The Soap Lady

 Author: Nyree Hardwick

Imagine you are invited to a popular older woman’s house. Say you have been looking for a job or love and she says she found you someone, but you must go quite a distance away just to meet them. Here’s the kicker, she tells you to promise her not to tell a living soul about where you’re going or what she has told you. All of a sudden… you pass out and then? You’re dead. This was how it was for the victims of “The Soap Lady”

According to many sources and records, Leonarda was both a mother and a wife to 18 children. She had become very superstitious over the years, having believed her mother cursed her and her marriage out of spite since she refused to marry the man who her parents wanted her to. She also believed this due to them not giving her marriage their blessing. After this, she had gotten arrested for fraud and her home was destroyed by one of today’s deadliest earthquakes. 

Now, it wasn’t as bad at first but due to her getting pregnant 17 times, having 3 miscarriages, and losing 10 of her children from a young age. Due to this she went and spoke to a fortune teller in hopes that everything would turn up but instead was told that in her right hand they saw prison and in her left they saw an insane asylum. That didn’t drive her off the edge though, what drove her off the edge was when her eldest and favorite son came to her and told her that he was going to join the war. All her effort to protect her children was going to fail if he went to war so she did one thing in hopes to protect him. Blood sacrifices. 

This was how “The Soap Lady” came to be, she went and collected three women. Managed to trick them and turned two of them into tea cakes while she turned the last one into tea cakes and soap before going on about how sweet they each were. She even went as far as to demonstrate how she did it seeing as the police had begun to assume her son, who she had been trying to protect, was the one who murdered those woman. Just like the fortune teller told her, she was arrested and sent to prison as well a insane asylum for her crimes and died there as well.

Works cited:

Serena, Katie “Serial Killer Leaonarda Cianciulli: Turning People Into Soap” Topic. August 2022. https://thecrimewire.com/multifarious/The-Cannibal-Leonarda-Cianciulli-Famous-Female-Serial-Killers. Accessed 29 Oct. 2023.

M, Pilar. “Serial Killer Leonarda Cianciulli: Turning People into Soap” The Crime Wire. August 12, 2022. Accessed 29 Oct. 2023.

The Infographics Show. “Leonarda Cianciulli AKA The Human Flesh Soap Maker” Youtube. May 4, 2018. Accessed 29 Oct. 2023.

Eniqma. “Leonarda Cianciulli | True Crime Story of the Soapmaker of Correggio” Youtube. July 30, 2022. Accessed 29 Oct. 2023.

Rowlatt, Justin. “Sodium: Getting Rid of Dirt – and Murder Victims.” BBC. May 3, 2014.  Accessed 29 Oct. 2023.

Links for Further Research:

1.      The Crime Wire, https://thecrimewire.com/multifarious/The-Cannibal-Leonarda-Cianciulli-Famous-Female-Serial-Killers, A clear view of ‘The Soap Lady’ and how she killed and used her victims as well as her reason for doing such things.

1.      Museo Criminologico, The Correggio soap-maker - Mucri - Criminology Museum (archive.org), It gives you the quotes of what Leonarda said about each of her victims when she was on trial.

1.      All That’s Interesting,  Meet Leonarda Cianciulli, Italy's Infamous Female Serial Killer (allthatsinteresting.com), It gives more of an insight on her backstory.

Mercy Brown Incident: Vampires or Pure Coincidence?

Author: Sebastian Garland

Vampires are undead creatures who drink a person’s blood to feed their hunger, many people believed that these creatures live among us. Acting as which they are normal people. People called anything that looked out of place, a monster. So, it would not be completely shocking to mistake a scientific accident for a monster. A common illness that was seen as an act of a vampire was tuberculosis, which mostly ended in death during the 19th century. The most common symptom was that it made you slowly lose weight, which could be related to what happens when your blood gets ‘sucks’ out of your body. Which most people think vampires cause on their victims.

A person who fell to the illness of tuberculous during the 1880s.

One of the first actions of the belief of the vampires is the Mercy Brown case. It started with the Brown family, George and Mary Brown, moving to this new town, Exeter, Rhode Island. The village thought the family was normal and did not think anything about it. Till the day Mary Brown, Mercy’s mother, fell ill with tuberculosis during the 1800s. It caused her to die, then her eldest daughter happened to have the same fate. Then the action happened again with her son, but he happened to pull the lucky stick and survived the illness. Finally, Mercy fell ill and had the same future as her sister and mother. The sudden rounds of death felt odd to the villagers, and they started to be a little more interested into the family’s personal business. 

Mercy Brown’s grave as of modern day sights. 

Mercy’s mother and sister were soon buried after their deaths, but Mercy was not due to the extreme coldness. So, the village decided to live Mercys body out and wait out till it became warmer. When the village turned their attention back to burying Mercy, they noticed something odd about her body. When the villagers opened her casket and saw she was in ‘perfect’ condition, no sights of decay and maybe even some growth within her hair as well as her fingernails. She was believed to still be alive due to the fact that she has change in a positive way and looked even better than when she died. They are though she was a vampire and was the cause of her family’s deaths. So, they decided to burn her body in order to ‘kill‘ the monster, saving her father and her brother from the same fate as the other two faced.

Mercy before she died, happy and safe.

It was later believed that Mercy was not a vampire but rather just a scientific action. That the cold from the weather caused Mercy body’s to be left in a stable state and was not able to start decaying because she was basically frozen in time. Which counteracted the effect of decaying, but the growth of the nails and hairs has yet to be proven against, but it shown that stories sometimes change which could be mean that someone just added that detail to the story to make it a little more interesting than before.

