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Showing posts from January, 2010

Reminder Sunday

Tomorrow is the last day to submit to the Ghost Stories Carnival February edition. Your submission must be in by 11 pm Central. Pick your best post between January 6th and February 1st and submit it. No registration required. Must be paranormal related.

Supreme Courthouse - Hobart

The Supreme Court of Tasmania, Australia is the oldest in the country. Established by the Royal Letters Patent, construction began in 1823 and opened its doors almost a year later. It falls around the middle of Australian court hierarchy, hearing civil and most serious criminal matters. The first Chief Justice was Sir Joseph Pedder. The first counsel to appear before the court was Joseph Tice Gellibrand who became Tasmania's first Attorney-General and William Sorell as first Registrar of the Court. The first trial brought before the Court was the case of William Tibbs. He was tried on May 28, 1824 for shooting a black man named John Jackson who later died. He was convicted of manslaughter, receiving 3 years of transportation. The Court remained busy throughout its early years. Between 1826 and 1842, a total of 203 criminals were sentenced to be hanged (37 performed in the execution yard). In total, 75,000 criminals passed through Tasmania Supreme Court. However in 1860, the Holy

Blog Announcement

It has come to my attention the commenting system I've used for several years, Haloscan, is shutting down. I want to reassure everyone that your comments have been exported and saved. The problem is on Feb. 11th, or rather before, they won't be visible on the site. Unless you have a better suggestion, the only course of action I know to take is to switch over to Blogger comments and manually add your comments to each post. Seeing as there are over a 1,000 of them, it'll be a daunting task. As I said, I'm open to any suggestions to make the transition easier and faster but in the meantime, please bare with me. I'll keep you updated on this crisis. Thanks!

GS Question fo the Week

Do you think a legend could ever die? Why or why not?

Tug Hill Annie

Like many towns, Montague, NY has their very own local legend. This one involves a young woman who died in a fatal car accident. Anna Joan Machowski was born on February 2, 1917. Her life wasn't exactly a fairytale but little did she know, her death would be the fuel of legend and rumors for years to come. At the age of 24, she married a man named Alfred and gave birth to four children. Her marriage wasn't always the happiest and she often drowned her sorrows in alcohol. On June 14th, 1954, she and friend, Jan Winiarski, jumped in to Jan's 1949 Studebaker truck and drove to Barnes Corners to purchase wine. With Anna at the wheel, they sped along Sears Pond Road. She raced towards a curve. An onlooker watched in fear they wouldn't make it and he would be right. The truck went off the road and flipped several times until coming to a rest upright on its wheels. The witness raced to the scene. When he arrived, he found Anna's body lying next to the wrecked truck, her

Reminder Sunday

You have 9 days left to submit to the Ghost Stories Carnival February edition. Your submission must be in by 11 pm Central. Pick your best post between January 6th and February 1st and submit it. No registration required. Must be paranormal related.

Port Arthur

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The Pyderrairme people were the traditional owners of the area. However, Port Arthur settlement in Tasmania was first established as a small timber station in 1830, replacing the timber camp at Birches Bay. The colony soon morphed in to a penal station housing British and Irish second offenders after arriving in Australia. It was advertised much like Alcatraz as an inescapable prison. And much like Alcatraz, convicts proved how arrogant they were. Many prisoners found ways to escape to freedom. Manufactures such as ship building, shoemaking, smithing, timber and brick making were also established. After a suggestion years prior, a flour mill and granary was constructed in 1842 and completed three years later. It housed a storehouse, wheel, machinery and a treadmill capable of taking up to 56 convicts at once. It's purpose was to satisfy the wants of the Convict Department as well as provide surplus for export. However, the infrastructure bringing the water to the wheel loss water

Manly Quarantine Station

In times of poor sanitary conditions and contagious illnesses, many are pushed to act. Waverly Hills was created to handle the tuberculosis epidemic in the United States. In Australia, fresh off a ship, you would face the Quarantine Station. To prevent diseases such as small pox, Spanish influenza and bubonic plague, the Quarantine Act was passed in 1832. Because of its maritime convenience and isolation, North Head, Australia was seen as the perfection location to establish the Quarantine Station. Healthy or not, residents were isolated for months. At its busiest days, eight ships moored off of Quarantine Beach. The Station ran out of accommodations, forcing residents to camp out on the surrounding hill in unsanitary conditions. Those well enough were called upon to clear surrounding bushland and construct hospital and residential buildings. The Quarantine Station contains its own post office, power supply, water reservoir, hospital, morgue, telephone exchange and paved streets

GS Question of the Week

T or F : Pandora's "Box" was really a jar.

Reminder Sunday

You have 16 days left to submit to the Ghost Stories Carnival February edition. Your submission must be in by 11 pm Central. Pick your best post between January 6th and February 1st and submit it. No registration required. Must be paranormal related.

The Beast of LBL

In Western Kentucky, there is a national recreation area situated between the Kentucky and Barkley Lakes known as "The Land between Lakes" or LBL for short. This piece of land consists of 300 miles of shoreline, 170,000 acres of forest and 200 miles of walking trails. In 1963, by order of President Kennedy, the federal government used eminent domain to buy and tear down homes and businesses forcing 700 families out of the area known as "Between the Rivers". Over 228 family cemeteries are located throughout the area, long forgotten. White settlers, war veterans, large number of infants, black slaves, Chinese immigrants, and Native Americans lay beneath layers of Earth. There are various tales passed from one person to the next about this vast piece of land. Stories of Indian curses, hauntings, witches, and mysterious lights are told among those who once lived within the area. But there is one tale that has existed for over a hundred years. Witnesses have seen a wol

GS Question of the Week

Do you believe in demons? Why or why not?

