by Maureen Wood
OCTOBER 28, 2004 THE CANMORE OPERA HOUSE
Alberta, Canada
According to an October 28th article in the Gauntlet, prior to its move, the 1800s Heritage House was once The Canmore Opera House located in Canmore, Alberta. History has it that somewhere around the nineteenth century, while it was used as a concert hall, its walls reeked of death. When the Canmore mine disaster struck killing seven hundred people, the Opera House, due to its size, was used as a morgue.
The building changed hands several times, until it was donated to Heritage Park in the 1960s. Currently it sits upon a parcel of land that was once a farm. However, no one is certain if the resident ghost, “Sam,” as he's been lovingly named, once lived on the farm or was perhaps one of the poor souls lost in the mine tragedy.
Where Sam came from matters little. What is known is that Sam is not afraid to show himself. On numerous occasions, during rehearsals, he's been seen sitting in the third seat of the third row. He must be an admirer of the fine arts because he merely sits and watches in appreciation, then vanishes when the rehearsal is done. But it's doubtful that Sam is alone. One witness swears he heard an awe-inspiring voice of a female opera singer reverberating from the main stage. However, when he entered the hall, there was not a soul to be found. Or was there?
OCTOBER 29, 1867 RMS RHONE
British Virgin Islands
The RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Rhone was built in South Hampton, England, in 1865 for the Royal Mail Packet Company. Both sail and a powerful steam engine propelled its iron hull measuring 310 feet through the seas. It was considered one of the fastest ships of its time. Because of its speed and elegant cabins, it was also a popular mode of transportation between England and the Caribbean.
In 1867, while refueling off the coast of Great Harbour, the skies grew dark and the barometer plunged, signaling an impending storm. The Rhone and the Conway, another ship anchored there, weathered the storm with little damage. When the seas grew calm again and the skies cleared, both captains realized that they were now in the middle of a late-season hurricane.
They decided to transfer the passengers from the Conway to the “unsinkable” Rhone. The Rhone headed for open seas, while the Conway made its way toward the safety of the harbor. It didn't get far. The Conway couldn't escape the rear of the storm, and it was lost with all hands on board.
Meanwhile Captain Robert F. Wooley of the Rhone ordered that the passengers be lashed to their bunks to prevent injury. As the Rhone headed to open seas, a giant wave swept across its deck, washing the captain away. The violent hurricane drove the ship into the rocks off of Salt Island, breaching its hull. When the cold seawater made contact with the red-hot boilers, there was a violent explosion splitting the Rhone in two. There were only twenty-three survivors.
In 1967, the area surrounding the wreck was turned into the Rhone Marine Park. Guided scuba diving tours take tourists into the wreck, which is littered with artifacts. But even underwater they are not free from the ghosts of the Rhone. Divers have reported being tugged on the shoulder, only to find that they are alone. And even the most seasoned diver cannot explain the eerie sounds. Screams and groans can be heard beneath eighty feet of water, making the wreck of the Rhone not only the most popular dive site in the Caribbean, but also the most haunted.
TERRIFYING TIDBIT
The wreck of the RMS Rhone was used in the opening scene of the 1977 movie The Deep, with Jacqueline Bisset and her infamous wet T-shirt dive.
OCTOBER 30, 2001 PHANTOM LIGHTS
Saskatchewan, Canada
Have you ever considered a train to be haunted? Why not ask the people of Saskatchewan, Canada. As legend has it, late one night during the 1920s, while checking the track, a railway engineer working for the Canadian National Railway was hit by a train and decapitated. Today, a strange light, like that of a lantern is seen at all hours of the night. Skeptics believe it to be the headlights from passing cars on a nearby highway causing the anomaly. However the town's mayor pointed out that the highway can't be viewed at the location where the paranormal activity is spotted.
A CBC television crew visited the site to investigate further. To their surprise they did collect film footage of the traveling cascading lights. However, they cannot give a definite cause for the light phenomenon.
