Tag Archives: ghosts

Civil War Ghosts, Southern Ghost Stories, Tennessee
 

Tod Carter, A Civil War Ghost Story – Franklin, Tennessee

The famous Captain Tod Carter had escaped from an old locomotive, he was being transported from a Union Soldier Prison on Johnson’s Island and being brought back home to fight the Battle at Franklin, Tennessee.

Captain Tod Carter, a famous Confederate States Army, had been took prisoner at Missionary Ridge. Captain Carter was one of thousands. Actually, there were more than six thousand Confederate captives that General Ulysses S. Grant sent to the north after the battles surrounding Chattanooga, Tennessee. Captain Carter’s long venture into Johnson’s Island was only the start of a sound-bound adventure that led him home to Franklin, Tennessee.

Civil War log hut kitchen
Civil War log hut kitchen

 

Future Captain Tod Carter joined the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment

Tod had enlisted in the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment, it had been formed by an older brother of his named ‘Moscow’. Colonel Moscow Branch Carter had mailed a letter to his brother Tod from Nashville on March 4, 1864. This letter provided more finite information on Tod’s capture. The letter was addressed to Captain Tod Carter, POW (Prisoner of War), Johnson’s Island, Ohio, Block 8, Mess No. 1.

The letter contained a good description of the Union occupation of Franklin, Tennessee, Moscow also added, “I have a little piece of news you many never have heard before. After your capture, your horse swam the river, and returned to camp in full rig. The boys thought for a long time you were killed, seeing your horse without you.”

However, Tod wasn’t still at the Johnson’s Island Prisoner Camp to read his brother’s letter when it was received. The story within his family is said that Tod had made a daring escape prior to it’s post date, “while crossing the State of Pennsylvania en route to a northern prison.” Tod, riding on a moving train in the pitch black northern night, Tod had pretended to be asleep, with his feet resting on the train window and his head was his seat companion’s lap.

Portrait of Captain Tod Carter
Portrait of Captain Tod Carter

 Tod Brazenly Escapes from the Train

When a guard who had been patrolling the train looked the  other way, Tod’s seating partner pushed him out the train  window! When Tod’s absence became known, the train  conductor stopped the train and a hunt for him scattered  throughout the countryside. Much to Tod’s fortune, a northern  farm couple found Tod and befriended him. Incognito, Tod      moved his way up the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Memphis,  Tennessee. From Memphis and on, Tod continued his trip to  Dalton, Georgia, where his original enlisting party, the  Twentieth Tennessee Regiment still lay encamped.

Almost seven months had passed and on November 28, 1864,  Tod had held onto a paper that was signed by his commanding  officer granting his permission to move ahead of his brigade  and visit his home. Tod’s family was in Franklin, Tennessee,  less than twenty five miles away.

Tod’s father had been waiting for him at home. His father was  known as Fountain Branch Carter, aged 67. Tod’s older brother,  Colonel Moscow, also a prisoner of war was at home as well on  parole. Tod’s family also consisted of his four sisters and his  beloved sister-in-law, nine nieces and nephews all very young. At his family home waited the farm animals and the good meals his servants prepared in the kitchen. As you could guess, he was very happy to be on his way back.

The Union Army at Tod’s Home in Tennessee

Unfortunately Tod’s family weren’t the only ones waiting at his home. Also at his home.. waited the Union Army. There was a Union Army of about twenty thousand men under General John M. Schofield who had marched to join the forces of General George H. Thomas at Nashville. During this trip, these troops encountered the Confederate Army under General John B. Hood and the battle of Franklin, Tennessee took place on the next day, November 30, 1864.

Historic Civil War Marker at Carter House
Historic Civil War Marker at Carter House

General Cox of the Union army had commandeered the Carter House to become a Federal Command post. Tod’s family somehow managed to warn off Captain Carter just as he had stopped at the home’s garden gate. Tod’s soldier duties as an Assistant Quartermaster were non-combatant, but that did not stop Tod from joining the battle. The Northern Soldiers had built breastworks across his father’s farm and had overrun his home. During this time, Tod feared for the safety of the Carter family in the overtaking.

Rosencrantz(Tod’s Horse), mounted by Captain Tod Carter’s steadfast and dashed through the Yankee works, through the guns of the Twentieth Ohio Battery. It was about five o’clock in the evening, Tod was in the lead of the charge in the center of Bate’s Division when Rosencrantz plunged forward, throwing Captain Tod over his head. Captain Tod hit the earth and without further movement. He had been mortally wounded to the head, about five-hundred feet south-west of his home. Right after the time of the midnight hour struck, the soldiers from both Union and Confederacy left the battle field, leaving their dead to rest in battle and the wounded to suffer.

Buildings at Carter House
Buildings at Carter House

Captain Tod is Found by his Family

After the battle the Carter family along with their servants, their neighbors and the Albert Lotz family emerged up from the cellar, all were unharmed and thanking God for their well-being and status. Before the families could finish their prayers in thanking god, a Confederate soldier came with the news that Captain Tod Carter still lay wounded on the battle field. Tod’s family climbed over the breastworks and trenches carrying old gasoline lanterns. It was just before the daybreak when they had found Tod, he was still laying on the cold ground, incoherently calling out a friend Sgt. Cooper’s name. Nearby lay Captain Tod’s horse, Rosencranz, large, grey and beautiful even in death.

Cellar at the Carter House
Cellar at the Carter House

 

Nathan Morris, Captain of Litter bearers, Mr. Lawrence and Mr. L.M. Bailey of Alabama moved Captain Tod into what was left of the family room, wrecked by war.

The regimental surgeon Dr. Deering Roberts probed for a bullet in Tod’s skull while his young nieces Alice Adelaide McPhail and Lena Carter held over a candle and small lamp. Despite any efforts of his family and Dr. Roberts, Tod Carter still met death on December 2, 1864, at the young age of only twenty four years-old. Tod died in the front sitting room across the hall from the bedroom where he had been born.

Bullet that killed Tod Carter
Bullet that killed Tod Carter

 

 

Till this day, there have been stories and legends of the battles of this war. Old artifacts of bullets, knives and shells found from the battlefield only confirm these tales. Some say you can still hear the gunfire in the Tennessee hills where Captain Carter charged upon the Union Army, taking many lives and giving his own. Some stories say you can hear his horse Rosencranz galloping in the woods on the old Carter farm, reliving the battle time and time again.

