Local Legends (please share yours)

[Laisrean]

I think local myths and monsters kick ass, and many of them are not heard of by anyone who lives outside of the area. That wolf-dog thing recently found in Maine is a perfect example of a local legend. For 15 years there were whispers of some bizarre creature there, and now the carcass has been found which proves there was something to the legend.

In my area there are a few local legends that I am aware of, and probably more that I'm not. I know that in the late 60's there was a report of a woman being attacked by a bigfoot in my area. That's pretty much it as far as bigfoot sightings go, that I know of.... my area is probably too far developed now to sustain such a creature (if it ever did).

I wish I knew of any local ghosts or anything else, but I can't say I know of anything like that around here...

What are some local legends in your area? I would love to hear any tales of local ghosts, curses, monsters, UFOs, aliens, lake monsters, and any other bizarre happenings that no one outside of your area really knows about. :)

[ViolinGoddess]

Well, I live in Northern California, right in the middle of Bigfoot country. ALthough I haven't seen it, I have a friend that has. When he was about 8 years old.

ALso, I live in the coast near a bay. Inthe middle of the bay is an island called Indian Island. As the story goes, in the 1800's a group of white people from the main land got together one night and went over to Indian Island (where a community of Native Americans were living) and slaughtered them all in one night, men, women and children. I don't know how many people died, but it had to be at least a hundred or two. Ever since then it's well known that there is something about that island that is not right. There is a bridge that goes to that island and continues on to the peninsula. No one lives on that island anymore, I think that they have tried to put buildings on that island and something alsways went wrong. But basically everyone knows that there's something wrong with that island. It's very creepy. I would never be caught on that island at night.

I also know a ghost named Patti who is 16 years old in a house in a nearby town. She is the daughter of the man who built the house. She killed herself when she was 16 and because she was afraid that she would go to hell for killing herself, she stayed on earth. She killed herself by hanging herself out of her bedroom window. How I got to meet Patti was my friend was living in the house that Patti lived and died in. Apparently, and occording to my friend, she is afraid of men. She always runs back intoher room whenever myfriend's husband come home.

[Liberty]

I think Bigfoot has a cousin in Oklahoma because supposedly he/she's hiding out there too.

As for Texas, hm...well aside from a Route 66 running through a part of Texas, there's this thing my 6th grade Texas history teacher told us.
During Halloween, he'd dress up as a Crypt Keeper, deck his entire class room like a cemetery and tell us Texas ghost stories. (He went all out with sound effects, lighting and fog)

I remember one in particular about a railroad in San Antonio.
A long time ago there was a school bus filled with kids crossing a railroad but the bus broke down in the middle of it. A train came and killed everyone on it. Now the children haunt that railroad track. It's said that if you go there at night and put your car on neutral, the children will push your car across the tracks. If you put powder or flour on the back of your car you can see their little hand prints. I think it happens year round but more people go out there during Halloween.

Some people are just asses and slam on their breaks when they're being pushed across though. Then the kids start pounding on their car.

The Alamo of course is haunted, never been there so I have no stories.

Another place is the USS Lexington docked out at Corpus Christi beach.
I took a school trip there and we got to spend a few nights on the ship.
It's said to be haunted by old crew members. The lights would flicker, the water in the showers and sink would turn on by themselves.
When I was there we were separate, girls and guys slept in different quarters of the ship.
One of my teachers freaked out in the middle of the night because she felt someone kissing her. All I remember was screaming and the lights came on and all the girls woke up.

[Trithemius]

Okay, here are a few from my area.

There are legends of caves along the river bluffs that were/are used by devil worshippers for rituals and sacrifices. Everyone has heard of them, but no one knows just where they are. All accounts of visiting them are from a "friend of a friend." It's a story that I think is more myth than anything else.

The main branch of the city library system is in an old building downtown. It's reported to be haunted by the ghost of what is assumed to be a former librarian. The staff at the library call her Rosie. I know a lot of the librarians and many have told me of personal experiences they have had. One woman said things would routinely disappear, and when they asked Rosie to return them, the items would turn up on the checkout counter. Another was working late in the children's department, in the basement, and heard footsteps in the hall outside. When she went to see who was there, the hall was completely empty. The desk faced the open doorway, which provided her with a clear view of the hallway, so she would have seen if anyone had come down the stairs. She also said that on one occasion, the keys of the computer keyboard were typing by themselves. Another couple of librarians told me that one morning, the huge card catalog cabinet, which normally sat on a table, had been set down on the floor. This was a heavy oak cabinet, and it took six men to lift it back onto the table. The janitor has reported numerous instances where the elevator will turn on and start operating early in the morning when he is the only one in the building. The school district offices are located on the top floor of the library building, and they have reported doors opening and closing by themselves.

