Rather than bring you yet another Halloween article, we thought it would be fun to offer a whole selection of spooky tales drawn from the Urban Ghosts archives.  From past All Hallows Eve posts to ingenious Jack O’Lantern carvings, “dead body trains” and urban legends of the supernatural world, not all of these articles relate to Halloween but they’re guaranteed to conjure enough spooky energy to bring October 31st to life.  Happy Halloween!

(Images: Ray Villafane, reproduced with permission)

Reinventing Post Halloween Jack O’Lanterns by Ray Villafane – Last year’s popular All Hallows offering, artist Ray Villafane specialises in turning unwanted Halloween pumpkins into incredible and imaginative works of art.  And with the dark night yet ahead of us, what more inspiration could you need to transform your as-yet uncarved Jack O’Lantern into something truly creepy and spectacular?

(Images: jtriefen, cc-3.0; The Langham, London, CC-SA-3.0; Florian Boyd, cc-sa-3.0)

7 Creepy Hotels to Ensure a Happy Haunted Halloween – Another 2010 Halloween article, here we explore seven of the world’s most reputedly haunted hotels, from Romania’s Bran Castle to The Shining’s Stanley Hotel, the RMS Queen Mary passenger liner, moored at Long Beach, and more.

(Image: Derek Bridges, cc-3.0)

3 of America’s Most Haunted Places – This article from October 2009 explores three of America’s most haunted places.  Venues include the notorious Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky, with its infamous body chute and no shortage of ghost hunter attention, as well as West Virginia Penitentiary and Saint Louis Cemetery in New Orleans, steeped in local Voodoo legend and ghostly activity.

(Images: Rana X, cc-nc-nd-3.0; F.W. Murnau, public domain; Youtube via GrinningManPictures; Penny Dreadful Paper 1838, public domain)

5 Eerie Urban Legends of the Supernatural World – Paranormal activity or pure urban legend?  You be the judge as you learn about the enigmatic Victorian prankster Spring Heeled Jack, the bizarre case of the Highgate Vampire, the mysterious Eve of Saint Mark, ghastly doppelgangers and the bone chilling mirror-myth of Bloody Mary.

(Images: Qilinmon, CC-SA-3.0; NOAA, public domain; Ian Carroll, CC-2.0; James, cc-2.0)

5 Eerie Urban Legends of the Natural World – Perhaps not as bone chilling as their purely “supernatural” counterparts, these urban legends of the natural world are nevertheless decidedly creepy – some of them tied up in the myth of the spectral black dog that inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Hound of the Baskervilles.  Click to learn about Britain’s mysterious big cats, the albatross legend, alligators in the New York City sewers and the ghostly Longdendale Lights.

(Images: Olga Pavlovsky, cc-3.0)

6 Creepy Abandoned Hospitals and Insane Asylums – Derelict hospitals are creepy, but could an abandoned building be more terrifying than a crumbling insane asylum?  Let us know what you think after you explore these six spooky examples from across the world.

(Image: Anthony Woodman, cc-nc-3.0)

Spooky London Legend: Whitechapel’s Dead Body Train – Yesterday’s article examined the case of the rumoured “Dead Body Train” that was said to run between Whitechapel Tube station and the nearby Royal London Hospital, carrying nothing but dead passengers.  Whether the story is true or an urban legend is unclear, but several witnesses have confirmed a bricked-up tunnel at Whitechapel station allegedly leading to the Royal London…

Ray Villafane Pumpkin Carving: Reinventing Post-Halloween Jack O’Lanterns	America’s Most Haunted: The Whaley House, San Diego	7 Creepy Hotels to Ensure a Happy Haunted Halloween	3 of America’s Most Haunted
5 Eerie Urban Legends of the Supernatural World	5 Eerie Urban Legends of the Natural World	6 Creepy Abandoned Hospitals and Insane Asylums	Spooky London Legend: Whitechapel’s Dead Body Train

In the spirit of Halloween, let’s discuss an eerie London tale that may or may not be an urban legend – we’re not really sure!  The documentary “Ghosts of the London Underground” (which I recently watched on a British Airways flight between the US and the UK) mentions a train that once rumbled through a tunnel connecting Whitechapel Tube station to the Royal London Hospital – a train with no passengers, or no live passengers at least.  It was known as the Dead Body Train, an ominous title that leaves little to the imagination.

(Image: Paul Hart, cc-3.0; used as illustration – this abandoned tunnel is not at Whitechapel)

According to London Underground folklore, the ghastly train operated during the early 1900s, running through a tunnel that is now bricked-up.  As Charles Dickens famously depicted decades earlier, Victorian and Edwardian London was rife with poverty and disease.  With full hospitals and overflowing morgues, the notion of a train transporting dead passengers away from the Royal London at least sounds plausible.

(Image: Harper’s Weekly, public domain)

Very little – beyond hearsay and ghost stories – exists online, but several forums do discuss the rumoured Dead Body Train.  District Dave’s London Underground Forum includes member discussions of a bricked-up tunnel mouth at Whitechapel station that – some had been told – led to the Royal London Hospital.  Members suggest, however, that it may have been a walking tunnel – many of which exist deep beneath London.

(Image: Bob Walker, cc-sa-3.0; Sunil060902, cc-sa-3.0)

Perhaps the most likely source of the story is the rumour that, years ago, empty rooms under the ticket hall at Whitechapel were used as a temporary morgue when the Royal London’s overcrowded mortuary couldn’t cope with the volume of bodies.  It’s unclear whether this tale is true, but together with independent witness reports of a bricked-up tunnel, perhaps there is some validity to the ghastly Dead Body Train after all.  And of course, as the former stomping ground of Jack the Ripper, Whitechapel’s history is an especially gruesome one.

Update: Ian Mansfield of London culture blog IanVisits delved deeper into the myth, and concludes that a Dead Body Train was unlikely for a variety of factors – read more.

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When New York businessman turned California settler Thomas Whaley built a house in Old Town San Diego, he had no idea that the Greek Revival residence would later be – allegedly – haunted by the ghosts of several generations of his own family.  Today, the ghoulish goings-on have cemented the Whaley House, built in 1857, as a California Historical Landmark and one of only two buildings in the state to be designated an official Haunted House by the US Commerce Department.

(Image: Wikipedia via San Diego History Center, public domain)

In addition to claims that the Whaley family remain in residence long after their deaths, the land that the Whaley House stands on was reportedly haunted before the building’s construction. Formerly the site of a gallows, the family allegedly heard heavy footsteps moving about the house, which they attributed to the ghost of James “Yankee Jim” Robinson who was hanged in 1852.

(Image: Wikipedia via dreadcentral.com, public domain)

Since then, four members of the Whaley family died in the house, including Thomas‘ widow Anna, and the couple’s fifth child, Violet, who committed suicide following her divorce from George T. Bertolacci. Visitors have reported seeing the ghost of Anna Whaley in the garden, while many people also claim to have seen Thomas Whaley’s spectre in the parlour.

(Image: ZakVTA, cc-nc-sa-3.0)

A young girl who matches the description of Marion Reynolds, the great grand-daughter of Thomas Whaley, who died from ingesting ant poison, is reported to grab the arms of visitors as they tour the house, while a spectral dog is occasionally seen by children. If you’re brave enough, the Whaley House Museum offers a paranormal tour every last weekend of the month, and was named the most haunted house in the United States by Travel Channel show America’s Most Haunted.

Rags to Ditches: Mysterious Celtic Clootie Wells

7 Creepy Hotels to Ensure a Happy Haunted Halloween

3 of America’s Most Haunted

5 Eerie Urban Legends of the Supernatural World

Simply put, an equinox occurs twice a year – spring and autumn – when the Sun crosses the plane of the Earth’s equator.  Derived from a Latin term meaning “equal night”, an equinox is not actually an entire day, but happens at two specific moments each year when the centre of the Sun is observed directly above a certain location on the Earth’s equator.  But science aside, in folklore equinoxes are mystical moments whose magical power still touches the Earth today.

(Image: Dna-webmaster, cc-sa-3.0)

While the meaning of the word is “equal (day and) night”, the translation is somewhat misleading.  Most locations on Earth count two identifiable days each year when the length of day and night are roughly 12 hours each, known as “equiluxes”.  Equinoxes, on the other hand, occur around March 20/21 and September 22/23 at specific moments in time.  But for the purpose of marking our calendars and, in some cases, dancing round fires, the vernal equinox falls on March 20.

(Image: Anatoly Terentiev, cc-sa-3.0)

The equinox is culturally significant in many countries across the world.  In Japan, for instance, Vernal Equinox Day (March) and Autumnal Equinox Day (September) are national holidays, spent visiting family graves and holding family reunions.  Meanwhile, in Iranian/Persian tradition, the Earth (symbolised by a fighting bull) and Sun (a lion) are considered equal in power on the  day of an equinox.

(Image: Steven Earnshaw, cc-3.0)

Traditional spring and autumn (harvest) festivals are celebrated on these days.  In ancient Britain, and into the present under the banner of Neopaganism, the celebrations of Ostara are held on the vernal equinox and Mabon on the autumnal.  Of eight Celtic festivals throughout the year, the vernal equinox is the forth, falling between Imbolc (above) and Beltane (below), linked to rebirth and fertility, and welcoming the spring after an arduous British winter.