🕯️ Dig Deeper Into the Darkness 🕯️

Videos, podcasts, deep-dive reads, first-hand accounts, books, and a map — everything you need to keep chasing this haunting.

🎬 Ghost Videos From Across the Paranormal Universe

Fellow ghost hunters have investigated places like this. Watch their findings:

🗺️ Haunt It Yourself — On The Map

Here’s where Tod Carter, A Civil War Ghost Story – Franklin, Tennessee sits on the map. Zoom in, plan your visit — if you dare.

Open in Google Maps →

Iowa, Mid-West Ghost Stories
 

Silhouettes in the House – Iowa City, Iowa

As a child, I used to live in a country house in Iowa. Contrary to what people believe, the house wasn’t that old. It was built in a short while after my birth, since my parent’s old house burned down completely, by unknown causes. I remember I was about six or seven years old, and seeing figures around the house, at night, was something regular. I always think if that was my rich imagination, or those figures were real.

Scary Old Farm House - Iowa City, Iowa
Scary Old Farm House – Iowa City, Iowa

Even though my parents never mentioned anything about it, I could tell the house was haunted. I was very young, but I knew something was not right. Me and my sister were too afraid to sleep in our room, even if we shared one and were never alone. We preferred a couch in one end of the living room because it only had a short hallway to the room of our parents. But in the close vicinity of the sofa was the dining hall. I remember falling asleep very hard. I used to sit with my eyes opened until they fell heavy and eventually closed. Growing on a farm made be a not so sensitive girl, so princesses were not on my favorite list. Though, I used to dream about a girl, a beautiful one, dressed in a gorgeous dress, similar to a wedding dress. She used to dance all the time, and it seemed she tried to talk to me in the dream. Her expression was always sad, even if she appeared to be dancing and having fun.

Ghost of a Little Girl
Ghost of a Little Girl

So as I was trying to fall asleep, my eyes were set on the direction of the dining room. I saw multiple figures there, of very different colors. They weren’t white, or black. They had bright colors or pink, yellow and blue. One in particular was gray, and I could tell it was wearing a top hat. One of them had a big dress, but except for that and the one with the top hat, I couldn’t tell the how the other figures were. There were very many, walking around the small dining room. They never stepped out from the space. Just a couple of smaller figures used to run on the stairs, running up and down and entered the bathroom. I thought back then that this was an ordinary sight to see at night. But now, that I live in a regular house, which is not haunted, I can tell that wasn’t something usual.

After me and my sister grew, my mother finally talked to us about the things we’ve seen. Although we never mentioned anything about it. She told me one of the figures, with the large dress, was the bride. Seen from a distance, she appeared rather beautiful, with a long hair of brown color. She resembled very much with the princess I used to have in my dreams. But seen up close, she was very frightening. Her face was ugly and looked like an evil skull. I get shivers up my spine each time I think of it. And I never told anyone about this yet. Then, there were the little children, the figures playing on the stairs. Mother told us that even grandmother used to see them exactly in the same spot, each time she came to visit. She used to describe the sittings exactly how we used to see them, in spite of never telling mom the things we witnessed at night. So I don’t think they were telling lies.

Ghost of a Bride
Ghost of a Bride

There was a story about our house, which mother told us. It was believed that houses like the one we lived in, and which had an intense ghost activity, were some portals to the other world. The house was also placed on an ancient Indian burial ground, so it makes sense why so many ghosts were present in our home. Mother used to believe that the portal was inside my sister’s room. Because each time she would close the door of the closet, it started trembling and shaking, like someone or something was forcing its way out. A lot of activities were present in that room, and it was pretty scary too. But eventually, mom realized the portal was in the dining hall. No wonder, since there were so many ghosts there every night. Again, mother made this conclusion without us telling her that we saw those figures there every night. Our house was very populated by those spirits, so I guess anyone living there could tell it was haunted. Our faith in God was the one holding us together.

We moved out of the house and today I live in a regular house, without any activity of that kind. Growing up in that environment made me got used to the things I experienced in the house, during my childhood. But now I realize it wasn’t normal at all, and that we had a severe case of ghost haunting. I am thankful that the spirits didn’t want to do us harm.

🕯️ Dig Deeper Into the Darkness 🕯️

Videos, podcasts, deep-dive reads, first-hand accounts, books, and a map — everything you need to keep chasing this haunting.

🎬 Ghost Videos From Across the Paranormal Universe

Fellow ghost hunters have investigated places like this. Watch their findings:

🎙️ Paranormal Podcasts On This Case

Voices from the paranormal podcast underground digging into this story:

🗺️ Haunt It Yourself — On The Map

Here’s where Silhouettes in the House – Iowa City, Iowa sits on the map. Zoom in, plan your visit — if you dare.

Open in Google Maps →

Kansas, Mid-West Ghost Stories
 

Stull Cemetery – Stull, Kansas

Located along the Great Plains, in the North East corner of Kansas lies the small town of Stull. With a population of less than 2,000, Stull is one of the smaller towns in all of Kansas. However, small Stull may seem, the town is renowned for being home to, what some people consider to be, one of the gates of hell.

Stull Cemetery Graves
Stull Cemetery Graves

Built in 1861, Stull Evangelical Church was funded by the members of the community. For decades the church and cemetery represented a primary assembly for many of Stull’s residents. It wasn’t until 1974 when a newspaper article from Kansas State University revealed the haunting legend of biblical proportions. It is said that the Stull Church is one of the only places on earth where the devil himself materializes several times a year. The spirits of those resting, whom died a violently, are said to roam the grounds with the devil during the Spring Equinox and Halloween. Students have reported “supernatural happenings” such as being touched by beings that were unseen, and others have experienced sudden recollections, or memory losses while visiting the grounds.

Stull Cemetery and Graveyards
Stull Cemetery and Graves

Many attribute the origination of the story to the witchcraft practices and black magic of pagans in the region. According to legend, these pagans summoned the presence of spirits which would haunt the territory for eternity. Contrary to popular belief, the town Stull is actually said to be derived from “skull” which legend holds was the original title of the location.

