GHOST HUNTERS

Wow, sometimes when I'm researching, I find conditions that are so ripe, it makes me wonder if traumatic things happen because of the conditions -- like some kind of physics fate, or if when bad things happen there, they're destined to haunt the place. Bell Witch Cave completely surprised me. I remember hearing about it as a kid in Virginia. It was one of my goals to go there and prove it's totally not haunted. I was skeptical. There's folklore legend of witchcraft and then there's genuinely haunted sites like where I grew up at Aspen Grove. In my young mind, they were vastly different. I didn't think Bell Witch Cave deserved to be haunted. Boy, was I wrong! Anyone who's heard the legend of the Bell Witch understands the basic mechanics of it. A creepy old lady long ago cursed her neighbor and many think she poisoned him, as well. She vowed to continue to haunt the family and apparently from reports, she did just that. It was believed that not only did she h...

In doing the research for the haunted formula, I’ve come across some cities that, when looking at the map, I’m baffled at how ideal they are for hauntings. The city of St. Louis, Missouri is definitely one of those ideal places. The ground is limestone and shale. There is a network of train tracks that are like spoke on a wheel in the heart of the city. There’s a mighty river cutting through it and lots of smaller waterways. The City of St. Louis was incorporated as a city in 1822. It had been a French holding and was acquired by the US. It faced the same issues upon establishing it on Native American ground. It saw a huge devastating cholera outbreak, a huge fire, tornadoes, and all the crime and vice associated with a major waterway with riverboats and a jumping off point for those heading west. Looking at this map, you can see the ideal conditions for a haunted city. The train tracks parallel the river and spread out madly all over the city. Interestingly, I began to look at St. L...

The Portland Underground aka "Shanghai Tunnels" connected many downtown businesses in Portland, Oregon. From the 1850s to the early 1900s, laborers were kidnapped and sold as slaves. During prohibition, drinking went underground into these tunnels. Here's how this historic site rates on my haunted formula (as it stands in the early stages of creating the formula): 1. The land is marine sediment and volcanic. 2. They are made of stone. 3. There is a train track not far. 4. There is a waterway not far. 5. It is older than 50 years (1850s). 6. There is a history of trauma/death. It always intrigues me once you go underground in any site. Basements of houses, though murky dark and damp places, often do have more reported activity. I'm reminded of a "Ghost Hunter's" episode in which the TAPS team investigated a house with three generations living in it. They found the focus of activity in the basement with what appeared to be an intelligent haunting of ...

Continuing my research on commonalities between sites that become haunted, I scored up the Lemp Mansion which is nowadays an Inn and Restaurant . This is how this site scored: 1. The land is limestone/shale. 2. The building has a stone foundation. 3. It's close to a railroad track. 4. It's close to a waterway. 5. It's older than 50 years (1868). 6. It has a history of death including a few suicides. In my studies, St. Louis has stood out as an interesting city. I'm hoping to soon publish a list of some cities that rate high on the haunted scale--not just for the stories told of haunted places, but for their physical properties. I'd like to see this place some day. I get a distinct feeling from places where there was a lot of anguish, such as suicide and hospitals where there was suffering. I get the distinct feeling they offer more haunting experiences than sites where someone was murdered quickly without having time to realize their fate. Continue to watch fo...

I just had to make you wait to find out the score on the White House. It's long been talked about, the Lincoln Bedroom and the ghost of Washington himself wandering the White House (though it was built between 1792-1800 with John Adams as the first resident). The house itself actually has no history of death or trauma. It's not located near train tracks or rivers. It is made of sandstone and ironically the land is sandstone and it is older than 50 years. For that reason, the White House scores a 3/6 . With this score, what we know is that the white house could potentially be haunted if something were to happen there that might give it a traumatic history. Thankfully, it's the safest place in the country and so will remain steeped in romance but no actual ghosts.

