Tag Archives: halloween

Top 10 Places to Fear on Halloween Night

Halloween is one of the creepiest times of the year.  The holiday was molded from ancient Celtic practices, religious rituals, and European folk traditions.  Halloween is a time for celebration, candy, and ghostly superstition.  The day has long been thought of a time when the dead come alive and watch over the land.  These spirits will gather at haunted locations and wander the corners of Earth. The energy surrounding ghosts is said to increase tenfold on Halloween day.  The ancient Celtic people would light bonfires and wear consumes to ward off the roaming spirits.  In the history of modern man, certain patches of land have witnessed horrifying events of mass murder and carnage.  These locations are said to house certain disturbing and ritualistic ghosts.  This article will be discussing ten haunted places around the world.  Places that might be stricken with an unexplained ghostly phenomenon this upcoming Halloween.

10. Camp Scott

Camp Scott is a 410-acre (1.7 km2) compound that is located in the US state of Oklahoma.  The former Girl Scout camp is situated along the Snake and Spring Creeks near State Highway 82, in Mayes County.  In 1977, Camp Scott entered its 49th year as a keystone in the Girls Scouts of America program.  The annual summer camp began on June 12, 1977.  Around 6pm on the first day of camp, a large thunder storm struck the area.  This caused the dozens of campers to huddle inside their tents for the entire evening.  Inside of tent #8 in the Kiowa unit, housed three small girls named Lori Lee Farmer, 8, Doris Denise Milner, 10, and Michele Guse, 9.  What happened next cannot be adequately described.  The following morning, a camp counselor discovered the lifeless bodies of all three girls.  They had been raped, bludgeoned, and murdered.  The victim’s bodies were scattered over the surrounding forest land.  The event remains one of the worst mass murders in the history of Oklahoma.

Camp Scott Top Tenz

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In the weeks before the murders, strange events took place around Camp Scott.  Personal items began disappearing from the cabins and tents.  In one incident, a counselor reported that her doughnuts had been stolen, and inside the empty doughnut box was a disturbing hand-written note.  The author vowed to “murder three campers in tent 1.”  Because summer camps are rife with ghost stories, the note was treated as a prank and discarded.  After the murders, Oklahoma police launched one of the largest manhunts in US history.  Detectives ultimately focused their attention on a man named Gene Leroy Hart, who had been free since escaping from the Mayes County Jail four years earlier.  He had previously been convicted of raping two pregnant women.  Hart was arrested and tried for the crimes, but was ultimately acquitted of the killings in 1979.  Later that year he died of a heart attack while in prison.

During the publicized trial, the camp underwent many accusations, stemming from the fact that the girl’s tent was 86-yard (79 m) from any counselors.  Other campers reported that they witnessed a man peeking in their tents on the evening of the murders.  The day following the incident, Camp Scott was closed forever.  To date, the Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders remain unsolved and DNA testing has returned inconclusive results.  However, something is said to remain on the grounds of Camp Scott.  It has been claimed that when a heavy rain falls, the eerie sound of small girls crying can be heard.  Dark shadows are said to lurk and the sensation of someone walking around you has been reported.  Only true thrill seekers will stay a night within the walls of the Camp Scott compound.  In an interesting twist, the original Friday the 13th film was released in 1980, which is only three years after the violent murders.  The movie franchise has helped insert an urban legend in popular culture that summer camps are creepy and dangerous.  Camp Scott just might be.

9. Phantom Vehicles

Many areas of the world claim to hold the mystery of a phantom vehicle.  A phantom vehicle is a ghostly or haunted mode of transportation, which can take the form of a car, train, ship or plane.  In some cases, the objects are said to have a visual flicker.  One of the most famous phantom vehicles in the world is located in the Saskatchewan village of St. Louis.  St. Louis is an eerie place with a strange past.  The area houses a large archeological site, where some bizarre bones have been unearthed.  Key discoveries at the site have included evidence of an ancient species of wolf and buffalo, which are approximately 25% larger than modern species.  Beads have also been discovered that have indicated a style and decoration of clothing occurring approximately 1000 years prior than previously thought.  In 1983, the Canadian National Railway abandoned the rail line that was located south of Prince Albert and north of St. Louis.  The tracks were permanently removed, but it seems that the train has stayed.

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On a nightly basis, lights can be seen traveling along the path of the old St. Louis train tracks.  The lights are flashy with bright colors.  This paranormal phenomenon has been named the St. Louis Light.  Thrill seekers from all over the world travel to this area of Canada to view the strange occurrence, which has been described as the carriage lights of a train traveling from the south.  The intensity of this activity increases on certain days of the year and the lights bring about strong emotional reactions in people.  Silverpilen is a reported subway train that haunts the metro system of Stockholm, Sweden.  The phantom train has been described as a silver aluminum model C5 car.  This model was manufactured in the middle of the 1960s.  During this time, Silverpilen was the only train in the entire Swedish fleet that was silver.  It acted as a back-up unit until 1996, but many residents of Sweden have never seen the vehicle and fail to believe in the train’s existence.  According to ghost stories from this area of the world, Silverpilen only travels after 12:00 midnight and has been known to stop and invite travelers.

Upon entering the doors of the train, a fuzzy feeling falls over your body as you encounter a compartment full of ghost life.  The doomed passengers are then lost in the train forever or emerge from the vehicle days to months later.  On the night of December 29, 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashed under strange circumstances into the Florida Everglades.  In all, 101 of the 178 passengers onboard the flight were killed in the accident.  After the crash, Flight 401 became known for reported paranormal activity, supposedly stemming from the salvage of the plane’s aircraft parts, which were placed on a number of different airplanes after the accident.  Over the following months after the crash, employees of Eastern Air Lines began reporting sightings of the dead crew members on board a different L-1011 (N318EA).  It was a serious situation and the reports caused officials to remove all equipment that originally came from the doomed Flight 401.  After the action, reports of the ghosts stopped.

8. Clinton Road

Clinton Road is located in West Milford, Passaic County, New Jersey.  The road spans roughly 10 miles (16 km).  Over the generations, Clinton Road has gained a reputation for unexplained paranormal activity.  Reported visions include a roadside hitchhiking ghost, strange creatures, Satanists, the Ku Klux Klan, and fireside witch gatherings.  There are only a small number of houses lining the road and much of the adjoining property is undeveloped publicly owned woodlands.  Articles describing abnormal activity on Clinton Road date back to 1905.  One legend tells of a ghost boy that drowned in a stream along the road.  Supposedly, if you toss a coin into the water off any of the bridges on Clinton Road, the boy will throw it back at you.  This area of New Jersey clearly has a long history, with an American Revolutionary War iron smelter being located just east of the road.  If you drive down Clinton Road late at night, headlights of a truck may appear out of nowhere and chase you down until you exit the road.  Daylight visions have been cited, with people claiming that they have seen people dressed in strange clothing loitering around in the woods.

Clinton Road

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People who visit Clinton Road have reported a feeling of uneasiness or mounting dread as they move down the road, sometimes so great that they have to turn back.  In 1905, a man named Richard Cross built a castle on the high land peering over the reservoir surrounding Clinton Road.  Decades later, the structure fell into ruin when a fire destroyed it.  After the incident, the castle became a popular location for teenage parties and reported Satan worshippers and their sacrifices.  It is a scary place, and certain people have written to Weird NJ magazine telling of strange occurrences in or near the castle site.  This includes people going into seizures and being physically injured.  Within certain individuals, the castle is said to produce instant and disturbing visions.  Many people have also reported seeing members of the KKK, which is interesting because prior to the US entry into World War II, a German-American Bund maintained camps in the area surrounding Clinton Road.  If you are unfamiliar, a Bund member holds a favorable view of Nazi Germany.

