by Maureen Wood
JULY 26, 1978 CHEZ BRIANN
St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada
When one looks at a building, it is sometimes difficult to imagine the types of businesses that have come and gone since the original structure was built. Chez Briann is one of those. Today it is a modern bistro in downtown St. Johns, but several businesses before, it had a darker side. The building was used as a funeral parlor. After the funeral parlor went out of business, it became an inn. This is when its dark secrets were first revealed. Late one night, a tenant was awakened by a specter of a man hovering above her bed. He stared at her with an evil smile, attempting to place coins on her eyes. With the sound of her screams, he vanished into thin air. Another time, the ashen spirit of a woman was seen in the hall. Her naked torso revealed a long jagged scar, like that of an autopsy. Other tenants have reported hearing faint whispers and unexplained weeping. From time to time, the inexplicable sickly sweet aroma of flowers has filled the air. The employees in the bistro have reported paranormal activity of their own, but none so drastic as those experienced in the past.
TERRIFYING TIDBIT
Coins on a dead persons eyes are there to pay the ferryman, Charon, to take the deceased across the river Styx into Hades.
JULY 27, 1689 KILLIECRANKIE PASS
Pitlochry, Scotland
In Perthshire County, along the River Garry, lies the Pass of Killiecrankie. On a warm summer's day in 1689 it was the site of a great battle. Thirty-four hundred troops of William of Orange met a smaller force of 2,500 Jacobite highlanders loyal to the deposed King James VII of Scotland under the command of “Bonnie Dundee.” The highlanders held the higher ground, and when the bright summer sun passed behind them, Dundee gave the order to attack. A volley of musket fire rained down on the government troops, as the screaming highlanders descended upon their quarry like a hungry school of piranhas. Blinded by the sun, the Royalists panicked, and fled in terror as Dundee's men sliced their way through them. The ground ran red with blood as the highlanders inflicted a crushing defeat to the troops of William of Orange.
Today, some say that on the anniversary of the battle, the Pass of Killiecrankie glows with a red hue. Many have heard the sound of musket fire and the screams of the dead echoing from the slopes of the gorge. And some have even been startled when they are confronted by the sudden appearance of spectral troops, still engaged in the battle of the Pass of Killiecrankie.
TERRIFYING TIDBIT
During the battle, a fleeing Royalist by the name of Donald Macbear was being pursued by a group of highlanders. When he reached the rocky shore, he jumped eighteen feet across the river to the other side, escaping his pursuers. Today that area is still known as “Soldiers Leap” in his honor.
JULY 28, 1900 BORLEY RECTORY
Borley, England
Built in 1863 on the site of an ancient Cistercian monastery, the Borley Rectory is thought to be the most haunted house in England. No sooner had Reverend Henry Dawson Ellis Bull and his family moved in than they became besieged by ghostly apparitions. The most notable was a nun who was seen in the garden by the rector's daughters in July of 1900.
After the Bull family left, Reverend Eric Smith and his wife moved in. While cleaning, they found the skull of a young woman wrapped in brown paper. With their discovery, paranormal activity began to escalate, so much so that objects were now being tossed about. So they called in renowned ghost hunter Harry Price. When the activity failed to cease, the Smiths gave up and moved out. Filling the Reverend's position was Reverend Lionel Foyster and his wife, Marianne.
Marianne quickly became the center of the entity's attention. Objects were thrown at her by invisible forces, bells would ring of their own accord, but perhaps even stranger were the messages scribbled on the walls by an unseen hand. “Marianne, Please get help.” The violence toward Marianne increased until the family could take no more. They too, moved out.
In 1937, Harry Price rented Borley Rectory and lived there with forty-eight team members. They conducted several experiments including a planchette séance, a ghost writing device. During the séance Price contacted the spirit of Marie Larrie, an ex-nun who was murdered by her husband and buried in the basement. She told them she could never rest until her bones were found and she received a proper Christian burial. The séance ended when another spirit came through who threatened to burn the building down.