(Image: Calum Hutchinson, cc-sa-3.0)

Megalithic stone circles are often associated with pagan rites.  While they remain cloaked in mystery – difficult to date precisely and of uncertain purpose – it is widely accepted that their builders had some understanding of the astronomical calendar, and the alignment of stone circles to the Sun and Moon signify great importance placed on the cycle of the seasons.

(Images: Alun Salt, cc-sa-3.0)

While Stonehenge is the most famous ring of standing stones, a stone circle stands on Harthill Moor in the Peak District of northern England near a curious rock formation known as Robin Hood’s Stride.  While the region abounds with stories of the famous outlaw, these rocks relate to Robin of the Greenwood, or the Green Man, a popular fertility symbol linked to the coming of spring.  From the nearby circle, named Nine Stones, the moon is seen to set between the two pillars of Robin Hood’s Stride at midsummer.

(Image: Richard Harrison, cc-sa-3.0)

While the science is fascinating – and complex – the equinoxes have becoming deeply ingrained symbols of rebirth and harvest that still perpetuate in many cultures to this day.  Closely associated with druids, Wicca and fertility rites in the British Isles and Atlantic fringe especially, the vernal equinox is a magical time which may lack much of its ancient significance, but nevertheless signals winter is over and summer is on the way.

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Rags to Ditches: Mysterious Celtic Clootie Wells

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Unhindered by the technological trappings of the modern world, an old Celtic tradition persists in the British Isles that transcends paganism and Christianity.  Almost always characterised by strips of cloth or rags hanging from the branches of trees, clootie wells remain places of pilgrimage reputedly bestowed with magical healing properties.

(Images: Richard Dorrell, cc-sa-3.0; Jim Champion, cc-sa-3.0)

In Scotland and Ireland, pieces of cloth (clooties) are dipped in the holy well or spring and then tied to a branch.  The offering is accompanied by a prayer to the spirit of the well – normally a saint, or a goddess or nature deity in pre-Christian times.  Frequented during healing rituals, or simply to honour the spirit, clootie wells are likely a continuation of the ancient Celtic tradition of leaving votive offerings in wells or pits.

(Image: Ronnie Leask, cc-sa-3.0)

The practice varies depending on local tradition.  At some wells, the affected part of one’s body is washed with a rag, which is then tied to a branch.  At others, the ritual may include circling the well a set number of times before offering a coin, pin or stone.  Votive offerings of rosaries, crosses and other religious symbols may also be hung from branches.

(Image: Jim Thomson, cc-sa-3.0)

Legend has it that the ailment is shed as the clootie gradually disintegrates over time.  Specific clooties also often represent the type of ailment that a sufferer seeks to be rid of.  For instance, an old rag may indicate an ailment, while a new, clean piece of cloth is used as an offering to the saint or other deity.

(Image: I Like, cc-nc-nd-3.0)

Most popular on saints’ days, or the old Gaelic festivals of Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain, clootie wells were popularised in Ian Rankin’s novel The Naming of the Dead, which featured the well at Munlochy on the Black Isle.  Such places exist throughout Scotland and Ireland, as well as the English county of Cornwall, an ancient and romantic landscape steeped in myth and legend.  A similar theme is explored in the Robin of Sherwood episode Lord of the Trees, where offerings are left to Herne the Hunter at a summer festival known as the Blessing.  (More on Robin Hood here.)

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In the mysterious world of abandoned cities, none are more iconic – or debated – than the lost city of Atlantis. Described by Plato in 360BC as an island lying in front of the Pillars of Hercules, thousands of years of searching historically found nothing despite promising archeological discoveries. But now, researchers claim to have located Atlantis in the wetlands of southern Spain, despite the feeling among many scholars that the city was nothing more than a Greek myth or fantastical urban legend.

(Image: lukzenth via Photobucket, Terms of use)

Using Plato’s writings as his starting point, Professor Richard Freund, from Hartford University in Connecticut, used deep-ground radar, digital mapping and satellite imagery to locate what he called “one of the largest and most ancient cities at the bottom of a huge marsh”, north of Cadiz in Spain’s Donaña National Park. The resulting documentary, Finding Atlantis, was screened by National Geographic in the U.S. on Sunday.

(Image: lukzenth via Photobucket, Terms of use)

Freund’s theory hinges on Plato’s assertion that Atlantis was destroyed by a “natural disaster”, believed to be a tsunami, in 9,000BC: “This is the power of tsunamis,” Freund told the Daily Telegraph. “It is so hard to understand that it can wipe out 60 miles inland, and that’s pretty much what we’re talking about.” Freund also claimed that refugees fleeing the tsunami established “memorial cities” in central Spain.

(Image: Athanasius Kircher, public domain)

The find – the latest among a surge of discoveries fueled by Atlantis-mania over the years – could be the most compelling evidence yet that the lost city really existed. But like many ground breaking archeological finds, controversy is never far away. The film’s claims were dismissed Monday as scientifically unreliable while Professor Freund was accused of sensationalising the work of a team of Spanish scientists led by anthropologist Juan Villarías-Robles. The Spanish team did, however, confirm what appeared to be a sunken city, with conclusions expected later this year.

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With recent renewed interest in our popular 2010 article featuring eerie urban legends of the natural world, we thought a follow-on would be appropriate, and that urban legends of the “supernatural world” was the perfect counterpart.  So here it is – a selection of chilling tales told and retold around campfires and at parties across the world, from the mischievous Spring Heeled Jack to the bone chilling Bloody Mary.

Spring Heeled Jack

(Images: 1, 2, 3, 4; public domain)

English folklore is rich in tales of fairies and other supernatural phenomena, which probably helped fuel the Victorian superstition of Spring Heeled Jack.  Tall and thin, with fiery red eyes, a black cloak and demonic appearance, Spring Heeled Jack was first reported in 1837 and sightings soon occured all over England, from London to Sheffield and Liverpool, and later Scotland.  Known for his ability to make incredible leaps and evade capture, the frightful entity soon became the subject of contemporary fiction and, with his nature and identity never revealed, has become a well-known urban legend.

(Images: 1, 2, 3; public domain)

Press reports helped fuel mass hysteria throughout the late 19th century, and though fewer, sightings of Spring Heeled Jack continued into the 20th century, with similar apparitions reported in Prague and Texas.  Paranormal theories linked Spring Heeled Jack to ghosts, demons and even extraterrestrials.  But his reputation as more mischievous than malicious led sceptics to label his antics the work of a prankster, or lineage of pranksters.  One suspect was a young Irish nobleman, Henry Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford.  But in a world where nothing is certain, Spring Heeled Jack lives on in the shadows of urban legend.

The Highgate Vampire

(Image: F.W. Murnau, public domain)

In the world of supernatural urban legends, they don’t come much more bizarre than the tale of The Highgate Vampire, which purportedly haunted London’s Highgate Cemetery in the early 1970s.  Abandoned and overgrown cemeteries are strange and evocative places at the best of times, but Highgate seemingly captured the over-active imaginations of several young people including Seán Manchester and David Farrant.

(Images: Anders B., cc-3.0)

In December 1969 David Farrant appealed for witnesses after sighting “a grey figure” in Highgate Cemetery.  Several locals responded, but few sightings had any common traits.  Nevertheless, when Seán Manchester told the Hampstead and Highgate Express that “a King Vampire of the Undead” was buried in the cemetery in the early 18th century, the grey figure morphed into The Highgate Vampire and an urban legend was born.

(Images: Michael Reeve, cc-sa-3.0 ; JohnArmagh)

Manchester claimed the vampire had been summoned by Satanists, and that its body should be staked, beheaded and burned – standard practice for disposing of vampires, but somewhat illegal nowadays.  Rivalry between Farrant and Manchester reached its zenith by 1970 and on Friday 13th March, an “official” vampire hunt saw a mob descend on the Highgate despite police efforts to stop them.  After this strange spectacle, things became even more bizarre, and Farrant – who, according to his website, always opposed the vampire interpretation of Highgate’s supernatural happenings – was arrested in August 1970 allegedly in possession of a crucifix and wooden stake.

(Image: David Henry Friston, public domain)

Manchester went even further, and in an apparent case of legend tripping placed garlic and holy water in a catacomb that he claimed he was led to by a sleepwalking girl.  He also planned to drive a stake into one body but was dissuaded by a companion.  The bizarre activities of David Farrant and Seán Manchester have cemented The Highgate Vampire’s place in local folklore while fostering a modern urban legend in the process.  Highgate Cemetery is clearly a dangerous place to be a dead body, and visitors from outside the grave seem to be more troublesome than those from beyond.

Bloody Mary

(Image: Youtube via GrinningManPictures, viewer discretion is advised)

Clearly one of the more disturbing urban legends to form around the supernatural, Bloody Mary has many variations, most of which involve chanting her name three to one hundred times while gazing into a mirror.  Often conducted in a darkened room at midnight, participants in this eerie “game” commonly chant “Bloody Mary” thirteen times, after which the the ghost appears behind them and in some versions of the tale, murders them brutally or pulls them into the mirror.  In other versions, summoners chant “Bloody Mary” to invoke the ghost and a deceased person of their choice, with whom they can speak until 12:08am.