It has been rumored that professional killers dispose of bodies in the surrounding woods.  In 1983, this claim was substantiated when a bicyclist traveling on Clinton Road noticed a group of vultures feasting at a spot in the nearby woods.  This sparked the man’s interest and led him to the discovery of a dead body.  An autopsy found that the deceased individual had been murdered by foul play, but something else initially puzzled police.  The victim had ice crystals in his blood vessels near the heart.  Pathologists concluded that someone had frozen his body after death in an attempt to mislead investigators into believing he died at a later time.  Ultimately the information led to the direct arrest of Richard Kuklinski or The Iceman.  Kuklinski is a prolific contract killer and mafia assassin.  The six foot five inch (196 cm), 300 pound (135 kg) monster claims to have murdered over 250 men over a career that lasted from 1948 till 1986.  It is unclear how many bodies he planted in the area surrounding Clinton Road or if his victims still haunt the patch of land today.

7. The Weeping Woman

La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) is a popular legend in the Spanish-speaking cultures of the southwestern part of the US and Mexico.  The story tells of a beautiful woman named Maria who suffered from depression and drowned her two young children by tossing them into a flowing river.  Maria became haunted by the memory of her kids and ultimately crumbled in inconsolable grief.  She would not eat, and walked alone on the riverfront in her torn white gown searching for her boys.  She cried endlessly, with periodic fits of screaming and wailing.  After weeks of suffering, she ended her life on the banks of a riverbed.  When Maria reached the gates of heaven, she was asked, “Where are your children?” and she replied, “I don’t know, my Lord.”  She was not permitted to enter heaven until she found her boys, banished to an eternity of wandering the Earth’s rivers, searching in vain for her drowned offspring.

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Over the centuries, the ghost of La Llorona has become angered.  In certain areas of the world she is known to hunt and kidnap wandering children or teenagers that disobey their parents, grabbing the kids by the leg and tugging them into a watery grave.  After darkness falls, Maria’s restless spirit walks the banks of multiple bodies of water in the southwest portion of the Americas.  In the area surrounding the Santa Fe River in New Mexico, her loud cries have become a curse of the night.  The Weeping Woman is a beautiful ghost.  She is tall and thin with long flowing hair.  Reports have claimed that she can be seen drifting between trees along the shorelines or floating in the watery current.  If you are marked by the desire of La Llorona, an untimely and mysterious drowning could be in your future.  Some believe that those who can hear her cries are going to die.

In Mexico, Central and South America, the tale of La Llorona is represented as a cultural symbol that models negative behavior, ultimately looking to prescribe an idealized version of motherhood.  The ghost of La Llorona has been reported in many locations throughout North and South America, including a creek between Mora and Guadalupita, New Mexico, and as far north as the Yellowstone River.  However, the majority of the reports of the Weeping Woman surround the Santa Fe River.  For example, a tall wailing spirit has been repeatedly viewed in the PERA Building near the river.  The PERA structure was built on land that once held an old Spanish-Indian graveyard.  If you are looking for a good Halloween scare, go explore the Santa Fe PERA structure on a dark evening.

6. Crybaby Bridges of Ohio

Over the years, a strange phenomenon has been recorded in the vicinity of specific rural bridges in the US state of Ohio.  On certain days of the year, after the Sun goes down, the sound of a baby’s presence can be heard.  Most often, a shattering cry is recorded, but in other cases a baby’s laughter or scattered speech is said to plague the area.  These bridges have been given the label Crybaby Bridges.  The eerie locations usually hold a violent history, with stories involving a baby or young child being brutally killed.  One of the most famous Crybaby Bridges is the Rogues’ Hollow Bridge, which is located near Doylestown, Ohio.  In 1840, this area of Ohio experienced a large mining boom when coal was discovered in the deep hollows southeast of the village.  The area became known as Rogues’ Hollow because the miners had a strong reputation for wild goings and violence.  Rogues’ Hollow was congested with saloons, houses of ill repute, disease, dust and Sunday dog fights.

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The Rogues’ Hollow Bridge sits deep inside Rogues’ Hollow on an old climbing road.  The bridge is located in a remote area and is approachable from only one direction.  Due to bad weather, it can only be reached during certain months of the year.  The bridge is adjacent to the old Chidester Mill, which is often included in articles describing haunted locations.  Loud voices and celebrations are said to radiate around the Chidester Mill.  If you dare venture near the Rogue Hollow Bridge on a dark evening, be sure to keep an open ear for the sound of a crying baby.  The noise has been reported to come from all directions, often times floating above your head.  People have also reported that as they left the bridge, the intensity and volume of the crying increased.  The Screaming Bridge of Maud Hughes Road is another reportedly haunted bridge located in Liberty Township, Ohio.  The bridge is reputed to have been the site of many terrible accidents and suicides.

A set of old railroad tracks sits 25 feet below the bridge, and at least 36 people are said to have been killed on or around the Maud Hughes Road Bridge.  Many different people have reported seeing and hearing usual things around the structure, including ghostly figures, mists, and lights, as well as black hooded figures and a phantom train.  These aspirations seem to have an evil agenda and people often report a sensation of wanting to run while crossing the Maud Hughes Bridge.  Others have made claims of screaming in their ear, load moans, shrieks, and the sound of a baby crying.  Near the town of Salem, Ohio, citizens have reported strange occurrences around the Egypt Road Bridge.  The area surrounding this bridge is closed off to the public.  The bridge is located at the end of a dead-end and can only be reached from a single direction.  Strange occurrences around the bridge have been reported, including the loud cries of a baby.  However, unlike other Crybaby Bridges, on Egypt Road these sounds seem to occur during the day and night.

5. Popobawa

Popobawa is the name of an evil creature that has been terrorizing the East African coast.  The spirit is a shapeshifter and has been described as taking many different forms.  The being can appear as either a human or an animal, and metamorphose from one into the other.  The beast has been viewed during the daytime, but doesn’t attack until the late evening.  Popobawa has been reported to abuse men, women and children, but the majority of the incidents are targeted at men.  People routinely report assaults and poltergeist-like phenomena surrounding the creature.  However, the most feared action is a sexual attack and the sodomizing of adult men.  Many people in this area of the world have contacted the police and implicating the Popobawa in rape cases.  In the mainstream media, the events have been described as an incident of mass hysteria or panic that comes and goes in waves.  The largest outbreaks occurred in 1995 and 2007, when the reports spread all over the East African coast.  The victims of the Popobawa are ordered to tell others about the attack, or the creature will return.  It seems that the villagers in this area of the world become enraged if you claim that the spirit is unreal or fake in any way.

Popobawa Top Tenz

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The Popobawa has been known to attack in many areas along the East African coast.  The reports of the creature originated from the area surrounding Zanzibar Archipelago, which holds several islands off the coast of East Africa in the Indian Ocean.  Specifically, the area of Pemba Island is said to be watched by the Popobawa.  However, during large outbreaks, the presence of the spirit has been reported in mainland Tanzania.  His presence is usually announced by the sound of scraping claws on the roof and a sharp, pungent smell.  It has been suggested that the wave of attacks increase during All Hallows’ Eve, when ghosts are said to patrol the night.  In most reports, Popobawa primarily attacks men and only in their own beds, resulting in many guys sleeping outside in the streets or on porches after recent attacks.  The beast is known to overpower his prey, holding their face to the floor and sodomizing them for up to an hour.  His genital area has been described as “significant.”  Many Africans believe that the creature takes human form by day, and lives among the people.  If you visit this area of Africa, keep a look out for the Popobawa.

