Local Haunts

[El Capitán]

What are some of your local ghost stories/urban legends?

I have a few.

When I lived in Evansville: The Grey Lady at Willard library. She is said to roam the library moving books, sitting in the rocking chair, and turning on lights. The old state hospital is supposed to be haunted by patients that were tortured. The LST 325 docked there is apparently haunted by sailors from WWII.

Bloomfield area: The local covered bridge is said to be haunted by a headless horseman. You are supposed to be able to hear the footsteps of a horse galloping through at midnight and he appears at the end of a bridge. We also have a cemetery where spirits are said to walk at night. Another is about an old steel trestle bridge that is now blocked off. Apparently a young boy fell off the bridge and drowned and if you look over the bridge you'll feel a tug on your clothes pulling you back. There is also the swamp witch that is said to live in the shack in the middle of the swamp. She is a boogeyman who takes unruly children and uses them as sacrifices in her evil rituals.

 

[stevecourtright]

In Iroquois County, Illinois, there is a country road where the legend of "Lantern Lane" is located. (This is Lantern Lane, a Haunted Backroad near Watseka, Illinois - https://ultimateunexplained.com/lantern-lane-watseka-illinois/) The legend, iirc, is based on a story, when a local farmer, during a terrible snow storm, went out to a barn on the property to check on livestock and did not return to the house. The farmer's wife lit a lantern and went out into the storm to look for her farmer husband and neither was ever seen alive again. Many people, including myself, have driven out to the road and have seen the lantern. It's quite astonishing to see it and (I am a trained scientist and skeptic) nobody has ever come up with a plausible mechanism for it's appearance, which seems quite real.

Also, in Watseka, Illinois, there is a house, the "Watseka Wonder" where a well-documented case of alleged possession took place, which was the basis for books and a movie. I have been in the house myself. The house is pretty ordinary. Lots of folks from out of town stop there and try to get a tour. (Watseka Wonder - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watseka_Wonder)

 

[cosmicfolklore]

First, I don't believe in ghosts. Just doesn't make sense to me. You either go to the good place or bad, no wandering around.

Kathryn Tucker Windham lived in Montevallo, where I was an undergrad. I had the pleasure of keeping her gardens weeded during the year, but she wrote a famous book here in Alabama, called 13 Alabama Ghost Stories, which was required reading for most of us in elementary school.
As I was working with the grounds department to pay my way through school, I also had to keep the grounds of King Hall mowed and kept. This was a location of one of her ghost stories, and I have to admit, there were times when I felt someone watching me from that tiny building... it was abandoned when the King family gave the land to the college. Interestingly, the King family made the school promise never to have a football team and to always keep the cobblestone roads. Recently, when the agreement ran out, and the college was considering starting a football team, the entire community, alum, and students protested, and made the admins create a new contract never to have football associated with the University. It always makes for a better learning environment and campus life to keep that godforsaken sport off of campus. You will also find that most grads of UM also do not watch or keep up with the game. And, when I went to University of Alabama, it was culture shock on game days. And, I reminded me of how lucky I was to have gone to UM.

Oh... the ghosts... Mr. King is often seen walking around the Hall, having been dead for over 100 years. There was also a ghost in Main Hall. There was a fire there back in 1908. A girl was burned to death in her room, and her corpse was found next to the wooden door. It burned the image of her body into the door. The school tried to replace the door three times, and all three times the image came back. I have seen the doors in storage, when I was working for the grounds. They eventually put up a metal door on the room, and no one is allowed in side it. I have no way to explain it, nor do I believe it... but, I have seen the doors. Go figure.

 

[Kobold]

We have or had (I haven’t been back in years) Creepy College. I definitely had some weird experiences there but the weirdest was when I caught some old people fornicating in the woods there.

The legend of The Hell House College of St Mary’s

Hell House College is the nickname given to St. Mary’s College in Ilchester, Maryland (The college is also sometimes referred to as ‘Creepy College’).

www.ancient-origins.net

We also had Dead Mans Hill in Pasadena that was right by my home. Rumor was some hunter got shot and was buried there with his hand sticking out of his shallow grave. Scary stuff for a 12 year old! Most definitely just an urban myth but I was convinced of it when I was a kid.