Belcourt Castle

The man responsible for the design of this masterpiece was Richard Morris Hunt. The sprawling castle was built using a confluence of styles with the emphasis being laid on French Renaissance style architecture in unison with gothic décor. Today Belcourt Castle, also home to a number of artifacts and antiquities, is one of the most sought after properties and the third largest mansion in Newport. Although Belcourt Castle is known for its splendor it has also been in the news for the presence of paranormal activity that take place regularly.

The Ballroom

The ballroom in the castle is the place with the most number of unexplainable activities. A number of people have had different experiences but the most common ones include the presence of an entity behind your shoulder, objects being flung in the air, furniture being displaced or moved, the sound of footsteps, drop and rise in temperatures and doors shutting without warning. Some individuals have experienced a feeling of nausea and hate while in the ballroom and felt it disappear as soon as they exited. It is believed that the two salt chairs which are located in the ballroom of Belcourt Castle have a significant history of royalty and manic sense of mysticism. Salt chairs were used at a time when salt as a commodity was more valuable than gold and silver. The kings and rulers that adorned these thrones would open the seats on which they were seated and hand over salt stored in those chairs to their guests and well wishers.

The Salt Chairs

People attempting to take a seat on the salt chairs of Belcourt Castle find themselves being resisted by some unseen spirit that is adamant on denying them a seat. There have been instances where individuals have been flung off attempting to sit on them. Individuals have also experienced a dip in temperatures with an icy cold breeze blowing near the chairs. The significance of why male counterparts have experienced this strange phenomenon more remains a mystery. Another popular attraction is the statue of a monk covered in a robe that is believed to keep shifting its position. Although few people have reported this they were very clear about the events that took place. In the area of the ballroom where the ancient armor is stored individuals have experienced agonizing voices of torment that seem to communicate a warning to them.

There have been various interpretations of paranormal activity that have occurred at Belcourt Castle. Candlelight ghost tours are offered to the public to get a firsthand experience of the castle and marvel the exemplary and diverse forms of architecture.

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The Haunted Stanley Hotel

The Stanley Hotel has many stories but no of which have been violent, so it appears that the ghostly residents are just that, residents. Hotel workers and guests have commented on hearing the piano in the Ballroom being played, when it is investigated no one was found at the piano or even in the Ballroom. The employees of The Stanley Hotel believe that it is the wife of Mr Stanley that is the ghostly piano player.

Room 418 is said to have the most paranormal activity and the full 4th floor has the majority of the paranormal activity, the sound of children playing in the halls has been heard on a few occasions even though there have been no children around. There are reports of people seeing a man standing in their rooms and then running into the rooms closet, others have said they have seen someone standing in the middle of there room and then just disappearing.

The most prolific story to date is the one from GhostHunters TV show, while the camera crew were changing the tapes in their cameras a table had jumped two feet into the air! Now this would have been great evidence if caught on camera. Also, Ghost Hunter Jason stayed in the room of which a spirit stealing from guests is said to stay during the night he claims that the bed moved, closet doors locked and unlocked and his glass at the side of his bed cracked open from the inside.

I have been looking around for some stories about The Stanley Hotel and here is one that sticks out. A person was on a ghost tour of the hotel and happened to take this picture just out side the hotel. As you can see the window has a child at it, but the figure is very hazy when it shouldn’t be because that window is actually opened. The person that took the photo investigated into this photo and called the hotel. This is the response he got:

OK, the room number is 1211. Last Friday, there was a single man checked in that room who was part of a business conference. That doesn’t mean he DIDN’T have a child with him, but it is unlikely that he did. — Stanley Hotel

The Stanley Hotel - A ghost at the window

Source: about.com

The paranormal activity present in The Stanley Hotel is a lot, I do have no reason to think that there are any violent or bad spirits present. So if you are ever near The Stanley Hotel and are need of a hotel for the night, you know where to go.

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It was decided that the prison would be extended in 1929, the construction did was not completed until 1959. In these 20 years the prison was grossly overcrowded with some cells having 3 inmates each.

West Virginia State Penitentiary is the home of many executions over the years it was open either by hanging or electric chair, but executions were not the only deaths in the prison; Illness, Overcrowding and Riots killed many inmates.