4. The Candy Man

Dean Corll was a sadistic serial killer that savagely murdered dozens of small boys in the US state of Texas during the early 1970s.  He was responsible for the death of a confirmed 27 children.  At this time in history, the term serial killer had not yet been coined, and the case was simply known as the Houston Mass Murders.  In the early 1960s, the Corll Candy Company was founded by Dean’s mother.  The Corll family set up a production facility in their home and turned the garage into a candy store, which was located across the street from Heights Elementary School, in the Houston Heights area of northwest Houston, Texas.  Dean became second in command of the candy business and lived in an apartment over the garage.  During this time, Dean Corll became known as The Candy Man.  He would routinely give out free candy to the local children, in particular teenage boys.  The company had a handful of employees and Dean was in charge of hiring the staff, which consisted of teenage children.

He even installed a pool table at the rear of the factory where employees and local youths would go to hang-out and do drugs.  At this time, Dean Corll befriended 12-year-old David Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley.  In 1968, the Corll Candy Company closed and Dean gained work as an electrician.  He killed his first known victim in 1970.  Most of the children he murdered were abducted from Houston Heights.  He would lure his victims into a van with an offer of a party.  He used the help of two teenage boys, David Brooks and Elmer Henley, who were given $200 for every successful capture.  He would overpower his victims and perform sadistic rituals.  Corll would start by putting his prey on a plywood torture board.  He sexually assaulted all victims and usually killed them by strangulation or shooting with a .22 caliber pistol.  Upon searching his home, police found multiple wooden torture boards with handcuffs, ropes, sex toys, and plastic covering the carpeted floor.  He also owned an odd wooden crate with what appeared to be air holes cut into it.

On August 8, 1973, Henley angered Dean Corll when he brought his young girlfriend over to his house with another friend, Tim Kerley.  The group drank and did drugs and each fell asleep, but when they awoke Corll had handcuffed them all.  Elmer Henley reportedly convinced Corll to let him go, so that he could participate in the murders.  When his back was turned, Henley took the gun and shot Dean Corll six times killing him instantly.  Henley then began to tell the police about the deadly rampage and specify where the children’s bodies were buried.  It was the first time that the Houston police department had investigated Dean Corll or even connected the series of rash murders to one person.  In a highly publicized trial, Brooks was found guilty of one murder and sentenced to life in prison.  Henley was convicted of six of the murders and sentenced to six 99-year-terms.

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During the years of Dean Corll’s murder spree, he is known to have frequently changed addresses in the Houston Heights area.  He lived in a trailer park, several apartment buildings and rented rooms at private residences.  Specifically, these locations include a metal warehouse in the 500 block of West 22nd Street, a run-down apartment building in the 800 block of Heights Boulevard, a house on North Durham and an apartment on East 7th Street.  A collection of old structures in the Houston Heights area have witnessed the worst crimes known to man.  Dean Corll buried his victims in one of four separate locations, a rented boatshed in southwest Houston, a beach on the Bolivar Peninsula, in woodland near a cabin on Lake Sam Rayburn (owned by his family) or on a beach in Jefferson County.  A small group of people living in Houston believe that the ghost of Dean Corll and his victims haunt the city.  Reports have surfaced from his grave stone, which mysteriously reads “PFC US Army.”  Why he was still given this honor after death is unknown to me.

3. Corpse Road

In late medieval times, a steady population increase caused an expansion in the construction of churches in Great Britain.  This upset the mother churches of the area, who felt that the new organizations were encroaching on their territory and taking away profits and power.  For this reason, they instituted a law indicating that all burial rights were the property of the mother church.  Officials had corpse roads constructed, which connected outlying locations and their main churches.  This was a great hardship on the people and it meant that citizens living on the outskirts of town had to transport their dead family members a long distance in order to be buried.  Sometimes the corpse roads traveled up steep mountain cliffs and over large bodies of water and rivers.  Many of the pathways contained specifically placed coffin stones, which were used as a resting spot for the travelers.  Evidence of the stones is still evident today and a number of the locations are said to hold a dark spirit.  In many cases, humble men, women, and old citizens were given this impossible task of transporting their loved ones.  This burning animosity and the continual shuffling of human corpses is said to have left a lasting impression on the hundreds of corpse roads in Europe and South America.

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Many of the corpse roads have disappeared over the years, but you can still see the remains of some prominent routes, which appear in the form of small woven pathways.  For generations, people have reported strange noises and lights on these ancient corpse roads.  Legend tells that spirits and ghosts regularly fly along the roads in a direct straight line from one end to the next.  This energy guides the people along the trail at night.  It directs them around all fences, walls, buildings, and other structures.  The Will-o’-the-wisp are said to patrol the corpse roads.  Folklore is full of tales describing the Will-o’-the-wisp, which are ghostly lights that resemble a flickering lamp.  These mischievous spirits attempt to confuse travelers.  They are said to recede and fade away if approached.  Ancient people believed that these paths were haunted.  They followed a list of specific rules to prevent the dead from wandering the land as lost souls or animated corpses.

The number of reportedly haunted corpse roads is extensive.  Phantom lights are regularly witnessed on the Scottish cemetery-island of Mun in Loch Leven.  Traditionally, these lights were thought to be omens of impending death.  Many eyes have reported a regular phantom funeral procession heading across Dartmoor on its way to Widecombe and the burial ground.  People have also witnessed a monk dressed in all white.  Places where corpse roads intersect are considered dangerous and are believed to be occupied by special spirit-guardians.  A famous corpse road in England runs from Rydal to Ambleside in the Lake District.  Along this route, at the foot of Blue Bell Hill, is an old coffin stone.  It is a rectangular stone that measures 14.4 feet (4.4 m) long and 9 feet (2.8 m) wide.  In 1836, a sack of bones was discovered under the rock and it has since been revealed that the area is one of the Medway tombs.  The Corpse Rock is located on private grounds, with local residents staying far away from the area in the mist of night.  However, the field is currently being planted as a vineyard, which has caused a buzz in the area, as it may be disturbing sacred ground and releasing the wrath of ancient ghosts.

2. Suicide Cliff and Banzai Cliff

The Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II was a major conflict between the armed forces of Japan and those of the United States, the British Empire, the Netherlands and France.  Two of the largest battles included the Battle of Saipan and Battle of Okinawa.  The 82-day-long Battle of Okinawa was one of the deadliest in all of World War II.  Japan lost over 100,000 troops, and the Allies suffered more than 50,000 casualties.  Simultaneously, more than 100,000 civilians were killed, wounded, or committed suicide, which was approximately one-quarter of the entire population.  The one chilling factor that both of these battles have in common is the mass suicide of Japanese civilians, usually accomplished by leaping from the steep cliff faces of the islands.  After the Allied forces captured Saipan, the soldiers erected a civilian prisoner encampment.  They were told that over 25,000 Japanese people lived on the island, but it was soon evident that thousands were missing.