(Image: author unknown, public domain)

While Bloody Mary’s true identity remains a mystery, she has been linked to a variety of individuals from a suicidal mother wrongly accused of killing her children to Mary Worth, a name allegedly derived from a victim of the Salem witch trials, and even Queen Mary I, who suffered a number of miscarriages and was known as Bloody Mary for executing countless heretics.  The legend is said to date back to the 1960s, with names borrowed from historical characters or confused over time.  A staple campfire ghost story, the tale often changes depending on who is telling it and has become a modern urban legend.

St. Mark’s Eve

(Image: Xerones, cc-nc-3.0)

Immortalised in the poem by John Keats, St. Mark’s Eve falls on April 24th, the day before the feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist.  The day was shrouded in superstition throughout rural England from the 17th to the late 19th centuries, when it was customary to sit in the porch of the village church for three hours from 11pm on St. Mark’s Eve to 1am the following day, for three successive years or sometimes nights.  On the third sitting, the watcher would observe the ghosts of those doomed to die throughout the coming year passing into the church.

(Image: Olga Pavlovsky, cc-3.0)

Most common in northern and western counties of England, the superstition held that the ghosts of those to die soon would enter the church first, with those destined to survive most of the year not passing through until close to 1am.  Other variations of the legend were even more ominous.  Some said the watchers would see headless or rotting corpses, or approaching coffins.  In North Yorkshire, where the legend was at its most unshakable, folk believed that if the watchers fell asleep while observing the ghostly precession, they too would die in the coming year.

Doppelgängers

(Image: Rana X, cc-nc-nd-3.0)

Urban legend or scientific phenomenon?  A doppelgänger is said to be the ghost or double of oneself, usually considered an omen of bad luck, evil or even death.  Ghostly doubles and look-alikes have been woven into the fabric of folklore from the Ancient Egyptians to Norse mythology, but modern occurances and the tale’s perfect suitability to campfire storytelling have made it one of the scariest urban legends.  The sight of your own doppelgänger is said to be an omen of death, while a doppelgänger seen by a person’s friends or family is considered a sinister warning of impending doom.

(Images: Rana X, cc-nc-nd-3.0)

Doppelgängers were reportedly observed by Percy Bysshe Shelley and Abraham Lincoln, while patients at a Bombay hospital claimed to see Indian mystic Osho on several occasions, despite his presence elsewhere.  Even today, some people report sensing or even seeing themselves in their peripheral vision where there was no chance of a reflection.  It sounds like the perfect urban legend, but a 2006 study reported in Nature unexpectly reproduced similar effects in a patient suffering from epilepsy.  On several occasions, when electrical stimulation was applied to the left temporoparietal junction of the patient’s brain, she felt the presence of a person located immediately behind her with body posture identical to her own.

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As beautiful and majestic as the natural world is, there’s definitely something to be said about not living in the age of dinosaurs.  Can you imagine going about your daily routine with these prehistoric monsters gliding above the urban landscape?  Until recently, theories held that giant pterosaurs were too big and heavy to get off the ground, but two scientists may now have cracked the mystery of how the massive reptiles were able to launch themselves into the air and fly for thousands of miles across continents.

(Images: Witton MP, Naish D, cc-3.0; H. Zell, cc-SA-3.0)

Palaeontologists Dr Mark Witton from the University of Portsmouth, UK and Dr Michael Habib from Chatham University in Pittsburgh, United States, suggest the giraffe-sized reptiles achieved flight by using the powerful muscles of their legs and arms to push off from the ground, effectively pole-vaulting over their wings, unlike most birds which take off by running and jumping while flapping their wings wildly.

(Images: Ghedoghedo, cc-sa-3.0; Piotrus, cc-sa.3.0)

Scientists have puzzled over the mystery of pterosaur flight for decades, and recent proposals suggested the massive reptiles simply remained on the ground.  Part of the problem, it seems, has been comparing their launch abilities to birds, which have a completely different anatomical structure.  Speaking to the Telegraph, Dr Witton said the bird analogy can be stretched too far when examining pterosaurs.

(Image: Arthur Weasley, cc-3.0)

“These creatures were not birds, they were flying reptiles with a distinctly different skeletal structure, wing proportions and muscle mass”, he said.  “They would have achieved flight in a completely different way to birds and would have had a lower angle of take off and initial flight trajectory.  The anatomy of these creatures is unique.”

(Image: Matt Martyniuk, cc-3.0)

Using fossilised remains, Drs Witton and Habib argued that giant pterosaurs were most likely around five metres tall with a 10 meter wingspan and up to 50kg of forelimb muscle, accounting for 20% of the reptile’s total mass and providing tremendous power and lift.

(Image: ДиБгд, public domain)

They concluded that not only could pterosaurs fly, they were also extremely good at it, remaining on the wing for long periods of time and crossing continents with ease.  It’s a fascinating revelation in the latest chapter of this prehistoric flying reptile, which died out 65 million years ago along with the dinosaur.

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We’ve all heard those bizarre stories that always happen to a friend of a friend and appear in various forms over the years, gradually becoming ingraining into the annals of urban legend.  But in this context, “urban” doesn’t have to relate to built-up areas.  Here are five tales of the natural world that may have mundane origins, but have been extrapolated over time and now find themselves enshrined in urban myth.

Big Cats of Britain

(Images by Ian Carroll, CC-2.0; and Babirusa, CC-SA-3.0)

Britain’s “Big Cats” have been seen by many, proven by none, and continue to terrorise the countryside by reputation if not physical presence (apart from the occasional mutilated sheep).  As such, they’ve become the perfect urban legend, existing somewhere between mundane fact and fanciful fiction.  Sightings, which date back to the eighteenth century, were popularised in the 1950s when rumours of the Surrey Puma fuelled national hysteria.

(Images by Liza Phoenix, CC-3.0; and Man vyi, public domain)

Since then, the Beast of Bodmin and Beast of Exmoor have surfaced, likened to pumas, cougars or black leopards, but never positively identified.  Some say they’re rooted in the supernatural tale of the spectral Black Dog, a horrifying beast that, according to folklore, appeared on remote moorland and inspired the Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles.  The theory goes that Black Cats are merely a continuation of this myth, albeit without the supernatural element.

(Image by Ian Carroll, CC-2.0)

But despite reports discounted as hoaxes, big cats were freely kept in Britain before being outlawed by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 1976, when some were simply let loose.  Skeptics say the climate and low numbers could not sustain a breeding population, but video evidence (including footage captured by police) might suggest otherwise.

(Images by Ron Singer, Lizars (both public domain), Cburnett and Andreas Tille, both CC-SA-3.0)

In 1991 a Eurasia Lynx was shot after allegedly killing around 15 sheep in two weeks.  The story wasn’t reported until 2003 and was branded a hoax.  But a 2006 police report confirmed the case, revealing another Eurasian lynx and puma had been captured alive.  It’s unclear whether these cats were recent escapees or had managed to survive on the moors undetected for years… Could there be more?

The Legend of the Albatross

(Images by Chris Pearson, CC-2.0; and Gustav Dore, public domain)

Seafaring folk are known to be highly superstitious, and who can blame them, with thousands of miles of open ocean and stormy weather to contend against – hence the fisherman’s chapel near old harbours.  Superstition and urban myth collide with the albatross, once described as “the most legendary of all birds” and central to Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner.  In the poem, the Mariner’s changing fortunes, and ultimately his curse, are attributed to him shooting the albatross.

(Image via Jornal “O Panorama”, public domain)

The poem helped perpetuate the myth among sailors that killing an albatross was disastrous, and the birds were even regarded as the souls of those lost at sea.  In modern terminology, “albatross around their neck” came to mean an obstacle or burden.  But in reality, sailors regularly killed and ate albatross while visiting the land of mist and snow, and the Maori carved ceremonial tattoos with its wing bones.

Sewergate: Alligators of the New York Sewers

(Images by Annie Mole and James, cc-2.0)

The legend goes that wealthy New Yorkers brought alligators back from their Florida vacations, and flushed them down the toilet when they got too big for comfort.  Nobody knows quite when this happened, but the 1920s and ’30s are considered to be the time.  Subterranean New York is now – apparently – alive with huge alligators, feasting on rats and rubbish, and scaring the bejesus out of sewer workers.  Of course, none have been caught, and weeks of hunting after alleged sightings have revealed nothing.

(Image by Dominic Alves; CC-2.0)

Experts claim – logically one would think – that city sewers are not ideal environments for big reptiles, which would stuggle to reproduce.  But in his book “The World Beneath the City”, Robert Daley included a chapter “Alligators in the Sewers“, based on his interviews with Teddy May, New York’s Commissioner of Sewers for thirty years.  May even claimed to have seen a 10-foot alligator himself, and recounts the story of a worker who was horrified to see an albino alligator swimming towards him.  Weeks of hunting turned up nothing, but the “Sewergate” legend is still as popular as ever.

The Black Dog of the Hanging Hills

(Image by 2112guy, public domain; inset by Liza Phoenix, CC-3.0)

We’ve already mentioned the spectral Black Dog of British folklore, but we’ll bring it up again since it seems to have manifested in America too, this time in the Hanging Hills of Connecticut.  In fact, this beast appears so many times and in so many forms, with the central theme of misfortune to whoever spots it, that it’s become something of an urban legend – or rural legend if you like.  But this hound from hell has a twist in its unwagging tail.

