Ghost Sightings

Haunted Places in Pennsylvania to Give You the Creeps

By Zebadiah Hunter

Pennsylvania in eastern USA is the place where much has been spoken of about its ghost history. Haunted places in Pennsylvania are popular with the travelers and this is because of the legends that are associated with the place.

These attractions are mysterious and people travel all over the world for investigating them or write about ghastly tales. A number of local artists arrive in Pennsylvania every year for arresting the inherent spirit of the ghost legends.

The most striking part of the entire situation is that whoever has come to debunk the myths have not succeeded so far. In fact, the ghosts still haunt a lot of historical mansions, hotels and murals! Here is a brief list of the haunted places in Pa.

Baker Mansion: The historic Baker Mansion is one of the haunted places in Pennsylvania that was built in the 19th century. The manor, built by Elias Baker, has 28 rooms. In 1914 his daughter Anna died and it is a known fact by the community present there that she haunts the house. A lot of visitors and residents have been eyewitnesses to seeing ghostly images in various rooms of the house.

Jean Bonnet Tavern: This haunted Pennsylvania location is well known for its rustic charm and delicious carte du jour, as well as ghost sightings. Located in Bedford, the place was built in the 16th century and this is where lurks the spirit of a prankish man who is seen sitting at the bar.

Suspected of being a French spy, his body was buried under the floor. In the 1950s, the Bonnet Tavern had a new owner who while replacing the floor boards found a skeleton which was said to date back to the 1700s.

Wopsy Mountain: This is one of the noted haunted places in Pennsylvania where a white lady is sighted. It is believed by the locals that there are two white ladies: one of the mountains and another who trails the Buckhorn Mountain Road. One of the legends states that the white lady roams the road in search of her baby who was thrown out of a horse drawn buggy while it was taking a curve.

Royer Mansion: Located in Blair County, the Royer Mansion is known for its ghost sightings as a lot of tragic events were recorded there. It is among the haunted places in Pennsylvania where Samuel Royer’s wife dies in 1832 after giving birth to her sixth child.

Samuel also died there, as did Carrie who later bought the house. Although she never had children of her own, sounds of kids playing could be heard. Children dressed in old fashioned clothing are seen playing by visitors.

Hotel Lincoln: Built in 1777, this is one of the haunted places in Pennsylvania that had been a brothel. Today, it is an antique shop where visitors have reported seeing ghosts. As the home of the Tull family, 12 of their members are reported to have been massacred, and hence visitors often report feeling uncomfortable while seeing antique exhibits of women in the 2nd floor.

There are more haunted places in Pennsylvania that I have discovered and want to share, visit my information below for a scary good time.

Zebadiah Hunter is an avid researcher of the most haunted places in PA. He reveals his favorite haunted place because the location in Lancaster County features a haunted house, haunted hayrides, the barn of terror and more. Visit the most haunted place in PA at http://jasonswoods.com to discover what terrors await you!

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Real Vampire Sightings

By James Hewson

Real vampire sightings are not just the work of modern day fiction, a skeleton uncovered from a grave in Venice is being alleged as the first recognized case of ‘vampires’ extensively referred to in present day records.

Matteo Borrini of the University of Florence in Italy discovered the bones of a woman with a small block in her mouth while digging mass graves of plague fatalities from the Middle Ages on Lazzaretto Nuovo Island in Venice which was removed from a mass grave of victims of the Venetian plague of 1576.

During the time period the woman perished, many individuals conceived that the plague was spread by ‘vampires’ which, rather than consuming human’s blood, spread illness by gnawing on their coverings after death. Grave diggers positioned blocks in the mouths of believed vampires to impede them from gnawing the coverings, Matteo stated.

The urban myth depicts Vampires as possessing a variety of supplemental powers and personality characteristics, radically changeable in different traditions, and is a familiar subject of folklore, movies, and present day fiction. Vampires are believed to be enormously powerful, possessing fangs, and an inability to be exposed to daylight or holy water Whilst they enjoy a long existence and have an incredible healing capability, they are not as legend tells it, thought to be outright immortal.

Additional characteristics of the traditional Vampire is the possession of supernatural physical abilities such as, agility, hearing, increased smelling capacity and of course, omitting no shadow. It is believed that Vampires also have quadrochromatic vision; while we humans have just three kinds of conoids in our eye vampires possessed four, the fourth being regulated to be near-infrared. It is understood that they are able to close themselves down for decades, desiccating down to this biologically inactive condition and entering what is commonly recognized as an ‘undead’ phase whereby they cannot be destroyed other than by decapitation, burning, or puncture of the heart by a wooden implement.

Vampire legend implies that they principally bite the victim’s neck, drawing out the blood commencing with the carotid artery. In mythology and popular tradition, the expression usually relates to a ideology that one can gain supernatural powers by consuming human blood. In addition, Werewolves are occasionally thought to become vampires following death, and vampires are frequently believed to possess the capacity to metamorphose themselves into wolves.

The above is of course the stuff of urban legend and our movie screens and works of fiction however, this latest find in Venice is probably as close as we are going to get in terms of real vampire sightings.

