Haunted Savannah

 Author: Diamond White 

Savannah was founded in 1733 and it is known as one of the most historic cities in the United States. Revolutionary and Civil Wars were fought here so it is no surprise they are called the most haunted city, which was called by the American Institute of Parapsychology, which investigated ghost claims. There are many people who have felt the spirit or even captured a spirit before via camera. Therefore, many people have become firm believers of so because of many told stories of experiences with ghost in their home or on a vacation.

Ghost Conspiracy

In November 1864, General William T. Sherman began his famous "March to the Sea" during the Civil War. After capturing Atlanta, Georgia, Sherman's Union troops marched for weeks--destroying everything in their path until they reached Savannah. There Sherman set up an army hospital at The Marshall House and now a hotel. Many guests believe that dead former soldiers haunt the hospitals. “Two men claimed that when their elevator door opened, they didn't see a hotel anymore," says Emily Kiernan of Ghost Talk Ghost Walk tours. "They saw a Civil War operating room, with wounded soldiers and frantic doctors trying to save them." Others have reported feeling cold areas said to be a sign of ghosts or hearing knocks at their doors when no one was there.

Everything Is Haunted in Savannah

Savannah's river port was an important stop for cotton, rice, and tobacco ships back in the 18th and 19th centuries. Sailors stayed at inns, and pirates often spent time together at The Pirates' House restaurant. A dark stairway led to secret underground tunnels, where crimes may have happened. People have spoken about how spirits of pirates still lurk in the restaurant. Workers have reported weird flashing lights and mysterious footsteps coming from upstairs, even though no one was there. Chef Harold Bryant even claims he saw a ghost walk right through a closed kitchen door. "He was dressed in a white ruffled shirt, with a sword at his waist and a gold ring in his nose," said Bryant. "Then he just disappeared upstairs." Mant stories have been told and proven by witnesses of the same events happening to them or even just experiencing weird chills. 

Works Cited:

 Buchholz, Rachel. “Ghosts of Savannah.” National Geographic Kids, no. 354, Oct. 2005, p. 36. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=sch&AN=18386181&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

“Savannah Ghosts.” Savannah Walks, http://www.savannahwalks.com/savannah-ghosts/.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert “Nick Swardson: Everything In Savannah Is Haunted.” YouTube, 26 May 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQNb__Ar7vQ

Ghost Lights: Real??

 Author: M. King

Ghost Lights are known throughout many cultures, telling the tale of “ghostly lights that hover above the ground deep in marshes, bogs, and wet, decaying places.” (McLeod) They’re known by many names such as the ghost lights, corpse candles, “will-o-the-wisps", Jack-o-the-lantern, fairy lights, spook lights, and many more. Since there are so many different things this phenomenon is called, there are also many different interpretations as to why this phenomenon takes place. The explanations are more widely known in myths, fairytales, or in some cultures. Some say that the eerie lights are the cause of fairies or even leprechauns, goblins, others have said they are the restless spirit of children who passed young or were miscarried. Despite all the differentiations and stories that have been made about these strange lights, they all circle back to one thing: “their cause is unearthly in nature and not to be trusted.” (McLeod)

Flivver 99 “Paulding Light – Wikipedia" Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, 9 October 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulding_Light

There are many stories, theories, and tales of ghost lights from around the world. Most are like each other, and some are exact opposites. An example of related stories is one from Wales and Ireland, they tell a tale of someone named Jack or Will. In the Ireland interpretation, he was doomed by their mischievous behavior to wonder the Earth till the end of time. These gentlemen were denied access to both heaven and hell, he was granted one gift: “an ember from fires of hell to light his way a warm him in his travels.” (McLeod) Then in the Irish version of the tale, it goes on to talk about a traveler named Jack, receiving the same ember, as the previous story, but he kept his ember in a carved turnip that he used to light his way on his everlasting journey. He was named, “Jack-o-the-lantern", because of the turnip lantern he carries. Furthermore, there are tales in the United States, specifically in Arkansas, where these have been seen. Their ghost light is called “the Gurdon ghost light.” In local legend, it says that in 1931 a man by the name, William McClain, a foreman that worked for the Missouri-Pacific railroad. He was involved in a disagreement with an employee, Louis McBride, talking about when he is allowed to work. To say the least, McBride was livid and ended up brutally killing McClain with a shovel to the head and continuously beating him with a railroad spike hammer. (Arkansas)

Even with all the tales and stories of this phenomenon, there has been some scientific research done on them. The hypothesis is that the decaying matter around the area, such as rotting animal corpses or bad vegetation, releasing gases such as methane and phosphine. These gases that are released from the dying creature or plant have been known to spontaneously ignite when encountering oxygen, which causes low temperature flares for a moment. But there is nothing truly deny the existence of these strange ghost lights.

Works Cited:

Paulding Light – Wikipedia" Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, 9 October 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulding_Light

“MARFA LIGHTS” Youtube, 5 June 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhRpMBAeVco. 

“The Spook Light” Joplin Missouri. Ex. 20 October 2022, joplinmo.org/575/The-Spook-Light

“Ball lightning” Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 3 October 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_lightning

“Will-o’-the-Wisp: Monstrous Flame or Scientific Phenomenon?” Youtube, Ex. 25 October 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcNUxb_4qbo

 

Links for Further Research:

McLeod, Jamie. “Ghost Lights: A Weather Folklore.” Farmers’ Almanac – Plan Your Day. Grow Your Life. 21 June 2021, famersalmanac.com/weather-ology-special-ghost-lights-14442 This source gives information on the folklore and science behind the ghost light sightings. The purpose of this article is to explain and give information on possible origins and reasoning as to how/why these sightings happened. This source is unique because it gives a scientific hypothesis as to why these lights occur. This source is useful because of the cultural involvement as well as the many different stories explaining why these are occurring. As posted on Farmers’ Almanac this article is intended for people who have seen/heard of the strange phenomenon wanting to learn information on the ghost lights or will-o-the-wisps, as they say in the article, and seeing why they occur.

“Mysterious Lights”. Arkansas. The Natural State. Ex. 20 October 2022, arkansas.com/articles/mysterious-lights This sources gives information on the sightings and folklore in Arkansas. The purpose of this article is to give information on the sightings in the state and what the origin is. This source is unique because it gives detailed stories about the lights. This source is useful because of the stories it shares of the folklore in Arkansas surrounding the ghost lights. As posted on Arkansas: The Natural State this article is intended for tourist or natives in Arkansas to bring information on things they have possibly witnessed.

“Atmospheric ghost lights” Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 5 April 2022, en.eikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_ghost_lights This source gives information on the phenomenon and gives many, world wide, examples of sightings as well as legends/folklore. The purpose of this article is to mostly allow access to more resources as well as provide information. This source is unique because it provides hyperlinks and gives resources for further information. This source us useful because of all the additional details. As posted on Wikipedia this is intended for someone wanting to find all possible knowledge.

