Friday, April 24, 2009

The Spalding Inn-

This week Ghost Hunters International investigated The Spalding Inn in New Hampshire which was recently purchased by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson the stars of Ghost Hunters and founders of TAPS. I wasn't really impressed with the evidence that GHI presented after the investigation. (See the episode on TAPS site.) But they pronounced the Inn to be haunted. I wonder if Jason would have agreed if the Inn belonged to someone else and he was the investigator? The whole thing seems to be advanced publicity for the Inn. What could be better than having two well know ghost hunters make available a haunted Inn for ghost hunter fans? They advertise the Inn on the site and are having a lot of their classes there. I have no problem with Jason and Grant making money off of what they do. But it seems a bit hypocritical to me for guys who used to say ghost hunters shouldn't take money for investigations. That is a definite advertisement for the Ghost Hunters new Inn. I have always been a huge fan of the show and of Jason and Grant, but in my opinion this is an awfully convenient ghost hunting site for those who want one. And Ghost Hunters International declare it active for them. The whole thing reeks of self-promotion. It is the very thing that TAPS supposedly is so dead set against. I am disappointed in them.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Rock & Roll Cemetery-Ocean Springs MS.

The Rock & Roll Cemetery in Ocean Springs is a small nondescript burial ground located near Back Bay and Fort Bayou. It is reputed by locals to be haunted. They claim there are strange sounds, and shadows in the cemetery. The main story reported is of an old lady who sits in a rocking chair and rocks. Thus the name. Other stories say the name came from the teens in the 50's who used to go there to park and played their rock & roll music. The cemetery is locked at night, but from the gate there were some strange noises, like rustling of leaves. Of course that could have been an animal. There were also low growls or moaning sounds. In the darkness it is possible to see shadows and what appears to be movement between the trees. The pictures below show some orbs. I don't know if it is haunted or not, but I believe that orbs are a sign of some kind of activity.


Orbs in the Rock & Roll Cemetery in Ocean Springs, Ms.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Tilly-Amite Co. Ms.

A friend of mine sent me this picture. It is unusual because it seems to show a form in bright sunlight. The shape and lines do not seem to fit the way the sunlight is shining in the rest of the picture. Her face seems to be looking to her left and I think she has on a low cut dress. Her head covering looks like a veil to me. I wonder if the area is an old home site. Below are my friends comments about the picture. You decide.

"I took this on our land in Amite county. I love to take pictures and I did not really notice anything different while I was photographing. When I got home and put the pictures on my computer I found this image. I went back several times and used the picture to locate the spot. I was never able to capture anything there again. To me it looks like a girl with bad teeth and something over her head. I can make out her facial features very well. I showed this to several people and the women could see her better than the men. I call her Tilly and each time I go there I look for her. I haven't seen her again. I took it with a digital camera with a new card that had never been used."

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Our Old House

When I was really little and we'd go to visit my great-grandparents, often we'd stay in the house my grandmother grew up in. We called it "The Old House/Place". I know, really original.
But it may have been haunted. Seriously. I never saw anything or heard anything, but it creeped me out. I didn't like being alone in one room for too long while in it. And it wasn't just me, either. My sister felt the same thing, and my uncle swears he did as well. It is a creepy place. Maybe it was the fact that it was really old. My grandmother was born in it. Maybe the fact that it was dark and rather uncomforting added to it. Maybe the fact that it scared me when I was really little adds to its mystique today. I don't know. I just felt like I was never alone. Something was watching me. That creeped me out.
Well, after my grandparents had it redone (recarpeted, termite damage repaired, etc.), it never felt as spooky. I think I was older and realized that if anybody was hanging around, it was probably some of my ancestors who were good people, and would never hurt me. I don't know. But I still remember how scary that place was to me. Just wanted to share that. I've never experienced anything paranormal, so this is about it for me.