We also have a reportedly haunted art gallery. It used to be the home of a wealthy couple in the late 1800's/early 1900's, the Albrechts. One of the items on display is a chair and desk that belonged to Mr. Albrecht. People have reported seeing a figure sitting in the chair. A few years ago, the gallery underwent some renovation to restore some of the rooms to their former appearances when the building was a home, and strange things apparently started happening. The story is that Mr. Albrecht was a drinker and gambler, and his wife didn't like that aspect of his life. He had a room in the basement where he and friends would drink, play pool and cards, and just basically carouse. After he died, Mrs. Albrecht decided to redo that room to remove the memory of her husband's activities there. She had everything taken out of the room and repainted the black walls white. Okay, that was the background info, now back to the renovation. According to the workmen, while they were stripping this room, they uncovered the original black walls. That's when things began to happen. Missing tools, mysterious power outages, flickering lights, that sort of thing. Nothing new or original, but interesting nonetheless. Naturally, everyone thought it must be Mrs. Albrecht coming back to show her displeasure at having this room she had despised restored. I don't know if these activities have continued since the renovation was finished or not.

Anyway, those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

[amunakht]

There are legends of caves along the river bluffs that were/are used by devil worshippers for rituals and sacrifices.

I highly doubt thats what they were for (sacrifices).

[Xander67]

We have a story that dates back to the 18th century. There are dozens of different versions of it.. X-files borrowed the theme for one of its eppisodes..


The origin of the creature dates back to the 18th century. The story goes as follows: when Mrs. Leeds, an indigent woman living in secluded poverty with her twelve starving children, found out she was to have another child exclaimed: "I don't want any more children! Let it be a devil." When the child was born, it was horribly deformed. It crawled from the womb and up the chimney and out into the woods. It is rumored to have fed on small children and livestock while haunting the area for years to come. Hence, the creatures other name is the Leeds Devil.

here is a link to an article which was featured in strangemag.com
http://www.strangemag.com/jerseydevil1.html

[Qeniheru]

My university campus is haunted like you wouldn't believe. o.o
Pretty much every building has at least one ghost for some reason or another. Some like to knock things off shelves or cause some sort of mischief (there was one in my old dorm like this...there's a long shelf extending across the room sometimes I would be up doing homework or something and things would inexplicably tumble off of it that shouldn't, and continue to do so until I placed them on my bed or my roommate's.), others tend to be just kinda there as apparitions that appear for a few seconds and fade away. Most tend to be the quieter ones. :p
Also, people have been dropping dead a lot on campus of late...someone on my floor in my old dorm of asphyxiation due to asthma, another of an aneurysm in one of the science buildings, and yet another just before spring break of alcohol poisoning, so their spirits might haunt the campus now as well...also, a little theatre area inset into a small hill (The Ravine, as we call it) is also quite haunted, at night you can see all kinds of people that seem to vanish instantly...creeps me out something awful. _inabox_

[Cindlady2]

Well, This area is so quiet and nothing ever pops up around here.
*Goes to next room and shuts door[[[:lol: :veryweird :spaceman: :veryweird :woah: :veryweird :ghost: :veryweird :rollingla :rollingla :rollingla :rollingla ]]]
OK, I'm better now :)*
Here is a start....

http://www.burlingtonnews.net/hauntedtours3.html

http://www.prairieghosts.com/brayrd.html

http://www.burlingtonnews.net/burlingtonwi

http://www.burlingtonnews.net/burlingtonmoundswehmhoff.html

There are more within a 10 mile radius I could try to hunt down if anyone is interested. LOL

[Trithemius]

I highly doubt thats what they were for (sacrifices).

I highly doubt they exist at all, but that's the legend, which is what the topic of this thread is about - local legends.

[Avalonia]

Newfoundland has a ton of ghost stories and stuff... here's a few that I found (I thought there would be more - guess most of them are in books instead.):

http://www.hauntedhike.com/nlghosts.htm

http://www.castleofspirits.com/stories04/sensitivity.html

http://www.castleofspirits.com/stories06/thetree.html

http://www.offdarock.com/ghostStories.asp

[Trithemius]

Here's another one I dug up. We have a psychiatric museum that's supposed to be haunted. The museum is on the grounds of the old state mental hospital. The hospital has since been converted to a prison, but the museum is still open. Some of the things that have been reported are strange noises, sightings of a man in dress pants on the third floor, and an old patient is said to be seen wandering the halls throughout the building. The basement, where the morgue is located, is said to be the most haunted part of the building. Apparently, the motion detector gets set off repeatedly and rapidly even though no one is in the area. A sewing machine there will start operating, and sounds of whimpering, crying, and cries for help are heard. Also, a man's shadow and muttering are heard in that part of the building. Several touring groups, including a college class, have reported hearing a woman's voice whispering "help me." Other groups have claimed seeing a man running towards the elevator yelling "Why are you here? Get out!"