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The History Behind Ghost Hunting

By Keith Ward

Ghost hunting followed a renewed interest in spiritualism caused by two young girls that claimed to speak with a dead peddler. Forty years later one revealed that the noises heard during his “presence” were fake, but by that time, such a resurgence of interest occurred that no one cared. The first group that devoted it’s time to the search for disembodied souls was a society devoted to ghosts at Cambridge University in 1851. London’s Ghost Club started 11 years later. These pioneers provided the beginnings for today’s avid ghost hunters.

There are really only three forms of ghost hunting:

The first uses psychic methods to make contacts. Sensitive’s walk through a home and make communication with the ghost or go into a trance. Others may use Ouija boards or other channelling tools to make contact.

The second type of ghost hunter uses something known as “ghost buster” tools. These can consist of Infrared cameras, tape recorders and energy measurement tools like the electromagnetic field meter. Pictures of orbs, ectoplasm and spirits represent their proof.

The third type of ghost hunting uses the scientific method. They gather all data and evidence of a haunting and search for normal, natural scientific explanations. If they can find none, then these investigators look to the paranormal for answers.

In their introduction to ghost hunting, The American Ghost Society tells the future ghost hunter’s that some of the cases that they investigate are frauds and pranks perpetrated to make the ghost hunter look foolish. Other cases without merit are people that, out of fear, mental illness or some other reason, mistakenly believe that their house is haunted. These ghost hunters search for the truth and understand that the scientific community does not accept their work but make it their duty to find evidence of true hauntings.

Most ghost hunters seek the adventure of the unknown or simply want answers to age-old questions. Some, however, are more dubious and their desire is for personal fame. With the fame and claims of ghost hunting come the fat cheques for the books they authored, or ironically, had authored by ghost-writers. Television guest appearances and movie contracts add to the bounty. These types of ghost hunters usually have spectacular stories, later debunked by further investigation. The public seldom learns of the misinformation and prefers the gripping tale told originally.

The unfortunate effect of the professional attention seeker is that true ghost hunters receive not only a bad name, but further dismissal from the scientific community. Most impassioned ghost hunters want substantial proof that what they believe they experience while hunting spectre was real. The stories aren’t spectacular but interesting and as any good ghost story, they can send a chill up your spine.

Across the world, people have the opportunity to join the ghost hunters by paying a small fee to joining a ghostly walking tour of haunted areas. Many times ghost hunters lead these tours and give important historical information as well as relaying stories of ghost sightings at the sites that they have visited.

Keith Ward is the Founder and Director of the Circle of Professional Clairvoyants, which offers Psychic Readings with fully qualified Senior UK Clairvoyants and Psychics.

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I Want to Be a Ghost Hunter, It Would Be a Great Job

By Eli Zbar

Over the past few days I have been watching some television shows featuring self proclaimed ‘ghost hunters’. These shows are quite entertaining; there are lots of people that actually believe in ghosts. Let me breakdown a typical show for you, quickly.

1. OMG! A ghost! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! *calls ghost hunters*
2. Ghost hunters researches the situation
3. Commercial
4. Random facts about middle of nowhere, Wisconsin
5. Interview with (typically obese) people who are convinced that their building is haunted
6. Commercial
7. Really expensive cameras are carried around by 6 people in matching t-shirts, all night.
8. 99% of the ‘paranormal experiences’ are de-bunked using simple logic, and puns.
9. The remaining 1% is labelled as ‘weird’, with no conclusive evidence ever documented.
10. Commercial

That is the entire 30 minute episode.

I believe these shows are around (and will continue to be) for 2 reasons.

Firstly, some people still maintain that ghosts exist. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not under the delusion that paranormal activity is impossible. Although I have never personally experienced anything paranormal per se, I do admit that there are many things about this world that are unexplainable. Then there are ghosts. If you do a little Googling, you will encounter countless ‘true stories’ about ghosts, accompanied by numerous pictures, sound recordings and even video. Aren’t they cool? Do they not entice you to travel all the way to these places to pay $10 for the privilege of a firsthand look? Don’t you want all of the books and DVDs for sale? Just what I thought, you don’t. If you are anything like me, (since I am 1 in a million, there are roughly 7000 of you) then you can clearly see the profit driven motives of ‘ghost sightings’. Furthermore, PHOTOSHOP, enough said.

Secondly, and more importantly, these shows exist so that ‘Ghost Hunters’ can have a job. I do not even know where to start with these people. They are not nearly as awesome as Ghost Busters, but they are more credible than ‘mediums’. They seem to have a fairly balanced and clear headed approach to the act of ghost hunting. They use really expensive looking equipment (see step 7 and 8 ) and walk around all night hoping to find something. This laudable endeavour features such ‘paranormal’ activity as: flickering lights, creaky 100 year old houses, sounds from ‘nowhere’, strange smells in haunted bathrooms and the occasional truly weird thing. I am always skeptical about the one weird thing that happens almost without fail every single episode. Regardless of what the event is, I always wonder if there is even a remote possibility that the owner (promoter) of the given property set up something to appear paranormal? Or is every single of these houses actually haunted? If so, why would there never be any conclusive evidence? These are all questions that I pose to the entire and all of the Internets.