The Mysterious Ship: The Mary Celeste

 Author: Caroline G

Mary Celeste in Storm

The Mary Celeste was a merchant brigantine ship sailing out of the harbor in New York to Italy. The ship was run by Captain Benjamin Briggs. He brought aboard the ship with him his wife, his two-year old daughter, and his eight crew members. This ship was carrying 1,701 barrels of alcohol along with the six-month food supply that the crew had (Blumburg). 

The ship didn’t make it to a month because it was discovered sailing alone without its crew aboard. The ship that found the Mary Celeste was called the Dei Gratia. The Mary Celeste had sailed from the harbor eight days before the Dei Gratia did. The Dei Grata found the Mary Celeste off the coast of the Azores. According to the article “The legend of the Mary Celeste explained” the Mary Celeste was moving very erotically. The captain knew that there was something wrong because no ship moves like that. The captain ordered his crew to go aboard the ship to check out what was wrong. According to the article “Abandoned ship: The Mary Celeste” by Jess Blumburg, she says that below the ship deck they found “ship charts tossed around, and crewman’s belongings were still in their quarters.” They also found that the only lifeboat on board the ship was missing.

There are many theories that go along with this ship. Each are different because no ones for sure what happened to the crew and how the ship continued to sail. According to the article “The Mary Celeste” on the website paranormalcatalog.net says that the Mary Celeste could have been involved in foul play that happened by the crew of the Dei Gratia killing the crew of the Mary Celeste. Another is that the crew fled the ship because the alcohol that they were carrying exploded so that they had to flee the ship. One final one that something paranormal happened on the ship, but this one Is very unlikely because sea monsters don’t exist. Giant squids do exist, but they are not that big enough to pluck crew members right off their ship.

One thing cool about this ship is that there was a documentary created about it. The documentary is called The True Story of the Mary Celeste. There is also a book on the Mary Celeste and that book is called The Haunting of the Mary Celeste.

Works Cited:

Benjamin, Kathy. “The legend of the Mary Celeste explained.” Grunge.com, 2020,https://maryceleste.net/index.htm 

Blumburg, Jess. “Abandoned Ship: The Mary Celeste.” Smithsonianmag.com, 2007, https://maryceleste.net/index.htm 

“The Mystery of the Mary Celeste: Crew Vanishes from Seaworthy Ship.” ancient-origns.net,  https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/field/image/Mary-Celeste-in-storm.jpg 

“The Mary Celeste.” Paranormalcatalog.nethttps://www.paranormalcatalog.net/unexplained-phenomena/the-mary-celeste

Links for Further Research: 

“Mysterious Disappearances: Crew of the Mary Celeste.” mysteriousdisappearances.com. This 

website talks about the crew onboard the Mary Celeste

“The Mary Celeste Fact or Fiction.” MaryCeleste.net. This website gives an insight on whether 

the Mary Celeste was a real thing or if it was fake.

“Mary Celeste: Whatever Happened to the Notorious Ghost Ship”. allthingsinterersting.com. 

This website talks about what happened to the Mary Celeste and the theories that go 

along with what happened, and what happened after the Mary Celeste was found

The Dybbuk Box

 By Wyatt Hardy

The dybbuk box is an a haunted wine box that you may not have heard of, but you may have been haunted by. The box was bought by a furniture store owner in 2003, who discovered that he made a mistake buying this not so innocent box. When furniture store owner Kevin Mannis Stumbled upon the box at an estate sale he knew it was too god of an offer to pass up. He bought the box and took it to his store, but he soon realized that the box was no ordinary box. He was told the the person that owned the estate survived living in a concentration camp and that the box was one of three things that she brought back with her to the United States.

 The granddaughter of the estate owner was luckily able to give a little background to the history of the Dybbuk Box. After Kevin Mannis bought the box she approached him and commented on the box. She told him how serious her grandmother was about never opening the box, and that the box was to be buried with her grandmother. This went against Jewish rules of burial so she did not bury the box. Kevin offered to let her keep the box as it seemed to be important to the family, but she insisted that because he bought it he should keep it.

Kevin Mannis sold the box on Ebay and since then it has been sold many times. Every owner seems to become more and more desperate to get rid of the box. Kevin decided to give the box to his mother for mothers day. Terrible things happened to his mother only hours after he gave her the box. She suffered a stroke and became partially paralyzed. His sister began to take care of their mom and she learned very quickly that the box had some sort of darkness to it. She would leave the box and come back to the doors wide open. She did not want to keep the box so she put it on the steps of his store with a note that said, ”This has a bad darkness”. 

Kevin Mannis said that he himself also experienced terrible things while owning the box. He had nightmares nearly every night and he began to see shadows walking in his peripheral view. Some how there was an association with the box and cat urine. Kevin had never owned a cat but he smelled cat urine when around the box. His sister said that she also smelled the same thing around the box. One night he woke up from a nightmare to the feeling of someone breathing on his neck. He then saw a shadow walking away from him down the hallway. 

 In Kevins Ebay post he expressed the idea that he wanted to destroy the box but was unsure of what may happen if he did. He was worried if he destroyed the box, whatever haunted it may stay with him. He sold the box to a bidder, but made a few updates to his sale. He said that he is not religious but would appreciate prayers from anyone, He also said that people asked if he was still experiencing strange events. He responded, “I thought everything was going OK until I got home on Friday - the 13th of June - and found that the fish in my fresh water aquarium - all 10 - were dead.” Maybe that was coincidental but still, creepy.

Since the sale of the box Kevin has not had much involvement, however he did answer a few questions. He revealed that the story of the Dybbuk box was completely made up and it was not true. He never expected it to become so popular. I think that he did a great job creating such a detailed story. There was definitely more to the story than I shared, so if you want to read more you can read more HERE. The story is very interesting to read so I recommend reading about it. It is a great story to spend some time reading about if that is something you enjoy doing

Works Cited
Haxton, Jason. The Dibbuk Box. Kirksville, Mo : Truman State University Press. 2011. 

Mannis, Kevin. “The Dybbuk Box.” Yahoo! Contributor Network, September 2, 2009, https://
web.archive.org/web/20120825053726/http://voices.yahoo.com/the-dibbuk-
box-4184199.html?cat=44.

Moss, Charles. “Finally, the Truth behind the 'Haunted' Dybbuk Box Can Be Revealed.” Input,
Input Magazine, 8 July 2021, https://www.inputmag.com/features/dybbuk-box-dibbuk-
kevin-mannis-zak-bagans-haunted-hoax-revealed.

Links for Further Research
Haxton, Jason. The Dibbuk Box. Kirksville, Mo : Truman State University Press. 2011. This
book tells different stories from people who have had strange experiences with the
Dybbuk Box.

Mannis, Kevin. “The Dybbuk Box.” Yahoo! Contributor Network, September 2, 2009, https://
web.archive.org/web/20120825053726/http://voices.yahoo.com/the-dibbuk-
box-4184199.html?cat=44. 17 October 2021. This article was written by the creator of
the Dybbuk Box and includes the original eBay listing description. He wrote the entire
story and history of the box.

