Haunted Salem

Where The Dead Educate The Living

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Are these stories for entertainment or real? Like the “Treem elementary indecent?”

they are real paranormal stories

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The Last Words of 30 Famous Serial Killers

Some killers have offered sincere apologies for the heinous offenses they committed. Others’ final words were filled with anger and resentment, while some seemed indifferent. A few of the most interesting final words are quizzically strange rantings.

What are the last words of some of the most famous serial slayers? The last words on this list come from the mouths of some of the most heinous, dangerous people in human history.

James French

“Hey, fellas! How about this for a headline for tomorrow’s paper? ‘French Fries.'” (August 10, 1966)

James French has the distinction of being the last person to be executed in Oklahoma, via electric chair

Carl Panzram

“Hurry up, you Hoosier bastard. I could kill 10 men while you’re fooling around.” (September 5, 1930)

Peter Kurten

“Tell me. After my head has been chopped off, will I still be able to hear, at least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck? That would be a pleasure to end all pleasures.” (July 2, 1931)

Peter Kurten, AKA “The Vampire of Dusseldorf,” drank the blood of at least one person.

John Wayne Gacy

Kiss My Ass (May 10, 1994)

Thomas J. Grasso

“I did not get my Spaghetti O’s. I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this.” (March 20, 1995)

Tom Ketchum

“I’ll be in Hell before you start breakfast, boys. Let her rip.” (April 26, 1901)

Jeffery Dahmer 

“I don’t care if I live or die. Go ahead and kill me.” (Novemer 28, 1994)

H.H. Holmes 

“Take your time. Don’t bungle it.” (May 7, 1896)

Dr. H.H. Holmes was one of the first American serial killers.

Albert Fish 

“I don’t even know why I’m here.” (January 16, 1936)

In the 1920s, Albert Fish claimed that he had slain at least 100 children.

Ted Bundy

“I’d like you to give my love to my family and friends.” (January 24, 1989)

The exact number of women Ted Bundy offed or hurt in the 1970s is unknown, but some say the number is somewhere in the 100s.

Marcel Petiot 

“Gentleman, I have one last piece of advice: Look away. This will not be pretty to see.” (May 25, 1946)

Petiot was a French doctor who was only found out when the remains of 23 people were found in his Parisian home during WW2.

Steven Timothy Judy 

“I don’t hold any grudges. This is my doing. Sorry it happened.” (March 9, 1981)

Steven Judy slayed a woman and her three children in 1979.

William Bonin 

“I would suggest that when a person has a thought of doing anything serious against the law, that before they did that they should go to a quiet place and think about it seriously.” (February 23, 1996)

William Bonin’s habit of dumping cadavers near freeways earned him the nickname Freeway Killer.

Amelia Dyer

“I have nothing to say.” (June 10, 1896)

Dyer is believed to have slain 400 children during a 20-year period in Victorian England.

Peter Manuel

“Turn up the radio and I’ll go quietly.” (July 11, 1958)

Manuel was an American-born Scottish man who is believed to have slain from nine to 18 people during the 1950s.

Francis Crowley

“You sons of bitches. Give love to Mother.” (January 21, 1932)

Francis Crowley went on a three-month spree that ended when he was sent to the electric chair.

Angel Maturino Resendiz

“I want to ask if it is in your heart to forgive me. You don’t have to. I know I allowed the Devil to rule my life. I just ask you to forgive me and ask the Lord to forgive me for allowing the devil to deceive me. I thank God for having patience in me. I don’t deserve to cause you pain. You do not deserve this. I deserve what I am getting.” (June 27, 2006)

Reséndiz left people’s cadavers near railroad tracks.

Fritz Haarmann

“I repent, but I do not fear death.” (April 15, 1925)

Fritz Haarmann of Germany, active in the years following WWI, became known as the Vampire of Hanover because he would bite through people’s throats.

Ned Kelly

“Such is life.” (November 11, 1880)

Ned Kelly was often considered a folk hero in Australia.

Donald Henry Gaskins

“I’ll let my lawyers talk for me. I’m ready to go.” (September 6, 1991)

Donald Henry Gaskins was known as the Meanest Man in America for slaying at least 100 people, most of them hitchhikers, from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Israel Keyes

“Okay, talk is over, words are placid and weak. Back it with action or it all comes off cheap. Watch close while I work now, feel the electric shock of my touch, open your trembling flower, or your petals I’ll crush.” (December 2, 2012) 

Israel Keyes took his own life; the words are from his final note.

John George Haigh

In a letter to his girlfriend, Barbara: “It is difficult to say farewell under these circumstances, but you will understand that you will always be in my thoughts. You know I have been proud of our association: it has always been an honourable one. I shall remember your great kindness and devotion. Now I must leave you.” (August 10, 1949)

In the 1940s, John George Haigh dissolved six women’s cadavers in acid.

