippi, where Highway 8 intersects
with Highway 1. Robert Johnson and his infamous
crossroads deal with the devil – in
which he traded his immortal soul for musical
genius – is deeply ingrained in the
mythology and legend of the rural South and
is one of the best-known tales of American
folklore.
In Japan, ghosts are called
Yurei. They are very similar to Western ghosts,
and are believed to haunt people and places
after their death.
Tuen Mun Road, Hong Kong - Over
the years, hundreds of people have claimed
that this highway is haunted. Since 1978,
many lives have been lost due to car accidents
on that expressway. The high death toll is
blamed on ghosts because they supposedly pop
up in the middle of the road when people are
driving, thus causing them to make really
sharp turns to avoid them and then end up
crashing. The ghosts of past victims are said
to be seen there at night and some drivers
have even claimed that they lost complete
control of their vehicle several times.
HAUNTED HIGHWAYS, STREETS, ROADS
AND GHOST LIGHTS
Road side shrines to those that
have died in car accidents are see all around
the world but what about the many unreported
apparitions that roam them ... And a few monsters
too! Suburban street ghost sightings are becoming
more commonplace.
Some paranormal investigators have related
different scenarios to why our highways and
streets and back roads are filled with ghosts.
Some believe it is that of the ghosts that
have died on these paved streets. Still others
think it is a spirit of someone who has decided
to travel cross country to see other relatives
or just seeing the world as something they
could not do in life. For more Please visit
here
now! http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/ghosts/StreetGhost/
NEW ORLEANS TOP FIVE HAUNTED
STREETS
Many locals know the best place to experience
a one-on-one encounter with some of the resident
ghosts and ghouls that prowl the streets of
Haunted New Orleans. Haunted New Orleans Tours
has created a definitive guide to some of
the city’s spookiest and most ghost-ridden
thoroughfares where specters make contact
with the living on an almost daily basis.
#1. Canal Street at City Park Avenue.
One drive through this major city intersection
and it’s obvious to see why the area
ranks number one on our list of Haunted New
Orleans Streets. This major intersection once
marked the outermost limits of the old city
of New Orleans and is a location where an
amazing thirteen cemeteries converge. Beyond
the intersection is the median (in New Orleans
vernacular, the “neutral ground”)
that once was the location of the New Basin
Canal: in itself yet another graveyard for
so many Irish, German and Italian immigrants
died in digging it and all of them were buried
where they fell.
There have been a variety of reports stemming
from encounters near vortex of the dead: from
spirits seen walking hand in hand down the
wide avenues of Greenwood Cemetery, to the
plaintive, disembodied voices that call to
bus riders waiting at the corner near Odd
Fellow’s Rest, the reports are astonishing.
Near this location several witnesses have
spotted the ghost of a young woman dressed
all in white running into the path of oncoming
traffic at the corner where Canal Boulevard
becomes Canal Street. Some have speculated
that the figure is that of a bride and they
point to the fact that one of New Orleans’
legendary reception and dining halls –
Lenfant’s -- stood nearby for decades.
Why the bride is running or what she might
be searching for will forever remain a mystery.
Others who have seen her have debunked the
bride theory for something more sinister:
they have said she has all the appearance
of a pale, ghostlike creature, with a gaunt,
skeletal face and long, bony hands that make
a horrible “clack-clacking” noise
on the car doors of the hapless souls who
wait too long at the Canal Boulevard stop
sign. There have been other reports of ghostly
funerals passing through the CLOSED gates
of the Masonic cemetery late in the night,
and this is one of the intersections where
the infamous Haunted Bus is said to stop,
and barrel on into the empty night. If you
happen by this particular intersection remember:
here the dead truly outnumber the living,
and they are not restful.
#2. Esplanade Avenue at Moss Street and Bayou
St. John.
