Category Archives: Hauntings

Ye Olde Fighting Cocks Public House Closes, But Is It Haunted?

08 Tuesday Feb 2022

Posted by in Haunted England, Haunted Pubs Public Houses, Hauntings

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Britain’s oldest public house (pub), Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, formerly titled as The Fighting Cocks Public House, has temporarily closed its doors. News spread with the owners Mitchells & Butlers stating that new management is being sought. However, here is the question I want answered: Is it haunted?

According to Guinness World Records, the pub was listed as the oldest public house in Great Britain up until 2000, when the record was classified inactive as it was impossible to verify. There are several pubs across the country that claim to be the oldest. Therefore, an asterisks may need to clarify that Ye Olde Fighting Cocks is one of a handful of old—incredibly old—pubs in Britain.

The pub’s website boasts that the alehouse was operating since 793 AD, although there aren’t any records to support this claim. The current building is octagonal in shape and dates to the 11th century. It was an old pigeon house, hence the name (see below). However, there have been several names over the centuries.

It was originally called The Round House. In 1756, the name changed to The Three Pigeons, with records verify with it operating as a public house. During the 1800, the name changed to The Fighting Cocks, as cock fighting was held on the premises.

St. Albans Abbey, now known as St. Albans Cathedral, was located nearby. Rumors of secret tunnels where monks visited the pub for liquid refreshment are not supported; however, they make for great stories of possible hauntings.

There isn’t much online discussing hauntings here. Maybe there is a presumption that it would; end of discussion. But I want to hear the stories and view the evidence.

Paul Adams’ book Haunted St Albans broaches the issue. He writes that men dressed as monks have been seen at the pub. He questioned the encounters since they are fairly recent beginning in 2001, when there should be centuries of stories for a location that old. Bar staff told of a procession of monks coming from the cellar to take seats at a table. The men were only visible from the knees up and disappeared soon thereafter. There are more stories of objects moving around when no one is watching. It would be incredible if the owners permitted a few paranormal investigations prior to the new management taking over. Some ground penetrating radar would not be remiss. I would love to see the tunnels.

Ye Olde Fighting Cocks may or may not be haunted. Hopefully with the owners reaffirming that the pub will continue, there may be opportunities for investigations, which are quite profitable.

The sad part of this tale is that so many pubs in Great Britain are closing. Financial issues are the main reason for the closures. The pandemic kneecapped an already tight market. People are opting to patron bars and restaurants or drink at home, rather than go to a pub. That puzzles me. One of the things inherently British are the pub quiz nights and hearty food, with a side of haunting footsteps.

Young Female Ghost Appears in Eastbury Manor House Photograph

10 Friday Sep 2021

Posted by in England, Haunted England, Haunted Houses, Hauntings, Historic Places, Real Estate, Road Trip, Travel

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Photograph showing the supposed ghost.

There’s a photograph making the rounds on the Internet of a supposed apparition of a young girl peering through a window at Eastbury Manor House. The image is too blurry to definitively state that Joanne Puffett and Diane De-Groot captured a ghost in the photograph. However, the location is worth discussing.

Barking Abbey, located in Barking, London, England, was a large monastery established in 666 AD. It remained viable until King Henry VIII dissolved all British monasteries in 1539. Only the Curfew Tower remains today. In 1551, the land was sold off. Clement Sisley purchased a plot in 1557 and built the first red brick Elizabethan gentry house in the area. Construction was from 1560-1573. The home was originally called Estburie Hall.

Clement Sisley (1504-1578) and his much younger wife Anne Argall (1547-1610) lived in the home with their 4 young children. Even though Clement was of the gentry class (wealthy landowner who lived totally on rental income), he was in serious debt when he died in 1578. Anne sought financial security through her second husband, Augustine Steward (d. 1597). Ownership of Eastbury remained in the family until 1629.

Ownership of Eastbury fell through many hands over the centuries. The National Trust (England) purchased the home in 1918 and restored it. The home is an H-shape with an inner courtyard. Although most of the land once owned by the Sisley family has long been sold, the house does boast two gardens: a Tudor herb garden and a walled garden. The walled garden houses bee-boles. “Bole” is a Scottish word for recess in a wall. Rows of recessed bee boles help bees proliferate.

1. Painting of Eastbury Manor House. 2. Bee-boles, location unknown and not the one at Eastbury.

But the question of the day is whether Eastbury Manor House is haunted. It probably is. The most familiar legend tells of the house being haunted by a young girl that only women can see. That certainly fits the narrative of the photograph. However, there is a lesser-known variation where it is a young girl and a woman who haunt the dwelling.

