Haunting

Ghosts are reported in every nation on earth. Here are a few of the most famous ghost stories in the western world.

Edinburgh Castle's haunted past:

Lady Glamis:

In the 16th century the lovely Janet Doulgas, Lady of Glamis, was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle after being accused of witchcraft and conspiracy to murder King James V.

Evidence was obtained against her by the torturing of her servants. She was burned at the stake on July 17, 1537, and her young son Gillespie was brought out and forced to watch from the battlements.

Lady Janet’s restless spirit is said to still haunt parts of the castle. Hollow knocking sounds that are sometimes heard areattributed to the workmen building the platform on which she was burned.

The Ghostly Piper

A secret tunnel was discovered under the castle a few hundred years ago. It seemed to lead down the Royal Mile towards Holyrood Palace. A piper was sent in to follow the tunnel with people walking above on the cobbled road to track his route by the sound of the music.

About halfway down the Royal Mile the pipes stopped abruptly. The piper never returned. When rescuers tried to follow the tunnel they discovered it ended in solid rock not far from the entrance.

It is said the faint echo of the lost piper can still be heard around the castle today.

Source: Scottish Executive News Online - Crown Copyright

The year was 1862 and General Butler occupied New Orleans, La. He had given an order that any men found looting, from the north or south side would be shot. Two Union officers were arrested and put in a house on Constance Street, which was made into a jail. The house had been a beautiful mansion before it became a jail. The officers had drink snuck into them and became rowdy, singing loud songs. The men not realizing they were going to be shop were horrified to learn of the news. They bribed the guards to sneak pistols into their cell. In the morning they were found dead, shot with the pistols. Blood was seeping down through the floor. The building had become a factory after the war and changed hands several times. The workers persisted in reporting that they head men in boots walking around on the third floor. One day in 1930 a maintenance man was alone in the building and heard the sounds of two men in boot walking around. He then heard men laughing and singing loudly. He left and never came back. People on the street reported that they saw two men in blue uniforms walking around and holding whiskey bottles. One day while a woman was sitting in a chair by the window a drop of blood fell on her. It was coming from the ceiling where more drops were accumulating. Then she heard what sounded like men singing loudly. The woman moved out of the house. As her relatives were leaving after helping her, they saw two men in blue uniforms at the third floor window. The picture on the left is not the original haunted mansion.

Built in 1885, this is the most haunted house in Australia. Christopher William Crawley [1841-1910] acquired the land and after years of poverty and struggle struck it rich when the railroad came through. The house's bricks were all fired on site and to this day, not one has ever cracked. There are strange lights that light the entire house, sounds of footsteps, violent pet deaths. Elizabeth Crawley is the most frequently seen ghost. People have seen her in every room and passage of the house, however as in life she never ventures out. (In her last 23 years of life after her husband's death she only left the house 2 times) Physics claim that a small child is also haunting this house, but there are no records that one ever existed. Some people who have taken the tour have been knocked to the ground, frozen in place and experienced heart palpitations

The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall was Lady Townshend. She was married to Charles Townshend a man known for his terrible temper. Lady Townshend was never allowed to leave and stayed at Raynham Hall until her death. Her ghost was sighted many times. King George IV saw her when he visited Raynham Hall. He said she was beside his bed in a brown dress, and that her face was pale and her hair was a mess. Many people saw her in the 1800 hundreds and a Colonel Loftus saw her when he was visiting for the Christmas holidays. He actually saw her two days in a row, wearing the same brown dress. On the second day she appeared he tried to get a better look, and to his horror he saw she had no eyes. When he told his story many other people came forward and confessed seeing her. An artist drew a picture of the ghost and they hung it in the room she was seen the most.