Price's lease ended and he and his team moved out after documenting hundreds of incidents of paranormal activity. In 1939 the Borley Rectory burned in a fire, fulfilling the spirit's threat. In 1943, Price returned, finding bones in the cellar and bringing peace to Marie Larrie but not to the Borley Rectory.
JULY 29, 1993 DEVIL'S HOPYARD
East Haddam, Connecticut
One of the most picturesque state parks in Connecticut is none other than Devil's Hopyard. Besides the fact that during the eighteenth century a malt house was located beside the nearby Eight Mile River, why on earth would it be referred to as the Devil's Hopyard? Because Satan himself has been said to visit the sixty-foot cascading Chapman Falls. Legend has it that the violin-playing Prince of Darkness has been spied sitting atop a boulder at the top of the falls, while his minions have been seen lingering beside the pool below. Since the early Puritan days, dark shadows and phantom specters have been witnessed slithering through the woods. And today, visitors to the woods have reported hearing the sound of ethereal, evil laughter. Others have captured the presence of orbs and inexplicable strange mists on film. If you are wondering how such a place of beauty could be inhabited by the Devil, there's only one way to know for sure. If you mysteriously find yourself in the vicinity of East Haddam, Connecticut, visit Devil's Hopyard and find out for yourself.
TERRIFYING TIDBIT
Orbs are thought by many to be the souls of those that have passed. They can be transparent or solid. Sometimes they contain an image within, such as a ring or a face.
JULY 30, 1927 HOTEL BEN LOMOND
Ogden, Utah
Hotel Ben Lomond, formerly the Bigelow Hotel, was built in 1927. Early in its history the building served as a boarding house for prostitutes, madams, and gangsters. The tunnel beneath the hotel was used during Prohibition to smuggle booze, and many believe it's the hotel's checkered past that has conjured up a spirit or two.
Employees avoid the tunnel at all cost, stating they frequently have the uncomfortable feeling of being watched. There are some who have even been pushed by a pair of unseen hands, while others have witnessed torsoless legs strutting past them.
It is said that the ghost of a bride inhabits room 1102. While on her honeymoon, the young bride tragically drowned in the bathtub. Staff have reported that the bathtub mysteriously fills by itself and the front desk often receives phone calls from an empty room. Yet when they answer, the line goes dead.
A little further down the hall is room 1106 with yet another ghost, and another story. During World War II, a woman became a resident of the hotel while her son was away fighting in the war. She waited and waited for his return. He never came back. It is said she died of a broken heart, and her spirit still lingers in the room. Impressions on the bed have been seen, and unusual cold spots appear in the room. These are just two of the ghostly inhabitants of Hotel Ben Lomond. If you wish to meet the rest, perhaps you should book an overnight stay. But be on guard, you don't want to become the next victim to be incorporated into the hotel's haunted reputation.
JULY 31, 1614 THE BLOOD COUNTESS
Cachtice, Slovakia (Hungary)
It was a cold winter's night when Count Thurzo and his party of armed men made their way up the steep cliffs of the massive Castle Csejthe. It was a reluctant mission, yet a necessary one. The count was related to his quarry, the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, a formidable opponent. Her husband was the “Black Hero of Hungary,” brave victor over the Turks. Elizabeth was nearly untouchable; she was also related to kings, cardinals, and many nobles. But the rumors had to be investigated.
For t
he past thirty years villagers had complained to the king about strange happenings at the castle: black magic, sorcery, and worst of all, the disappearance of their young daughters. Yet their complaints were overlooked; after all, the countess was royalty. But when the daughters of lesser nobility started disappearing, she could be ignored no longer. What Count Thurzo and his party found that night was beyond comprehension. Rotting corpses were strewn around the torture chamber. Young girls barely alive were chained to the walls, their once youthful skin now shriveled and pale.
Unable to excuse such atrocities, Count Thurzo arrested the countess and her cohorts.
