Tripping on Legends…: Recent Episodes
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Exorcism room at College of the Holy Cross continues to intrigueOriginally published in the FiftyPlus Advocate
Meanwhile, Massachusetts was no stranger to stories of exorcism, having a high concentration of Catholics living in the area. The College of the Holy Cross has a so-called exorcism room and the most frequently asked question by those touring the campus is, “Are you going to show us the exorcism room?” But will there be echoes of “The Exorcist” for these thrill seekers?
Stories abound regarding Holy Cross room
Currently, the room at the top of O’Kane Hall is used as storage space. Magician Harry Houdini visited the college in 1925 while on a nationwide tour lecturing on the “fraud of spiritualism.” Still, stories abound.
One tale involves how two Jesuit priests locked a young demon-possessed woman in a room in O’Kane Hall for two days for the purpose of performing an exorcism. As to what happened by the third day, the story varies. One version is that both priests were found dead. Another version has one priest dead after being thrown from a window with the other priest being missing. Both accounts have the young woman gone and never seen again.
READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE AT: Exorcism room at College of the Holy Cross continues to intrigue
Explore the darker side of Fort Myers with Christopher Balzano during the dark on a hauntingly unforgettable walking tour with True Tours.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
At the suggestion of some, I have decided to document my path in researching some of the legends I trip or topic I cover, much like I did last year with the Oviedo School with its totally concocted urban ghostly legend. I am not sure how this will go, but I decided to take each story in Acts, with the hope the voyage is as interesting as the destination. I am hoping this also helps me for the narrative of some of these stories long before I normally do and ask question I would not have thought of. Researching and wondering and connecting and storytelling are very different skills with unlike methods.
Think of this as a fishing trip then and insight into how legends are approached. Correct me where you can, question me when it pops into your head, and know I am always in a constant state of tripping all over the stories I look into.
A friend, maybe too keen on all the things I like, sent me a TikTok video around Christmas of a story she knew I would be into. It hit all of the buttons, and I saved it, screenshot it, and then began to instantly see references to it all around me, some I did not connect until I started to look into it much more. I live in a #followthesigns world where the more I work, the more synchronicity has a tendency to stumble down the path with me.
We blame the outsider. It is the path of least resistance to pass off anything we may have done wrong ourselves while connecting with the people around us. If the issue is the interloper, then the trail of the just is with the majority. We want to be the majority, the mass of men. It’s cold out there.
What once felt as if it were a one-off casting, I now see time and again in the modern look at what is causing that ghost down the street. Witches are a major meddler in the haunted folklore of Florida, and time and time again she keeps finding a way to sneak into the backstory of small-town ghost stories. I wonder if this is the same in all states or particular to the ones I have lived in.
A dark figure appears in the middle of the road in Edgewater, Florida, on or near a bridge located on Volco Road. Said to be named for the county (VOLucia COunty), it has been described as a dirt road which curves and stretches over ten miles in the middle of nowhere with dense forests and swamp on its sides. There is no name attached to the body of water the it goes over, and some have placed the story on rusted and cracked bridges on Maytown Road or Cow Creek.
The best time to see the woman is midnight, although one version of the story says she can best be seen the night her followers tried to resurrect her on November 1st at 2 AM. There is not much of a description of her passed down, with most people who claim to have seen her saying she is merely a dark shadow and other a non-specific beautiful woman. When she appears in the road, she makes cars swerve to miss her or she takes control of the car, accounting for the many accidents on that road. She has been known to make cars malfunction and break down and then taunts the drivers and passengers from the woods nearby. She laughs and screams.
Different people have posted about encounters with her over the years, although most have actively sought her out so there is a similarity in their stories. They go to the spot at the right time, perform the ritual like they have been told by neighbors how to, and impatiently wait. The most frequent legend trip they do it to travel there, turn off their cars and roll down their windows, and see what happens. The screams start and orbs begin to float near the car (she has trapped either the souls of the people she has killed or the people who once followed her are imprisoned on the bridge with her as well). The temperature around you drops dramatically and the windows fog up. Then there may be chants and whispers from the darkness and scratching on the car. Several people spoke of finding gashes in their paint when they got home or to a nearby well-lit place after getting scared off the bridge. There have been several reports of bright headlights following you that appear out of nowhere and vanish as you leave the road. Dark figures begin to walk up to you from the woods, and if you make it out with your sanity, she haunts your dreams for seven days. There was one story of texts being sent to the people who saw her from an untraceable number telling them to never come back.
Locals are split on who exactly the woman is and why she continues to walk. The oldest and most common on ghost sites that talk of her, is that she is from the early settlement days, although they do not specify if they are referring to the Spanish or the later era when it became a state. A woman was kidnapped and dragged to the bridge. After she was assaulted multiple times by multiple men, she was murdered and then her body was mutilated and tossed into the water. She now travels the road looking for males to take her revenge on. There is usually no mention in this version of why she is referred to as a witch, but some, maybe trying to make a connection between multiple stories, say the motivation for the attack was that she was a local witch who had been trying to seduce young women to join her and young men to feed her. This was her punishment and a warning to all others to stay away. She is said to have cursed the town with every scream. There are some who say her blood flowed into the head of the spring there and turned the area into a swamp. Her curse may be why several settlements in the 1800s failed after having promising starts.
The version most spoken about by the locals is much different. About thirty years ago, a Satanist made her homestead in the area and was quickly gaining followers. She was driving home and got into an accident, hitting a tree near the bridge (there are several times the story is more about the townspeople who kill her hoping to get the cult to leave). She was buried, but her followers, believing she would come back, dug her up and brought her to the place of her death. They either buried her nearby or threw her into the water as a celebration of her power. As the years went by, they would abduct people in the area and sacrifice them on the bridge, allowing their blood to flow into the water before giving them a burial in a shallow grave nearby. Members also martyr themselves at the bridge or are buried there after they die. The cult is alive and well and owns the property in a shadowy way so all the bodies there will never be found.
This version fits in with the narrative of the location much better and has less holes, maybe due to it being retold and refined in the last three decades. It is relevant and relatable. Keep in mind, this is Volusia County, clearly in what I refer to as the Ocala (not the town or just the forest, but the general area). The witch and her cult are linked to some of the disappearances, a staggering data point which defines the area. People go missing there. Cults are active. People connect the two, and the witch and her cult are an extension of that. Afterall, it is not as if there haven’t been reports of cult being responsible for weirdness and crime and weird crime there for decades. There are road all around the Ocala with similar stories, although the Volco Witch does seem to take a little bit from many of these stories and combine them. Even the assaulted woman story has echoes of the Coyote Woman and the Stikini.
People connect one particular murder with the witch, although the link is never really made between the two. The closest connection is that the darkness the woman has brought is either a symptom of the place or has caused misery and crime to fall there. In January of 1992, 19 year old Charlene Hayes was coming back from Majik Market on Ocean Avenue when she was picked up by a man in a blue pickup truck. People who saw it reported it also had a CB antenna. On February 3rd, her body was found face down in Lake Volco, bound by the hands and neck with duct tape and with her breasts exposed. A short time later, James Phillip Schaub was arrested as he was serving time in Starke for other sexual crimes. He was known locally as Diamond Jim and Tatoo Jim and had a reputation for assault and his attitude towards women. Schaub was eventually acquitted of killing Hayes but ended up spending time in jail for his other crimes.
This is the story often talked about in relation to the Volco Witch, mentioned in Reels and YouTube videos, seemingly to offer proof that there is something dark there. Other than the vicious nature of the crime, there doesn’t seem to be anything else coupling the two stories. I can’t even find a Lake Volco, and the source for her body being found is the Orlando Sentinel, so I trust that information.
A detail that stood out to me was the CB antenna cited in the abduction reports. I am not sure I have a handle on the demographic of Edgewater in the 1990s, but were CBs a thing? It also stood out to me for another reason.
While no one talks about the other murder, it feels much more connected to the urban legend and to the true crimes of the Ocala. Now entering the story, serial killer George Stano.
But more on that later…
Explore the darker side of Fort Myers with Christopher Balzano during the dark on a hauntingly unforgettable walking tour with True Tours.Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Newcastle’s most haunted roadby: Olivia Goeldner at Newcastle Weekly
Have you seen the ghost of Lemon Tree Passage Road?
For decades, lovers of the supernatural have said the popular Port Stephens road is one of the state’s most haunted.
Many have reported spotting a bright white light following their vehicles when driving along the 40km stretch.
While the cause has yet to be formally identified, rumours say the apparition is the ghost of a 20-year-old who tragically passed away in a motorcycle accident on Lemon Tree Passage Road.
Reports from the 2007 incident stated a man and his male passenger were riding along the stretch and collided with a four-wheel drive at Tanilba Bay in Port Stephens.
The passenger was flown to John Hunter Hospital in a serious condition, before passing away shortly after.
Legend says the man’s ghost can be seen if drivers are travelling in excess of 100km/h.
Word of the phenomenon hit a peak in the 2010s with several young motorists posting their speeding attempts online.
Port Stephens Police gained knowledge of the trend after one adrenaline junkie hit speeds of upwards 180km/h, according to a social media post.
Local authorities reported catching six speeding teenagers in one night, prompting increased surveillance of the area.
The incident gained vast media attention, prompting director David James Campbell to create a film on the urban legend.
READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE AT: https://newcastleweekly.com.au/newcastles-most-haunted-road/
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
There’s that perfect shot which captures the emotion of a ghost story and freezes it in our mind forever. Sometimes it’s a picture snapped at the right time or a painting stealing a moment with a precise hand. We remember the famous Brown Lady of Raynham Hall and the Little Girl in the Burning Building. They are tangible proof of something our gut tells us is fact, but our mind argues is fiction.