This intersection, where grand old Esplanade
Avenue crosses over Bayou St. John at the
Moss Street Bridge has long been reputedly
haunted. Along the Avenue near this intersection
is St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 where many of
the great old New Orleans families now sleep
in eternal repose. But some of the families
who chose a better view of the Bayou with
their earthen beds surely must have felt betrayed
when their remains were exhumed and moved:
Originally, St. Louis No. 3 extended nearly
all the way to the shore of the Bayou. In
the 1940’s a part of the land was sold
and houses were built where gravestones once
stood; later, in the 1970’s, the huge
Park Place apartment building was erected
where the houses once stood. Reports have
come of spectral beings loitering near corner
of Esplanade and Moss, as if they are lost
souls looking for their resting place. Also
near this intersection is the old convent
of the Cabrini nuns, who still teach at Cabrini
High School on nearby Moss Street. Mother
Cabrini, the founder of the order, lived in
the building herself and tales of her spirit
still being seen kneeling and praying at the
grotto are legendary. In the early 1900’s
Bayou St. John and the surrounding area were
the domain of Jose Planas, the King of the
French Market. He owned most of the land from
Esplanade to the French Quarter and operated
several barges and tugs that did commerce
along the Bayou, once a major route to Lake
Pontchartrain and ultimately to the Gulf of
Mexico. Residents who live in the restored
cottages near this major intersection tell
stories of hearing the resonant voice of Jose
himself, still giving orders to his barge
crews; when Jose is seen, he appears as a
man dressed in a white, Havana style suit,
usually near the base of the statue of Confederate
General P.G.T. Beauregard.
#3. St. Charles Avenue.
This grand promenade of old New Orleans has
its share of reputed apparitions and haunting's.
Union soldiers and once even the ghost of
General Benjamin “The Beast” Butler
have been sighted on the steps of famous Gallier
Hall. During the Union occupation of the city
of New Orleans, Gallier Hall was used as a
Federal headquarters. There is also a ghost
connected to Gallier Hall that appears only
during the Bacchus Mardi Gras parade: Some
rattled parade-goers have run screaming to
police reporting that they have just witnessed
a stabbing. When police return to the scene
of the alleged crime, the first block on the
Lafayette St. side of Gallier Hall, there
is no victim and nothing out of the ordinary
is found. As it happens, in 1972, a young
man was attacked and brutally stabbed between
two cars on this side of Gallier Hall. He
died two blocks down at the intersection of
Lafayette and Baronne Streets. Perhaps what
we are seeing is simply the ghostly reenactment
of his tragic last minutes on earth?
On the Uptown side of St. Charles Avenue,
in the area that inspired the chronicles of
Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, strange
things are reported near the famous Bultmann
Funeral Home where some have witnessed ghostly
hearses idling on side streets and have heard
the piercing cry of a young woman in jeopardy.
Ironically, some years ago, a young woman
was attacked near the funeral home entrance
and was dragged to her death along a side
street, all during the height of rush hour
traffic.
Near the intersection of St. Charles and
Napoleon Avenues a ghostly couple is said
to await a bus that for them never comes.
They are seen dressed in Sunday best and when
the bus arrives, they apparently never get
on. Also near this intersection is sometimes
seen the ghost of a lost little boy. He is
seen crying broken-heartedly and standing
in the gutter on the river side of Napoleon.
When someone approaches him, it is said he
turns and runs away, disappearing into thin
air. Tragically, a little boy was pulled under
the wheels of a Mardi Gras float at just this
location many years ago when the Super Krewe's
(as they were then called) first began using
the Uptown parade route. Could this spectral
image be that of the lost little boy whose
Mardi Gras was ruined so long ago?