After searching the island, Allied soldiers made the grisly discovery that Japanese citizens were committing suicide by jumping from Saipan’s Suicide Cliff and Banzai Cliff.  It has since been realized that Emperor Hirohito personally found the threat of the defection of Japanese civilians disturbing.  During the Battle of Saipan, Hirohito sent out an imperial order encouraging the civilians of Saipan to commit suicide.  The order authorized the commander of Saipan to promise civilians who died an equal spiritual status in the afterlife.  Over 10,000 Japanese people committed suicide in the last days of the conflict.  In Okinawa, this issue is at the center of an ongoing disagreement between the local government and Japan’s national government.  In 2007, a mass rally erupted in Okinawa when the Japanese government announced that they were changing the wording in school text books regarding the suicides.  Okinawa ultimately won a court battle and the books were restored, using the statement that the citizens “were forced into mass suicides by the Japanese military.”  This was partially achieved by evidence that implicated the Japanese military in distributing grenades for the purpose of suicide.

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The island of Saipan is said to be haunted by ghosts.  Today, the land is officially the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.  It is littered with underground shelters and tunnels that were used during the war.  In many cases, mass suicides were performed in the bunkers or massacres took place as US troops dropped explosives into them.  This is said to have left a lasting impression on the Saipan underground, with the sound of artillery fire, explosions, and screams routinely spreading over the land.  However, the majority of the strange activity has been reported on the cliffs surrounding the limestone covered Mount Tapochau, located at 1,560 ft (480 m).  One of the drops has been given the nickname Suicide Cliff, while the other is named Banzai Cliff.

The beauty of Saipan makes it a popular tourist destination and many people have claimed supernatural experiences.  At all times of day, but more prevalent at night, human figures can be seen leaning over the cliffs and jumping.  Children can be heard crying and sporadic gusts of wind loom over the area.  Unlike other ghostly phenomenon, these spirits appear to be determined to jump off the cliff and don’t notice human contact.  People have also reported violent visions, often stemming from the scene of dead bodies on the rocks below.  If you search the Internet for the ghosts of Saipan, you will find many links to a video that was recorded near Banzai Cliff.  It has been claimed that the video shows a ghost jumping from the cliff.  Check it out for yourself.  If anything, the video gives a good perspective of what this area of Saipan looks like.

1. Edinburgh Vaults

In the late 18th century, the city of Edinburgh was a thriving community.  To help drive expansion, officials in this area of Scotland approved the construction of two bridges, the North Bridge and South Bridge.  The South Bridge is a nineteen arch viaduct, which holds some unusual architectural feats.  Eighteen of the arches were enclosed behind tenement buildings, which were built upon floor layering.  In total there are approximately 120 vaults beneath the surface of the South Bridge, ranging in size from 6.5 feet (2 meters) to 131 feet (40 meters) squared.  The South Bridge officially opened for business on March 1, 1788.  For around 30 years, the Edinburgh vaults were used to house taverns, cobblers and other tradesmen.  Specific sections were used for the storage of illicit material, including dead bodies.  The bodies were examined by doctors and reportedly used in medical experiments.  Unfortunately, construction of the South Bridge was rushed and the surface was never sealed against water damage.  For this reason, the vaults began to flood and the area was abandoned.

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By the start of the 19th century, slum dwellers had taken over the vaults and the area became a renowned red light district, with countless brothels and pubs operating within the abandoned complex.  Living conditions in the chambers were appalling.  The rooms were cramped, dark and damp, with no sunlight, poorly circulated air, no running water, and no sanitation.  Serious crimes and acts of violence were a major problem.  The serial murderers Burke and Hare are thought to have chosen victims from this area.  In the middle of the 19th century, the first reports of bizarre visions and ghostly phenomenon were issued.  At that time, city officials made the decision to drop tons of rubble into the Edinburgh Vaults, making them inaccessible.  The landmarks were not rediscovered until the 1980s, when they were excavated by Norrie Rowan and his son.  During the unearthing of the vaults, strange occurrences and loud cries were often reported.

Today, the Edinburgh Vaults house some of the most popular tourist attractions in the area, including many ghost tours.  The most popular venues are the Mercat Tours, Marlin’s Wynd, and a tour known as The Caves.  Specific corridors of the Edinburgh Vaults are said to house spiritual characters.  Mr. Boots is a ghost that has been known to nudge tourists and follow large groups.  He can often be heard using foul language and stomping on the hard stone floor.  A young spirit named Jack can be seen running about the dark rooms, giggling as he passes by unsuspecting people.  One of the most chilling spirits is an ailing pregnant woman that can be heard crying for attention and help. The Edinburgh Vaults are also known to contain odd cold air flows.  Scientific studies and overnight sleepovers have been conducted in the vaults with some unexplained findings.  In 2009, a BBC TV production team recorded a strange voice that appeared to be that of a Catholic priest reciting the Last Rites.  The ghostly voice continued to be heard on the recording for some 20 minutes before abruptly ceasing after what appeared to be the sound of children yelling.

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Top 10 Grossest Halloween Candy

Halloween brings out the kid in all of us. Although for the adults, it’s really about dressing up in wild costumes for a fun party or decorating the house to scare the bejeebus out of any visitors. For kids, Halloween is still all about the candy. It’s quite a unique holiday that, over time, has evolved into telling ghost stories and hording sweets.

Several candy companies have gotten into the spirit of Halloween by developing their own version of gross-out treats, which you can enjoy all year around.

Here then are the top 10 grossest Halloween candies:

10. Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans

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If you’re a true Muggle, you might not have any idea what these special jellybeans are all about. But true devotees of the world of Harry Potter are quite familiar with Bertie Botts and her confectionary concoctions. Borrowing a page from the best-selling novels and popular film franchise, this collection of jelly beans come in such delightful flavors as dirt, ear wax, rotten egg, soap and vomit. There are some regular good tasting jellybeans in each batch but buyer beware!

9. Sour Flush Toilet Candy

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It’s a toilet full of sugar! It’s a plunger lollipop! It’s both! Sour Flush Toilet Candy is shaped like an actual tiny toilet. You flip the lid and dip in one of your flavored lollipop plungers and, “Voila!”- you’ve got a tasty treat simulating the unclogging of your toilet. Insert your own joke here.

8. Crime Scene Candy Tubes

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Nothing says Halloween like a good old-fashioned crime scene. Now the kiddies can get in on all the CSI fun with their own edible Crime Scene Candy Tube. Each tube is filled with drinkable goodness in three flavors: Blood, Urine and Saliva. Yes, that’s Blood, Urine and Saliva (or cherry, lemonade and apple if you’re being picky).

7. Box of Boogers

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Full disclosure: you won’t really know you’re eating simulated boogers unless you have the actual Box of Boogers handy. Each individual booger looks like it could really be a typical piece of gummy green or yellow candy. But thanks to the packaging that proudly proclaims “Tangy gummy boogies that look and feel real” you won’t soon forget what you’re supposed to be chewing on.

6. Scorpion Suckers and Chocolate Covered Bugs

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Wasn’t there always a kid in every neighborhood who would eat a bug for a nickel? Now everyone can get into that act with these actual ants, crickets dipped in chocolate or scorpions encased in lollipop candy. They are completely edible and taste great, so the reviews say. Fear Factor candy anyone?

5: Nose Hose

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You know you’re in for a tasty treat with a candy slogan that is “It’s snot what you think!” The Nose Hose works on the simple principle of strapping a big plastic nose on your face then having a tube run through to drip sweet tasting liquid onto your waiting tongue. Fun for the whole family.

4. Ear Wax Candy

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Keeping with the “what can we eat from our head” theme, Ear Wax Candy is perfect for when you’ve got a craving to eat some ear wax but don’t really want to eat actual ear wax. You get a big plastic ear with a handy ear drum snap lid. Inside the ear canal is a fruity-jelly like substance that approximates ear wax. You dip in your plastic swab, scoop out some ear goop and lick away.