What happens though when the image becomes the haunting? What if it perpetuates the haunted legend that has the whole town holding their breath when they pass by?
Join us live as we discuss two cases of the art becoming the story. The first is the infamous The Hands Resist Him painting, the first haunted object to truly break the internet. We then take it local to try and understand the stories and the snapshots that have made Kenilworth Lodge in Sebring a homegrown haunting the police need to keep their eyes on.
- Get the full story from the One Strange Thing Podcast:
https://www.onestrangethingpodcast.com/and the SergioisEvil IG account: https://www.instagram.com/sergioisevil/
Now, if you’re local, you can do a bit of a spooky walkabout with Christopher Balzano at the Fort Myers Haunted History Tour. Visit www.truetours.net for more details.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Ghostly Tales of the Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Be careful when you pick up the phone. Know who you’re dialing, get the number right, and whatever you do…don’t invite anything in.
STRAIGHT TO JUST THE AUDIO HEREThe rumor is a ghost was contacted the first time Alexander Graham Bell used the phone, and it hasn’t eased up since. The technology changes, but the creepy remains. From calls from the recently dead to urban legends about cursed numbers, the phone has always been a direct line to the spooky. Join Christopher Balzano as he tells some true stories of times when the line goes dead and explores the weirdest urban legends in the world of telecommunications…including calling some of these numbers live.
Visit The Ghosts in My Machine to hear some of the original audio from some of these calls as well as a more in-depth exploration of some of the backstories.
Scary Phone Numbers: The Ultimate List Of 40-Plus Haunted, Creepy, Cursed Numbers To Call (Or Not)
We are going to need free lines for some of our experiments, but you can still, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822 when we’re not on air.
Now, if you’re local, you can do a bit of a spooky walkabout with Christopher Balzano at the Fort Myers Haunted History Tour. Visit www.truetours.net for more details.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Ghostly Tales of the Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
We’re going live with the launch of the new book and two interesting news stories that strike right at the heart of what we do.
The first is one making the rounds and gaining momentum. Glen Powell speaks on the ills of dating and the rise of cannibals on Bumble.
See the interview:
Next we have the story that may be a story that may be a fake story about a real story or a real story about a fake story. We try to unravel the mystery of Joy Junction and it’s creepy puppeteer.
He’s a more in-depth plunge on the rabbit hole.
Now, if you’re local, you can do a bit of a spooky walkabout with Christopher Balzano at the Fort Myers Haunted History Tour. Visit www.truetours.net for more details.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Ghostly Tales of the Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR SPECIAL PRICE OF $20 PER PERSON FROM NOW THRU THANKSGIVING Christopher Balzano of Tripping on Legends is now one of the featured guides as the crowds explore the spooky haunted history of Downtown Fort Myers with True Tours Haunted History Tours.
Get more information at their website at www.truetours.net.
Explore glimpses into the unseen on this unforgettable Fort Myers walking tour* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Is Fort Myers haunted? Whether you are a believer in the unseen or not, this 90-minute evening-into-night stroll and ghost tour through our historic district is fun. Learn some of the documented, as well as the undocumented history of this very peculiar little town. Who knows what unsettling images your camera may record. But you can always explain them away as light/shadow reflections or whatever. A figure in a window is surely just a trick of the imagination. Probably.
Explore the darker side of Fort Myers during the dark on this hauntingly unforgettable walking tour!
Read about the tour on TripAdvisor before you go…Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Annie’s Road
Rumors of ghosts and apparitions have been reported on this road going back as far the colonial days. The main legend concerns Annie, a young woman who lived in the area in the 60’s, not long before Route 80 was built thru the area. She was going to the prom and got into an argument with her boyfriend and left the car to walk to her home on River View Dr. Along the way she was picked up by a bunch of sailors who raped and murdered her. The violent end to her life made her spirit uneasy, and so she began to haunt the local road, even possessing men who traveled along it. The numerous car accidents on this road are attributed to Annie’s ghost. One theory is people swerve to avoid her ghost, or lost control after seeing her. Others think she may have possessed the driver and forced him off the road.
Read More: https://lostinjersey.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/annies-road/
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Stone from child’s 1912 grave that sparked paranormal legend stolen from Morgantown cemeteryby: Sam Kirk at 12WBOY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — The Morgantown Police Department is asking for information after a gravestone was stolen from the Oak Grove Cemetery, but it’s not just any headstone.
The police department said in a Facebook post that the gravestone marking Harry Spitz, who was born July 9, 1909, and died Sept. 8, 1912, was recently stolen from the city’s oldest cemetery, just days after what would have been his 115th birthday.
Photo of Harry Spitz gravestone shared by the Morgantown Police DepartmentAlthough the child passed away in 1912, he became part of paranormal legend in 1975 when a groundskeeper discovered a hole in the sod allowing them to the broken lid of a concrete vault with Harry’s casket and body inside.
Media outlets at the time reported that experts removed the casket and body, attempting to find what caused the vault to be unearthed, but no answer was ever found. Vandalism, methane, gas from the decaying body and other possible causes for the vault to “have been pushed up from the inside” were ruled out, the Charleston Gazette reported in 1976.
Read More: Stone from child’s 1912 grave that sparked paranormal legend stolen from Morgantown cemetery
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
What Students Can Learn From Studying Urban LegendsBy Benjamin Barbour at Edutopia
Urban legends, featuring ghost stories, unsolved mysteries, and the like—every community has them. They might be fun for students to learn about, but do such incredible tales have any authentic educational value for history students?
I discovered recently when I taught a lesson on our hometown’s urban legends in a local history course that these tales of the fantastic and macabre do indeed offer students something more than just fun stories—they can provide a variety of important lessons.
Psychology and sociology teachers, as well as anyone teaching about culture, can incorporate regional urban legends into their curriculum. Even if we don’t realize it, urban legends can fulfill deep human needs or teach important lessons. They may caution listeners to avoid certain places or behaviors, or the stories can convey unique cultural norms or universal values.
Read More: What Students Can Learn From Studying Urban Legends
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Mysterious bell baffles locals after ringing for weeks at New York subway station as no one knows whyBy Yelena Mandenberg at MSN News
A mysterious ringing bell has been plaguing a NYC train station and all the businesses operating within for weeks – and authorities still have no clue where it’s coming from.
The relentless bell has been ringing nonstop for nearly two weeks at the 50th Street station, with a piercing sound akin to a school bell. The sound can be heard at the entrance to the downtown 1 train platform.
Owners of the local businesses next door have tried to find the source of the ringing, but no one has any clue. The owner of the pizza spot in the station, See No Evil Pizza, has tried calling the landlord and past tenants, who couldn’t help. The MTA also had no idea what was happening – yet.
Read More: Mysterious bell baffles locals after ringing for weeks at New York subway station as no one knows why
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Did you know that not far from the “happiest place on earth,” ghosts roam the swamps and woodlands of Central Florida? Or that eerie children ask passing cars for rides along the famously haunted Tiger Trail Road in Dunnellon? Can you believe a mysterious wanderer stalks the streets of Astor at night?
Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see Ocala National Forest forever, and have you sleeping with the lights on!
After the success of Haunted Ocala National Forest, Arcadia/History Press believed it was time to spread to wealth. Why let the adults have all of the fun.
They approached me to adapt some of the stories in the book for a younger, 8-12, group. I approached it with all of the passion of my middle school teacher mind, spending time rereading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and reading Goosebumps for the first time to get the voice right. I was able to add just enough history to give context, but these stories are all about the love of a good ghost story.
You can buy the book by visiting Amazon to get your copy, or e-mailing me directly at spookytripping@gmail.com. to get a signed copy with a little something extra.
Want to explore some of the stories (or at least the original versions) before you buy?
Click to get the story or the Tripping on Legends episode:
The StikiniOsteen CemeteryFort KingThe Coyote WomanThe Dark BunkerAstorClick to Explore Balzano’s BooksYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released The Ghostly Tales of the Ocala National Forest.
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com.
You can listen directly to the show by going to your preferred platform or straight to Libsyn at:
https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/d243872e-1d21-4562-b35d-55b376605546
This article recounts the details of the Boca Raton Cemetery and Mausoleum. It was a legend we covered and explored over a year ago in conjunction with a few other stories on the east coast of Florida, but never wrote a Travel Log for it. Life gets in the way sometimes. I took the story back out for the new book I’m working on, Whistling Past the Cemetery, because to speak to the young girl you come to the cemetery with sadness. Not as much of a ritual as some of the other stories, but I thought it fit. So many who have heard the episode of asked questions, so I decided to take the bulk of that chapter and post it. Any feedback you might have before the book is published. There might be some errors in the information and form, but hey, that’s why it’s called Tripping on Legends.
Cemeteries are places of sadness and grief. The living visit to relive moments with the ones they loved and to recall a life lived, and there is always a touch of sadness in that. Even in the remembering there is a least a touch of heartache. That sorrow plays itself out two different ways in Boca Raton, Florida, but it is a story of triumph and comfort as well as terror and pain. There are two ghosts vying for your attention, but only one of them is likely to put her arm around you and make you feel better. The other is mostly unseen but not unheard.
Either way, it is a story that is pure Florida.