I went through the museum once, but didn't experience anything. Actually, at the time, I didn't know it was supposed to be haunted.

[halfwaynowhere]

there's a park around here, Galster Park, where there's supposed to be this house up on a hill thats haunted. supposedly, the man who used to live there used to lure young children, and then molest and kill them. so its supposed to be haunted by the ghosts of the kids. from what i've read online, people see kids there at night, and have spoken to them. my mom grew up around there, and had never heard such stories. she didn't even know there was a house up there. my brother and his friends went looking for it one day, and couldn't find it. i looked on google earth, and couldn't find it. its a gang hangout at night though, so its too dangerous for me to go there at night, my brother and i went one evening, it was still pretty much light out, and when i told my mom, she flipped. so we might go in the daytime, but thats about it. if i were really interested, i'd go to the library and look through the microfilms and see if i can find anything in the papers about the story being true. then it might be worth looking into. but why do the dirty work without the research first? although i'd love to see if i could get some EVPs if it turned out to be true...

[Cerulean_damselfly]

I've heard this one from relatives.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/toysrus.htm

No harm to anyone, just a prankish one playing with toys.

Cerulean_Damselfly

[Kahlil the Heretic]

I live at the border with Mexico practically, and man, do we have some messed up ghost stories. La Llorona, for starters. Supposedly, as legend has it, a single mother lived in poverty with her several children. Seeing that she could never give them a good life, in a moment of passion she drowned them in the river, knowing that they would have a better life in heaven. After she realized what she had done, she drowned herself, and now forever wanders the local rivers at night, crying hysterically and looking for her children. Old legend.

And there is a host of other local legends surrounding one ranch in particular, an area called Loma Blanca (White Hill) road. Reports of fireballs falling from the sky and a bunch of other ghostly activity have come up.

On a lighter note, here's a story to leave a good taste in your mouth...

An old man was driving home one night, I'm not sure from where...when all of a sudden, a ghostly woman appears in his driver's seat. He looks at her, shrugs, and keeps on driving. I suppose he's seen scarier things, who knows. So he gets home and casually tells his wife about it. "Ah, it was probably just another woman you're seeing." she laughs.

[Faery-Wings]

NJ has a magazine, books, and website dedicated to this kind of stuff. Some really great stories.
In my town, there is Clinton Road which is a super long, very dark and very creepy road. There are numerous reports of ghosts there, most memorable about a little boy ghost under a bridhe. If you throw coins down to him, he'll throwthem back.
DH and I have seen a ghost once before driving down a different road. I said to him to watch out for the person crossing the road and next thing you know, there was no one. We both saw that too.

http://www.weirdnj.com/misc/main.asp

Check out the website. Very cool stuff.

[Avalonia]

I'm looking for various stories about the faeries in Newfoundland (to be exact, the very area I live in), but, unfortunately, one of the sites with the biggest collections is down for revamping. xPP

I'll keep searching in any case. Again, I think most of it is published. Author/journalist Dale Jarvis has quite a few things written about it, so if you can manage to get a hold of his most recent book, Wonderful Strange, there should be a good few stories there. :3

[Bluewillow]

Yorkshire's full of ghostly legends and hauntings. York is said to be one of the most haunted cities in the world.

http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/yorkshire/Pages/yorkdata.php

http://www.timetravel-britain.com/05/May/ghosts.shtml

It's been said that Robin Hood (or at least a person that the legend was supposedly based apon)was actually buried in Yorkshire, and was said to be a Yorkshireman himself. Legend or not, who knows. I take it with a grain of salt, myself. There could have been plenty of people doing the sort of thing that his legend was based apon.

http://www.mysterymag.com/hauntedbritain/?page=article&subID=115&artID=282

http://www.robinhoodyorkshire.co.uk/haunts5.htm

[ViolinGoddess]

I think Bigfoot has a cousin in Oklahoma because supposedly he/she's hiding out there too.

As for Texas, hm...well aside from a Route 66 running through a part of Texas, there's this thing my 6th grade Texas history teacher told us.
During Halloween, he'd dress up as a Crypt Keeper, deck his entire class room like a cemetery and tell us Texas ghost stories. (He went all out with sound effects, lighting and fog)

I remember one in particular about a railroad in San Antonio.
A long time ago there was a school bus filled with kids crossing a railroad but the bus broke down in the middle of it. A train came and killed everyone on it. Now the children haunt that railroad track. It's said that if you go there at night and put your car on neutral, the children will push your car across the tracks. If you put powder or flour on the back of your car you can see their little hand prints. I think it happens year round but more people go out there during Halloween.

Some people are just asses and slam on their breaks when they're being pushed across though. Then the kids start pounding on their car.