Kenneth McDuff

 “I am ready to be released. Release me.” (November 17, 1998)

After his sentence was commuted in 1989, Kenneth McDuff killed again before being detained in 1992.

Carroll Cole

“It’s all right.” (December 6, 1985)

Carroll Cole possibly committed acts of cannibalism

Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck

“I wanna shout it out; I love Martha! What do the public know about love?” – Raymond Fernandez (March 8, 1951)

“My story is a love story. But only those tortured by love can know what I mean […] Imprisonment in the Death House has only strengthened my feeling for Raymond….” – Martha Beck (March 8, 1951)

In the 1940s, Fernandez and Beck would place personal ads in newspapers with the intent of taking money from the women who replied.

Aileen Wuornos

“I’d just like to say I’m sailing with the rock, and I’ll be back like Independence Day, with Jesus, June 6th. Like the movie, big mother ship and all. I’ll be back.” (October 9, 2002)

From 1989 to 1990, Aileen Wuornos terminated seven men, with the excuse that each of them tried to rape her.

James Allen Red Dog

“I’m going home, babe.” (October 9, 2002)

James Allen Red Dog had been connected to at least five murders

Myra Hindley

According to the Catholic priest who gave Hindley last rites, “The last conversation she had before she died concerned her mother. She just expressed concern for her mother – but I will not say exactly what she said.” (November 15, 2002)

Hindley, with her lover Ian Brady, shocked 1960s England when they killed five children.

Earle Nelson

“I am innocent. I stand innocent before God and man. I forgive those who have wronged me and ask forgiveness of those I have injured. God have mercy!” (January 13, 1928)

During a two-year period in the mid-1920s, Earle Nelson felled 22 women, most of whom were landladies he approached about rooms they wanted to rent.

Sean Flanagan

“I love you.”

Sean Flanagan terminated two gay men in Nevada, claiming he was doing “good for… society.” (June 23, 1989)

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Lalaurie Mansion

New Orleans, LA

Dr. Louis Lalaurie and his wife, Delphine moved into their fancy new mansion in New Orleans. They were respected by everyone. They had a lot of money, power and influence. Ms. Delphine was greatly admired for her beauty.

They threw lavish social parties that would be the talk of the town for weeks to come.

Their house was extravagant and they had dozens of slaves to take care of it.

It was the neighbors who first began to suspect that something was not right.

There were whispered conversations about how the Lalaurie slaves seemed to come and go quite often. Parlor maids would be replaced with no explanation or the stable boy was suddenly just disappear… never to be seen again.

Then, one day a neighbor was climbing her own stairs when she heard a scream and saw Madame Lalaurie chasing a little girl, the Madame’s personal servant, with a whip. She pursued the girl onto the roof of the house, where the child jumped to her death. The neighbor later saw the small slave girl buried in a shallow grave beneath the cypress trees in the yard.

It was rumored that she treated the slaves horribly. But how horribly exactly, no one knew.

A terrible fire broke out in the Lalaurie kitchen. Legend has it that it was set by the cook, who could endure no more of the Madame’s tortures. Regardless of how it started, the fire swept through the house.

After the blaze was put out, the fire fighters discovered a horrible sight behind a secret, barred door in the attic.

The information you are about to read is from the embellished part of the event. The authors who wrote about it in the book didn’t source these events:

They found more than a dozen slaves here, chained to the wall in a horrible state. They were both male and female…. some were strapped to makeshift operating tables… some were confined in cages made for dogs…. human body parts were scattered around and heads and human organs were placed haphazardly in buckets…. grisly souvenirs were stacked on shelves and next to them a collection of whips and paddles.

It was more horrible that anything created in man’s imagination.

According to the newspaper, the New Orleans Bee, all of the victims were naked and the ones not on tables were chained to the wall. Some of the women had their stomachs sliced open and their insides wrapped about their waists.

One woman had her mouth stuffed with animal excrement and then her lips were sewn shut. The men were in even more horrible states. Fingernails had been ripped off, eyes poked out, and private parts sliced away.

One man hung in shackles with a stick protruding from a hole that had been drilled in the top of his head. It had been used to “stir” his brains.

The tortures had been administered so as to not bring quick death. Mouths had been pinned shut and hands had been sewn to various parts of the body.

Regardless, many of them had been dead for quite some time. Others were unconscious and some cried in pain, begging to be killed and put out of their misery.

The fire fighters fled the scene in disgust and doctors were summoned from a nearby hospital.

There were a few who still clung to life…. like a woman whose arms and legs had been removed and another who had been forced into a tiny cage with all of her limbs broken than set again at odd angles.

Madame Lalaurie and her family were never seen again.

______________________________________________________________

The house remained vacant for many years after that. It then became an all girls school and then apartment buildings.

During the time when the mansion was an apartment house, a number of strange events were recorded. Among them was an encounter between a occupant and a naked black man in chains who attacked him. The black man abruptly vanished.