These paranormal encounters being ‘legitimized’ by the television shows and website etc. is most definitely a mutually beneficial relationship between the proprietor of the haunted house and the ratings hungry network that hosts the shows.

Nevertheless, I yearn to be a ghost hunter. Why is that you may ask? Well, if you watch the show Ghost Hunters, you will see that these people have a docile, yet eminently entertaining career. All they do all day is collect ‘information’ about haunted places, then go and mock the people that work there. Then they get to walk around and try to convince the ghosts to appear, or to communicate with them. If you have ever watched the show, you will know that this is never to any avail. Ever. Since I have a constant yearning to mock others, I figure that ghost hunting would be a perfect job for me.

Unfortunately, I can never pursue this career, due to a traumatic experience I had as a youth involving Casper. They told me he was friendly.

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Ghost Hunting Definitions & Tools!

By Shannon Thomas

The following is a list of ghost hunting definitions and tools you should use on a ghost hunt. It is important that you familiarize yourself with these terms as they are used quite frequently during a paranormal investigation. And as for the tools you don’t need to rush out and buy this gear. A basic camera, video camera is the minimum otherwise there is no point in going on a ghost hunt if you can’t show others what you may have captured

Amulets – Amulet Jewelry

Some ghost hunters wear jewelry called amulets because they believe the amulet jewelry

provides protection; because it is enchanted and charmed with powerful spells – which

some believe make it an effective weapon against harmful spirits – ghosts. An example

of a common amulet might be a crucifix – a cross. I believe jewelry is only powerful to the

mind that believes in it. An amulet is the same as a charm or talisman jewelry.

Anomaly

Something found on a picture, photograph, video or voice

recording that has no explainable source.

Apparition

These are the holy grail of ghost hunting.

A spirit that is in human form and usually visible to the

naked eye; or may appear in a photo undetected originally by the

naked eye. Often this anomaly is dressed in period clothing. Very

hard to capture on film but many have reported seeing this type of

ghost. This is the “Hollywood Type” ghost featured in many movies.

Cameras

Cameras are an invaluable tool and a must for investigating a haunting. They provide

visual documentation of the investigation and the phenomena occurring. Since, cameras

are neither for or against the paranormal, they allow what we do not see with our closed

minds to be photographed. Digital cameras provide more results and are best for ghost

hunting because they can show you what’s in your picture right after you took the photo.

Digital photos are available to upload to your computer immediately after the ghost hunt,

while the events are still fresh in your mind.

Psychic photography is simply just following what you feel or sense, and taking pictures

using intention and intuition. When attempting psychic photography you should load the

film into the camera on arrival of the investigation site. Many say this will show the

intention you have and draw spirits to you to photograph. When taking pictures it is also

wise to notify others in the area you are taking a photo, so they are prepared for the

flash. Psychic photography is usually best achieved during the hours between 9 p.m. and

6 a.m.; but the best time for you will be when you have the feeling something is near you

or watching you – you should go with that instinct. While photographing at the

investigation site, you should try to avoid mirrors, glass, lights, poles or any other

obstruction that will interfere with evaluation or determination of the photograph and it’s

elements; otherwise you may want to note the possibility of a false result with those photos

taken. Also, make sure your camera strap is removed and fingers are not in front of the

lens, as they can appear as convincing paranormal evidence. It is good to catalog your

photos with the corresponding negative for archival storage. If using a digital camera,

simply save the ghost photos and corresponding notes to a cd disk.

Dowsing Rods

Traditionally, a forked branch or stick that is believed to indicate subterranean water or

minerals by bending downward when held over a source. Divining rod, a rod, commonly

of witch hazel, with forked branches, used by those who discover water or metals under

ground.

Dowsing or divining rods can also be made of metal, and bent in an “L” shape – one for

each hand. In ghost hunting, when the rods cross while being held out in front of the

“dowser” they indicate spirit presence at the spot the dowser is at.

What is ectoplasm? It is the name given to a form of dense energy liberated by

living things which is believed to make possible the materialization of ghosts. In

short, it appears in photographs like a fog or mist, and is spirit.

We prefer to see orb vapor trails (such as in the above ghost picture), to determine

conclusively that it is indeed ectoplasm. Vapor trail cannot be re-created through fog,

breath or smoke. Many ectoplasm pictures are created by mistake, when the

ghost hunter has not been careful. Moisture, fog, cigarette smoke and human breath in cold weather can

produce some believable ectoplasm ghost pictures. Be sure to hold your breath

before taking ghost pictures, and do not smoke during your investigations for positive results.

EMF Meters

The Electromagnetic Field Detector, also known as an EMF meter, is the

ghost hunters tracking device. Using this instrument, it is possible to

locate and track energy sources. Before using the EMF meter as a

ghost hunting tool on an investigation, be sure to walk around the area

taking readings around energy sources such as light poles and electrical

outlets to be sure of the readings you will receive while scanning the

area during the investigation. Some EMF meters come with a manual

describing common household appliances and their corresponding

electromagnetic reading. When using this device be sure not to leave it

on for the full length of the ghost investigation, as this will prevent the

instrument from burning out.