I’m curious about whom might the girl—and woman—be. Records from the 1500s are scarce, possibly lost to fire. Luckily, the house does hold paranormal events. At this time, though, the home is closed due to COVID. (Note: Joanne and Diane merely walked outside the house, where they took the picture.) Check the website, https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/eastbury-manor-house, to see when the home reopens. And I will add the house to my bucket list.

Valdosta (GA) Ring Camera Footage Captures a Reflection–Not a Partial Manifestation

03 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by in Debunking the Debunked, Ghost Hunting, Hauntings, Paranormal, Videos

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On February 20, 2020, a supposed Reddit user uploaded a video he claimed to be of his Valdosta, Georgia home’s Ring security camera, hanging in his carport, capturing a ghost manifesting in his driveway. The are several large holes in his assessment.

The video clip, with extensive editing to zoom in on the light source, was posted on YouTube and, expectedly, went viral. The video has received over 18,000 views. The online account, The Hidden Underbelly 2.0, boldly states that this is a “partial manifestation.” Case closed. However, it’s not a manifestation.

Debate continues on what was captured on the footage. The security camera is set up at the back of the carport, an open garage with side walls but not a closing garage door. Parked outside the carport are two vehicles: a truck and a car. A light source shifts from the truck, on the left, to the car, on the right. Some speculate that the “ghost” is jumping from truck to car. I did not see that. I saw a light source moving from the back of the truck across to the front of the car.

In the paranormal field, a manifestation is when an image is clearly discernable. A full body apparition’s manifestation would be where witnesses can clearly make out the figure. A partial manifestation is when parts of the body are clearly visible. These are sometimes called “semi-formed ghost.” The video does not show a partial manifestation of a ghost.

The “story” told by the Reddit user is that he was notified that the security camera was tripped. He reviewed the video and found the “image.” Generally, when a security camera is tripped, lights go on. Here, the lights were already on.

The camera’s placement is also problematic. The camera is affixed to the back wall of the carport. Carports are 20-21 feet deep. (The purpose is to house cars.) The camera displays out from the back wall and shows the side door to the house on the right. It also shows the two vehicles parked in front. They appear to be roughly 10 feet past the carport. According to Ring, the security camera’s motion detection zone is a range of 270 degrees side-to-side and 30 feet forward. The image is passed the front of the cars; therefore, out of range for the motion detector to go off.

When the motion sensor goes off, Ring may push a notification to the owner. Instead of walking to the door and looking outside, the owner loaded the video. This seems odd. It is easier to look out the window or open the door to see the culprit rather than watch the video. However, the owner may not be home. Then one would question why the lights are on.

We may never know what the homeowner was thinking. I cannot locate the supposed Reddit posting. None of the articles actually link to that initial post. Instead, everything is linked to the YouTube account, whose identity is unknown; however, he does answer questions as if he was the owner.

The carport was well lit. The cars reflected community lights. This is probably a case where the camera captured a car passing, someone walking his dog, or a cat heading home. (Personally, I think it’s a deer.) It should not be hailed as the definitive evidence of a “partial manifestation.” Because…It’s not.

St. Petersburg’s Comfort Station No. 1

18 Wednesday Dec 2019

Posted by in Famous Locations, Florida, Florida Mysteries, Hauntings, Historic Places, Not Haunted

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Comfort Station No. 1; Vintage image from 1979 of station; Vintage postcard of St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

A story is making the Internet rounds claiming that Comfort Station No. 1 in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida is haunted. It’s not. However, its lack of ghosts should not detract from the stunning architecture that makes it one of the most beautiful and historic public restrooms in the United States.

St. Petersburg experienced large tourism in the 1920s. Hotel construction rose as people came to enjoy the warm winter weather. Architects drew inspiration from Europe building such historic hotels as The Hotel Cordova (1921), the Don CeSar Hotel (1928), and the Vinoy Park Hotel (1925). Shortly after designing the Vinoy, architect Henry L. Taylor (1884-1958) designed Comfort Station No. 1.

At the corner of 2nd Avenue and Bayshore Drive North sits an 8-sided brick building. Topped with Spanish tiles, the octagonal structure is modeled after the Lombardy Romanesque style. Although this is not Taylor’s most important architectural feat, it is one of his most debated.

Bids were taken in March 1927, with permits and construction commencing by the summer. It reportedly cost $16,000 and was completed and operational by May 10, 1928 when a Lost and Found ad ran in the St. Petersburg Times. Ironically, the person who ran the ad found a Masonic ring at the station. The February 1929 issue of The American City praised the facility—both functionally and aesthetically.