#4. Lakeshore Drive
Like St. Charles Avenue, this long stretch
of famous New Orleans roadway seems to have
more than its share of haunting's, such as:
Lakeshore Drive and Kildeer where a biker
and his child were killed in a hit and run
trying to cross at the base of the high rise
bridge here; many people have reported being
startled by the ghostly figure of a man on
his bike, with a child fixed in a seat behind
him, who rushes out in front of vehicles and
disappears into thin air. Lakeshore Drive
at “TI- KI Beach,” where the ghost
of a college student who drowned during a
fraternity initiation is seen walking up to
cars that park here and looking mournfully
into the windows before vaporizing into the
dark. Lakeshore Drive at Mardi Gras Fountain,
where the ghost of a motorcyclist who plowed
off the road here and into the fountain in
the 1960’s is said to come and sit beside
hapless visitors to the old fountain; they
report that he is still wearing the torn leather
jacket and the blood stained helmet that he
was found in. And somewhere along Lakeshore
Drive is to be found one of the most troubling
haunting's in New Orleans, though the exact
location is unknown. It is told that during
the 1930’s a man who was swimming in
the Lake was sucked under the seawall steps
and drowned because he could not escape. Friends
searched for him and finally a diver located
the opening under the steps and the body was
discovered. Haunted New Orleans Tours has
received several reports from people who have
unintentionally chosen the exact spot of this
tragedy to share a quiet moment, only to be
startled into abject terror as the ghostly
arm and shoulder of a man appear in the wash
near the bottom of the steps: According to
all reports, NO ONE has stayed around to see
the head and face come up out of the water.
(This one is hit or miss and you never know
if the spot you’ve chosen is the right
one, until you see that glowing hand reach
up from the black waters of Lake Pontchartrain.)
#5. Rampart and Basin Streets.
You can’t have one without the other
in this “two’fer.” Rampart
Street was for years uncounted the northern
boundary of the French Quarter and has been
the source of many reports of haunting's and
paranormal encounters. Basin Street, Rampart’s
raunchy sister, is a legendary cradle of brothels
and the blues, and a perfect recipe for haunting's.
The Old Mortuary Chapel, or Our Lady of Guadeloupe
and St. Jude Shrine as it is called today,
was once the final stop before an earthen
bed for victims of the yellow fever epidemics
of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
The dead and dying of Bronze John’s
subjects were taken en masse to this chapel
to receive the Last Rites from the only souls
still willing to approach the victims with
compassion, the priests and nuns of the Mortuary
Chapel. Today there is almost continuous activity
in and around the church and novenas to St.
Jude, the Patron Saint of Impossible Causes,
are a constant. But in the quiet interludes,
in the dark hours before dawn and at sunset
after the rush hour traffic has passed, some
say the sound of Latin benedictions can still
be heard over the ghostly moaning of the dying
in the last throes of the grip of the yellow
death. One startling report comes to Haunted
New Orleans Tours of a group visiting from
South Carolina who decided to take an independent
tour of the old chapel and somehow got a glimpse
of the Other Side: while wandering the aisles
of the church, amid the muffled conversation
of churchgoers and other tourists, the group
came face to face with a nun wearing a habit
so antiquated that it immediately stood out
as odd. It is said that she passed them without
a look or word, and in such complete silence
that it made at least one of the party give
her a second, longer look. To his dismay,
he realized as he watched that the nun was
FLOATING almost a foot above the chapel floor.
Struck speechless by the sight, all he could
do was watch in shock as the nun literally
floated onto the altar and through the sacristy
door. Often visitors to the church smell an
intense scent of lavender in the nave of the
church when no one is there: lavender was
used to mask the scent of illness that once
so pervaded the little old chapel.
Another famous and haunted Rampart Street
landmark is Congo Square. Today it is adjacent
to Armstrong Park near the Municipal Auditorium,
but in the 18th and 19th centuries it was
the beating heart of the African Americans
in New Orleans. Frequented by both Free People
of color and Negro servants and slaves of
the gentile New Orleans families, Congo Square
quickly took on a life of its own. African
Americans who came together to share and celebrate
their African culture in a marketplace atmosphere
that in the evenings became a celebration
of music and dance held great gatherings there.
Many distinguished New Orleanians would join
in the celebrations at Congo Square, including
Marie Laveau and her followers who practiced
their voodoo rituals there deep into the night.
The wild rhythms also attracted one of the
most famous American composers of that time:
young Louis Moreau Gottschalk, the composer
of such famous works as “A Night in
the Tropics” and “The Banjo,”
visited Congo Square as a child and into his
youth – and some say he still visits
there in death. Reports have come to Haunted
New Orleans Tours of a tall man, dressed in
19th century clothing, groomed in the style
of the day with sideburns and moustache, who
walks silently down Rampart Street to the
gates of Armstrong Park and disappears inside.