(Images by Connecticut Quarterly and Wilhelm von Gloeden, public domain)

Unlike the terrifying Black Dog of remote Britain, the Hanging Hills dog is a small one with a reportedly gregarious nature, despite making no sound or footprints.  To see it once results in joy, while a second time brings misfortune.  A third sighting is considered an omen of death, and at least six fatalities have been blamed on the dog, reports of which perpetuate to this day.  The fact that mountains can be hazardous places in their own right appears to have been discounted.

The Longdendale Lights

(Image via NOAA, public domain)

“Ghost lights” are another widely reported phenomenon.  They share similar characteristics despite their origins, appearing out of nowhere and proving unreachable to anyone who tries to pursue them.  Sightings accompany tales of the paranormal, and are often described as bright, pulsating balls of light.  One well known tale is that of the Longdendale Lights, haunting the bleak gritstone moorland of Derbyshire, northern England.

(Image by Magic Foundry, CC-2.0)

Dating back decades, perhaps even centuries, several people have gone on record about their experience of the Longdendale Lights, but reports are sporadic and often unsubstantiated.  Locals talk in whispers about the phenomenon, known to some as the Devil’s Bonfires, but often avoid the issue.  Reports range from an eerie glow illuminating the whole valley to ghostly Roman soldiers.  Locals reluctant to talk, unconfirmed sightings and – like the Black Dog – similar reports elsewhere, have helped cement the Longdendale Lights in the annals of urban legend, at least locally.  But could they be “earthquake lights“, as scientists have recently posited?

Find more strange stories in our Legend category.

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With Halloween behind us for another year, and the ghouls safely back in the box, why not grab a cheap uncarved pumpkin and create your own intricate Jack O’Lantern?  For inspiration, look no further than the work of artist Ray Villafane, who carves horrific faces into our favourite scary squash.

Drawing on his experience creating models for DC and Marvel comics, Ray sculpts twisted faces to thrill Halloween tricksters and gothic horror fans alike.  Based in Bellaire, rural Michigan, his pumpkins – which include the Predator and President Obama – have become an internet sensation and appeared on American prime time television.

Using clay tools, Ray said most pumpkins take a couple of hours to carve.  But the “Zipperhead” model, his most intricate carving to date, took the best part of a day.  Speaking to the Telegraph, he pointed out that the quality of pumpkin was important: “The most important thing about a pumpkin is its weight,” said Ray.  “You need to pick the meatiest pumpkin.”

He added: “I also like a pumpkin with character. One with knobbly ridges is good, so that I can utilise that in the carving procedure, like with sculpting noses.”  Ray has been passionate about sculpting since his days as an art teacher at a Michigan school.  He approached his first pumpkin as a lump of clay rather than a vegetable and was satisfied with the results.  Most of all, his pupils loved it.

“For the past couple of years I have been really sitting down and giving my Halloween pumpkin designs more thought than usual due to the increased interest in my carvings,” said Ray. “Now that the thing has grown in popularity, I am definitely feeling the pressure to deliver on the pumpkin front.”

Images courtesy of Ray Villafane, reproduced with his permission.  Want to see Ray at work?  Check out his pumpkin carving tutorial here.

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Fancy spending Halloween night in a haunted hotel?  If so, here are seven to thrill and frighten.  And with such classy establishments, who can blame the spirits for returning to their “old haunts” and refusing to move on?  With so many haunted places out there, and so many articles claiming to feature “the most haunted“, we’ve adapted this tried-and-tested list (compiled by Forbes in 2002) to ensure maximum results this All Hallows Eve.  Want more?  Check out last year’s feature on Three of America’s Most Haunted Places.

Castle Stuart, Scotland

(Image by Dave Conner; licensed under CC-2.0)

This traditional seventeenth century castle near Inverness is supposedly haunted by four ghosts. Spooky happenings have been reported for centuries, and the Stuart family maintains the east tower is the most haunted area. Carpenters have fallen off ladders, furniture has been overturned and bloodcurdling yells have been heard in the night. Of course, Castle Stuart is on the Whisky Trail, which could also account for the strong spirits.

Bran Castle, Romania

(Images by Horia Varlan, Cristian Bortes and jtriefen; licensed under CC-2.0)

Modern marketing in the post-communist era would have you believe Dracula, aka Vlad the Impaler, lived in every castle in Romania. And this bloodthirsty pursuit of tourism branded Bran Castle in Transylvania as the infamous Count’s real residence. His actual home lies in ruins, although he did spend several days at haunted Bran Castle. Guests on the annual Dracula Tour visit Bran Castle before spending the night at a castle in Borgo Pass. No points for guessing what that one’s called…

Langham Hilton, London

(Image by The Langham, London; licensed under CC-SA-3.0)

London’s Langham Hilton, built in 1865, was once owned by the BBC. Old school journalists have never been averse to a drink or several, which may have helped fuel reports of ghosts dressed in Victorian clothes and, stranger still, a German soldier. Some even claim that Napoleon III haunts the cellar, while Room 333 is supposedly the most “active” room at the Langham.

Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Canada

(Images by HordeFTL and William J. Oliver; in public domain)

Room service can be expensive, but when it keeps coming back it’s value for money. That’s assuming whoever knocks on your door is there when you open it… Staff and guests at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, Canada, claim to have seen a bellman in 1960s attire. Interestingly, a former employee – Sam the bellman – retired in 1967 and said he’d be back. He died a few years later and, depending on what you believe, apparently kept his word.

The Queen Mary, Long Beach, United States

(Images by Hotel Queen Mary and Florian Boyd (right, left), ; licensed under CC-SA-2.0)

The Queen Mary is the last of the grand liners, at least above the water line. Permanently docked in Long Beach, California, the British ship has been converted into a floating hotel that capitalizes on its haunted quarters through daily ghost tours. Screams are common, while the Art Deco swimming pool is a hotspot of paranormal activity, with guests reporting mysterious wet footprints and women dressed in vintage bathing suits. Knocking sounds have also been reported. Room service anyone?

Castle Leslie, Ireland

(Image by Luke Leslie, public domain)

This castle has been in the Leslie family for over 300 years, and according to reports, many family members have never left, despite the minor inconvenience of their deaths. Long-dead aunts and uncles have been spotted about the house and a ghostly dog named Punch reportedly wanders the grounds.

Stanley Hotel and Conference Center, United States

(Images by Hustvedt (CC-SA-3.0), Jason Smith (left, right); public domain)

The Stanley Hotel and Conference Center in Colorado inspired Stephen King to pen his classic, The Shining, after a visit with his wife. Jack Nicholson never really stalked this hotel, although it did make a cameo in the made-for-TV version. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t haunted. The eponymous spectre is Flora Stanley herself, who allegedly plays the piano late into the night. And what of the infamous Room 237? You won’t find it here. It existed on a London sound stage, although the Timberline Lodge in Oregon, where some external shots were captured, did request the room number be changed from 217 to 237, so as not to scare away potential hotel guests from Room 217.

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Image by R Pigott

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The North of England is a wild and windswept region, tempered by the relative civility of Roman occupation and forged thereafter by centuries of bloodshed.  From Viking raiders to the Norman Conquest and the Border Wars to the Victorians, history and folklore are intricately woven within the fabric of this rugged region.

Peak District, Derbyshire

Images by R Pigott

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The upland area known as the Peak District lies mainly in northern Derbyshire and is comprised of two parts: The Dark Peak – wild gritstone moorland and peaks supporting little more than heather; and the White Peak – limestone valleys and rolling hills where most inhabitants live in the Peak District’s picturesque villages and market towns.

Images by Magic Foundry

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Its location between Manchester and Sheffield makes access easy, contributing to its popularity.  An estimated 22 million visitors each year make the Peak District the second most visited national park in the world, after Mount Fuji, Japan.  Chatsworth House, home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and setting for Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, is just one of hundreds of tourist attractions in the region.  One of the few blights on the landscape is the Castleton cement works (above, right), with quarrying and cement a major component of the local economy.

Image by Alun Salt

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In addition to castles, quaint villages and grand stately homes, the remains of ancient man punctuate the landscape.  Numerous stone circles like Nine Stones on Harthill Moor (above) stand amid heather on the more wild expanses of the landscape, reminding us of the Peak District’s Bronze Age heritage, and making medieval fortresses seem almost modern by comparison.

Lake District, Cumbria

Mendhak

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Cumbria’s rugged Lake District is an ancient landscape, teeming with tourists and popularised by the romantic poets of the 19th century.  This is a mysterious place where, cliched as it may sound, Wordsworth’s voice can almost be heard on the wind that swirls around the fells.  Despite the outstanding beauty of “The Lakes”, the abandoned slate mine at Coniston (above) reflects an industry that was once vital to the local economy.

Image by Theregsy

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As the name suggests, the eponymous Lake District boasts numerous lakes which are the longest and deepest in England.  Similarly, most of England’s mountains are found here (including all land higher than 3,000 feet), such as Scafell Pike, the country’s highest peak.  The picture above shows the west end of Ennerdale Water, with Anglers Crag on the right and Bowness Knott on the Left.

Images by alancleaver_2000

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Above, dark clouds brood over Great Gable, while boats on Derwent Water reflect the Autumn glow.  Historic steam trains are one of the main attractions on the Settle-Carlisle Railway, while the legacy of the ancient Britons lives on in numerous standing stones, such as Kinniside stone circle.

