Ghost Stories

photo via Pinterest The Mathias Ham House was built in 1837 by Mathias Ham in Dubuque, Iowa. The house was a small two-story, five room structure for his wife and five children. More rooms were added on after the death of Ham's wife, going from five rooms to t wenty-three. Mathias made his fortune in the mining, lumber, agriculture and shipping vessel. He would sit in the very top room of his house, keeping an eye on his ships. One day he spotted pirates on the river and alerted the authorities. As they were being arrested, the pirates vowed vengeance on him. However, when the day came, it wasn't Mathias they found. It was the end of the eighteen-hundreds. Every member of the Ham family had passed on except for one, Sarah Ham. She was one of Mathias' daughters and the only one living in the house at the time. While she was reading in bed one night, she head someone moving around on the floor below her. She slowly made her way downstairs to investigate ...

Ghost Hunters is back with a whole new season. Their first investigation will be at the Sowden House where Elizabeth Short, aka “The Black Dahlia,” was allegedly murdered in 1947. Dr. George Hodel owned the house at the time and was a suspect in her murder. His son Steve believes his father murdered Elizabeth in the house, providing evidence to back up his theories. However, it has not been proven Hodel was the one who murdered her. The house was designed by Lloyd Wright for his friend John Sowden in 1927.  Next, TAPS heads to Madame Tussauds Hollywood Wax Museum. As if being alone in the dark with hundreds of life-sized wax figures wasn’t creepy enough, the team learns that museum staffers have experienced unexplained phenomena – shadows, footsteps, the eerie feeling of being watched – which may have ties back to actor Victor Kilian’s nearby 1979 murder. Tune in Wednesday at 9/8c to see what they uncover. In the remote woods of Oregon lies one of the richest gold m...

The below story comes to you from Jules:  After what I have learned to call The Lennox Haunting, a haunted house that I lived in terror in for thirty eight days total, we vacated the property and moved to a different home on the outskirts of Lennox. I thought the hell was over, but I was dead wrong. Sometimes hell does not leave, it just lays dormant, waiting and watching for that exact slice in time when you’re vulnerable. That’s the moment it comes again and lets you know that you are human, and it is not. Here is part of my story. I had walked upstairs to retrieve something from my bedroom, when I heard a commotion in the bathroom. It was impossible, I was home alone. I had left the bathroom door open with the light out, but the door was now closed and I could see light filtering out from beneath it. I slowly approached it. I laid my hand on the door knob, not being sure if I had the guts to actually open it. My heart was beating so hard by then I could hear it echoi...

Battery Park Hotel - 1880s The original Battery Park Hotel was built in 1886 by Colonel Frank Coxe in Ashville, NC. Named after Confederate soldiers using it as a site for batteries of artillery, it was the first hotel in the South with an electric elevator and lighting. Many visited for the clean Mountain air to combat illnesses like Tuberculosis and enjoyed its beautiful views. Famous families visited the hotel including Rockefeller and Lorillard. George Vanderbilt also stayed at Battery Park, viewing the land where he would soon build Biltmore Estate. The old building was torn down and a new was built in its place in 1924 tha nks to Edwin W. Grove It remained in operation until 1972. In the 1980s, it was converted in to apartments for senior citizens and today, businesses operate on the first floor. Battery Park Hotel is believed to be haunted by Helen Clevenger. She was in Ashville visiting her uncle W. L. Clevenger. On July 17, 1936, she was found brutally murdered in...

Over 70 years ago, Oliver Springs, TN was faced with the murder of two sisters and their 16 year old errand boy. Margaret Richards was a secretary for the Oliver Springs Brick Yard. Her sister Ann was a bank teller at Oliver Springs Bank. The two lived with their other sister Mary. On February 5, 1940, Mary, teacher and librarian at Oliver Springs High School, wrote a note to her sisters. She sent a couple of students to deliver the note, but they returned saying no one answered the door. After a second failed attempt to deliver the note and learning her sisters didn't show up to a scheduled meeting, Mary went to the house. Upon arrival, she witnessed a brutal scene. She found her sister Margaret,46, dead on the stairwell. She had been shot twice, once in the head and once in the throat. Her sister Ann, 48, was dead on the kitchen floor from being shot in the head. Their errand boy Leonard "Powder" Brown was discovered near the second floor banister with a .38 pisto...

The Ghost Hunters crew are returning to the Mark Twain House and Museum for tonight's episode. A couple of years after marrying Olivia Langdon in 1870, Samuel Langhorne Clemens a.k.a Mark Twain decided to move to Hartford, Connecticut. He had visited years prior to meet with his publisher Elisha Bliss Jr from American Publishing Company. During this visit, he became attracted to the town and wanted to be closer to his publishers. The Clemens Family rented a house in the Nook Farm neighborhood in 1871. Then, bought land and began construction on a new home. Designed by a New York City architect named Edward Tuckman Potter, the 19-room Victorian Gothic structure contained bay windows, fireplaces from India, hand-stenciled paneling and an enormous hand-carved mantel purchased in Scotland. The top floor was the billiards room and study where Twain wrote some of his notable works including The Gilded Age , The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , Huckleberry Finn and The Prince and the Paup...