Captain Frederick Marryat stayed at Raynham Hall for the sole purpose of seeing the Brown Lady. He even slept in the room where the painting was placed. She never showed up, but several days later appeared to him and a group of his friends in a hallway. A shot was fired at her, but passed harmlessly into the wall. The sightings continued, but in 1936 two photographers were at Raynham Hall for the magazine Country Life. While they were taking pictures of the staircase they saw a ethereal veiled figure coming down the stairs. They quickly snapped a picture. The picture on the left is the picture they took, it appeared in the magazine on December 16, 1936.

She has rarely been seen since the picture was taken. Reportedly she also haunts Sandringham House.

Borley Rectory was one of the most haunted locations in England. The rectory was believed to have been built in 1863. It began to be haunted in 1886. In 1900 Mrs. Bull, the wife of the rector saw the ghost of a nun on the lawn. In the same year the nun was seen on the lawn again by Miss E. Bull, relationship unknown. There was so much ghostly activity here that the famous ghost hunter, Harry Price, was invited to try and determine what was going on. In 1928 the Rev. G. Edward Smith had been driven out by the ghosts. Two priests performed an exorcism but it did no good. Rev. L. A. Foyster and his wife moved into the rectory on October, 16, 1930. During her stay she was given a black eye by a ghost. They managed to remain until 1935 but couldn't take it anymore and moved out. Harry Price decided he wanted to conduct a long term investigation and rented the rectory for one year in 1937. It seems Price witnessed many strange events. A Captain W. H. Gregson bought the rectory and renamed it Borley Priory. It burned down on February 27, 1939.

Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allen Poe Home

Source: National Park Service

The home of Edgar Allen Poe at 203 N. Amity Street in Baltimore, was almost destroyed in 1939 as a slum, but saved by the Edgar Allen Poe society of Baltimore in 1941. Poe lived here from 1833-35, with his aunt, Maria Clemn, and her daughter, Virginia, whom he later married. In the house is a portrait of Virginia which was painted from her corpse. Doors are often seen opening and closing by themselves. Strange lights are also observed. The police were called when the neighbor saw a lit candle at night in the house. From the outside they observed the candle travel up to the third floor. When they entered and searched the house, no one was there. Most of the activity occurs in the bedroom of Elizabeth, Poe's grandmother. It consists of people being tapped on the shoulder. In 1980 many people gathered in the bedroom heard voices. Curator Jeff Jerome has stated that since this was a house that was lived in by many different people since the Poe family, it may not be accurate to claim the ghost is Elizabeth.

The Octagon

Source: Washington DC National Register

The Octagon is located in Washington, D.C., one block from the White House. It was built in 1801 by Colonel John Tayloe III and used by the president James Madison and his wife Dolley, when the British burned the White House in the War of 1812. I don't know why it is called the Octagon since it has six sides. The Colonel was very patriotic and entertained many famous American patriots. One of his daughters was having a secret love affair with a British soldier during the War of 1812. When she was sneaking back into the house, her father caught her. There was a violent argument and while she was on the staircase, she lost her balance and fell to her death. The Colonel said it was a terrible accident but many people have seen and heard her ghost which carries a lit candle up the stairs, then they reported hearing a scream and a thud at the bottom of the stairs. There has been another ghost reported in the home, the ghost of Dolley Madison. She wears her favorite feathered turban and roams the house.
After the war the Tayloes moved back into the house, and again the father caught a different daughter sneaking in after having an affair with a British soldier. When she was on the stairs the Colonel pushed her and she also met her death. Many people have seen the rug at the base of the stairs rolled back, when no one touched it.
When the Civil War started the house was used as a hospital. Many people report hearing the moans of the dying and injured today.
A gambler had renter an apartment in later years and was shot to death in the house. Again many people have reported seeing his ghost reaching for a gun.
In 1902 the house was purchased by the American Institute of Architects. The found the body of a girl with her hands bound in one of the walls. Thumping sounds had been reported for almost 100 years coming from that wall. When the body was buried the sounds went away.
There is also the ghost of a man in a military uniform from 1800 that walks the building, he is unknown.
The Octagon is now the museum of the American Architectural Foundation.