3. Zit Poppers

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How devastating was it to discover a pimple on the eve of the big dance? Or to have your graduation photo ruined because of an errant blemish. Ahh, to be young again with a face full of acne. Now you can relive all those wonderful moments of teenage angst with Zip Poppers. Imagine gummi candies shaped like huge pimples loaded with gooey jelly that you squeeze or pop out to taste. Available in strawberry and watermelon just like regular acne.

2. Chocka Ca-Ca

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As the name implies, Chock Ca-Ca are bite size pieces of chocolate shaped to look just like what babies leave behind in their diapers. And if you need more convincing, each piece of Chock Ca-Ca actually comes wrapped in their own diaper. This unique treat comes in blue for boys and pink for girls packaging. Won’t it be fun to bring this gift at your next baby shower? Chances are you’ll never be invited to another baby shower. Mission accomplished. (Image: itsstupid.com.)

1. Lick Your Wounds Candy

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Have you ever found yourself wearing a Band-Aid and wishing you could pull it off and lick a piece of candy underneath? Well, now you can with these delightful candy scabs. Underneath the pad of a typical Band-Aid is a lollipop-style hard candy that you can take a few licks of and then replace. S-w-e-e-e-e-e-e-t. Just be on the lookout for skin hair. Did we mention this is gross candy?

By Rick Bitzman

What was your favorite Halloween candy?

 



Top 10 Embarrassing Halloween Costumes

Okay, I’ll admit some of these costumes caused me to chuckle but I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing any of these in public or in private, for that matter. I give full credit to the brave people who could put pride aside and wear any of these embarrassing Halloween costumes for the enjoyment of others on Halloween.

10. Bat Child – All Grown Up

Remember that hilarious old cover of the Weekly World News? Well this creative fellow turned it into a Halloween costume.

Bat Child!, originally uploaded by Twitchietai.

9. You Tube Video – with Penis Transplant

Clever idea, but not the best subject matter. Of course he will be knocking over everything and bumping into everyone, but what makes this so embarrassing is the the “Related Videos” to the right: The World’s First Penile Transplant?

You Tube Video, originally uploaded by Twitchietai.

8. Maternity Room

Ah, the miracle of birth.

7. Creepy Bert & Ernie

Dressing up as gay Muppets. What else do I need to say? Well, I will add they are creepy too; almost like Joker from Batman rejects. And the rubber ducky isn’t helping.

Bert & Ernie, originally uploaded by reginaldppuppy.

6. Retired Hooter Girls

I can only pray that those sagging boobs are prosthetics.

5. Elvis with Camel Toe

Of course I’m assuming this is a costume and not the real Elvis. Although I think the real Elvis could someone avoid showing a camel toe. Thank you, thank you, very much!

4. Free Mammogram Test – Feminist Look Away

Wow, I’m surprised the guy doesn’t have two black eyes, and no, not for the reason you think. I wonder if he has a girlfriend or wife. Not after that costume.

3. Sheep Molester

No words.

2. Spider-man – Nice Package

Okay at first glance you think, not bad for an older overweight guy. Then you take a second glance and think, “Dear God, make me blind!” If you don’t see it, move on and let it go.

1. Hot Dog with an Afro?

You tell yourself that as a human race that we have evolved, matured, if you will. And then you see a man dressed as a 6-foot vagina. Or a messed up hot dog with an afro.

10 Creepy Places in America

There are just too many creepy places in America for this list to be the top 10, but these 10 destinations are all near the top of the list in terms of all-in-all creep factor. With Halloween fast approaching this list is appropriate and if you live near any of the places you may want to take a visit and see what you have been missing. From an axe murder’s home to a witch’s cave and a ghostly cemetery you are sure to find something to send chills up your spine. Doing research I came across this creepy video, but be warned, you may have nightmares: YouTube – Spooky ghost video car commercial

Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast in Fall River, Massachusetts

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On August 4, 1892, someone killed Mr. and Mrs. Borden with a hatchet as they were in their home. Mrs. Borden was found in an upstairs guest room and Mr. Borden was found downstairs on the sofa. The accused was Lizzie Borden, the daughter of Mr. Borden and stepdaughter to Mrs. Borden. Despite her arrest, she was acquitted of the murders and died in 1927 still being labeled a murderer by many. Paranormal recordings turned up some creepy findings. If you think you could do it, find out for yourself what the experience is like by staying overnight.

Bell Witch Cave-Adams, Tennessee

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John Bell and his family  move to Roberson County in 1804. In the late summer of 1817 something would happen that would change their lives forever. Some members of the family began seeing strange looking animals around the property. Then late at night they started hearing knocking sounds on the doors and outer walls of the house. Later sounds were being heard in the house. Sounds of a rat gnawing on the bed post, chains being drug through the house, stones being dropped on the wooden floors, then gulping and choking sounds. When asked who and what it was, it gave different identities. It once stated that it was the witch of a neighbor woman named Kate Batts. This is what many people believed, and from then on, this unseen force was called “Kate” the “Bell’s Witch”.

Her goal was the death of John Bell although no reason was given by Kate. In 1820 John Bell died and Kate was suspected of poisoning him.

Villisca Axe Murder House in Villisca, Iowa

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On June 10, 1912, an intruder with an axe killed eight people as they slept in a house in the small town of Villisca, Iowa. The victims were a husband and wife along with their four young children. Two other young children who were visiting at the time were also among the dead. The murderer is unknown and was never caught. Some swear that this house is haunted by ghosts after seeing strange visions and hearing odd noises. If you are willing to find out, you can stay in this house overnight. Book early for overnight tours; available days tend to get filled fast. Should spending the night be too much for you to handle, there are also daylight tours.

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado

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Staff who work in the kitchen next to the ballroom after hours say they have heard a party going on when the room was empty. In one guest room people claim to have seen a man standing over the bed then running into the cupboard. It is further claimed that this same apparition is responsible for stealing jewelery, watches and luggage that has gone missing. Some others reported that they have seen ghosts in their rooms in the middle of the night, just standing in their room then disappearing. Sometimes, people in the lobby can hear the piano playing from the ballroom. When workers check to see whats going on, there would be nobody sitting in front of the piano.

The historic ghost tour points out creepy and ghostly experiences that have taken place at the hotel. Although  the tours are open to the public, reservations are required ahead of time. If you stay at the hotel, you may want to sleep with one eye open in case you get an unexpected ghostly visitor.

Stephen King got the idea for The Shining after staying in the almost empty hotel on the night before it closed for an extended period.

Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky

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The building once held hundreds of tuberculosis patients. It closed in 1961 to be renovated. It opened in 1962 as a geriatrics center and then finally closed in 1980. Rumor has it that there is an incredible amount of paranormal activity that goes on in this location. They have several types of tours ranging from a couple of hours to a full night.

Some urban legends claim that “63,000 deaths” occurred at the Sanitorium. According to Assistant Medical Director Dr. J. Frank W. Stewart, the highest number of deaths in a single year at Waverly Hills was 152. Some independent researchers have suggested that 162 people died at Waverly Hills in 1945, so the highest total number of deaths possible over 50 years was approximately 8,212.

Sorrel-Weed House in Savannah, Georgia

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The Sorrel Weed House has a reputation for being one of the most haunted buildings in Savannah. People claim to see figures in the windows and hear disembodied voices inside the house. The connecting carriage house behind the main house was said to have housed a female African-American slave who was murdered by a member of the family.

