Fearless Friday: Charles Haskell and the history of madness at sea (A Real Life Ghost Story)

Fearless Friday: Charles Haskell and the history of madness at sea (A Real Life Ghost Story)

Between 1830 and 1892 nearly 600 ships and more than 3,000 lives were lost in the treacherous and gale-swept waters of the Grand Banks, off Newfoundland. The victims were fishermen, seeking cod in the icy shoaling grounds, and most of them drowned when their ships rammed one another as they jostled in the fierce competition for fish or were wrecked on the shoals. It was hard, nerve-wracking work, and the men who risked their lives each time they put to sea were alert to every kind of omen, good or bad, real or imagined.

In 1869 the Charles Haskell a graceful schooner built and outfitted for cod fishing, was undergoing final inspection when a workman slipped on a companion- way and broke his neck. There could not have been a worse omen than a death, and the captain who was to take the Charles Haskell to sea for her maiden voyage refused to sail in her. For a year no one would assume command of the ship; then, a Captain Curtis of Gloucester, Massachusetts, accepted the position.

During her first winter at sea — a notably harsh one—the Haskell and a fleet of some hundred other vessels were fishing off Georges Bank when a hurricane struck. In the confusion the Haskell rammed the Andrew Johnson. Both ships were badly damaged, but the Haskell managed to limp back to port; the Andrew Johnson was lost with all hands.

If the Haskell's escape seemed to belie her early, unlucky reputation, the fishermen did not believe it: the ship had been too lucky; she should have gone down with the Andrew Johnson, and it was the Devils work that she hadn’t.

Eventually the spring came, and with it better weather and excellent catches. Once more the Haskell was at sea, fishing off the Banks. On her sixth day out, the two men on midnight watch were suddenly terrified: men in oilskins streaming with water from the sea were silently climbing over the rails, their eyes staring hollows. The watch called the captain, and he and the crew saw the phantoms take up positions on the fishermen's benches and go through the motions of baiting and sinking invisible lines. Then, their task done, and in single file, the 26 dead seamen climbed back over the rail and returned to the depths of the sea.

Captain Curtis immediately turned the Haskell toward home, but another night passed before she reached the shore. Again, at midnight, dead men climbed from the sea onto her deck and played out their ghastly charade. But this time, as dawn came and the Haskell approached Gloucester harbor, they climbed overboard and formed a grim, mute procession, walking across the sea toward Salem.

That was the last voyage of the Charles Haskell, for there after not a man would crew her, and she eventually fell into decay and ruin at her mooring.

SOURCE: (Mary Bolte, Haunted New England: A Devilish View of the Yankee Past, pp. 43-46)

#haunted #seamonster #ghoststory #charleshaskell #fearlessfriday #cursed #phantomfishermen #mysteries #ghostship

Paranormal Files: The Haunted Hotels· of Highway 49 by William Hauck

Paranormal Files: The Haunted Hotels· of Highway 49 by Wlliam Hauck

The two-lane blacktop meanders back and forth throughout the Sierra Foothills, after old gold mining roads all the way from Grass Valley to Yosemite. On the way, at roadside markers and historic sites, tribute is paid to those intrepid 49'ers who worked the hills and hills, hoping to strike it rich. What the signs don't tell is that a few of those old-timers may still be hangin' on, still walking the halls of the wooden buildings in which they lived.

Sierra Foothills Map from Winemag

In order to make a living, Louise was forced to take on borders and even rented out the cellar as a jail. Two prisoners, who spent the night in her cellar before being hung in the front yard, are sometimes seen still roaming the grounds. One was a robber who performed a dance on the scaffold - just before the noose was put around his neck. The other was a school teacher who murdered one of his students and ended up reciting poetry to those who came to watch his execution. Louise died in 1913 and was buried with her husband Robert, in a small public cemetery across the street from their home.

The Vineyard House, Coloma, California

Subsequent residents of Vineyard House reported seeing shimmering apparitions walking in the halls or hearing the rattling of chains at all hours of the night. Eventually, no one wanted to live in the house and it fell into disrepair. In 1956 the house was renovated and turned into a hotel. The cellar jail became a cheerful bar, but that did not stop the hauntings. Occasionally, the rattling of chains could still be heard and one evening, two wine glasses were pushed across the bar by unseen hands. In one of the rooms, a maid saw a freshly made bed become undone, leaving the impression of a body in the sheets; and witness Dave Vanbuskirk saw a doorknob turn with no one on the other side of the door. Later, a San Francisco couple reported seeing three men dressed in Victorian clothes disappear as they ascended a stairway.