The Alamo of course is haunted, never been there so I have no stories.

Another place is the USS Lexington docked out at Corpus Christi beach.
I took a school trip there and we got to spend a few nights on the ship.
It's said to be haunted by old crew members. The lights would flicker, the water in the showers and sink would turn on by themselves.
When I was there we were separate, girls and guys slept in different quarters of the ship.
One of my teachers freaked out in the middle of the night because she felt someone kissing her. All I remember was screaming and the lights came on and all the girls woke up.

I've heard of the kids pushing the cars across the tracks in Texas. Thats really cool!

Violin Goddess

[Malcolm]

Apparently we have our very own gateway to hell out in Stull, KS....which isn't to far from here. Then theres Abilene and a few other frontier towns that sport dsome neat ghost stories.

[Crysiira]

I know there's a rumor that Madison was built by Satanists, that's why our streets are so f*ed up and not in normal # block patterns, but circular and confusing as sh*t, because it was originally built in the form of a pentagram. I know there's also a former mental hospital in Watertown WI that they are currently remodeling to make an assisted living old folk's home right now; I can tell you there are not many old folks who want to go there. It's looking nice so far, but .... ghost stories abound. There's also a rumor in my hometown of Juneau WI, something about this certain road you go down and there's a Satan-worship house somewhere hidden in the woods and they're always looking for a fresh sacrafice. Lol. There's a whole book called Weird Wisconsin all about our urban legends and rumors, but I haven't read it yet. I was going to check out the website but it's "currently undergoing rennovations". Damn.

[Meadhbh]

Leaping Place of Souls
Desolate Kaena Point was known as a place from which souls departed from the earth. Here, the souls of the dead, or near dead, wander. Here they leap into the night. Good souls move to the right when leaping; those who move to the left fall into the pit of endless night.
Birthplace of Chiefs
The sacred birthing stone of Hawaiian royalty. A large, brown lava rock with a sculptured area that supported the mother in a semi-sitting position while she gave birth. Often women who come to this site experience birthing pains identifying with the mothers of the past.
Home of Fireballs and Spirits
The cemetery has a reputation of being haunted. Over many years, tales have spread about the glowing fires and swirling little balls of light that fly over the graves here. The Hawaiians refer to fireballs as akua lele, or Flying Gods. Some say that the appearance of such a ball of light is an omen of impending death.
The Menehune Pathway
A heiau so ancient that it is believed the menehune a legendary race of small people built it. The menehune had a reputation for hard work, and they are believed to have hauled the rocks a long distance, passing them down a line hand-to-hand in a single night. A pathway of stones leading across the platform is known as the menehune pathway.
Secret Burial Caves and Night Marchers
The remains of more than four hundred chiefs are said to be buried in the caves above Kualoa Ranch. Night marchers have been seen here, chiefs and warriors in huge ghostly processions, marching from their burial caves high in the mountains to the sea. Some of the many road accidents in the area have been attributed to these sightings.

[Lunacie]

There's the legend of Theorosa's Bridge. There are several versions ranging from Indians attacking a wagon train and stealing a baby to a mother having an illegitimate baby that she drowned and then she drowned herself. The original bridge burned down in the 70's, was rebuilt but that bridge also burned down. The road was then closed for several years, but was finally opened again and a concrete bridge was built there.
http://www.prairieghosts.com/theorosa.html

I've never been able to find out exactly where this bridge is, just that it's a few miles from Valley Center, which is where I work.



My ex actually claimed to see Bigfoot a couple of times during his life. The first time he and some high school buddies went for a walk after dark along the Arkansas River behind the truck stop and saw several saplings that were bent over or snapped in half. Then they heard something walking through the underbrush nearby and started to run back to the car on the road. But the guy at the back of the group felt something push him down. He scrambled to his feet and caught up with the group at the car, and when he turned around there was a huge handprint on the back of his shirt.

The second sighting was a few years later after he and I got married. He was working at a plant that made farming machinery and he and another guy drove forklift trucks out into the storage area and would load up boxes and pallets and drive them into the plant. The plant was a few miles upriver from the first encounter with Bigfoot. The guys were working 2nd shift and were out on their forklifts one evening around 10:30 when they heard yelling coming from the houses just across the train tracks. They headed that way on their forklifts and their headlights caught a huge man-shaped figure running flatout over the train tracks and across the storage lot. They gave chase but couldn't catch up with the figure even though those forklifts can go 30 mph. When the cops arrived a short time later, all they would say was that someone had stolen a fresh baked pie that cooling on the table just inside someone's back door. They both said it didn't look like any guy they'd ever seen.