When a positive EMF meter reading occurs, take as many photos as

possible. Be sure and point the camera in the same direction as you are

pointing the EMF meter. This is also a good time to take a temperature

reading. Be sure to always report the times of positive EMF readings,

temperature drops, and the times and numbers of each photo. This

provides collaborating evidence of the paranormal occurrence. At the

end of your ghost hunt, you may find that positive EMF and temperature

readings occurred at the exact time you took the photograph which

shows an anomaly.

Energy Lights

These show up on photos as colored lights during

some manifestations of hauntings. They usually are not visible to

the naked eye and can appear in different colors such as red, orange

or green.

EVP

Electronic Voice Phenomenon is the recording of audio tapes

at a suspected haunted site; and although no voices were heard at

the time of the recording, unexplained voices may be discovered

during playback of the audio tape. Both digital recorder and

traditional tape recorders may be used with an external microphone.

Kinetic Energy

Description for the movement of objects by a ghost.

A physical manifestation of an unseen force which may move, throw

or even destroy objects. These ghosts are known as “Poltergeists”

(German for “noisy ghost”).

Orbs

Not all orb ghost pictures are ghosts. In fact, most orbs are caused by moisture, dust,

flash reflection, solar flare, and insect. Many have videotaped orbs flying around rooms -

some are dust with light reflecting off of it; others are balls of energy that

many ghost hunters are not sure just what they represent. We do not

claim to have the answers, but we seek to present the evidence we

receive and allow our viewers to research and decide on their own.

It is hard to determine exactly the source of an orb for sure. But one test

is pretty cool. Take a picture while stirring up some dust and watch how

many “orbs” appear in the picture. This is a good test to learn about

orbs caused by dust.

Motion Sensors and Detectors

Motion sensors and detectors are another investigation tool that many ghost hunters

use. Simply put, motion sensors or motion detectors are used to let the ghost

investigator know if something is moving in another room, while the investigator is

elsewhere. Motion sensors work well when left in a room during the time when no

investigator is present. Motion sensors have alarms that sound when movement is

detected in the room in which they are placed. Typically, they will sound in rooms

where no previous activity had been reported; and upon further investigation, one may

find much evidence of paranormal activity in the room where the motion detector or

sensor sounded its alarm. The motion sensors used by ghost hunters project an

infrared beam. When the beam is disrupted by movement of any kind (natural or

spirit!), an alarm will sound that the investigator can hear while in another room: a clue

that spirits may be present in that area where the motion detector resides. Usually

motion sensors have an alarm mode and chime mode. The chime mode will only

announce the visitor or movement, but will not blare as a siren for a long time. Most

ghost hunters prefer the chime mode setting on their motion detector, as it is less

offensive and won’t scare the dickens out of you!

Plasma/Plasmoid

Moving orbs caught during the time of camera

exposure. Orbs have also been filmed moving, on video. In photos,

they appear as streaking light or as an orb with a tail showing the

path of motion. These are also known as “supercharged orbs” in

motion.

Poltergeist Hauntings

Poltergeists or poltergeist hauntings may be the most misunderstood type of haunting, as

some believe that poltergeist hauntings are not even a haunting at all. The German word,

“poltergeist,” means “noisy ghost.” The best defining mark of a poltergeist is if there is any

manipulation of the physical environment such as the movement of objects, physical attack,

spontaneous combustions, etc, then this is a poltergeist-type of haunting.

A common thread between different poltergeist hauntings has strongly indicated that they

are caused by psychokinesis (the ability to move things by power of the mind alone). The

question becomes whether the psychokinesis is from the people who live within (or visit) the

place where the activity takes place, or if it is actually occurring from an unseen troubled

spirit, called a ghost. The reason for this is because typically poltergeist hauntings center

around an adolescent girl (although young males and even adults have exhibited the same

phenomena) in the household. Typically, this central person is usually emotionally disturbed

in some fashion, and is somehow the root cause of objects moving, knocking sounds (and

other noises), the turning on and off of lights and electrical appliances, etc. What is

interesting is that the person whom the activity centers around, is unaware that they are the

one who is bringing about the disturbance. But in true poltergeist hauntings, none of the

activity will continue after the person is removed from the environment, as they are not there

to create it or influence an unseen entity. However, it has been reported that activity can

return later if the “right” person visits or lives in a notably poltergeist-haunted place. This

would lend one to believe that it requires a combined psychic energy to manifest such

terrible hauntings.

