Phantom Hounds of the Woods

In his definitive book Explore Phantom Black Dogs, English author and researcher Bob Trubshaw wrote: “The folklore of phantom black dogs is known throughout the British Isles. From the Black Shuck of East Anglia to the Mauthe Dhoog of the Isle of Man there are tales of huge spectral hounds ‘darker than the night sky’ with eyes ‘glowing red as burning coals.’ The phantom black dog of British and Irish folklore, which often forewarns of death, is part of a worldwide belief that dogs are sensitive to spirits and the approach of death, and keep watch over the dead and dying. North European and Scandinavian myths dating back to the Iron Age depict dogs as corpse eaters and the guardians of the roads to hell. Medieval folklore includes a variety of ‘Devil dogs’ and spectral hounds.” And while the image that the devil dog or phantom hound conjures up is that of a sinister beast prowling the villages and towns of centuries-old England, it is a little known fact outside of students of the phenomenon that sightings of such creatures continue to surface to this very day.

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Witch Hunt

We are all aware of the witch, and all too often the subject comes in for ridicule. As an antidote, perhaps we should take a look at the witchhunts. From Medieval times onwards witches came in for much persecution. The European witchhunts began in 1275 and existed sporadically up to the last execution in Poland in 1793. The first known execution was that of Angele de la Barthe, a sixty year old woman who was accused of having intercourse with the Devil and giving birth to a flesh eating monster. Living on a diet of dead babies, it was argued, Angele either kidnapped and killed them, or dug them up from graves. She was burned at the stake at Toulouse.

VICTIMS

Estimates regarding the number of victims of the witchhunts vary widely. At the extreme, as many as nine million burnings and hangings have been suggested. Although a more viable, and widely accepted estimate is 200,000. Slow to start, the persecutions reached what can be called epidemic proportions towards the end of the 15th century. Pope Innocent VIII can be identified as the central instigator of the persecutions when he wrote his ‘Summis Desiderantes Affectibus’ of 1484, including the following: ‘It has recently come to our attention … (that) … many persons of both sexes, unmindful of their own salvation and deviating from the Catholic faith, have abused themselves with devils male, and female, and by their incantations, spells and conjurations, and other horrid charms, enormities and offenses, destroy the fruit of the womb in women.’

THE HAMMER

The declaration was followed by the announcement that the professors of theology, Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer, were to be made inquisitors of such heretical depravities. The result, two years later, was their 250,000 word book, ‘Malleus Maleficarum’, or The Hammer of Witches. Detailing the conditions under which witchcraft thrived, how the craft is practised, and how judicial proceedings, torture and sentencing should be carried out, the American historian George Lincoln Burr described it as ‘the terrible book which has … caused more suffering than any other work written by human pen.’ Published shortly after the invention of the printing press, The Hammer of Witches achieved great fame, running to dozens of editions in several languages. The craze became most rampant in Germany. One town - Bamberg - turned the persecutions into an industry when, in 1627, it built the Hexenhaus; a specially constructed prison for suspected witches. Containing two chapels, torture chambers and cells for 40 witches, some 400 suspects passed through in a single four year period. With the exception of Germany, Catholic countries indulged in the persecutions more than Protestant. At times whole countries seemed to be geared to building fires to burn those in league with the Devil. Torture was usually sadistic, and those accused had little chance of escaping the stake.

THE ENGLISH PERSECUTIONS

England was, perhaps, less infected than other countries. Apart from the odd rise of mania, witches usually got away with a ducking. Even at its height, the persecutions did not involve the stake - in England witches were hanged. But even here Elizabeth I passed a witchcraft Act in 1663. The final form of this act was not repealed until 1951, when it was replaced with the Fraudulent Mediums Act. The witchhunts allowed a particularly nasty form of sadist to rise. In England a puritanical failed lawyer called Matthew Hopkins proclaimed himself Witchfinder General in the 1640s. He and his henchmen roamed the eastern counties demanding fees from terrified and superstitious local nobles for ridding their area of witches. Furthering his entreprenurial spirit, he would tie up suspects and throw them into lakes and rivers. If they drowned they obviously had no supernatural powers to save themselves, so they were innocent. If they floated, they were witches and were hanged. Hopkins’ power declined after an attack on him by a Huntingdon clergyman in 1646, highlighting his methods of torture, which were illegal in England at the time. However, in his brief career Matthew Hopkins managed to kill several hundred suspected witches.

CONTINENTAL SADISM

Hopkins was a puppy compared to some of the sadists wreaking havoc on continental Europe. Take, for instance, the German Jesuit, Peter Binsfeld, who thought that light torture was no torture at all. His methods were obviously successful, for he saw some 6,500 men, women and children to the stake. Pierre de Lancre did such a good job in the Basque country that the French King Henry IV eventually made him a state councillor. At one stage he became convinced that all 30,000 residents of one district were witches. There was a mass exodus from the area, but he still managed to put 600 to death in a four month period. The French lawyer Jean Bodin brought an intellectual bent to his art as well as sadism. Formulating a legal definition of a witch as ’someone who, knowing God’s law, tries to bring about some act through an agreement with the Devil,’ he particularly enjoyed participating in the torture of young children and invalids. He was constantly annoyed by how quickly the condemned died at the stake, and wished he could devise a slower, more painful death for them. But the question must be asked, why did the witchhunts occur in the first place?