Moss, Charles. “Finally, the Truth behind the 'Haunted' Dybbuk Box Can Be Revealed.” Input,
Input Magazine, 8 July 2021, https://www.inputmag.com/features/dybbuk-box-dibbuk-
kevin-mannis-zak-bagans-haunted-hoax-revealed. 17 October 2021. This source
discusses the story and truth behind the Dybbuk Box. It talks about a movie that inspired
the box, and about a certain celebrity that was spooked by it.

Haunted Savannah, Georgia

 By Preslee Trahan

The most haunted places in Savannah

Savannah, Georgia is a coastal city, is separated from South Carolina by the Savannah River. It’s known for manicured parks, horse-drawn carriages and antebellum architecture. Its historic district is filled with cobblestoned squares and parks such as Forsyth Park shaded by oak trees covered with Spanish moss. Homes and buildings sit atop Native American burial grounds; roads cover forgotten cemeteries of slaves and colonialists. Over the years, bloody battles, massive fires, yellow-fever epidemics, and hurricanes have taken hundreds of lives, leaving behind unsettled spirits. There are many ghost stories and haunted buildings that Savannah is known as one of the most haunted cities in America, which is also stated on USA Today. According to an article on the Marshall House, entitled “The 6 Most Haunted Places in Savannah That You Can Actually Visit”, guest have experienced ghost in the hallways, nonexistent children running down the halls and faucets turning on by themselves. In the article they say, “...the Marshall House one of the best haunted hotels in the U.S. since 1851.” (“The 6 Most Haunted...”) It may be one of the best because it may have the most experienced paranormal activity place in Savannah.

Colonial Park Cemetery

 

Every haunted city has a haunted cemetery. Colonial Park Cemetery is the haunted cemetery in Savannah, GA. According to an article about the cemetery, entitled “The Ghost of Colonial Park Cemetery”, “Many people believe this willful desecration of burial grounds helps to fuel the haunted activity which is attributed to Colonial Park Cemetery.” The most famous ghost story to come out of Colonial Park Cemetery is the haunted story of Rene Rondolier . Rene’s ghost is reported seen walking  through the Cemetery, or hanging from the ‘Hanging Tree’which is towards the back of Colonial Park  Cemetery. in real life Rene was a very large person, standing almost 7 feet tall. It was said that one night Rene was caught not long after murdering two young girls inside of the cemetery. A mob was organized to find and lynch Rene. After Rene was hung in the nearby square, residents started to report a large shadowy figure walking the grounds of Colonial Park, Rene's favorite place to play. The problem with this story is it isn’t true, and thehave no records of little girls being killed. But people do see large, figured shadows in the cemetery. There are many ghosts stories that are real in Savannah, GA.

 Works Cited:
“Colonial Park Cemetery.” Photograph. Encrypted. Encrypted, 2011. Web. 26 Oct. 2021
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?
q=tbn:ANd9GcQuuL35Csmm4Ia5GRMQhMFzGYQLEqUIR71uPA&usqp=CAU

“Haunted Savannah.” Photograph. Visit Savannah. Visit Savannah, 2008. Web. 26 Oct. 2021
https://www.visitsavannah.com/sites/default/files/styles/background/public/
15874658_1202030849844100_3255715247662473901_o.jpg?itok=TOGGuiFo

Jamie Moore. “America’s 10 Most Haunted Cities.” USA Today. USA Today. 24 Oct. 2012. Web.
26 Oct. 2021 https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2012/10/24/americas-10-
most-haunted-cities/1655281/

“The Ghost of Rene Rondelier in Savannah.” Ghost Savannah. Ghost Savannah. 2018. Web 26
Oct. 2021 https://www.ghostsavannah.com/2017/02/rene-rondolier-in-savannah/

 Links for Further Research:
Haunted Savannah, Georgia
https://www.travelchannel.com/destinations/us/ga/savannah/articles/haunted-savannah
Different haunted spots and the history of why it is haunted.

Haunted History of Savannah
https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/savannah/haunted-history
History of Savannah and which caused it to be haunted.

Tours
https://tiehauntedtours.com/
People go on tours and experience ghosts.
 
Most Haunted Places in Savannah
https://ghostcitytours.com/savannah/haunted-places/
It tells you where the most haunted places are and background on them.

Robert the Doll

 By Jimir Johnson

Robert the doll is known as a famous haunted doll that was made 117 years ago . Robert was made in Germany by the Steiff Factory in 1904. The Steiff factory was known to make high end collection of bears. The doll was brought by Robert Otto grandfather from his trip overseas. His grandfather named the doll after him. Robert would give his new doll a sailor outfit. The sailor outfit would make Robert the doll appearance iconic because it was Robert’s child real outfit. Robert treated the doll like he was a living person. When Robert Otto would misbehave or something went missing he would blame the doll. Robert Otto would say “Robert did it” so much that it became the theme of the doll. The first  supernatural incident was in Robert Otto childhood. Robert Otto claimed to woken up by Robert The doll looking at him at the foot of the bed. Not long after he seen this unpleasant sight the house was woken by sounds of moving furniture. Robert’s mother rushed his room to find him under his blankets and everything around him in chaos. His mother asked him what happened Robert Otto responded with “Robert did it”. That would become ah habit of Robert Otto in his childhood, he would blame most of his wrong doings on the doll. Legend has it that Robert blaming his doll for everything made the doll behavior worsted and noticeable. Robert was said to move his doll to the upstairs because he was getting older and probably needed the space. Robert put the doll on a window seal and left it. Neborhood children was aware of the legend and would tell Robert would move in and out of the window seal. So one day Robert went upstairs to check up on his doll and found it in a rocking chair. Robert Otto just simply ignored it because it was his doll. Robert went to New York and Paris to continue his art education but the doll remained in Key West, Florida. When he returned he got married to his wife Anne but she didn’t like the doll in the house. The doll wasn’t moved out of the house but moved into the attic. Robert the doll probably happy with his new living quarter. Anne expressed that soon after they moved the doll she heard “footsteps and malicious giggling from the attic”. Robert Otto died in 1972 and his wife died in 1974, the was sold to Myrtle Reuter. Robert the doll was still in the attic in the house. Myrtle daughter discovered Robert and quickly feared him. She was convinced he wanted to hurt and haunt her. She even told her parents that Robert would be wandering around the room at night. In 1994 Robert was donated to East Martello Museum in Key West. This is now Robert’s home and now popular attraction .

Robert the Doll

Works cited: 

https://burialsandbeyond.com/2019/09/27/the-curse-of-robert-the-doll/

Links for Further Research:

Horror Obsessive https://horrorobsessive.com/2021/04/13/caution-mind-your-manners-when-
visiting-robert-the-doll/ Author Melissa Bastek explains how Robert the doll had strange
different effects on people. 

Medium https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/the-true-story-of-evil-doll-that-inspired-
chucky-haunted-key-west-for-100-years-be54e3624b5c Author Esh explains how Robert Otto
had a weird inseparable relation with Robert the Doll since his childhood.
 

Ripleys https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/robert-the-doll/ Author Noelle Talmon
explains why Robert the doll was taken to the museum by Myrtle Reuter and how he
mysteriously started jamming electronic devices around him.