If it makes you feel comfortable, think of the Boca Raton Cemetery and Mausoleum has having been built 1948. That’s what most of the literature says anyway. The entrance contains a modest field of older graves, most sunken into the Florida grass and slightly leaning to one side or another. The focal point of the burial site is really its gardens and mausoleum, roughly located in the middle of the plot, which can feel like a maze of identical walls with undistinguishable plaques broken up with the occasional Mason or religious symbol. There are stuffed animals and flowers and small toys propped up and pictures of the dead faded in the Florida sun despite being mostly in the shade. And there are benches; maybe more benches than you would think you’d find in a cemetery this size. They were not installed to accommodate Poor Mary, but she uses them just the same.
The Screaming Man does not like the benches. He does not seem to like anything.
For decades, a man’s voice has been heard in the cemetery late at night. It starts out a low moan, building into a steady hard cry until finally the man is screaming in anguish. The noise is so loud it has been known to wake up the neighborhood, and as the humble homes nearby have been replaced with apartment complexes and gated communities, the screaming has not stopped. People looking out their windows or walking by clearly hear the man, but there is nothing there. Residents who have heard it more than once, and there are many residents who have heard it more than once, say the voice is the same, even it has been decades between encounters.
According to Dr. Greg Jenkins who authored a series of books about Florida ghostly folklore, the noise has gotten so bad at times that the police have been called. There is actual evidence in the police logs of the town of officers investigating the howls. They patrol the grounds, sometimes hearing the shrieks themselves, but are unable to find who is making with them. Several times they have followed the crying into a room within the mausoleum only to find no one there and the noises fading away. These police inquiries are also the only time a shadow has been seen. A male figure, not much more than a shadow, has been spotted and followed by the police only to disappear.
Residents stopping at traffic lights next to the cemetery between the hours of midnight and three o’clock AM say they sometimes have their cars slammed into. They say it feels like they have hit an animal, but they are standing still. It shakes the car, but when they get out there is no damage, and they often hear crying from the cemetery when they get out to check.
The mystery of who the man is remains unsolved. The possible reason for his sadness is a trip through the history of the town.
Established in 1896 along the Florida East Coast Railway, Boca Raton quickly became a destination spot for vacationers and people looking to retire among the best the state had to offer. Developers saw the chance to cash in on people’s vision of Florida as a paradise and built anywhere they could. In 1916, Frank Chesebro allowed some of his land to be used for burials, but that did not last long. In 1928, to make room for a new golf course, the bodies were dug up and moved to do a different location. It is never a good idea to move the bodies. Land developers didn’t really take that lesson to heart and moved the whole cemetery again in 1942 to make way for a new military base.
Perhaps then Screaming Man is a displaced soul looking for where is body might be. It has been moved so many times he is never quite sure where he is laid to rest.
Perhaps the misplaced body is even older than that.
Boca Raton has a deep history of pushing the past aside to try and catch the flavor of the moment. One of those people was E.G. Barnhill, a photographer who fell in love with Florida and started to explore the state more in the 1920s. When he came upon Boca Raton he saw a chance to settle some of the land and perhaps build his own community to serve the surging population. He quickly changed his mind. As he dug, he discovered Native American bones, most likely from the Tuquesta, Jeaga, or Ais tribes, on his twenty-four acre property. Rather than try and preserve what he had found, he decided to take advantage of the new highway and roadway traffic and the growing roadside attraction business that was booming in the area. He chose the “best bones” and placed them in a 20-foot-high mound. He chose the ones that looked well weathered and complete, regardless if they were from different people, and bundled them together. He then built a glass tunnel through the mound so people could walk through and marvel at the skeletons. It became known as the Barnhill Mounds and part of his Ancient America experience. The stories say that you could even buy small bags of bones to take back with you to your hometown. Forget about alligators in sewers.
Eventually his business went under. He took a small collection of the bones and toured the state with them, and the Barnhill Mounds were laid to waste and became a yacht club.
A similar thing happened in the 1950s when John Peterson began digging up the Native American burial areas and laying down an African landscape. Inspired by the heat, he believed people would travel the short distance to Florida rather than all the way across the ocean if he could just replicate the plant and animal life closely enough. That and the presence of pinup model Betty Page, who endorsed the park and agreed to be on the advertisements. Africa USA opened in 1953 with imported plants and a menagerie of African beasts, some of whom were on the verge if extinction. It was fairly successful, but a few years after its opening the Department of Agriculture was doing some spraying and killed some of the animals. The park closed in 1961.
Both of these amusements were within blocks of the Boca Raton Cemetery. That represents hundreds of souls in the area who have been dug up and cast aside.
The answer might be simpler if not more sad. When you walk through the original part of the cemetery and examine the headstones there are at least a dozen that suffer from the same situation. They are double plots with a marker places in the middle. One of them, John Smith was born in 1875 and died in 1945. His faithful wife, Susan, was born in 1890 but there is no date of death. One can only imagine Susan is not walking around at over a hundred and twenty years old. Where is she? Chances are she lived on and was buried somewhere else with her family, maybe where she was originally from, or she found someone else to love in her last days and is resting with him. Nothing is more Florida than finding new love late in life. Sometimes nothing is more intense than a lost love.
Click to listen to the original episode.Mary probably never had a chance to love in that way. She was young when she died, but her story may be more heartbreaking. Except Mary lived a full life in her time and touched the lives of so many. It only makes sense her ghost would continue the good work.
Dr. Jenkins talks of a teenage girl seen by many of the visitors to the mausoleum section of the cemetery. Many of the encounters he described feel like a small child is running around among the tombs, and much of the folklore that has developed around her reinforces that idea. However, the initial reports tell of a young teenager with calming eyes who wears a maroon colored dress with white sleeves. She may have curly or very short hair, like in a pixie cut. She is most associated with the west side of the mausoleum. Sometimes she can only be felt, as if you know someone is there with you; not watching you as much as by your side, looking at what you’re looking at. One woman said it was like that feel you get when you just know someone is about to walk around the corner or be there when you turned but never seeing anyone.
She is seen frequently enough though. Most times she just appears but does not seem out of place. She may be standing near a memorial you are on your way to visiting (visitors say they get the sense she knows you are coming) or just appear next to you. She is often seen on one of the many benches. People with children will hear them laughing and watch as they play with a girl in a dress who disappears. She is not supposed to be there and sometimes has a light around her, but people rarely feel a sense of dread. It is exact opposite.
While many cemeteries feature a legend where you can make the ghost communicate by doing some form of ritual or ceremony, all you have to do for this ghost is come to her place of rest with sorrow in your heart. Mary comforts those at the cemetery.
Whether she walks up next to you or sits next to you on a bench or her disembodied voice is heard from behind you, this teenage ghost offers consolation to the mourners of the cemetery. She tells them everything is going to be okay, sometimes while stroking their arms or shoulders. She has even been known to ask the living to describe their loved one who has died, like a therapist helping you work through the pain. She tells them about the beauty of the afterlife or how those in the cemetery are safe and wishing them love. People leave and go on with their lives, remembering but no longer feeling pain at the passing. Some have even gone to the cemetery feeling grief for someone not buried there. Mary feel their need and helps them too.
Click to listen to the follow up episode…Finding a grave of a teenager is a rarity in the Boca Raton Cemetery. Most of the headstones and memorial are for people over the age of sixty, and unlike other burial areas, there are not many family graves. The cemetery is more for older people and older couples, which makes sense given the demographic of the area. In the west end of the mausoleum, where Mary is most often seen, there is one memorial which offers the best suspect, and anyone who knew this teenager in life would tell she makes perfect sense. She is not doing anything in death that she did not do in life.
Mary Davis died in 1989 and is buried next to her twin brother. Alex, who passed in 2010. She was 12 when she was originally diagnosed with brain tumor and lived to fifteen. As a youth, she was a popular and energetic girl, known for her curly brown hair and big brown eyes. She had been overweight in elementary school and was known to fight bullying and defend those who could not stand up for themselves. She received high grades in school and was on the dance and cheer teams. Most of all, she was remembered as being a teenage of strong faith.
It was this strength that sustained her and her family through her sickness. In the three and a half years after her diagnosis, she has would go through several surgeries and experimental treatments to try and rid herself of the cancer. Local businesses and charities held fundraisers to help with the medical bills and life under the cloud of the disease. Through it all, Mary ministered to those trying to help her. She was known to talk to the doctors and nurses at the hospital about their faith and offer them advise and counseling. Her father, Alex senior, would write a book entitled From Tragedy to Triumph. In it, he talks about one man who was a local professional sports star and another who was a politician who both came to comfort her towards the end. Instead he walked it to find her offering them comfort and spiritual guidance.
In the book he goes on to talk about the how Mary’s brothers struggled after he death. Two of them, including her twin who refused to celebrate his own birthday without his sister, died fairly young in unfortunate ways. While her father feels their sister’s spirit helped them in her own way, the people who visit them cemetery sense her in a visceral way that helps them work through the loss of their loved ones.
Maybe visitors feel better because they have convinced themselves the cemetery is a healing place. Skeptics might say this, but many who feel or see or do not know the story before they go. It would seem instead that Mary does offer some shoulder to cry on painted by her experiences as a girl of faith and one who has seen the other side. Many cemeteries offer visitors a chance to perform some ritual or ghostly tradition to experience their spirits. In Boca Raton, you just need to come with your sadness and the ghost will come to you.
Click to Explore Balzano’s BooksYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released The Ghostly Tales of the Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
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A buried and resurrected episode with all of its warts and lofty ideas.
Religions are based on belief, but also ritual and faith. Sounds like a perfect palate for urban legends and ghost stories. Now add an abandon church and a college campus. It’s one of the supposa be haunted kind of ideas. But what happens when no one wants to admit there is actually a haunting…or a haunted legends.
Check out this episode!