Others claimed to have animals butchered in the house; children were attacked by a phantom with a whip; strange figures appeared wrapped in shrouds; a young mother was terrified to find a woman in elegant evening clothes bending over her sleeping infant; and of course, the ever-present sounds of screams, groans and cries that would reverberate through the house at night.

Today the house has been renovated again and serves as luxury apartments.

[myhauntedsalem]

What Really Happens During the Witching Hour?

Are you a believer in the supernatural? Do you believe that entities like ghosts, demons, witches, and other magical creatures actually exist and live among us? If so, then you probably have heard about the witching hour.

As the name suggests, the witching hour is the time of day when people believe that these supernatural beings are most active and powerful. Many different communities have different hours of the day they refer to as the witching hour but the generally accepted time is between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Others believe that it is at midnight mainly because it is a special time when the day actually begins.

Depending on where you come from and what the society there believes to be real or myth, there are many different ideas on what actually happens during the witching hour. Below are some examples from different communities on what different supernatural creatures get up to during their special time.

Witches, sorcerers, and other magic practitioners – Almost every community anywhere in the world believes in the existence of these. They happen to be the very reason why the whole idea of the witching hour was conceived. It is believed that at this time, they carry out their various rituals in an attempt to tap maximum magical power.

Ghosts – In some communities, there is the belief that during the witching hour, the barrier between the world of the living and the dead is lifted. This allows ghosts to move in between the two realms. Although there isn’t really any sufficient supportive evidence, there have been several cases of people who claimed to have seen or heard ghosts at midnight or during the hours after midnight before sunrise.

Demons and evil spirits – Unlike ghosts, these are believed to roam the world in the bodies of people or animals that they possess. They are also included in the witching hour theory where they are believed to be most active and cause the most terror.

Mediums – Mediums are people who are believed to have the ability to communicate with the dead and channel their spirits for other people to communicate with them. There are places where they are believed to be most active during the witching hour. According to believers in the supernatural world, there is a relationship between the activity of ghosts and mediums at this hour.

Other supernatural creatures – Other creatures such as vampires and werewolves are also believed to be most active not only during the witching hour but the entire night in general.

As the belief in the existence of the supernatural continues to grow, the witching hour is no longer limited only to witches. Over the years there have been many claims of sightings of unusual creatures or activities during this given time interval. Generally, anything that is associated with darkness and evil has historically been considered potentially active during the witching hour.

Technology and science are slowly replacing the ideas about supernatural beings and abilities in modern societies. Things like witch hunts and exorcisms are very rare occurrences but this does not in any way mean that everyone has abandoned their belief in the existence of the witching hour.

Some people often experience breaks in their sleep where they find themselves waking up at odd hours of the night including the witching hour itself. According to doctors and neuroscientists, this is completely normal brain behavior and should not cause alarm. This however does not stop some people from panicking and blaming the phenomenon on supernatural things.

The witching hour has also been adapted into modern society literature and film with many movies and books being structured around that particular theme.

Despite there being no actual evidence to support claims of supernatural events, it goes without saying that a lot of weird stuff happens during the witching hour. Maybe it is people taking advantage of the hype created in the past in an attempt to scare people, or maybe it is actually the best time for people with special abilities to tap their powers. At the end of the day, it is your beliefs that matter.

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The Cornstalk Hotel

New Orleans, Louisiana

The Cornstalk Hotel was the early 1800s home of Judge Francois Xavier-Martin, first Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court and author of the first history of Louisiana, where Harriet Beecher Stowe stopped and was inspired to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin from the sights at the nearby slave markets.

Surrounded by a unique and intricate 165-year-old “cornstalk” cast iron fence, it is now a lovely hotel in the Victorian tradition of elegance. The building still functions today as an open hotel.

The stories of ghostly goings-on here are rather different from any other location, apparitions of children have been witnessed running and playing all over the house and grounds, as well as the sounds of children laughing and light footsteps in the hall ways when no one’s there.

What makes this location different from any other though is the stories of guests who have stayed there. On several occasions, people have checked into the hotel with a camera on them, not an uncommon thing to do in a tourist area.

But upon getting the photos developed they found there to be photos of themselves lying asleep in the bed they stayed in at the hotel. Many people can’t explain this as they were alone at the time of their stay. Maybe the spirits of the children have a passion for photography?

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Demon’s Road Huntsville, Texas

Bowden Road in Huntsville southeast Texas is actually much better known by its rather more sinister nickname, ‘Demon’s Road’! This long, winding road leads towards Martha Chapel Cemetery.

The road is apparently haunted by an apparition that looks like a little boy. However, he has been described as crawling like some terrible spider with his body twisted upside down.

On one occasion, the photographer for a paranormal investigation team attempted to photograph the ‘boy’ at which point he apparently vomited a strange, unknown substance onto the camera wrecking it.