RELIGIOUS DOGMA

One undeniable fact concerning the witchhunts is that most persecutors were men and most victims were women. This has led many commentators to come to the conclusion that the reason for the persecutions was a male dominated establishment’s need to put down women. However, whilst this is undoubtedly a major reason, the mentally ill, the deformed and loners were also persecuted. Throughout European history until the Burning Times - as the witchhunts became known - most villages had a ‘wise woman’ - a relic of the pre-Christian nature religions, showing that most Europeans, away from the establishment, remained pagan. Some women held a degree of authority in their villages, which was undoubtedly contrary to the Christian hierarchy. The persecutions can here be seen as political, with the Church determined to stamp out any form of belief contrary to Christianity.

LOCAL DIFFICULTIES

As the Church turned the villagers against the ‘wise women’, persecutions would become inevitable. The idea that witches could cast spells would have led the villagers to blame her for any local natural disaster such as a bad harvest or a prominent citizen becoming ill. As such, we can see the need to scapegoat as endemic in Medieval society, the Hammer of Witches simply validating an impulse that was already present, turning the persecutions into a national pursuit rather than simply local. The form of persecution itself fuelled the practice. The vast majority of the accused confessed to witchcraft. One explanation for this is that they WERE witches. But the more probable explanation was that the severe torture produced the confession in order for it to stop.

INCENTIVES

As Jesuit Father Friedrich Spee advised in his ‘Precautions For Persecutors,’ 1631, all that was required to find witches was torture, for even if applied to Jesuits, confession would automatically follow. The fact that, often, a confessed witch was strangled before burning rather than being burned alive - the fate of those who didn’t confess - would also be instrumental in the confession. Torture tended to be eased if the accused named accomplices. Sometimes such namings even led to a pardon. As such, the accused would give the names of all they were associated with, whether innocent or guilty. Many gave names of dozens more ‘witches’, causing mass witch trials, sometimes convicting thousands of witches in the space of a couple of years. This process gave the people the impression that witchcraft was rampant, further fuelling the need to burn more and more.

SALEM

Such a process can best be identified in the Salem witch trials in New England, USA, beginning in 1692. Beginning with a number of children going hysterical after hearing Voodoo tales by the slave, Tituba, the girls went on to name people they didn’t like as witches. Taken into custody, these people accused others to save themselves, and before the madness was stopped, hundreds had been arrested and nineteen executed. The Salem witch trials are a perfect and well documented vehicle for showing how society can seem to self destruct into superstition and hysteria. And sometimes the process was sparked off by that frail human emotion, jealousy. For in a time when people believed so much in dark powers, it was easy for a person to implicate an enemy in demonic practices. A word here, a word there, and the local population would do the rest.

END GAME

One such case that lucky backfired was that of Edmund Robinson in 1632. Feeling malice towards his neighbours and wanting power over them, he taught his eleven year old son to start telling a story of finding two dogs in a field which refused to hunt a hare for him. Tying them to a bush he began to whip them, whereupon they turned into an old crone and her imp. The local population believed the youth and Robinson said that his son could detect a witch at a glance. Taking the boy around the local churches, he identified 17 ‘witches’ who were then tried and found guilty of witchcraft. However, a sceptical judge took the condemned to London where they were examined by one of Charles I’s physicians. Finding no evidence of ‘black arts’, the Robinson boy was summoned and questioned. He broke down and admitted the fraud. The accused were pardoned. It is not known what happened to Robinson. The British King James I was perhaps the last monarch to fuel the witchhunts, writing a famous ‘Daemonologie’ attacking witches. For following him the idea began to circulate that witchcraft was simple superstition. And perhaps, above all other reasons, this idea hit the nail on the head. For the simple fact is that to the people of the time the Devil, and all the malevolent forces he could invoke, were real. And the village ‘wise woman’, whether real or imagined, was tarred by this same despicable brush.

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MAGIC OF THE PEOPLE

Young Thomas Darling returned home from a hunt to Burton-¬on-Trent, England, one day in 1596, whereupon he suffered a series of fits and visions. Claiming to see angels, he was also being stalked by a green cat. In his more lucid moments, he told of having a ‘run-in’ with an old woman with three warts on her face. Neighbours recognised the description of one Alse Gooderidge, a local woman who had long been suspected of witchcraft. Hauling her before a judge, she denied the charge, but was nevertheless convicted. She died in prison before her sentence of hanging was enacted. As for young Thomas, he was eventually exorcised of his demons by one John Darrel.

WITCHES, WITCHES, EVERYWHERE

Pittenween, a small fishing town in Fife, Scotland, experienced a more intense period of witch hysteria in 1704, when Patrick Morton claimed that many townsfolk were followers of the Devil. He claimed Beatrix Laing sent imps to plague him. When she refused to confess, she was imprisoned for five months, dying soon after release. Another accused - Thomas Brown - died of starvation, whilst Janet Cornfoot fled to a friend. In January 1705 a mob found her. She was beaten, stoned, and eventually crushed to death. Other accused were freed when it was discovered that Morton was lying, although no action was taken against him. Sometimes witch sites can become tourist attractions, such as Wookey Hole, a limestone cavern near Wells in Somerset. It was believed to be the home of a witch who kept a goat and kid as her familiars. The villagers of Wookey were terrified of her and asked for help from the Abbot of Glastonbury. He sent a monk who sprinkled her with holy water. She turned to stone, believed to be a peculiarly shaped stalagmite in the cavern. In 1912 the caves were excavated and the bones of a Romano-British woman were found, along with a dagger and the bones of a goat and a kid.

THEY EXIST, DON’T THEY?