The Haunting

Over the years visitors and paranormal investigators have commented on being touched or feeling ’something’ close to them, many have said that feel that someone is watching them. Of course this prison will give most people the spooks because of the spooky building but 3 different ghosts that keep coming up when asking visitors for details on their experiences.

The Maintenance Man

This is the most popular of the 3 to come up. A maintenance man working at the prison when it was open used to spy on the inmates and reporting the inmates bad behaviour. One day he was in the bathroom, he was attacked by several inmates and killed. He is said to be lurking in the bathroom where he was savagely murdered , but he makes no contact with the living.

Robert the inmate

Robert is said to be an inmate who was violently murdered by the prison guards who were known to be physically abusive towards the worse inmates. They would beat them to ‘near’ death, but this time ‘near’ was too far and they killed Robert. His remains are said to be buried behind one of the walls in the prison. Roberts spirit walks the prison to this day terrifying anyone he comes into contact.

Avril Adkins

Last but certainly not least is the story behind Avril Adkins, he was sentenced to hang by the neck until death. He was taken to the Gallows for hanging but something went wrong during the hanging and Avril fell through trap door and landed on his head, he had a very serious head injury. The guards picked him up, took him back up the stairs and hung him, this time he died. Many visitors to the prison have said they have seen him walking around the Gallows where he died.

West Virginia State Penitentiary is now closed to all inmates, but it is open to tourists and visitors

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Waverly Hills Sanatorium like any other haunted hospital has a gruesome past and lots of horrifying stories. Waverly Hills is situated in south western Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky, it opened in 1910. The hospital was opened due to the outbreak of Tuberculosis in Jefferson County the hospital was just a small two story wooden building just enough to treat 50 patients. With increasing repairs needing to be done to the wooden buildings its was decided that a more durable and permanent building should be built. The new building was opened in March 1924.

The Haunting

The haunting of Waverly Hills Sanatorium are well known to the locals and the paranormal investigators that have visited the hospital but I will share with you some of the most horrific and terrifying stories to come out of the wards of Waverly Hills.

Room 502

The most known story about Waverly Hills is that of Room 502. A nurse, Mary Hillenburg, was found hanged in the door way of Room 502 in the year 1928, it is thought it was suicide as she had recently discovered she was pregnant out with wedlock. There is a story that Mary Hillenburg was impregnated by a doctor of Waverly Hills who was actually married. He tried an abortion which killed Mary Hillenburg in the process and to cover his back he made it look like a suicide.

Another nurse later took her own life in 1932 by throwing her self out of the window of the room that she worked in, Room 502. There are no reports of why she would have committed suicide but there was a rumour that someone did in fact push her. There are also reports that people have seen shadows move across the floor and walls in Room 502, so was this nurse pushed to her death by a ghostly spirit?…

Body Chute

The Body Chute was a tunnel which lead from the back of Waverly Hills to the train tracks at the bottom of the hill. This tunnel was built for supplies and deliveries and ease of access, but when the outbreak of Tuberculosis hit the tunnel was used to transport the dead bodies out of the hospital by a motorised trolley. This was used as the patients that were being treated would originally see all the bodies of the dead patients leave the hospital by the front, which depressed the patients and in turn would kill them.

The Tunnel now is said to be haunted by the spirits which travelled the length of that tunnel. Voices and unidentified noises have been heard in the tunnel, while cold shivers have been felt by paranormal investigators.

So as you can see Waverly Hills is not for the light hearted of us, but this is surely one of the most haunted places in America, especially when you take in to account the rumoured number of deaths, 63,000.

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Alcatraz was originally a high security military prison, which opened in 1859. In 1933 it was then made a high security federal Prison for the most hardened and dangerous criminals. The conditions of the prison were terrible with a very strict management. If any inmate was to behave badly in anyway it would mean solitry confinement or even the a stretch in the dreader steel box. Due to the building literally crumbling away the prision was closed in 1963 but was made a national park.

Alcatraz Hauntings

The hauntings that have been reported by National Park staff have vary from voices to load noises behind a door.

Al Capone’s ghost
Al Capone is one of the well known prisoners of Alcatraz. While he spent the last years of his life in the High Security Prison, he joined a band where he played the banjo. While he was at Alcatraz he feared that he would be killed by other inmates if he was to spend his recreation time in the yard – Al Capone was then allowed to spend time practising his Banjo within the showers.