Works cited: 

Crystal Ponti. “When New Englanders Blamed Vampires for Tuberculosis” A&E Television Networks, October 25, 2019, https://www.history.com/news/vampires-tuberculosis-consumption-new-england. October 26, 2023

J.W. Ocker. “Explore the dark side of New England with these spooky sites” Boston Globe Media Partners, October 5, 2013, https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/travel/2013/10/05/explore-dark-side-new-england-with-spooky-sites/bV8m5801urtdRqf4tdQPjN/story.html

Staff Writer. “Mercy Brown, The Rhode Island Vampire Lady.” Any Mystery, December 14, 2022, https://anymystery.com/mercy-brown-the-rhode-island-vampire-lady/.

Links for Further Research:

The Mercy Brown Vampire Story, https://www.historicmysteries.com/mercy-brown/ This article written by Doug MacGowan, who writes a lot of stories about historic true crimes, goes into detail about the actions that took place before, during and after the deaths of the Brown family.

Why The Mercy Brown Case Remains One Of History’s Craziest “Vampire” Incidents, https://allthatsinteresting.com/mercy-brown-vampire This article published by all that’s interesting, a website that writes a lot of facture but interesting stories, goes into details as well as the facts that stand base on the Mercy Brown case.

The story of Mercy Brown: New England’s last vampire, https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/01/16/the-story-of-mercy-brown-new-englands-last-vampire/ This article written by Marjia Georgevska shows a different theory on what happened after Mercy died and shows aspect that the first theory might of

The Mystery of the Oviedo Lights

 By Diamond Stevens

The image that is shown above is located between Snow Hill and Chuluota. It is a bridge that crosses the Ekonlockhatchee River. The younger people would go to this bridge at midnight to see the Oviedo lights known as “Ghost Lights.” These lights only appeared late at night. People would come from all parts of Florida just to see them. It was rumored that cars that passed by would be chased by the Ghost Lights. There had been sightings of ghost lights for at least 50 years. What witnesses said they saw were two lights that were light green. The lights would hover in the woods and reflect on cars that passed by.

There was one incident where two teen boys had gotten into a bad car crash. It was mentioned that the Oviedo lights were the cause of the accident. The names of the boys remain unknown. For a while after that terrible incident the Oviedo Lights calmed down a bit up until the 1970’s and 80’s. It has been a big topic ever since.

 

 

 

The image seen above was taken on the bridge where a young man took his own life after losing a loved one. It is claimed that the ghost of this young man has been seen in the area below the bridge that he ended his life on. There was once a smaller bridge there, which was a popular place to park at midnight. If you turned your car lights off, you would see a blue like gas with a yellow glow as described. These Oviedo Lights were seen on the bridge and sometimes over the river.

Work cited:
Jacobs, Karen. “The Oviedo Lights.,” weirdus.com.www.weirdus.com/stories/Florida/.accessed
24 october.2021

“Ghost stories and Folklore of Florida the Oviedo Lights.” quotev.com, 2015,
www.quotev.com/story/ghost-stories/

Pankowski, Mark. “Ghostly lights still a mystery Oviedo apparition never been explained.”
Orlandosentinel.com, 2021, www.Orlandosentinel.com/news/

Tilford, Julia. "The Oviedo Lights: Scientific Phenomenon or inexplicable Sighting.” Riley's
Est,1918,2021, www.ripleys.com/weird-news/the-Oviedo-light/

“Is the bridge haunted?? Oviedo lights.” YouTube, 2 July 2019,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5JkpBXQPR/

Links for Further Research:

Oviedo Lights- Chuluota Lights
https://www.hauntedplaces.org/item/oviedo-lights-chuluota-lights/
This source has an overview of a brief summary of the Oviedo lights

Haunted or Haux: Seven Spooky Places in Orlando
https://www.hauntedplaces.org/item/oviedo-lights-chuluota-lights/
This article talks about several haunted places in Florida including information about the Oviedo
Lights.

10-Most Terrifying Roads in Florida
https://backpackerverse.com/10-most-terrifying-haunted-roads-in-florida/
This web source is showing you the top 10 terrifying roads in Florida and has some basic
information on the Ghost Light hauntings.

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel the Horrifying Truth

Author: Tianna Abney

All throughout the areas of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, guests have been noticing creepy hauntings from ghosts, most are famous. These figures often take over their old rooms that they stayed in before they died. Some of these ghosts are Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Caroline and many more.

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

Most of the stories told about the ghosts show some common similarities regarding there interactions with the guests. Like the author NewsDesk from the Entertainment website, and how he describes in his article, explaining how the Roosevelt Hotel was this grand place that was home to the stars also, how it was one of the oldest hotels in Hollywood. Then, he continues by saying how the hotel is glamourous on the outside but has a more darker side to the story.

 “Exploring the Haunted Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel”

In the hotel one of the most seen ghosts is Marilyn Monroe. As Alex Matsuo says, she is mostly spotted in the room where she used to live before her death, room 1200 which was one of the largest suits in the hotel. It is said that in the room more specifically the mirror guests have said to have seen Marilyn Monroe instead of their own reflections. Because of these frightening disturbances the mirror was later removed from the room.

Marilyn Monroe

Another ghostly figure seen in the hotel isn’t famous, she is a little girl named Caroline. Caroline is mostly spotted by the pool area because the day that she died her, and her brother were playing in the pool while their father went to go run errands and the kids drowned. Now, the little girl Caroline often likes to make phone calls from the hotel lobby phone, play in the jacuzzi with her brother, and ask guests where her mother and father are.

