West Virginia Penitentiary

The West Virginia Penitentiary (Moundsville), with its striking stone facade and Gothic castle-like style opened in 1876. The structure was originally built for 480 prisoners, but by the early 1930s it housed a total of 2,400. At times, three prisoners would be assigned to one of the tiny five by seven cells.


With its violent past, deplorable conditions and two major riots, Moundsville Penitentiary is a popular destination for those who study paranormal activity. Some claim that the prison is plagued with what is called, residual haunting, which are defined as a replay of a tragic event from the past.

There are several areas in the prison known as “hot spots” where an unusual amount of paranormal activity reportedly occurs. Such places include: the Chapel, shower cages, Death Row, the Sugar Shack, which was a recreational area and the North Wagon Gate which is where death row inmates were taken to be hung before the facility used the electric chair.

One other area known for strange occurrences is the circular entrance gate which was used to separate arriving inmates from the warden’s living quarters. According to reports, the circular cage turns periodically by itself, giving the impression that the spirits of criminals are still arriving at the prison.


(By Charles Montaldo)

Haunted: The Incredible True Story of a Canadian Family's Experience Living in a Haunted House

It was an irrational decision. Despite having just moved into a beautiful new house, the Williams family gave in to an odd, overwhelming desire to purchase and move into a Victorian home they had come upon by chance. They were curious, of course, as to why the house had, in the past, had such a high vacancy rate - no one ever seemed to live in it for a long period of time. But that curiosity didn't last long, because shortly after moving in, strange things began to happen. It became abundantly clear that the home's past owners had all had a reason for leaving: fear. The Williams' new home was haunted. At first, the family tried telling themselves there were logical explanations for the strange things they all were witnessing. But before long they came to accept the fact that they were sharing their home with ghosts. Haunted is the Williams family's story from the point of view of the mother, Dorah. Through her chilling reminiscences, we witness the all-too-real goings-on in the house. And we join the family as they seek a way to bring an end to the paranormal events that were occurring with ever more frequency and intensity, and learn why the events began in the first place.



You can purchase this book from Amazon by clicking on the image below!

Norwich State Hospital For The Mentally Insane

Recent archaeological evidence from digs at the site of the abandoned Norwich State Hospital indicate that it was the site of a Native American village about 5,000 years ago.  According to State Archaeologist Nicholas Bellantoni, about 8,800 artifacts have been uncovered so far, which suggest a “unique village setting for the time.”

The original asylum, dubbed the Norwich State Hospital for the Insane, was established in 1904.  The site comprised two two-story buildings, one for women and one, known as Salmon Hall, for male patients.  A cottage on the grounds was erected for doctors.  Forty patients transferred from Middletown brought the total number of patients up to fifty one, with space enough to accommodate 104.  A tuberculosis sanatorium established in 1912 added another administrative building and two shacks for patients.  The insane asylum and tuberculosis hospital would quickly fill to capacity, eventually join as one institution, and be forced to expand their facilities throughout the 20th Century.  The site eventually encompassed several buildings spread out over 470 acres, many connected via underground tunnels.

 The first documented tragedy to occur at the asylum was the suicide of a patient.  Edward K. Arvine, a lawyer, had voluntarily admitted himself as a sufferer of “melancholia.”  In December of 1914, he hanged himself in his room with an improvised rope of torn bedclothes, attached to an iron grating.  His death would be but the first of many tragedies at the institution.  An explosion of a hot water heater in 1919 killed two employees, teamster Fred Ladd and night attendant Thomas Duggan.  Hospital cook Fred Smith, while crossing the road, was struck and killed in 1925, by an automobile driven by Robert Anderson, a supervisor at the nearby tuberculosis sanatorium.  Annie Prudenthal, a trained nurse and former patient at the hospital, killed herself with a knife at her home in 1930, after having been discharged from the Norwich Hospital only a few days before.

Continues

Valentown Museum Ghost

A ghost hunter is investigating the location. She doesn’t see anything but the camera picks up something moving in the background.

Indiana Central State Hospital

In November of 1848, The Indiana Hospital for the Insane opened its doors for patients, who suffered from a variety of mental illnesses, ranging from depression to various forms of psychosis, admitting 5 people. The mentally handicapped, called “Simple” also wound up being committed here. The criminally insane also were housed here. The Hospital at this point consisted of one brick building sitting on over 100 acres of land. After 1926, the hospital was renamed Central State Hospital.

There were over five miles of tunnels which connected the various buildings which spread out over the huge acreage. There were dark rooms off the tunnels with chains and shackles on the walls.

In the late 1970’s, the Seven Gables and other old Victorian buildings were declared structurally unsafe and torn down. In a another location, common institutional brick dorms were built to house the patients. A large lawn now grows where The Seven Gables once stood.

As of 2003, the city of Indianapolis has bought the 146 acre property with plans for a cultural center, a park and to develop some of the land for to bring in taxes, promising to be careful if they have to move unmarked graves. Uh oh! They need to be careful and not build on top of someone’s grave or they may create a haunting!

While the State Park officials had long denied it, people who worked there in the past and the present have witnessed manifestations. Paranormal Investigators from IPI took photos of orbs in the Power House.

Famous Ghost Photograph: Tantallon Castle

thehauntedinternet.com

This picture was taken by in May 2008 by Christopher Aitchison at Tantallon Castle, a ruined fortress dating back to the 14th century. It was unearthed during a contest for some of the scariest ghost photographs. If you look in the upper window, you see a figure which seems to be in fifteenth century dress peering out the window.

The Witch of Joshua Ward House

In the early 1980s a real estate company named Carlson Realty had bought the house with the intention of turning it into their headquarters. After moving in, a realtor by the name of Dale Lewinski began the task of taking photographs of the staff members to add to a welcome display. Lewinski was using a Polaroid camera to snap the head-and-shoulders, passport-style pictures. Upon photographing a colleague by the name of Lorraine St. Peter a peculiar sight greeted Lewinski.

The Polaroid was developed and, instead of showing St. Peter, it appeared to depict a frightening image: a strange, black-haired, feminine figure. St. Peter was nowhere to be seen (the photograph has not been cropped at all; St. Peter has been entirely replaced by the ‘apparition’).

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