Needless to say, the photographer quit the job on the spot and hightailed it out of there without ever looking back.

Other witnesses who have seen the little boy say that he was riding a tricycle and that he had strange glowing eyes. Most people agree that it is likely a demon or some other type of spirit masquerading as a child.

He is not the only spirit that has been seen here, there are also reports of an old man who wanders the cemetery and apparently later appears in the homes of those who have seen him.

Other paranormal activity that has been reported here includes drivers seeing strange balls of red light and finding handprints on their cars that they cannot explain!

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Mary Ellen Spook Farm

In January of 1922, farmer Alexander MacDonald, his wife Janet, and their adopted daughter Mary Ellen fled their home in Caledonia Mills, Nova Scotia after a rash of poltergeist activity, including more than 30 unexplained fires. Though several researchers, journalists, detectives, and paranormal investigators would eventually examine the farm and house, the so-called “fire spook” was never fully explained.

The poltergeist activity that had plagued the household for almost an entire year included moving the cattle around when no one was in the barn, mixing ashes into the stored milk, and even braiding the tails of horses. Most notable, however, were the fires which earned the haunting its name.

The fires would spring up spontaneously all over the house and grounds, often far from the hearth or any other source of a spark. Everything from wallpaper to wet towels were said to burst into flame: it got so bad that the family organized a kind of “neighborhood watch” to guard against arsonists, though none were ever found. Eventually, the family fled the property for good.

Once the family moved out of the house, journalists and would-be paranormal investigators moved in. Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was invited to explore the phenomena. Some of the most notable accounts include those of Harold Whidden, a reporter from the Halifax Herald, and police detective Peachey Carroll, who spent two nights in the house. During this time they both experienced several odd events, including the feeling of being slapped on the arm and face by phantom hands. Whidden was so troubled by his experiences that he never published them in his lifetime, though they have since been released by his family.

Another prominent investigator who visited the home for several days was Dr. Walker Franklin Prince, who concluded that the poltergeist activity emanated from the family’s then-15-year-old adopted daughter, Mary Ellen–this in spite of the fact that Dr. Prince, himself, experienced no unusual phenomena during his stay. Members of the family were even brought back to the house during his investigation in an attempt to “trigger” the ghost. Dr. Prince did, however, report unexplained rapping noises in his office back in New York for several weeks after he had completed his investigation into the Caledonia Mills “Spook Farm.”

Unfortunately for Mary Ellen, Dr. Prince’s suggestion that she was the cause, albeit unknowingly, of the fires and other poltergeist activity stuck with her throughout her life. People began calling her Mary Ellen Spook, and, according to some accounts, she was even confined to an asylum for many years. Regardless of the cause, after she and her family moved away from the farm in Caledonia Mills, the phenomena ceased.

However, that wasn’t the end of the story of the Caledonia Mills Spook Farm. Over the years, several other explanations have been put forth as new detectives attempt to solve the mystery. Edward J. O’Brien, a lecturer who stopped off at the nearby St. Francis Xavier University, posited that the fires might have been caused by radio waves passing through Caledonia Mills between the radio towers at Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, though to modern science that theory sounds perhaps even more preposterous than “fire spooks.”

Arsonist or no, the Caledonia Mills legend persists. Even today, long after the farm and house have disappeared, people say that if you take home any item from the property, your house will burn down. According to one couple, who call themselves P.O.N.I. (Pair of Normal Investigators), “This has been tested by regular every day people and the buildings always catch fire.”

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Helen Ackley and Her Family

‪This circa-1890 Victorian style home looks nothing short of idyllic. Perched right on the Hudson River in Nyack, New York, this dwelling hides a dark secret. The abode has five bedrooms, three bathrooms and three poltergeists. Yes, this picturesque home is haunted and has even been legally declared haunted in a court case!

‬ ‪For over 20 years, Helen Ackley and her family lived in the home. In 1977, Helen went to the Reader’s Digest to relay some odd occurrences they had experienced. However, none of the paranormal experiences could be considered terrifying. The poltergeists were friendly, she contended. For example, her grandchildren were gifted with trinkets which would eventually disappear. She also claimed her daughter didn’t need an alarm as an unseen force would shake her bed each morning when she was scheduled to be awake. Furthermore, the family frequently heard disembodied whispers and whispers.‬ ‪

‬ ‪When Helen went to sell her house, she didn’t mention the haunting to her buyer, Jeffrey M. Stambovsky. As Helen had been in several newspapers relaying her story, Jeffrey soon found out and took her to court. The case became known as the“Ghostbusters Ruling,” and later became taught in U.S. law school classes. Ultimately, Jeffrey for half of his deposit back and left the haunted mansion for good. Helen had no problem selling her house afterwards. The new owners never reported any paranormal activity; during the lawsuit against Helen, she confessed that she would be taking the ghosts with her when she moved from the haunted home along the Hudson River!‬

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9 Terrifying American Murder Houses

From Amityville Horror to Jeffrey Dahmer’s one-bedroom, these murder houses are home to some truly brutal murders.