Work Cited:

Matsuo, Alex. “5 Spooky Ghost Stories of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.” The Spooky Stuff. Sept. 2020. https://alexmatsuo.com/5-spooky-ghost-stories-of-the-hollywood-roosevelt-hotel/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2020.
NewsDesk. “The haunted story behind the Hollywood Roosevelt.” Entertainment. Oct. 2020. https://exbulletin.com/entertainment/485633/. Accessed 23 Oct. 2020.

Further References:

Gomes, Mayra Dias (October 11, 2013). "THR's Guide to L.A.'s Most Haunted Locations". The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles, California: Eldridge Industries. Retrieved October 22, 2020.

Kern, Will (October 31, 2004). "Hotel has glut of ghosts". The Denver Post. Cited at wilkern.com. Retrieved 23 Oct. 2020.

Lovgren, Stefan (December 4, 2003). "Do Real Haunted Mansions Hold Sway in Hollywood?". National Geographic News. Retrieved 23 Oct. 2020.

"This old hotel is a Hollywood haunt, in every sense of the word". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 26, 2000. Retrieved Oct. 23, 2020.

The Bell Witch

Author: Donelle Eubanks

Throughout Americas history there has been many legends of witches. When most people hear the word witch, they probably think of a woman making potions, putting evil spells on people, wearing a pointy hat, and riding on a broom stick. That is not the image of famous Bell Witch. This story isn’t like any other, it is one of the most horrific hauntings in American history.

According to Alan Browns book “Haunted Tennessee Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Volunteer State” In the year of 1804, John Bell, a farmer from Halifax County, North Carolina moved to Robertson county Tennessee. He moved and purchased 320 acers of land where he would eventually build a log cabin for him and his family. It wasn’t until a decade later where the haunting on the John family began. It was in the year of 1817 where John noticed a strange creature on his lawn. It was said that the creature had the head of a rabbit and a body of a dog. Reacting in fear John Bell shot at the strange creature, and it ran off. After that day John and his family’s life was never the same.

The nights to come were traumatic. In Alyssa Gravitt’s Article “The Terrifying True Story of the Bell Witch” it is said that blankets began to get pulled off of beds, people’s hair was getting pulled, and they were waking up with scratches and bruises. It is also said that the daughter of John, Elizabeth Bell, was tortured the most by the spirit. She was covered in bruises because she was being pinched and slapped by this demonic ghost.

The Spirit soon identified itself as “Kate Bates”. On the Bell witch Cave website, they say Kate was a “mean old neighbor of John Bell who believed she was cheated by him in a land purchase”. They also say in on the website that she swore on her deathbed to haunt John Bell and his family. This spirit that was now called The Bell Witch became so popular the President at that time, Andrew Jackson went to Tennessee to visit this spirit, but didn’t get very far because of the entity stopping the carriage from entering the road up the cabin.

The haunting continued until the year of 1820 where John Bell died suddenly. A vial had been found by John Bell, Jr and he gave some of the liquid that was in it to his cat, that died immediately. The Bell Witch Website says the spirit spoke up and said, “I gave Ol’ Jack a big dose of that last night, which fixed him!”. John Jr then threw the vial into the fireplace where it eventually went up into flames.

After he died it is said that Kate Bates, The Bell Witch, spirit went into a cave, and is still active. People that have visited the cave and the cabin say they still hears noises, and sometimes see lights from the cave. There have been movies, tv shows, and also books made to explain this legend even more, but maybe we will never really know why Kate Bates wanted John Bell dead.

 “Cursed: The Bell Witch: Trespassing”

Works Cited:

Brown, Alan. “Haunted Tennessee Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Volunteer State” Feb. 2009.https://books.google.com/books?id=mSLiFwJzOH4C&pg=PA72#v=onepage&q&f=false

Clarke, Roger. “An American Haunting: in search of The Tennessee’s Bell Witch”. December 1, 2017.https://www.pressreader.com/uk/fortean-times/20171201/281535111243250

Gravitt, Alyssa. “The Terrifying true story of The Bell Witch” The Southern Weekend. thesouthernweekend.com/bell-witch/

Pat Fitzburgh: “The Bell Witch Haunting”. October 28, 1999. http://www.bellwitch.org/story.htm

For Further References:

Jackson Medical Products LLC. “The Bell Witch Cave”. 2010 https://bellwitchcave.com/ This website gives more information about the legend and how to visit the cave.

“The Bell Witch”. Wikipedia, 21, Sept. 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Witch. This article gives more information on where this even took place. This article also gives some newspapers that were published during that time.

The Haunting of Myrtles Plantation

Author: A student

A spot so haunted outside Francisville, La, a small town renewed for plantation houses that are now use for tours; the name of the most haunted house in America has been taken by Myrtles Plantation. There are many stories about this residence, ranging from being constructed on an Indian burial ground to seeing the ghosts of dead children from the past owners of Myrtles Plantation and many more. The most famous story is that of a slave girl named Chloe. It was discovered after a photo of the plantation was taken. After taking a closer look, the photographer happened to find a figure standing between the two houses. Her story starts when, at the time, she was coerced into an inappropriate relationship with the new owner, Mr. Woodruff.

Woodruff, having a wife and several children, Chloe started to fear that his wife would find out of their secret relationship that had been carried on for over a year. To keep her secret alive, she would listen to the family’s dinner conversations for any word of their relationship. Though after being caught listening in to the family’s conversations, an order of punishment was made upon her, cutting of her ear as a warming. Chloe was brought misery and shame as she had to wear a turban to keep her ear hidden from others, humiliated of her deformity, she sought revenge on Woodruff’s family. On the night that Mr. Woodruff had gone, Chloe had served his family with poison in their meals.