Robert the Doll

 By Dureal Dobbs

Robert the Doll's background started off with him being gifted to a child named Gene. They did everything together and talked about everything. Gene had the attic as Robert’s house, it had furniture and he even gave him his own teddy bear. His parents thought Gene was just doing a different voice for Robert but realized the doll was possessed when they heard furniture moving, and Gene balled up on his bed in fear. They locked Robert in the attic for years but would still hear footsteps. Many kids would see Robert move in the window from side to side.  

Later on Gene became a painter and he wanted to spark up their relationship. Doing that caused him to blame his shortcomings on Robert. It caused problems with Gene’s wife because he would have random mood swings and beat her. Gene died then not too long after his wife died as well.

More people moved into the house and a 10 years old little girl found Robert in the attic. Robert did the same exact thing to the girl. He was later on sent to a museum where other possessed dolls are. The museum is Fort East Martello Museum where he resides in a box. The box is covered  with writings from people begging him to release his curse. Robert glitches in pictures but it stops as soon as people leave the museum. Robert is examined yearly to make sure the humidity of Florida is not affecting his wool. His misfortune causes such as car accidents, broken bones, job loss, divorce, and many other tragedies They dove deeper about the gifts Robert’s gift he received such as candy, money, letters, advice, emails, and even kept up with his social media and catalogs. This curse happens when people take pictures without permission or save pictures on their devices.

Work Cited

“Robert the Doll.” Atlas Obscura. 2021.https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/story-behind-robert-the-doll 

Discover the Story of Robert the Doll.The Artist House.2021, History of Fort East Martello – Key West Art and Historical Society. Kwahs.org.

 “Haunted doll is safely at home in the Key West museum.” Daily Journal.2015.https://www.daily-journal.com/life/travel/haunted-doll-is-safely-at-home-in-key-west-museum/article_13239a0b-d3e3-5e56-ba7d-dde6cd1e23e7.html

For Further Research:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/story-behind-robert-the-doll This source gives a solid background infromation on Robert.

https://www.kwahs.org/8579-2 This article talks more about Robert being in the museum and his curse.

https://www.daily-journal.com/life/travel/haunted-doll-is-safely-at-home-in-key-west-museum/article_13239a0b-d3e3-5e56-ba7d-dde6cd1e23e7.html It gave a person input on how Robert and his experience seeing him.

The Hauntings of St. Augustine Lighthouse, Florida

 Author: Solace Steele

 

Imagine catching what appears to be a silhouette of
someone peering down from two staircases above. 

This sighting has become more common than
others when touring the lighthouse.

Spooky Season has arrived at long last, and Halloween is just around the corner. It’s the perfect
time to indulge in candy and other traditions that accompany this holiday, and those who are
interested in everything paranormal are in for a treat if they’re willing to take their chance and
explore. The St. Augustine Lighthouse in Florida is one of the oldest points of navigation in U.S.
history. The lighthouse that stands today is the second one and was constructed in the late 1700s when the first collapsed due to erosion. It has also stood tall and proud through many battles during its time. Still, there is more to this lighthouse than what initially meets the eye. Its history is tainted with death, and to this day spirits remain tethered to it, having been unable to move on for centuries. One of St. Augustine’s most famous ghost stories begins with Hezekiah Pittee, who was the superintendent of the second lighthouse construction. Kelcie Lloyd, the Special Programs Manager at St. Augustine Lighthouse, explains this tragic tale in her article titled Ghost Stories: The Pittee Girls. He had four children named Mary, Eliza, Edward, and Carrie. They utilized the construction site as one giant playground and favored a supply cart that ran from the site to the dock where supply ships would wait. Little did they know that supply cart would carry them to a watery grave. The only thing preventing them from tumbling into the water at the time was a wooden board. On the day of July 28, 1873, the Pittee siblings and an unidentified African American girl were on their makeshift rollercoaster, and as it turns out, that wooden board was no longer secured in place to stop the cart. So, it tipped over and into the water. The girls were trapped beneath it, and by the time a worker raced to remove it, three of the four girls had drowned. Carrie, the youngest, was the only survivor. 

The Pittee family, originally from Maine, moved back to their home to bury their loved ones there,
and the resting place of the unidentified African American girl has yet to be discovered. 

 

 This video follows Buzzfeed Unsolved co-hosts 

Shane Madej and Ryan Bergara as they visit

 the St. Augustine Lighthouse after hours to 

provide viewers a ghostly experience

Many years have passed since this tragic incident, but that was not the last the world would ever
see of these children. Not to mention, there were more who had died here. Some of these
individuals include William Harn, Peter Rasmussen, and Joseph Andreu, who have supposedly
been sighted around the lighthouse and the keeper’s house below it. Rasmussen’s spirit is easily
identified through reports of the scent of cigar smoke. Andreu met his end after falling off the
lighthouse when painting it during its construction. Harn was one of the first keepers of the
lighthouse, and unfortunately the first to die in it after a long battle with malaria and tuberculosis.
Many strange occurrences have happened since then, with staff members and tourists reporting
ghostly encounters. There have been reports of footsteps being heard upstairs, with no one present upon investigation, as well as sightings of little girls standing and disappearing not a second later. Staff and tourists have also noted the smell of cigar smoke, doors being left wide open despite having been locked the night before, EMF readings, the sound of music boxes playing, and more. The St. Augustine Lighthouse is a favorite among tourists intrigued by the unexplainable and has even been featured on an episode of SyFy’s own Ghost Hunters. It seems safe to say that human beings absolutely must have an explanation for things, and the paranormal refuses to provide one, which surely contributes to the lack of belief in them. However, some answers must be sought after, and perhaps a ghost tour of the lighthouse would be a good place to start. 

Works Cited
A&E. “Ghost Hunters: Return to Haunted St. Augustine.” YouTube, 13 May 2020,
https://youtu.be/Pa5-O0nnshU

Anya016. “St. Augustine Lighthouse – Florida.” Random Times, 21 April 2020, https://random-
times.com/2020/04/21/st-agustine-lighthouse-florida/

Buzzfeed Unsolved Network. “The Haunted Shadows Of The St. Augustine Lighthouse.”
YouTube, 27 Sept. 2019, https://youtu.be/fU-8Rg4CgeI.

Ghostsandgravestones.com. “Haunted Guide to the St. Augustine Lighthouse.”
https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/st-augustine/lighthouse-haunted

Lemmon, Kathryn. “The Haunted Side of St. Augustine, Fla.” Nexis Uni, 5 October 2012,
https://advance-lexis-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/document/?
pdmfid=1516831&crid=5cda0547-d12b-425a-9140-557a795b8445&pddocfullpath=
%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A56RN-KHT1-JC8H-
N2CD-00000-
00&pdcontentcomponentid=157000&pdteaserkey=sr0&pditab=allpods&ecomp=xzvnk&e
arg=sr0&prid=b5d2c776-f0df-4118-84b1-55a172717caa

Lloyd, Kelcie. “Ghost Stories: The Pittee Girls.” St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum.
2 March 2020,
https://www.staugustinelighthouse.org/2020/03/02/ghost-stories-the-pittee-girls/

Links for further research
1. The Ghosts of the St. Augustine Lighthouse
https://ghostcitytours.com/st-augustine/haunted-places/st-augustine-lighthouse/
An article providing an overview of the ghosts that inhabit the St. Augustine Lgihthouse
2. The St. Augustine Light
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Augustine_Light
A Wikipedia article that provides the history of the entire lighthouse as well as more
resources for further research.
3. staugustinelighthouse.org home page
https://www.staugustinelighthouse.org/
The official lighthouse webpage itself. It offers information on the lighthouse and its
history, as well as how to set up tours.