The beautiful house was completed in 1840 for Francis Sorrel. Due to its history, it was named as a State Landmark in Georgia. Its present day happenings caused it to be featured in an episode of Ghost Hunters, where evidence was found that there may be more than the living in the house. The Ghost Hunters tour of the Sorrel-Weed House will tell you all about the evidence that was found. Keep your eyes and ears open when you pass through.

Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California

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For thirty-eight years starting in 1884, this architectural wonder was not constructed as the result of need; it was built under the orders of Sarah L. Winchester because, as rumors say, she believed spirits were giving her building instructions. Mrs. Winchester was the wife of rifle manufacturer William Winchester. After her husband and daughter’s deaths, rumors say that Mrs. Winchester ordered the building of the house because she believed she was cursed by the spirits of those whose deaths were a result of Winchester rifles, those who would also make her death happen if she did not continuously build a house for them. What was once an eight-room house turned into a massive 160 room mansion. The construction took place day and night, all week and all year until her death in 1922. Stairs lead to the ceiling and doors lead to nothing. It is said that ghosts, including Sarah herself, haunt the house. While the reasoning behind the constant building is not known for sure, what is for sure is that the house is unlike any other you have ever been to. Take a public flashlight tour on Halloween to see if you can have your own ghostly experience.

Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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You do not walk into an eleven acre abandoned penitentiary if you want to feel warm and fuzzy. The most sought after Halloween tour, appropriately titled “Terror Behind the Walls”, takes place at night and does not discuss the history of the prison; the main objective of the night tour is to scare you senseless. The informational tours about its sordid history take place during daytime hours, which are undoubtedly still creepy as you walk around the facility that opened in 1829. Keep your eyes open for ghosts, which are said to walk the abandoned halls. If you feel a hand on you, do not be surprised if there is no one there when you turn around. Listen for noises, those of the living (and maybe the dead), which can catch you off guard no matter where in the facility you are. Before you enter, make sure to sign the waiver, which is necessary to take the tour.

The Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana

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There are a variety of legends surrounding the Myrtles. The house is reputedly built over an Indian burial ground, and the ghost of a young Indian woman has been repor ted and during the Civil War, the house was ransacked by Union soldiers, and legend claims that three were killed in the house. Supposedly, there is a blood stain in a doorway, roughly the size of a human body, that will not come clean. Other legends say that cleaners have been unable to push their mop or broom into that space.

This 200+ year plantation is incredibly beautiful and, as some may say, quite haunted. In addition to the beauty of the location, the stories of love and death that occurred at the plantation are enough to create a draw to the plantation. When you mix in the numerous stories of ghostly encounters and unexplainable photographs, it creates quite the creepy locale. There are historic tours and mystery tours available of Myrtles Plantation.

Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery

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Located in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, this cemetery exists peacefully in the Rubio Woods. At first glance, it looks like a small, unimportant cemetery. The chain link fence which once protected it from outsiders is broken, a big hole marring the protective metal. The cemetery itself is broken down, suffering from years of vandalism and trespassing. Some gravestones are dismantled.

Although this sounds like an innocent, unimportant cemetery, its past is shrouded in despair and death. A white, uninhabited pond exists in the northwest corner of the cemetery. Mob bosses used it as dumping grounds for their victims in the early 1900s. They officially stopped burying the dead in the 1960s. Since that time, people have reported many sightings, making Bachelor’s Grove the most haunted cemetery in the United States. Many of those sightings are seen near the pond.

Sightings include a ghost called the White Lady. Clad in white, she roams the graves looking for her lost baby. Other sightings include a two-headed man and a ghost house. Bachelor’s Grove is truly the spookiest haunting grounds in the United States.

Top 10 Most Haunted Cities in the U.S.

Visit even the smallest of towns in the U.S. and you’re likely to hear some local ghost stories and discover a few haunted houses. But some American cities have gained the reputation for being particularly ghost-ridden thanks to their rich and often bizarre historical backgrounds. The following are ten of the most haunted cities to steer away from—or toward, if you dare—this Halloween.

10. San Francisco, California

San Francisco’s rich cultural makeup, large immigrant population, and a history of natural disasters like earthquakes have helped it develop a reputation as a Mecca of all things haunted. Chinatown alone is home to countless ghost tours and creepy folklore, but the city also boasts a wealth of haunted hotels, mansions, and army bases. Of these, one of the most famous is the Queen Anne Hotel, which served as a school for girls in the 1890s and is said to be haunted by the ghost of its former headmistress, Mary Lake. There are also a number of stories concerning Mary Anne Pleasant, the so-called “Voodoo Queen of San Francisco,” who was a former slave and abolitionist who used a knowledge of the black arts to gain wealth and influence among the city’s elite. Even the trendy San Francisco Art Institute, which is rumored to have been built on top of a graveyard that housed victims of the 1906 earthquake, is said to be the home of several ghosts who have frequently been seen climbing the stairs to a tower that overlooks the ancient cemetery.

Most Haunted Place: Alcatraz

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Alcatraz Island is one of San Francisco’s most famous landmarks, but the former maximum-security prison is also home to some of the city’s weirdest ghost stories. Visitors to the island often claim to see apparitions walking the cellblocks, and sometimes hear voices emanating from what was once the cafeteria.

9. Key West, Florida

Sunny Key West might not seem like the most probable setting for haunted houses, but this small beach community is home to some of the oldest—and downright creepiest—of all ghost stories. The city’s rich history of buccaneers and rumrunners provides the backdrop for a lot of these ghosts, like those that are said haunt Captain Tony’s Saloon. Before it was a bar, Captain Tony’s was supposedly the location of the island’s morgue, and the tree that grows through the building’s center is said to have been a major site for lynching pirates and other criminals, and many are said to still haunt the premises today. Other local ghost stories concern the writer Ernest Hemingway, who kept a home on Key West for some thirty years. Hemingway’s house, now a museum dedicated to his life and work, is said to house the novelist’s ghost. Some visitors and workers claim to see him walking the grounds, while others have heard the clicking of his typewriter coming from inside the main house.

Most Haunted: Robert the Doll

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The island’s art and historical museum isn’t haunted, but it does contain one of the creepiest artifacts of Key West’s history in the form of Robert, a large doll that many claim is possessed. The doll was given to painter Gene Otto in the early 1900s, and the young boy soon became deathly afraid of it, as he said it would often threaten him and wake him in the night by throwing furniture around the room. The boy’s parents would often swear they saw the doll moving, and neighbors claimed they often spotted Robert pacing in front of the windows of the house when the family was away.

8. Athens, Ohio

Athens, Ohio is a small town that is home to the Ohio University as well as some downright strange ghost stories. This small, otherwise peaceful community has inspired stories of hauntings that include everything from a headless train conductor to pagan cults and the violent murders of livestock. Many claim that when plotted on a map, the city’s five major graveyards form the symbol of a pentagram, and strange rituals are at the center of many of Athens’ most famous ghost tales. A lot of these stories date back over a hundred years, when the town became associated with the Spiritualist movement of the 1800s. The most famous tells of Jonathan Koons, a poor farmer who was instructed by ghosts to build a “spirit room” in which apparitions would then manifest and communicate with him from beyond the grave.