Image by Caza_No_7

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The landscape above could almost depict Middle Earth from The Lord of the Rings, and captures dramatically everything that is moody and mysterious about England’s north.  The mountains may not be as high as the Alps or the Rockies, but the wild crags and fells, tempered by man’s attempts to make his home amid the arduous terrain over thousands of years, make the Lake District – Britain’s largest national park – an ideal destination for overseas tourists as well as Brits who want to get away from it all at the weekend.

Images by Caza_No_7

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The high fells and lake-filled valleys afford spectacular views across Cumbria, while converted 16th century barns and farm houses provide the perfect base for those who want to get out in all kinds of weather.  From these vantage points, it’s easy to understand how superstition and myth gathered pace throughout antiquity and still cling to life, just about, in the digital era in which we now live.  Cable TV and wireless internet may have reached Cumbria, but the ghosts, fairies and will-’o-the-wisps haven’t yet melted into the mountain air.

Yorkshire

Image by Foto43

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Yorkshire is England’s largest and in many ways most diverse county.  From industrial South Yorkshire to the West Yorkshire Dales and the stunning North Yorkshire Moors, “God’s Own County” was home to Celtic Brigantes tribes before witnessing Roman occupation.  It went forth to lose the Wars of the Roses, launch world-famous explorer Captain James Cook to distant lands, and invent Sheffield Plate (silver-plated copper) and stainless steel.  To top it off, the very locally celebrated Yorkshire Day falls on August 1st.

Image by dbtelford

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Surrounding the industrial cities of Leeds and Sheffield, and the tourist city of York (once the capital of the North), is breathtaking scenery which reaches its zenith in two national parks – the Yorkshire Dales and the North Yorkshire Moors.  Wharfedale in West Yorkshire (above) is an example of a genteel river valley, while stately homes like Cusworth Hall stand on grand, centuries-old estates all over the county.

Images by Phil W Shirley

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The stunning ruins of Whitby Abbey stand on a stormy headland above the North Sea.  The Benedictine priory was founded in 657 AD and reflects the early Christian influence along the Yorkshire coast.  Like so many of its contemporaries, Whitby Abbey was abandoned after a Viking raid in 867 AD.  Almost 800 years later, not far from Whitby, a farm labourer’s son called James Cook would apprentice with a local grocer, and thereafter find the sea legs that would help him discover much of the known world.  

Images by Foto43

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An original apothecary shop in Haworth may have been visited by Emily and Charlotte Bronte (author of Jane Eyre), who lived in the town – their father was vicar of the parish church, shown above.  A war memorial stands in the town of Conisborough, in front of of the 11th century fortress Conisborough Castle, one of the best preserved motte and bailey castles in Europe.  The Old Red Lion is one of Leeds’ last remaining inns, having survived much inner city redevelopment.  Less fortunate were the Tinsley cooling towers (demolished 2008), a Sheffield landmark, not least due to their appearance in The Full Monty.

Images by Paul Stevenson

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Like its towns and cities, Yorkshire’s landscape is wonderfully diverse, from rolling pastures to the rugged Malham Tarn (above), where cattle roam and sheep graze the upland moors, and counting on the weather to behave itself is likely to scupper most unprepared forays into the great outdoors.

Northumberland

Images by alancleaver_2000

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As far as landscapes go, Northumberland is as diverse as the northern counties mentioned above, while also enjoying the reputation of being England’s best kept secret.  With a stunning coastline to the east giving way to corn fields and rolling river valleys, the landscape rises as it heads north to meet Scotland, culminating in the wild and mysterious border region – a repository of myth and legend and the scene of years of fighting between English and Scots.  The photos above show one of Northumberland’s most enduring scenes – Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island, where Christianity first flourished in the North of England.

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The mighty fortress of Bamburgh Castle, built around the time of the Norman invasion of 1066, is a magnificent sight overlooking the chilly North Sea.  Located on a commanding and somewhat intimidating basalt outcrop, castles surely don’t come any more impressive than this.

Images by Wilka

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But for all the elegant stately homes, castles, quaint villages and market towns, the most enduring images of the north country are most often the angry skies, rolling moorland and ruined medieval buildings.  The storm rolling in over the Northumberland border country, with its hundreds of abandoned, centuries-old farm houses and barns, paints the ultimate picture of England’s rural north.

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Image by Janne Karaste

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Midsummer has long been a time when myth and reality converge, when deities dance in woodlands and fiery festivities mark the advent of Midsummer’s Day.  Primarily a European tradition, different countries have their own unique and often colourful take on this festival.

Images by: Edward Robert Hughes (left); Robert Calef (top right); Edwin Austin Abbey (right lower); Andrew Dunn (bottom)

(Images 1, 2, 3: public domain.   Lower image: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)

While the Summer Solstice falls on June 21st, celebrations often occur on Midsummer’s Day (June 24th) – the solstice during Roman times and considered the middle of summertime.  Midsummer’s Eve (June 23) has long been connected to magical beings such as fairies (popularised in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), while stone circles are said to come alive with ancient folk who melt away into the dawn of Midsummer’s Day.  Originally a pagan holiday, Christianity labelled June 24th as the feast of John the Baptist.  The resulting celebrations are often an odd cocktail of Christianity and paganism, dedicated to John through the use of very pre-Christian rites and imagery.

Jāņi, Latvia

Images by Xil (top left); Philaweb (lower left); slideshow bob (right)

(Image 1: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported; image 2: public domain; image 3: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)

When it comes to Midsummer the Latvians sure know how to party!  Known as Jāņi (meaning John), the festival is celebrated on a large scale by almost everyone in Latvia and people of Latvian origin abroad.  People eat, drink and get merry via traditional Jāņu cheese, guzzling beer and singing traditional folk songs.  Latvians also keep a bonfire burning all night and jump over it, wearing wreaths of flowers (women) and leaves (men) – fire and beer… a good combination?  Even cars make an effort, adorned with oak branches and leaves during Jāņi.

Noc Świętojańska, Poland

Image by Magic Madzik

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Midsummer in Poland tends to be celebrated on Midsummer’s Eve (June 23).  Known as Noc Świętojańska (St John’s Night), festivities begin around 8pm and locals dance ’til dawn.  Polka dress is the traditional garb with flower wreaths thrown into the Baltic Sea, lakes and rivers.  Organised events abound in big Polish cities, with Wianki (meaning wreaths) a traditional favourite in Kraków (above).

juhannus, Finland

Images by Pekka Vainio

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Midsummer was called Ukon juhla, after the Finnish god Ukko, before 1316.  Bonfires burned side by side, the biggest known as the “bonfire of Ukko”.  When Christianity came, Midsummer was renamed juhannus after John the Baptist.  The holiday has been held on a Saturday since 1955, and many workplaces are required to close at noon.  Bonfires commonly burn at lakesides, while two young birch trees (koivu) sit at the sides of front doors to welcome visitors.  Swedish-speaking Finns often celebrate by erecting a midsummer or maypole.  The midnight sun is also an important feature of Midsummer. Finland’s location at the Arctic Circle means nights close to Midsummer Day’s are short or non-existent, contrasting with the darkness of winter.

Chester Midsummer Watch Festival, England

Left image from Book of Days by Robert Chamber; right by Stan160

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Midsummer’s Eve in Britain has commonly been a time of fairies and other outlandish beings, which never sat well with the Christian elite.  But other midsummer festivities – even those based on biblical events, such as the Chester Mystery Plays – were unpopular with the Reformed establishment due to their roots in Catholicism, and were duly banned.  The Chester Midsummer Watch Parade, beginning in 1498, were held every Summer Solstice when the mystery plays were not performed.  Key characters in the parade included giants and unicorns, which was banned with costumes destroyed by 1675.  Today though, the plays are back, and have enjoyed a healthy rejuvenation.

Golowan, Cornwall, England

Image by Talskiddy

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Traditional Midsummer bonfires are still burn on high hills in Cornwall, such as Carn Brea and Castle an Dinas, St. Columb Major. The Old Cornwall Society revived the tradition in the early 20th century. Bonfires in Cornwall were once common as part of Golowan, now celebrated at Penzance. The week long festival normally starts on the Friday nearest St John’s Day, and culminates in Mazey Day – a revival of the Feast of St John (Gol-Jowan) with fireworks and bonfires.

Midsummer Carnivals, Ireland

Image by Robert Charles Hope

(Image in public domain)

Many towns and cities in Ireland have Midsummer Carnivals with fairs, concerts and fireworks.  Festivities are usually held on Midsummer’s Day or the nearest weekend – a good idea considering that Irish propensity to make merry!  In rural places, bonfires are occasionally lit on hilltops, similar to Cornwall.  This tradition has its roots in pagan times, with traditional offerings traditionally made in County Limerick to deities connected to Midsummer, like Áine.

Ivan’s Day, Russia and Ukraine

Painting by Henryk Siemiradzki

(Image in public domain)

The Russian Midsummer Night is known as Ivan’s Day (Ivan Kupala being the old Russian name for John the Baptist), and is one of the most flamboyant folk holidays in Russia and Ukraine.  It is a pagan fertility rite that has been accepted into the Orthodox Christian calendar.  Midsummer rites are often connected to water, with girls floating flower garlands in rivers and telling their fortunes from their movement.  Skinny dipping is common, as is jumping over bonfires.  Some practises once driven out by the Russian Empire, Russian Orthodox Church and latterly the Communist Party have since been encouraged.

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Image by Andrew Dunn

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An eclectic mix of druids, hippies and sun worshippers gathered at Stonehenge this morning to watch dawn break on the longest day of the year.