Haunting of St. .Augustine, FL

Author: Mya Tribble

Take a closer look at the photograph, as you look just look a tad bit closer in the center of the creepy image. You may be curious to know where the location of this image came from. This image is the haunting of St. Augustine. St Augustine is located in a city on the northeast coast of Florida Lighthouse.  St. Augustine is like a paranormal activity of paradise of the darker side. They have different stories like in the early 1600’s was “Castillo de San Marcos” a commander who found out that his wife was having an affair with another commander then, they both disappeared and were never found again.

The 1700’s “A Second Chance At Life” was a women who was nearly buried alive at the Tolomato Cemetery, went on to live another six years before passing away (again); and now guests have been the ghost of children playing inside the cemetery and heard the sounds of their laughter. The 1800’s two sisters were playing in and out of a car and then, uncontrollable they tumbled down a hill and drowned in the water. The late, 1800’s “The Life of a Criminal” was a building known as the old jail where inmates were treated bad and physically tortured so, now the old jail belongs to the inmates who lost their lives within the prison cells. Then, “The Forever Hospital Patient” it was a Spanish military hospital where, underneath the hospital are thousands of human bones where, people hear the cries, conversations, and screams of patients dying within the hospital’s rooms. Then, another story called “The Bitter End” where, it goes back to the early 1820’s “Huguenot Cemetery where, it was known to be paranormal activities.

The haunting of Huguenot who died. When, he died, and his kids grew up they wanted his body exhumed and moved closer to them. During the exhumation the grave digger left the coffin open while, he was on a break. That’s when, thieves stole his gold tooth. Since, then people have seen him floating around in the air.

Works cited:

“Haunted Guide to the Huguenot Cemetery.” ghostsandgravestones.com, 2019, https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/st-augustine/huguenot-cemetery

“The Story Behind This Haunted Florida Lighthouse Will Give You Goosebumps.” OnlyInYourState.com, 2017, https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/florida/haunted-lighthouse-fl/

“Ghost Hunters’ returns to the St. Augustine Lighthouse.”staugustine.com, 2019,   https://www.staugustine.com/entertainmentlife/20190901/ghost-hunters-returns-to-st-augustine-lighthouse

“Castillo de San Marcos' History.” Travelchannel.com, https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/ghost-adventures/articles/castillo-de-san-marcos-history

Haunted Guide to the Oil Jail.” ghostsandgravestones.com, 2019, https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/st-augustine/old-jail

Links for further research:

Haunted History of St. Augustine
https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/st-augustine/haunted-history
The website has different information that talks about the different haunting stories. Like history, tours, guides, etc.

Visit St Augustine
https://www.visitstaugustine.com/article/haunting-tour-lighthouse 
The website gives you brief information on the haunted lighthouse. Also, gives background information that can be helpful. It also, talks about the tours that they have.

Staugustine.com
https://www.staugustine.com/article/20141026/NEWS/310269932

Roanoke Island, North Carolina, United States

Author: Kaylah Ginyard 

August 1590 brought the occurrence of one of the most puzzling mysteries in history. As John White arrived too England in order to gather supplies he came across a war between England, Spain, and Queen Elizabeth I. Three years later John White returned to Roanoke. When White left in 1587, he left in his wife and daughter, his infant granddaughter and some other settlers. He came back with no proof or evidence of the colony, including the entirety of his family. The only clue he did discover was the word “Croatoan,” which was carved into a wooden post. The “Lost Colony” is still under investigation, and there are plenty of theories and conspiracies which are laced with what little evidence exists, but science and anthropology have yet to yield an affirmative answer to the question of the “Lost Colony.” Although, “Croatoan” was discovered to be the name of an island South of Roanoke, it was founded to be the home of native Americans. Studies state that perhaps the colonists were killed or abducted by Native Americans. 

Works Cited: 

Mason, Emma. “What Happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island?” HistoryExtra, March 26, 2019. https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/what-happened-to-the-lost-colony-of-roanoke-island/.

Rogers, James. “Roanoke Colony Mystery: Could This Strange Rock Reveal the Settlers' Fate?” Fox News. FOX News Network, June 11, 2018. https://www.foxnews.com/science/roanoke-colony-mystery-could-this-strange-rock-reveal-the-settlers-fate.

Conway, Stuart. “It Was America's First English Colony. Then It Was Gone.” The Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, July 3, 2018. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/lost-colony-roanoke-history-theories-croatoan/.

“The Lost Colony of Roanoke: 8 Theories About the Mysterious Island and Its Inhabitants.” History Collection.co, 15 Aug. 2017, https://historycollection.co/lost-colony-roanoke-8-theories-mysterious-island-inhabitants/.

For even more leads than this article provides: 

“What Happened to the ‘Lost Colony’ of Roanoke?” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 3 Oct. 2012, https://www.history.com/news/what-happened-to-the-lost-colony-of-roanoke. This article discusses one of America’s oldest unsolved mysteries traced back to August 1587. After settling, John White, governor of the new colony sailed to England to get fresh supplies. Three years after returning, he found no trace of the colony, including his wife and daughter. The only thing that was left was the word “Croatoan” carved on a wooden post.

 “Roanoke Island.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Sept. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke_Island. This article focuses on the main history of Roanoke Island, the birthplace of America’s first English child. Located on an island in Dare County on the outer core of North Carolina.

 “Haunted Roanoke.” Colonial Ghosts, 7 Oct. 2017, https://colonialghosts.com/haunted-roanoke/. In 1998 archaeologist and historians discovered an extraordinary golden ring engraved with a prancing lion. Unfortunately, there was a huge misconception and researchers had it all wrong from the start. The ring had a numerous amounts of lab test ran on it. After being sent to east Carolina University, archaeologist “Charles Evans” was appalled by the results. The purpose of this article is to showcase why and how the research was wrong. What is distinctive about this article is the actual artifact that was found.

Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel Ghosts...Haunting

Author:Mychaela Gilbert

The 131-year-old hotel has more than a few residents who’ve checked in the hotel but have never checked out. Some hotels make you want to extend residents stay, while some, like the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel  takes a further step into the afterlife. Having been around since June 1st,1888, the 764-room luxury hotel, hasa Scottish Baronial architecture set in the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Banff, Alberta(Keraghosian). The hotel isn’t shy about celebrating its famous ghost residents. William Cornelius Van Horne, appointing general manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), has been given recognition of the tourism potential of the Canadian West and his philosophy reflecting this awareness(Then and Now). Van Horne envisioned a lavish hotel resort along the railway through Rocky and Selkirk Mountains(Then and Now). One of the most famous of all hauntings occurring at the hotel is the story of “The Bride”(Guilbert).The story dates back to the late 1920s. On one young couples wedding day, the bride, decked out in her wedding gown, began to walk down the hotels marble staircase. Something startled her causing her to slip and fall. Some have said she caught her heel in the hem of her dress. Others have said her dress brushed up against a candles flame. Whether of which is true the bride died on those very steps. Since then the hotel staff and guests have reported seeing a veiled figure moving up and down the stairs in a wedding stress.The young bride still waiting on her first dance with her husband she never had. Luckily if you’re planning a visit to the hotel, you can get the pleasure of staying in Room 873(Guilbert). Unfortunately, this disturbed and haunted room isn’t a room anymore due to it being fully boarded up and made to look apart of the highway. The story goes about a family staying in the room when the father decided to cold blood kill his wife and daughter before committing suicide. Their souls remained, but the bodies were removed. Guests that have stayed in the room have claimed that the room didn’t remain peaceful for very long. Guests have claimed to be woken in the dead of night by harrowing screams, petrified, around turning on the lights there was nothing there except bloody handprints over the walls. Sometimes the handprints would disappear on their own, but other times the cleaning staff would spend hours trying to scrub the prints, but they would remain there for days before vanishing. Although the room is no longer available for guests, there have been incidents where screams are heard when they pass the spot where Room 873 would have been. Although seeing is believing, if one visits the hotel a skeptic the odds are,they will leave the hotel a believer (Real Stories of the Paranormal).

Works Cited:

Hotel Services and Activities -Fairmont Banff Springs. n.d,“Activities and Services”, Fairmont, https://www.fairmont.com/banff-springs/activities-services/. 25 Oct 2019.

Guilbert, Andrew. “The Ghosts of Fairmont Banff Springs.” Avenue Calgary, 8 Feb. 2019, https://www.avenuecalgary.com/city-life/the-ghosts-of-fairmont-banff-springs/.

Keraghosian, Greg. “Hotel Insider: A Haunted Stay at the Fairmont Banff Springs.” Yahoo!, Yahoo!, 14 Oct. 2015, https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/hotel-insider-a-haunted-stay-at-the-fairmont-073010720.html

“Then and Now -Banff Springs History.” Fairmont Banff Springs History -Promotions -Fairmont Banff Springs, https://www.fairmont.com/banff-springs/promotions/fairmont-banff-springs-history/?utm_referrer=direct/not%20provided.

“Real Stories of the Paranormal: Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel,Canada.” Creepy Ghost Stories, https://www.creepyghoststories.com/real-ghost-stories/fairmont-banff-springs-hotelcanada.

For even more leads than this article provides visit:

Guest Post: Haunting Legends of Fairmont's Banff Springs Hotel In Canada
https://spookythingsonline.wordpress.com/2018/10/20/guest-post-haunting-legends-of-fairmonts-banff-springs-hotel-in-canada/.
Author, Michael Mink, discusses a post that was posted back in October 2017. Fast forward to October 2018, one person answered the blog sharing a story regarding the hotel. His name was Joseph Kubal. He then writes about one famous story, Room 873. The purpose is to showcase the different haunting that Michael experienced during his time at the hotel. He then goes on to tell more stories about, “The Secret Room”, “The Helpful Bellman”, “The Phantom Bride” and many others.

Real Stories of the Paranormal: Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Canada https://www.creepyghoststories.com/real-ghost-stories/fairmont-banff-springs.
In the article Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Canada, written on the Creepy Ghosts Stories website, it discusses the luxury four-star hotel that sits upon lush green pine trees and has of eye-catching mountains for over 130 years.

Banff Springs.
https://books.google.com/books?id=6s9xdriff2UC&lpg=PR4&dq=Fairmont%20Banff%20Springs%20Hotel&lr&pg=PR4#v=onepage&q=Fairmont%20Banff%20Springs%20Hotel&f=false
In the book Banff Springs, Bart Robinson analyzes the entire history regarding the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. He acknowledges Morley Robert's first discovery of Banff. There was a castle rising above the banks of the Bow River where Morley found a rock palace in the wilderness. It was indeed for the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. It was like a dream in a dream itself.

Waverly Hills Sanatorium: One of the Most Haunted Places on Earth

Author: Jordan Ennis

Apparitions caught on camera in Waverly Hills

Waverly Hills Sanatorium started off as a small, wooden two-story building in Louisville, Kentucky and was known as the Louisville City Hospital. The hospital opened to treat the increasing number in tuberculosis patients. Space became limited very quickly and the hospital was so overcrowded that they had to expand. In 1926, the hospital re-opened as the Waverly Hills Sanatorium. The severity of the illness increased so badly that there are rumors of up to over 8,000 deaths, but stories vary in detail. However, there was such a significant amount of deaths that the hospital used a body chute known as the “death tunnel” to discretely dispose of bodies without other patients witnessing. There are many old ghost stories of the sanatorium, such as the little boy bouncing the ball, or the nurse who committed suicide in room 502. The hospital is a tourist site today and is very popular among paranormal activists.

The story of room 502 is a controversial subject. Some tales say that the nurse committed suicide by hanging herself off the balcony after falling pregnant out of wedlock. However, others say that she was pushed off the balcony. There is also a newer legend that says a homeless man was murdered over a drug conflict in room 502.

There were many forms of treatment doctors attempted for TB patients. One of the worst treatments was inserting a balloon into the lungs to expand them which killed many patients. Another way was an early form of a pneumothorax treatment, where air was injected into the lungs. Some patients surpassed the numbing because of the needles. Margaret Baugh tells stories of these treatments in her interview.

Interview of Margaret Baugh (patient from Waverly Hills)

Because of the discovery of a new antibiotic drug called streptomycin and the decline in severe TB cases, Waverly Hills was closed in 1961. The hospital turned into a tourist attraction after many failed attemptsin turning the building into other businesses. Ghost tours are now offered at the Sanatorium leading to shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures spending the night in the hospital to investigate all the rumored hauntings. In this clip from the Waverly Hills episode of Ghost Adventures, we see video footage of shadows lurking in the hallways of the hospital as the cast films.

Works Cited: 

Baugh, Margaret. “Living on the Porch”. YouTube. Personal Interview. 29 Aug. 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP5JzwdbFiI.

“Creepy Picture of Death Tunnel”. https://s3-media3.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/a1IOVUyLBobCtA0145nS_A/348s.jpg.

Goran, David. “Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky is considered to be one of the most haunted locations in the world”. Vintage News, 28 Jul., 2016. http://www.waverlyhills.net/urban-legends.php.

“Shadow Figures Infest TB Ward.” Travel Channel, https://www.travelchannel.com/videos/shadow-figures-infest-tb-ward-0146758.

“Waverly Hills Sanatorium”. Historic Mysteries, https://www.historicmysteries.com/waverly-hills-sanatorium/.