Days had gone by and so did the lives of Mr. Woodruffs wife and children. While her success was not too long, the other slaves on the plantation started to worry for their lives, for when he would return and discover the truth of Chloe’s actions. Taking power into their own hands, Chloe was taken by the other slaves and hanged from a tree nearby the house. Once certain that she was dead, her body was taken down from the tree and thrown into a river. 

Works cited:

Carter. Maria. “Myrtles Plantation the Most Haunted Home In America?” Country Living. 11 October 2017 < https://www.countryliving.com/life/a45181/myrtles-plantation-louisiana-haunted/>

Moses, Jennifer. “More Than Just A Place To Stay: Louisiana: Ghosts and atmosphere galore in a rested plantation house.” The New York Times 25 July 1999 < https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/25/travel/more-than-just-place-stay-louisiana-ghosts-atmosphere-galore-restored-plantation.html?searchResultPosition=2>

Redd, Wyatt. “The Haunted History Of The Myrtles Plantation.” Ati 11 April 2018 < https://allthatsinteresting.com/myrtles-plantation>

Wiseheart, David. “The Myrtles Plantation legends, Lore, And Lies.” American hauntings < https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/myrtles>

“The Myrtles Plantation Ghosts.” Real Praanormal Experiences. 12 January 2016 < https://realparanormalexperiences.com/the-myrtles-plantation-ghosts>

Links for further research:

Internet Archive Wayback Machine

https://web.archive.org/web/20140313194256/http://www.brittonsfarm.com/blog/myrtles-plantation-bed-and-breakfast-haunted-house/

Another article with further more research about the Myrtles Plantation and its multiple hauntings.

Mental Floss The Haunted Plantation

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/23051/haunted-plantation

Posted in 2009 when Myrtles Plantation took the name of “Most haunted homes in America” Detailed information on when the plantation was built and more information as to where it is.

Haunted Rooms. Myrtles Plantation St. Francisville LA

https://www.hauntedrooms.com/louisiana/haunted-places/haunted-hotels/the-myrtles-plantation

About and History to Myrtles Plantations many hauntings and misfortunes. More information about the other plantations that surround it with stories to tell of their own.

The Hurricane Harbinger: The Gray Man of Pawley’s Island

Author: Petra Van Houtte

Pawley’s Island, located just off the coast of South Carolina, has been plagued by hurricanes for centuries. These storms tear apart whatever their winds can pick up, ranging from beach umbrellas on the strand to houses belonging to the island’s residents. If the storm is believed to be
strong enough to do the latter,islanders are told to leave by their local weatherman. That might not seem unusual, until you hear the weatherman is a ghost.

Pawleys Island Pier, Foggy Morning. Photo by Mark Hillard.

The ghost in question, called the Gray Man,is said to appear as a stranger clad in all gray to one or more lucky people before a big storm hits. He has been described as standing far away and waving his arms in warning as well as speaking to people. Though he keeps his distance from large groups and tends only to speak to those alone, all accounts report a strange foreboding at his appearance as well as the need to heed his warning to leave, which is always understood, regardless of how the spirit communicates his warning. Those to whom the Gray Man shows himself often return to their houses after the storm to find them untouched, even when the rest of the island’s buildings have been blown away. A few notable Gray Man sightings, noted by Christie Gordon in her article titled “The Gray Man of Pawleys Island”,include a young couple who saw him on their honeymoon in 1954, just days before Hurricane Hazel.Another older couple saw him on the beach several years later and left the island just before Hurricane Hugo hit Pawley’s Island. They returned after the storm to find their house was one of few intact. There have been several less well-known sightings  of the Gray Man that date back over 200 years. Many believe the latest sighting of the Gray Man was on a livestream recorded by Jim and Billy McClency during Hurricane Florence, as shown below.

Gray Man caught on livestream during Hurricane Florence

The Gray Man’s origin story has several variations. These include the idea that Gray Man was originally George Pawley the original owner of Pawley’s Island,who lived in the eighteenth century. Another story claims the ghost was a sailor who himself was a victim to a storm, and him being a man who drowned himself after finding out the woman he loved had married his best friend while he had been away at sea. The most commonly known origin story for this legendary ghost is written out in detail by Ashley Hall in their article The Gray Man of Pawleys Island. In this tale, the Gray Man was returning to his lover to ask her to marry him when both he and his horse drowned in the island’s marshes. Several months later, his lover saw a strangely familiar man on the beach who warned her that a storm was coming and that she needed to get off the island, which she did after convincing her family to come with her. After the storm, they returned to find their house untouched while the rest of the island lay in devastation.

Regardless of whether the legend of the Gray Man of Pawley’s Island is real or not, his story enthralls tourists and locals alike as he continues to protect his fellow islanders from storms.

Sources used:
“Pawleys Island Ghost –The Gray Man.” Real paranormal experiences, 24 March. 2018https://realparanormalexperiences.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1125034-e1521898525467.jpg. Accessed 24 March. 2019.

“The Gray Man Ghost of Pawleys Island Real Footage During Hurricane Florence.” Jim McClency and Billy McClency, YouTube, posted by ghost guys go, 16 Sep. 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl7oZEuYb8M. accessed 24 March. 2019.

Fleming, Tyler. “Who was the Hurricane-Predicting Ghost of Pawleys Island?” TheSun News, 11 Sept.2018, https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/article215990455.html. Accessed 25 March. 2019

Gordon, Christie “The Gray Man of Pawleys Island,” Mysterious Universe, 27June, 2013https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2013/06/the-gray-man-of-pawleys-island/. Accessed 25 March. 2019.

Hall, Ashley. “The Gray Man of Pawleys Island” theparanormalguide.com, 21 Apr. 2015, http://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/the-gray-man-of-pawleys-island. Accessed 25 March. 2019.