The above are typical of thousands of cases of witchcraft between the 14th and 17th centuries throughout Europe. Both the local populations and established authorities were convinced of the existence of witches in every community, cavorting with a whole host of satanic demons in order to cast spells and bring about events of benefit to themselves. Of course, witchcraft goes back much further than the 14th century. Indeed, it goes back to before recorded history began. But it was only at this time that it was brought to prominence due to concerted efforts to stamp it out. Prior attempts HAD been made. In England, St Augustine had successfully converted a number of pagan kings to Christianity in the 7th century. But ridding the English population of their pagan ways proved more difficult. And the longest survival of such paganism was witchcraft.

WITCH TRADITIONS

Throughout the land, local shaman-like individuals - later to become known as witches - venerated nature through animal sacrifice and ritual around certain enchanted trees and wells. To break these religious practices, wells were eventually incorporated into Christianity and most forests became the private estate of the kings, thus denying them to the local population. King Alfred was the first king known to condemn witches to death, but a still superstitious establishment did little to enforce such sentences, reverting to fines when an obvious case of witchcraft came to light. The practice did, infact, receive a boost with the arrival of William the Conqueror and the Normans, with continental strains of pagan ceremony intermingling with that of the Britons. A later descendant, William Rufus, is actually believed to have been pagan rather than Christian. However this situation was to change dramatically with the Medieval witchhunts.

OF THE PEOPLE

Witchcraft is distinctly different to the allied practice of Magic. Although both involve pagan influence, Magic is a ritualistic craft, using texts, elaborate paraphernalia and high ceremony. Witchcraft requires none of these. Magic can best be seen as the aristocratic practice of paganism, whereas witchcraft is essentially the magic of the people. And in this respect, it is significantly different, providing a rich tradition of folklore. For instance, when Susanna Edwards and two friends began visiting a neighbour, Grace Barnes, from Exeter, they hoped their visits would help her recover from illness. Unfortunately, Grace began to get decidedly worse and died. A physician immediately suspected witchcraft, and Edwards and her friends were arrested. Admitting later that they made Grace’s condition worse by pinching her, Edwards also admitted that the Devil had ‘carnal knowledge of her body’ after meeting him - a Man in Black - and selling her soul for his guardianship. The Exeter Witches, as they became known, were hanged in August 1682.

ACCUSATIONS AND INSANITY

A witch trial occurred in Faversham, Kent, in 1645, when Joan Williford confessed to signing a pact with the Devil in her own blood after meeting him in the form of a small dog. Selling her soul to gain revenge over one Thomas Letherland and his wife, for twenty years she claimed to work with a familiar, who once deposited an enemy in a cesspool. She also named three other accomplices, including Elisabeth Harris, who was said to have cursed a sailing boat after her son had died in it. The boat disappeared soon afterwards. Found guilty, the Faversham witches were executed. Accusations of witchcraft were always useful when someone had to be got rid of, and one of the most prominent people helped on their way in such a manner was Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn. Obsessed with having a son, Henry was annoyed when Anne produced a daughter and then a son died during pregnancy. Rumours of Anne’s infidelity were legion, and the fact that she had a rudimentary sixth finger on her left hand began rumours of sorcery. Had Henry been bewitched into marriage by this unsuitable wife? Henry ignored the rumours, but when she was no longer useful to him, her supposed witchery became part of her trial for treason. She was executed in May 1536.

STEREOTYPICALLY WRONG

Incidences such as the above were cleverly altered to form a stereotype of the witch. The modern stereotype takes two forms. Based upon the fairy tale image, or the Shakespearean witches in MacBeth, we see them as evil old crones with warts and pointed hats, laughing hysterically as they stir the cauldron before hopping onto the broomstick for a quick flight. Or alternatively, they are sex mad heathens who gather in covens at the dead of night, strip naked and cavort a while before getting down to the real business - a perverted orgy. Both these stereotypes are incorrect. The fairy tale image can be traced back to early Christian propaganda, determined to show what were, in reality, village ‘wise women’, usually practising herbal medicine and forms of divination, in a bad light. As to the naked ritual - known as going ‘Skyclad’ - this is a recent innovation.

GERALD GARDNER

Gerald Gardner was the biggest influence of this image of modern witchcraft. A British civil servant, he spent much of his early life in Malaysia. In 1939 he claimed to have been initiated into a coven in the New Forest, going on to form his own in 1953 with initiate Doreen Valiente, following the repeal of the Witchcraft Act in 1951. Virtually creating a new religion from the ‘Old Religion,’ he claimed ancestry from a long line of witches and put together his ‘Book of Shadows,’ essentially a composite of Crowleyan magic, British ritual and eastern mysticism. A natural British eccentric, he caused a split in modern paganism, his own blend appealing to the 1960s freedoms of nudity and free love.

MODERN WITCHERY

Alex Sanders eclipsed and cheapened Gardner’s work, becoming known as the ‘King of the Witches’ during the 1960s Born in Manchester in 1916 to a drunk father, he became a witch as a child, when his grandmother supposedly initiated him into her tradition, which she claimed to have carried through her line since the 14th century. Teaching him magic, herbalism and allegedly having sex with him, she helped propel Sanders to wealth and fame as he pulled rich converts into his coven. Marrying Maxine Morris in 1967, they held ritual with thousands of devotees, them naked, Sanders in a loincloth. Becoming a celebrity, he also claimed to cure many illnesses, including cancer, before dying in 1988. Sanders was sensationalist - explaining why his perverted version of witchcraft became a stereotype. Much more true to the tradition was famous and respectable witch, Sybil Leek. English by birth, she claimed to be initiated into a coven by her aunt, continuing a line going back to the 12th century, celebrating the Old Religion. Becoming a High Priestess, she emigrated to America in 1964, becoming a celebrity on the US media with her own radio show and a restaurant called ‘The Cauldron.’ With a flair for healing, she saw her work as important to use her powers to deflect evil in the world.