Further research Information

Ranker
https://www.travelchannel.com/videos/shadow-figures-infest-tb-ward-0146758
This source tells many different ghost stories that have been recorded from Waverly Hills.

Prairie Ghosts
https://www.prairieghosts.com/waverly_tb.html
From this source we get a first-hand story told about a night spent in the terrifying hallways of the sanatorium.

True Ghost Stories
https://www.trueghosttales.com/stories/waverly-hills-sanitarium.php
Not only does this source also give a first-hand look from the author’s point-of-view, but the report of shadows seen in from the rooftops of the sanatorium while investigation one night.

Shanghai Tunnels

Kaelah Bussey

Shanghai Tunnels

Shanghai tunnels are located underneath the streets of Portland, Oregon that run from the north to the south end. The tunnels provide access to many local downtown areas. They are made up of a series of catacombs (passageways to a religious place) and tunnels that wrap around to one level from the streets that come from the north side which is the historical downtown part of Portland. It is known to be a mysteriously haunting place. 

        
This end consists of attractions such as Skidmore fountain and China town. The south end tunnels lead visitors to the riverfront, to look at different businesses such as dance halls, saloons, and brothels (house of prostitution) such as the White Eagle Saloon and Brothel, gambling parlors, and a couple hotels. The Merchant hotel has different services of providing sensual pleasure via a sex slave/ prostitute. It is said, that the act of shanghaiing occurred in these tunnels in the 1850’s and ended around the 1940’s. They would steal men that would wander around the tunnels, many hung around the bars above the tunnels, and would be taken then sold to ship owners. The owners would pick out “able-bodied men” as they were called and used them as slaves on the ships.

        
Studies showed in The Haunted Shanghai Tunnels in Portland, Oregon, not all of the people who were taken on these ships were men, some of them were females, that were sold as prostitutes to work on the ships. There was one well-known individual named Nina. She is said to haunt the tunnels underneath “Old Town Pizza.” Locals claimed that Nina was a prostitute who was drugged one night and thrown down the stairway to the tunnels. The fall was fatal, and it is said that her ghost haunts the tunnels and locals can smell the scent of her perfume in the air (The Haunted Shanghai Tunnels in Portland, Oregon). Also, there is a carving in the brick in one of the passageways said to have been there since the tunnels were first used for shanghaiing that says “Nina.” (Haunt in Shanghai Tunnels Portland). Nina isn’t the only ghost that is said to haunt these tunnels. Many people who go through the tunnels of Portland have heard moans, talking, screaming, and even crying. It's believed that many of those sounds may be a result of the energy in that specific area, and could be residual based hauntings. Most of these hauntings are caused because most don't know how they got into the tunnels to start with, they have a hard time finding their way out.

There are many different tours that visitors travel to Portland to come find out if these hauntings are real and the history behind the tunnels. The Shanghai tunnels heritage tour is the main tour that gives information about history of the shanghai trade in Portland. They offer evening, day-time, and private tours. The shanghai tunnels ghost tour accesses spirits that still work or are imprisoned there. Shanghai Tunnel Ethnic History tour shares historical stories of the Chinese, Japanese and the Gypsies relate to the activities that took place in the underground community. The Portland walking tour begins just outside of the Old Town Pizza, offers a more detailed tour of the tunnels. This tour shows visitors the physical remains underground as well as the subcultures, political, and immortal underground of the city’s history, and exposes the myths and legends of the so-called “Shanghai Tunnels.”

Works Cited:

Mellema, Valerie. “Oregon Legends.” Portland Underground: Shanghai Tunnels. March.2008.www.legendsofAmerica.com/shanghai.

Whitley, Bryn. “Shanghai Tunnels.” Can of Mystery.2012.www.canofmystery.blogspot.com/shanghai_tunnels.

Owen, Rob. “Ghost Adventures: Drop in on Old Town Haunts.” 05 Mar. 2012. Updated 06 Mar.2012.www.oregonlive.com/movies/2012/03/ghost_adventures. 

Haunted House Inc. “Portland’s Shanghai Tunnels.” Www.hauntedhouses.com/states/or/Portland_tunnels.2006-2016.

For further research:

http://portlandtunnels.com/paranormal-investigation-and-shanghai-tunnel-tour-weekendfundraiser-with-robb-demarest.html. 

This article provides information about where the tunnels are located and the destinations that they take visitors to. It also talks about the places that are located around the tunnels and their mysterious hauntings that have been said occur there.

http://portlandtunnels.com/historical-background-of-portlands-shady-past.html.

This article discusses deeper about the history of the tunnels and where the word “shanghaiing” originally comes from. It gives information about what happened in the tunnels around the prohibition period. The purpose of this article is to give readers a greater understanding about the shanghai tunnels and why the hauntings occur there.

The Hampton Lillibridge House: The Most Haunted House in America

Cayla Nunnley

The Hampton Lillibridge House, located in Savannah, Georgia, was built in 1796. The house was originally owned by Hampton Lillibridge, but after his death his wife remarried and sold their home. In 1963, the house was purchased by Jim Williams, where he moved the home onto East St. Julian Street. Williams hired people to work on the house and strange things started to happen. Tools would disappear and or move across the room. There were reports of “mocking-like” laughter and sounds of footsteps throughout the house. Regardless of these paranormal activities, Williams continued to move into the house. While the house was vacant and being restored, many neighbors reported seeing shadowy figures of people in the windows, a woman screaming, singing, and dancing figures in the windows. Williams invited some of his friends over one afternoon, when they began hearing footsteps upstairs. Only one of them was brave enough to investigate. When he hadn’t returned they went in search for him, only to find him laid out, completely paralyzed with fear. He reported that when he walked into the room it was as if he was submerged into a pool of ice-cold water. He then felt a force that tried to push him down the chimney shaft and the only thing he could do to avoid his certain death was to drop to the floor.

Hampton Lillibridge from Crime Library on Vimeo.
Jim Williams finally had an exorcism performed on the house, on December 7, 1963, by the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. The exorcism remained ineffective. Within a week the paranormal activities began again, ready for vengeance. Williams had finally had enough and decided to look into a paranormal researcher. He found Hans Holzer, a famous paranormal researcher, who had confirmed that numerous unearthly presences in the home. Unfortunately he was unable to make them go away but he was able to write a book about Williams house, titled The Phantoms of Dixie.

There are many questions as to how the house became haunted in the first place. Did Hampton Lillibridge and his wife experience any paranormal activities in 1796? The house could have become haunted when a young sailor, who had lived in the house before Jim Williams, committed suicide and his spirit still remains in the house. The paranormal activities could also be due to the crypt they found under the house during relocation. The workers said it was made of tabby; half filled with water, and had assumed it was from colonial times. They reburied it and never investigated any further.