9. THE AMITYVILLE HORROR HOUSE 112 OCEAN AVE, AMITYVILLE, NY

When the deal is too good, start asking questions. In 1975, George and Kathy Lutz bought this sprawling Dutch Colonial on the south shore of Long Island at a bargain rate. The reason for the discounted price tag? Just 13 months earlier, previous resident Ronald “Butch” DeFeo slaughtered his parents and four younger siblings while they slept in their beds. It didn’t take long for the weirdness to begin. Demonic voices, oozing walls, cloven hoof prints in the snow. The Lutz family lasted just two months before fleeing 112 Ocean Avenue in the night.

8. THE HEX MURDER HOUSE REHMEYERS HOLLOW RD, SHREWSBURY, PA

In 1928, John Blymire was convinced a reclusive neighbor named Nelson Rehmeyer had put a hex upon him. Believing the only way to break the curse was to track down Rehmeyer’s spell book and set it ablaze, Blymire rallied two buddies for a late-night visit. While the gang never found the book, they did find Rehmeyer whom they murdered and mutilated before setting his body on fire. In 2007, an effort was made to open the Hex House to the public, but the plan was eventually scrapped.

7. MOORE FAMILY AXE MURDER HOUSE 508 E 2ND ST, VILLISCA, IA

On a cool summer night in 1912 someone broke into this peaceful Iowa homestead and bludgeoned all six family members plus two houseguests with an axe. The horrific scene was discovered the following morning by a concerned neighbor. Numerous suspects were named in the case including a traveling minister and State Senator Frank F. Jones. Nevertheless, the murder remains unsolved.

6. KREISCHER MANSION 4500 ARTHUR KILL RD, STATEN ISLAND, NY

German entrepreneur Balthasar Kreischer built this sprawling mansion in 1885 as a symbol of his success in the brick making business. The good times were short-lived. By 1894, his company had crumbled and his youngest son had shot himself in the head. The decaying mansion sat empty for years until its groundskeeper used the property for a mob hit in 2005. Joseph Young strangled and stabbed his target before finally drowning the man in a garden pool. Young then hacked up the body and burned it in the mansion’s incinerator.

5. LIZZIE BORDEN HOUSE 230 2ND ST, FALL RIVER, MA

On August 4, 1892 Andrew Borden was thrashed with a hatchet while he dozed on the couch of his parlor. Andrew’s second wife Abby met an equally grisly end in the upstairs bedroom. While everyone in Fall River suspected daughter Lizzie of the crime, the local judge remained unconvinced. She was tried and acquitted of the murder one year later. Oddly, the home is now a successful bed & breakfast.

4. MANSON FAMILY MURDER HOUSE 10050 CIELO DRIVE, LOS ANGELES, CA

In 1969, members of the Manson Family shocked the nation when they broke into this L.A. estate and slaughtered Sharon Tate along with four other victims. The murderers wrote pig in blood across the front door. Numerous residents have since called 10050 Cielo Drive home including musician Trent Reznor, who recorded THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL there. In 1994, the original structure was razed and replaced with a new mansion, currently occupied by the creator of FULL HOUSE.

3. JEFFREY DAHMER’S APARTMENT 924 NORTH 25TH ST, APT 213, MILWAUKEE, WI

Cannibal killer Jeffrey Dahmer lured numerous victims to his nondescript one-bedroom, where he drugged and dismembered them in a brutal campaign of murder. Severed limbs were packed in the freezer for future consumption; torsos were dumped in a vat of acid. Police finally arrested Dahmer in 1991 after one of his prisoners managed to escape. The entire apartment building was torn down shortly thereafter.

2. JOHN WAYNE GACY’S HOUSE 8213 SUMMERDALE AVE, CHICAGO, IL

It’s always good to know your neighbors especially if you suspect them of murder. John Wayne Gacy buried dozens of bodies in the basement and backyard of his suburban home while neighbors casually went about their day. When Gacy’s wife complained of a putrid smell, Gacy blamed it on dead mice. By the time police nabbed the infamous killer clown and excavated his 8213 Summerdale Ave property, they uncovered 29 bodies.

1. GARDETTE-LAPRETE HOUSE 1240 BURGUNDY ST, NEW ORLEANS, LA

In the late 1830s, plantation owner Jean LePrete leased his French Quarter Greek Revival to a mysterious man from Turkey. The renter, known only as The Sultan had more than a few roommates. He arrived with a massive entourage of eunuchs and concubines. The house quickly became known for its lavish parties, with music and revelry carrying on into the night. One morning, a passerby noticed 1240 Burgundy was eerily quiet. Then he spotted blood seeping out of the door. When authorities entered, they found everyone inside had been murdered and dismembered. As for The Sultan? He was buried alive in the courtyard. To this day, the case remains unsolved.

