A Ghost a Day Read online

  SEPTEMBER 13, 2008 NICHOLAS CAGE'S HAUNTED HOME

  SEPTEMBER 14, 1658 DUNGEON ROCK

  SEPTEMBER 15, 1907 CULP'S GHOST

  SEPTEMBER 16, 1865 THE OLD COOT

  SEPTEMBER 17, 2009 PATRICK SWAYZE

  SEPTEMBER 18, 1692 GILES COREY

  SEPTEMBER 19, 1936 THE BROWN LADY OF RAYNHAM HALL

  SEPTEMBER 20, 1857 THE PHANTOM FUNERAL PROCESSION OF RED FORT

  SEPTEMBER 21, 1348 THE COOK FROM HELL

  SEPTEMBER 22, 1913 BOGGO ROAD GAOL MUSEUM

  SEPTEMBER 23, 1919 THE LAMPLIGHT HOTEL

  SEPTEMBER 24, 1975 ANDREW IRVINE

  SEPTEMBER 25, 1978 HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

  SEPTEMBER 26, 1901 LINCOLN'S TOMB

  SEPTEMBER 27, 1934 THE GHOST BUS OF LADB ROKE GROVE

  SEPTEMBER 28, 2006 BOOKSTORE SPECTER

  SEPTEMBER 29, A.D. 350 BINDON HILL

  SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 THE MILLIONAIRE'S GHOST

  OCTOBER 1, 1995 THE BLACK FOREST HAUNTING

  OCTOBER 2, 1942 THE GHOSTS OF CURACOA

  OCTOBER 3, 2009 DAVID CARRADINE

  OCTOBER 4, 1869 SAXBY'S GALE

  OCTOBER 5, 2007 THE HAUNTED POLICE STATION

  OCTOBER 6, 1859 THE RINGING BELLS

  OCTOBER 7, 1849 THE GHOST OF POE

  OCTOBER 8, 1993 FILMING AT LITTLE ROUND TOP

  OCTOBER 9, 1960 MACKINAC ISLAND

  OCTOBER 10, 2007 DAUGHTERS OF UTAH PIONEERS MUSEUM

  OCTOBER 11, 1780 RINGWOOD MANOR

  OCTOBER 12, 1898 LARNACH CASTLE

  OCTOBER 13, 1812 THE OLDE ANGEL INN

  OCTOBER 14, 2009 THE SORORITY HOUSE SPIRITS

  OCTOBER 15, 1999 THE GREY LIBRARY GHOST

  OCTOBER 16, 1859 JOHN WILKES BOOTH HOUSE

  OCTOBER 17, 1926 WAVERLY HILLS SANITARIUM

  OCTOBER 18, 1871 THE HAUNTED MAUSOLEUM

  OCTOBER 19, 1923 LENIN'S GHOST

  OCTOBER 20, 2008 COUNTRY HOUSE RESTAURANT

  OCTOBER 21, 1805 THE GHOST OF LORD HORATIO NELSON

  OCTOBER 22, 2003 TIGG ER'S RETURN

  OCTOBER 23, 1642 THE SPECTRAL BATTLE OF EDGEHILL

  OCTOBER 24, 1980 TOYS “R” US

  OCTOBER 25, 1829 EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY

  OCTOBER 26, 2007 THE HAUNTED SWING

  OCTOBER 27, 2006 PORSGRUNN NURSING HOME

  OCTOBER 28, 2004 THE CANMORE OPERA HOUSE

  OCTOBER 29, 1867 RMS RHONE

  OCTOBER 30, 2001 PHANTOM LIGHTS

  OCTOBER 31, 1936 HOUDINI'S GHOST

  NOVEMBER 1, 2006 THE HAUNTED HIGHWAY

  NOVEMBER 2, 2009 LAKE COUNTY CORONER'S OFFICE

  NOVEMBER 3, 1948 THE OVEREXPOSED

  NOVEMBER 4, 1953 THE BOATHOUSE

  NOVEMBER 5, 1883 RAM ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE

  NOVEMBER 6, 2009 THE BONES IN THE WALL

  NOVEMBER 7, 2008 FULL MOON

  NOVEMBER 8, 1848 STREEPERS TAVERN

  NOVEMBER 9, 1929 THE BAKER HOTEL

  NOVEMBER 10, 1836 THE WALKER HOUSE

  NOVEMBER 11, 1920 TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN WARRIOR