Stull Cemetery Building
Stull Cemetery Building

Others say that the devil makes his presence there because of a horrible tragedy which occurred in the 1870s. It is depicted that a hand at the local stable violently murdered the mayor of the settlement by stabbing him to death. In turn the stable was constructed into a church, where the inhabitants would gather for worship.

The legend of the Stull Cemetery has not gone unheard either. Pope John Paul II, while flying over the region, specifically requested for his plane not to pass over “the unholy ground”. Nevertheless, those residing in Stull Kansas continue to believe that these ghost stories are mere creations of youth and college students. Many inhabitants deny there ever being a community of witchcraft practicing pagans. However, if one considers that the inhabitants currently residing in Stull are descendants of these earlier settlers, there may be a reason why they continue to deny these unnatural occurrences.

Road Closed at Stull Cemetery
Road Closed at Stull Cemetery

As the rumors of the Devil’s presence continued to anger the citizens of Stull, some decided to take the matters into their own hands. Following an increased attraction of media coverage, Major Weiss, the proprietor of the grounds, mysteriously destroyed the old stone church. On one hand he claims that he did it because the structure attracted vandals onto his land. On the other hand, he might have been destroying what he thought to be one of the last passageways to hell. In any event, visitors from all over the country continue to attend the Stull Cemetery on Halloween. With no sightings of supernatural occurrences, some have completely abandoned the tales. However, the devil may only make his presence known to those he himself deems worthy of such an event; and who would expect them to speak up?

Demon at Stull Cemetery

🕯️ Dig Deeper Into the Darkness 🕯️

Videos, podcasts, deep-dive reads, first-hand accounts, books, and a map — everything you need to keep chasing this haunting.

🎬 Ghost Videos From Across the Paranormal Universe

Fellow ghost hunters have investigated places like this. Watch their findings:

🎙️ Paranormal Podcasts On This Case

Voices from the paranormal podcast underground digging into this story:

🎙️ Kansas – Stull Cemetery

Haunted American History · 2024-11-04

🎙️ Stull Cemetery's Hell Gate – Girl In White

The Haunted Estate with CelinaSpookyBoo · 2016-06-15

🗺️ Haunt It Yourself — On The Map

Here’s where Stull Cemetery – Stull, Kansas sits on the map. Zoom in, plan your visit — if you dare.

Open in Google Maps →

Connecticut, New England Ghost Stories
 

The Mystery of Phelps Mansion – Stratford, Connecticut

Stratford is similar to a lot of towns in New England. It has a scenic sea front, a busy central street and at one time had a haunted house.

It was referred to as the Phelps Mansion, and was initially owned by George R. Dowell, who was a rich captain of a clipper ship. Starting from 1826 to 1849, Dowell and his spouse resided there happily until they passed on.

At this juncture the Reverend Phelps purchased the sophisticated mansion and shifted here with his family. Mrs. Phelps came from Philadelphia and was somehow taken aback at Stratford. She found it hard to get used to life in this small town.

Old Photo of Phelps Mansion Exterior
Old Photo of Phelps Mansion Exterior

However, despite this, everything was very peaceful. That is, until 10th March, 1850.

Strange Happenings

On this specific Sunday, Reverend Phelps and family came back from Sabbath and found their house in total disarray. Furniture was thrown helter skelter and lay in broken pieces. Cutlery lay scattered all over the floor.

The most disturbing discovery was different articles of women clothes in the main parlor which had taken a human shape. News spread fast and hoards of reporters and spiritualists set up camp in the exterior of the house, hoping to catch a glimpse of the apparitions.

Interior Stairway inside of Phelps Mansion
Interior Stairway inside of Phelps Mansion

In the months that followed, voices and knocking was heard throughout the house and weird writing appeared on walls mysteriously. Objects also flew from one end of the room to another.

Different Theories

Theories on what was happening thrived. One spiritualist stated that important radiation coming from Phelps’s son who was 11 years old, made things fly across the room.

Reporters were doubtful even at this time and concluded that the haunting was a big hoax set up by Mrs. Phelps and the kids, as they were all disappointed with Stratford’s slow pace.

Even the history of the city describes it this way. In October of the same year when Mrs. Phelps and her children returned to Philadelphia, the haunting continued.

However, the story continues…

Years Later

Many years passed, owners changed and everything was calm on Elm Street. Then, about a century after the horrifying events, Carl Caserta and his spouse bought the Phelps’ mansion in 1947 and transformed it to a convalescence home. It was while they were owners that the supernatural came back to Stratford.

Mrs Caserta was carrying out chores in the basement one evening, soon after putting her baby son to bed, when the buzzer sounded. After the Casertas carried out renovations on the house, they installed buzzers on every floor to enable the residents to call for help.

Drawing of Phelps Mansion
Drawing of Phelps Mansion

When she heard the buzzing, Mrs. Caserta ran upstairs and did not find anyone who had rung for her on the initial two floors which were occupied by residents.

When approaching the third floor however, which was occupied by her and her family, she smelt smoke and rushed into her son’s bedroom. She found a blanket ablaze, which she had put over his bed.

Fast, she put out the flames and was overcome by emotion. But, who had rung the buzzer. The staff was with her, the patients, who were elderly, were all sleeping in their beds and it was not possible for her son to reach it.

Some years later, a similar occurrence took place when her son who was sleep-walking tried to leap from the landing on the third floor. He would have done so, had the phantom buzzer not sounded, prompting Mrs. Caserta to stop him.

The Casertas were unable to discover why the buzzer sounded, saving the life of their young son two times. Maybe the answer was hidden inside those walls, but it will never be available to us.

In 1972, this house was a victim of the wrecking ball. Nowadays, a parking lot encompasses the plot where the Phelps’ Mansion once stood.

However, the mystery continues…

🕯️ Dig Deeper Into the Darkness 🕯️

Videos, podcasts, deep-dive reads, first-hand accounts, books, and a map — everything you need to keep chasing this haunting.

🎬 Ghost Videos From Across the Paranormal Universe

Fellow ghost hunters have investigated places like this. Watch their findings:

🎙️ Paranormal Podcasts On This Case

Voices from the paranormal podcast underground digging into this story:

🎙️ The Phelps Mansion Voices: The Stratford Knockings of 1850, American Hauntings

The Whispering Woods : Real Life Ghost & Paranormal Stories · 2026-02-03

🗺️ Haunt It Yourself — On The Map

Here’s where The Mystery of Phelps Mansion – Stratford, Connecticut sits on the map. Zoom in, plan your visit — if you dare.