Most of you know that I’ve been working on finding physical commonalities between haunted sites. When we think haunted sites, we usually think they’re haunted because someone died there. Yeah, that’s true, but not always . Some cities, regions of towns, streets, and plots of land seem to be more haunted than those nearby that saw the same action. If death meant hauntings, then everywhere that a Civil War soldier died, there’d be a haunting. But, that’s not true. So, I began with a simple list of 50 haunted places. From there, I began to study the geology of the land, composition of the building, location in relation to moving water, railroad tracks, age of the building, and history of death/trauma. I’ve also added into that some other factors that can accentuate the haunting, such as being in a round building or near a cemetery. It breaks down like this: 1 point for being within a mile of running stream/ocean/river 1 point for being constructed with stone/block 1 point for being withi...

It's that time of year where most folks would like to get away. I've noticed a lot of my friends and family are deciding to take shorter vacations at nicer places within driving distance. With people fearful of taking long vacations with work places laying off and finances being tight, they'd rather put their cash into a drive to a nearby place that will pamper them for a couple of days rather than the airport/cheap rental car/lost on the roadways/cheap hotel/going to a lot of tourist sites vacations that make you go home in a state of more stress than you left in. In case you're hoping to get a little ghost atmosphere with your classy local vacation, consider some of these B&Bs. They each have something unique to offer, but they all are very gracious and beautiful. Northeastern US Since it was the earliest settlement for Europeans arriving in the US and caused quite a few clashes with the native citizens of the US, this region has a lot of haunting activity. The Ci...

This mansion in New Orleans is very well known for its ghosts. Apparently, Madam LaLaurie lived there and was a horribly cruel slavemaster who performed all manner of experiments and torture on her slaves. It was said her cook started the house on fire. The LaLaurie's fled and were never found, but when the smoke cleared they found bodies of slaves in the attic, having been chained and tortured in unfathomable ways. This site scored a 6/6 on my Haunting Formula: 1. The house is older than 50 years. 2. It is encircled by train tracks. 3. It is encircled by water. 4. It has a traumatic/death history. 5. The land is marine sediment. 6. It has a foundation of stone. I'm not surprised that people associate ghosts with New Orleans. These things generally don't just come from nothing. The people living there feel it every day. There's a few cities that seem to be dripping with ghosts, and this is one of them. It has fantastic conditions to be a very haunted city. I'l...

I'd never actually heard of this haunted place. Some just don't get the press they deserve. After doing my research on this location, I've decided this has some of the best elements for a haunting so far. "Hickory Hill" ( also known as Old Slave House ) in Junction, Illionois was built in the 1830s on a hill above the Saline River. Legend says a tunnel went from the basement to the river -- what a conduit! The owner, Crenshaw, worked in the slave trade and had very questionable practices. He kept the slaves chained up in tiny cells in his attic. He got caught stealing a freed slave and his business went downhill. Karma got him when a slave attacked him and he lost his leg. Here's how this amazing haunted place scores: 1. The land is limestone/shale. 2. The house's foundation is stone. 3. It's close to a railroad track. 4. It's on the river. 5. It's older than 50 years. 6. It has a history of trauma. (optional: It's near a cemetery...

Trying to head west with some of the 50 places I'm studying. The Queen Mary ship has long been associated with hauntings and lots of ghost hunting teams have boarded it including TAPS ("Ghost Hunters ") and actually a pretty good episode of "Most Haunted" ( which normally I make fun of, but that episode was their most creepy, I believe .) Here's how the Queen Mary stands on my scoring system: 1. Queen Mary is made of metal. Usually, a house with a stone foundation is enough, but in this case, I believe the metal actually helps to make it a good conduit for unexplainable activity. 2. Queen Mary is near a train track. 3. Queen Mary is on moving water. (I had some difficulty here because it's not located on land. It gets a point for being on moving water, but I can't give it a point for the composition of the geology). 4. Queen Mary is older than 50 years. 5. Queen Mary has many death associated in its history. There were two ways I could have gone...