Author Brad Steiger contends that the central figure in a poltergeist haunting actually brings

additional energy which the troubled ghost then uses to manifest with physical attacks or

manipulation. This can be especially true if one is somewhat psychic and/or full of fear. The

ghostly entity seems to feed off of low energies such as fear. This is when more harmful

attacks can occur. Sometimes the effects of a poltergeist are more playful than harmful, but

have been known to be downright nasty. Reports of scratches, bites, harmful objects being

put in one’s way (such as glass shards on a pillow or tacks under a bed sheet) have been

noted, as well as ghost possession. Perhaps Brad Steiger’s best phrase is, “Ghosts haunt

houses; poltergeists haunt people.” Perhaps many times, the troubled spirit wants only to

communicate a message to those who still are in bodies.

Residual Haunting

When a spirit is seen doing the same thing over

and over, many believe this to be simply an energy imprint or

residual haunting. In other words, a strong, traumatic event that

occurred in some other time, repeating itself over and over. Usually

these spirits do not interact with those who see them. My opinion, is

that this could simply be a state of mind I call “hell;” being trapped by

one’s own mind in darkness or lack of understanding. Sort of reliving

of an event perhaps through fear, guilt or condemnation until that

spirit finds truth and freedom.

Think of a residual haunting as a movie being re-run on TV day after day. It is believed by

ghost hunters that some events, due to perhaps strong emotional energy attached to it,

imprint themselves somehow on the environment where the event took place. Sort of

“trapped in time,” the event is recorded in the atmosphere of a place. If one were to see a

ghost doing the same activity over and over, and with no response to the present

environment, it is most likely a residual haunting. Residual hauntings are past events playing

in the present, but with no interaction with today. It is a common ghost hunters theory that

most residual hauntings occur in places built over top of limestone, quartz stone and/or

water. These seem to act as a transmitter, perhaps creating the perfect environment to

allow the residual haunting energy to manifest.

How can residual hauntings occur? Energy is spirit and spirit is life. All of us are spirit, with

or without the physical body, and we live and exist within spirit. Spirit is the life-force of all,

whether plant, animal or human being, and is everywhere. Everything that is, exists within

spirit. Spirit or energy is everywhere. Thus, is it possible for an event or person to imprint its

energy upon a place? Most ghost hunters believe so…

Dark Shadows/Shadow People

Dark shadows in ghost pictures usually appear as a black

smudge or fog over an image. Some certainly could be caused by

a finger or something else over the camera lens, but many are not.

There have been many interesting observations of shadow ghosts

(dark shadows or shadow people). They are usually seen out of

the corner of one’s eye, hence this is why some call them shadow

people – they often observe others. Also, dark shadows have

actually been recorded playing with one another. This has led

some ghost investigators to believe they can be children, as well

as adults. Some have seen shadow ghosts 6 feet tall with broad

shoulders, for example. Shadow ghosts can see and react with

people. We have theorized that perhaps their darkness may be

just an indicator of their lack of progression into the light and unto

their life review…call it “in darkness,” or “lack of understanding of

truth” – unaware of where they are, having unfinished business, or

afraid to move on.

Thermometer / Thermal Scanner

Thermometers are an instrument that are also very useful. There are two types used regularly:

digital thermometers and infrared non-contact thermometers. When used on an investigation this

will aid as a detection system for spirit presence. Rapid temperature drops of 10 degrees or more

could indicate spirit activity. I recommend using the infrared non-contact thermometers because

they react in less than a second to temperature drops and can scan a large area quickly.

As mentioned, good thermometer can detect changes in room temperature quickly. But some still

use the old-fashioned mercury-filled, red-line, thermometers. Electronic thermometers should be

used, but in high paranormal, haunting activity where electromagnetic forces have been reported

they may fail right when you need them. So bring an old mercury thermometer with you as back up,

and you should be o.k. during your ghost investigation.

Vortex

A long streak across a photo that may be

caused by a very high-speeding “orb;” some believe vortices are a

gateway between both realms (physical and spirit realms). They are

usually white in color and may appear as a funnel-shape. Camera

straps, human hair, a tree branch, etc., right in front of the camera

lens during exposure have been notoriously mistaken for a vortex. It

is important to make sure anything that may interfere with your photo

is removed from within the front of the camera.

For further information please visit: [http://gaps.net.au]

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Ghost Hunting in Tazmania

By Chris Pointon

This was by far the best of the ghost tours we did in Tasmania in terms of both the overall experience and the activity encountered.

Alan, the guide, is passionate about his subject matter both the paranormal and the historical stories. He really seems to love what he is doing and that enthusiasm is bound to influence the experience. He was extremely flexible about time, not marching us around the locations according to a fixed schedule that would not be varied regardless of what happened. If it seemed like something was happening or might be about to kick off, he was willing to wait a bit, assuming that was what we wanted. Then again, if we wanted to get the heck out of location, he was ok with that too. What was supposed to be a 1.5 hour tour ended up being about 2.5 hours (though we did not beat the 3 hour tour he had done recently. Next time, I might have to try harder. ).

The quality of tours seems to be as dependent on the make-up of the group you are with (including the tour guide) as it is on the base activity level of the locations visited. We were lucky with this tour in that we were the only people on it. The other(s) had cancelled at the last moment. While one theory says that more people=more energy that the spirits can use to manifest, my theory is that the smaller and more focused the group, the more activity you are likely to see. Especially on touristy things like ghost tours.