Join Tripping on Legends as we look at two Florida ghost stories people say don’t exist. First, we’ll travel to the Panhandle to look at a cursed church that has become flypaper for all kinds of classic folklore and meet the people who have worked to make sure no one remembers the stories.
Then we’ll drive out to St. Leo University where the ghost stories are so infamous they are written into the student handbook, but don’t expect anyone to actually believe them. We’ll also get into our quick tour of the campus post-Thanksgiving to explore why the campus might be the perfect canvas.
- Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Ghostly Tales of the Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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Legends Says Sinister Little Glen Powell’s Viral Cannibal Story Sounds Like an Urban Legend From the 2000sBy Matt Novak at Yahoo Entertainment and Gizmodo
Glen Powell recently shared a shocking story about his sister’s friend who went on a date with a cannibal. The only problem with his story? It sounds like an urban legend that dates back to at least 2001.
According to Powell’s story, originally shared on the Therapuss podcast with Jake Shane on May 22, the woman was on a date when a man gave her a massage with a suspicious lotion. The woman was creeped out and left, heading to the doctor, where she was told that it was a flesh-eating body lotion that would break down skin for human consumption. And after police were called, they allegedly discovered this person had the bodies of several dead women at his house.
NEW: Top Gun: Maverick star Glen Powell tells story about how his sister's friend was given flesh-eating lotion by an alleged cannibal after a date.
This is insane.
During a show with podcaster Jake Shane, Powell told a story about how his sister's friend narrowly avoided… pic.twitter.com/zZAufcxeSO
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 8, 2024
Read More: Legends Says Sinister Little Glen Powell’s Viral Cannibal Story Sounds Like an Urban Legend From the 2000s
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Couples: Avoid Japan’s Cursed Breakup SpotsBy Jay Allen at Unseen Japan
Going to Japan as a couple? Then you might want to avoid the following locations that urban legends say spell doom for your union.
Japan, like anywhere else, has its fair share of beliefs, myths, and urban legends. There are even some areas of the country regular people aren’t allowed to visit as they’re considered dangerous or downright cursed.
On the other hand, there are places you can go – but local legends urge couples to avoid them like the plague. Some are said to be bad luck. Others aren’t haunted or hexed – they’re just places you shouldn’t go until you and your partner have truly tested your relationship.
Read More: Couples: Avoid Japan’s Cursed Breakup Spots
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
A woman found dead in a church with no blood in her body may have been a TikToker hunting for ghosts, police say By Mikhaila Friel at The Business Insider
A French woman embarked on a day trip to northern Italy for what appears to have been a ghost-hunting trip. She never made it home.
The body of the unnamed woman, 22, was found over the weekend in an abandoned church where she had been stabbed to death and drained of blood, according to a CNN report.
Now investigators are trying to figure out if she was TikToker who was part of a ghost-hunting stunt or if her death was something more sinister, such as a consented sacrificial death.
Read More: A woman found dead in a church with no blood in her body may have been a TikToker hunting for ghosts, police say
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Legends Says Sinister Little Boy Haunts Hikers in Missouri Ozarks By Doc Holiday at 100.9 The Eagle
Have you heard this story about the lost boy of the Missouri Ozarks? According to Ranker, it’s the scariest urban legend in Missouri. This creepy story which I saw shared by Backpacker involves a young boy who tales say got lost in the woods. The story says that this young boy walked into the woods near Goodnight Hollow, Missouri just north of Lake of the Ozarks.
The story says that in 1903 when this little boy was 8 years old, he became hopelessly lost in the woods. He was never found according to the legend, but that’s not the last we heard about the little boy.
Those that would go hiking in those Missouri woods near where the boy disappeared shared terrifying stories of how they would suddenly have marks of beatings appear on their skin when they reached that area. Those that had this happened were the lucky ones. Many hikers were never seen again.
Read More: Legends Says Sinister Little Boy Haunts Hikers in Missouri Ozarks
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
This Historic Georgia Cemetery is one of the Most Haunted in the SoutheastBy The Lantern
On the coast of Georgia lies Savannah, a beautiful city with plenty of history and paranormal hotspots. The town is known for its St. Patrick’s Day celebration, delicious seafood, and nightlife. One trip down the streets will send your mind back to the olden days, but remember your soul belongs to spirits that lurk in the shadows, inside the buildings, and in the nearby graveyards.
Little Gracie Watson was only six years old when she passed away from pneumonia. And to this day, people who visit the premises claim to see her. If you plan to visit, make sure that if you decide to leave toys, do not retrieve them. Gracie gets upset when you do that. And she shows her disdain by crying tears of blood.
Read More: This Historic Georgia Cemetery is one of the Most Haunted in the Southeast
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
This Island In Italy Is Cursed: Why Owners Of Gaiola Island Kept DyingBy Srishti B Dutta at https://www.indiatimes.com/
Situated in southwestern Italy in the Gulf of Naples, Gaiola Island boasts heavenly blue waters, presenting a pristine appearance.
Despite its captivating beauty, the island harbors a dark secret—it is cursed.
According to urban legend, those who become owners of the island inevitably encounter misfortune. This reputation stems from the recurring series of hardships and untimely deaths within the families of its owners during the 20th century.
Read More: This Island In Italy Is Cursed: Why Owners Of Gaiola Island Kept Dying
Picture credit: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.atlasobscura.com%2Fplaces%2Fgaiola-island&psig=AOvVaw1ln1uIIm6-h0w3nqo-SNh7&ust=1709770828474000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=2ahUKEwjvj6bort6EAxUkJGIAHRsnD4YQr4kDegQIARBBCheck out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Tim Weisberg and I have had our book Haunted Objects in a vault for the last few years. Despite multiple attempts to crack that safe, it seemed the book would never be republished. Until now.
Tim and I are proud to announce the official rerelease of one of our most successful books, updated where needed and unchanged in all the places that matter.
It’s a book full of stories with a story of its own…Now, enjoy the book you, the audience, have asked us to resurrect; you no longer need to steal it.
Here’s a bit from the new introduction.
In January of 2023, I had my last copy of Haunted Objects swiped during an author event. I got up to speak about how to tell a true ghost story, and when I came back there was a twenty-dollar bill on the table. It wasn’t until later, when I was packing up, that I discovered the book missing and made the connection. It was odd, but profitable. I had purchased it used for a little over two dollars online.
That was not the first incident like that. There are new copies of the old book in a warehouse that nobody can locate. The building isn’t missing, the boxes containing them are stored away, forgotten, like the end scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, although I can say without reservation no one’s face ever melted after reading Haunted Objects. I tried with no success to track them down a few years ago, but endless phone calls came up empty. I began buying old copies online and selling them for a bit of a profit at events, and every time I bought one, people would snatch it up and thank me for it. “It’s used and only in okay condition,” I would say, but they would literally outbid each other to get that copy. When I would reference it, people would get angry I did not one with me. When talking about it, both Tim and I would have listeners demand the publisher reissue it.
That is just part of the weird history of the book.
- Like many of my first books, I came to be the co-author of Haunted Objects as a consolation. My friend and prolific author Jeff Belanger was approached by the original publisher with the idea, and he declined. He suggested me. At the time, I had a new baby, two jobs, and was already starting to tire of writing ghost books. I had a lack of schedule and spark, so I suggested I bring my good friend Tim Weisberg in. Together we could nail this project. His professionalism and intelligence would be the perfect fit. A little over three years from the original approach, the book was out.
Tim and I were not overly impressed with the look of it. The outside was amazing, but the inside left a lot to be desired. We are very different people, but we share a respect for what we do in the paranormal and literary world, and the design was just too flashy. We wanted the stories to do the heavy lifting. We were not fans of the splashy layout, the random pictures of zombie women, and the unexplained hands reaching across the page. Other people must have felt the same way, for the book pretty much floundered on release. The reviews were mixed, and Tim and I hit the circuit hard to promote it, but there was something about it that just did not connect with people. Within only a few years it went into remainder, and we bought as many copies as we could from the publisher at the time. The company than went bankrupt and sold off its titles to other companies and the one that bought ours said we could have it back.
- Could we have been cursed by the very idea we had looked to write about? Probably not. It was more a case of aligning ourselves with a publisher who was on their way out and who did not quite know what to do with us. They had made their mark publishing books about stamp collecting and quilting. We had always joked that the Amityville case (featured in Chapter 15) had left us open to dark forces, and often times when we would be interviewed about that story there would be technical issues, but it was more mishandling than mystic force. At least that’s what we told ourselves.
We are both proud of what we created, and even working on it now, I see why I was drawn to get it down the way we did. One thing I have learned over the course of breathing life back into these tales, is that I approach a ghost story differently than I did then, but you can see where I was headed. In 2012, the wave of supernatural and paranormal reality shows were at their height. Okay, that means a book about ghostly tales should do well in the market. Except there were too many out there, and if you were not on a television show (they even tried to make a pilot with Tim and I tracking down spooky items), it was harder to get an audience. That’s the answer that is always given at least. There was something else at work though. Reality television had caused people to seek out real ghost books filled with evidence and proof. There became a clear line between urban legends and spooky stories, and the two did not mix well.
Haunted Objects is a celebration of both, moving in between and holding both up together. People were not as open to that back then. Tim and I have worked in this field long enough to see the landscape change. In the last few years, just as the rights to book came back to us, people were beginning to appreciate those blurred lines. They were going back to allowing folklore to be part of today’s hauntings. I have seen this only speed up in the last few years with social media creating content that revives tales of phantom hitchhikers and cursed bridges. People still want to see night-vision clips of groups walking through famously haunted sites, but they also want their stories of mysterious figures, random appearances, and unexplained lights in the forest. They want to be creeped out more, and they are allowing the shadows they heard about when they were younger to chill them again. They no longer crave an answer but can allow awe and mystery.