[myhauntedsalem]

Lonely House - Hex Hollow

What Happened at this Lonely House in Pennsylvania is Still Haunting to this Day

The story of Hex Hollow and the house that sits on its land is an infamous legend in York County, Pennsylvania, and the surrounding areas. While everyone knows about the infamous Salem witch trials that occurred in 17th-century Massachusetts, very few are aware that this region was at one point also rife with paranoia and magic 235 years later.

The dastardly murder of Nelson Rehmeyer in 1928 is not only well remembered in the community, the traces of his death still haunt the house he once called home.

After years of bad luck and illness, Rehmeyer’s neighbor, John Blymire, began to suspect that he was cursed and sought a supernatural solution.

The local river witch (because they apparently had those in 1928), Nellie Noll, blamed Rehmeyer, saying that it was he who was casting the dark hexes on Blymire. She told him that all he needed to do was to burn Rehmeyer’s book of spells and bury a lock of his hair.

The “book of spells” the river witch was referring to was The Long Lost Friend, written by the German John George Hohman in 1870. Also titled Pow-Wows, it contains a collection of ancient German spells, healing rituals, and even recipes popular amongst the Pennsylvania Dutch.

By the way, the “Pennsylvania Dutch” culture is actually rooted in German heritage and language, not Dutch. Pennsylvanians are just purposefully confusing people.

Blymire and two associates entered Rehmeyer’s home, but could not find the book. Desperate to lift the curse, Blymire resorted to beating Rehmeyer, tying him to a chair doused in kerosene and lighting him aflame.

Even the river witch must have been like, “Woah, dude! Too far!”

The spot where Nelson Rehmeyer died is still eerily charred from the flame after nearly a century. Blymire claimed that although Rehmeyer had caught fire, his body never burned, proving to him and his associates that the man indeed dealt in black witchcraft.

The house that sits on Rehmeyer’s Hollow is still maintained by the Rehmeyer family and is said to be haunted. A tour is offered of the family’s home and belongings, which includes a clock that stopped at 12:01AM back in 1928. This is the exact time that Nelson Rehmeyer returned to whatever dark master he served.

[myhauntedsalem]

The Murder of Nelson Rehmeyer

Known by locals as Hex House, this was once the home of Nelson Rehmeyer a notorious Pow Wow Doctor, until he was brutally murdered in 1928 by three men who believed he had cursed them using witchcraft.

In York County, Pennsylvania there is a place called Spring Valley County Park. Before it was given that name it was known by the ominous name of Hex Hollow.

In 1928, a local man and suspected witch named Nelson Rehmeyer was murdered in his home in an effort by another local man to remove a curse. Though the so-called hex house was set on fire in the aftermath of the murder, it survived the blaze, and still stands today. In 2007, Rehmeyer’s descendants opened it to the public as a museum, featuring displays about his life and death.

The killer, a man named John Blymire, believed that Nelson Rehmeyer was a witch who had placed a curse on him. This wasn’t unusual at the time. Many people in Central Pennsylvania in the 1920s practiced a kind of folk magic called Powwow, which mixed elements of Christianity and European folk remedies. In fact, Blymire himself was a Powwow doctor.

After a string of illnesses and bad luck, Blymire became convinced that he was laboring under a curse. Unable to figure out the source of the curse, he turned to another local witch, Nellie Noll, known as the Marieta River Witch. She confirmed his fears, and told him that the author of his misfortune was none other than Nelson Rehmeyer, who had once cured Blymire of a childhood illness using his Powwow magic.

According to some accounts, it was Nellie Noll who told Blymire that in order to break the curse, he needed a lock of Rehmeyer’s hair, which he had to bury six feet into the ground. Then he had to burn Rehmeyer’s copy of The Long Lost Friend, an 1820 book of folk magic written by John George Hohman, and commonly employed by Powwow practitioners.

On November 26, 1928, Blymire and a friend visited Rehmeyer’s house in search of his copy of The Long Lost Friend. The story goes that they spent a peaceful night there, with Blymire holding back on his attack after realizing that it would take more than two men to subdue the witch. The next night, Blymire and his friend returned with another accomplice and the three of them assaulted Rehmeyer. The struggle is said to have lasted only about a minute, and at the end of it, Rehmeyer was dead.

Perhaps because they were unable to find Rehmeyer’s copy of The Long Lost Friend, the three men attempted to burn down the witch’s house. The fact that the hex house survived the blaze was cited as further evidence of Rehmeyer’s supernatural powers. Blymire would later attest that the hex placed upon him was broken the moment that Rehmeyer died.

