Ghost Stories

In Banta east of Tracy, California, Banta Inn was originally built as a two-story saloon and inn in 1892 by Frank Gallegos, reputed former member of Joaquin Murrieta's band. Gallegos Saloon was also a sporting house where the "sporting" continued in the upstairs inn rooms used as the bordello. The building was destroyed in 1937 by fire. It is unknown how the fire was started but two people, supposedly a mother and child, were reported to have died. The structure was rebuilt using some of the timber from the original building as a general store. It retained no bedrooms but kept the name of Banta Inn. In the 1960s, Frank's youngest daughter Jenny and her third husband Tony decided to turn the store back in to a bar and restaurant. Her third husband Tony suffered a heart attack and died instantly behind the bar. The Inn remained in the Gallegos family until 1981 when, at the age of 92, Jenny sold the establishment. Today, it continues to operate as a bar and resta

How do you protect yourself from fraud within the paranormal community?

The following report is from 12-year-old Binh: On June 16th, 2011, I spotted a weird bird flying by a radio station. It was the size of a walnut where I was. I tried taking out a camera, but the so called,"Mothman" flew away. Later that night, I heard thunder and looked out the window, I saw two glowing red eyes right at the stroke of midnight. When I woke up, I looked up some information that the Mothman lands mostly on bridges. Then my eyes grew large. When I went to Miami in 2008, on a Saturday, I saw a strange shape on the bridge to the north. At first, I thought it was a strange, messed up piece of metal, but then it spread out wings and flew. I believe that the Mothman is a hybrid animal of some sort. A large bird, such as a big hawk, might have eaten a human. So when it laid it's eggs, the DNA from the human, might have crossed with the bird's DNA to form a half bird half human hybrid species and the red eyes can be explained to. You see, some animals can

John W. Smith designed and built a one-lane bridge to provide passage over Gold Brook (so named for flakes of gold that were found on its banks) for residents of nearby Stowe, Vermont in 1844. He dubbed it the Gold Brook Bridge but it is more commonly known as "Emily's Bridge" due to the legend and strange occurrences shrouding the structure. According to the story, a beautiful young woman named Emily (sometimes called Emily Smith) grew up in the town of Stowe at some point in the nineteenth century. She didn't possess the inability to attract a suitor. Her abusive and overprotective family kept her from being courted by any of the young men in town. However, it didn't stop a young handsome man (sometimes known as Donald) from capturing her heart one day why doing chores. Madly in love, Emily introduced him to her parents, but his poverty status dissuaded them from allowing her to be with him. Thus, had the young man dragged from their home while Emily wa

What is an erlking?

Ada, Michigan has the legend of the Ada Witch. In the 1800s, a woman would often meet her lover in the wooded area surrounding the cemetery on 2 Mile Road. Her husband somehow learned of her infidelity. One night, enraged with jealousy, he followed her to their rendezvous. Witnessing the lovers embrace, he boiled over with rage and murdered his wife on the spot. Then, diverted his attentions toward her lover. Unfortunately, the two were evenly matched. They fought, significantly injuring one another until they both succumbed to death. A story like this is fairly common, but has raised several questions. Who was this woman? Where is she buried? Is the story even true? Did she really exist? Many who know of the story have taken it upon themselves to try and convert the legend in to fact. There is a grave in Findlay Cemetery visitors and ghost hunters alike thought it belonged to the Ada Witch as she is most often seen there. The headstone, partially broken, is being held in place by tw

True or False: Dr. Adolf Gutsmuth demostrated his safety coffin design by having himself buried alive for several hours and eating a meal of soup, beer and sausages through the coffin's feeding tube in 1822?

In the 1960s, the U.S. Navy set up several hydrophones around the globe to track Soviet submarines. The network was known as the Sound Surveillance System. They lie thousands of feet below the ocean surface, at a depth where sound waves become trapped in a layer of water known as the "deep sound channel". Years after the Cold War ended, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gave them a new purpose as part of the Acoustic Monitoring Project. They couldn't imagine some of the strange sounds they would record deep underwater. One was recorded in 1997 and is still a mystery to this date. They dubbed it "The Bloop". This sound existed for about a minute, picked up by multiple sensors over an area of 3,000 miles in the south Pacific Ocean west of the southern tip of South America and appeared several times. There have been theories concerning its origins. Some have been ruled out like the possibility of it being man-made, a volcano or earthquake.

In this week’s Haunted Collector sneak peek clip, the team tries to record a voice stemming from a music box. When they ask “What year is it?” there is a peculiar response that is whispered into the recorder. You’ll have to watch the clip and tune in on Wednesday at 9/8c on Syfy to see if the team can pick apart the meaning. By now, I'm sure you've learned Destination Truth has been picked up for a fifth season. What will we expect to see from Josh and the DT crew in 2012? They will be traveling into a remote Transylvanian village hunting for vampires, exploring the reportedly haunted Mayan ruins of Tikal in Guatemala, and searching for phantoms in one of the world's biggest caves in the jungles of Vietnam as well as doing their first investigation in Kazakhstan. But that's not all. Remember their investigation of the Hoia-Baciu Forest in Romania? Apparently, fans really responded to it and managed to talk the team in to going back for a second round. Will be interesti

Do you think EVPs are on the rise? Why?

In 2009, I wrote about an exorcism that took place in the Dandy residence in 1974 to "de-haunt" the house. The Dandys allegedly experienced abnormal activity including mysterious burns on their bodies, bricks from a crawl space chimney dismantled and placed in the middle of the room, strange chants heard in the nearby woods, and sightings of orbs which led them to call in Rev. Alphonsus Trabold to perform the exorcism on the house. A year after this event, the Dandy family of six moved out. Ownership of this Western New York home has exchanged hands several times since it was built in the mid-1800s. It is back on the market once again. This 100 + year old farm house is mostly original complete with a kitchen, bath, living room, three bedrooms, two enclosed porches, eight acres of land and a large spring fed pond. Now, if you're considering purchasing the house keep in mind it needs a complete restoration. Of course, restoring the property may stir up the numerous gh

John Zaffis is well known among paranormal circles. His museum is well known among paranormal circles. Can his Syfy show Haunted Collector stack up against heavy hitters such as Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures? I say any new show has the potential with the right ingredients to be a success. Does this one have staying power? I think its a bit too early to tell. I directed my attention to Twitter to see how others were reacting to the premiere. There seem to be two consistencies. One, many were not thrilled with Zaffis' pronunciation of the word "library". And two, some appalled his method of "stealing" a person's belongings. Call it haunted and they'll gladly hand it over. Personally, I wasn't all too bothered by it. I was, however, under the impression this program was going to be about a team going in to investigate cases where spirits attached to known objects were the cause of paranormal activity or somewhere in that ballpark. It seems to me Za