People are not demanding proof anymore, maybe because it can be so easily faked. A bit of evidence causes your defenses to go up, but a story of a shadow knocking on a door unsettles you. There is something primal about it. I see it in the faces of people when I go out and tell my stories. They lean closer whenever the rumors are mixed with experiences and served with a little history.
We are also not in a rush to put every supernatural element into a neat category. A place like Highgate Cemetery can be haunted by ghosts or ghouls or vampires; just give us the story. This makes Haunted Objects, where in Chapter 11 we give you an urban legend before jumping to an unexplained mystery before retelling a famous haunting, something people can play in for a while. Don’t like the story of the haunted ring, just wait until you hear about Bloody Mary. Tired of that story about the Crying Boy, you need to hear the one about the shadow man who woke my daughter up.
On the technical side, there were some decisions to be made. Both and Tim and I are no longer married, but we decided to allow aspects of the stories involving them to remain. The last chapter about eBay seems quaint now. Social media was not what it is, and there are more haunted objects switching hands in more ways than ever before. We kept it in though; it is a snapshot of that time. We have also done our best to confirm that the haunted museums and websites mentioned still exist while hesitating to include new ones. The notable exception is the Haunted Antique Shop and Paranormal Museum in DeLand, Florida, mainly because it’s such a damn cool place and some of the pictures in this edition are from there.
Left out was the glossary. This was not our idea to begin with, but they were popular in ghost books back in the day. I am not sure Tim and I would have agreed with their definitions if given editorial permission of that section at the time. Left out as well was the online resource section. Both of these felt like dinosaurs of an age past. Just ask Alexa or Suri if you want to learn about spooky online.
Kept in are our writing styles, both of which have shifted in the last decade. If you are one of those people who understands voice, it is probably clear who wrote what chapters. If the sentences are long and rambling, that would be me. I did not edit them much for this edition, although I added grammar that might make it easier to digest. I guess this book is a snapshot of us as well. We lost many of the pictures from the original but recreated as many as we could, and original contributors searched around old flash drives and CDs trying to help us out. We’ve added new ones as well that are related to keep the eye entertained as you read, so we hope you’ll allow us that.
We also updated some of the stories where needed. It would be hard to talk about Robert the Doll without telling what he’s been up to since or to leave out how the ghost of Ronnie Defeo keeps popping his head up. So much of what these stories are about is how these rings and pictures and tools impacted those who experienced the unexplained with them, and that story is not always a clean break. Sometimes the ghost story keeps going.
Now, enjoy the book you, the audience, have asked us to resurrect; you no longer need to steal it.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
The tragic legend of Screeching Ginnyfrom The Guide LiverpoolIf you’ve ever travelled on Merseyrail’s Southport line from Liverpool South Parkway station then you may be familiar with the tale of the Screeching Ginny.
As you walk down the stairs to platform 6 at Merseyrail’s Liverpool South Parkway station you will notice art work depicting the urban legend of Screeching Ginny.
According to local folklore, Ginny came from an enigmatic family with an uncanny reputation… they were suspected, by some, to be witches.
Read More: The tragic legend of Screeching Ginny
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Objects, 2nd Edition.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
From Borley To Enfield: The Decline Of Major Paranormal CasesFrom HiggyPop.com
Many of us with a love for the paranormal today will have been inducted after reading about some of the most legendary hauntings from the 1970s and 1980s.
These include tales of the eerie Borley Rectory and the infamous Enfield hauntings, but these historic cases were much better documented and left more of a legacy than most modern-day encounters, which seem to be fleeting ghostly encounters. What makes these historical cases unique, and why do such large-scale hauntings appear to be relics of the past?
The way historic hauntings captured public attention and were documented differs hugely from today’s experiences, but that’s not the only reason that there’s a scarcity of large-scale hauntings today. For instance, advances in mainstream technology, particularly in high-definition cameras and sophisticated audio recording equipment, have revolutionised the way paranormal events are captured and scrutinised. This includes easy-to-use software for enhancing and examining audio and video recordings, which allows for a more detailed investigation of potential paranormal activity. This, combined with a heightened sense of skepticism and a scientific approach to the unexplained, challenges the way we view and validate such phenomena today.
Today, we are quicker to dismiss paranormal stories before they gain press attention. This could be down to a heightened awareness of mental health issues and advancements in psychology. While this has been beneficial in many ways, it also means that unusual claims are often hastily attributed to psychological factors rather than considered potential paranormal phenomena.
Read More: From Borley To Enfield: The Decline Of Major Paranormal Cases
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
This article is part of a new turn to go back to an old way. Long before the podcast was started, this site was created to document THE HOW behind looking into haunted legends. These posts will be an example of how I take a haunted legend from whisper to a visit and beyond. Expect mistakes to come up. Enjoy the mistakes that come up and get in touch with us to correct them. The getting it wrong is part of our story. That’s why it’s called Tripping on Legends.
It starts with a simple statement posted online and sent to me by a friend. A place has a deep haunted history and people in the area all know about it and spread the story. This is what I dine on, and in the best moments it begins a search down rabbit holes and old newspaper clippings trying to find out the history of the haunting. Has it been reported before? Can facts mentioned in the article be backed up or do they at least details that align? Usually, research means crossing into another story, one with the same fundamental factors but existing somewhere else (or many other places) where people confuse names and element reminds them of a story they heard, so they connect two unrelated places.
The basic logic applies. If it is on site which really just consists of lists of ghost sightings, put it in Column A. If it appears on a site like Backpackerverse, carefully place it in Column B and understand the ghosts are probably there but the story is most likely fiction. If it is a news story, coming from an actual news source, shoot it to the head of the line. More and more sites are sponsored by radio stations and blur the line a bit, but at the very least these push forth the urban legend narrative of the story, which is just as interesting and useful in most cases.
They say the old ruins of the Oviedo School are haunted. It seems like a simple and straightforward statement published online in an article in republished from another site featuring local Florida news. Everything appears to be legitimate. But these are modern times and veneers are not always what they seem to be. The more you look into the ghosts and the closer you look the details, something feels not quite right.
The biggest flaw in the story is the easiest thread to pull if the reader does not just take what is said at face value. Does the school even exist?
When you look at a ghost story in Central Florida, not too far from the fingers of the Ocala, no thread is easy to pull.
According to the article, the Oviedo School was built in 1926 to services the local farmers and growers of the area. It was part of the Seminole County School System with over 200 students learning in six classrooms. If you’re doing the math, that’s about 34 kids in a class for a rural school which probably had about 1,000 people at the time. Just keep that number in your head. Not many details are given about the school’s life through the next four decades, but it does establish the school was closed by 1969 and then abandoned some time later. The causes were given as low enrollment and the new laws which integrated schools, although it does not say what exactly that means. It is worth noting that Florida schools did not really desegregate until 1970 when the “Supreme Court set a firm deadline and Governor Claude Kirk’s motion to stay the Court’s desegregation order was rejected.”
The article does not state where the school was physically located or if it had undergone any name changes over the years. This may have been to prevent reader from heading out to explore the building. It also never mentioned the kind of school it was or the ages of the kids who went there. My initial thought, given its establishment before the Oviedo Boom, was that it may have served all the students in the area, maybe two grades per room.
The history hinted in the rest of the story fills in the gaps. At some point in the 1940s, there was a fire that killed several teachers and students. Also during its run as a school, a janitor killed a young girl and concealed the body in basement of the building. These are two events that should be able to be verified to some degree. Central Florida loves its fire stories and publishes the details of them like reporting on sporting events. Now imagine multiple people died. Nothing. Nor was there any story about a murder inside of the school. For those that do not know, Oviedo is a still a fairly rural community, but its distance to Orlando means things get reported there in several larger papers.
We’ll just glance right over the detail about her being buried in a basement in Florida for now.
There are several ghosts said to still be living at the school. They are heard screaming and crying by those brave enough to enter it after dark. The living hear whispers and footsteps in the hall, including hearing their name being called back to them. Children are seen running in the corridors and disappearing and adults take dark forms and hide behind corners when spotted. Items still left in the building (the article features a common school wish list like books and desks) are thrown around, some even with blood and blood handprints on them afterwards.
Cults are said to have taken over the school as some point. This may have even started before the school was closed and may have even led to its closing. They may have been drawn to the land by the desecrated Native American burial ground that was disrupted to build the school. Many of the ghosts are thought to be those who died in the fire or the young girl who has murdered. She is said to be looking for revenge for her death.
As a side note, Oviedo High School has a parallel legend about a young girl at their school with long brown hair who is covered in blood. Both are said to have been murdered by people working in the school in the bathroom. In the high school version, she has been known to follow people home and get angry at them when they will not listen to her story (the legend never says the nature of the story, but it can be assumed it’s of her death). She refuses to leave you alone until you listen.
It all sounds a bit like too much paint thrown on the canvas to be real. It’s as if the author took a look at a creepy building or heard a rumor of a ghost story and decided if readers didn’t like one part, they could grab on to another more to their tastes. Just keep hitting the clichés and one will stick. However, too often the backstory is for the living and is simply used to help us make sense of the unexplained. Other times, the community is the one throwing the paint and the reporter just does not know which version is the truth.
But that’s why they make rabbit hole. It is not for me to say something is fake just because it is familiar. Even if no ghosts are at the school, if the neighborhood is telling the story, then there is still a story to tell.