The trial stunned the royal court. Evidence showed that for the past thirty years the countess and her accomplices had killed over 600 young girls. The girls had been tortured, sexually abused, and drained of their blood.
As punishment for their crimes, several of her cohorts had their fingers ripped off before they were burned alive. Another was beheaded and burned. Elizabeth, on the other hand, being of royalty, was exempt from such punishment. However, she could not escape judgment. It was ordered that she be walled up in the tower of the castle with just a slit in the wall so her jailors could feed her.
She died three years later, alone in the darkness. When they tore down the walls to retrieve her body, they found a document written by the countess. It was a curse calling for ninety-nine cats, familiars of witches, to do her bidding and tear out the hearts of her accusers.
Today, the ruins of Castle Csejthe still exist. Not many venture to it at night, but those who do have reported hearing the horrific screams of tortured souls. Are these the echoes of the victims of the countess, or perhaps the screams of Elizabeth's final agony?
AUGUST 1, 2008 ASHEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
Asheville, North Carolina
Is Asheville High haunted? The faculty, especially a teacher by the name of Martha Geitner, believes so. During Martha's interview with the local news channel she said, “It's a ghost! Of course it's a ghost! It's the ghost of some former student who is really angry with his teacher and has come to get back at the teacher, and he's just making himself known at this time.”
But what has gotten everyone so riled up? On August 1, 2008, at precisely 2:51:03 in the morning, the motion sensor was set off and the video surveillance system captured a dark shadow gliding across the rotunda. At first glance, the shadow was passed off by the executer of public relations as nothing but a bat flying across the room. But that all changed on playback, when the strange image continued to change shape. Instead of batlike, it looked human. A child perhaps? In one frame, the shadowy figure took a few steps. In another, it floated above the elevator, eerily casting its own shadow.
The reporter requested the service of a local paranormal investigative team, asking their opinion of the video. After viewing the video they had difficulty debunking it. In their opinion, it was definitely not a hoax.
AUGUST 2, 1100 KING WILLIAM II
Minstead, Hampshire, England
On the afternoon of August 2, King William II arrived in New Forrest with seven trusted friends for an afternoon of hunting. Early in the evening, the party split up. Sir Walter Tyrrel and William, or “Rufus” as he was known, went in one direction and the rest of the party in another. Shortly after they separated, the second group came upon the body of the king with an arrow in his chest. Tyrrel explained that it was an accident. Afraid of being accused of regicide, William's companions fled back to their castles, while Tyrrel fled the country. Later, a peasant named Purkis found the king's body and threw it into a wooden cart. As the cart bounced along it left a trail of blood all the way to Winchester. And ever since that day, on the anniversary of his death Rufus's ghostly specter has been spotted from New Forrest, where he was killed, journeying all the way to Winchester. Even in death, the king tracks the blood trail. Unfortunately for this hunter, rather than animal blood, it is his own.
AUGUST 3, 1343 THE LIONESS OF BRITTANY
Clisson, France
In 1330, after the death of her first husband, Jeanne-Louise de Bel-leville married Count Oliver de Clisson. The count was a wealthy nobleman who had a vast estate including Clisson Castle and a manor house in Nantes. They were extremely happy together, but these were difficult times. On the throne of France was the ruthless Philippe IV. Although Oliver had helped defend Brittany from the English, his loyalty fell under suspicion. He was lured to the Duke of Brittany's castle, where he was arrested on trumped-up charges and taken to Paris to stand trial. Betrayed by his friend Charles de Blois, he was found guilty and beheaded. His head was sent to Nantes and displayed on a pole.
Jeanne de Clisson was devastated and refused to leave the castle. She slowly began to sell the estate until only the castle remained. With the money she acquired, she secretly purchased and armed three ships. They were painted black with red sails. One dark night she left the castle to take command of her black fleet. Thus began a reign of terror on French shipping. With ruthlessness, Jeanne hunted down and destroyed the ships of King Philippe, killing all on board except for one, who was freed to report back to Philippe her treacherous act. Even after Philippe's death, she continued her wave of terror, taking particular enjoyment in personally beheading any French nobleman she captured. After thirteen years, the Lioness of Brittany scuttled her fleet and took refuge in England. Later she returned to France, and it is believed she died in 1359. But even today the gray spectral image of the Lioness of Brittany can be seen walking the halls of Clisson Castle. It seems even revenge couldn't bring rest to her grief-stricken soul.