Assume, for the rest of this story, that there are bits of history of the area scattered throughout everything we were told. While I absorbed the information, I really couldn’t tell you now what I was told where in a lot of cases. If you want to know about the history of the area, look it up … or go to Richmond and ask Alan about it. The latter will be more entertaining.

From the point of view of the paranormal, the tour started with the story some of Alan’s own experiences living in the town. I love hearing first hand the story of people’s experiences. Firstly it has a lot more immediacy than the story of what was experienced by someone you’ve never met an indeterminate period of time ago. But perhaps as importantly, it gives me the opportunity to ask questions, both to extract more information and to evaluate whether the story I’m being told is complete rot, made up out of whole cloth from a book of old stories that the teller picked up in a second-hand bookshop.

I asked a lot of questions. In fact, I did that through most of the tour. It was a wonder that he didn’t strangle me by the end of it. It makes it really hard to tell a story if someone keeps interrupting you with questions and comments.

I assessed his stories about his own experiences as mostly true in essence. There was probably some exaggeration or emphasis that comes from the storyteller aspect of his personality and from telling the story multiple times a week. I’d love to sit down with him over a couple of beers (or a nice pot of tea as the case may be) and exchange stories in a more leisurely fashion.

Anyway, before we moved off, he handed out torches and explained the two rules. Rule 1: Don’t shine the torches into people’s homes and Rule 2: Don’t get run over. Note: No lanterns. Torches. Like normal people.

On to Richmond bridge. Lots of stories about that place. I’m not going to go into most of them here. The relevant one, for later in this story, is that there is a point on one side of the bridge that animals will not walk past where, allegedly, the body of a convict is entombed in the stonework of the bridge under that point. Not much in the way of activity on the night. I felt uneasy underneath the bridge but that could have been as much because there was a black opening next to me that fell away to the river and I couldn’t see what was down there… or what was coming up from there as anything paranormal. Photos of the bridge show a few orb-like anomalies, but I am calling most of them water vapour (riverbank, overcast evening, humidity around 65%, rained later) or insects.

Up to Richmond Gaol. A great place, if you measure it in terms of suffering and so on that could well lead to hauntings. Unfortunately, you can’t get into it at night. Alan has tried to get permission to take tours in there at night, but without success so far. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t intend to stop trying. We were standing there when I became aware that I was feeling dizzy. Now for me, feeling dizzy is the most often the result of one of two things. Either my blood pressure has rapidly dropped or there is a lot of energy moving around me. Standing in a room with 20 people practising reiki simultaneously, for example, has been known to induce a similar feeling. Given the nature of the location, I decided it was better to err on the side of caution. I had been standing facing the wall of the gaol, but moved to stand side on to it instead so that I would not be face on to anything coming out of there. Then I suggested to my guides that now might be the time for them to step in to protect me from anything negative, harmful or hurtful, if they didn’t mind. Within 30 seconds, the dizziness disappeared and did not return. I can’t say that I felt any emotion or threat attached to the dizziness, I just felt dizzy.

Caught one interesting light anomaly there. It was significantly brighter than anything else caught on camera that night, seems to be located in a position that does not have anything reflective to cause it and, when viewed closely, seems to have a halo effect. However, it is certainly possible that it is a raindrop. Because it is taken outside, I can’t discount that possibility.

On to the Congregational Cemetery. We were going to walk into it. In fact, Alan and I were already near the first of the headstones when I heard my mother’s voice from behind us saying “I’ll just stay here if you don’t mind.” Now my mother usually loves to wander around cemeteries reading the headstones, so this was unusual. Then I heard my brother say something like “Oh!” when he reached the same point. Talking to him later, he said it was like something had washed over him, a feeling not dissimilar to what I had felt at Highfield. Like walking through a wall of cold water, except it wasn’t wet and wasn’t precisely cold either. I felt nothing. I was completely fine with wandering around in that cemetery in the middle of the night.

We left the cemetery at that point so Alan could tell the associated stories from the side of the road where my mother would be able to hear them without coming into the place. He’d just started telling the stories when he noticed that she was in tears. She said she could not explain it, that she just felt really sad. We moved up the road a bit and to the other side to put a bit more distance between her and it and then continued. I should probably mention that by this point we only had one of the 3 torches working. The others had all stopped working along the way, starting at the gaol, if I remember correctly. By the end of the tour this last one was failing too.

Later that evening, after she had calmed down somewhat, she was able to tell us what she had picked up. There was, she said, a man in that cemetery. He was lost. He had been there for a long time. He was looking for something and had been looking for it for a long time, but what he was looking for wasn’t there. He knew that, but he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) get out of that loop. And he didn’t want our help.

