Saturday 24 May 2014

Haunted Places of Alaska

Alaska is the extreme north-west part of the North American continent and is bordered completely by Canada.  It is the largest state in the USA but is also the least densely populated with around half of its entire population live in the Anchorage metropolitan area.  It also has a longer coastline than the rest of the US states combined at nearly 34,000 miles.

Anchorage

Anchorage is the largest city in the state and lies on a coastal lowland strip that extends to the lower slopes of the Chugach Mountains.  The city was transferred from Russia to the US in 1912 with the rest of the state at which point it was a significant mineral mining centre.

Schools

The original building of Clark Middle School was as much a fallout shelter as a school and was designed to allow helicopters to land in the event of war.  Whether the ghost comes from the time of the original building or the newer building is unknown but she has been seen by both teachers and students.  She is a woman in white who favours the band room as well appearing in empty hallways and also helps out by turning off the lights in empty classrooms.  She has been seen appearing through the floor so perhaps she is associated with the old building and is walking the layout as it was in her time.
Hanshew Middle School is haunted by the ghost of a girl who was said to have died during the construction of the school, though by accident or murder is unknown.  She is seen early on the morning and late at night, crying and shouting for help, her expression sad.  She has been seen by children in the school but also by janitors working there.
West High School sits overlooking Westchester Lagoon and is haunted by a woman in white who is seen in the old auditorium.  She has been seen by staff and children for a number of years, sometimes standing among the seats or other times backstage or even in the halls of the basement below.  There are also tales of a former janitor who continues about his duties when no-one is meant to be in the building and may be connected to the footsteps head in empty rooms, doors slamming by themselves and lights which switch on and off unassisted.

Marriott Ghosts

Source: Wikipedia
There are two Marriott hotels around Anchorage and both of them have connected ghost stories.  The Historic Anchorage Hotel has reports of a young girl who is seen walking on the 2nd floor and on the same floor, rooms 215 and 217 have reports of TV’s turning on and off as well as a bathtub which runs itself.  A man is seen on the stairs that vanishes and, perhaps connected, footsteps are heard coming down the stairs but no-one is there.
The Courtyard by Marriott is known for the ghost of a man who died in Room 201.  His body was not discovered for a few days, staff say, and his ghost is often seen in the room.  Another ghost wanders the parking lot and is called Ken, though whether this is his real-life name or merely a staff nickname is unknown.  He does sometimes make it around the to courtyard and into the gazebo too.  Finally, there is a ghost cat that is most commonly associated with Rooms 103 and 107.

University of Alaska

The Wendy Williamson auditorium of the University is a very paranormally active spot.  Props and furniture is thrown around, stage lights have exploded for no reason, footsteps are heard but cannot be explained and a strange shadow is seen on the walls.  Three different women reported trying to leave the bathroom to find the door being held shut but no-one is in sight when it is abruptly released.  The problems started when attempts were made to change the layout of the auditorium but plans were abandoned leaving a catwalk that cannot be used, an elevator shaft without an elevator and other strange features.
There is also an aggressive ghost in the foyer of the building that seems to have special malice for brunette women.  Some have been pushed down the stairs by the ghost and often strange reflections in the doors have been reported.

Fairbanks

Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska and was founded in 1901 by Captain ET Barnette when his steamboat ran aground in shallow water and he and his party were deposited on the spot.  It is in the Tanana Valley either side of the Chena River and is at the edge of a chain of hills that eventually becomes the White Mountains.

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital

Source: Wikipedia
The hospital is said to be one of the most haunted places in the whole state.  Rumour says it was built on sacred Indian ground and these disturbed spirits may be responsible for some of the hauntings.  The hospital dates from just 1972 to take over from the St Joseph’s Hotel after much of it was destroyed in the Chena River Flood of 1967. 
There are reports of the sounds of babies in an empty room and this corresponds with a rapid drop in temperature that is recoded as low as 60 F.  Ghostly children and babies have been seen in the nursery area and there have also been reports of angels appearing in the rooms when a baby dies there.

Birch Hill Cemetery

The cemetery on Birch Hill overlooks the city and is haunted by the ghosts of children.  A young boy is seen walking around, dressed in clothing from the early 1900s and appears to be searching for someone.  A young girl in a white dress is the most famous ghost and is said to be contemporary of the boy.  She was photographed on one occasion by research Jessie Desmond. 
Shadow figures are common in the cemetery as well as a small, dark figure that floats just above the ground.  There are also reports of glowing orbs that are seen floating above the cemetery, often at the same time as the ghostly children are seen.