And it would make for an interesting legend trip that would allow us to revisit the Oviedo Lights and a few other local ghost stories.
But I, for one, soon came to feel the school itself never even existed.
Stay tuned for part 2 where the number of suspects in the haunting goes down, but the number of suspects for the actual school goes up…
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
The History Behind Libertyville’s ‘Devil’s Gate’By *Amie Schaenzer*, at Patch
Picture credit: https://medium.com/chicagoland-haunts/devils-gate-of-libertyville-eeab5bea808c
As legend has it, and that legend definitely varies depending on who is telling it, someone — either a camp counselor at a summer camp, a principal at a girl’s finishing school or a ward attendant at an asylum — went crazy and killed four people on the property behind a stone gate along North River Road.
While local historians say there is no evidence of a mass killing ever occurring on the property, there was a “home for children” on the property from 1925 to 1936.
Among the most popular tales told around campfires and whispered among children around this time of year include that of a principal who had a mental breakdown at a girl’s finishing school, St. Francis School For Girls, in the early 1950s. He killed four students and then put their heads on the metal posts of “The Gate,” according to the historical society presentation.
Other stories include the gate once serving as an entrance to a summer camp where a camp counselor OR a mad man who escaped from an asylum OR a nun killed four children while in bed, Barry said. Lastly, some have said that gate was an entrance to an asylum where a ward attendant went insane and killed four patients.
Read More: The History Behind Libertyville’s ‘Devil’s Gate’
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Strange Deaths, Ghosts, and Legends at the Erie CemeteryBy Erin Phillips at ErieReader.com
Tour leader, historian, and educator Anna Foll tells the stories of these two deaths of Charles and William, as well as many others, during her cemetery tour entitled “Strange Deaths.” Little William VanValkenberg rests in his family’s plot in the southern portion of the Erie Cemetery. He was just a 10-month-old baby when he died in 1858 from “drinking ice water.” Upon seeing this cause of death in the internment books, Foll immediately got to work researching how this could possibly be. Apparently, it was not an isolated occurrence.
Foll comments on her research, “Apparently in 1820 in Boston, 16 people allegedly died from drinking cold water.” The truth of the matter is much more likely that there was an underlying, undiagnosed cardiac issue with poor baby William that was exacerbated by the shock to his system from drinking very cold water. Foll continues, “Actually, in 1999, there was a case of cardiac arrest in a 12-year-old who drank a frozen slushie really fast. The cause was found to be cardiac arrhythmia, due to an undiagnosed cardiac condition. Something similar is likely what happened with William.”
Read More: Strange Deaths, Ghosts, and Legends at the Erie Cemetery
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
How Frightening Is The History Behind New Jersey’s Most Haunted PlaceBy Lou Russo on Beach Radio
When you hear about this place, you’re going feel that tingle go up your spine, and you’re certainly going to get a little closer to someone you love.
The place that has been named the most haunted spot in New Jersey is the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, and there are some frightening stories from that building.
The story goes that the director of the facility used to believe that removing organs would help patients with mental issues and he used to perform those surgeries without the use of anesthesia.
Word has it that you can still hear the screams in the hallway to this day. And, yes, this 450-room facility is still in use.
Read More: How Frightening Is The History Behind New Jersey’s Most Haunted Place
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Witches graves are exactly what they sound like...the grave of a witch. Supposedly, these burial sites are the source of many ghost stories and curses.
There are urban legends and folk tales all over the world about such places. That includes the Lone Star State. I was actually a little surprised to find some stories of witches graves in Texas.
Urban legend has it Lake Lanier — site of an "unusually high number of deaths... everything from boating accidents and drownings to cars sliding off the road and into the water for seemingly no obvious reason" is either cursed or haunted.
Not only has Lake Lanier claimed the life of at least 675 of its visitors since it built, with the death toll climbing past 20 deaths per year on occasion, but most of the tragic drownings occurred under strange conditions. Many strong swimmers have been lost "close to shore and in calm water conditions," and some who survived near drowning in the lake have reported a feeling of "being dragged beneath the water by invisible hands."
Iowa has countless legends and spooky stories about different spots in the Hawkeye state. We all have a legend or two about ghosts and spirits, most are fun local stories. The people of Bentonsport know the story of a haunted hotel well.
Roblox is home to a wide variety of genres, each of which caters to the various preferences of its users.
The horror genre shines among them, providing terrifying encounters and exhilarating journeys. Roblox features a variety of excellent horror games to satiate your dark needs, whether you’re looking for a heart-pounding experience with spirits, dead people, or other supernatural creatures.
This post features a hand-picked list of the 5 top Horror games on Roblox that will leave you on the edge of your chair and give you the chills.
There’s a story of a witch, a woods, and people who visit her ghost in the hopes of touching her wall and earning a little of her power. Sound familiar? What happens though when the wall is more story than a structure and the witch is more myth than mystic?
TikTok is home to a variety trends, ranging from harmless skincare hacks to dangerous challenges that specialists regularly warn against.
Now, a spooky challenge called the ‘Baby Blue ritual’ has been taking over people’s For You Pages, and it’s been compared to the myth of Bloody Mary. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
On Tuesday, June 27, Monroe County unveiled a new historical marker in the park to commemorate the spirit who the people of Irondequoit say roams the beachfront at night with her two ghost dogs in search of her missing daughter. This story has been passed down from generation to generation. Many say she does this to scare young people who are out after dark.
Join the Trippers as they cross another bridge onto Marco Island to sit by the Turtle and talk about trestles. First, it’s off to Hillsborough County to the lost town of Boyette where people in the 1960s and 1970s would spend Friday the 13th looking for a dead bridge. Then the focus comes back to Marco and a forgotten haunted legend with a backstory so crazy it had to happen in the Sunshine State.
Legend says this group of rebelling circus people retreated to the woods after murdering their horrible boss and started their own village nearby Muskego, Wisconsin, and they did not take kindly to visitors. The villagers wouldn't kill strangers who stumbled upon their community, but they would amputate your limbs and force you to live as a little person too.
Maybe that’s why we don’t hear so much about haunted escalators but can recite stories of spooky or mysterious elevators. The door shuts, and who know where the hell they’ll open, if they will at all. There is that moment sometime in a person’s life when those gates close and you wonder what would happen if they don’t ever move again. We have all seen a movie where the broken elevator is opened and the hero gets out to climb to safety, but that is the extent of most people’s knowledge on how they work. What would you do if you were trapped? Can modern elevators drop all the way to the bottom and how far does that fall need to be to kill? And how modern is this machine I have just stepped into anyway? All these thoughts come rushing like the ground whenever we feel that unexpected, unnatural lurch as we ride.
Reports of a ghost near the bridge had been reported decades before in the area, and some said the apparition looked medieval with a strange horned hat – probably a piece of female headgear known as an escoffion, which had two rounded horns and was highly popular in the Late Middle Ages (1250-1500).
The unusual thing about this white lady is the way she seems to move to different areas.
The urban legend of the seven gates of hell in York County takes many different forms and variations. One version, according to Roadtrippers, is about a mental institution that used to be located in Hellam Township, Pennsylvania. The mental asylum was isolated from the rest of the public because it housed “such insane” patients. Then one day, back in the 1800s, a fire started and consumed many of the patients. Some patients escaped but were beaten to death when found. Legend has it, the gates were put up by the local search party to trap any remaining patients of the mental asylum.
‘The Devil’s Stomping Ground’ Exclusive Trailer: Urban Legend Meets Hybrid Found Footage Horrorby Mary Beth McAndrews on Dread Central
Every town, no matter how small, has at least one urban legend. In rural North Carolina, that urban legend is that of The Devil’s Tramping Grounds. It’s a supposedly cursed piece of land where the Devil walks. No plants grow there, dogs are terrified of it, and campers report seeing strange figures near it in the dead of night. Sure there’s probably a scientific explanation, but where’s the spooky fun in that? Now that urban legend is getting the horror movie treatment in Jonathan Landau’s new film The Devil’s Stomping Ground. Landau takes the well-known tall-tale and creates a hybrid found footage horror about, well, the horrors of making a movie, paired with some supernatural happenings for good measure.
Tripping on Legends personal moments at the Devil’s Tromping Ground:
Travel Log…The Devil’s Tramping Ground
Including the Episode:
There is more than just barren land
…and the infamous Clang and Fly Video:
Explore all of the episodes having to do with the 2017 Summer Legend Trip to North Carolina and Indiana:Travel Log…100 Steps Cemetery in IndianaEpisode 22…Meeting the Pukwudgies in IndianaEpisode 23…100 Step Cemetery in IndianaEpisode 15…Cool for the SummerEpisode 17…Trips, Triangles, and North Carolina FolkloreEpisode 18…Whispers and Screams from ShilohEpisode 19…Tripping Carolina in My MindTravel Log…The Devil’s Tramping GroundEpisode 20…There’s Something in Room 223Episode 21…but Who Is Haunting LydiaTravel Log…The Lady of Shiloh Cemetery in Sanford, FloridaWhen the Trippers Hit CarolinaClick to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Are you brave enough to learn about the infamous Japanese urban legend Teke Teke? This horrifying tale has been terrifying people in Japan for decades, with reports of sightings still circulating to this day. From her tragic origins to her gruesome methods of attack, there’s plenty to learn about this vengeful spirit. So, without further ado, here are ten spine-chilling facts about Teke Teke that will make your skin crawl.
The Terrifying Legend Of Kuchisake Onna, The Slit-Mouthed Woman Of JapanBy Doc Holliday on 92.9 NIN
Japan has its fair share of monsters and ghost stories. But few are as frightening as the legend of kuchisake onna, the slit-mouthed woman.