All three men were captured, and the murder cast national attention upon the area as papers all over the country ran stories about the York Hex Slayers. Blymire and his first accomplice, John Curry, both received life sentences for their roles in the murder, while the other accomplice, Wilbert Hess, was given a sentence of 10-20 years. All three were eventually released without having served out their full sentences. None of the men ever committed another crime.

Rehmeyer’s great grandson now owns the farmhouse, known to locals as Hex Hollow, and welcomes visitors who inspect the charred floorboards, protected by Plexiglas, and stare at the clock, still frozen at 12:01.

[myhauntedsalem]

The Old Burying Point Cemetery of Salem

A ghost tour of Salem is not complete without a visit to the Old Burying Point Cemetery. This cemetery sits on a small plot of land sporadically dotted with worn, decrepit gravestones. It is actually the second oldest cemetery in the United States and because of the dark history linked to it is also thought to be one of its most haunted.

Salem is of course most famous for its history of the Witch Trials. The Old Burying Point Cemetery is linked to that history by holding some notable characters that influenced this notorious era. The cemetery holds the remains of the man known as the Hanging Judge, Jonathan Hawthorne. He is suspected of being responsible for one of the cemetery hauntings, showing up in unsuspecting tourist photographs.

The Old Burying Point of Salem is also thought to manifest many other paranormal events. Many people have reported hearing disembodied voices, sighting unexplained light anomalies and experiencing sudden temperature drops as they trudge through the dated gravestones.

[myhauntedsalem]

Star of India

The Star of India is the world’s oldest active ship, built in 1863 in the Isle of Man. Now-a-days, it resides in a maritime history museum in San Diego. Like many ships, the Star of India has had her share of misfortunes. Ghosts of several unfortunate sailors and passengers still haunt the decks and cabins.

In 1884 a young stowaway by the name of John Campbell was discovered on the Star of India. Instead of throwing him overboard, they put him to work on the ship. One day, Campbell lost his footing high in the rigging and fell 100 feet to the deck, crushing both of his legs. Three days later, he died in agony and was buried at sea.

His ghost is said to haunt the ship and visitors sometimes report feeling a cold hand touching them whenever they are near the mast where Campbell fell. Sometimes the smell of fresh baked bread seems to come from the ship’s galley, though the stove has been cold for many years. Even when the ship sits still in the water, pots and pans above the stove have been seen to move.

There is a chain locker located toward the bow of the ship. The heavy anchor chain goes below the deck into a dark storage area. Once there was a Chinese crewman who was in the locker when he shouldn’t have been. The other sailors were preparing to start a sea voyage and were pushing raising the anchor and stowing the anchor chain. They didn’t know that their crewmate was in the chain locker below.

As the noisy machinery fed the iron anchor chain into the locker below, it trapped the helpless man and slowly crushed him to death. He was screaming for help, but his crewmates couldn’t hear him above the noise of the machinery. His ghost still haunts the chain locker where he died and people who go there report feeling a cold spot inside.

The crew’s quarters was the scene of many deaths. Crewman taken below after horrible accidents or stricken by illness spent their last days here. In these tight spaces you can feel the cold and sense the fear that still haunts the ship.

[myhauntedsalem]

Dead Children’s Playground

In 2007 the city of Huntsville, Alabama, attempted to remove a playground in order to enlarge the neighboring Maple Hill Cemetery. A public outcry at the removal of the park was heard and soon new play equipment was installed. Local children could continue to use the parks facilities but many who know of the legends of the area will tell you that not all of those children are living.

Many locals know the playground, located in Maple Hill Park, as the Dead Children’s Playground due to the reportedly high level of ghostly activity that has been experienced there. Children playing, children calling out to each other, mothers calling their children’s names, the playful footfalls of running children, all of these events have been experienced by many people who enter the playground after dark. It is believed that the most active time is between the hours of 10pm and 3am, as the children reclaim the park from the living, so they too can enjoy their play.

It is believed that the vast majority of these children come from the adjacent Maple Hill Cemetery, the largest and oldest in Huntsville, with well over 80,000 burials. The original land was sold to the city in 1822 by planter LeRoy Pope. Although this is the official date, it is known that the land was used for burials prior to this time, with the oldest intact grave marker being that of infant Mary Frances Atwood, who was buried there in 1820.

Later the cemetery was expanded to encompass the nearby private cemetery of the Pope family. Many of the new burials at this time were of Confederate and Union Soldiers who died during the Civil War. Over the years the cemetery grew and grew with new land purchases in order to keep up with the growing city.

It was not until 1901 that the cemetery was given its official name. Up until that time it was simply referred to as the burying ground.

The cemetery still needs new land and in 2007 it made the attempt at taking over the local park resulting in the public outcry.

The Dead Children’s Playground, aside from its reputation of a haunting ground for deceased children, also has another macabre tale attached to it, though this one probably falls more into the realm of urban legend.