Skagway

Skagway is an area on the Alaska Panhandle that is a hugely popular tourist spot during summer months.  Its port is a frequent stop for cruise ships and the White Pass and Yukon Route narrow gauge railroad both run from the town.  It was originally a Tlingit settlement and was settled by explorers who anticipated the Klondike gold rush.

Golden North Hotel

The Golden North Hotel was built in 1898 and is one of the oldest hotels in the state.  It was relocated in 1908 when a third floor was added and a golden dome.  There are two main hauntings mentioned in connection with the hotel.  The first is a spirit nicknamed Mary who was engaged to a man who was searching for gold in the area.  He sent for her and booked her into the hotel then went off prospecting but while he was away, Mary contract pneumonia.  She lay in Room 23, awaiting his return and getting sicker until she finally died before he returned.  Her spirit is often seen in the room while others have reported waking to a choking feeling as if they couldn’t breathe properly.
The other haunting is connected to Room 14 and comes in the form of a strange light.  Sometimes it appears late at night or sometimes just before dawn and is described as an orb or a small sparkle.  It is non-threatening and is often enjoyed by those who witness it.

Red Onion Saloon

The Red Onion Saloon is now a restaurant-bar, as well as a museum on prostitution but started out life as the real thing in the late 1890s.  It was a renowned casino and bordello that was later used as an army barracks during World War II, a TV station, a bakery and even a gift shop.  The second floor has ghostly footsteps and cold spots as well as a strong smell of perfume in rooms that haven’t been entered.  Police were even called out on one occasion when a shadowy figure was seen running along a hall by the former Madame’s room but they could find no trace of the intruder.


If you know more about these stories, or similar ones, please tell your tale below or alternatively if you wish to remain anonymous, contact me directly at angelatempestwriter@yahoo.co.uk


Thursday 1 May 2014

Staked Skeletons and the Strigoi

In 2012, a report in the BBC highlighted the skeletons of Bulgaria, which were pierced through the chest with iron rods to prevent them turning into vampires.  There are around 100 ‘vampire skeletons’ across the country and this highlights the beliefs of the areas, which inspired the novels of Bram Stoker.

Strigoi

The Romanian Strigoi were the troubled souls of the dead who rose from the grave but can also be living people who have particular magic abilities.  These include the ability to transform themselves into an animal and making themselves invisible.  They drained their victims of vitality through loss of blood and were thought to be immortal.
The Strigoi were first spoken of by the Dacians, who lived in the area around the Carpathian Mountains which is today Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria amongst other countries.  They believed they were the spirits of the dead who could not enter the kingdom of Zalmoxis after death because of their unworthy actions.
The first named Strigoi was a Croatian named Jure Grando.  He died in 1656 and returned as a Strigoi after which he continued to terrorise his native village of Kringa until the local beheaded him in 1672.  The village priest who had buried him originally stated that Grando would knock on the door of someone around the village and somebody in the house would die in the next few days.
Petar Plogojowitz was another Strigoi from what is now Serbia whose staking was witnessed an Austrian official.  He had lived in a village called Kisiliova and died here in 1725, after which there was a series of mysterious deaths.  Nine people died in eight days and all claimed to have been throttled by Plogojowitz at night.  The locals demanded his grave was dug up and when officials did, they found the body had no decomposed, the hair was grown and there was blood in his mouth.  The body was staked through the heart and burned.

Modern Romanian vampires

In 1970, Bucharest saw a series of terrible crimes, which all took place at midnight in a rainstorm.  The victims were mostly waitresses returning home from a late shift.  The following year, Ion Rimaru was arrested and identified from his teeth marks on his victims.  During the trial, he was constantly drowsy and incoherent and in the end was interrogated at night as it was the only time he was lucid.  He was sentenced to death.  Shortly after, his father died in a strange accident and it came to light that his fingerprints matched a series of crime dating back to 1944.  The crimes were very similar to those committed by his ‘son’ including weather conditions and even some of the victims having the same names.

Other types of Strigoi

Apart from the traditional vampiric type Strigoi, there are two other types commonly mentioned in the stories of the area.  The Strigoi viu is a sorcerer, a living creature that steals from people but can also stop the rain and replace it with hail, leading to drought.

The other type is the Strigoi mort, the dead Strigoi, which is very dangerous.  It is demonic yet human and visits his family from the grave, acting almost normal until he bleeds his relatives until death.