IN CONCLUSION

As we can see from the above, witchcraft has been at the heart of human experience from as long as history can remember. It has fuelled a rich tradition of folklore, and continues to this day. In recent centuries, science has been on the rise, offering new ‘spells’ to mesmerize us. But regardless of the success of science, witchcraft, and the paganism it came from, continues to fascinate. Branded as evil by the Church, and mere superstition by science, I suspect it will survive both. For at the heart of witchcraft is a simple truth – we are compelled to wonder at things unknown; and place fantastic ideals upon them.

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মিশিগান দশ সর্বাধিক ভুতুড়ে জায়গা

একটি ময়লা পথ পতিত শাখা আচ্ছাদিত এবং cobwebs সঙ্গে নরক একটি কবরস্থান, বাড়ে; একটি অদ্ভুত কুয়াশা যখন বাদুড় লক্ষী ওভারহেড মধ্যে প্রচেষ্টা; রাতে মাধ্যমে একটি কালো বিড়াল প্রতিধ্বনি এর howls সূর্য পোড়ো Mitten নেভিগেশন সেট হিসেবে. হ্যালোইন সমীপবর্তী সঙ্গে, Michiganders নিজেদের নিরীহ ভীতি জায়গা জন্য অনুসন্ধান করা হয়, তাই এখানে রাষ্ট্র দশ সবচেয়ে সক্রিয় অস্বভাবী জায়গা আমাদের তালিকা.
1. তর্ক শহরের রাজ্য হাসপাতাল
1885 সালে নির্মিত এবং 100 বছর পরে ওভার বন্ধ, তর্ক শহরের রাজ্য হাসপাতাল সম্ভবত গ্র্যান্ড তর্ক কাউন্টি সবচেয়ে eerie স্থান. মূলত মানসিকভাবে অস্থির জন্য একটি আশ্রয়, তার সক্রিয় বছর সময় হাসপাতালে এছাড়াও, যক্ষা, টাইফয়েড, ডিপথিরিয়া, এবং পোলিও সঙ্গে নিপীড়িত যারা ​​housed. গোথিক শৈলী বাড়ী 2000 সাল থেকে renovations undergone আছে, যদিও ভিত্তিতে একটি দর্শন তার অতীতের অশুভ এবং অত্যাচারী অনুভূতিকে conjures. ভূগর্ভস্থ টানেল এবং caged balconies ভবন পিছনে গ্রামাঞ্চলে ভ্রমণ উপর অবস্থিত ভুতুড়ে চাক্ষুষ উদ্দীপন এবং, যোগ আছে, "মাদকসেবী বৃক্ষ" এর অধীনে নরকে একটি পোর্টাল হতে হয়েছে. সেইসাথে অস্বভাবী তদন্ত নথিভুক্ত হিসাবে, রাজ্য হাসপাতাল তার ধকল ইতিহাস নিবেদিত বহু বই আছে.

2. Marquette পুরানো শহরের অনাথ
পূর্বে পবিত্র ক্রস অনাথ হিসাবে পরিচিত, ওল্ড শহরের অনাথ শহরের অতীত এর ভয়প্রদর্শনকারী অনুস্মারক হিসেবে Marquette HILLS বিরুদ্ধে দাঁড়িয়েছে. 1915 সালে নির্মিত এবং মধ্য ষাটের দশকে পরিত্যক্ত, ক্যাথলিক অনাথ লম্বা আখ্যান এবং কিংবদন্তি একটি অবস্থান রয়ে যায়. অনাথ এর occupants মতে, nuns শারীরিক এবং মানসিকভাবে শিশুদের অপব্যবহার পরিচিত এবং তাদের শাস্তির মধ্যে হিংস্র ছিলাম. একটি অ্যাকাউন্টে একটি তুষারঝড় সময় বাইরে বাজানো এবং পরবর্তীকালে নিউমোনিয়া আকর্ষণীয় সামান্য মেয়ে স্মরণ. তিনি বেশ কিছু দিন পরে মারা যান. তার অনভিজ্ঞতা এবং অন্যান্য শিশুদের একটি সতর্কতামূলক একটি ইচ্ছাপত্র হিসেবে nuns দেখতে সব জন্য প্রদর্শনের তার শরীরের রাখা. শিশুদের ক্রন্দিত একটি শান্ত রাতে ভবনের পাশ দিয়ে যদি শোনা হয়.

3. Kalamazoo মধ্যে হেন্ডারসন কাসল
শতাব্দী পুরানো এবং কল্পনানুসারে আত্মারা একটি সৈন্যবাহিনী হোস্ট ধরে, Kalamazoo এর হেন্ডারসন কাসল এখন বাস সরবরাহ একটি বেড এন্ড ব্রেকফাস্ট ... এবং মৃত. বাড়িতে এর আসল মালিকদের ফ্রাঙ্ক এবং মেরি HENDERSON, এবং সেইসাথে একটি স্প্যানিশ আমেরিকান যুদ্ধ ঝানু যারা​​, সামান্য মেয়ে, এবং একটি কুকুর আত্মারা একইভাবে অস্বভাবী দল এবং অতিথি সঙ্গে নিয়মিত যোগাযোগ করার. দৃশ্যত বন্ধুত্বের প্রফুল্লতা কাল পোশাক পরা, কাঁধে অসন্দিগ্ধচরিত্র দর্শক লঘুপাত, এবং কখনও কখনও পূর্ণ আকারে প্রকাশমান, unplugged রেডিও মাধ্যমে বলতে, যোগাযোগের প্রিয় ফর্ম আছে.


