Chickamauga, Chattanooga Tennessee

The Battle of Chickamauga was one of the most important battles in the Civil War. It was a confederate victory and is considered by historians to be the most significant Union loss of the war. The battle also saw the second highest casualties of the war, behind Gettysburg. In the aftermath of the battle 34, 624 Americans were killed and another 24,430 were wounded. In a twist of ironic foreshadowing the river that the battle is named for was named by the Cherokee Native Americans before the battle took place and can be loosely translated to mean “river of death”. But perhaps the Cherokee had their own reasons for calling it river of death.

The Chickamauga battleground is claimed to be the home of many paranormal entities. Some claim that one of these ghosts dates back to a time before the civil war. It is said during the battle that many of the soldiers claimed to see a six-foot humanoid on the battlefield. It is said that the figure would drag off the dead bodies and wounded, and some claim to have seen it eat the dead. The creatures most striking feature was its piercing green eyes. Sightings of Old Green Eyes as locals affectionately call him still continue to this day. Other apparitions are said to haunt the ground as well. A mysterious lady in a white dress is often seen wondering the battlefield; perhaps looking for a lost loved one. The most interesting of all these sightings, though, are those of whole cavalries.

David Lester is a Civil War buff that takes part in the yearly reenactments of the battle. He claims that about five years ago, he and several of his friends went to say hello to some fellow confederate soldiers that were camped nearby. Lester found their unwillingness to break character charming and admired their dedication to the reenactment. Lester and his friends returned to their campsite several hours later and turned in for the night. The next morning when they got up, the campsite they had visited the previous night was gone. So were the confederate soldiers they spent hours with. There wasn’t even a sign of a fire or stakes in the ground where the tents would have been.

Babenhausen Barracks

At the German Babenhausen Barracks (now a museum) the ghosts of German soldiers, some in World War II era uniforms, have been reported. Lights are said to turn off and on by themselves and voices are heard in the basement. Footsteps and commands are allegedly heard at night, supposedly without physical cause. Legend has it that if a soldier happens to visit the museum and pick up a telephone, a woman will at times be heard “talking backwards”, unintelligible, in neither German nor English. The town was the site of a witch burned at the stake in the 19th century, and her ghost is said to have seduced, and then killed, several German soldiers since then. Pictured above are two American Soldiers at the Barracks in 1974

The USS Hornet

The USS Hornet was a flagship vessel in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was one of the most highly decorated ships of that time period. She was also a pinnacle part of the Vietnam War and had the honor of recovering the astronauts returning from the moon in the Apollo 11 and 12 space missions. This success also has a dark side as this decorated warship has seen over 300 deaths. Most of which were men struck down in battle, but others died in freak accidents like snapping cables that decapitate sailors or men accidentally being sucked into air intake pipes. The hornet, for all its success, also has the highest suicide rate of all the ships in the Navy.

The ship was retired in 1970 and was docked in Alameda, California and was opened up to the public in 1998 as a museum. It was then that many of the visiting tourists and crew aboard the ship began having paranormal experiences. Doors opening and shutting with no visible force, disappearing tools, objects moving by themselves, and the apparitions of sailors carrying about with their duties as if it was still 1944 are among the paranormal claims. Some people even claim that the ghosts on board the ship can be hostile in nature with claims that some have been pushed and grabbed by an invisible force while on board the ship.

The USS Hornet is a ship rich and history and possible rich in paranormal activity as well. Perhaps the cause for all this activity is the tragic past and abundance untimely deaths. Regardless of the cause of the haunting, the ship is notorious for its historical value as well as its ghosts. It is often called the most haunted vessel in the American Navy.

Bell Witch

The story of the Bell Witch has been a mainstay around campfires in the Tennessee area for many years. It is considered to be the most well documented haunting in American history. In 2005 the story received national attention when it served as the basis for the movie An American Haunting starring Sissy Spacek and Donald Sutherland. The movie, unfortunately, was not an accurate retelling of the story. It took the basics of the story and shoehorned it into a Japanese style ghost-revenge flick. The real story of the Bell Witch is far more interesting and frightening than the movie ever thought about being.