The next day my brother and I went into Richmond Gaol. My mother flatly refused to enter the place after her experience the previous night. I was a little uneasy about it myself (which might say more about what a good job Alan did with his storytelling than the actual activity level of the location) but I wasn’t letting that stop me and nothing happened while we were in there. Still, I didn’t actually walk into any of the individual men’s solitary cells, which is allegedly the most active area. Being somewhat claustrophobic, I chickened out and settled for standing outside the doorway of each and looking inside. For some reason that I can’t remember now, I also do not seem to have taken any photos of the place by daylight. It might have had something to do with the number of tourists wandering around. I remember moving out of the first few rooms quickly because we couldn’t get near the displays for the press of people.

While we had been doing this, my mother had gone to investigate the bridge by daylight. I do not think that any of us gave the story of the animals not wanting to walk past a particular point much credence but the very specific nature of it and precise identification of the location begged personal investigation and experimentation. She reports that every time she reached the particular point, she felt violently ill. The first time this happened, she thought it was a result of suggestion and continued over the bridge, crossed the road and came back on the other side where she felt fine. She repeated this process 3 or 4 times in total, with identical results each time.

After leaving the gaol, and without hearing about the above experience, my brother and I went straight down to investigate the same story about the bridge. We walked separately and slowly to the indicated spot, paying attention to any unusual sensations that might come up as we approached. We stopped at the indicated spot and compared results. My brother’s initial impression was that there might be something there but it wasn’t particularly active or particularly strong. I had noticed that, when I got within about 4′ of the indicated spot, I started to develop a slight headache which cleared once I had moved beyond the spot. The actual spot where the body is entombed is not, however, directly below the footpath. It is a couple of feet out onto the road according to the story. Bearing Rule 2 in mind, we waited until the traffic cleared and no cars were in sight for as far down the road as we could see, and then we stepped simultaneously out onto a spot about 2′ out onto the road.

“Oh!” I said in a most eloquent manner whilst looking (I’m sure) like someone had hit me over the back of the head with a housebrick.

When we stepped onto that spot, I experienced what felt like a rush of energy coming up out of the road. We looked at each other and stepped back onto the footpath. Standing in the middle of the road looking dumbstruck seemed like a stupid idea and a clear breach of Rule 2.

Each of us then stepped separately onto (and back off) the active spot. There was still something there when we entered the area separately but it was nowhere near as definitive as when we stepped onto it together. Photo taking followed, for reference if nothing else as I fully expected to see nothing odd in daylight photos.

Revisited the cemetery. My mother stayed in the car. My brother walked over into it to see what he could feel. I got out of the car to take photos but stayed near it to be somewhere in the middle in case either of them needed help. My brother didn’t pick anything up. My mother said that all she knew was that we weren’t meant to be there. (It was ok for other people to be there, just not us.) As usual, I felt nothing out of the ordinary but then I wasn’t feeling all that receptive given the previous night’s events.

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Haunted Ships – The Queen Mary

By Denise Villani

The Queen Mary has been a permanent feature in Long Beach, California for a couple for decades and is one of the most famous cruise ships of all time. The ship has become a hotel, museum and popular tourist attraction, and the historic ship is internationally recognized and attracts thousands of visitors every year. Besides the living guests, the ship is said to play host to several ghosts. It has been speculated that the Queen Mary might be one of the most haunted places in the world. Reports say that as many as 150 known spirits have taken up residence and lurk in various locations all around the ship.

The Queen Mary sailed her maiden voyage on May 27, 1936. Built in Scotland to be used as part of a two-ship express service from Southampton to Cherbourg to New York, the Queen Mary is 1,000 feet long, and in her day was said to be bigger, faster and more powerful than the Titanic. She also held the record for the fastest-ever North Atlantic crossing. The historic ocean liner’s passengers included the most celebrated people of the time, including royalty, top entertainment figures and important world leaders.

At the start of World War II in 1939, luxury travel stopped and the ship was turned into a carrier ship that was used by allied forces to carry troops from March of 1940 to September of 1946. It was during this time that she would become known as “The Grey Ghost”. By the end of World War II, the ship had carried more than 700,000 troops, traveled over 500,000 miles and played a significant role in almost every major Allied campaign. She also survived a collision at sea, set the record for carrying the most people ever on a floating vessel (16,683), and participated in the D-Day invasion.

When the war ended, the Queen Mary was refurbished and started up her elegant cruises again in July, 1947, with weekly service between Southampton, Cherbourg, and New York. By the early 1960’s, the popularity of transatlantic cruises greatly decreased due to the increasing affordability of air travel. The ship attempted to revive its popularity, but without central air conditioning, outdoor pools, or other amenities offered on most other cruise ships, the attempt was unsuccessful.

In 1967, the Queen Mary was pulled from service and was sold to the city of Long Beach, California, to be used as a maritime museum and hotel. On December 9, 1967, she made her final voyage to Long Beach.

During her 60-year history, the Queen Mary was the site of 49 reported deaths, opening the doorway for potential spirits to haunt her. Reported hauntings include a young crewman in the engine room, swimmers in the first-class pool, a man in black, and a woman in blue. Some of the Queen Mary’s most haunted places include the propeller box, engine room, boiler room, cargo hold and first class swimming pool.