  NOVEMBER 12, 1912 THE HAUNTING OF CROOKED CREEK

  NOVEMBER 13, 1974 AMITYVILLE HOUSE

  NOVEMBER 14, 2007 BLUE MIST

  NOVEMBER 15, 1910 HARRY'S ROAD HOUSE

  NOVEMBER 16, 1919 SUICIDE BRIDGE

  NOVEMBER 17, 1896 OHIO STATE REFORMATORY

  NOVEMBER 18, 1926 HAUNTED ROUTE 66

  NOVEMBER 19, 1797 HICKORY HILL

  NOVEMBER 20, 1734 AMERICA'S STONEHENGE

  NOVEMBER 21, 2001 WINDHAM RESTAURANT

  NOVEMBER 22, 1904 THE FOX SISTERS

  NOVEMBER 23, 1924 SANTORIO CARLOS DURAN

  NOVEMBER 24, 1854 SACHS BRIDGE

  NOVEMBER 25, 1758 POINT STATE PARK

  NOVEMBER 26, 1983 HUMMEL PARK

  NOVEMBER 27, 1944 11:11

  NOVEMBER 28, 1700 FIVE-TO-FOUR FRED

  NOVEMBER 29, 1892 HOTEL DEL CORONADO

  NOVEMBER 30, 2003 NAM KOO TERRACE

  DECEMBER 1, 2009 THE SCREAMING WOMAN

  DECEMBER 2, 1931 THE GURDON LIGHT

  DECEMBER 3, 2009 THE DISNEY WORLD GHOST

  DECEMBER 4, 1924 FACES IN THE WAVES

  DECEMBER 5, 1851 CAPTAIN TONY'S SALOON

  DECEMBER 6, 1889 HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY

  DECEMBER 7, 2004 SELLING GRANDPA'S GHOST

  DECEMBER 8, 1980 THE DAKOTA

  DECEMBER 9, 1913 FORT GARRY HOTEL

  DECEMBER 10, 1997 THE SILVERPILEN

  DECEMBER 11, 1849 ST. ANDREWS ON THE RED CHURCH

  DECEMBER 12, 1986 THE WHITNEY RESTAURANT

  DECEMBER 13, 1870 THE LOST VIKING SHIP

  DECEMBER 14, 1799 GEORGE WASHINGTON

  DECEMBER 15, A.D. 37 SANTA MARIA DEL POPOLO CHURCH

  DECEMBER 16, 1820 THE BELL WITCH

  DECEMBER 17, 1886 THE DRISKILL HOTEL

  DECEMBER 18, 2008 FAMILY PLAGUED BY SPIRITS

  DECEMBER 19, 2003 HENRY THE VIII'S GHOST CAUGHT ON CCTV

  DECEMBER 20, 2009 THE ENFIELD DEMON

  DECEMBER 21, 1843 SPRAGUE MANSION

  DECEMBER 22, 1973 THE STAGECOACH TAVERN

  DECEMBER 23, 1843 THE DEER PARK TAVERN

  DECEMBER 24, 1548 WAWEL CASTLE

  DECEMBER 25, 1727 MISTLETOE BOUGH GHOST

  DECEMBER 26, 2004 GHOSTLY TOURISTS

  DECEMBER 27, 1972 LORD CALVERT'S MANSION

  DECEMBER 28, 1879 THE DIVER

  DECEMBER 29, 1972 FLIGHT 401

  DECEMBER 30, 2006 SADDAM'S GHOST

  DECEMBER 31, 1890 JOESEFA'S HEAD

  Resources

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Any book dealing with such a wide variety and number of entries requires a lot of support. To mention a few, we would like to thank Jeff Belanger of Ghostvillage.com and Jeremy D'Entremont and Richard Felix of Most Haunted for their inspiration and guidance.

  In gathering supernatural accounts for this book, we would like to thank Bety Comerford, Rick Hines, Leigh Ross, Michele Nixon, and Ryan Dube for sharing their personal stories.

  And, of course, we would like to thank our agent Deidre Knight, of the Knight Agency, for her unending faith and constant support.

  We especially would like to thank Andrea Norville and Adams Media for providing us the opportunity to make this book a reality.

  Last but certainly not least, we would like to thank our children, Ron Kolek Jr. and Sabrina and Joshua Wood for their belief in us and their encouragement to persevere.