Open in Google Maps →

Colorado, Rocky Mountain Ghost Stories
 

Brown Palace Hotel – Denver, Colorado

There isn’t a hotel in the world, no matter how grand, that hasn’t had an unwanted or unwelcome guest at one time or another.

The Brown Palace Hotel, in Denver Colorado is a pretty grand place, and has been since 1892 when it was built by Henry Cordes Brown as his response to being denied entry to the Windsor Hotel; at the time Denver’s most renowned establishment, for being improperly dressed; he had come straight from his ranch and was still wearing his working cowboy attire.

Brown Palace Hotel Entrance

The hotel hasn’t closed for so much as a single day since it opened, and it has been the site of everything from the sublime to the ridiculous in that time.

It was here that the Denver Broncos were born; in the lobby of the hotel a prize bull was exhibited; it has been host to Presidents and rock stars and has taken everything the world has to throw at it, while still retaining its reputation as one of the finest hotels in Colorado, if not the entire United States.

However, even here there have been…and still are…a few unusual guests.

Socialite Ghost of Brown Palace Hotel

Room 904 was home to a famous Denver socialite for some 15 years, between 1940 and 1955. She was so well known that when the hotel started to offer tours to visitors, the room was included in the itinerary, with tourists being told of her life and her heartbreak over a lost love.

At just this time the switchboard started to receive calls from room 904. Nothing odd about that…except that the room was undergoing renovation at the time, and had no telephone line, no furniture and of course no-one in residence.

The hotel dropped the room and its tragic resident’s story from their tour, and the calls stopped.

With such a long and colourful history, the Brown palace has had its share of incident, and maybe some of the shades of its past still linger.

ghost of brown palace walking down stairs

There have been sightings of a man in an old-fashioned train conductor’s uniform crossing a hallway, then disappearing through a wall. The spot where this is reported used to house a railroad ticket office.

The service elevator is regularly occupied by a uniformed waiter, who is never seen to board the car or to leave it.

Children play in empty halls, and an infant can sometimes be heard crying in the boiler room.

Haunted Hallway at Brown Palace Hotel

And in the main dining room – now known as Ellyngton’s, but for many years called the San Marco room; a room which played host to big bands, and later to the San Marco Strings, who entertained diners and guests, a staff member recounts hearing strange noises coming from behind the closed doors of the room late at night. He went to investigate and found a formally dressed string quartet busy practising their repertoire.

He challenged them, saying “You’re not supposed to be in here”, and was given the reply “Oh, don’t worry about us. We live here”

The Brown Palace really is a wonderful hotel, full of wonderful stories and history and perhaps more than a few unexpected guests.

Atrium Interior of Brown Palace
Atrium Interior of Brown Palace

🕯️ Dig Deeper Into the Darkness 🕯️

Videos, podcasts, deep-dive reads, first-hand accounts, books, and a map — everything you need to keep chasing this haunting.

🎬 Ghost Videos From Across the Paranormal Universe

Fellow ghost hunters have investigated places like this. Watch their findings:

🎙️ Paranormal Podcasts On This Case

Voices from the paranormal podcast underground digging into this story:

🗺️ Haunt It Yourself — On The Map

Here’s where Brown Palace Hotel – Denver, Colorado sits on the map. Zoom in, plan your visit — if you dare.

Open in Google Maps →

Alabama, Southern Ghost Stories
 

Pickens County Courthouse (the Face of Henry Wells) – Carrollton, Alabama

History is what makes a cities character and government buildings are a major part of history.  Almost every city features sculptures and monuments but Carrollton’s courthouse has something really special to add to it’s character.  The Pickens County Courthouse in Carrollton has an unforgettable monument of freedom thanks to “The Lightning Portrait of Henry Wells.”

Front Side of the Pickens County Courthouse
Front Side of the Pickens County Courthouse

All locals know the story of Wells.  Wells was a former slave and was accused of burning the old original Pickens County Courthouse to the ground.  Wells was arrested two-years later.  At the time of Well’s arrest the courthouse had no jail cells and Wells was locked in the garret of the new courthouse.  A group of locals had caught wind that Wells had been arrested and created a mob just outside the courthouse.  The mob’s intent was to lynch Wells but little did they know,  god had another plan in store for Mr. Wells.
Wells heard the mob outside and peered out the garret window to see what was going on.  As Wells was peering out the window a bolt of lightning struck nearby and permanently etched the terrified expression of his face into a windowpane.  The spine-tingling bolt of lightning also broke up the lynch mob, saving Wells from immediate death. However, Wells met his death less than a couple of months later due to “wounds received while attempting to escape”.  You don’t have to be too smart to figure out what really happened there.

The photo etched by lightning can still be seen today but only from the outside. There is an arrow now bolted to the brick wall, three floors up, which directs you to the phenomenon of his face.

The Ghost of Henry Wells - The face in the window
Henry Wells, a ghost face sketched into an old window pane

One local was quoted in saying that  “Through all the years, in spite of hail and storm, which has destroyed all the windows in the courthouse, this one pane has remained intact. It has been scrubbed with soap and rubbed with gasoline by those who doubt its permanence, but it has met every test and the face remains unchanged.  At close range the pane looks clear and flawless, but viewed from the ground where once gathered an angry mob, the fear-distorted face of Henry Wells can be clearly seen!”.

Pickens County Courthouse Historic Marker for the Ghost of Henry Wells
Pickens County Courthouse Historic Marker for the Ghost of Henry Wells

 

The face is now over a century old and on the 130th anniversary of the “Face in the Window”,  it passed without any type of recognition by the locals, apparenlty they don’t find the face to be too flattering to their city, however others think it is indeed a remarkable phenomenon.  A clerk town said, “I don’t think anybody took the time to realize that it’s been 130 years”.  “We just know it’s there.” The clerk also said that, regardless of reports they’d received from nervous tipsters, the Courthouse was never threatened with condemnation or demolition. As a matter of fact it was actually being renovated.  Carrollton would never demolish its most famous building, even if it is haunted by the curse of Henry Wells.