One of these hauntings is thought to be the spirit of John Pedder, a fireman in his late teens who was crushed to death by a watertight door in 1966 during a routine drill. Unexplained knocking has been heard around the door, and a tour guide reported she saw a figure dressed in dark clothing as she was leaving the area where the young man had been killed. She saw his face and recognized him from his photographs. He was dressed in blue coveralls and sporting a beard. The young man has often been seen walking along Shaft Alley before disappearing by door number 13. This famous door was used in the filming of the Posiedon Adventure and has reportedly crushed at least two men during the ship’s history.

The first-class swimming pool seems to be a hot spot for ghostly encounters. Wet footprints mysteriously appear even though there’s not a drop of water in the pool. These footsteps lead from the deck of the pool to the changing rooms. Women in vintage bathing suits are occasionally seen stopping by for a swim ,even though the pool has been closed for more than 30 years. There have also been reports of seeing the spirit of a young girl carrying her teddy bear along with disembodied voices, laughter and splashing sounds.

In the second class pool area the spirit of another little girl named Jackie is often been seen and heard. The girl drowned in the pool during the ship’s sailing days and doesn’t seem to want to move on. Her voice and the sound of laughter has been captured in this area.

In the room that was used as the third class playroom, there have been reports of the sound of children crying in the nursery room. There is also a report that a single baby’s cry has been heard. This crying is thought to be that of an infant boy who died there shortly after he was born.

In some of the first-class staterooms there have been reports of a tall, dark haired man wearing a 1930’s style suit showing up in various places. In addition to sightings of the man, the faucets and lights get turned on in the middle of the night, and phones ring in the early morning hours but no one is ever on the other end of the line.

There are several other reports of sightings about the ship including a beautiful young woman in an elegant white evening gown who dances alone in a shadowy corner of the salon, which was once used as the ship’s first-class lounge. Another mysterious woman in white has been seen close to the front desk. She will usually disappear behind a pillar.

Other phenomena that has been reported throughout the ship include the sounds of knocking, doors slamming and high pitched squeals, drastic temperature changes, and the recurring smells of another time.

The Queen Mary has been investigated by a number of paranormal professionals, printed publications, television shows like Ghost Hunters and Most Haunted, and several others. In addition to portions of the movie “The Poseidon Adventure” being filmed there, the X-Files filmed a 1998 WWII era episode about a time warp in the Bermuda Triangle aboard the ship. That was a great episode – it was called “Triangle” – you should check it out if you missed it!

On the Ghost Hunters episode, what was thought to be a fantastic paranormal event caught on tape turned out to be not so fantastic as it appeared someone had tampered with the video camera. So is the Queen Mary really haunted or not? The Ghost Hunters are heading back out there in February of 2008 to see if they can find out. Hopefully there won’t be any tampering this time and they can capture some evidence to support all the claims of paranormal activity on the Queen Mary.

Denise Villani is an author and the webmaster of several websites and article directories. Find more articles and information on Haunted Stuff by visiting HauntedStuff.net.

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Ghost Walks on the Isle of Wight

By Tom Sangers

There are those who claim that the Isle of Wight, in addition to its many other charms, is the most haunted island in the world. This may or may not be true, but the rich history of the area has resulted in a solid history of the supernatural kind and the storytellers and phenomena collectors of the area are only too willing to share that history with interested guests. According to the experts, there are thousands of wights, poltergeists, ghosts, spirits, and apparitions who have haunted the island and continue to do so to this day. If you are interested in furthering your acquaintance with these otherworldly beings, then you have only to sign up for a ghost walk on the Isle of Wight. Then again, they may find you even if you don’t.

The Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight, which is located off Britain’s coast and only 70 miles from London, has a long and varied human history. There is evidence that inhabitancy dates to the Neolithic and Bronze ages, continuing up through the Romans, various kings and queens, and into the present day. There are currently approximately 130,000 inhabitants on the island. It is this history and the impression that human lives have made upon the island, combined with its unique energy; that has made the place something of a hotbed of paranormal activities. There are powerful key lines running beneath the island that may have charged the earth’s electromagnetic vibrations field and so increased the likelihood of psychic happenings and ghost sightings. Ghost hunters come to the isle from all over the world to find out.

Ghost Walks On The Isle Of Wigh

If you are interested in having a ghostly experience on the Isle of Wight or in improving your knowledge of the local lore, then you are the perfect candidate for one of the ghost walks that take place there almost nightly for visitors. The options are as follows:

• Ventnor Botanic Gardens-Mondays, covers the site of the former Royal National Hospital.
• St Catherine’s Lighthouse-Tuesdays, covers the under cliff coast and lighthouse.
• Newport-Wednesdays, finishes at the most haunted pub on the Island.
• Arreton -Thursdays, covers Monk’s Chapel.
• Shanklin Old Village-Sundays, covers the old smuggling village.

These walks take visitors to some of the most haunted areas of the island as well as historic locales and are enlivened by the retellings of ghost stories and sightings that pertain to the routes.

This article was written by Tom Sangers on behalf of Luccombe Hall who offer Holiday Accommodation Shanklin in a beautiful Shanklin Hotel.

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