  FOREWORD: Three Hundred and Sixty Five Ghosts

  No matter how technologically advanced we become, ghost stories will always be a part of human existence. The Italian writer Italo Calvino said it well: “The more enlightened our houses are, the more their walls ooze ghosts.” Everyone loves a good ghost story, and even the most hardened skeptic is likely to get a shiver or two from many of the tales in this book.

  Ghost stories are compelling because they awaken a part of our brain that's usually dormant in our sunlit everyday lives. They suggest possibilities. Obviously, they suggest that there is life after death, something we all want to believe in, but more generally, ghost stories are a bridge from the world we understand to a world we can't fully know. They're a spark for the imagination.

  There's a smorgasbord of hauntings here, from haunted houses to ships to airplanes to lighthouses — even a haunted cane that was sold on eBay. Many of the entries fall under the heading of folklore. Tales of that category should never be confused with factual history, but they do serve an important role as reflections of our cultural identity. Folklore, as a wise man once said, is history as it is remembered by the people.

  Other stories contained here aren't so easy to explain away as folklore or tall tales. Some are firmly rooted in factual history. Those are the ones that may get deep under your skin.

  I've had some interesting nights in my life, but I've had few as deeply affecting as the ones I've spent with Ron Kolek and Maureen Wood during paranormal investigations. I first met them in the su
mmer of 2005, when the New England Ghost Project became the first organization to conduct a paranormal investigation at Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse in New Castle, New Hampshire. I quickly learned that Ron and Maureen's approach to their work was careful and professional, but I also learned that they maintain a healthy sense of humor about it all. That seems to me to be a very human and healthy response to the strangeness they deal with on a regular basis.

  Since then, I've come to know Ron and Maureen as friends, and as sincere explorers of an uncharted realm. They're the perfect guides for this year's worth of spooky tales. Enjoy!

  —Jeremy D'Entremont, author of Great Shipwrecks of the Maine Coast and The Lighthouse Handbook: New England

  INTRODUCTION

  Within the pages of this book, we have captured numerous occurrences throughout history, dating back to the first recorded ghost hunter, Athenodoros Cananites, who encountered a ghostly apparition that guided him to its skeletal remains, to American troops encountering a ghostly child while fighting in Afghanistan.

  Without even leaving the comfort of your chair, you'll journey across the globe, from the top of Mount Everest to a sunken wreck at the coldest depths of the ocean. You'll find that ghosts show up in innocent places, such as the school where a lost soul returns for a yearbook picture or the lonely lighthouse where a keeper continues his thankless duties, as well as in more terrifying locations, like the creepy cemetery where the dead have come back to taunt the living.

  Although many of these stories are based on legend, others are eyewitness accounts. As you read this book, you'll find it's hard to separate the truth from the legends. Yet history tells us that even legends are based on fact. And truth is stranger than fiction!

  JANUARY 1, 1745 THE BONES OF GENERAL “MAD ANTHONY” WAYNE

  Route 322, United States

  General Anthony Wayne was one of George Washington's most brilliant commanders. Nicknamed “Mad Anthony” by his troops, he was at times quick tempered, but fearless and a brilliant tactician who was personally responsible for several key American victories. After the war, he retired to Pennsylvania and served in the state legislature. He later moved to Georgia and served in the U.S. Congress.

  During the Northwest Indian war, he was recalled to duty. After a successful campaign, he grew ill on the way home from Detroit, and on December 15, 1796, he died from complications of gout. General Wayne was then buried beneath the flag in front of the blockhouse at Fort Presque Isle.

  Thirteen years later his son, Isaac, returned to Fort Presque Isle to retrieve his father's body for burial in the family's plot. When they opened the coffin, they found that the body was in better shape than expected. Lacking adequate space in the surrey to transport the general's remains, they decided to bring just his bones home. With the help of a doctor, the flesh was removed by boiling the corpse in a big pot.

  The flesh and water was then reburied at Fort Presque Isle and the bones were packed in a trunk. It has been rumored that on the way home some of the bones fell from the surrey and were lost. Today, if you drive along Route 322 on New Year's Day, Wayne's birthday, you might be lucky enough to spy the General's ghost wandering the road looking for his bones.