Local News Story of the historic window:

🕯️ Dig Deeper Into the Darkness 🕯️

Videos, podcasts, deep-dive reads, first-hand accounts, books, and a map — everything you need to keep chasing this haunting.

🎬 Ghost Videos From Across the Paranormal Universe

Fellow ghost hunters have investigated places like this. Watch their findings:

🎙️ Paranormal Podcasts On This Case

Voices from the paranormal podcast underground digging into this story:

🗺️ Haunt It Yourself — On The Map

Here’s where Pickens County Courthouse (the Face of Henry Wells) – Carrollton, Alabama sits on the map. Zoom in, plan your visit — if you dare.

Open in Google Maps →

California, Pacific Coast Ghost Stories
 

A ‘Modern’ American Soldier Ghost Story

We knew right from the start that Johnny was going to be a soldier. Even as a child, all his concentration was on the military. So we weren’t surprised when he joined the Marines right out of high school.

Johnny excelled in his chosen career. He was so happy to be serving his country. I could see it in his face every time he came home on leave. He was itching to get into some “real action”, something that – as a mother – frightened me. He was my only son, and I didn’t want to lose him. But he was also a grown man with a wife and a baby on the way. I was very proud of the way he was living his life.

Then came the terrible day in September when everything in our world changed. I knew as soon as I saw events unfolding on the television that Johnny was going to get the action he craved. And I started praying: “Please God, keep him safe.”

Johnny went to the Middle East and I started sending weekly care packages and checking my email several times a day. The tone of his communications was always cheerful, if a little strained. He was in danger many times, but somehow he always made it through unscathed, although he lost a few friends along the way. This deepened him and I saw a new maturity in my son that made an already proud mother even prouder.

My relief was intense when Johnny came home. I ran to him and almost knocked him over in my excitement when he stepped out of the car. He hugged me tightly, and then reached into the backseat to remove his little daughter from her car seat and show her off to us.

I tried to conceal my fear when he told us a few months later that he would be going back to the Middle East. But Johnny knew me pretty well. On his last leave before deployment, he took my hand, kissed me on the cheek, and said: “I love you, Mom. We’ll be together again real soon.” I held back the tears until he was gone. Then I wept like a child.

Johnny’s emails on this trip were sporadic and his tone was grim. Things were tough over there, although he did not say much about it. He just spoke of little things like the rapid growth of his beautiful girl and the many activities of the wonderful woman who was her mother and his wife. After he’d been gone nearly a year, Johnny started making plans for his return home. He thought he might make it home in time to celebrate Hannukah with the family, and I clung to that hope with all my strength. My husband and I always made a big fuss over Hanukkah, ever since Johnny was a little boy. The eight-day Festival of Lights commemorates the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by the forces of Antiochus IV and celebrates the “miracle of the container of oil.” According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, which was exactly the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate fresh olive oil. Since that time, the Jewish people have celebrated both victory and miracle each year by kindling the lights of a special candelabrum, the Menorah or Hanukiah, one light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. We read the sacred story, pray special prayers, eat latkes and fruit-filled donuts, play games with our children, give gifts. It is a time of great joy for our family.

When Johnny emailed us the news that it looked like his tour would be extended, I was upset. I had my heart set on us being together for Hanukkah this year, and the news hit me hard. But I kept on smiling, proud of my soldier boy, and only cried once when no one was around. We had my daughter-in-law and granddaughter over on the first night of Hanukkah, and showered them both with food and gifts. If, perhaps, we acted a little too happy, a little too cheerful, well, who could blame us? We were all keenly aware of the beloved one who was missing from the occasion.

Late that night, I awoke from a deep sleep, certain that I had heard Johnny’s voice. “Mom,” Johnny said again. I turned over and blinked in the dim light coming from the streetlamp outside our window. Johnny was standing beside the bed, gazing down on me tenderly. I sat up immediately, my heart beating faster in excitement. Johnny was back. He had come home for Hannukah after all! They must have decided against the tour extension.

“Johnny,” I gasped.

He smiled and sat down beside me, as he had often done when he was little. He took my hand and said: “I want you to know how much I appreciate you and Dad. It couldn’t have been easy, raising a head-strong boy like me, but you did a wonderful job.”

Johnny’s words filled me with a great joy and a terrible fear. The military had sent him home, hadn’t they? (Hadn’t they?!?) Something in his beloved face told me that this was not an ordinary visit. That he hadn’t come home the normal way. My heart thundered in my chest and I began to tremble, dread making my limbs feel heavy. Tears sprang to my eyes, and Johnny gently wiped one away with his finger. “I came to tell you that I am all right,” he said quietly. “Take care of my girls for me.”

“We will,” I managed to say, realizing at last what this visit meant.

“I love you, Mom. We’ll be together again real soon,” Johnny said. He leaned forward, kissed me on the cheek, and then he was gone.

I fell back against the pillows, too stunned even to weep. My husband, who was a heavy sleeper, woke when he felt the bed jerk. He rolled over and mumbled: “Are you all right?”

“Something has happened to Johnny,” I said, too grief-stricken to be tactful. “I think he’s dead.”

My husband jerked awake. “What?!” he exclaimed fearfully. I started sobbing then, and told him about Johnny’s visit. We held each other close for the rest of that long night, waiting for dawn and the news which would surely come with it.

The days following the official notification of Johnny’s death — killed in action in the Middle East — were mind-numbing. I clung to the words my boy had spoken to me in the moments right after he died. Johnny had said he was all right, and I believed him. My son’s body was gone, but his essence, his soul, everything that made him my Johnny was safe and well. And we would be together again real soon.

Source: S. E. Schlosser

http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/07/im_all_right_1.html

 

 

🕯️ Dig Deeper Into the Darkness 🕯️

Videos, podcasts, deep-dive reads, first-hand accounts, books, and a map — everything you need to keep chasing this haunting.

🎬 Ghost Videos From Across the Paranormal Universe

Fellow ghost hunters have investigated places like this. Watch their findings:

🎙️ Paranormal Podcasts On This Case

Voices from the paranormal podcast underground digging into this story:

🎙️ The Soldiers Were Still on Duty | After Midnight

The Grave Talks | Haunted, Paranormal & Supernatural · 2026-07-09

🗺️ Haunt It Yourself — On The Map

Here’s where A ‘Modern’ American Soldier Ghost Story sits on the map. Zoom in, plan your visit — if you dare.