[ShadowcatX]

Not exactly a legend, but once, on Halloween, me, a friend, his g/f, and her son (a baby) went out on a "haunted" road near Stillwater looking for ghosts. (I'm not sure the name of the road or the legend with it). The child wasn't in a baby seat, we were all in my pick up. It was late at night, and everything was still, when someone (IIRC) in a pick up got on my back bumper. The road was just an old dirt road so there was plenty of room for them to pass, but they wouldn't, so we began to worry it might be a policeman who had seen the kid and was going to pull us over.

Well, we detoured down a windy side road (again, a dirt road) and the pick up truck went on straight, so we thought we were good. Well, the road we were on wound around but eventually took us back to the road we were on (just down a little ways), where the pick up that had been behind us was sitting at the intersection, waiting for us.

I don't know if it was something out of the ordinary, or if maybe it was just some drunk kids out looking for trouble on Halloween night, but it scared us all to death. We flew away, and they followed us for a while, but I was going too fast for the road we were on, and we got away.

[earthygirl]

Where I live in Missouri there is a local legend of the Clayborn House.
(It still sits atop a tall Gasconade bluff.)

About ninety years ago, Tabitha Clayborn blew her husband's head off with a shotgun one stormy night, then took her own life in the same manner while her children watched in horror.
Tabitha Clayborn was buried near here, on the fringes of the private family plot, her grave facing west, a traditional sign meaning her soul is dammed for all eternity.
Ever since that night, "Things" have been seen at Clayborn House....Blue lights, the figure of a woman coming down the stairs....some believe Tabitha still haunts her unhappy home.

There are many who have been to the site to visit the spooky old stone mansion, and it has been reported that they never made it inside before they would run back to their vehicles and leave!

They said the vibes of that house was unlike anything they have ever felt before. Someone described it as pure, cold, & evil!





I think local myths and monsters kick ass, and many of them are not heard of by anyone who lives outside of the area. That wolf-dog thing recently found in Maine is a perfect example of a local legend. For 15 years there were whispers of some bizarre creature there, and now the carcass has been found which proves there was something to the legend.

In my area there are a few local legends that I am aware of, and probably more that I'm not. I know that in the late 60's there was a report of a woman being attacked by a bigfoot in my area. That's pretty much it as far as bigfoot sightings go, that I know of.... my area is probably too far developed now to sustain such a creature (if it ever did).

I wish I knew of any local ghosts or anything else, but I can't say I know of anything like that around here...

What are some local legends in your area? I would love to hear any tales of local ghosts, curses, monsters, UFOs, aliens, lake monsters, and any other bizarre happenings that no one outside of your area really knows about. :)

[Silverfire Darkmoon]

There's a town near here, Ancaster, where there's a burned-out, falling down, and abandoned old stone mansion that is called the Hermitage for reasons I will never be able to determine. It's a popular party spot for those lousy teenagers and is also quite haunted. There are a few stories about someone who hanged himself for love and was buried nearby, which is why a nearby road is called Lover's Lane.
In St. Catharines, which is a bit further afield, you've got such interesting things as the Blue Ghost Tunnel (fun) and the Screaming Tunnel (boring). There's a story that there was this little girl who somehow caught fire (either accidentally or on purpose), ran into the tunnel, and died in the middle of it. Apparently if you light a match there at the stroke of midnight, there'll be a hideous scream and the match will be blown out. It doesn't work with lighters :P
Hamilton has a LOT of waterfalls and there are two (Albion Falls and the Devil's Punchbowl) that are reputed lover's leaps.

[Tanya]

My legend is much less gory, and monstrous. My mother did a master's thesisi on it as folklore... it even has songs, it quite a Appalachia thing. The story is generally called Lost in the Woods

in the 1800s two little little kids (under 6) wandered away from their rural home on a bright summer's day.At first the parents weren't too worried but as night started to fall, and they didn't return they neighbor's were roused and the whole area started looking for them. They found nothing for 3 days, then a local psychic came forward and said she had been dreaming that the children had been cared for by a bear. She gave a good enough description of the area that some trackers were able to place it and found footprints of a bear and the kids and signs that they had indeed snuggled up with the bear to keep warm.
Then the lady dreamed of a shoe in leaves and again directed the trackers to a place where they found bits of the children's clothing, including shoes. Nearby they found the bodies of the 2 children, they had died of exposure.

The song says that the birds had covered their bodies with leaves.

[CheshireEyes]

We have a story that dates back to the 18th century. There are dozens of different versions of it.. X-files borrowed the theme for one of its eppisodes..


The origin of the creature dates back to the 18th century. The story goes as follows: when Mrs. Leeds, an indigent woman living in secluded poverty with her twelve starving children, found out she was to have another child exclaimed: "I don't want any more children! Let it be a devil." When the child was born, it was horribly deformed. It crawled from the womb and up the chimney and out into the woods. It is rumored to have fed on small children and livestock while haunting the area for years to come. Hence, the creatures other name is the Leeds Devil.

here is a link to an article which was featured in strangemag.com
http://www.strangemag.com/jerseydevil1.html

I was wonderin' if one of my fellow Jerseyites would post here so i didn't have to...:T

there's also a movie, a video game and tons o' books....