Hillard, Mark. Pawleys Island Pier, Foggy Morning. X-E2 with 10 stops of ND, 30 seconds. https://markhilliardatelier.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/x-e2-30s-pi-pier-in-the-fog-0186-2013.jpg. Accessed 26 March. 2019.

Links for further research:
Myrtle Beach Online
https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/article215990455.html.
Tyler Fleming compiles a list of possible origin stories for the Gray Man of Pawleys Island. Stories claim he is either the victim of a hurricane himself, a scorned lover or the original owner of the island.

Southern Living
https://www.southernliving.com/news/the-gray-man-hurricane-florence-pawleys-island.
This article delves into how South Carolina residents experience the island ghost and how he has been integrated into the culture. It includes stories depictions of several tweets of local eyewitness accounts as well as an informational video.

The Paranormal Guide
http://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/the-gray-man-of-pawleys-island.
In her article, Ashley Hall tells a version of the most well-known origin story of the Gray Man wherein he is depicted as a young man drowned with his horse in the marshes before he could make it home to his lover, who he later tells to get off the island right before a storm hits. Hall also explains the nature of Gray Man sightings, wherein he is dressed in gray and often waves in warning, and his storm-predicting abilities.

Weathertrends360
https://www.weathertrends360.com/Blog/Post/The-Legend-of-the-Hurricane-Forecasting-Ghost-The-Gray-Man-4262.
This article uses these features to link hurricanes with Gray Man appearances from as far back as 1893. It uses maps showing hurricane paths and its analytical approach to the link between Gray Man sightings and hurricanes.

The Dark Queen of the Sea

Maddie Campanella Article:
 

Queen Mary in Long Beach -- Painting by Chris Butler

The Queen Mary, built in 1936, in Clyde, Scotland, was one of the biggest and strongest ships of this time. Stretching 1,000 feet long and more powerful than the Titanic, the Queen Mary began her first voyage May 27, 1936. Just three years later in 1939, WWII broke out and Queen Mary was turned into a ship for the troops with the name of “The Grey Ghost.” Over the Queen Mary’s time at sea, she encountered one collision, and also participated in the D Day Invasion. Later on in 1946, Queen Mary carried war brides and their children to America and Canada. After the 13 “war bride” voyages, the ship was refurbished and returned to its original purpose as a cruise ship. Finally in 1967, after 1,000 transatlantic crossings, the Queen Mary was retired and sold to the city of Long Beach California for 3.45 million dollars.            
 
The Queen Mary has been investigated many times for paranormal activity, but has not been proven right or wrong that paranormal activity does exist on the boat. The paranormal investigation team has often compared the boat to the Titanic to show just how amazing and powerful this new ship was in 1936. While the Queen Mary had 1,001 voyages, the Titanic couldn’t last through one when it collided with a glacier. The Queen Mary also has many newspaper articles of many occurrences that happened during the life of the ship. Some that are included are the collision that happened during the war causing the other ship to sink. The paranormal investigators were unable to prove or disprove that the ship was haunted or had factual paranormal activity occurring on the boat. Even though the paranormal investigators were unable to prove the whip was haunted, there has been over 113 reports of paranormal experiences on the ship from common people that visit the now docked floating hotel. The Queen Mary has seen 49 deaths in the time that it cruised the Atlantic.            
 
It is said that the spirit of a little girl still lingers by the indoor pool looking for her stuffed animal or mother. She died by sliding down a railing on the boat but slipping to a drop that broke her neck. Other stories include that of the chef during the war. It is said that the troops did not like his food so they shut him in the oven and let him cook to death. You can still hear his dreadful screams when you are anywhere near the kitchen. Others believe the soul of a young man still haunts the doors of gate 13. For he was trapped inside the watertight gate that chopped his body in half. The story says that his spirit has been seen walking into the light by gate 13.  
 
Works Cited:
 
“RMS Queen Mary Hotel Long Beach CA California by Long Island Paranormal Investigators - Ghost Haunted Demonic Investigation Ghost Hunter New York NY.” RMS Queen Mary Hotel Long Beach CA California by Long Island Paranormal Investigators - Ghost Haunted Demonic Investigation Ghost Hunter New York NY. Long Island Paranormal Investigators, 2013. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.  
 
“The Queen Mary Haunting.” - Your Ghost Stories. YourGhostStories.com, 2006. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.  
 
Champion, John. “The Queen Mary Is Not Haunted (But I understand Why You Think She Is).” Center for Inquiry- CSI. 1 July 2013. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.  

SDPRS. “RMS Queen Mary Research.” San Diego Paranormal Research Society (SDPRS). San Diego Paranormal Research Society, 2009. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

Weiser, Kathy. “The Queen Mary of Long Beach - History and Hauntings.” Legends of America, 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.  

Links for Further Research:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS-X7zdo20c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZfu_re_jwM

http://www.queenmary.com/history/comparison-fun-facts/wwii-facts/ 

The Hampton Lillibridge House

Author: Kaiyla Oliver



Hampton Lillibridge from Crime Library on Vimeo.

There have been stories about the Hampton Lillibridge House, and how it is haunted. A man named Jim moved into that house, and had workers to work on things that needed to be. They were reportedly working the house, and heard many noises. Along with strange activity happening. One man was working upstairs and had a strange force that tried to move him into a deep hole in the floor. So to try and save himself he laid down on his back. Not only was this going on. But they heard loud sounds that sounded like furniture moving around, along with tools going missing. 

After hearing what the workers had told him. Jim decided to move into the house anyway. While staying the night there, he admitted that he heard strange noises, and felt strange forces among him.

Some say that when you look up at the third floor window. You see an old man dressed in black looking right back at you. That sounds creepy right?