Monday, April 13, 2009

The Cousin's Ghost


This picture has always been one of my favorite ghost pictures. There appears to be at least three ghosts in it. Each one appears to have a head. The one on the far right appears to have a mouth and eyes. It also looks like it is coming between us instead of in front or behind where we are standing. I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THIS PICTURE HAS NOT BEEN TOUCHED OR ALTERED IN ANYWAY! I still have the actual film it was developed from and the objects are on it as well. What is fascinating is that M.P was hitting me on the leg and I was slapping away her hand. She did it the first time as we were horsing around. It would make a spark each time she did it and shocked us both. I was wearing wind suit pants. I don't know if that created an electricity that the spirits could use or how it worked exactly, but when the pictures were developed, there they were. We had no idea at the time they were present. The before and after shots did not have anything on them. Also, my mom was NOT smoking when this was taken. So it wasn't smoke. The orange on the far right IS her finger as she took the picture and isn't anything paranormal. But the other, well, you decide. This was taken around the years of 1999-2000 (I THINK).

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Cahill House Newspaper Article

Legend Of Spirits Ends With Fire
By PAM RYAN
Daily Herald Women's Editor

A haunting legend blazed into history Saturday afternoon when the three-story Kendall D. Gregory home in Handsboro erupted into flames that rapidly licked away a once glorious home-at the same time fulfilling a prediction made nine months ago that "the house will be destroyed by fire that will start either in the den or the third floor rear".
Dr. David Bubar made the prediction when he visited here in mid-December to conduct an "investigation into the unknown" at the house, known locally as the Cahill House. During the psychic investigation, attended by about 20 persons, Bubar entered a trance and purportedly revealed much of the history of the old wood-frame mansion built in 1915 on a site overlooking Bayou Bernard. In a voice not typical of his own and in first person as though the "spirits" were themselves were speaking, Bubar related sordid occurrences and told of the prediction of destruction by fire. The prediction came from a so-called spirit identified as "Flossie". Regarding one of the instances where a candle was found burning under unexplained circumstances "Flossie" said, "there were candles in the kitchen. . .I mean to burn the place up. . . I have to get rid of this place. . ." In a telephone interview with him on Sat. afternoon as the shell of the house smoldered Bubar commented, "I am delighted that place burned down as it will release those unfortunate entities that have been trapped there."

Photos Of Cahill House

The photo below is of the destroyed Cahill House. These phots are not as clear as I would have liked but show the headlines that appeared in The Daily Herald in 1971. I have never seen a supposed haunted location covered to the extent that the Cahill House was. Today the newspaper is The Sun Herald.
This is a photo of the back of the Cahill House. The caption written beside the photo states:
This Handsboro (a neighborhood in Gulfport) home know as the Cahill Mansion appears here as it did after the Gregory family abandoned the premises and before a mysterious fire destroyed the buildings in 1971. Today the property has been subdivided and blends with the elegant neighborhood.

Cahill House News Article

In the above photo there appears to be a ghostly form of a woman standing next to the fireman. She is on his right side. She has on a long dress and seems to be looking out onto the area below. Her features are visible in detail as are her hands.
Cahill House Destroyed in Fire:
Spirits Free?
By Nanci Campbell
Daily Herald Staff Writer

The state fire marshall has been summoned to investigate a fire which destroyed an old residence on Kimball Drive, a once elite three story house long suspected by many to be haunted. Flames erupted in the second story of the frame structure about 1;20 p.m., where ironically a seance had been held the night before. Owned by Dr. Kandall Gregory of Gulfport the home had been unoccupied since June 1969. The seance was held with the Gregory's permission. Gulfport Fire Superintendent Haynie said at the scene that the "fire was suspicious". Numerous groups most of them having the Gregory's consent have visited the home in recent months to delve into the supernatural mysteries which have been reported there.The Reverend David Bubar a former Baptist minister from Memphis, a para-psychologist, visited the home last fall and predicted the structure would be destroyed by fire before it could be demolished.