In the early 1800s a man by the name of John Bell decided to follow the lead of many other Americans at the time and seek opportunities out west. He uprooted his family from the Carolinas and moved to the Red River community in Tennessee, present day Adams, Tennessee. John was very successful in Tennessee. He acquired a large amount of land and a large house in Tennessee to raise his family. He also became a high-ranking official at his local church. His success would unfortunately come with an unbearable price.

The haunting did not start until 1817, after the Bells had been settled in their new house for several years. One day John was inspecting his crops when he spotted something strange in his field. He slowly approached the animal armed with his gun. The creature was an abomination of nature. It seemed to have the body of a large dog, but with an unusual head that resembled a rabbit. John took several shots at the animal before it got away from him. John thought nothing more of the incident, as guns in that time period were not known for being accurate, so he just assumed he had missed the strange animal.

Side note: Why do you think wars in this time period were fought where people stood in line and took turns taking shots at each other? It was to increase the chances they would hit something. This is not a joke, but the truth. This is how inaccurate weapons were.

That same night the Bells began hearing strange noises outside of their home. Sometimes it would sound as if someone was beating on the house from the outside. Other times it sounded as if an animal was loudly gnawing on something. As time went by the Bells frequently began experiencing these noises. The Bell men would often rush outside when the noises would start and try to find the source of the disturbances but to no avail. One day the noises moved to the inside of the house. The children began claiming that they were hearing the gnawing noises coming from within their rooms and were having trouble sleeping. The activity became more intense when the children began complaining that something was jerking the covers off them and taking their pillows while they tried to sleep.

As time passed the entity appeared to gain strength. Soon the family started hearing a faint voice in their homes at night. What the voice was saying was impossible to determine, but it appeared to be the voice of a feeble old woman. The voice eventually become more clear and would sing church songs, quote scripture, and sometimes even took part in conversations, though the voice was always cynical in these discussions. The entity even began identifying itself as the “witch” of Kate Batts, a former neighbor who John had several verbal altercations with after a slave purchase between the two ended badly.

The Lady of Bachelor's Grove

This photo was taking at Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery in Illinois. While it does not get the press that Illinois Resurrection Cemetery does, many experts in the field of the paranormal consider it to be one of the most haunted graveyards in the world. So what is so unique about a photo of a women sitting on a stone in a graveyard? According to the people who took this photo the woman was not there when the picture was taken. The photo was taking by Mari Huff who is a member of the respected paranormal investigating group Ghost Research Society, so this helps lend some credibility to the story. In my opinion, it looks to be a staged photograph but I definitely think the photo’s authenticity is worth a debate.

Tower of London Ghosts

The Tower of London ghosts are certainly some of the most famous of the many British ghosts. Everybody knows the story at least one.
Some parts of the Tower of London date back over 900 years. Many of its buildings have been a place of imprisonment, torture or execution so it is little wonder that there should be so many ghosts. What is surprising however, is the sheer variety of spectres.

Anne Boleyn
Anne is one Tower ghost, of whose life and death one cannot read without being moved. It seems inconceivable that anyone could accuse one's own wife of such terrible crimes. The crimes of adultery, high treason and incest with her brother.
That her spirit seems to be unable to find peace and that Anne Boleyn's ghost has been seen both at the Tower where she met her death and at Hever Castle, where Henry courted her, is probably not too surprising.

Princes in the Tower
Perhaps the most pathetic of the Tower of London ghosts are the Princes in the Tower. Edward V, aged 12 and Richard Duke of York, aged 10 were imprisoned and probably smothered on the orders of Richard III. Their ghosts, sometimes holding hands, have been seen in various rooms in the Bloody Tower where they were incarcerated. In 1674, two small skeletons were found in a chest and given a Royal funeral. Recently, the bones were exhumed and forensically examined. Although the results were inconclusive, it was determined that the bones belonged to male children of the correct age.

Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury
One of the most horrifying appearances by any of the Tower of London ghosts is the annual re-enactment by phantoms of the Lady Margaret Pole execution. Supposed to be a beheading, in the end she was simple butchered

Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh has also been seen around Byward Tower by modern day guards. During his 12 years imprisonment here, he was allowed to wander at will. On that occasion, he was released. However, he upset King James VI and lost his head on 29th October 1618.

Demolition workers photograph 'ghost of former guesthouse worker'

Demolition workers were given a fright after photographing a ghostly figure peering through the window of a derelict Victorian guesthouse.