This article tells the history of the house, and where all of the hauntings all started. There is a sailor who committed suicide. By hanging himself in the bathroom. Neighbors reported hearing the voice of a woman singing while the house was empty. They also reported strange figures of people dancing in the windows upstairs.

Work Cited

(n.p, Friday February 20, 2009) savannahspecters.blogspot.com

Ramsland, Katherine (Ramsland, 2011) http://vimeo.com/19534164

Three other sites to visit:

http://ghosttoursinsavannah.com/2013/02/12/the-hampton-lillibridge-house/

http://spectresavannah.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-hampton-lillibridge-house.html

http://www.rottenworks.com/index.php/2012/01/26/the-most-haunted-house-in-america-hampton-lillibridge-house/

The Bell Witch Project

Author: Bradford Roberts

Ghost stories are inherent with any culture. After all, who doesn’t love a good scare? There is, however, one story that stands out in American folklore. This story is of the spirit that plagued a family, shattering it, driving it across the country to seek refuge, only to dash its hopes yet again and leave the family a tattered ruin. This story is that of the Bell Witch.

As the legend goes, in the early 1800s there lived a man that went by the name of John Bell. He owned a plantation with slaves in old, old, North Carolina. One day, he killed one of his overseers over the his terrible and abusive treatment of Bell’s slaves. Then, that year, and the next, and the next, the crops were complete and horrible failures. His stock and cattle died by the droves to diseases the doctors had never seen and couldn’t begin to cure. Facing catastrophe, he sold all of his land and all of his slaves but one, an old woman, and moved with his family far away to Tennessee, not too far from where the retired Andrew Jackson was living, in fact.

Not long after the move, odd things began to occur, strange things. The children were often thrown from bed during the middle of the night, for no reason. The old woman said that it was the spirit of the overseer that had been killed, superstitiously. Then, supposedly, the old woman was attacked by the spirit in the dead of night, terrifying the family

Word got out, and, according to a site dedicated to the Bell Witch,  even Andrew Jackson, a contemporary respected citizen of Tennessee and the eventual 7^th president of the Union, heard about it and paid a visit:

 After enduring much, the Mr. Bell suggested they move to Mississippi, to escape the witch. But then Mrs. Bell asked “What is to stop the witch just from followin’ us.”

“Nothin’, and if you leave off for Mississippi you would wish you hadn’t!” quipped a suddenly audible corner chair.

According to the Journal of American Folk Lore, these constant interjections into the Bell’s family life never ceased. But, however, when the family decided against moving to Mississippi, the witch became, tolerable, even friendly. It was almost as if it had taken to them since they decided not to move away. Even almost as if it was rewarding them.

However, since Mary, Mr. Bell’s daughter, had adamantly demanded the move to Mississippi, the witch was rough on her, going so far as to torment her in the night and ruining her hair when she was about to go out. The witch even plagued and harassed Mary’s romantic pursuers, driving them away from the Bell house.

With one, however, it was different. His name was Gardner. He and her were mighty set to one another, as the Journal stated it. The witch, in the form of a tree, stopped him, demanding that he leave and never to come back, or die.

“Why?” Gardner asked.

“You might have guessed from all that’s happened round here. I’m in love with her myself. It’s going to be hard to get her consent and it may be harder to get the old man’s. But she’s not going to marry you, I’ll see to that. If you open your mouth about it tonight, you’ll be dead as a door-nail before morning.”

He left, never to return or write. Some think that it was due to the fact he was terrified to wit’s end. That would not be too outlandish, to say the least.

Now, this is where the tale begins to fork. Eventually, the Bell’s, driven by crop failure, did move to Mississippi out of desperation. It did not take long for the witch to find them. It was chasing Mary. In the dead of night, it asked Mr. and Mrs. Bell for Mary’s hand in marriage. John Bell vehemently refused to allow a stack of dust and wind to marry his daughter. The ghost ignored his refusal, outright.

Almost immediately, there was a change for the worse in Mary. She got up later and went to bed earlier every day, increasingly so. She stumbled around, lost and confused looking. She seemed as if she was looking for something far off that she couldn’t quite grasp. Then, one day, she didn’t get up at all, for she had come down with fever. She became raving mad. The witch, in its unending devotion to her, actually got a doctor there, somehow, even though the witch told them, straightforwardly, that it would do no good.

A month went by, and she only got worse, and worse. The family,  utterly helpless, merely waited and watched their daughter fade away before them.

In the words of the legend, one day, as Mrs. Bell sat with her, Mary sat up and said, “Mamma, I see him… at last… and I think… I’m going… to love him.”

She immediately expired, with an expression of happiness that they had not seen upon her face in months. Some believe that she went on to live with the witch, becoming a ghost herself. But, regardless, death is death.

This is the legend of the Bell Witch, or rather, the Mississippi legend. The differences between the states are in that one favors the witch being the caring yet obsessive lover of Mary, rather than her tormentor, torturer, and persecutor until her death. The former is the one most would rather believe, if any that is.

Works Cited:

Bell Witch Legend’s Sign. Photograph. n.d. http://blaine.org/jules/bw2.jpg. Blaine.org. Web. Oct. 19, 2013.

The Bell Residence. Photograph. n.d. Mentalfloss. Web. Oct. 19, 2013.

Iwanttobelievexfiles. “President Andrew Jackson encounter with the Bell Witch.” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, Aug. 4 2006. Web. Oct. 19 2013.

"Bell Witch." Bell Witch. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct ’13.<http://mtskeptics.homestead.com/BellWitch.html>.