Could it be the lights of passing cars? Or, possibly a long-lost train engineer, roaming the tracks in search of his head?
OCTOBER 31, 1936 HOUDINI'S GHOST
Hollywood, California
Houdini was born Ehrich Weiss in Budapest, Hungary, in 1874. His family moved to America and he grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his interest soon turned to magic. Taking the name Houdini after a famous French magician, he soon performed to sold-out shows, becoming one of the greatest magicians of all time.
After his mother died he became interested in the Spiritualist movement. He soon discovered that many of the mediums involved were fakes, employing simple magic tricks. He became disillusioned with the movement and took on a crusade to expose as many of the frauds as he could. Despite his crusade, he became obsessed with death and the afterlife, telling his faithful wife, Bess, that if anybody could come back from the other side, he would. They devised a plan with a code phrase that he would convey from death to let her know that he was there.
In 1926, on Halloween, Houdini died at the age of fifty-two under mysterious circumstances. The official cause of death was peritonitis from a ruptured appendix, but some say he was murdered by members of the Spiritualist movement. After his death, Bess Houdini began holding séances in hopes of communicating with her late husband. The last official séance was held on the roof of the Knicker-bocker Hotel on Halloween night, 1936. An hour passed with no contact. Just as they gave up, a violent storm struck with driving rain and intense thunder and lightning. The mysterious storm appeared nowhere else in Hollywood, except for over the Knickerbocker, and although Bess never heard the code word, many are certain this was Houdini's last attempt to make contact from beyond the grave.
TERRIFYING TIDBIT
Physical mediums of the late nineteenth century claimed they communicated with spirits by luminous clouds and ectoplasm that would emanate from them and harden to the touch. Most were considered frauds, while others could not be debunked.
NOVEMBER 1, 2006 THE HAUNTED HIGHWAY
Britain
The Britain Tourist Board calculates there are over 10,000 haunted locations in Great Britain, which is why it is thought by some to be the most haunted country in the world. With its long history, it's no surprise to hear of the strange goings-on and the plethora of alleged ghostly sightings. However, one might think these paranormal experiences would take place on a dimly lit street at the wee hours of the morning or perhaps while sitting in a historic inn or pub. Think again. Motorists traveling down the M6, one of Britain's longest and busiest highways, have reported seeing eyes peering out from the bushes, a phantom woman hitchhiker, and a truck driving down the wrong way.
Most compelling have been the reports of seeing Roman soldiers. One such report told of seeing about twenty soldiers. The woman was quoted as saying; “They were more like upright shadows than men, walking through the tarmac as you would through water.”
It is believed that these ghostly sightings have been the cause of numerous accidents on the M6. So if you find yourself traveling on one of the most haunted roads in Britain, be prepared for the unexpected!
NOVEMBER 2, 2009 LAKE COUNTY CORONER'S OFFICE
Waukegan, Illinois
Employees working late nights at the Lake County coroner's office tell a series of eerie tales: strange knocking sounds coming from the inside of coolers and swinging doors that have stayed open as if some unseen force were holding them. And out of the corner of your eye, you can sometimes see people wandering about an otherwise empty autopsy room.
And to what does the staff attribute all the paranormal events? A woman scorned. Apparently, in the late 1990s, the body of an elderly woman b
y the name of Anna died in a nursing home. Her body, retrieved by a deputy coroner, was then inadvertently left unattended in a cooler. Several months later, when her body was discovered, she was finally identified. Soon after, unexplainable paranormal phenomena began to plague the Lake County coroner's office. During the transport of her body to the funeral home, the deputy reported that the controls of the car went on the fritz. When he retrieved Anna's body out of the hearse, the windows repeatedly went up and down of their own accord, and then it locked by itself. But the really odd thing was that the car was turned off.
It appears that Anna had become so accustomed to her surroundings, she demonstrated her displeasure at leaving.