"Small fires have appeared unaccountably for years in the building and Bubar said "spirits" inhabiting the home could not be set free until a fire destroyed the house. Vacant for over a year the house was scheduled to be torn down in the near future and the properly subdivided. Hurricane Camille had delayed the demolition of the house. The unexplained fires have occurred time and again and some were discussed by Mrs. Gregory at Dr. Barbars investigation.

"My son walked into his bedroom one afternoon and his school jacket, laying across his bed burst into flames. It was partially destroyed before he could put out the fire. That was Nov. 17,1963."

"I came in from shopping one day," she recalled, "and upon opening the cabinet under the kitchen sink, saw a little red candle burning there. I called my maid, accusing her of trying to burn the house down. The maid said she had found a candle earlier in the same location."

A generation of of coast people have grown up under the whispered rumor that "the old Cahill House is Haunted." Since Hurricane Camille, several windows in the home were boarded up and rain damaged the flooring on the third level. During the Gregory's occupancy of the home they were plagued by numerous occurrences that could not be explained.

"My feeling on moving here was simply one of not being alone. I felt like I was always being watched," Mrs Gregory said. "We were often awakened to hear what sounded like footsteps running through our room. In the same room my son awoke to what looked like a little boy about 4 years old coming out of the closet. The child continued on through the bedroom and out the door. My son ran after him and there was no one there." Reporting another instance she said, "My son was sleeping on the den sofa and at 4:30 a.m. was awakened to see a luminous figure flowing in the darkness. It moved across the room until as it reached the far window it disintegrated."

"On the day President Kennedy was assassinated , my children awoke in the morning to see what appeared to be blood dripping down their draperies and smeared on the window pane. None of us had an injury. Dr. Gregory took samples of the substance and examined it at his office. It was type RH positive human blood. The owners of the house have heard footsteps on the stairs, terrible moaning sounds and screams. Mrs. Gregory said she started wearing ear plugs so she couldn't hear the sounds as well. The Gregorys related other strange events that happened while others resided in the house. The son of former owners met accidental death on the grounds in a tractor mishap. The spirits speaking through Babar told of murders, of bodies of women and children being butchered in an upstairs bathroom, of young women "brought over from Louisiana" being abused and of abortions at the house. The "spirits" claimed to be of those people who met violent deaths while the house was in use as an NCO Club during WWII. The structure built in 1915 by William Stewart was a subject of interest in April 1969 to Susie Smith, noted parapsychologist, ghost hunter and author. A chapter of her most recent book is devoted to the Cahill House.