Most Haunted Place: Athens Lunatic Asylum

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Night Shift StaffNight Shift Staff

There’s nothing creepier than a good old-fashioned insane asylum, and Athens has one of the most famous in the form of the Athens Lunatic Asylum, which operated from 1874 until 1993. The hospital held many violent patients, and is notorious for being the site of hundreds of lobotomies. Since closing, the hospital has been the at the center of numerous ghost stories, most of which are kept alive by the students at the university, which now owns the asylum grounds. The most famous of these concerns Margaret, a deaf-mute patient who supposedly escaped from her room, accidentally became trapped in an abandoned ward, and eventually died of exposure. Her decomposing body was found weeks later, and supposedly the stain that was left on the floor of the ward can still be seen today.

7. Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon has developed a reputation as the most haunted city of the Pacific Northwest thanks to its bizarre history and high number of ghost sightings. One of the city’s most famous haunted houses is Pittock Mansion, an ornate house that was built in 1914 by a wealthy businessman and his wife, both of whom died shortly thereafter. Visitors have claimed to have seen apparitions and heard footsteps coming from empty rooms, and doors and windows will sometimes open by themselves. Weirdest of all, a portrait of Mr. Pittock, the man who built the house, will inexplicably be found in different parts of the house, as though it can move itself from room to room. In addition to the Pittock house, other Portland haunted places include the Bagdad theater, a movie theater built during the roaring 20s that supposedly houses a number of spirits, and the Willamette river, where in recent years a phantom rowboat has been spotted by several people.

Most Haunted Place: Shanghai Tunnels

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Portland’s coastal location established it as a shipping hub and port of call for sailors during the 1800s. This eventually led to the rise of a practice known as shanghaiing, wherein unsuspecting men and women were kidnapped from bars or hotels, shipped to the Orient, and impressed into slave labor or prostitution. Portland was notorious for this practice thanks to a series of labyrinthine underground tunnels that run beneath the city streets, which were used by the Shanghaiiers as a safe way to capture and transfer victims to the harbor without being seen. Today, the tunnels are said to be haunted by the ghosts of the people who were kidnapped, many of whom were never seen or heard from again.

6. Charleston, South Carolina

Known as the “Holy City” for the church spires that dot its skyline, Charleston is one of the oldest cities in the U.S., and also one of the most haunted. Victorian mansions line the downtown area known as the Battery, which was a protective artillery installation during the Civil War, and it is here that many of the city’s most haunted houses can be found. Perhaps the most famous is the Battery Carriage House Inn, a hotel where people have reported seeing everything from strange lights, to the gentlemanly ghost of a student who died after leaping off the roof, to a headless torso that appears at guests’ bedsides in the middle of the night. Charleston is also known for a number of ghost stories that originated with the Gullah, a West African culture that populates parts of South Carolina and Georgia. The most famous Gullah horror stories usually center on Boo Hags, a type of blood-red vampire that wears human skin as a mask and feeds on its victim’s energy while they sleep.

Most Haunted Place: the Dock Street Theater

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Charleston is full of buildings with a checkered past, and one of the most well known is surely the Dock Street Theater. Built in 1809, the theater is said to be the home of two spirits. The first is Nettie, a poor prostitute who was killed near the theater after being struck by lightning. The other is the ghost of Junius Brutus Booth, an actor who is more famous today for being the father of John Wilkes Boothe, the man who killed Abraham Lincoln. Both spirits are said to wander the backstage area of the theater, and many workers and performers claim to have spotted them.

5. Salem, Massachusetts

In 1692, Salem, Mass. became the sight of a series of infamous trials after three local women were accused of using witchcraft to terrorize a trio of young girls. The trials soon escalated into mass hysteria, with townspeople vehemently accusing neighbors and acquaintances, almost all of them unmarried women, of being witches. Over 150 people were arrested and charged, and as may as 19 were eventually executed by hanging. Today, the town of Salem encourages its reputation as “Witch City, USA” and has one of the biggest Halloween celebrations in the country. Alongside the tourist shops and museums, though, stand several infamous ghost stories related to the witch trials. One in particular concerns Gallows Hill, the site of several hangings, which is said to be haunted by the spirits of the 19 people lynched for being witches.

Most Haunted Place: Joshua Ward House

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Known as one of the most haunted houses in America, Joshua Ward House is built on the foundation of the home of George Corwin, the man who served as Sheriff during the Salem witch trials. Corwin is infamous for his role in the death of Giles Corey, a local man who was charged with witchcraft. When Corey refused to enter a plea in court, Corwin used an old English legal precedent and placed him under a board piled with rocks in order to coerce him into talking. Corey never relented, and was eventually crushed to death under the massive weight. To this day, many claim that Corey and Corwin, who is rumored to be buried beneath the foundation of his old home, haunt the Joshua Ward House.

4. Chicago, Illinois

Thanks to its famous great fire and history of gangsters and underworld criminals like Al Capone, Chicago has developed quite a reputation for being haunted. The city has a number of well known ghost stories that are whispered among the locals each Halloween, and perhaps none is more famous that the story of Resurrection Mary. As the story goes, Mary was a young girl who was hit and killed by a car while leaving a dance hall with her boyfriend. She was buried in nearby Resurrection Cemetery, and ever since she can be periodically seen wandering the streets in her white burial dress, still trying to find her way back home. Another famous story concerns what has come to be known as the “Devil Baby of Hull House,” a child born with scaly skin and a pointed tail who supposedly haunts the house once owned by famed activist Jane Addams.

Most Haunted Place: Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery

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Rumored to be one of the prohibition-era gangsters’ favorite places to dump bodies, Bachelor’s Grove is an old and decaying burial ground that has been the site of countless stories about ghosts, spirits, and devil worship. Several headstones in the cemetery seem to move at will, and many claim that the spirits of the dead often materialize and walk the grounds at night. The most famous of these is the “White Lady,” the ghost of a young woman who is always seen in a white dress, often cradling a baby in her arms. Photo: http://www.bachelors-grove.com/

3. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

In July of 1863, the small college town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was the site of the biggest military clash of the Civil War, which to this day remains the bloodiest event to ever occur on American soil. Over 150,000 total soldiers converged on the scene, and when the battle was over as many as 50,000 were killed, wounded, or missing. The shadow of the battle still stands over the town today, and many claim the ghosts of dead soldiers haunt the battlefields. What’s unique about Gettysburg is the sheer amount and frequency of its ghost sightings. Some places in the town, like the home of Jenny Wade, a woman who was killed by a stray bullet from the battle, supposedly experience paranormal activity on a daily basis. Elsewhere, there have even been reports of lone visitors to the battlefield park stumbling across what they assume to be a battle reenactment, only to later learn that none took place that day.

Most Haunted Place: The Devil’s Den

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The Devil’s Den is a rocky outcropping of boulders and shrubs that was the site of one of the clashes of the second day of the battle. The spot is famous for being the location of a small skirmish that took place when a Union artillery unit returned fire on a Confederate sharpshooter who was taking shots at them from behind the rocks. They later found a body, and photographer Alexander Gardner took a photo of it that has since become one of the most iconic images of the battle. But recent evidence suggests that the body in the photo was not the man responsible, and some even claim that Gardner dragged the corpse of another man to the spot in order to stage the picture. Supposedly, this man’s ghost now haunts the Devil’s Den, and to this day visitors to the park often have a great deal of trouble trying to take photos anywhere near the site. Pictures often come out blurry and unusable, and cameras have a strange way of suddenly dying whenever they are turned on in the area.