Open in Google Maps →

New England Ghost Stories, New Hampshire
 

The Moultan House – Hampton, NH

1 Comment

If the passing tourist could get a good look at the General Jonathan Moulton house which is practically hidden by trees near where Drakeside road runs off the Lafayette highway in the south part of the village, they would find it a very handsome old mansion and also a very peaceful one. But 150 years ago and more, ghosts were dwelling in it — ghosts of the General and his first wife. They frightened the wits out of the servants in Col Oliver Whipple’s household (he being then the owner); and even before that, there had been a horrible affair in Moulton’s second-wedding night.

Not until the minister came and “laid” the ghosts was there any peace in the place.

Gen Moulton — or Colonel as he was until later life; how he got the “General” title doesn’t seem to be of record — Gen Moulton was a very wealthy man. He was so rich that inevitably the story was told that he had sold his soul to the Devil for gold; and when his house burned down everybody knew that the Devil had done it because Moulton had tried to trick him.

But the General built himself an even finer house (that which stands here now)[212 Lafayette Road] — and his first wife having died in 1775, he married again just a year later.

The wedding was a very gay affair, it seems. Mr. Harland Little, who with his two sisters now lives in the Moulton house, handed me a letter dated Hampton Falls, Sept. 15, 1776. It was written by Nathaniel Weare (son of Gov. Weare of the Weare house, which is still there at Hampton Falls [13 Exeter Road], and is addressed to his brother Lt. Richard, who was with the American forces at Ticonderoga. Richard was afterwards killed, and the letter came back among his possessions.

“I have not much News if any to write you,” began Nathaniel, in the way of letter-writers before and after him. “except that the Privateers continue to bring prizes from the West Indies bound to England. Col Moulton was married last week to Miss Sally Emery; had the honours of being at their Wedding which frolick lasted three days. . .”

Even while the gentry frolicked, the townsfolk talked — whispering that it was mighty suspicious about the first wife’s death . . . and now here he was marrying this handsome young woman. (The fact seems to be that he was 50 and she about 35.)

Continue reading →

Haunted Places
 

Exploring The Eerie Side To Edinburgh

A tumultuous past of the Black Plague and barbaric executions are rumoured to still haunt present day Edinburgh, and the more daring visitors to the city can find out for themselves. If you take yourself on an alternative tour of the city – searching for ghosts instead of the usual sights – then who knows what you might find?

Edinburgh Castle is a landmark that is frequently associated with the city and is also one of the many buildings that has a darker side associated with it. Deep below the foundations of the castle a series of tunnels run to the Royal mile, Edinburgh’s High Street, and reportedly all the way down the Royal Mile to Holyrood Palace.

When the tunnels were initially discovered many years ago, a piper was sent down to investigate where they led to. The idea was for the piper to play his music as he walked along the underground tunnel, so those on the street above could track his progress and discover where the tunnels eventually ended.

Halfway along the tunnel the piper could no longer be heard, so a rescue party was sent down to investigate. It is reported the piper had vanished from sight, as there was no trace of him to be found; although it is alleged that to this day you can on occasion, hear his haunting tune as his ghost continues to walk along the tunnel.

Edinburgh Castle and The Royal Mile are found in the Old Town, the main area to concentrate on if spooky sightings are what you’re after. In the 18th century the Old Town became barely habitable due to overcrowding. As a result, the local council began development of the New Town which lies on the northerly side of the city.

Access between the Old Town and New Town was obviously important, therefore bridges were built to provide access; both of which still stand today and are appropriately named North Bridge and South Bridge.

The area beneath South Bridge was excavated when the bridge was built to make chambers and rooms, now known as The Edinburgh Vaults. The vaults were used mostly by local merchants and craftsmen to store their wares. Families also lived in some of the rooms but with no sunlight, ventilation or waste disposal the conditions were far from desirable and disease quickly spread.

The vaults were then blocked off and literally forgotten about until many years later. Fast forward two hundred years and excavations in the area uncovered these long forgotten vaults and the history that unfolded within them. Regarded as one of the most haunted areas of Edinburgh, the vaults should definitely be on your list of things to see – if you fancy a peek at the paranormal side of the city.

Guided tours and walks of the vaults are a popular attraction for tourists and residents alike and offer a rare glimpse of underground Edinburgh. And if you are unsure of where to start then many of the Edinburgh hotels should provide leaflets and further information on the tours and walks available.

Victoria Cochrane writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.

🕯️ Dig Deeper Into the Darkness 🕯️

Videos, podcasts, deep-dive reads, first-hand accounts, books, and a map — everything you need to keep chasing this haunting.

🎬 Ghost Videos From Across the Paranormal Universe

Fellow ghost hunters have investigated places like this. Watch their findings:

🎙️ Paranormal Podcasts On This Case

Voices from the paranormal podcast underground digging into this story:

🗺️ Haunt It Yourself — On The Map

Here’s where Exploring The Eerie Side To Edinburgh sits on the map. Zoom in, plan your visit — if you dare.

Open in Google Maps →

Haunted Places
 

Meet the Ghosts of Chicago’s Bachelor’s Grove

2 Comments

By Michael Kleen

Bachelor’s Grove in the southwest Chicago suburb of Midlothian has been an enigma for over three decades, but like most such locations, it started out with a mundane existence.  Over one hundred years ago, picnickers dressed in their Sunday best lounged under oak trees in the park-like atmosphere of the cemetery.  Two of the grove’s neighbors heated their small homes with coal burning stoves and drew water out of their brick wells, while horse drawn buggies trotted down the dirt road.  It was a much different scene from today.

Much of the origins of Bachelor’s Grove have been obscured by the passage of time.  Even its name is a mystery.  Some say it was named after a group of single men who settled in the area around the 1830s, but a family named Batchelder already owned the land.  According to Ursula Bielski, author of Chicago Haunts, the cemetery itself was originally named Everdon’s.  Its first burial was in 1844, and the cemetery eventually contained eighty-two plots.

In the early half of the twentieth century, the Midlothian Turnpike ran past the cemetery, over the stream, and beyond.  Today, the broken road appears to end at the cemetery gates, but closer inspection of a long ridge across from the stream reveals a roadbed that has been nearly reclaimed by the forest.  The road was closed in the 1960s.  Locals say that was when the trouble started.