Carrington, Hereward, Nandor Fodor, and August Derleth. "Haunted People: Story of the Poltergeist down the Centuries." Western Folklore 11.4 (1952): 296-97. JSTOR. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1496242?uid=3739896&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102732366441>.

Fitzhugh, Pat. "The Bell Witch Haunting." The Legend of the Bell Witch of Tennessee. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.

Knight, W.F. Jackson. "Origins of Belief." Folklore 74.1 (1963): 289-304. JSTOR. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.

Palmer, Arthur, Pete McCarter. “The Bell Witch of Tennessee and Mississippi: A Folk Legend” The Journal of American Folklore , Vol. 47, No. 183 (Jan. - Mar., 1934), pp. 45-63. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.

LINKS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4118

Attempts to debunk and challenge the folk tale.

http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/aa041706.htm

An in depth overview of it, via a historical record.

http://www.bellwitchcave.com/

Devoted to the myth of the witch and the cave associated with it. 

RMS Queen Mary

Author: Catherine Garrett

Said to be one of the most haunted places in America, The Queen Mary floats in Long Beach, California. She originated in Scotland and was first built as a luxury cruiser. She took her maiden voyage in 1934 outfitted with an indoor swimming pool, salon, library, nursery, and first-class dining. She was used by all of high society for travel, including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Winston Churchill (Firefox).

Come World War II, The Queen Mary gave up her days as luxury liner and was converted into a military transport. She was camouflaged grey for stealth and given the nickname “The Grey Ghost”, a name that she would later live up to. She was the fastest in her class, outstripping all other ships. Hitler put up a $250,000 reward for anyone who could stop this incredible machine. She could carry up to 15,000 men at a time, allowing for fast and easy transport for the allied efforts. However, she was involved in a few incidents during her war-time service. In October of 1942 she struck her escort ship, HMS Curacoa, killing 338 people aboard (Firefox). Later, in December of 1942, while transporting American GI’s back to America, she was hit by a massive wave. She almost capsized, but made it. Paul Gallico based his novel The Poseidon Adventure on this event. After World War II, The Queen Mary was transformed again into a luxury ship. However, times had changed and she was underequipped. Soon, she was retired from service.

In 1967 she was sold to the city of Long Beach, California. They turned the ship into a floating hotel and museum. Ever since she was docked in Long Beach, rumors of her haunting have been buzzing everywhere. It seems that the paranormal center of the ship is “Door 13”. “Door 13” was a watertight door that closed off the engine room. John Pedder, an 18 year old crewman, was said to have been crushed by this door in 1966 during a routine drill. It is said that you can occasionally see a man in blue overalls lurking around the door. Many people say they feel otherworldly feelings around this door, and some have even reported encounters with John Peddler (Strickland). The first-class pool on board is also a popular ghost hangout. It is reported that women in 1930s attire have been seen lounging around the pool deck. In the second-class pool room, a young girl named Jackie has been spotted wandering around looking for something – or someone (Firefox).  The children’s playroom also seems to be haunted, it has been reported that if you come close to the door you can hear crying on the other side. The hull of the ship, where it wrecked into HMS Curacoa, seems to be haunted as well. It is said that you can hear the sounds of the metal bending in the accident and the screams of the stranded men as they drowned (Firefox). Haunted or not, RMS Queen Mary is quite a mystery with a murky past.

Works Cited:

Morris, Tracy. “The RMS Queen Mary: The Most Haunted Place in America.” Firefox News. 6 June 2008. Web. 13 Oct 2013.

Strickland, Nicole. “An Encounter with John Pedder?” Ghosts and Spirits of the RMS Queen Mary. Nicole Strickland, 9 Feb 2013. Web. 13 Oct 2013.

“The “Queen Mary” On Her Maiden Voyage to the U.S.” Photograph. Temperamental Broad, 8 Oct 2012. Web. 18 Oct 2013.

Links for Further Research:

Ghosts and Spirts of the RMS Queen Mary

http://www.spiritedqueenmary.com/

This website by Nicole Strickland, a paranormal investigator, contains a lot of information on the ship and paranormal activity she has personally seen and recorded aboard.

The Queen Mary, The Most Haunted Ship That Ever Sailed The Oceans.

http://www.castlehalloween.com/news.php?id=35

This website has many personal accounts by people who experienced paranormal encounters aboard the ship.

Have Ghosts? Will Travel: A Ghostgeek's Guide to the RMS Queen Mary

http://www.ghostvillage.com/resources/2006/features_12042006.shtml

This article by Jen Brown is about her stay aboard the Queen Mary and her investigation of the ship.

The Grey Lady of Willard Library

Author: Tyler Stilp

Willard Library founded in the 1870s Evansville, Indiana

In the small dreary town of Evansville, Indiana, lies the oldest public library in the state. Since the early 1870s Willard Library has been offering books and a library atmosphere to locals. Little did they know that their library also offered something beyond checking out books.

It was just a regular early morning at The Willard Library in 1937 , when a custodian made his way downstairs to turn the furnace on. I wonder if this custodian knew that his life along with the Libraries was about to change forever in just a few seconds? As he approached the furnace he noticed a veiled woman glowing in a grey dress. That morning, the custodian spotted, The Grey Lady, a spirit that was haunting the library.  

There are many insights and thoughts from many people of who the ghost is. Many believe that the ghost is, Louise Carpenter, who was the daughter of the libraries founder.  Louise was not the biggest fan of the library, she was often found feeling jealous of the library due to all of the attention and, money her father spent on the library. On occasions the ghost will appear when there is work being done on the Library or someone is changing it from one-way to another.