Left image by Nordisk familjebok; right image by Mschlindwein

(Left image in public domain; right image license: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Revellers cheered at 4:52am as the sun rose over the ancient stone circle on Salisbury Plain, in the English county of Wiltshire.  In past years spirits have been dampened by the unpredicatable British weather, but the 2010 Summer Solstice saw the crowd treated to clear views of the sunrise.

Image by Frédéric Vincent

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20,000 people gathered at Stonehenge – an impressive number despite a marked reduction from last year’s record of 36,500, which probably came as a relief to police (who only made 15 arrests!) and those tasked with the preservation of the stones themselves.

Images by Andrew Dunn

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Last week it was announced that £10 million funding for a new visitor centre at the prehistoric monument had been axed in the light of Britain’s fragile economic state.  Even so, it’s unlikely to diminish Stonehenge’s popularity with tourists, druids, hippies and pagans from around the world.

Painting by John Constable (Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

(Image available in public domain)

Stonehenge is more than just a prehistoric monument built and reveered by ancient man before being revitalised by a group of modern day pagans and those who enjoy staying up all night.  The enigmatic stones have been part of the fabric of local folklore for millenia.  In the last several hundred years, Stonehenge has appealed to countless landscape artists who’ve all sort to capture its solitary beauty in their own unique ways.  John Constable’s painting above captures the monument in all its mysterious glory, bathed in sunlight as a storm brews above Salisbury Plain.

Watch the celebrations on the Telegraph website, and click here for more great photos by Andrew Dunn.

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Image by Ennor

Our oceans abound with myth and legend, some of them mainstream and others obscure.  But if there is one thing that can be said with any certainty, it is that mariners throughout the ages have been highly superstitious, and often very religious, types.  Here we take a look at a selection of fisherman’s chapels where mariners would pray before venturing out on the ocean waves.

Images by Gustave Doré

Gustave Doré’s depiction of events unfolding in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner shows nautical folk at their most superstitious – and apparently with good reason!  On the right, the Ancient Mariner (looking quite young at this stage of the poem) clings to the mast in the midst of a storm.  On the left, a fearful crew backs away from the albatross, and ultimately change their view of the bird depending on the weather.

Images by Ennor

Little wonder then that so many of them prayed – and continue to pray – before leaving the harbour.  The ancient chapel of St Nicholas (above) is arguably the quintessential fisherman’s chapel – so much so that it is dedicated, appropriately, to the patron saint of fishermen himself.  Its build date is uncertain although there has been a chapel on the site since the 15th century.  Partially destroyed by the War Office in 1904, it was restored in 1911 by Sir Edward Hain for the coronation of King George V.  The chapel of St Nicholas stands on a lonely headland overlooking the old fishing town of St Ives, Cornwall.

Image by Humphrey Bolton

Nestling beneath a narrow lane leading down to Tenby’s beach is St Julian’s Chapel.  Built in 1873, this fisherman’s chapel is ideally located on the sand, allowing anxious fishermen a last minute prayer opportunity before venturing out into the inhospitable British waters.

Image by Andy F

St Leonard’s is a tiny fisherman’s chapel on Smeatons Pier in St Ives.  Smaller and more austere than nearby St Nicholas’ chapel, its construction date is uncertain although records show repairs carried out as long ago as 1577.  A large bronze plaque records the names of all the St Ives fishermen lost at sea.  St Leonard’s Chapel was restored in 1971 and houses a museum and memorial dedicated to the fishermen of old St Ives.

Image by R P Marks

The Mariners’ Chapel located within the Gloucester Docks was built in 1849 during a time of localised missionary zeal.  A sea captain had complained of a lack of spiritual comforts onboard ship, and the cause was taken up by several local businessmen trading with the Docks.  The Mariners’ Chapel remains in use to this day, with a loyal congregation.  It also capitalises on tourists visiting the Docks.  And while many of the old fishermen may have gone, nearby warehouses have been converted into homes, bringing new faces into the longstanding congregation.

Images by Man vyi

The Fisherman’s Chapel is the official name of a small chapel adjacent to St Brelade’s Church in Jersey, at the western end of St Brelade’s Bay.  It is one of the few remaining monastic chapels on the Channel Islands, most of which were destroyed by the 16th century Reformers.

Images by killerstraw.geo

The Fisherman’s Chapel appears far more ancient than the parish church of St Brelade’s, although it is actually more modern.  That said, a painting of The Annunciation discovered beneath the plaster dates to about 1310-1315 A.D, so “modern” is perhaps the wrong word!  Other Medieval depictions include the Resurrection and the Last Judgement, a painted rendition King Herod and an image called “The Scourging of Christ”. The 1980s saw the floor restored to its original Medieval level, which had been raised up in recent years, giving the Fisherman’s Chapel a somwhat squat appearance prior to refurbishment.

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Image via Hendrickson

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There is nothing more fascinating in the aviation world than the “black projects” – aircraft programs that are so secret that even those with the highest security clearance may have no idea they exist.  But occasionally the veil of secrecy is accidentally lifted – or projects are declassified – offering a fleeting glimpse into this shadowy world.  Here we take to the air with six different planes – some now released into the public domain, others still highly classified or even non-existent.

TR-3A Black Manta

Images by Adrian Mann

Allegedly active during the 1980s and ’90s, little is known of the TR-3A Black Manta beyond rumour and hearsay.  Popularly embraced as a subsonic stealth aircraft manufactured by Northrop Grumman (famed for its “flying wing” designs), the TR-3A was rumoured to have been used in the Gulf War in conjunction with F-117A stealth fighters, but little evidence exists to support this.  Another theory – again unsubstantiated – holds that the vehicle identified as the TR-3 was a prototype for the B-2 Spirit.

(Image: Area51ZONE.com)

Two 1977 designs from Teledyne Ryan, a firm specialising in unmanned aerial vehicles, have been linked to the TR-3A.  This stems in part from the fact that “TR” stands for Teledyne Ryan – a fanciful connection considering “TR” is well known to denote “tactical reconnaissance.  Teledyne Ryan was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 1999, adding fuel to the fire of conspiracy theory.  But aside from a patent (below) that is said to resemble the configuration of whatever aircraft has been identified with the TR-3A, there is little, if any, credible evidence linking it to Teledyne Ryan.

(Image: United States Patent 4019699)

The designation “TR-3″ likely came about due to confusion with another black project, Tier III, which led to the RQ-3 Darkstar.  Another theory holds that the aircraft dubbed the TR-3 may have grown out of the Tactical High Altitude Penetrator (THAP) studies, of which little exists in the public domain.  This article discusses THAP’s potential mission as a recon-strike platform, which could account for a plethora of sightings throughout the 1980s and ’90s.  However, there is significant debate over whether THAP progressed to the flight testing stage.  If THAP was not responsible for the “TR-3A” sightings, it’s possible another secret demonstrator associated with the A-12 Avenger programme (below) could have been…

Flying Triangle dubbed “TR-3B”

The online world is buzzing with information about the alleged “TR-3B“, from rumours of its fantastical capabilities to intriguing video footage.  Yet despite numerous sightings suggesting the existence of a large triangular aircraft that can fly slowly and quietly, little information exists about this rumoured black project. Like the TR-3A above, the designation “TR-3B” is almost certainly a misnomer.

The most dramatic claims frame the “TR-3B” as a nuclear powered tactical reconnaissance aircraft capable of disrupting gravity.  But a more likely – and in many ways more interesting – argument for these strange flying triangles, is that they’re lighter-than-air vehicles or some sort of stealthy troop transport aircraft.  Given the technologies proven by Have Blue and Tacit Blue in the 1970s and ’80s and the number of projects that have allegedly been tested at Groom Lake since that time, it’s not impossible to think that some of these flying triangle reports may have some substance to them, if not under the designation TR-3B.

A-12 Avenger II (and the Mysterious Jet that May Have Preceeded it)

Image via U.S. Navy

The A-12 Avenger II was envisioned by McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics as an all-weather, carrier-based stealth bomber for the U.S. Navy and Marines.  Shrowded in secrecy at the time of development in 1983, the A-12 reportedly gained the nickname “Flying Dorito”.  Concept drawings and mock-ups show a flying wing design in the shape of an isosceles triangle, with the cockpit near the apex.

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Development of the A-12 was hampered by problems.  The project was cancelled in January 1991 by then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney when the estimated price of each plane allegedly hit $165 million.  The cancellation was said to be a breach of contract, resulting in years of legal wrangling.  In 2009, a court finally ruled in favour of the government and ordered the contractors to pay more than a $2 billion in charges, but the battle ranges on to this day.

Images via U.S. Navy

After the cancellation of the A-12 Avenger II the Navy purchased the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.  While there was never a full scale prototype, an earlier (1976 – 1984) classified General Dynamics technology demonstrator called Model 100 (funded under the Have Key program) may have paved the way for the cancelled A-12.  It has been suggested that this aircraft remains secret due to the ongoing legal issues.  The A-12 has also been linked to a secret plane called Sneaky Pete, which may or may not be the Model 100, or a development thereof.  We were able to locate one A-12 mock-up thanks to those savvy online explorers at Virtual Globetrotting.