According to the Chicago Tribune’s Jason George, the body of a teenage girl was found in the woods in 1966, and in 1988 a man, who had been murdered by a former girlfriend, was found in the cemetery.  Aside from those gruesome incidents, grave desecration regularly occurred.  Bodies were dug up, animals were sacrificed, and headstones were moved or stolen.

Then the ghosts came.

One of the most controversial sightings involved a phantom house.  In the 1970s, Richard T. Crowe, a local ghost enthusiast, collected stories from dozens of eyewit-nesses who claimed to have seen a white farmhouse complete with a glowing light in the window at various places in the woods alongside the trail.  However, “there is no house on the property, nor anywhere near the site,” Ursula Bielski wrote.  “No property records exist to suggest that there ever was.” (Haunts, pg. 59)  She does mention that “most anyone familiar with the area will offer to show you the foundations of a house that they claim did exist.” (Haunts, pg. 61)

“Claim” is an interesting choice of words, since there are in fact two separate foundations, one east of the cemetery and one west of it.  Although the two are hidden in plain sight, both of them are very real.  As www.bachelors grove.com has well documented, there also exists two wells near these foundations.  Hundreds of visitors have probably seen these and later reported them as “houses.”  Time and imagination took care of the rest.

Another popular ghost is the White Lady, or Madonna, of Bachelor’s Grove.  Cemeteries in the Chicagoland area are overpopulated with these women, who are almost always searching for their lost infants.  Bachelor’s Grove contains a monument to an unnamed ‘infant daughter,’ which has become a shrine for visitors and adds fuel to the story.  This ghost, or one very much like it, was supposedly captured on a now famous photograph taken using infrared film.  Unfortunately, the “ghost” in the picture casts a shadow on the headstone she sits upon, suggesting that she is not very transparent; at least not in the way ghosts tend to be.

Visitors also commonly report seeing orbs or ghost lights, a staple of haunted locations everywhere.  These bright will o’ the wisps are patriotic, appearing in red, white, and blue colors.  Although I have been to the cemetery nearly a dozen times, I have yet to see one.

The pond adjacent to the cemetery has its own share of legends.  Stories say it was one of the hundreds of places scattered around Illinois where mobsters dumped their victims during the roaring ‘20s.  One of these victims apparently grew a second head and has been known to crawl out of the water.  Lastly, a number of years ago a policeman reportedly saw the apparition of a horse, followed by a man and a plow, walk out of the pond and cross 143rd Street.  The ghost is said to belong to a farmer who drowned in the pond when his horse decided to take a swim one day.

Disappearing cars, sometimes sleek, black 1920s and 30s style, or the sounds of car doors slamming, have been reported along that stretch of 143rd Street.  Richard T. Crowe has written that he personally witnessed two of these phantom automobiles.
Although the number of visitors to Bachelor’s Grove has declined, and vandalism has trickled off (there isn’t much left to vandalize), the curious still routinely travel to Midlothian to snap pictures, leave cryptic notes, or place offerings at the stone of the infant daughter.

If you are in the area, check it out. Parking is available at the Forest Preserve across the street, but it is closed after dark – no exceptions. For more information on Bachelor’s Grove, and other haunted locations around Illinois, visit The Legends and Lore of Illinois.

Michael Kleen earned a master’s degree in American history from Eastern Illinois University in 2008. He is the author of several books, including Tales of Coles County, Illinois; Six Tales of Terror; and One Voice. Michael has spoken on local history and folklore at Teapot’s Café in Beecher, Charleston Middle School, and the 2007 Conference on Illinois History in Springfield. He has appeared on Joliet Paranormal Radio, AM-1050 WLIP, and has written several articles for Paranormal Underground magazine and KILTER – the journal of Gothic Art Chicago. He is also the publisher of Black Oak Presents, a quarterly digital journal of Middle American art and culture.

🕯️ Dig Deeper Into the Darkness 🕯️

Videos, podcasts, deep-dive reads, first-hand accounts, books, and a map — everything you need to keep chasing this haunting.

🎬 Ghost Videos From Across the Paranormal Universe

Fellow ghost hunters have investigated places like this. Watch their findings:

🎙️ Paranormal Podcasts On This Case

Voices from the paranormal podcast underground digging into this story:

🗺️ Haunt It Yourself — On The Map

Here’s where Meet the Ghosts of Chicago’s Bachelor’s Grove sits on the map. Zoom in, plan your visit — if you dare.

Open in Google Maps →

Haunted Places
 

Haunted Lighthouses – New London Ledge Lighthouse

Located at the mouth of the Thames River, entrance to New London Harbor, Connecticut at the eastern end of Long Island Sound sits the New London Ledge Lighthouse. Built in 1909 on the Southwest Ledge, the lighthouse was originally called the Southwest Ledge Light, but to avoid confusion with another lighthouse in New Haven, the Southwest Ledge Light, the lighthouse was renamed to New London Ledge Light in 1910.


This lighthouse itself is a unique, one-of-a-kind structure with square red brick quarters topped with a mansard roof (a French type of roof designed to make maximum use of the interior space of the attic) and a circular lantern room. To appease the residents who didnt want to gaze upon an eyesore sitting in the sea, the lighthouse was built in Colonial and French architectural style in order to blend in with the large and historic homes on the shores.


The lighthouse was finally built after a half-century of petitions requesting an offshore lighthouse – the first one in 1845 – from mariners and residents stating the dangers to maritime traffic in the area due to the inadequcy of the four buoys in the harbor and the The New London Harbor Lighthouse on the shore. The Lighthouse Board detailed the inherent dangers to maritime traffic at New London to Congress in 1902 and 1903 and requested funds for constructing a lighthouse. The construction was completed in 1909. The United States Coast Guard officially took over the care of the lighthouse in 1939 and still keeps an eye on the place. Most of the stories of the ghostly lightkeeper have come from the Coast Guard crews manning the lighthouse.


New London Ledge is locally famous for the ghost nicknamed Ernie who allegedly haunts the lighthouse. The famous ghost legend Ernie was a lightkeeper supposedly jumped to his death from the roof of the lighthouse after learning that his wife ran off with the captain of the Block Island Ferry in 1936.