NOVEMBER 3, 1948 THE OVEREXPOSED
Glossop, England
The Overexposed was a specially modified B-29 airplane assigned to the USAF's Sixteenth Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron. It was on a routine flight from RAF Base Scampton to AFB Burtonwood when for some unknown reason it slammed into the moors killing all on board. The bodies of the thirteen crewmen were never found. Since that time the Overexposed and its Captain Landon P. Tanner have been seen several times.
In 1997, several local residents witnessed a low-flying plane that eventually crashed into the upper moors, or so they thought. An RAF helicopter and several rescue teams were dispatched to the area to look for survivors. Not only were no survivors found, but no wreckage was either, except of course the old wreckage of the Overexposed. This was just another case of the phantom bomber.
Several years later, two history buffs were inspecting the wreckage of the aircraft when one of them found a ring among the debris. As he turned to show his companion what he had found, he saw the ghost of Captain Landon P. Tanner. Startled by what had happened, he sent the ring to Tanner's family in the United States. Another time, a group of investigators used a Ouija board to contact the captain. The Ouija board spelled out the name of the crew, along with the message that all thirteen souls were not at rest where they lay. Legend says the moors never give up their dead, so it seems the captain and his phantom bomber crew are doomed to walk the moors for all eternity.
NOVEMBER 4, 1953 THE BOATHOUSE
Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, England
In the spring of 1949, playwright and poet Dylan Thomas and his wife moved into a quaint cottage overlooking the sea. The Boat-house provided Thomas with a workshop where he composed his best-known poem, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” and other well-known works. One night, while staying in New York, he retuned from a night of heavy drinking. A “bit” inebriated, he said, “I've had eighteen strait whiskeys. I think that's a record.” Six days later he slipped into a coma and died. Dylan Thomas's body was brought home and buried at a local cemetery, but it seems he haunts the Boathouse. Cold spots abound, lights go on and off of their own accord, and the sound of a chair scraping across the floor can be heard. Paintings are even removed from the walls and placed in a different area. It seems it is not only his work that is living on after his death.
NOVEMBER 5, 1883 RAM ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE
Boothbay Harbor, Maine
The entrance to Boothbay Harbor was a treacherous place, where many a boat met its demise on the rocky shoals. But the woman in white has saved many others. Sea captains and sailors have all reported seeing the spectral guardian waving a torch, warning of impending danger. Whether she is in a flaming boat, or standing on the reef, she has always been described as a luminous figure frantically waving her arms to boats in danger. Sometimes she is even accompanied by lightning, but no matter how she appears, those who heed her warning are saved from the dangerous rocks.
In the early 1800s, fishermen would put a lighted lantern on the rocks at night or hang one from their dories to warn others of the lurking ledge. It wasn't much help to larger ships, but it did help the smaller boats of the lobstermen and fishermen. In 1883, the government finally built a lighthouse there, marking the way to “Fisherman's Passage.” But even today, there are those who report seeing the mysterious woman in white standing guard over the harbor.
NOVEMBER 6, 2009 THE BONES IN THE WALL
Wellsburg, West Virginia
According to the information shared with the Steubenville news station WTOV9, members from the Brooke County Paranormal Society, while on a hunt for ghosts, stumbled across skeletal remains.
It appears that during an investigation of Aspen Manor, built in 1895, one member of the paranormal investigative team found more than she bargained for. Kathy Larntz sensed that someone was buried in the basement, so she followed the voice and her intuition. Upon entering, she and her team walked to the back of the cellar where she spotted a bone on the floor. Thinking it was that of an animal, she picked it up and began digging with it. Soon after, skeletal remains (chopped bones), hair, reading glasses, and other items were discovered behind a crumbling brick wall.
The sheriff's department was called in to investigate, and the bones were collected and shipped off to the medical examiner's office.
But it seems that this was not the only evidence the paranormal team discovered. While capturing EVPs (electronic voice phenomena), or voices of the dead on playback, they heard the distinctive sound of clicking. For verification, Rick, the founder of the team, brought the recording to a local church. Upon hearing the recording, it was confirmed that the distinct sound did resemble that of a “clicker,” a device nuns often used to keep students in line. Interestingly enough, during a spell of the mansion's history, it was owned by the Catholic Church and once was a home to numerous priests and nuns.