According to this creepy urban legend, kuchisake onna appears to people walking alone at night. Upon first glance, she seems to be a young, attractive woman covering the lower part of her face with a mask or fan.
She approaches her victim and asks a simple question, “Watashi, kirei?” or “Am I beautiful?”
If the victim says yes, the kuchisake onna exposes her full face, revealing her grotesque, bleeding mouth slashed ear-to-ear. She will ask once again, “Am I beautiful?” If her victim then says no or screams, kuchisake onna will attack and slash her victim’s mouth so that it’s like hers. If her victim say yes, she may leave them alone — or follow them home and murder them.
This eerie urban legend is bound to send a shiver down your spine. So where exactly did it come from? And how can someone survive an encounter with the kuchisake onna?
Read about the connection between kuchisake onna and bathrooms.
Flushing the GhostReflushing the GhostElla’s Birthday RevengeRead More: The Terrifying Legend Of Kuchisake Onna, The Slit-Mouthed Woman Of Japan
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Inside The Mystery Of The Moon-Eyed People From Cherokee LegendEdited By Erik Hawkins on All That’s Interesting
Cherokee legend is full of incredible tales. But one of the most fantastic — and intriguing — stories concerns the moon-eyed people.
According to Cherokee lore, moon-eyed people lived deep in the woods of present-day North Carolina and Georgia. Blue-eyed and pale, they were so sensitive to light that they slept during the day and emerged only in the moonlight. And unlike other beings who appear in Indigenous legends, they were neither spirits nor monsters but humans like the Cherokee themselves.
Though the legend of the moon-eyed people may be merely that — legend — some suspect that Cherokee stories about these mysterious beings may be rooted in historical fact. Some even suspect that the moon-eyed people were descendants of Welsh settlers who arrived centuries before Columbus.
This is the story of the moon-eyed people of the Appalachians and the mysterious traces that they may have left behind.
Read More: Inside The Mystery Of The Moon-Eyed People From Cherokee Legend
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
The Head-Scratching Mystery Of The Green Children Of Woolpitfrom Kaleena Fraga on All That’s Interesting
On an otherwise normal day in 1150, residents of the English village of Woolpit made a startling discovery on the edge of town — two small children with green skin. Not only did the children look strange, but they also spoke a strange language and seemed perfectly repulsed by most food.
Taken in by the villagers, the odd pair eventually lost the green tone in their skin and learned to speak English. They claimed that they’d come from a distant land called St. Martin where people rarely encountered sunlight.
In the years since, the Green Children of Woolpit have become a befuddling historical mystery. If they truly existed, what turned their skin green? What was the land of St. Martin? And could the explanation be extraterrestrial?
Read More: The Head-Scratching Mystery Of The Green Children Of Woolpit
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Episode 127 Blue Whales, Backrooms, and Walking SamThere are a few reasons people make up folklore. They are trying to learn a lesson or remember something important to pass down. They are wanting to cherish a historical moment.
Then some folklore is meant to explain something in nature that science has not yet tackled. Why are their lights in the sky? Where does thunder come from? Why does the snake slitter?
Why are our kids dying?
Walking Sam has been taking the blame for the teen suicide rate on the Pine Ridge Reservation for years. Problem is, he may be more monster than myth and more ghost than cautionary tale.
Join Tripping on Legends as we look into the history of the Walking Sam and the figures like him across the different tribes in America. We’ll preview a new movie about the Backrooms and whether changing mediums can kill a legend.
Listen to some of the episodes mentioned:
Ella’s Birthday RevengeEpisode 110…Can’t Be ErasedEpisode 95…The Elevator GameCheck out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
‘White lady’ haunts Merseyside town according to legendfrom Aaron Curran on The Liverpool Echo
One part of Merseyside is allegedly haunted by an array of ghosts, including one known as the “white lady”.
Over the years, St Helens has seen several ghostly sightings at a variety of locations. Willow Park is a popular walking spot as well as a place where many families come to feed the ducks and take in the scenery, in Newton-le-Willows.
However, there is an alleged dark history surrounding the park. A popular urban legend in the area is that the spirit of a bride who drowned in the large lake still haunts the grounds of the park, known as the “White Lady”.
Read More: ‘White lady’ haunts Merseyside town according to legend
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
17 places around the world where you can visit the gates of hellfrom La Carmina, Fodors on Omaha World-Herald
Many cultures believe in a frightening underworld that can be accessed from Earth. If these devilish tales are to be believed, then here are 17 places around the world where you can visit the gates of hell.
The idea of Satan ruling over a fiery inferno has long captured our imaginations.
During the Middle Ages, European artists popularized this Christian worldview by painting humans tumbling through Hell’s gateways into a realm of eternal torture. If their art were to be taken at face value, then where are the gates of Hell located, and how many Hell gates are there?
Local legends suggest Satan has several hellholes on Earth, including a blazing gas crater in Turkmenistan and a skull-littered cave in Belize. Some locations, such as the unassuming town of Hellam, Pennsylvania, supposedly contain seven gates of Hell that one must pass through in the correct order to pay the Devil a visit.
As I discuss in my book The Little Book of Satanism: A Guide to Satanic History, Culture, and Wisdom, many non-Christian cultures have conceived of fierce underworld rulers that share similarities with Satan. If you’re brave enough to pass through the doors to Hell in Mexico, China, or Turkey, then this demonic-inspired travel guide is for you.
Read More: 17 places around the world where you can visit the gates of hell
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Episode 125…Lost Cities, Lost BonesUrkhammer or Ashely were just the beginning. Sure, we can agree they probably never existed, but did they have their own merch? In walks Doveland, Wisconsin and says, “Hold my urban legend.”
In the second part of their Lost Cities, Lost Bones show, Trippers Christopher Balzano and Deanna Mulhern continue their trek across towns that never existed looking trying to make sense of all of these Mandela Towns before shooting over to Lake Okeechobee to debate whether their infamous bones are sketchy or point at a darker history of the “hole in the state.”
We apologize ahead of time for the audio quality and Balzano’s comments about Wisconsin.
Listen to the first half of the journey:Episode 125…Lost Cities, Lost BonesListen to some of the episodes mentioned:
This Town in Myth:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/d243872e-1d21-4562-b35d-55b376605546/triplegend-20191219081139-1540.mp3
The Humpty Dumpty Haunting:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/d243872e-1d21-4562-b35d-55b376605546/triplegend-20200714174543-3049.mp3
Live at Arbuckle Creek:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/d243872e-1d21-4562-b35d-55b376605546/triplegend-20190409213328-2616.mp3
The Lost Love Potion of Arbuckle Creek where we get more into the background of the story at: https://traffic.libsyn.com/d243872e-1d21-4562-b35d-55b376605546/triplegend-20190217202207-7748.mp3
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
The Mysterious ‘Serbian Dancer’ that is Haunting the Internetfrom DAN COOPER on Market Research Telecast
The Internet is known for its terrifying urban legends and “creepypastas” that send chills down your spine. However, this case is not an old tale. A certain video has been making the rounds on the Internet due to the gloomy images it portrays. It shows a Serbian woman dancing alone in desolate streets. But, is she really alone? Her presence is said to portend an upcoming “murder”.
The original video made an appearance on YouTube in 2019 and was broadcast again recently. Serbia Today, a local media outlet, spread the news of this strange event in Serbia, leaving people terrified. It was revealed that the woman depicted in the video is “extremely dangerous”. Locals and strangers alike have been warning others to be careful in the comments section of the footage.
The video shows a woman dressed in the national costume of Serbia dancing in the streets for no apparent reason. Suddenly, she pounces on the person recording her with a knife, ending the clip abruptly. No one knows what happened next.
Read More: The Mysterious ‘Serbian Dancer’ that is Haunting the Internet
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Episode 125…Lost Cities, Lost BonesEver been to Urkhammer or Ashely? Have you picked up your hat and cup and keychain from Doveland?
Travel across the country and you’ll find rumors of towns that don’t exist and places people remember but can’t quite communicate about. It could be collective amnesia, the Mandela Effect, or maybe just a case of the Internet having a little fun at our expense. We continue to scratch our heads at Roanoke, but what about Tinsdale.
Join Trippers Christopher Balzano and Deanna Mulhern as they skip from town to town looking for the answers before landing smack dab in the middle of the state to set up a legend trip on Lake O.
This is part one of two, so be prepared to not quite make it to Lake Okeechobee yet…
Listen to some of the episodes mentioned:
This Town in Myth:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/d243872e-1d21-4562-b35d-55b376605546/triplegend-20191219081139-1540.mp3
The Humpty Dumpty Haunting:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/d243872e-1d21-4562-b35d-55b376605546/triplegend-20200714174543-3049.mp3
Live at Arbuckle Creek:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/d243872e-1d21-4562-b35d-55b376605546/triplegend-20190409213328-2616.mp3
The Lost Love Potion of Arbuckle Creek where we get more into the background of the story at: https://traffic.libsyn.com/d243872e-1d21-4562-b35d-55b376605546/triplegend-20190217202207-7748.mp3
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
This is a story I’ve had trouble getting out. It has been two years since Tripping on Legends were invited to spend the night at Lilian Place, and I have had trouble trying to get the narrative right while making it my own. I was going to include it in Haunted Ocala, but feel it wasn’t there. I have told and retold this story at live events over the last year and now feel I have a handle on it a bit. There are so many moving parts to this story, more than even in the Mini-Lights story, so I hope I do it, and the work of Nancy Long’s book, justice.