Ernie is said to make his presence known by opening and closing doors, washing the decks, operating the light and fog signal, and untying secured boats to let them drift away. Before the station was automated, Coast Guard crews on duty reported frequently hearing mysterious knocks on their bedroom doors in the middle of the night, doors opening and closing, the television being turned on and off repeatedly, and covers pulled off the end of their bed.


The New London Ledge Lighthouse was the last remaining manned lighthouse on Long Island Sound when it was finally automated in 1987. Since then, reports of Ernie’s visits have dramatically decreased, most likely because there is hardly ever anyone there. This seems to be a relief to those who were stuck manning the light house. The final day of manned operation shows a log entry reading, “A Rock of slow torture. Ernie’s domain. Hell on earth. May New London Ledge’s light shine on forever because I’m through. I will watch it from afar while drinking a brew.”


There have been investigations at the lighthouse. In the late ’90s, a TV reporter from Japan spent a night inside the lighthouse to investigate the story of Ernie, and loud whispering noises were heard through the night, audible on camera. The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), who have become known by their series “Ghost Hunters” on the Sci-Fi Channel, investigated the place in 2005 but made no significant observations.


Today, the lighthouse is leased by the Coast Guard to the New London Ledge Lighthouse Foundation, partly funded by the City of New London. The lighthouse is used as a maritime classroom, while the Coast Guard continues to maintain the automated light. The group plans to eventually open the lighthouse as a museum and may offer overnight accommodations.

Denise Villani is an author and the webmaster of several websites and article directories. Find more articles and information on haunted stuff by visiting
HauntedStuff.net.

🕯️ Dig Deeper Into the Darkness 🕯️

Videos, podcasts, deep-dive reads, first-hand accounts, books, and a map — everything you need to keep chasing this haunting.

🎬 Ghost Videos From Across the Paranormal Universe

Fellow ghost hunters have investigated places like this. Watch their findings:

🎙️ Paranormal Podcasts On This Case

Voices from the paranormal podcast underground digging into this story:

🎙️ The Cage | The Witch's Prison That Has Driven Every Owner to the Brink of Madness!

Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories · 2026-03-23

🎙️ Ep. 164 – Ledge Lighthouse and the Lighthouse Inn

History Goes Bump: Ghost Tours For The Mind · 2016-11-16

🗺️ Haunt It Yourself — On The Map

Here’s where Haunted Lighthouses – New London Ledge Lighthouse sits on the map. Zoom in, plan your visit — if you dare.

Open in Google Maps →

Haunted Places
 

Haunted Houses of Maryland

Rich with tales of civil war apparitions and ghosts of former hospital patients, Maryland is a state that has a colorful paranormal history. Today we’ll focus on just a few of the homes that have earned the ghastly reputation of being haunted -in case you’re in market for some haunted real estate of your own.

The first stop on our tour is the Paint Branch Home in the city of Adelphi, which is currently being used as a retirement home. A former slave house, the spirits that haunt the estate don’t appear to be violent, but have been known to linger around bedrooms and fill the house with their singing. Songs of the dead can be bone chilling indeed!

Next up is the abandoned mansion on Asylum Road in Catonsville. Whispers and loud noises can be heard from inside in the house, even though the property has been vacant for many years. Some have even claimed to see people walking around the yard, only to disappear into the ether a moment later.

In Ellicott City, Oak Lawn is a stone house that dates back nearly two hundred years. Reports of paranormal activity include disembodied footsteps, flickering lights, and the smell of food cooking. Due to the ghost’s penchant for food, he became known as the Cooking Ghost, and has become a regular fixture on the property.

Also in Ellicott is a home known as Lilburn. It’s reputed to be one of the most haunted places in the state of Maryland. There’s constant speculation as to who is actually haunting the home, as a number of people have died on the premises. Inexplicable noises, windows refusing to stay shut, and strong odors in empty rooms are just a few of the happenings reported by witnesses. One of the staff members in the house also claimed to have seen the ghostly figures of a man and a girl wandering around, as well as hearing a child’s cry coming from one of the rooms.

In the unincorporated town of Urbana, Landon House has become particularly famous for its resident ghost dogs. In the early days of the house, a large number of dogs died in the basement area, leaving behind panicked scratch marks on the walls and unsettled spiritual energy. The dogs have been heard barking by a number of witnesses over the years, with no rational explanation. In addition to the dogs, the apparition of a friendly female spirit has been spotted on the estate, as well as the specter of a Civil War officer.

In Perryman, the legend of the Perryman Mansion has grown over the years thanks to its remote location and imposing demeanor. It hasn’t been lived in for a number of years, and has fallen into an advanced state of disrepair. Common reports include mysterious voices, horrible stenches, and collections of animal bones both in and outside the house.

Finally, visitors to Towson’s Hampton Mansion have heard glass and china breaking, as well as the crashing of chandeliers, where no objects could be found. A former butler has also been seen roaming around the house from time to time, apparently unaware that he’s long since been discharged from his position.

The Koitz Group offers elite real estate services in the greater Bethesda/Chevy Chase and Washington DC area (and they have a website that covers it all!). Visit the Koitz Group’s Bethesda MD Real Estate guide or the luxury homes in Potomac guide, packed full of information, search tools, and links to other fine neighborhoods in the DC Metro area.

🕯️ Dig Deeper Into the Darkness 🕯️

Videos, podcasts, deep-dive reads, first-hand accounts, books, and a map — everything you need to keep chasing this haunting.

🎬 Ghost Videos From Across the Paranormal Universe

Fellow ghost hunters have investigated places like this. Watch their findings:

🎙️ Paranormal Podcasts On This Case

Voices from the paranormal podcast underground digging into this story:

🎙️ RotL PF – E6 – War Never Changes

Recallers of the Lost Pathfinder – A TTRPG Campaign · 2025-07-03

🎙️ Haunted Maryland & Some Laughs😂

True Ghost Stories From Real People · 2018-09-18

🎙️ Episode 13

Spit Talking · 2021-02-04

🗺️ Haunt It Yourself — On The Map

Here’s where Paint Branch Home sits on the map. Zoom in, plan your visit — if you dare.

Open in Google Maps →

🏚️ More Hauntings Nearby

These spirits have been spotted in the same region…