Personal Observations of Cahill House

The summer of 1969 was a summer that can never be forgotten. Lots of things happened here that summer. The biggest being a gal that went by the name of Camille. I saw my first dead body thanks to her and I learned a lot of lessons that helped me cope when her sister Katrina blew by for a visit. Those are things that are branded in your mind and your spirit but they are not the most startling things that happened that summer, not by far.My nanny was always fascinated by anything supernatural or paranormal and she took me lots of places so that I could tell her what I saw or felt, if anything, this was because I was born with a cowl. I am not sure if this really means anything or is just an old superstition but she thought I was some kind of barometer so off we went.In the city that I still live in there was once upon a time a house with quite a reputation. It was known as the Cahill House even though Cahills had not owned it or lived in it for years.This house had quite a history, it had been a private home and during the war it was used as an USO building. There was talk of it being used for possible whore house activities. While it was a private home it saw more then it's fair share of tragedy. The years that I knew of it, it was owned by a local doctor and his family.My Nanny did not worry about social lines or the fact that a few famous names had been involved with investigating this home. She made contact with the doctor's wife and they became friendly, friendly enough for my grandmother to get permission to go into the house. The family no longer lived in the home, but the home was fully furnished down to beds still being made, books on shelves in the library , dishes in cabinets, all the furniture in place, lamps, nick-knacks, you name it , it was there.My family descended like a plague of locusts. While there, people broke up into small pairs or groups so that more ground could be covered. I did not like the third floor at all, was unhappy with all the doors into the kitchen and did not like the family plot out back. I stayed under the huge arbor a lot. I would walk it down to the bayou and back. My nanny wanted to know what I was doing and I said I was just waiting for us to leave. When the scream came I was with an aunt. She was my nanny's sister. She thought the scream was from one of her daughters so off we went. When everyone gathered it was to find that everyone had heard the scream, everyone agreed it was a woman but no one would admit to being the screamer. As it was getting late we called it a day and went off to our homes. That night at my great aunt's we all got together to eat and rehash the day. The older kids who ranged in age from 17 to 15 all asked if they could take a car and just go riding, they were told yes but they had to take me, the idea being that since I was only 12 then they could/ would not do anything stupid. RIGHT!You guessed it, in the dark armed with only 2 flashlights and a lot of stupidity we went back to the house that had documented proof of the walls actually bleeding. Yes bleeding, when tested, it was human blood. I did not want to go in. I was forced because I was not going to ruin every one's good time because I was a baby. I went in. Right after you entered the home to your right there was a doorway. I stepped into this doorway grabbed the door frame and refused to budge. They broke out lighters and scattered like roaches all over that house. My youngest aunt who is only 4 years my senior at that point had enough sense to know if something happened to me her butt would be in a crack she might never get out of, stayed with me. We kept one of the flashlights.As she tried her best to get me to let go and explore we heard a door open and close and open again to the right of us in the room that we were standing in the doorway of. She quickly flashed the light in there and the room was furnished but devoid of life and the side door was not only shut but had 2 boards nailed across it.My aunt slowly moved the flashlight over every surface of the room and there was nothing out of the normal to be seen.I guess I need to tell you that the room you enter when you first came into the home was like a huge living room type of room. Big heavy pieces of furniture, large oak bookcases, an oak table that was massive in size and was said to have needed 6 men to lift. End tables, couch, love seat, chairs, lamps, the room was full, and under it all was a wall to wall 20 by 24 antique rug. Great rug, I loved it then and wish I was able to afford something like it now.On the far side of the room were 2 beautiful glass paned french doors and right north of them was this rather plain looking door, I always thought it looked kind of like a closet door, but it was really the door to the stairs. The stairs were enclosed in the wall, there was no grand staircase just stairs that went up the side of the wall, shut the door and no stairs, open it, step up, turn to your left, and start climbing.As we were looking for what had made the noise that sounded like a door we heard someone shout, someone else scream and then we heard the running feet, as they came thundering down the stairs the first cousin out, tripped and fell over the rug, the one I told you about earlier, the one under all the furniture, well it wasn't under it anymore, it was rolled up and in front of the stairs, (No, we never heard a sound, all that furniture had to have lifted up and the rug roll up as nice as you please and we never heard anything.), blocking them so to speak, you had to stop and kinda climb over to get into the main room. Well to make a long story short I refused to move out of my doorway while everyone was either screaming, crying or grabbing someone , I would not budge.With us that night were several male cousins and one male friend of theirs. He was the one who got down and said we have to leave, if you are that scared, I will carry you and I looked at him and said we can't get out the front. I do not know how or why I knew that but I was certain that the front door was a trap of some kind and someone was going to get hurt. He looked at me and said then where, and I looked at the french doors and said there. He said that is on the other side of the room and I said and that's why it safe. It's waiting at the front door. He grabbed me and ran for the doors, we crashed through them, everyone started following, 2 male cousins got cut that night going through the french doors, though the cuts looked more like bites, we made our way down the arbor to the bayou and walked until we could get into the neighbors yard and make it back to the street. We had to go back to the driveway to get the 2 cars and while we were driving off the front door opened and slammed shut 3 times.I think something was angry. I know I never went back, I also know that I was glad when it burned.
Written by Mist
SAPS Member