The photograph showing a figure standing at the window of the derelict Victorian guesthouse in Kendal, 

The image is said to bear an eerie resemblance of Frances Grimshaw, who worked at the guesthouse and stood for hours at the same window taking bookings.

David Grimshaw, a former resident at the property, said he was convinced the figure is the ghost of his mother, who died nearly a year ago aged 87.

He believes her spirit may have appeared to protest at the demolition of Meadowbank House, which she adored.

"That is my mother. I'm totally convinced – no one else looks like that. She had glasses and big earrings and she used to wear a dress with a bow at the front," he said.

"She used to stand in that room for hours on the phone – it was the guesthouse reception and she took bookings from there.”

Mr Grimshaw, 59, a managing director, who now lives in Bedford, said: "She would have been horrified if she had known the house was being demolished because it was beautiful, so maybe that is why she's turned up."
Demolition supervisor Robert Johnson, 38, of Heysham, took the photograph of the house shortly before it was knocked down, earlier this week but it was only later that he noticed the ghostly figure.
"It wasn't until I got home and showed my wife that we spotted the woman," he said.
"You can see the jewellery on her and everything. I've always been a sceptic but I'll have to believe in ghosts now."
Colleague Stuart Shan, 34, from Blackburn, Lancashire, said: "The day before we took the photo we were stripping the building inside and I noticed the chandelier swinging on its own.
"We said at the time the place felt strange. My hairs were standing on end when I saw the photo. I believe it is a ghost."
Dave Armstrong, of Kendal contractors Cox and Allen, said the five-gabled building, which was originally a dentist's in the early 1900s, has been taken down to be replaced with a new commercial property.
He said he could not explain the image of the woman. "There was only a black wall behind the window, we had taken everything out – there were no visible features or anything with a skin colour."

Littlecote House Ghost

The story of the Littlecote House ghosts relates how a local midwife was woken late one night and offered a large sum of money if she would attend to a woman who was in urgent need of her services, but she had to be blindfolded. She agreed and was taken to a big house where she was instructed by a masked man to deliver a baby to a masked woman. The baby, a boy, was safely born whereupon the masked man grabbed the child and threw it on the roaring, open fire and held it there with his boot until it was dead. The midwife was devastated but as she made a final check on the progress of the mother, she had the presence of mind to tear a piece of cloth from the bed curtains. And as she was led, once again blindfolded, down the steps of the house, she counted them one by one.
The poor midwife kept her silence until, on her deathbed, she revealed the terrible secret. Immediately, suspicion fell on 'Wild Will Darrell' of Littlecote House. It was even suggested that the mystery masked mother might be his sister and that Darrell himself may be the father. The number of steps up to the manor agreed with the number given by the midwife and when a search was made of the house, in one bed-chamber a hole was found in the bed-curtains that matched exactly the piece torn out be the midwife. Darrell was arrested but it was said that there was not enough evidence to convict him and he walked from the court, a free man.
Divine Justice
But there is a higher law and it is a matter of history that Wild Darrell was killed when he was thrown from his horse while hunting in 1587 at a spot now known as "Darrell's Stile". His twisted spectre has been seen both at the scene of his death and in a bedroom in the house itself. But Wild Darrell is not the only Littlecote house ghost. In 1970, a journalist saw the figure of a midwife carrying a baby in the haunted bedroom. He rushed to fetch his camera and when he returned, the figure had vanished.
The phantom mother
Another Littlecote House ghost seems to have appeared to Peter de Savary soon after he became owner of the property. He decided to hold an auction sale of unwanted furnature and other stuff from the house. As he was walking around the house on the morning of the sale, he encountered a mid-aged woman dressed in modern clothes in one of the corridors. Before de Savary could ask her how she came to be there, the woman spoke. She told him that he was wicked and evil for removing her baby's clothes from the chapel. She told him that if he returned the box to its proper place, he would prosper. However, she warned him, no good would come if he failed to do this. She then seemed to disappear before the startled man's eyes.
de Savary remembered the box. He had removed it from a window ledge in the chapel. He eventually found it amongst the other items for sale. When the box was opened, it did indeed contain baby clothes and some paper that dated them to 1861. Not surprisingly, he put the box back on the chapel window ledge where he had originally found it.
Blue Lady
A woman in a blue gown has also been spotted by a guide on the staircase. There was a rope across to prevent access by visitors and the apparition walked straight through it. Perhaps, not surprisingly, there is heard the sound of a crying baby in the haunted bedroom.
And there is also an animal ghost at Littlecote.