4. ডেট্রয়েটে Masonic মন্দির
জর্জ ডি ম্যাসন নামক একটি ধনী ভদ্রলোক দ্বারা 1912 সালে নির্মিত, ডেট্রয়েট Masonic মন্দির মেঝে মধ্যে 1,000 রুম, এবং বিভিন্ন গোপন সিঁড়িতে, গোপন প্যাসেজ, এবং লুকানো compartments আছে. জনাব ম্যাসন ভবনের নির্মাণ আর্থিক যখন সামান্য জলে গিয়েছিলাম, এবং তার স্ত্রী তাকে ছেড়ে যাহার ফলে অবশেষে দেউলিয়া হয়েছিল. সিংহভাগ তার আর্থিক ও ব্যক্তিগত অবস্থার বিষয়ে বিষণ্ণ, ম্যাসন মন্দিরের ছাদ থেকে তার মৃত্যুর jumped. নিরাপত্তা রক্ষীদের ছাদ পদক্ষেপ আরোহী, এই দিনে তার প্রেতাত্মা দেখতে দাবি. ঠান্ডা দাগ, অবক্তব্য ছায়া, এবং slamming দরজা দিয়ে প্রচুর মন্দির, প্রেক্ষিত হচ্ছে eerie অনুভূতি সঙ্গে দর্শক হুমকি দিয়ে ভয় দেখিয়ে পরিচিত ...

5. Saugatuck অনুভূত ম্যানশন
, হল্যান্ড ও Saugatuck মধ্যে Mitten এর পশ্চিম উপকূলে অবস্থিত ম্যানশন, অনুভূত 1928 সালে এর নির্মাণ থেকে বেশ কয়েকটি মুখোশ পরা হয়েছে. অট্টালিকা গণনা তারা বাসা ছেড়ে পরে অনুভূত পরিবার ইন সরানো অল্পকাল পরে, এটি একটি সেমিনারী রুপান্তরিত ছিল মারা যান, এবং তারপর একটি পুলিশ এবং ড্রাগ প্রয়োগকারী সংস্থা অফিসে যিনি উদ্ভাবক Dorr এর অনুভূত দয়িত স্ত্রী এগনেস, আপনি একটি উপহার ছিল. এটি বর্তমানে তার প্রাক্তন গরিমা থেকে পুনরুদ্ধার করা হচ্ছে. যেমন সমৃদ্ধ ইতিহাস সঙ্গে হোমস্ খুব কমই শান্ত থাকা: অনেক এগনেস আত্মা সে জীবনের ভোগ করতে সক্ষম ছিল না ঘর wanders অনুভূত বিশ্বাস করি যে. ভারী দরজা খুলে তাদের স্বেচ্ছায় বন্ধ করার সময়, অট্টালিকা এর পর্যটকদের ভয়ানক ballroom কাছাকাছি একটি shadowy চিত্র waltzes. সে তার উপস্থিতি খুব অশোভন বা অশোধিত বলিয়া গণ্য হয়েছে যাদের গেস্ট সিস্টেম reprimanding এগনেস হিসাব এমনকি আছে.

6. GRAND RAPIDS মধ্যে মিশিগান বেল টেলিফোন কোং
কিংবদন্তি মধ্যে Shrouded, মিশিগান বেল টেলিফোন কোম্পানির একবার শহরের কেন্দ্রস্থল GRAND RAPIDS একটি চরম মিথ্যাচার অট্টালিকা ছিল ভিত্তিতে দাঁড়িয়েছে. বর্তমান কর্মীদের প্রায়ই জমির এই বিশেষ চক্রান্ত grisly ইতিহাস কারণে ভৌতিক encounters অভিজ্ঞতা. এটা রান্ডাল দম্পতি তার পূর্ববর্তী মালিকদের থেকে Judd-হোয়াইট হাউস ক্রয় এবং বিয়োগান্ত নাটক তাড়িত আগে দীর্ঘ জন্য ওই জায়গায় বসবাস ছিল না বলা হয়. ওয়ারেন রান্ডাল, একটি রেলপথ brakeman, কাজের উপর যখন তার পা হারিয়ে এবং এটি একটি কাঠের prosthetic দিয়ে প্রতিস্থাপিত হয়. এই ওয়ারেন এর অংশ নিরাপত্তাহীনতার অনুভূতি নেতৃত্বে, এবং শীঘ্রই তিনি একটি ব্যাপার হচ্ছে তার স্ত্রী ভার্জিনিয়া অভিযুক্ত. তাদের বিবাহ আর খুশি এবং আর্গুমেন্ট প্রায়ই রাস্তায় থেকে overheard হয়েছে. অট্টালিকা ধোওয়া থেকে নির্গত একটি তীব্র কটু গন্ধ ঠাহর করার পরে, ভবন পাশের শ্রমিকদের তদন্ত কর্মকর্তাদের সাথে যোগাযোগ করেন. দুটি বাড়ির মধ্যে মৃত পাওয়া যায় নি; ওয়ারেন অভিযুক্ত তার নিজের গলা slitting আগে তার কাঠের পায়া সঙ্গে মৃত্যুর ভার্জিনিয়া পেটানো হয়. কোম্পানীর কর্মচারীরা সাক্ষী হিসেবে কয়েক আত্মারা কিছু Randalls ঘন্টা পরে বিল্ডিং সূত্রানুযায়ী eerie তামাশা ফোন কলের জন্য দায়ী যে বলছে, এই দিন তর্ক.