Urban legends continue to swirl. The first claimed that Taylor built the facility to resemble St. Mary Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, situated at 515 4th Street South. Both structures are octagonal and share similar features. The story further claims that Taylor took umbrage to being shorted on the church project and designed the restrooms as an insult. This is factually incorrect. The bathroom was designed and built before the church, where construction began in 1929. Several newspaper articles, namely the September 9, 1992 St. Petersburg Times article, dispels this rumor.

Comfort Station No. 1 is sometimes called “Little St. Mary’s” or “St. Mary’s Comfort Station.” These are tributes to the similarities between the restroom and the church. While Taylor left no indication as to his reasoning on the design, some postulate that the restroom was a prototype for the large Byzantine style church.

One online tale also claims that Taylor himself haunts the station. Hardly. He built larger, more glamourous buildings to spend eternity.

Another Internet story refers to an elderly woman named “Agnes” who chats ladies up at the sink. After hours searching several online databases, I was unable to find an elderly woman who was alive in the 1930s (she reportedly was wearing clothes of that period) who died around the pier. Using a preconceived old-fashioned name doesn’t make the story true.

The comfort station sits along the retaining wall at the entrance to Pier Approach Park. Over the decades, the park consisted of several large piers: The Railroad Pier (1889); The Pier Pavilion (1895); The Electric Pier (1906); The Million Dollar Pier (1926); and The Inverted Pyramid Pier (1973). Engineers grew concerned by the saltwater erosion on the pilings; therefore, the pier is undergoing another rebuild/renovation.

There are numerous reasons why people hear sounds in the comfort station. First of all: it’s an oversized bathroom. The water lapping against the seawall also creates sounds. Hide tide, low tide; they all make waves. Boats entering/leaving the yacht basin. Acoustics against the tiles. Wildlife hovering about or scurrying underneath. In addition, fog and mist are frequent weather occurrences. Not one tale references actual investigations conducted to debunk.

Historic and old buildings are not necessarily haunted. I’ve visited this location numerous times (I used to live 16 blocks from here and would walk to the park). Never did I have an experience. Further, never did I hear about experiences. Visit Comfort Station No. 1 and reflect on a time when motorists did not have public conveniences and the one progressive city that took up matters by erecting a classic pit stop.

Henry Greene Cole House, Marietta, Georgia

02 Wednesday Oct 2019

Posted by in Famous Locations, Famous People, Ghost Stories, Haunted Georgia, Haunted Houses, Hauntings, Uncategorized

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Haunted Georgia: Henry Greene Cole House, Marietta, Georgia

Henry Greene Cole was a Union sympathizer living in the Confederate South. He was also wealthy. He built a small house on Washington Avenue just outside the Marietta Square. It is told that his father-in-law urged General Sherman not to burn the Fletcher House Hotel because of his relation to Cole. Cole donated the land adjacent to his home for the Union National Cemetery, where over 10,000 Union soldiers are buried. Cole endeavored to build a larger home a block down from his small house. Although he died before it was completed, his family resided in the grand house for many years. Today, the house is a commercial building; however, it still boasts the architectural elements of a Georgian home.

It is also haunted. A local resident whose grandparents lived down the street spoke of walking past the house and seeing a woman in the upper left-hand corner. She saw this girl many times over the years. For several decades, the house was home to several law firms. Attorneys and their employees reported feeling cold drafts and hearing voices. One attorney experienced her clock running backwards. People walking past claim to see curtains shifting and lights turning on and off at night. The house sits directly across from the National Cemetery.

Andry Plantation: 10 Facts Before You View Haunted Towns

22 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by in Haunted Towns, Hauntings, Historic Places, History, Paranormal, Plantations, Travel Channel, Uncategorized

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Andry Plantation: 10 Facts Before You View Haunted Towns

Season 2 of Haunted Towns, titled “Voodoo on the Bayou” sends the Tennessee Wraith Chasers to the largest slave revolt in American history. (Note: It’s not the largest on North American soil. That distinction goes to the 1739 Stono Rebellion commencing on September 9, 1739—when America was comprised of 13 colonies). The team heads to the Andry Plantation where the “German Coast Uprising of 1811” began.

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10 Facts to Know Before You View:

  1. Louisiana was not part of the Union at the time of the revolt. It was known as Territory of Orleans. It was admitted to the Union on April 30, 1812.
  2. The revolt was coordinated by Charles Deslondes (1780-January 15, 1811). He worked at the Andry Plantation.
  3. Manual Andry built the Andry Plantation in 1793. The main crop was sugar cane. The main house is 3,982 square feet with a separate guest house in back. The plantation is also known as “Woodland.” It makes researching confusing as there is another more well-known and well maintained plantation with the same name.
  4. The main house was built in the French Creole style. The plantation was abandoned in 2004 and is a fixer upper. It was listed for sale in 2016 for $550,000. The owners at that time had the plantation in their family since the 1920s.
  5. The revolt lasted 3 days. It commenced on January 8, 1811 and ended on the 10th.
  6. The path led to New Orleans and included 10 plantations.
  7. Reports vary as to the number of slaves involved. The number sits between 200-500 joining over the 3-day revolt.
  8. Again, numbers vary, but records show that between 20-100 slaves were killed. The heads were placed on poles and displayed. Fifty slaves were captured.
  9. Early Jazz pioneer Edouard (Edward) “Kid” Ory was born in the guest house on Christmas Day 1886.