Between 1945 and 1955 the area the playground now sits was the site of a limestone quarry. The high cliffs that surround the playground are not natural and were all formed as part of the quarrying process. When the quarry was closed and abandoned, plant life began to reclaim the land and wildlife along with it. Soon, within a matter of years, the area will have been a natural bushland, filled with weeds and trees of a more opportunistic nature.

Come the 1960’s a unknown person made use of the old quarries and the thick plant growth for their own dark opportunities.

A series of child disappearances began to be reported in Huntsville, and, with none of the children turning up, it was soon feared a child murderer was prowling the neighborhoods. These fears were soon given substance when a small skull was found by someone walking through the abandoned quarries. On investigation several skeletons were recovered, along with the small corpses from fresher murders.

It was never determined who the murderer was but it was discovered that the children were not simply taken and killed, they rather they showed signs of a long detainment, with malnourished and partly healed wounds found on the bodies of the more recent victims.

With the discovery of the bodies the disappearances stopped and the tragedies all but removed from the memories of those who lived in fear for their own children.

Many of the children’s remains, being local, were buried in the adjoining Maple Hills Cemetery. In 1985, twenty years after those terrible events, the quarries and surrounding land were turned into Maple Hill Park and the original play equipment was erected.

Today the equipment is quite modern and the park is well looked after. Even if you did not know of the stories and legends, visiting the park is said to be quite eerie. Although you are not too far removed from the suburbs, the natural rocky bowls, the well grown trees and other natural features leave you feeling like you are in the deep wilderness. It is eerily quiet and once night falls the area takes on a different feel.

Come 10pm you might be lucky enough to witness the vestiges of play, the swings move as if occupied and mothers calling out the names of their lost children.

[myhauntedsalem]

[myhauntedsalem]

Lemp Mansion

The Lemp Mansion is regarded as one of the most haunted mansions in the United States. It now operates as a restaurant & inn.

The Lemp Family was rumored to be cursed and they certainly had their share of misfortune. Oddly, four members of the Lemp family took their own lives by shooting themselves.

William Lemp was devastated by his father’s death and withdrew from public life. His health declined and he committed suicide in his bedroom by shooting himself in the head. William’s daughter Elsa committed suicide in 1920 when she grew depressed about her rocky marriage.

William J. Lemp, Jr. and his wife his wife Lillian, known as the Lavender Lady, spent vast amounts of money. William grew tired of his wife and began having affairs with other young women. One of these women gave birth to a child who was afflicted with Down’s Syndrome. The Lemp family were embarrassed by him and kept the little boy hidden in the basement so no one would find out about him. The poor boy spent 30 years in Lemp Mansion, eventually dying in captivity.

The brewery began to decline due to competition and eventually, the Lemp family were forced to close the doors and sell their business at a loss. The failure weighed heavy on William J. Lemp Jr. and he committed suicide in exactly the same way as his father had, by shooting himself in the head.

William Jr.’s brother, Charles, continued to live in the house but he developed a morbid fear of germs. Eventually, he too succumbed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Due to all of the horrible deaths, the Lemp Mansion developed a reputation as one of the ten most haunted places in America. Visitors to the mansion have reported feeling as if they are being watched, or sensing an atmosphere of sadness, and some claim to have seen apparitions of members of the Lemp family.

In the 1970s, workers reported strange things happening in Lemp Mansion, leading many to believe the place was haunted. Reports often varied between feelings of being watched, vanishing tools and strange sounds. Many of the workers actually left the job site and never came back. During the mansion’s restoration, a painter working on a mural felt that he was being watched and immediately fled the mansion, without washing his brushes or taking out his equipment, and never returned.

Since the Lemp Mansion Restaurant & Inn opened, staff members claim to have experienced supernatural events. Glasses have been seen lifting off the bar and flying through the air. Unexplained sounds are often heard and some people have even glimpsed actual ghostly apparitions that appear and vanish at will.

In addition, many customers and visitors to the house report weird incidents. Doors lock and unlock on their own, the piano plays by itself, voices and sounds come from nowhere and the spirit of the Lavender Lady has been spotted in the old mansion.

[myhauntedsalem]

Make Bad Luck Go Away

If you are experiencing a lot of bad luck, this spell will make that bad luck go away.

3”x3” Paper

Black Marker

Night Time

A Fire

At night time light a small fire in a cauldron or whatever you have available to contain a fire.

Write on a piece of paper that is 3 inches x 3 inches, the words BAD LUCK.

Then write down any bad things you do not like in your life right now.

Then draw a big X across the paper with a black marker. While doing this you should be thinking of how all these things are going to disappear from your life, never to return!

Place the paper in the fire and Say 3x: “Fire, fire burning bright, Turn my darkness into light! Take away my bad luck ill, Bring me nothing but goodwill. Bad luck came and stayed too long, Be gone forever, be gone, be gone! With this fire burning bright, Bring me good luck, bring me light!”

Extinguish fire.