7. Monroe নদীর কিশমিশ ন্যাশনাল যুদ্ধক্ষেত্রের পার্ক
মিশিগান মাটি প্রতিদ্বন্দিতাপূর্ণ বৃহত্তম এবং bloodiest encounters, নদী কিশমিশ (এছাড়াও Frenchtown যুদ্ধসমূহ নামে পরিচিত) যুদ্ধসমূহ 1812 যুদ্ধের সময় মার্কিন যুক্তরাষ্ট্র জন্য বিধ্বংসী upsets ছিল. যুদ্ধ এবং ব্রিটিশ একটি চূড়ান্ত আত্মসমর্পণের কয়েক দিন পরে, আমেরিকান সৈন্যরা তাদের captors দ্বারা দূরে হতে হয়. maimed সৈন্যদের পরিত্যক্ত হয় এবং পরে একটি আশ্চর্য হামলায় দেশীয় আমেরিকানদের massacred হবে. 1812 যুদ্ধের এই সাংঘাতিক যুদ্ধ, যুদ্ধ হারিয়ে 1,000 আমেরিকান সৈন্যদের মোট অর্ধেক ওভার নিহত হয়. অস্বভাবী দল এখন নদী কিশমিশ ন্যাশনাল যুদ্ধক্ষেত্রের পার্ক নামে পরিচিত এ তদন্ত অনুষ্ঠিত হয়েছে এবং সময় ভিত্তিক বস্তু, সঙ্গীত, এবং আত্মারা চেহারা উত্সাহিত অন্যান্য ট্রিগার ব্যবহার করে থাকে, যা সিঙ্গাপুর তত্ত্ব কাজে লাগানো হয়েছে. Doorways, জানালা, এবং যদি ক্ষেত্রের মধ্যে ফিগারস ছবি, এবং যুদ্ধ এবং রেকর্ড অন্তর্বেদনা এবং cries শব্দসমূহ অনুমিত হয়েছে.

8. Paulding হাল্কা
Paulding, মিশিগান, হাইওয়ে 45 এর একটি প্রসারিত বরাবর ঘটে যে একটি রহস্যময় আলো প্রদর্শনের জন্য পরিচিত উচ্চ উপদ্বীপের একটি ছোট শহর. অনেক অস্বভাবী তদন্তকারীরা এবং এমনকি Ripley এটা বা না টিম এলাকা পরীক্ষা আছে, যদিও ঘটনাটি জন্য কোন ব্যাখ্যা কি কখনও পাওয়া গিয়েছে. স্থানীয়দের সাদা, লাল, সবুজ ছোট গোলাকৃতি লাইট ট্র্যাক, বা বিদ্যুতের লাইন বরাবর নাচ একটি আমেরিকান মানুষের স্যুইচ করার চেষ্টা করার সময় যারা ​​মারা একটি রেলপথ কর্মী এর আত্মারা বলে.

9. Pere চেনি
Grayling কাছাকাছি অবস্থিত, Pere চেনি একবার একটি শশব্যস্ততা উনিশ শতকের SAWMILL গ্রাম ছিল. শহরে অবশেষে পোস্ট অফিস বন্ধ করে যখন 1912, পরে কিছু সময় পরিত্যক্ত হওয়ার আগে ডিপথিরিয়া এবং কলেরা ravaged শহরে জনসংখ্যার মত রোগ দুবার সংখ্যা কমে যায়. লেজেন্ড এটা যে কিছুই আছে কিন্তু একটি অদ্ভুত Moss গ্রামে বৃদ্ধি, এবং কবরস্থান, খুব কয়েক অবশিষ্ট চেনার এক, এমনকি একটি জাদুকরী হাড় রাখা হতে পারে. অনেক দর্শক সবচেয়ে frighteningly সমস্ত সম্ভবত, কণ্ঠ এবং সাক্ষী orbs এবং শুনতে, এলাকায় যারা ​​মারা সন্তানদের কাছ থেকে গাড়ির হাত প্রিন্ট ফাইন্ডিং sightseers রিপোর্ট আছে.

10. Mackinac দ্বীপ
জট্টিল Mitten সবচেয়ে পোড়ো জায়গা মনে করা, Mackinac দ্বীপ তার সবচেয়ে ভুতুড়ে চালালে লোকেইলের অনুগত ট্যুর আছে. ফোর্ট Mackinac গ্র্যান্ড হোটেলের (প্রথম সামরিক পোস্ট এর কবরস্থান উপর নির্মিত) (SyFy চ্যানেল এর গোস্ট শিকারী দ্বারা অন্বেষণ) থেকে মিশন পয়েন্ট (একটি মর্মপীড়া পরে নিজেকে গুলি করে যারা ​​জোয়ান এর প্রেতাত্মা দ্বারা পোড়ো) আপনি, Mackinac দ্বীপে একটি অস্বভাবী তদন্তকারী এর স্বপ্ন গন্তব্য. মাঝে মাঝে রক্তাক্ত ইতিহাস এবং দ্বীপ আপেক্ষিক বিচ্ছিন্নতা বছরের এই সময় তার ভুতুড়ে বায়ুমন্ডলে মাত্রা আছে.

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I Saw At His Own Wake

My ancle passed away in 2000 due to a tragic Hypothermia Death. I was only 9 years old and today I am 21. He was only 35 years. He was a biker and loved his leather. When I was at his wake I was standing in front of my older sister. I was looking towards the casket when I had the urge to look behind me. To my surprise I saw my father standing with his arms folded across his chest.

He was wearing the leather vest I now have hanging in my closet. It was him. From the second I laid my eyes on him and took a split second look at the casket I looked back towards were I saw him standing and he was gone. The feeling I got to look back was as if something was pulling me to look that way. I tried to tell my mom for a long time until she finally listened to me.