The ghost makes her appearance very often; she is a nice ghost and protects the library. It was a normal Thursday afternoon when two staff members where working in the children’s area, cleaning and fixing the floor when the ghost made here appearance. There was no one in the library at this time, when they noticed a large section of books were rearranged. It was said that every fourth book had been pulled out and positioned in a weird angle.             The two staff members were very confused and not to mention creeped out!

The Grey Lady is often spotted in the children’s library, and by the behavior of the ghost in the children’s area some people believe the ghost lost a child and she is waiting for the child to come back. One day there was a group of children running around and being quite loud when it suddenly all came to a stop. A three-year-old boy that was playing came running back to his mom saying a ghost like lady was shaking her hand at him in the hallway.  Needless to say, the group of loud children playing and their parents soon went home.

            Other sighting and ghostly things do occur at the library daily. Water faucets will be turned on cull blast when nobody is around. With no one standing near the bookshelves, books will be thrown off the shelf. During the hours when the library is closed and vacant, the motion detectors will be set off.

So now you may ask, “Why is she called the Grey Lady?” There is no proof or agreement to who the ghost is, so she is left being called, The Grey Lady.

            In spite of all the people interested in the ghost the library, has set up a ghost cam. The ghost cam gives a 24- hour view of the library and a review of the times the ghost has been spotted.  Go watch it and check it out, you never know you may have the chance to see TheGrey lady herself.

The Grey Lady has become quite famous and brought even more fame to the library. Ghost Hunters from Discovery Channel, along with students eager to see the ghost have come in to witness the ghost with their own eyes. Also, the library host ghost tours all year long of the library. The library originally started doing tours during the month of October, but notice how popular they were.

            So, if you ever find yourself visiting the small dreay town of Evansville, Indiana. Be sure to stop by the Willard library to check out some books, and just maybe a ghost. Just be sure to keep your kids quiet!

Works Cited

Martin, John. “Lady In Grey Skeptics Will See For Themselves.”newsbank.com. Americas

News, 25 October 2000. Web. 15 October 2013.

Michel’s, James.” We’ll Join Ghost Hunters Checking Out Library.”newsbank.com. Americas

News, 8 September 2000. Web. 15 October 2013.

Coulisse, Adam.” Paranormal activities \ Ghost hunters haunt Willard Library in search for Grey Lady, other specters.”Newsbank.com.24 October 2011.Web. 15 October 2013.

“Whos Looking?” Ghost. Willard Library. Web. 15 October 2013.

“Willard Library.” Welcome To Willard Library.2013Web. 19 Oct 2013.

Links for Further Research

Ghost Camera

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezproxy.usca.edu:2048/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=13A15C813B6E4390&p_docnum=3&p_queryname=1

Gives a small summary of the ghost cam.

Haunting Tour

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.ezproxy.usca.edu:2048/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=11CAFB671F5A88F8&p_docnum=4&p_queryname=1

This site talks about the ghost, her sightings and who she may be.

Willard Library

http://willard.lib.us

This is the libraries website, here you can learn about the library along with the ghost and the ghost tours. 

The Haunted Railroad Crossing of San Antonio

Author: Hunter Norris

The world has many legends. One legend in particular takes place in San Antonio, Texas. The legend in question is about a haunted railroad track. According to Stephen Wagner on About.com, in the 1930s or 1940s a bus driver was doing what he does best: driving a bus. Needless to say, there were kids riding on the bus. Unfortunately, the bus stalled as it was crossing a railroad track, and they became stuck on the tracks. As it was a railroad track, a train came by and smashed straight into the bus, killing ten kids and the driver.

            In the present day, the legend is if you drive your car to the train tracks at the corner of Shane and Villamain, says informationsanantonio.com, set it to neutral, and let go of the steering wheel, your car will ominously start rolling forward. Sure, cars roll forward on a downhill, but the tracks are on top of a hill. It is physically impossible for a car to roll uphill by its own accord. Word goes around that the ghosts of the kids and the driver are pushing your car across the tracks to the other side to protect us from suffering the same fate.

            This is not just a case of one or two isolated incidents, either. On roadsideamerica.com, you can read countless personal stories from different tourists who have tried it out for themselves. Some people claim to have even seen the ghost. One tourist, although not on the aforementioned website, claims to have taken a picture of the ghost.

 “Picture of one of the ‘ghost children.’”

            A group of paranormal investigators called Long Island Paranormal Investigators decided to do their thing and investigate the area with all of their professional equipment and experience. They did not pick up a single thing on any of their devices. On legendsofamerica.com, experts have determined the explanation of the haunting. Although it may look like the car rolls uphill, it’s just an optical illusion. It is actually a 2 degree inclination going downhill. This may explain how the car rolls forward, but what about the picture? It may be a hoax, but you never know. There are a lot of things in this world, and not everything is as it seems.

Works Cited:

"Haunted Railroad Crossing - Ghost Tracks." Informationsanantonio.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. 

“Railroad Tracks, San Antonio." Liparanormalinvestigators.com. Long Island Paranormal Investigators, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. 

"San Antonio, Texas: Ghostly Gravity Hill." RoadsideAmerica.com. N.p., 12 Mar. 2011. Web. 24 Oct. 2012.

Wagner, Stephen. "The Haunted Railroad Crossing." Paranormal.about.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012.

Weiser, Kathy. “Ghost Children Upon San Antonio’s Railroad Tracks.” Legendsofamerica.com. N.p., January 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2012.

Links For Further Research:

About.com: Paranormal phenomena 

Paranormal.about.com. 

This site contains anything about the paranormal.

Legends of America. 

Legendsofamerica.com. 

This site has information and articles about many of America’s legends.

Welcome to San Antonio. 

Informationsanantonio.com. 

This site, you guessed it, has plenty of info on San Antonio.