X-44 Manta

Image via strange-mecha.com

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The X-44 Manta was a conceptual design by Lockheed Martin, based on the original F-22 Raptor (below).  The X-44 was essentially a tailless Raptor with large delta wing and advanced thrust vectoring nozzles replacing normal aerodynamic control surfaces.  Benefits would be a more stealthy, light airframe, with increased fuel volume and maneuverability.  The plan was to convert an early F-22 prototype but the program was allegedly terminated in 2000.  The X-44 render looks similar to the proposed FB-22, reportedly cancelled in 2006.

Image via Rob Shenk

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It’s hard to know what to make of many alleged black projects.  Could some of these exotic aircraft be one and the same?  How much disinformation is out there?  The X-44 was essentially a flying wing design with a name similar to the TR-3A “Black Manta”, although in the X-44′s case, MANTA apparently denoted Multi-Axis No-Tail Aircraft.  Could this be a case of one black project’s name being mistakenly attributed to another, like TR-3 and Tier III?  In 2005, GlobalSecurity.org reported that the X-44 designation may be reserved for a possible NASA full-scale manned tailless flight control demonstrator.

HALO (High Altitude Low Observability) / BAE Replica

(Image: Stridus, public domain)

Like other black projects, Britain’s effort to create a stealth demonstrator remains shadowy, despite cancellation in the 1990s.  The Replica program was a BAE Systems design study tied in with the RAF’s now defunct Future Offensive Air System (FOAS).  It is known to have run from 1994 to 1999, with a full-sized mock-up subjected to rigorous testing to determine its radar cross section (above).

Image via Planeman

(Image courtesy of AboveTopSecret.com (CC-Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5)

FOAS set out to replace the RAF’s Tornado GR4 jets with a range of manned and unmanned platforms by 2017.  The program was cancelled in June 2005 after the UK joined the U.S. Joint-Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program, which was itself cancelled the next year but later revived as the Navy-only UCAS-D program.  After the termination of FOAS, knowledge gained from Replica was poured into the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

Images via United States Air Force

Initial arguments over Britain’s access to the JSF source code prompted Britain to consider a potential alternative.  While likely referring to an adapted Eurofighter Typhoon, Replica remains in the shadows, despite public acknowledgement of the program and photos of the full scale mock-up stored at BAE Warton.  This could be due to the ongoing use of Replica’s technology in forthcoming projects, such as the JSF, but also Taranis, a BAE unmanned demonstrator.  Again publicly acknowledged, Taranis is set to fly next year although sightings suggest it – or perhaps something else – flew in 2009, which the British government vehemently denies.

Aurora – Hypersonic Spyplane

Image via Hendrickson and Foxbat

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The Aurora spyplane is the world’s most famous top secret aircraft, and a reliable photograph would be one of the most coveted finds in the history of classified aviation.  Historically presented as a hypersonic replacement for the ageing SR-71 Blackbird spyplane (below), there’s considerable evidence available in the public domain to suggest no specific aircraft called “Aurora” ever existed.

SR-71 Blackbird (image via U.S. Air Force)

The name “Aurora” reportedly slipped out in the 1985 US budget alongside an allocation of $455 million for “black aircraft production”.  Excited journalists, writing in the March 1990 edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology, linked “Aurora” to the reported black aircraft, and later to a family of exotic aviation projects, claiming that by 1987 funding had reached $2.3 billion.  Ben Rich, former director of the Lockheed Skunk Works (which built the F-117, below), said there never was a hypersonic Blackbird follow-on and claimed Aurora was the name given to the B-2 Stealth Bomber competition funding.

F-117 Nighthawk (image by U.S. Air Force)

Helping to fuel the Aurora legend was a disjointed catalogue of sightings and mysterious sonic booms.  The most compelling sighting came in August 1989, when Chris Gibson, an engineer aboard the Galveston Key rig in the North Sea, observed a strange isosceles triangle-shaped aircraft refuelling from a KC-135 Stratotanker, escorted by two F-111 bombers.  Gibson, a member of the Royal Observer Corps and trained aircraft recognition expert, could not identify the mysterious plane.

Image via Google Earth

In the early 1990s, the disclosed “Aurora” designation and the “North Sea sighting” were linked to several other reports that helped perpetuate the story of a top secret SR-71 follow-on.  One was a report of an aircraft over Amarillo, Texas, with an engine described as emitting a “strange, loud pulsating roar”.  Caught on film was an alleged “donuts-on-a-rope” contrail that has become synonymous with the Aurora myth.  While some attribute this to a potential pulse wave detonation engine, others have argued the contrails could have been made by ordinary jet aircraft.

Images via Google Earth

Finally, a series of bizarre sonic booms heard over California up until 1993 were attributed to Aurora after seismologists concluded they did not characterise earthquakes, but indictated “something at 90,000 feet, Mach 4 to Mach 5.2″.  Intriguingly, each unexplained sonic boom came on a Thursday morning between 6 and 7am.  In addition, Groom Lake (Area 51) has a six mile long runway, now closed, that some say would be a requirement for testing a high speed, mach 5 plus, aircraft.

It’s telling that, more than 20 years after Aurora debuted in aviation and popular science publications, no solid evidence has been found to support its existence, despite the hype and hordes of investigators digging for information.  At this point it seems likely that the top secret aircraft known as Aurora stems from sightings of various aircraft (some potentially black projects) and not necessarily a single airframe.  That said, Chris Gibson’s sighting and the strange skyquakes remain a mystery to this day.

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Image by James Humphreys

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This mighty delta forms the unmistakable outline of the iconic Vulcan bomber, Britain’s Cold War nuclear deterrent.  The Vulcan in the picture, XH558, is the last flying example of the type, kept alive by a dedicated team of enthusiasts and the unconditional support of her fans.  But not all Vulcans have been so lucky…

Image by Fergal Goodman

Image by Fergal Goodman

Here lies the forlorn remains of Vulcan XL392, used for fire fighting practice at RAF Valley, Anglesey.  The awesome size and might of the Vulcan that defended the country and thrilled airshow crowds also made it an ideal candidate for fire training.  While many aircraft would be destroyed quite swiftly, Vulcans survived the heat for years.  The top picture shows XL392 relatively intact in 1983.  Two years later and it’s a rather different story, although this Vulcan managed almost another decade before its charred remains were scrapped.

Images by Supermac 1961

XH558 was retired from RAF service in 1984 but continued flying as a display aircraft until 1992, when the government pulled the plug on funding.  Unlikely to ever fly again, more than a decade later a mammoth restoration effort began to restore the Vulcan to flying condition.  The Vulcan to the Sky Trust, the charity that owns XH558, raised over £6 million to overhaul the aircraft and secure a license to fly – seemingly achieving the impossible!  In 2007, the mighty Vulcan flew for the first time in 15 years, testament to the incredible work of the Trust and the generous support of fans across the world.  And thanks to a mystery donation the Vulcan has just been saved from likely permanent grounding, but funding is still a grave concern.  The Vulcan celebrates its 50th birthday this year.  Click here to support the Vulcan to the Sky Trust.

Here is the moment so many people waited years for – XH558 returns to flight in 2007 after her long hiatus.  The hollow howl of the four olympus engines was music to the ears of many:

And finally, XH558 arriving at RAF Waddington – the base where she spent most of her service career – for the first time since 1992; a proud and poignant moment for all involved – and a big round of applause to prove it:

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Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem (image by Patrick A. Griffin)

As many people know, the local pub is the cornerstone of British culture.  Not only that, the country itself is rather old, meaning you can pop for a pint at establishments formerly visited by the likes of King Richard the Lionheart and Oliver Cromwell.  Here is an assortment of medieval ale houses to whet your appetite as we near the weekend.

Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, Nottingham

The name says it all! (Image by puptoes74)

There has been no shortage of debate over the years about which surviving British pub is in fact the oldest (more below), but Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem certainly has a fair claim.  Nestling beneath Castle Rock, the sign outside dates the building to 1189 AD, although the main building is thought to be rather newer, probably only 300 years old!  That said, the pub’s famous “caves” beneath and behind the building, forming its oldest drinking rooms, date back to the construction of castle in 1089 – so the claim still stands!

Folklore has it that crusading knights dropped in for a pint here on their way from Nottingham Castle to the Holy Land, and that King Richard I himself was a regular at the bar – unlikely since he actually spent most of his reign away from England crusading rather than frequenting the local pubs of Nottingham.  However, it is worth noting that the word “trip” relates to “a break in the journey”, rather than the entire journey.  So perhaps there is some truth in the legend after all.

Needless to say, the pub is a centre of supernatural activity.  The cursed galleon is a small wooden model that has supposedly brought death to anyone who has ever tried to clean it over the years.  Such is the superstition surrounding it that numerous landlords have refused to allow anyone to clean it.  As a result, it is now preserved in a glass case, covered in decades of dust.  Curiously, an antique chair inside “The Trip” is thought to make women who sit in it more likely to become pregnant, although this could of course have more to do with the beer!

Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, St. Albans

Ye Olde Fighting Cocks (image by Sacred Destinations)

The medieval bar (image by Neilwill)

Standing in the shadow of St. Albans Abbey, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks is one of the strongest contenders for oldest pub in the land.  The pub itself is 11th century, although documents show that the foundations and cellars date back to 793 AD – meaning there’s been a fair bit of boozing done in here over the years!

Originally called The Round House (it was built as a pigeon coup), it is thought to have been renamed The Fighting Cocks around the 1800s after the sport – banned long ago in Britain – that used to take place there.  The original “cock pit” is now one of the bars, although this room originally served as a stable for the inn.  It is said that this is where Oliver Cromwell stabled his horse when he spent the night here.