Eden Hotel

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Much like the Gran Hotel Viena, Eden Hotel in La Falda, Argentina is believed to have a Nazi past. In 1891, a German hotelier named Roberto Balkhe came upon a vast and beautiful piece of land, purchasing it in hopes of building a grand hotel. With financial support, the construction began four years later. The Eden Hotel was completed and opened in 1899 and was considered the centerpiece of La Falda's tourist attractions as a luxurious resort. It contained an eclectic architectural style, with French towers and German ornamentation, 100 bedrooms, 38 bathrooms, dining room, assistance for children and personal trainers, a large lounge hall, reading room with desk hall, conservatory, lounge/bar, two spacious terraces, veranda, bank, blacksmith shop, golf course, swimming pool, electric power plant, sausage factory, tennis court and amphitheater. the hotel had many famous guests including Ruben Dario, The Prince of Wales, the Duke of Savoy, Albert Einstein (1925), the Marquis of Ma

Reminder Sunday

You have 23 days to submit to the Ghost Stories Carnival February edition. Your submission must be in by 11 pm Central. Pick your best post between January5th and February 1st and submit it. No registration required.

Author Interview - Lance Lee Noel

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Lance Lee Noel attended the University of Missouri, where he excelled both in the classroom and on the field as a member of the Tiger football team. He later went on to achieve a Masters Degree from the University of Missouri in St. Louis. A Missouri native, he draws on his lifelong passion for history to make the details of Civil War era come alive. After touring American battle sites for more than fifteen years, he traveled to Lone Jack in 2006. When he heard the story of the battle, he knew this tale had the power to inspire a new generation of young adults. Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. What inspired you to incorporate the Battle of Lone Jack in to a fiction novel rather than nonfiction? Thank you for your interest in the book. I really appreciate it! Growing up in Missouri I was a little surprised and disappointed that The Battle of Lone Jack was an event I wasn’t familiar with as a kid. As a result, I hoped to get young people more interested in the ba

Celebrity Ghost Stories

I don't really have much to say concerning this program mostly because there's not much to it. The format is very simple. Celebrities, three or four per episode, sit and relay their chilling paranormal encounters. Interweaving with their narrations are short bursts of dramatizations. It wouldn't be a paranormal show without them. The main attraction of this show is of course the celebrities who are featured on each episode. It includes stories from John Waters, Carrie Fisher, Scott Baio, Kelly Clarkson, Jay Thomas, Barry Williams, Ernie Hudson, Traci Lords, Anson Williams, Ali Landry, Dee Snider, Sammy Hagar, Gina Gershon, Morgan Fairchild, Debi Mazar, Tom Arnold, Teri Polo, Carnie Wilson, Elisabeth Rohn, Nia Long, John Salley, among others. It also features one of David Carradine's last interviews where he discusses being frequently visited by the jealous spirit of his wife's ex. And to make things even more ironically creepy, this haunting in which he speaks of to

Ghost Stories Carnival

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Welcome to the 2010 January edition of Ghost Stories Carnival. The purpose of this carnival is to gather articles about the paranormal from around the blog-o-sphere. If you would like to submit an article for the next Ghost Stories Carnival, please read the guidelines . So, without further ado, sit back and start clicking away. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Article Ghost Stories presents Lemp Mansion posted at Ghost Stories . Emperor presents Corpse Wood Manor posted at Ghosts of Atlanta , saying, "About Dr Scuddle and the infamous Corpsewood Manor." Jessica Penot presents Riverhaven posted at Ghost Stories and Haunted Places , saying, "This is one of many ghost stories told daily on the blog." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This concludes the January edition of the Ghost Stories Carnival. THANK YOU for submitting your links! If you would like to see your work showcased in the February 2010 edition, please submit your links here .

GS Question of the Week

If Adolf Hitler's spirit is roaming the Earth, what location do you think he is haunting?

Reminder...

TODAY is the last day to submit to the Ghost Stories Carnival January edition. Your submission must be in by 11 pm Central. Pick your best post between December 2nd and January 4th and submit it. No registration required. Must be paranormal related.

Ninki Nanka

If you are a devoted fan of SyFy's Destination Truth, you may have heard the story of the African Ninki Nanka. This legendary creature, depending on who you talk to, is believed to be a large reptilian, possibly even dragon-like. Some say it resembles its Chinese mythical counterpart. Others swear it possesses the body of a crocodile, the neck of a giraffe, the head of a horse with three horns, up to 30ft in length and breathes fire. One witness says it has legs. Another testifies to wings. While its appearance is up for debate, how dangerous it is perceived to be is not. Ninki Nanka has supposedly killed many in West Africa as recently as the 1990s. The mere mention of this creature sends fear in to locals to the point they reach for a mirror. It is believed the only way to get rid of the animal is to show it its reflection. This not being the only superstition/folk tale surrounding the creature. It is said that if a child disobeys their parents and goes in to the swamp they wil