I've been campin' a few times in the pine barrens and some weird crap happens there, oh the stories...

[Cliona]

Yorkshire's full of ghostly legends and hauntings. York is said to be one of the most haunted cities in the world.

http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/yorkshire/Pages/yorkdata.php

http://www.timetravel-britain.com/05/May/ghosts.shtml

It's been said that Robin Hood (or at least a person that the legend was supposedly based apon)was actually buried in Yorkshire, and was said to be a Yorkshireman himself. Legend or not, who knows. I take it with a grain of salt, myself. There could have been plenty of people doing the sort of thing that his legend was based apon.

http://www.mysterymag.com/hauntedbritain/?page=article&subID=115&artID=282

http://www.robinhoodyorkshire.co.uk/haunts5.htm

OMG I've been to York, back in '93 when I went to Europe with my family. We went on ghost tour in York and they told us all kinds of scary stories about people dying from the plague and such. Scared me so bad I begged my parents to leave in the middle of the tour, which we did (I was only 12 and a big scaredy cat hehe).

[Fluoxetine]

Yorkshire's full of ghostly legends and hauntings. York is said to be one of the most haunted cities in the world.

http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/yorkshire/Pages/yorkdata.php

http://www.timetravel-britain.com/05/May/ghosts.shtml

It's been said that Robin Hood (or at least a person that the legend was supposedly based apon)was actually buried in Yorkshire, and was said to be a Yorkshireman himself. Legend or not, who knows. I take it with a grain of salt, myself. There could have been plenty of people doing the sort of thing that his legend was based apon.

http://www.mysterymag.com/hauntedbritain/?page=article&subID=115&artID=282

http://www.robinhoodyorkshire.co.uk/haunts5.htm

Robin Hood is supposed to have come from Wentbridge near Pontefract, or born in Wakefield on the site of the new(ish) bus station on Marsh Way.

But Pontefract and the 5 towns area around Pontfract is haunted. As the town dates back to the Saxon era, it has history as welll as numerous ghosts. First off is the 1966-68 haunting on East drive, Pontefract. The Black monk haunting was more poltergiest than ghost. Even though it did pick up the gloves and conduct their singing while it caused mayhem to "Onward Christian Soldiers (which was written in Horbury near Wakefield). It even threw the large clock down the stairs after the local MP at the time visited the house. Some say the hauntings still happen. Reason for the hauntings is that a monk was hung for getting a local girl pregnant on Monkhill, Pontefract near to the site of East Drive.

Pontefract castle is where Richard III died (red hot poker :gagged: ) but the castle has up to 6 ghosts. On the main green where they used to grow liquerice for th Pontefract cakes is the grey/white lady. Also is a duel of 2 swordsman and in the keep some feel the chill and that of being watched.

Salter Row in Pontefract is haunted. Taps turn on and things move. Even the Counting House, an old 14th century house (now a bar/resteraunt) is haunted by 2 children and an old woman that sits near the fire. ALso in town is a Cluanic monestary site before the reformation tore it down is also haunted. A nearby roman road has seen a leigon of soldiers marching from the knees up. A wood near Ledston Luck is haunted by a "witch". she was the last UK witch burned at the stake.

Those are the main ones that are known in that area. Here in Wakefield there are some, but I will have to look up in the library and museum any information regarding ghosts ETC.

[Bluewillow]

OMG I've been to York, back in '93 when I went to Europe with my family. We went on ghost tour in York and they told us all kinds of scary stories about people dying from the plague and such. Scared me so bad I begged my parents to leave in the middle of the tour, which we did (I was only 12 and a big scaredy cat hehe).

I love York! lol I've only been there once, and I haven't been on a ghost tour, but I seriously want to go back! When I went, I was in a wheelchair so it made getting around on some of those cobblestone streets a total drag......I think I'll wait til I'm walking again! :weirdsmil

[Bluewillow]

Robin Hood is supposed to have come from Wentbridge near Pontefract, or born in Wakefield on the site of the new(ish) bus station on Marsh Way.

But Pontefract and the 5 towns area around Pontfract is haunted. As the town dates back to the Saxon era, it has history as welll as numerous ghosts. First off is the 1966-68 haunting on East drive, Pontefract. The Black monk haunting was more poltergiest than ghost. Even though it did pick up the gloves and conduct their singing while it caused mayhem to "Onward Christian Soldiers (which was written in Horbury near Wakefield). It even threw the large clock down the stairs after the local MP at the time visited the house. Some say the hauntings still happen. Reason for the hauntings is that a monk was hung for getting a local girl pregnant on Monkhill, Pontefract near to the site of East Drive.