The book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Brendt, tells the story of Jim Williams’s four trials for the murder of Danny Hansford in May, 1981. Between trials, Williams had asked for the assistance of a local occult practitioner named Minerva, to join his legal defense team. It was odd that Williams knew about Minerva because he never seemed to have placed faith in spell-craft. It was especially strange because Williams nearly twenty years before Hansford’s murder, Williams was completely familiar with hauntings, exorcisms, and paranormal activities. Haunted Savannah, a book by James Caskey, explains that maybe it wasn’t so weird that Jim Williams wanted Minerva on his team. He couldn’t beat them in 1963, so he joined them 20 years later.

Works Cited:

Allen, Chris. “An Exorcism in Savannah” Haunted Savannah, 18 Oct. 2016, hauntedsavannahtours.com/exorcism-savannah/

Gazala, Richard. “Way Before Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” Gazalapalooza, 18 Oct. 2016, rgazala.blogspot.com/2012/03/way-before-midnight-in-garden-of-good.html.

Hampton Lillibridge – The Most Haunted House in Savannah. 2014, www.mysteriousfacts.com/haunted-house-hampton-lillibridge/

Library, Crime, director. Hampton Lillibridge. Performances by Katherine Ramsland, Vimeo, 2011.

Links for further research:

Story of Jim Williams, focus of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”

http://savannahnow.com/latest-news/2012-03-07/slideshow-story-jim-williams-focus-midnight-garden-good-and-evil This post is about John Brendts book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and Jim Williams trail for murder.

Haunted Georgia: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Peach State https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=vTN69J5xSTUC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Hampton+Lillibridge+House&ots=zQnShs6toU&sig=kFxM5ZmmsO1OFwIxEfzrIZHToeQ#v=onepage&q=Hampton%20Lillibridge%20House&f=false This book is about paranormal hauntings in Georgia.

Savannah Historic Landmarks http://savannahgavisitors.com/attractions/landmarks/1593-hampton-lillibridge-house This article is about historical landmarks in Savannah that you can visit, such as the Hampton Lillibridge House. 

The First Saint Louis Cemetery, (New Orleans)

Brandon Hill

This is an overview picture of the first Saint Louis Cemetery

“Save Our Cemeteries” explains the first Saint Louis Cemetery. The cemetery was established in 1789. New Orleans is the city where the spooky cemetery can be found. It is the oldest cemetery in New Orleans, and is said to be the spookiest. The Cemetery was divided into three different sections at first. There was a section for the Catholics, Non-Catholics, and Negros. The cemetery is not divided today, it has had reconstruction to make it bigger. The Cemetery contains some important people to the State of Louisiana. Maria Laveau, the famous voodoo queen is buried in the cemetery. The first black mayor of New Orleans Ernest Nathan Morial, is also buried here. The cemetery is very important because it has a lot of value to it. The tombs of the people buried there are fascinating. Most tombs are decorated with something, or has drawings on it to remember the person. 

In “Maria Laveau: A Nineteenth Century Voudou Priestess” Carolyn Long, explained the importance of Maria Laveau. She has one of the more famous tombs people enjoy looking at. A lot of people say they do not know whether she was actually in there or not, but they continue to visit it and decorate it. She usually has Mardi gras beads hanging from her tomb, along with other items on the ground. Maria Laveau was the queen of voodoo in the city of New Orleans. She was said to be a great voodoo practitioner, and anybody who practiced voodoo looked up to her. Many people go to Maria Laveau’s tomb to practice voodoo, the marking of the X, on her tomb is a sign of voodoo. People mark X’s on the tomb as a sign of respect to her. People have said they have heard the ghost of Maria Laveau, which would absolutely creep me out, but that makes Maria Laveau’s tomb interesting along with the X’s and items left on her tomb. 

On the website French Quarter Phantoms, it gives great information about touring the first Saint Louis Cemetery. The tour of the cemetery looks very interesting. Personally, I would not take a tour to the cemetery because it would be scary and weird. I would encourage people who are interested in this type of information to take the tour. I think a lot of important information is given throughout the tours, and it would be an exciting adventurous trip. The tour is centered to take people throughout the entire cemetery. It is about one mile and it lasts for two hours. There are a lot of different tombs to look at. There are plaques located on some of the tombs to tell their accomplishments, and how they were significant to Louisiana. A tour would be helpful if you wanted to know about the first Saint Louis Cemetery because you could have your own personal experience.

On the website, Find A Grave there is an article explaining Ernest Morial. Ernest Morial was the first African American mayor of New Orleans. He was also a leading civil rights advocate. Ernest Morial created black history by becoming the first African American mayor of New Orleans. Becoming the mayor may have encouraged other African American males to become successful. Once he became mayor, African Americans probably looked at him as a role model. Ernest Morial, also spoke up as a leader, by becoming a leading civil rights advocate. Which means he wanted equal opportunity for minority groups. He was fighting for everybody to have equal rights, and I would say he was successful along with others. Today, we all have equal opportunity to do what we want, and speak our opinion. Ernest Morial was initially buried in the first Saint Louis Cemetery, but for spacing issues his tomb was moved. The first Saint Louis Cemetery is not only popular because of voodoo queens, but for individuals who created a way for equal rights.

In the article, “The Spirit Of New Orleans Will Haunt You” by Tanya Wragg. She explains why New Orleans is portrayed as spooky. The streets of New Orleans is said to have had its legends of vampires, witches, and voodoo priestesses wandering them. The city of New Orleans has a various selection of spooky tours. There is a ghost expedition bus ride, which is a tour given to investigate paranormal activity. I think the tour would be pretty cool, but scary. The tour is said to be intense, because a person must be mentally, emotionally, and physically ready to experience a physiologically experience. They say this because spirits can mess with peoples mind. People may start to see ghost, or think they are hearing ghost after they have been on the tour. In my opinion, that could drive a person insane. New Orleans still has an original plantation, which can still be visited on a tour. The tour takes people over the Mississippi River, directly to the Laura Plantation. Visiting a plantation would be scary to me, because I think spirits sit at plantations. I think spirits sit at plantations because the plantation was their home. New Orleans has an abundance of spooky things, along with the Saint Louis Cemetery tour. The tours defiantly portray New Orleans as spooky. 

In this video, the LaLaurie mansion is explained. This portrays more about why New Orleans is considered spooky and haunted. 

Works Cited:

“America’s Most Haunted: French Quarter, New Orleans (Halloween 2012)”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zg3lbHge-Q. 16 Oct. 2016.

“Ernest Nathan Dutch Morial.” Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=morial&GSfn=ernest+&GSiman=1&GScid=643477&GRid=147114913&. 16 Oct. 2016.

Long, Carolyn. “Maria Laveau: A Nineteenth-Century Voudou Priestess.”  Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. Web. 92-262, 2005.

“Maria Laveau’s Tomb in St. Louis Cemetery # 1, New Orleans, LA.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nob2DDQELVI. 16 Oct. 2016

“St. Louis Cemetery # 1- St-Louis-Cemetery-Number-One.” City Profile. http://www.cityprofile.com/louisiana/photos/36126-new-orleans-st-louis-cemetery-number-1.html. 16 Oct. 2016

“St. Louis # 1 Cemetery Walking Tour.” French Quarter Phantom Ghost Tours. https://www.frenchquarterphantoms.com/cemetery-tour. 7 Oct. 2016.

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