In 1974 the hotel was purchased by Frank and Darlene Herrera, who are trying to dispel the rumors of ghosts. However, three years ago, a Sacramento couple ran from the hotel in the middle of the night, saying they heard someone being murdered in the next room. Investigators from the County Sheriff's Department could find nothing out of the ordinary.

Nonno's Italian Restaurant in the Hotel Leger, Mokelumne Hill, California

If you are traveling down Highway 49 and decide to stop for a bite to eat at Nonno's Italian Restaurant in the Hotel Leger ( 8304 Main St., Mokelumne Hill, CA), be sure to take a good look at the old portrait on the north wall of the dining room. It is a picture of the founder of the century-old hotel, George Leger. George was an aristocratic French immigrant who lived out most of his life in Room 7 of the hotel. Some say he never left his hotel; several people have reported his specter silently gliding through the halls. Others have complained of rowdy laughter and ladies giggling behind the door of Room 7, only to find the room empty. The management has even hung pictures of Victorian pin-up girls in George's room, in deference to his reputation for womanizing.

Sutter Creek Inn, California

Manager Ronald Miller says the hotel personnel accept George's presence as a normal part of their jobs. Just a few miles north on Highway 49 lies the Sutter Creek Inn (75 Main St., Sutter Creek, CA. 95685). When Jane Way bought the Inn in 1966, it was already over one-hundred years old, although she had no idea it came with its own ghost. Two weeks after moving in, an apparition appeared in her doorway and said softly:"I will guard your Inn".

Later she identified the soul as State Senator Edward Voorhies, who took ownership of the home in 1880 and lived there with his wife and family for several years. The Inn is still the spectacle of unusual events, like the hidden force that picked up a kitty from a chair and threw it across the room. Or the look in broad daylight of a ghost, who entered the front office and immediately dropped his pants. By all reports, this well-endowed spectral flasher took it with him.

#haunted #paranormal #hauntedplaces #hauntedhotel #hauntedhouse #ghosts #reallifehorror

Daily Dark: The Legend of the Wild Hunt

Daily Dark: The Legend of the Wild Hunt

The legend of the Wild Hunt with deadly consequences because of its beholders is just another historical superstition, which can be considered to have originated in Anglo-Saxon times. It was often thought that anybody who beheld the Wild Hunt, could immediately be hauled into a foreign territory, which if that individual were reckless enough to tackle the Huntsman himself, the results will almost surely be dire and probably fatal. Because of this, Christianity becoming the recognized religion of this land, lots of the ancient gods were demoted to the status of mere devils, and the function of the Huntsman was identified that of Satan himself.

In some regions that the huntsmens' horses seem to have transformed themselves 'headless' horses, frequently with a headless motorist, forcing a ghost coach. Again we're confronted with the part of 'heedlessness'. Could this be an instance of the success of the Celtic beliefs, or is it a long-forgotten Folk memory of an early sacrificial ritual between decapitation. Occasionally it's been stated that the saying 'headless', was a misnomer for 'heedless', particularly where the driving rates of those spectral Coachmen were worried. Shortly after the orthodox theological concept of a live devil began to recede the identity of this Huntsman was occasionally merged to this of a National Hero, like the freebooter Sir Francis Drake, whose ghost coach can be alleged to have been driving furiously throughout the wild and rocky heath property of Dartmoor, at the South Western County of Devon.

Deep in the center of Dartmoor is to be located one of its most haunted places, which for this day is called ''Wishtman's Wood''. Here could be seen early trees dispersing into all kinds of grotesque shapes, while rising from moss-covered granite boulders, so outdated they should have witnessed the beginning of our island's history. From this dreaded place that the dreadful Wisht Hunt may at times be observed at midnight, headed by the Devil or even Dewer, as he's sometimes known everywhere. So dreadful are that if anybody sees them, they can't be expected to endure the year. Their immediate purpose is to search the souls of unbaptized infants, some stating that the hounds, themselves are these spirits, transformed to hellish shapes.

In precisely the same place, a genuine sentinel on watch over the centuries would be that the Amazing Hound Tor, a tor having a large rock or heap of stones, and stones sprinkled on the tops of mountains, as a consequence of primeval volcanic action and quite typical in Devon. It's said that the stones here resemble a bunch of hounds in full cry, but suddenly turned into rock. Space doesn't permit me to estimate additional examples, but there's lots of evidence to demonstrate that the legends of the Wild Hunt are still very much alive and have formed an essential characteristic in the lives of our ancestors, and had they had been passing fancies, they wouldn't have nobly withstood the ravages of time. Some purists within the area of Parapsychology may believe the topics dealt with in this article are insignificant, in which scientific investigations are involved, but allow them to remember the fact that lots of the instances of inexplicable happenings experienced nowadays, might well have their origins at the Folklore memories of yesterday.

#urbanlegend #haunted