Pontefract castle is where Richard III died (red hot poker :gagged: ) but the castle has up to 6 ghosts. On the main green where they used to grow liquerice for th Pontefract cakes is the grey/white lady. Also is a duel of 2 swordsman and in the keep some feel the chill and that of being watched.

Salter Row in Pontefract is haunted. Taps turn on and things move. Even the Counting House, an old 14th century house (now a bar/resteraunt) is haunted by 2 children and an old woman that sits near the fire. ALso in town is a Cluanic monestary site before the reformation tore it down is also haunted. A nearby roman road has seen a leigon of soldiers marching from the knees up. A wood near Ledston Luck is haunted by a "witch". she was the last UK witch burned at the stake.

Those are the main ones that are known in that area. Here in Wakefield there are some, but I will have to look up in the library and museum any information regarding ghosts ETC.

Wow, those are some pretty freaky tales! I've been wanting to visit Pontefract Castle for some time. There are so many places I want to go here in England as well as Ireland and Scotland.....places with this wealth of paranormal activity, hauntings, e.t.c. This country is so rich in history, and so many places have such fascinating tales to tell!

I've been trying to find out more about where I live in particular, Ripponden. I haven't found anything so far, other than first-hand experiences by myself and others. I've found loads of info on hauntings in West Yorkshire, and while I wouldn't mess with the unknown and I have respect for it, I find it immensely fascinating.

[Fluoxetine]

Well basically Pontefract is one of the best haunted town in West Yorkshire. Even the Queens Hotel (now sadly closed) has something like 5 ghosts and a vortex:holycow:. One of which I heard while looking around the place in early 1993. Also was see nwere the light flickering below room 5, which is where a white dressed lady roams from rooms 5, up the stairs and into the first room where she disappears.

Also a Victorian man, small boy and other ghosts are there. It is built on top of the pit where the bodies were thrown in from the Black Death (could be local gossip though). One good feature is the Hermits cave. It is built on top of the psychiatric wing of Pontefract hospital (well it was that part when I lived near there) and when you walk down it has a reverse corkscrew staircase and a skeleton carved into the wall. Rumour has it that the water below the enterence has healing powers. One rumour has it that a young girl was cured after bathing in the water and was able to walk again. Unfoutunatly in the 1980's a small quake shifted the geology enough to make the water sink.

But Pontefract has it's tales of battles, ghosts and hauntings. Colin Wilson's book Poltergiest is one of the books to read. It has a documented account of the Black Monk and is near (if not more disturbing) than the Enfield Poltergiest. But as Pontefract is a very historic town dating back before th discovery of America, it is no wonder it is haunted. Even the line from Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy says: "Even the ghosts will have settled down and have children...". Pontefract is that old.

[Felidae]

http://www.mysticwicks.com/showpost.php?p=599099&postcount=43

And a link to the "popular" version:

http://www.frightfurnace.com/Hauntings/history1.htm

[stella01904]

I'm living in Seguin, Texas, which has your run-of-the-mill ghosties, but I grew up in Columbus, Texas, and boy howdy....

South of Columbus there is a weathered old three storey Victorian mansion with a widow's watch on top. This is the Stafford House (not the Stafford Opera House that googling will get you - I couldn't google anything on the Stafford House.) I remember it being near the road, there is a lot of land around it, or was, if it hasn't been developed.

Read Carrie Estelle Stafford's obit for mention of the house, and a shootout downtown that many people still remembered when I was a kid:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~txcolora/obits/obitsstafford.htm

Janice Woods Windle states in True Women that Columbus was unpoliced because the Staffords kept killing the sherriffs. And what did not make the papers was what a lot of old people told me: The Staffords were reputedly sadistic and sociopathic. If a person was passing through the area, they would capture them and use them as slave labor. The old men told me that they put a black man inside of a cow, cut the cow open and forced the man in the belly cavity with just his head sticking out then whipstitched the dying cow closed and left it to lurch around with this guy's head sticking out.
Who knows what kind of sick things happened out there that nobody ever heard about...

Needless to say, there are manifestations on the property. At the turn of the century there were mysterious mutilations of people, kind of like cattle mutilations, and sightings of what people called a "Goat Man". All of this has become folklorised, I found this on a message board:


ShortiFeb 5 2006, 08:48 PM
We have a goatman here in the Colorado/Fayette county area over here in Texas. There's a Goatman Woods, Bridge and road, all three are supposed to have the spirit of the goatman lruking around. Except the legend goes way back into the 1800s, it's still pretty interesting.