  JANUARY 2, 1815 THE KEEPER OF GIBRALTAR POINT LIGHTHOUSE

  Toronto, Canada

  Erected in 1808, Gibraltar Point Lighthouse is one of the oldest lighthouses in Canada. The lighthouse's first keeper was a man named John Paul Rademuller. It was well known that John was a bootlegger, often keeping a stash at the lighthouse to help pass the long, cold winter days and nights. On a dreary night in January, John heard a knock on the lighthouse door. When he opened the door he was confronted by three drunken soldiers from a nearby fort. They demanded some of his homemade brew. When he refused, they beat him to death, dragged his body up the stairs of the tower, and threw him off the top of the lighthouse. When sanity set in and they realized what they had done, they panicked. In order to cover up their crime, the soldiers decided to get rid of Rademuller's body. They dismembered him and buried the mutilated remains around the lighthouse, and as the legend goes, Rademuller was never seen again. At least not in corporal form.

  In 1893, another lighthouse keeper, George Duman, found bones buried near the keeper's house. Believing they belonged to the legendary Rademuller, he continued his search. Unable to find a complete skeleton, Duman reburied the ones he had found. Unfortunately he never marked the grave, and to this day, no one knows where it is located.

  Through the years, many have witnessed mysterious happenings at the lighthouse. Spectral images, unearthly groans, the sounds of “something” being dragged up the towers stairs, materializing blood spots, ethereal lights, and a strange mist swirling around the tower have all marked the return of Rademuller. Could he be reliving that cold winter night back in January 1815, or is he roaming about searching for his bones? We will never know until the day the dead can speak.

  JANUARY 3, 1870 THE BOUNCER OF THE BRIDGE CAFÈ

  New York, New York

  Formerly named the Hole in the Wall, the Bridge Café, built in 1794, has changed hands several times. The building has been a brothel, a bar frequented by pirates, and a seafood restaurant to name a few of its incarnations. Throughout its history, there have been many unsavory characters associated with the building, most notably, Gallus Mag. Mag, who was nicknamed Gallus by the type of suspenders she wore, was a six-foot-tall Englishwoman who took her role as bouncer to a gruesome level. Brandishing a pistol and knife, she would clamp on to her unruly patrons with her teeth and drag them out of the bar. If they were too rowdy, this overzealous bouncer was known to bite off the offending patron's ear. As a warning to would-be troublemakers, the ear would be pickled and left atop the bar for all to see.

  Today, patrons and employees of the Bridge Café have reported seeing shadows moving about the building. But that's not all; during the late-night hours disembodied voices have been heard. And the sounds of footsteps have reportedly echoed from the second floor when no one is upstairs. If the owners and patrons are correct, then Gallus Mag, the bouncer who ruled with an iron fist, is still on duty.

  JANUARY 4, 2010 THE “E STREET UNWELCOMER”

  Springfield, Oregon

  According to the Eugene Community Examiner, a ghostly apparition has startled commuters heading west on E Street, toward Eugene. The majority of reports come from witnesses who have driven the patch of road during the evening hours. While driving, they've looked to the left side of the road and seen a ghostly figure dressed in black materialize before their eyes. Many have claimed to be overcome with fear. Some have reported that the dark figure advanced toward them and then disappeared before their eyes. Other locals have stated that they've come close to striking the specter. And even then, when the strange entity is close enough to reach out and touch, its features are indiscernible. Although no one knows why this ghostly visitor is haunting E Street, one thing is for certain. The “E Street Unwelcomer,” as it has become known, is not only a distraction, but also, a road hazard.

  JANUARY 5, 2005 DEADLY SKIES

  Inchon, South Korea

  According to the Korean news outlet Chosun Ilbo, a thirty-six-year-old woman committed suicide onboard a Korean Airline flight in January 2005. Flight attendants became worried when one of the passengers did not return to her seat. Upon investigating the plane's lavatory, they discovered that the woman had hanged herself with her scarf. Attempts to revive her failed.

  Over the next few months, the plane was plagued by a series of odd occurrences. The crew noticed peculiar cold spots and heard unworldly voices. On one occasion a Buddhist monk, the lone passenger in the firstclass section, began chanting. When the flight attendant asked if anything was wrong, the monk replied, “There are dead people sitting in each of the empty seats.” On another occasion, a member of the crew was taking a nap when he felt someone tuck the blanket in around him. When he opened his eyes he saw a hand coming out from the wall. In an attempt to free the plane of th
e spirits, the crew secretly blessed the bathroom with sacred liquor. But it was unsuccessful. To quell the increasing complaints by the crew, the airline reportedly took the plane out of service.

  In May 2008, on a Korean Airline flight, another passenger, like the first, committed suicide in the bathroom by hanging herself with a scarf. Was this the same plane that was secretly put back in service or just some macabre coincidence?