To this day National Park staff and members of the public taking the Alcatraz Tour have heard a noise which has been stated to be a Banjo, coming from the showers. This noise has never been explained and people are still reporting it.

Cell 14D – The Hole
Cell 14D is one the Hole cells where inmates were sent for bad behaviour. When the prison was open there was an incident where an inmate was sent to cell 14D. The inmate screamed though the night telling the guards of monster with glowing eyes was going to kill him. The next morning the cell was opened and the inmate had been strangled.

That same morning when doing a head count, the guards counted one extra prisoner. The guards that counted claimed to have seen the prisoner that had been killed through the night.

The Lighthouse
The lighthouse which was original built and then removed in 1909 is a paranormal hotspot to this day. many witnesses have reported that on foggy nights the lighthouse will appear with a light on and then disappear just as fast as it appeared.

The Utility Corridor
This is now known has the most haunted place in the prison. There was a night watchmen that heard noises from the corridor so opened the door to investigate, the noises instantly stopped so he flashed his light down the corridor and saw nothing that would cause the noise he then closed that door and the noises started again! He opened the door and again saw nothing.

The door to the utility door was once welded closed for an unknown reason, but it is believed that it was done for some paranormal reason.

Alcatraz has many haunted stories that can be found across the internet but the ones I have told you about are just the ones that I thought were interesting.

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Arguably the most haunted part of the ship is the engine room where tapping on pipes can be heard and lights can be seen. This is thought to be the apparitions of a young 17 year old, John Henry, who deceived the management of the ship in order to get a job on board, he was crushed to death while a fire broke out in the engine room which is now the main reception of the hotel.

There was a very mysterious death that occurred on the liner, a man asked a steward to help him get a female to keep him company through the night, in exchange of some cash. The steward took the gentleman’s luggage and stowed it away and shortly after a female was found, they then left together. The next morning the gentleman was missing from the dinning room so the steward went to his room looking for him and instead he found the corpse of the female and a lot of blood. After looking for the gentleman it was soon discovered that there was no trace of him on any of the logs and his luggage was gone which more than just one person dealt with.

The Queen Mary swimming pool is not innocent either, a little girl tried to slide down a banister into the pool, but a large wave hit the ship and she fell before getting to the pool and broke her neck. There have been and still are sightings of a little girl around the pool looking for her mother. Also, there were two women that have died within the pool area and are said to be roaming the pool side.

The Queen Mary also caused the deaths of around 300 sailors. While the ship was being used during the war, it zig-zagged trying to avoid enemy contact and inadvertently collided with the ship it was sailing with. The Queen Mary was then forced to leave around 300 survivors, who can still be heard from time to time banging on the side of the ship.

So as you can see The Queen Mary has been surrounded by deaths for decades, so are you sure you want to stay at the hotel?..

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This might be superstition but going by what transpired when a Henry IV production was supposed to take place, this superstition seems to be well placed. Apparently there was some loose talk about Alice during the rehearsals and very surprisingly on the opening day of the show, the University computers just went offline without any reason and certain props that were part of the show also suddenly gave way injuring some actors severely. People then believed that this happened due to the loose talk and Alice was the person who caused this to happen.

The Sorority House within the campus also has had a ghost in the form of Amanda visiting it quite frequently. She is reported to have been killed in a train accident and this happened the same night she was supposed to have been inducted into the Sorority. A particular room in the Sorority constantly witnesses strange poltergeist similar happenings with picture frames falling off suddenly and even lights getting turned on and off on their own, besides noises coming out of nowhere and without any warning.

The girls at the Sorority still leave a vacant seat for Amanda respecting her wish to become part of the Sorority when they take out group photographs.

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Franklin Castle

Hannes Tiedemann Episodes

Cudell & Richardson were the architects responsible for this architectural wonder. They built this castle in 1865 for a German immigrant, Hannes Tiedemann who was known to be a strict disciplinarian. He was a well known grocer and investment banker who was reputed to have a harsh temperament. Although theories about Hannes Tiedemann being authoritative and physically abusive with his family have made tasty titbits for news channels, the truth remains a mystery.