There was a man who lived in the woods, and he was somewhat deformed, but he had the look of him like a goat, thus giving him the named the goatman. He would often kidnap the local children, do what he pleased with them, and then either kill them, or kill and eat them. He'd skin them, too, because he wore a goatskin over himself, and he's wear the children's skin. No one ever caught him until a few years later, where they hung him on this big oak tree. Well, right before he was to be hung, he made a pact with the devil, where he'd later come back, except when he did, he had a human man body, but the head of a goat.

Now the tree is still here, alive and everything, but they say at night if you drive by, you can see his body hanging there. And you know which tree it is because it hangs completely over the road, (its a little country road) and if you go there and turn off your lights and stuff, he's supposed to come. Then you'd better high-tail it out of there as fsat as you can. In Goatman woods, thats where he was said to live, because it was the town around that area. This is all around the area of Weimar, Columbus, and Schulenburg, Texas. They're three little towns within a short distance of eachother.

But the way I heard it from the old people, the goat man and the wild man were two different beings. The wild man was just a guy who escaped from prison in the early 20th century and lived wild in the woods in the Millers Crossing area of Cummins Creek, north of Columbus. He basically didn't want to be bothered. But the Goat Man is real cryptozoology stuff, like the
Moth Man. I think he comes to tell people when things have run horribly amok.

[Fluoxetine]

Now that goatman story is a good urban tale. Sort of thing that I love to read about. Thanks for sharing that.

[Bluewillow]

Now that goatman story is a good urban tale. Sort of thing that I love to read about. Thanks for sharing that.

I'll second that sentiment. :D

[Fluoxetine]

Bluewillow, if you ever want to go to Pontefract castle or see the area, let me know. I know the area well enough if you want someone to point out the places of hauntings/old buildings.

[Astara Seague]

I was watching a special on zoocrptologist {not sure of spelling} but they actually reseach the legends, what a fun job! anyways, the special talked about the Jersy devil and a few others I had never heard of,
here in Utah we dont have much as far as creatures,well big foot.. and most of our legends are native american legends we have a few haunted places here though..

[Bluewillow]

Bluewillow, if you ever want to go to Pontefract castle or see the area, let me know. I know the area well enough if you want someone to point out the places of hauntings/old buildings.

Thank you! That would be very helpful, and it's very kind of you to offer! I'll be sure to let you know when I finally get around to going. :D

[Silverfire Darkmoon]

A goat-man? Oh, Wilbur Whately, your time has come again! Ia Ia!

[earthygirl]

I was watching a special on zoocrptologist {not sure of spelling} but they actually reseach the legends, what a fun job! anyways, the special talked about the Jersy devil and a few others I had never heard of,
here in Utah we dont have much as far as creatures,well big foot.. and most of our legends are native american legends we have a few haunted places here though..


I bet you have alot of interesting native american legends there. Could you share some with us?:fpeek:

[seapearls]

They have tales of the taotaomona (ancestor spirits) here in Guam.

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGIC,GGIC:2006-45,GGIC:en&q=taotaomona

[Zoey]

There is supposed to be a haunted house out in bfe, south of Topeka, KS. Someone in the house killed all the members of the family, then himself. There's supposed to be a pentagram in the middle of the foyer and if you go out there at night and you stand in the pentagram, you're eyes will turn blood red and you will die soon. Of course it's all heresay...friend of a friend and all that. That's about all I know of it.

[Aleannah]

here is a link that has some of Colorado's legends: http://www.celtictale.com/colorado/legends.htm

We also have the infamous Stanley Hotel ("The Shining" was filmed there), located in Estes Park. Hubby stayed there when he was doing construction one time, and he says the legends are true. He saw some weird stuff, like furniture being rearranged in the dining hall after the staff had gone home (not just tables moved around and such, but chairs and tables stacked on top of each other), doors opening and closing of their own accord, footsteps, piano playing when no one is near it, stuff like that.

[person of shadow]

Well I don't think we have many here, but my Grandma used to live in Point. Pleasant West Virgina, before the mothman of course, but heres the mothman storie:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/moth.html

Thrilling but so confusing.

[person of shadow]

Crap!!!! I forgot about the Mansfeild reformatory, taps even did a show about it. And shawsank redemptionand Tango and Cash were filmed there.Along with a Godsmack Music video

here it is:
http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/OH6272/
I'm looking for a good website about the ghost stories.
couldn't find a good website, but its haounted as you can imagine by death rowers, people say they see orbs, and black shadows. They hear whispers and footsteps, and what sounds like someone following you. I believe that on the episode of taps, they saw something run up to and away fro the camera, and couldn't exlpain it. they said they would further investigate the site.

http://www.ohiotrespassers.com/mansfield.html

[person of shadow]

http://www.ohiotrespassers.com/locations.html


OH! and ohio valley is famous for UFO sightings.