AUGUST 4, 1577 BLACK SHUCK
Bungay and Blythburgh, Suffolk, England
There have been many reports of hell hounds and demon dogs through the years, but none as chilling as the event that happened on a Sunday morning in 1577. As villagers were attending services in the small town of Bungay, the skies darkened and a violent storm arose. Thunder and lightning shook the church to its foundation, but despite the clamor, service continued. Then a black dog with glowing red eyes and fire on its claws appeared in the church. It thrashed about the church terrorizing the parishioners, killing two and severely burning another. As quickly as it appeared, it was gone.
Meanwhile several miles away from Bungay, in the town of Blythburgh, the same demonic hound burst through the doors of yet another church, tearing through the sanctuary, killing two and collapsing the church steeple. Then, once again, it was gone.
Some people believe it was lightning that terrorized the two churches that day, but there were too many witnesses to dispute it. The villagers of Bungay have immortalized that day with a weathervane depicting a black hound riding a lightning bolt. And a little further down the road in Blythburgh, the “Devil's fingerprints” can be seen as scorch marks on the church's door — a reminder left by the Black Shuck of the day the Devil came to church.
TERRIFYING TIDBIT
The Black Shuck is a large spectral hound of British folklore. This enormous creature has thick black hair and glowing eyes. The deadly beast can be found in cemeteries, crossroads, and abandoned castles. As recorded in history, this beast has been known to kill unsuspecting humans by snapping their necks with its powerful jaws.
AUGUST 5, 1962 HOLLYWOOD'S ROOSEVELT HOTEL
Hollywood, California
If you're planning to visit the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, be sure to take a moment to glance at your reflection in the full-length mirror situated on the first level by the elevators. There's a pretty good chance you may catch a glimpse of the glamorous actress who shockingly died on August 5, 1962, at age 36, Marilyn Monroe. Numerous guests have reported that while glancing into the mirror they've seen the actress standing behind them, only to turn and find she is gone. Interestingly enough, most visitors, including the ones who have reported seeing Marilyn, are unaware that the mirror was once hung in the very room that Marilyn Monroe frequented.
Is Marilyn the only ghostly presence seen at the Roosevelt? Certainly not; although there
are a number of spirits who frequent the hotel, one more notable visitor is actor Montgomery Clift. His presence has been felt primarily on the ninth floor, where loud noises are often heard coming from his old room: 928. One guest even reported being touched on the shoulder from an invisible presence.
It's been said that during the days Montgomery Clift lived at the Roosevelt he was often seen pacing the halls while studying his lines for the movie, From Here to Eternity, a movie whose title suggests that, just maybe, Montgomery Clift and perhaps even Marilyn Monroe are rehearsing their lines forever more at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
TERRIFYING TIDBIT
In many cultures it is believed that mirrors can capture the soul of an individual.
AUGUST 6, 1801 THE BANSHEE
Dublin, Ireland
Sir Jonah and Lady Barrington were attending a party in Dublin Castle. Among the guests was Lord Rossmore, commander-in-chief of British forces in Ireland. Just before the stroke of midnight and after a pleasant evening, Lord Rossmore left. The Barringtons followed suit shortly thereafter, and returned home to retire for the evening. At 2 A.M. they were awakened by what Sir Jonah described as “a plaintive sound” rising from below his window. Throwing the drapes open, he looked out, seeing neither man nor beast, but the mournful sound continued. Finally, at 2:30 a.m., it ceased. A melodic voice called out, sending shivers down his spine, “Rossmore! Rossmore! Rossmore!” Then silence.