KidOry

Enjoy the episode.

Sharp Plasmacluster Air Purifier Doubles as Ghost Remover

19 Wednesday Jun 2019

Posted by in Hauntings, Ingo Swann, Uncategorized

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Sharp Plasmacluster Air Purifier Doubles as Ghost Remover

According to Twitter user @Shinukosan, the Sharp Plasmacluster is an ionizing air cleaner that exorcizes unwanted ghosts. Shinuko experienced paranormal activity when she moved into her new residence. She purchased the air purifier and noticed that the activity stopped. Instead of considering the obvious—the residence had mold—she maked the leap, crediting the machine. After posting her comment on Twitter, she tagged the Japanese corporation that manufactures the purifiers. Predictably, the corporation responded. (Good for them!) Although they deflected credit for removing her ghosts, they did acknowledge that the machine should work for 10 years.

The air purifiers start at $249.

10 Things to Know about the Black Dahlia

03 Sunday Feb 2019

Posted by in Famous People, Hauntings, Uncategorized, Unsolved Murders

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10 Things to Know about the Black Dahlia:

Wanted Information poster
Image from the new limited series I an the Night
Crime scene photograph appearing in the newspapers.

Follow this link to read: https://www.hauntjaunts.net/10-things-to-know-about-the-black-dahlia/.

Spring Break Road Trip: Cassadaga, Florida

30 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by in Camps, Cemeteries, Famous Locations, Florida Mysteries, Hauntings, Historic Places, Road Trip, Roadside Attractions, Uncategorized

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Postcard

Spring Break Road Trip: Cassadaga, Florida

Spring Break is in full swing, and there are some off-the-beaten-path places worth exploring. One of them is Cassadaga, Florida. Cassadaga is 40 minutes north of Orlando, off I-4 or an hour and ½ southeast of Ocala. Here are 10 things to know before you go:

Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp

  1. Cassadaga is named after Cassadaga Lake outside Lily Dale, New York, sister town to Cassadaga, New York and Florida. Lily Dale is the oldest Spiritualist community in America. It was incorporated in 1879 as Cassadaga Lake Free Association but was ultimately renamed Lily Dale Assembly in 1906.
  2. George P. Colby (January 6, 1848-July 27, 1933), a trance medium, believed his Native American spirit guide “Seneca” led him to Volusia County, Florida in search of land to establish a Spiritualist community. George was homesteaded 145 acres in the area and donated 55 of those acres to create Cassadaga. He died at the age of 86 and is buried in the Lake Helen Cemetery.

Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Early Photo

  1. Cassadaga is a Native American word that means “water beneath the rocks.”
  2. Wintering psychics and mediums from the north sought a warm location to winter. The unincorporated town was established on December 18, 1894 as the Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Meeting Association.
  3. Cassadaga is known as the “Psychic Center of the South.” Less than 70 people reside in Cassadaga. All are psychics and mediums.
  4. The Cassadaga Hotel, the only hotel in town, was originally owned by the camp but was lost in foreclosure. It is privately owned. The original building burned down on Christmas Day 1926 but was rebuilt within 2 years.
  5. More than 15,000 people visit Cassadaga per year. There are 7 parks and meditation areas in the camp. Visitors can walk the town, book appointments with psychics, tour 2 historical buildings, shop the bookstore, or sip coffee at the hotel.
  6. Singer/songwriter Tom Petty (1950-2017) wrote the song “Casa Dega” about the town.
  7. Fiction writer and essayist Carl Hiaasen based the fictional town Grange in Lucky You on Cassadaga. In the novel, Grange is a strange town where people experience a lot of religious miracles. The main character JoLayne, and African-American woman who wins ½ of a Florida Lottery jackpot, resides in Grange.

CarlHiaasen

  1. If you visit, stop in the Lake Helen Cemetery, situated between Cassadaga and Lake Helen. In the cemetery in a family plot, there is a brick bench, a mourning bench. An urban legend has started that this is a “Devil’s Chair” whereby the Devil arrives when someone sits on the bench. Another tale states that if a can of beer is left, it will be empty in the morning. Let me know what happens.

DevilsChair2

Happy Travels!