I have had MANY experiences with him telling me he's ok in dreams. I had one dream, after a night of thinking about him and wondering if he was happier. That night I had a dream he was in a car and I noticed him and I gave him a kiss and he told me he was doing ok and not to worry. Another thing was he left a lot of DIMES. Dimes would just appear out of no were. I could be upset and rollover on my bed and there would be a dime heads up beside me.

At night I also hear voices, like screaming people when its quiet. I have no neighbors. My moms side of the family is psychic and so is she. I think it was passed down to me. Many other things have happened but I'm running out of characters of how much I can type.

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San Antonio

San Antonio is world-famous as the home of the Mission San Antonio de Valero (otherwise known as "The Alamo"). If you are planning to travel in the state of Texas, do yourself a favor and plan to spend several days in this beautiful city. I highly recommend an after-dark tour of the river on the riverboats.

Ghost Railroad Tracks
San Antonio ... Is it an urban legend, or do the ghosts of children k... San Antonio ... Is it an urban legend, or do the ghosts of children killed in a bus crash in 1948 push your car over the railroad tracks where they once died?

San Antonio is world-famous as the home of the Mission San Antonio de Valero (otherwise known as "The Alamo"). If you are planning to travel in the state of Texas, do yourself a favor and plan to spend several days in this beautiful city. I highly recommend an after-dark tour of the river on the riverboats.
Not surprisingly, the spirits of those involved in that famous battle have opted to stick around, but they are not the only ones. The original incarnation of the Alamo was the Mission San Antonio de Valero, and when Santa Ana ordered it destroyed, the deceased monks supposedly reached through the walls and threatened the troops assigned to its destruction. To this day there are reports of strange creatures and apparitions dancing or walking along its outer wall. The plaza in front of it is reportedly haunted as well.

There are two major reasons for all of the activity in the downtown area of San Antonio.

One, is because of the burial ground that was used between 1724 and 1793 that takes up most of what is Alamo Plaza today. There are probably about a thousand people that were buried in this area. 954 are recorded in Spanish records from the time.



Two, is because of the actual battle, where people died a violent death or before their time. When Santa Anna left SA to go to San Jacinto with about 1500 troops, he left about 1,000 men in SA to keep control of the area for him under the command of General Andrade. Because the bodies of the Texas defenders were burned in two or three locations around the Alamo grounds, General Andrade moved his troops about a mile or two out of SA and set up camp. When Santa Anna was captured at San Jacinto, it was reported that he got off a couple of messengers. He ordered Andrade to move his troops south of the Rio Grande, but before he was to leave SA he was to go into the Alamo and totally destroy the Alamo chapel. Santa Ann hated the Alamo for a couple of reasons. One, he lost about 1,600 troops taking the place in 1836 and two, his brother-in-law, General Cos had been run off with the 1,100 troops he had there in late 1835 by about 300 Texas Rebels.

General Andrade started to organize his troops for the march to the Rio Grande and he ordered Colonel Sanchez to go to the Alamo and destroy it. It was reported that the Colonel returned to camp rather quickly with a story about six Diablos, or ghostly looking devils coming out of the front doors of the Alamo and waving flaming sabers over their heads and yelling, "Do not touch the Alamo, do not touch these walls."

General Andrade thought that this story was ridiculous and he got a group of men to go with him to destroy the Alamo. When he got there, he also saw the same six ghosts. Now a lot of people want to think that these six ghosts were the ghosts of the most famous people involved in the battle. The ghosts of Bowie, Crockett, Bonham and Travis. I even get into arguments with people about the fact that I do not believe that the ghost of John Wayne was there too. Anyway, the General also looks over at the long barracks and sees the image of a person that is larger than life and has their hands up in the air with balls of fire in their hands. This is one of the images that is depicted on the Cenotaph (the Alamo defenders monument that is located in Alamo Plaza). It is the image of the spirit of sublime heroic sacrifice and it is given credit with saving the Alamo from physical destruction. The story goes that when the ethereal energy was released from the flames of the fires that burned the bodies of the Alamo defenders, this spirit used that energy to manifest itself, make itself visible, to scare away intruders of the Alamo grounds.

As far as the plaza hauntings that I know about. The report of the six ghosts and the spirit of sublime heroic sacrifice is widely known as the first reported ghost sightings at the Alamo. But there were also reports that two women were walking across the Mission grounds back in the 1700's, right about where the Plaza is today and they were struck by lightning. One died and the other survived. There are reports today, by people that work in the plaza on a daily basis that they have seen a ghostly woman walking across the plaza. It just might be the person killed by lightning. Just talk to some of the people that sell snow cones in the plaza.
This information provided by Martin Leal of Alamo City Paranormal.

Alamo Street Restaurant & Theater
"Miss Margaret" shows up in the choir loft in Victorian dress. She is believed to be Margaret Gething, an actress who lived just a few blocks away.

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Reader Submission: Blasts from the Past

Death on the Wagon Train
“When I was small, I had a realistic dream that I was a child in a wagon train and we were attacked by Indians. I remember being a little child, like 12, and one Indian pulled me out of the back of our wagon and slit my throat. I felt the blood as it flowed out of my neck and down my chest.

I’m 63 today, and I had this dream when I was 6 – 10 years old. It was so realistic that I can still remember the dream like it was yesterday. I believe I have lived many lives because I also reported for duty in Thailand in 1968 and instead of experiencing culture shock like the rest of my outfit, I felt right at home and contented and learned to speak Thai in about 10 months!”

A Dinosaur in the Woods
“When I was walking in the woods one day in the 100-acre woods behind our house, I saw a dinosaur. I was probably 10 or 12, but I was walking along down the path to the creek thinking about dinosaurs as I did a lot in those days. I was a child fascinated by history and fossils and dinosaurs.

