Ghost Stories

The Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana has had a very interesting history. It has been long known as one of the most haunted houses in America. It was built in 1794 by David Bradford, a successful attorney. After fleeing Washington due to the Whiskey Rebellion, Bradford relocated to Bayou Sarah where he lived in a 8-bedroom house known as "Laurel Grove" only until after he received his pardon from President Adams did he move his wife and kids in with him. He tried to sell his home in Pennsylvania but failed after two years. Instead, he traded it for 230 barrels of flour, since there was a shortage on flour in Louisiana, which was never delivered. David Bradford occasionally took in students who wanted to study law, including a young man named Clark Woodrooff. On November 19, 1817, Woodrooff married Bradford's daughter Sarah Mathilda and they had three kids. After Bradford died, Clark took over the duties of "Laurel Grove" for his mother-in-law,

Louisville, Kentucky had the highest tuberculosis death rate in country in 1900. Since Louisville was mostly swamplands, it was just a breeding ground for tuberculosis. A wooden two-story hospital with 40 beds opened in Jefferson County in 1910 to help contain the disease, but soon found out that the hospital was too small. With nearly 130 cases, a larger facility would be needed. With donated land and $11 million dollars a bigger hospital, now known as Waverly Hills, was constructed. It opened in 1926 and was considered the most advanced tuberculosis hospital in the country. In those days, treatment for tuberculosis was very primitive and many people, a estimation of tens of thousands, came to Waverly to just die. Many doctors and nurses volunteered their time and life to help find a cure for the disease; Many extreme methods, by our standards, were done to achieve this goal. The lungs were exposed to ultraviolet light and some patients were put on top of the roof or on open porches

For those of you who think you've never been or even seen Ohio State Prison, you may have and didn't even know it. It was used as the setting for the movie Shawshank Redemption. It's even listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. 154,000 inmates passed through it's gates during the entire 94 years that it was a working prison. Some never left. There are 215 numbered marked grave sites of prisoners who died from disease, influenza, tuberculosis, and others from violence. The worst occurred in a lonely place, deep in the prison ground known as solitary by some but by everyone else it was called the hole. Near total isolation could crack the toughest cons. One inmate hung himself, another set himself on fire, once two men were left too long in a tomb like cell and only one walked out, leaving his cellmate's body behind stuffed underneath a bunk. The bloodiest incident that occurred at the prison happened outside it's walls in July 1948. The Reformatory's

Lizzie Borden. That name may sound familiar to some but others probably don't know anything about her. On Thursday, August 4, 1892 one of the most gruesome crimes ever committed in the United States occurred. Andrew J. Borden and his wife, Abby Borden were both slain. Abby was hit about 19 times in the back of the head with an axe. Her husband was hit at least 11 times. The main suspect in these murders: Lizzie Borden. Why did she kill them? I don't think anyone knows the answer to that question. No one even knows if she really did kill them. What makes this such an interesting case is the circumstances around it. Lizzie Borden was a church-going, Sunday school teacher. No one could even think that she would be capable of murder. Though some actions that took place the day before the murder says otherwise. There were reports that Lizzie had gone to Smith's Drug Store to purchase some prussic acid. Eli Bence claimed that Lizzie told him she wanted the acid to kill insects

One of the most well-known haunting in America took place in Adams, Tennessee, 1817. For nearly 200 years an entity known as "The Bell Witch" haunted the small farm community. Many say that "The Bell Witch" was a woman named Kate Batts. Kate was the mean neighbor of John Bell and is said she was wronged by him in a land purchase. On her deathbed she vowed to haunt John Bell and all his descendents. For years, the Bells were tormented by the spirit, John Bell and his daughter, Betsy being the primary targets. No one ever really saw her but you definitely heard and felt her torment. She would read sermons, sang hymns, as well as pulled their hair, poked needles in them, yell at all hours of the night, snatched food from their mouths at mealtime and the list goes on. It is also said that this phenomena attracted a future president. General Andrew Jackson, of whom John Bell at one time served under, heard about the infamous spirit and decided to investigate the witc

Sarah L. Winchester was born on September 1839 in New Haven, Connecticut. She was a prominent beauty as well as talented. Despite her diminutive size, Sarah was well-known among the young men. She captured the heart of one particular young man by the name of William Wirth Winchester and they were married on September 30, 1862 in New Haven. Four years later, Sarah would give birth to their first child, a daughter on July 12, 1866. Within only a few days the child contracted a children's disease and died. Sarah would have no other children as she was grief strickened over this. Six years later, tragedy struck again when her husband died of pulmonary tuberculosis. After suffering the emotional pain of the deaths of her one and only daughter and her husband, Sarah was prompted by a friend to go to a Spiritualist medium. She was told that her family was cursed by all those who were killed by the Winchester Rifle who were now seeking vengenance. This very curse took the life of her hus

I'm sure some of you have even heard of Bunnyman Bridge from the show "Scariest Places on Earth." It is located in Fairfax, Virginia on Colchester Road. Now there are various stories about the Bunnyman but most conclude that he loved bunnies, of course, and also children. Some say he was a lunatic that escaped from a nearby asylum and nourished himself mainly on rabbits, leaving their dead carcasses to be found. Others say that he always dressed up as a rabbit when he killed his victims always with an axe and left them hanging near the bridge. The most common story that I have found is this: In 1904, there was an insane asylum near a small town in Virginia. The townspeople didn't like it so close to them so they took a vote and decided to move the asylum somewhere else. While transporting the occupants, the bus broke down near the bridge and they all escape. They were all found and captured except for one. All the police found were dead rabbits which they concluded