NOVEMBER 7, 2008 FULL MOON
Connecticut
As reported by Ryan Dube on paranormal.lovetoknow.com, a Connecticut family requested the service of a paranormal investigative team to verify the especially evil entity that was taunting them. The lead investigator of the group invited along a physicist and amateur paranormal investigator from Massachusetts whom the others referred to as “Doc.” Doc did not believe in ghosts. He felt that all so -called “paranormal events” could easily be explained.
Soon after arriving at the site, Doc was given a tour by the homeowner while the remaining team of paranormal investigators began setting up their equipment. At one point the owner, Doc, and another member of the investigative team were standing at the bottom of the staircase when they began to hear loud footsteps on the floor above. Doc asked the owner whether there was someone else in the home. The homeowner replied, “My wife is at work and we don't have any children.”
Eager to find out more, Doc challenged the spirit to show him what else he could do. The owner cautioned Doc to be careful how he spoke to the ghost. Not easily swayed, Doc yelled up the stairs once again, this time provoking the spirit even more by calling the ghost a lousy prankster. Suddenly, by some invisible force, Doc's pants were pulled down around his ankles. While everyone else burst out in uproarious laughter, Doc struggled with his pants and made a hasty retreat for the door. Is Doc now a believer? That's hard to say. However, it is reported that he has since refused to re-enter the home or talk about his experiences ever again.
NOVEMBER 8, 1848 STREEPERS TAVERN
Merion, Pennsylvania
The original inn and tavern was built in 1704 on land first owned by William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. It changed hands and names several times through the years. During the Revolutionary War, Streepers Tavern, as it was then called, was frequented and eventually occupied by British and Hessian soldiers (German mercenaries in employment of the king). Under the direction of Hannah Streeper, whose husband had gone off to serve with the colonials, it became a hotbed of spy activity. After the war ended, the inn was renamed the General Wayne Inn after American general Mad Anthony Wayne.
The inn continued to thrive and became a popular stopover for such notables as Ben Franklin, George Washington, and even Edgar Allen Poe. In the 1800s it was used as a polling place for Lower Merion Township. One election day, a female poll worker went into the cellar to retriev
e some ballots, when a soldier confronted her. The young soldier, wearing a green uniform, seemed confused and frightened and to her surprise simply faded away. She reported this incident to her supervisor, who included it in an official report to the election board. The soldier in the green uniform has been seen several times through the years, but who was he?
During the Revolutionary War, a Hessian soldier, who wore a green uniform, went into the basement to get some wine. He never returned. While he was in the cellar, he discovered a secret tunnel. Patriots, hiding there, killed the soldier to prevent discovery and hid the body. Since then, it seems that he roams the inn hoping that his body will be discovered, looking for a proper burial.
NOVEMBER 9, 1929 THE BAKER HOTEL
Mineral Wells, Texas
The Baker Hotel opened in 1929. Although now closed, in its heyday the hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas, was a celebrity magnet, attracting clientele such as Judy Garland, Jean Harlow, Will Rogers, and Marlene Dietrich to name a few. At one time this fourteen-story, 460-room building was an impressive sight to behold. Now, all that remains is a decaying structure, overlaid with a long, rich history of visitors both living and deceased.
But who are among the spirits that are believed to roam the halls of the Baker Hotel? The story goes that one of the many spirits can be attributed to the gruesome death of an elevator operator in 1948. Playing a game of chance, he would often leap into the elevator while it was moving. One day he failed to jump all of the way in. A coworker, trying to help, grabbed on to the young man's legs in an attempt to pull him free. Unfortunately, he was too late. The elevator operator was crushed at the waist. It's been said that the ghost of the elevator operator has shown himself in the basement of the Baker on more than one occasion. Well, actually, he's only shown half of himself, since all that can be seen is his head and upper torso.