I believe that my focused thinking created the dinosaur in front of me, as I stopped suddenly in my tracks and saw a long-necked dinosaur eating leaves off the top of a small tree. I stood there not believing what I was looking at all the while knowing I was seeing it! I bolted back home and told my mom I had seen a dinosaur in the woods, and she laughed at me. I believe today, at age 63, that my focused thinking created something out of time and space and put it in front of me because I was thinking about it so hard.”

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Ghost Picture of the Day: Hull House Horror

A tourist snapped this photo at Chicago’s infamous Hull House. Founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, the Hull House was a settlement home for recent European immigrants and is now reportedly haunted by a number of ghosts. Some say the home also harbored a “devil child,” though the story is just a rumor.

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A little blue house

 

Our first house was a little blue house that was
built in 1948 for Navy housing. (The house was close to the base.)

The air conditioner was loud when it was turned on, and I remember
that anytime I was lying in bed, in our bedroom, I heard what sounded
like a radio when I knew there wasn\'t one on. I got up a few times
checking what my husband was listening to on TV, and the TV wasn\'t on or
the programming didn\'t match what I was hearing. Could never make out
what they were saying...my husband said it may have been UFOs (he
sounded like he was almost positive of it. I wasn\'t convinced.)

When my son was around 9 months old, I accidentally locked myself out
of the house when the front door closed behind me when I went outside
for some reason. I don\'t even know how that happened. I frantically
tried to open the front door to no avail. I ran to the back sliding
glass door. Locked tight. My son was in his playpen at this time playing
happily, but I was hysterical. No one was home at the houses on either
side of my house and there was no house across the street. I was too
afraid to leave my baby that long. I ran around to the front door,
trying again. No good. Ran to the back again, and cried out for my
deceased grandmother (who I was very close to ) to please help me. A
second later, that heavy sliding glass door finally opened, and I was on my
hands and knees praising God, and thanking my Grandma. I had never
been so scared in my life.

We are now in our third home, and have stayed in other places with
loud air conditioners, and I haven\'t heard \"voices\" like I heard at
that little blue house.

I used to think I may have been picking up radio signals, because that
is how they sounded!

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SEE HIM VERY CLEARLY

When it's your time to go, it's your time to go!!
Watch the man on the left walking, crossing the road where there is no car. It is so definite that the coast on the left is clear, and safe to cross. Any person would see it is safe.... however, God knows! Jjust when he is walking halfway across towards the other side, a car that just shoots pass the red-light (no brain!!!), clashed with an on-coming car (from right), pushing it with force, causing it to ram forward, crashing into the man who was crossing the road! If you look very carefully you can still see his actual real ghost standing behind the car... STILL WALKING !
WATCH THE VIDEO A FEW TIMES AND YOU WILL SEE HIM VERY CLEARLY!

You can see his ghost still walking! Look behind the vehicle in the last frame! He is either still walking or standing on the curb looking back at the accident! This was sent to me in a Email and I discovered his ghost in the clip. This particular clip has been circulating on the net for over a year now, but I don't think anyone saw his ghost until I did.

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GHOST TOURS IN GETTYSBURG

WE VISITED GHOST TOURS IN GETTYSBURG ON JULY 1, 2006. AFTER THE TOURS. WE DROVE

TO THE HUANTED BRIDGE. WE TOOK PHOTOS. WHEN ONE PHOTOS WAS RETURNED THE PHOTO SHOWED A LARGE WHITE BURST OF LIGHT AND SEVERAL SMALL WHITE CIRCLES WHICH LOOKED SIMILAR TO SPARKLER SPARKS. IS THERE ANY WHERE WE COUNLD SEND THE PHOTO TO GET A OPINION AS TO WHAT THIS MAY BE???? THANKS FOR YOURS HELP. WE HAD A GREAT TIME AND HOPE TO VISIT AGA

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Boothill সমাধি এর গোস্ট

 

টেরি Ike Clanton Clanton এর 1880-কাল কাপড় পরিহিত নিজেকে ওল্ড ওয়েস্ট সুদর্শন ছবি চেয়েছিলেন যারা ​​Boothill গ্রেভইয়ার্ড, তার বন্ধু এই ফটো নিয়েছে. Gravestones মধ্যে, শুধু তার বন্ধু ডানদিকে, একটি গাঢ় টুপি একটি পাতলা মানুষ উপস্থিত হতে পারে কি ইমেজ.

এই প্রেতাত্মা ফটোর বিষয়ে আমার মতামত পরিবর্তন যে ফটো! আমি ব্যক্তিগতভাবে Boothill গ্রেভইয়ার্ড আমার বন্ধু এই ছবি গুলি ... আমরা মিতব্যয়ী ঔষধ দোকান এটি উন্নত ছিল এবং আমি এটা দিয়ে ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত কোন এক জানি! আমার বন্ধু আমার 1880 সময়ের জামাকাপড় আপ পরিহিত নিজেকে পুরাতন ওয়েস্ট খুঁজছেন ছবি চেয়েছিলেন কারণ ছবি, কালো এবং সাদা গুলি করা হয়. আমি বলতে পারি না ... "আমি, একটি ছুরি অধিষ্ঠিত বিশেষ করে কিছু লোক এটি গুলি যখন তাদের এই ফটোগ্রাফ মধ্যে অন্য কোন ব্যক্তির ছিল জানি! অধিকার ভাবেন না, আপনি ব্যাকগ্রাউন্ডে ব্যক্তি একটি ছুরি অধিষ্ঠিত করা প্রদর্শিত হবে সাবধানে চেহারা!" - টেরি Ike Clanton

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