Golden Fleece, York

The Golden Fleece is actually a pub. However they have four rooms for guests which is why it is listed under Haunted Hotels. The proprietors actually admit to having no less than five ghosts. Differant accounts of them make reference to different spectres. However, on one Golden Fleece ghost, all accounts agree. That of Lady Alice Peckett, wife of John Peckett who was landlord of the pub in 1702 and Lord Mayor of London.
One of the guest rooms, known as Lady Peckett's Room, seems to a favourite haunt of hers. However, she has also been seen by many guests as she walking up the staircase or gliding along the corridor. It is Lady Pechett who is 'blamed' for objects and furnature being moved. But it couldn't be her who activates the hand dryer in the gents lavatory of the bar in the dead of night, could it!

Cleopatra's Needle - Phantom Suicide

This 3,500 year old, 68 foot tall monument, which has absolutely no connection to Cleopatra, was a gift to the British Government from the people of Egypt in 1819 to commemorate the victory of Admiral Nelson at the Battle of the Nile.
There were severe difficulties transporting the obelisk and several sailors were drowned during its journey. It was not until 1878 that the monument was finally erected on the Thames Embankment.
Mocking laughter can sometimes be heard from the area around the stone obelisk as well as unearthly screams. Whether these belong to the lost sailors is not known.
Another River Thames ghost seen here is a ghostly naked man who has been seen dashing from behind the monument and jumping into the cold water which accepts him without the faintest ripple. Strangely, Cleopatra's Needle does seem to be a magnet for those suicides intent on drowning themselves in the River.
It is interesting to note that the two sphinxes at the base of the pillar actually face the wrong way as Queen Victoria thought this was more aesthetically pleasing. When the column was erected, a 'time capsule' was buried underneath. It contained a bizarre assortment of objects including a gentleman's razor, a box of cigars and pictures of female Victorian 'pin-ups'.

Ghost Monkey - Athelhampton Hall, Dorset

This must be one of Britain's most exotic animal ghosts.Athelhampton House boasts a ghost monkey. The house was originally built by the Martyn family who's family crest was a monkey sitting on a tree stump and their motto was, "He who looks at Martyn's ape, Martyn's ape will look at him". And it is Martyn's ape who haunts the hall.

The tragic story is as follows. The ape had freedom of the house and could wander as it chose. One of the daughters of the Martyn family had an unhappy love-affair and determined to kill herself. Maybe the ape sensed something had upset the girl, as pets often able to do. Whatever, as the girl climbed the hidden stairs to the secret room, the ape followed her unobserved. The poor girl put an end to her life feeling, no-doubt, that she was totally alone in the world.
But she was not alone, the ape was with her. What frantic attempts were made to find the girl or how long it was before she was found, we are not told. However, by that time, the poor monkey had starved to death. The ghost monkey is never seen but its spirit can be heard vainly scratching at the panelling of the secret room and staircase in an eternal, frantic attempt to escape.

Drury Lane Theatre Royal Ghosts

Drury Lane has been called one of the world's most haunted theatres. The appearance of almost any one of the handful of ghosts that are said to frequent the theatre signals good luck for an actor or production. The most famous ghost is the "Man in Grey", who appears dressed as a nobleman of the late 18th century: powdered hair beneath a tricorne hat, a dress jacket and cloak or cape, riding boots and a sword. Legend says that the Man in Grey is the ghost of a knife-stabbed man whose skeletal remains were found within a walled-up side passage in 1848.
The ghosts of actor Charles Macklin and clown Joe Grimaldi are supposed to haunt the theatre. Macklin appears backstage, wandering the corridor which now stands in the spot where, in 1735, he killed his fellow actor Thomas Hallam in an argument over a wig. ("Goddamn you for a blackguard, scrub, rascal!" he shouted, thrusting a cane into Hallam's face and piercing his left eye. Joe Grimaldi is a helpful apparition, purportedly guiding nervous actors skillfully about the stage on more than one occasion. Stanley Lupino claimed to have seen the ghost of Dan Leno in a dressing room.