Hannes Tiedemann had a large family and many servants at the castle and it is believed that he was sexually involved with many women in the castle which included mistresses and servants. He is believed to be responsible for a number of deaths that took place in the Franklin castle and is believed to have hung, strangulated and hacked his victims. The walls of Franklin Castle shroud the number of deaths that occurred within the castle. The diabolic scent of death is perpetuated by hidden facts in the form of trapdoors and hidden doorways that lead to suspicion of foul play.

Mysterious Deaths at Franklin Castle

Although there is no conclusive evidence on the number of deaths that occurred in Franklin castle, researchers believe that there have been several murders that didn’t see the light of day. The first death to have occurred in this castle was that of Emma, Hannes Tiedemann’s daughter, who at the age of 15 was believed to have succumbed to diabetes. Soon afterwards Hannes Tiedemann lost his ageing mother Wiebka. During the next few years three more of his children died which led to the belief that the hidden truth about these mysterious deaths was lurking within the castle.

Many researchers are convinced that the birth and death of a number of babies in the castle wasn’t revealed. It is also believed that Tiedemann hanged his niece with the help of an exposed rafter in one of the secret tunnels. Legend also has it that Hannes Tiedemann strangulated a lot of women in a fit of rage when they rejected his advances or caught them cheating on him. It is believed that the bodies were hidden in secret rooms and passages. Although Luise, Hannes Tiedemann’s wife died in 1895 of liver disease, many still believe it was murder, too.

Ghosts and Haunting Franklin Castle

A common sight described by individuals is that of a lady dressed in black who is believed to be Rachel, one of the many servants or mistresses that was hacked to death by Hannes Tiedemann. Witnesses also mention the voices of little children crying and a shapeless vision of a young girls face. People who have visited the castle also mention a feeling of disgust and guilt that seems to surround them. Strange noises and objects flying in the air are commonly experienced by people visiting Franklin Castle. Whatever lurks in the depth of this magnificent castle will remain a mystery, and I know the secrets…Got to go now…Luise is waiting.

Photo Courtesy of David Ploenzke

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Close to 100 years after this incident, this house was bought by the County and when they started the process of renovation, the workers noticed strange things begin to happen. Doors and windows would close and open on their own, creaking sounds would suddenly materialize and they would often sight the ghosts of both Thomas Whaley and his wife. Even the family dog, his daughter and small son began to make appearances. Certain other ghosts of members not from the family like an old couple, their daughter were also sighted regularly and this led to the disruption of the work. Many workmen stopped coming to work and in fact left the place altogether. They were understandably disturbed and scared at the turn of events.

The government finally stepped in and wanted to demolish the structure totally. Each time however, the process was stalled under some pretext or the other and this house has now been saved and introduced as a monument. Many investigations have been carried out on the abnormal activities observed and photographs have been taken for posterity, but nobody has been able to give a satisfactory explanation as to why such events continue to occur.

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The terror, agony and tragedy that is inevitable and associated with such places may be responsible for not letting the spirits rest in tranquility making these places most likely for repeated sightings of ghosts and wandering apparitions.

The Civil war which took place across many battlefields ranging across the Stones River and covering areas like Antietam, Chickamauga and many others left in its wake several grisly memories of death and gruesome killings. Perhaps the most haunted among them all is the battle field of Gettysburg. Besides the battlefield, the town itself has many haunted spots and many people have experienced pretty unusual events at these places.

Gettysburg is famous for the battle that took place in 1863 and took the lives of close to 50,000 people. Ever since, a number of people have reported the sighting of strange looking apparitions suddenly coming out of nowhere and some have even had encounters with such ghostly soldiers. Some of the places like the Gettysburg College, the Little Round Top, Devil’s Den and the Farnsworth House in particular have witnessed the haunting of ghosts and other apparitions pretty regularly. Another hot spot is the Spangler’s spring and this one is famous for the regular sighting of a woman in white, who keeps walking on and on without turning back and seems to suddenly disappear and appear alternately. People who have witnessed this have been too scared to go back to that place for a repeat experience but generally the recounting of this happening has been consistent across a number of individuals. The Culp Farm is yet another place where people have reported the hearing of phantom steps. Since all this have been reported by tourists and rangers, the credibility factor is quite strong and that is why Gettysburg retains its visibility as one of the most haunted places in the US.

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