There are also believed to be tunnels running between the old cellars and the nearby cathedral, which were once used by monks for safety.  The Fighting Cocks is believed by many to be the oldest true pub, as opposed to a tavern or inn which has accomodation.  (These words are often used interchangably today.)

Ye Olde Man & Scythe, Bolton

Ye Olde Man & Scythe (image by Ian Roberts)

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I think by now we’ve established that any establishment with “Ye Olde” in its title is going to be up there with the most antiquated of them.  And here’s another trying to stake it’s claim as the oldest watering hole in the realm!  Ye Olde Man & Scythe actually only dates back to 1251, and even then it’s only the cellar.

The building on the site today is much more modern – 1636 to be precise.  But that hasn’t stopped the landlord trying to convince all and sundry that the original cellars are 234 years older than is generally acknowledged, and if so, could potentially bump the old pub up the list.  Either way, Ye Olde Man & Scythe oozes history.

A chair hanging in the pub bears the inscription: “15th October 1651 In this chair James 7th Earl of Derby sat at the Man and Scythe Inn, Churchgate, Bolton immediately prior to his execution.”  After enjoying his last few pints, James was then taken outside and executed for his role in the English Civil War.  But legend has it that he is still around!

The Old Queen’s Head, Sheffield

The Old Queen's Head (image by JeremyA)

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As a Sheffield native, I felt obliged to throw this charming old battlecruiser in!  The oldest domestic building in Sheffield, the Old Queen’s Head was built by George Talbot, the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, around 1475.  It is the last remaining section of a timber framed medieval town and, as part of the Earl’s estate, may have been used as a banqueting hall for parties hunting wildfowl in the nearby ponds.  The only reminder of this – other than the river – can be found in the name of the road the pub is built on: Pond Street.

In reality, the Old Queen’s Head is today sandwiched between the 1960s Post Office building and the city’s bus interchange.  And if brutalist architecture is your thing, the Eastern Bloc-era flats on the hillside behind received a mention is this earlier article.

The pub boasts several interesting gargoyles, including Spring Heeled Jack – a well known local legend about a mischievous sprite that supposedly lived in the tunnels beneath the city and would jump out on unsuspecting pedestrians when the mood took him.  Some are even trying to capture any supernatural activity at the pub on camera!

The George Inn, London

The George, Southwark, London (image by Ewan Munro)

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The main bar (image by Ewan Munro)

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Okay, so this one isn’t trying to claim the accolade of oldest pub in the land, dating back to a mere 1676.  But it is the only galleried coaching inn surviving in London and was the local pub of Charles Dickens, who gave it a mention in his much loved Little Dorrit.  Once upon a time, plays were performed in the yard at the back (now the beer garden), with spectators watching from the galleries lining the side of the building.  But the most famous pub in the area was The Tabard, located nearby.  It was here, in 1388, that Chaucer’s characters met before embarking on their pilgrimage to Canterbury.  The Tabard was sadly demolished in 1873, although the original one had burned down long before.

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Ghostly 747 captured on Google Earth

You may have heard stories about ghostly World War Two aircraft appearing alongside modern airliners and frightening the living daylights out of passengers.  But now it seems that even Google Earth could be picking up the supernatural essence of a high tech bundle of nuts and bolts.  Can you locate this ghostly Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet?  Perhaps the US military could take a leaf out of its book as the latest incarnation of stealth!

The only clue is that it’s sitting at the terminal of an airport in the United States, and the photo was taken in February 2007.  You’ll know when you find it, because it’s not alone!

Download Google Earth here for free!

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Image by ConspiracyofHappiness

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97964364@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

The fearsome reputations surrounding certain historic – and often abandoned – places mean it doesn’t need to be Halloween for ghosts and ghouls to come crawling out of the woodwork.  These three venues, where the spirits of the dead reportedly run riot in a ghastly ghostly carnival, might offer the more supernaturally minded among you some ideas for where to explore – or to stay well away from…

Waverly Hills Sanatorium, Louisville, Kentucky

Images by ConspiracyofHappiness

During the 1900s, Kentucky had one of the highest tuberculosis death rates in America.  To cope with the disease, Waverly Hills Sanatorium was opened in 1926 and was at the time considered the most advanced tuberculosis hospital in the land.  But by today’s standards, the cure rate was low (with most patients eventually succumbing to the disease) and experimental techniques brutal. With that sort of a record it’s no wonder this creepy abandoned hospital still sends shivers down peoples’ spines even today.

Images by ConspiracyofHappiness

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97964364@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

While some patients did survive the disease – and the hospital’s procedures – most left via the “body chute” (above), a tunnel built specifically for the dead that led underground from the main building to the railway at the bottom of the hill.  This procedure was carried out in secret to prevent patients seeing other victims of their own likely demise.  More woes befell the patients during the 1960s and 1970s, with budget cuts leading to horrifying conditions and servere patient maltreatment.  Waverly Hills finally closed its doors in 1982, and fell into total disrepair over the next two decades.

Image by ConspiracyofHappiness

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97964364@N00/ / CC BY 2.0

The hospital eventually came to the attention of the Louisville Ghost Hunters Society, which catalogued many strange and chilling events in the abandoned building.  Among the many stories, ghost hunters are said to be drawn to the fifth floor, where there was once a nurses’ station and two large rooms.  One of these, Room 502, has been at the centre of much reported paranormal activity, from dark shadows moving in the windows to tales of people jumping to their deaths, and claims of disembodied voices angrily ordering thrill seekers to “get out”.

Image by CodeZero

http://www.flickr.com/photos/codezero/ / CC BY 2.0

One reported spectre in Room 502 is believed to be that of a nurse who plunged five stories to her death below.  Nobody knows for sure why she took her own life and to this day, the event has never been explained.  But eerily, it has been speculated that she didn’t jump at all – but that she was pushed.  Can it then be any wonder that her restless spirit continues to scare ghost hunters away from Room 502?  If that’s not enough, here’s an uncomfortable thought: what of the spirit of the person who pushed her?  Ghost hunters… beware!  Read More

Saint Louis Cemetery, New Orleans

Image by dsb nola

Saint Louis Cemetery is actually three separate cemeteries built during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  The most famous and oldest was contructed in 1789, with all three known for their claustrophobic above-ground tombs, supposedly built that way because of the high ground water levels in New Orleans.  And with the grand designs of the tombs, the cemeteries literally resemble – and have come to be known as – “Cities of the Dead”.  Over the years, there have been numerous reports of deceased residents strolling between the graves… Perhaps you have seen them?

Images by Howieluvzus

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Unnervingly, St Louis Cemetery is believed to be the burial site, if not necessarily the final “resting” place, of the legendary Grande Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau.  Her purported tomb is the scene of myriad Voodoo tributes today. And according to legend, the legendary Voodoo Queen herself may be awakened by anyone knocking on the outside of the grave three times (an action believed sufficient to wake the dead). The tomb must then be marked with “XXX” in chalk or brick, followed by three more knocks. Finally, the awakener must make a wish, after which an offering must be left for the Voodoo Queen.

Images by Howieluvzus

http://www.flickr.com/photos/howieluvzus/ / CC BY 2.0

Not surprisingly, the grave is a treasure trove of offerings from those who treat the site as a form of pilgrimage.  Among them is a curious trinket known as the “monkey and the cock”.  It is said that if you find one of these lying at your feet as you wander through the cemetery, you must pick it up – because it is meant for you!  Read More

West Virginia Penitentiary, Moundsville

Image by IndyDina

Prisons frequently appear toward the top of the most haunted list.  As dark places populated by generations of evil and wretched members of society, can it be any wonder that their restless and equally dark souls are often said to linger on long after the institution has closed its doors?  West Virginia State Penitentiary is no exception, claiming to be one of the most haunted prisons in America – an accolade that more than a handful can attest to…

Image by IndyDina

http://www.flickr.com/photos/littlesister/ / CC BY 2.0

The Gothic castle-like structure was opened in 1876 and built to accomodate a comfortable 480 prisoners.  But by the 1930s, 2,400 inmates were incarcerated within its walls, meaning that as many as three people were often assigned to one tiny cell.  Today it seems as though the terrible living conditions, mirroring the terrible states of mind of many former inmates, has left an indelible imprint on the facility that cannot be removed.

Images by IndyDina

With its violent past, deplorable conditions and two major riots, West Virginia State Penitentiary has become a popular venue for ghost hunters over the years. Some claim the prison is plagued with “residual haunting” – defined as an ongoing replay of a tragic event from the past, which may explain why many rational people report the same paranormal phenomena across generations.

Images by IndyDina

To back this theory up, there are several so called “hot spots” in the prison where an unusual amount of paranormal activity reportedly occurs. Such places include: the Chapel, shower cages, the Sugar Shack (a recreational area), Death Row and the North Wagon Gate – where death row inmates were taken to be hung before the facility introduced the electric chair.

Images by IndyDina

One other area known for paranormal phenomena is the circular entrance gate which was used to separate arriving inmates from the warden’s living quarters. According to reports, the circular cage has been known to turn of its own accord, leading some to believe that the ghosts of criminals continue to arrive at the prison – or perhaps they never left!  Read More.  (Click here to read about the creepiest houses in the world.)

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