One report tells of the man being accompanied
by an Octoroon woman dressed in servant’s
clothes of the time: it is a well known fact
that the servants of Gottschalk’s household
are the ones who first exposed him to the
fiery rhythms that would plant the seed of
ragtime in his musician’s heart. Perhaps
his Octoroon is still accompanying him? Those
who have researched the story of Gottschalk
have recognized his tall, dark figure immediately,
but he is not confined to Rampart Street and
is often seen near the corner of Royal and
Esplanade standing outside the cottage where
he was born. The ghost of Marie Laveau has
also been seen in the park itself, dancing
in a ghostly dance to music only she and the
spirits of the Other World now can hear. Dressed
in white and looking as beautiful as when
she lived, her dark eyes flash as if she knows
very well she is dead and that she is scaring
the life out of you!
Nearby Basin Street has always had a seedy
reputation and the brothels that flourished
there in the late 1800’s and early 20th
century did nothing to change that opinion.
But can it be that the ghosts of prostitutes
from long ago are still working their Basin
Street beat? One man claims that he was actually
approached by one of these ghostly prostitutes
and was led to a rendezvous in a darkened
yard, only to find himself completely alone:
the woman had vanished altogether. Ghostly
music haunts Basin Street; remnant notes from
days of yore when jazz and the blues were
in their infancy. One complaint to the New
Orleans Police Department about “the
jazz band practicing upstairs in that empty
building” seem to be proof enough that
ghostly musicians still get together to jam:
when the NOPD arrived, they found the place
deserted, without even electricity or a way
inside. One familiar Basin Street ghost is
that of famous turn of the century craftsman
and painter Alphonse Aveton, who is still
seen in his turn of the century painter’s
clothes, walking down Basin or climbing scaffolding
that IS NOT THERE along the sides of buildings
now decrepit and abandoned but which once
bore the mark of his artistry. Family members
of Aveton claim to have no idea why their
relative is still plying his trade in the
hereafter but wish wholeheartedly that he’d
come over to their houses and do some work
for them! Such is the way with most old New
Orleans families: you may be gone but you
are never forgotten!
And Don't forget the Voodoo Cemetery Gates
Of Guinee, The Portal To The Afterworld. Bringing
a piece of Mardi Gras King Cake with you as
an offering. The dead love sweets, and even
more so they love King Cake in New Orleans.
And don't forget Voodoo Queens Marie Laveaus'
Tomb is said to strike fear into non believers
hearts if they offend her. And don't forget
the shadow of the Lalaurie house that still
casts it's haunted terrors for over a hundred
years on the Crescent City. Some say it's
home to Red Beans and Rice, The Grunch, Crawfish,
The Devil Baby, haunted Mardi Gras Parades,
Gumbo, Zombies and The living Dead!
Canadas Forbidden Plateau, near
Courtenay-Comox-Cumberland in Strathcona Provincial
Park. A Comox legend says this Plateau swallowed
all the women, children and elders of the
Comox people without a trace, and it has been
taboo forever after.
HAUNTED PRISONS
Many who study paranormal activity
believe these prisons, each with its own history
of immense pain and mental suffering, attract
spirits who are caught between worlds.
Alcatraz Prison is thought to
be one of the most haunted places in America
by many. But for being such a notorious place
and location, many ghost hunters believe it
should have more ghosts and sightings then
is reported.
Eastern State Penitentiary Known
as being the most expensive building built
in the U.S. at the time, the Eastern State
Penitentiary became a prototype in design
to 300 prisons. The inmates who broke the
rules risked being dunked in a bath of ice-cold
water then hung from a wall for the night.
During the winter months, when this punishment
was most popular, the water on the inmates's
skin would form into a layer of ice before
morning. Since its closure visitors, employees
and those researching paranormal activity
have reportedly heard unexplained eerie sounds
throughout the prison.
One major paranormal episode reported occurred
to a locksmith doing restoration work in Cell
Block #4. According to the tale, he was working
to remove a 140-year-old lock from the cell
door when a massive force overcame him so
powerfully he was unable to