2. Savannah, Georgia

With its many cemeteries, gothic mansions, and trees covered in hanging Spanish moss, Savannah, GA fits the bill of a haunted city about as well as any town in America. It was one of only a few places that escaped being burned during Sherman’s famous “March to the Sea” during the Civil War, and so it still contains a good deal of antebellum architecture that serves as a perfect breeding ground for ghost stories. One example is the Pirates’ House, a restaurant that in the late 1700s served as a pub for a notoriously rough clientele of sailors and buccaneers. As in Portland, shanghaiing was a common practice, and unsuspecting or drunk patrons were often waylaid and then dragged to the harbor via a series of underground tunnels connected to the bar’s rum cellar. To this day, many consider the cellar to be haunted, and it is said that at night the sounds of drunken sailors singing can still be heard.

Most Haunted Place: The Hampton Lillibridge House

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The Hampton Lillibridge house is an assuming three-story building that was built in 1796 and originally served as a boarding house. It was purchased in the 1960s by a builder who hoped to restore it, and it was then that strange phenomena began to occur. At one point during construction, a portion of the roof collapsed, killing one of the workers. Other builders claimed they would hear voices and footsteps whenever they were alone, and that pieces of construction equipment would often be thrown across the room. Even creepier, they said they often spotted a man in a black suit staring at them from inside the house. Countless exorcisms and investigations have taken place at the house since, and it has gone through several owners, but the presence that haunts it is said to still remain there today.

1. New Orleans, Louisiana

All southern port towns have their share of ghost stories, but none more so than New Orleans, which has truly embraced its reputation as a center of all things paranormal. All of the criteria that tend to produce ghost legends—a coastal location, a checkered past, a rich cultural history, and a potent mix of old and new world religion— can be found here. The city is full of haunted mansions, taverns, and graveyards, and you can’t go far without hearing stories of cursed pirate ships, Civil War-era spirits, and voodoo hexes. In this realm, one of the most famous figures is undoubtedly Marie Laveau, a Creole woman who gained a massive following during the 1800s as one of the first practitioners of voodoo. She died in 1881, but for years after many people claimed to see her walking throughout the French Quarter, and more than 120 years later many ghostly legends about the “Voodoo Queen of New Orleans” still persist.

Most Haunted Place: LaLaurie House

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In the heart of the French Quarter lies an ornate mansion that in the 1800s belonged to physician Louis LaLaurie and his socialite wife Delphine. As the story goes, it was rumored at the time that the couple treated their slaves viciously, and there was evidence Lady LaLaurie was responsible for the murder of a 12-year-old girl. The rumors were validated when one night a fire broke out in the mansion’s kitchen. Firemen raced to the scene, and when they kicked down a door to the slave quarters they were astonished to find several slaves chained to the wall in a kind of makeshift dungeon. Many have since claimed that the LaLaurie’s were performing grotesque surgical experiments on the slaves, but modern evidence suggests that this is probably an exaggeration. Either way, the sadistic couple is said to have soon fled the city, and Lady LaLaurie eventually disappeared. The mansion where the horrors took place still stands today, and several ghosts have been sighted, among them the spirits of both Delphine LaLaurie and the young slave girl she is said to have murdered.

Top 10 Star Wars Pumpkin Carvings

Well, it’s almost Halloween, and with that time of year artists come out of the pumpkin patch. Yes, pumpkin carving and  Jack-O-Lanterns are all the rage during October. What was once a simple art form using a butcher knife or a way to scare of evil spirits,  has given way to a more sophisticated and less bloody art form: pumpkin sculpting. While there may not be a “David” in these works of art, it is hard to ignore the craftsmanship and the skill it takes to carve a pumpkin and even more so when you consider the artists have brought to life their favorite characters from Star Wars. Behold 10 wonderful Star Wars pumpkin carvings. This list of Star Wars pumpkins has been updated since last Halloween. Please share your favorites in the comments below.

Chewbacca Pumpkin CarvingChewbacca Pumpkin Carving

C-3PO Pumpkin Carving
C-3PO Pumpkin Carving
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r2-d2 Pumpkin Carving
Princess Leia Pumpkin Carving
Princess Leia Pumpkin Carving
Stormtrooper Pumpkin Carving
Stormtrooper Pumpkin Carving
Darth Maul Pumpkin CarvingDarth Maul Pumpkin Carving

Death Star Pumpkin CarvingDeath Star Pumpkin Carving

darth-maul-pumpkin-carvingDarth Sidious Pumpkin Carving

Yoda Pumpkin CarvingYoda Pumpkin Carving

Darth Vader Pumpkin CarvingDarth Vader Pumpkin Carving

Top 10 Star Wars Pumpkin Carvings

Well, it’s almost Halloween, and with that time of year artists come out of the pumpkin patch. Yes, pumpkin carving and  Jack-O-Lanterns are all the rage during October. What was once a simple art form using a butcher knife or a way to scare of evil spirits,  has given way to a more sophisticated and less bloody art form: pumpkin sculpting. While there may not be a “David” in these works of art, it is hard to ignore the craftsmanship and the skill it takes to carve a pumpkin and even more so when you consider the artists have brought to life their favorite characters from Star Wars. Behold 10 wonderful Star Wars pumpkin carvings. This list of Star Wars pumpkins has been updated since last Halloween. Please share your favorites in the comments below.

Chewbacca Pumpkin CarvingChewbacca Pumpkin Carving

C-3PO Pumpkin Carving
C-3PO Pumpkin Carving
1806803679_fe0532fb09_b
r2-d2 Pumpkin Carving
Princess Leia Pumpkin Carving
Princess Leia Pumpkin Carving
Stormtrooper Pumpkin Carving
Stormtrooper Pumpkin Carving
Darth Maul Pumpkin CarvingDarth Maul Pumpkin Carving

Death Star Pumpkin CarvingDeath Star Pumpkin Carving

darth-maul-pumpkin-carvingDarth Sidious Pumpkin Carving

Yoda Pumpkin CarvingYoda Pumpkin Carving

Darth Vader Pumpkin CarvingDarth Vader Pumpkin Carving

Top 10 Embarrassing Halloween Costumes

10. Bat Child – All Grown Up

Remember that hilarious old cover of the Weekly World News? Well this creative fellow turned it into a Halloween costume.

Bat Child!, originally uploaded by Twitchietai.

9. You Tube Video – with Penis Transplant

Clever idea, but not the best subject matter. Of course he will be knocking over everything and bumping into everyone, but what makes this so embarrassing is the the “Related Videos” to the right: The World’s First Penile Transplant?

You Tube Video, originally uploaded by Twitchietai.

8. Maternity Room

Ah, the miracle of birth.

7. Creepy Bert & Ernie

Dressing up as gay Muppets. What else do I need to say? Well, I will add they are creepy too; almost like Joker from Batman rejects. And the rubber ducky isn’t helping.

Bert & Ernie, originally uploaded by reginaldppuppy.

6. Retired Hooter Girls

I can only pray that those sagging boobs are prosthetics.

5. Elvis with Camel Toe

Of course I’m assuming this is a costume and not the real Elvis. Although I think the real Elvis could someone avoid showing a camel toe. Thank you, thank you, very much!

4. Free Mammogram Test – Feminist Look Away

Wow, I’m surprised the guy doesn’t have two black eyes, and no, not for the reason you think. I wonder if he has a girlfriend or wife. Not after that costume.

3. Sheep Molester

No words.

2. Spider-man – Nice Package

Okay at first glance you think, not bad for an older overweight guy. Then you take a second glance and think, “Dear God, make me blind!” If you don’t see it, move on and let it go.

1. Hot Dog with an Afro?

You tell yourself that as a human race that we have evolved, matured, if you will. And then you see a man dressed as a 6-foot vagina. Or a messed up hot dog with an afro.