In August of 2020, the night before the new Tom Staed Veterans Memorial Bridge was officially in Daytona, Zanne Marie Dryer, a murder mystery novelist and local, spotted a dark figure perched upon one of the high arches of the new bridge. It’s the kind of thing which was easily dismissed. The man seemed to reach into his bag, and most people who heard the story assumed it was a photographer, perhaps for a local paper, trying to get the first shots of the view before the official ribbon cutting. Others thought it might be an urban explorer seeking the thrill of being there first. There were rational explanations throughout the community for something which hardly was newsworthy, but there was also a moment of pause. The people in the area had become used to seeing odd things on the bridge well before the new one had been built and maybe even predating the one before that. For generations, regardless of what bridge crossed the Halifax River, people have been talking about the ghosts that walk it.
- When you take a step back from it, it’s hard to tell whether this is a ghostly bridge story or a haunted house story. It’s a ghost story, that’s for sure. We tend to connect hauntings that are close to each other and assume that one causes the other or bleeds over, like whatever may be keeping the spirit one place may allow it to creep to another. Maybe there just happens to be two ghosts, or in this case more than two, who happen to inhabit the same space. Maybe a haunted place invites other spirits to come along because people are watching. Even a ghost needs a little attention.
A woman has traveled across the bridge for longer than anyone can remember, so long that no one can remember any tragedy that links her to it. There’s a rumor of an accident that might point to who the girl may be, but then someone steps forward and tells how their aunt saw her well before then. Like the famous Resurrection Mary in Chicago, the dark-haired woman is said to be trying to get to a dance, although rather than a dance hall, she is trying to get to the homecoming dance. What makes it even weirder is that there isn’t a high school particularly close to the bridge, and she gives the same story whether she is crossing to the island or over to the mainland. People who have stopped to pick her up say she’s plain and a bit pale, but with something overly attractive or unusual about her. Maybe it’s the fact no one can quite get a handle on what color her eyes are, an air of mystery which makes her seem alluring.
Only men have reported seeing her stroll across the bridge like she does not have a care in the world. She’s well dressed, or witnesses assume she is well dressed, due to the fact she is sometimes wearing an old fashioned black cloak, hood up and dawn down over part of her face. One odd tale says a man was walking the construction at the bridge a few years ago. He fell into a sinkhole and began calling out for help when a woman appeared above him. It was nighttime, so he could not get a look at her face but could tell she had a hood drawn over the top of her head. She said she could try and pull him out and reached out her hand, but when he extended his own to grip her, his hand went clear through hers, as if it was not really there. She gasped loudly, began throwing up near the top of the hole, and then vanished. Later the man was helped out, but he never saw the woman again and there was no mess where she had been sick above him.
All of these stories have been the product of oral tradition or Internet postings, so there might be a little bit of borrowing from more famous stories or misremembering details and filling in the gaps with stories people have heard before. The story of Mark DeGraves is something different and connects the woman on the bridge to a haunted house on one side of the river. According to Nancy Long in her book Ghosts of Lilian Place (she refers to him as Timothy, but DeGraves has retold his story using his real name in other places), DeGraves was driving across the bridge when his car broke down and he and his friend got out to push. He was struck by another car driven by a drunken driver and knocked unconscious. What comes next is both specific and unusual, which adds to its credibility. He claims he was able to see his damaged body, with one leg already severed from his body, on the bridge as he was carried up in the sky by a black mist. The next thing he knew, he was in the company of a beautiful woman with long brown hair and then on the widow’s walk in the nearby Lilian Place, the first house built on that side of the Halifax. The woman told him her name was Lucy and that he should not be afraid. He could see the entire scene from that vantage point; his friend trying to save his life, his body not responding, and the ambulance rushing to get to him in time. Without warning, his dead father appeared to him on the stairs leading up to the lookout and told him it was not his time to go yet. He resisted, but blacked out and woke up in the hospital.
The story has become lore on the bridge, but tells the story of Lilian Place just as much. He returned to the building some time later and recognized things even though he had never been there before his vision. His young daughter went with him and seemed to make contact with a ghost she called Lucy, waving goodbye to her and calling her name as they left.
In Long’s version of the story, the ghost’s name is Lucy, but that does not remain consistent. In other interviews he says her name is Lucille, although the other details of that night do not change. If someone hearing the story wants to understand what may have happened to DeGraves that night, they might be left more confused. Lilian Place, a Victorian home with a deep history of hauntings may have more than one ghost, but trying to clarify which ghost is which tends to like a school teacher trying to figure out who yelled out when her back was turned. Every story makes sense, but none of them give you an answer you can live with.
As a member of the Heritage Preservation Trust which saved the building more than a decade ago, Nancy Long has the inside information on the story of the family that built it, but even their details seem to crisscross and get muddied. The story of the family has just enough family intrigue and lore to it to give the ghostly legends a touch of secret to them. It begins as a look into the founding of Daytona but quickly turns into a ghost story.
The home was originally built in 1884, years before a bridge would be built there, by Laurence Thompson for his family. He had three children, including a daughter named Lilian. Along the way, Lilian inherited the house after her father died and her brothers moved away. She owned it until 1934 when she passed away. One of the legends of Lilian talks about how she never married because she had lost the only man she had ever loved. In one version of the story, he’s an Englishman and her parents do not approve of the marriage. He is forced to go away and never come back. Another says he went back to England to get his affairs in order and never returned. In both, Lilian, devastated at her lost love, walked the Widow’s Walk which used to adorn the tower of the house (the outside balcony has since been removed).
So begins the legend of her spinster side. She took in nephew after her brother was divorced by his first wife and later is said to have taken in local children who needed help, turning Lilian Place into a kind of orphanage or foster home. These children are said to be the ones who’s energy has remained and haunted the second floor. They are seen and heard running up the stairs and giggling from a room now known as the children’s room. It also accounts for who may be seen in a white dress staring out the window from the tower, even when no one is home. Although people cannot get a clear view of the woman, she is said to be looking out towards the Halifax River. The only time she is interested in other people is during the multiple weddings she has attended. The backyard used to be used for special occasions, and several times a woman dressed in white was seen looking down on the ceremony. The people running it, knowing they had locked all of the doors to the building to keep the gifts and reception materials safe, would rush to see who it was. The building would still be sealed tight and no one was in the tower.
- There are also the multiple times people have heard noises up there and went to investigate only to find a semi-transparent woman standing looking out the windows. When approached, she dissolved without saying a word or turning around. Of course, in a haunted house with a long history like Lilian Place, it might be another one of the ghosts, perhaps Lucille.
That’s the name of the woman who began to be seen after the house was sold when Lilian passed away. For almost fifty years, it existed as a private home and a bed and breakfast, and always remained the source of spooky moments. There are the several times people woke up while staying there to find a woman pouring water out of a pitcher. She would tell them, “Don’t be afraid. My name is Lucille and I am not going to harm you.” This echoes the same thing told to Mark DeGraves when he was transported to Lilian’s Place’s tower after his accident. According to Long, one woman reportedly put her baby to sleep only to find it out of the crib some time later wrapped in a blanket. There are reports of the water turning on and off by itself and doors being locked and unlocked by themselves. One Christmas, new owners Mike and Suzanne Riccitiello woke up to find their entire tree knocked over, but with not a single bulb broken or ornament damaged.
Whoever is in the house can be helpful as well as mischievous. Several different owners say they would heard the vacuum being used in another room when they knew they were by themselves or knew there was no one in the room being cleaned. Brian and several other people who worked at the house all talk not remembering where a tool was or leaving one out in the car only to find it in clear view when they began to search for it. The same has been said for some of the historical documents or little trinkets which are now placed throughout the house.
Then there are the sightings of the American author Stephen Crane, most known for the book The Red Badge of Courage. Anyone who has sat through American Literature courses has also probably read his other classic Open Boat. The short story, published in 1897, was a fictionalized account of the time when a boat he was sailing in, the Commodore, sank and the men aboard had to float until rescued. What most people do not realize, even if they know the story comes from a real life experience where a man died, is there was first a nonfiction version published earlier that year. After Crane’s rescue, he was brought to Lilian Place to convalesce, where he began working on the first draft of that story. It was published a few days later, although no one is sure if he was still living at the house at that time.
More than one guest has seen the figure of a man in the room he had stayed in. Some say it is the man who died in the accident who stayed with the author for some reason and is now stuck in the house. Perhaps the intense emotion needed to conjure up the man to write about him did indeed conjure the man. Others say it is Crane himself. His ghost does have a tendency to pop up in places he was associated with, including his old house in New Jersey. This would seem to be confirmed by at least one witness who saw a picture of him on the wall of Lilian Place, the same one which now hangs in the room he is said to appear, and asked why that man had come into her room that night.
Listen to Episode 89 of Tripping on Legends, Lucy and Lilian and Lucille Are WalkingTripping on Legends went to Lilian Place in late winter 2021. I had wanted to do something on the East Coast and discovered the bridge story on a Monday. On the Haunted Places posting was a misspelled reference to Lilian Place, which I had never heard of, and I began researching that. By Wednesday I was in contact with Nancy Long and by Thursday I was on the phone with Brian, the man renovating and looking after the place who was inviting me to stay the night. It all moved very quickly.
Deanna and I were able to go, vacuum in tow. There was not too much that happened while we were there, although some odd things came to the surface and there were a few moments. We stopped by McDonalds on the way there, and Deanna purchased a Happy Meal which came with a little puzzle. We set it up in the kids’ room, and every time we left and returned, it was moved or knocked over. There was also an odd smell that would come and go in one particular section of the downstairs. Deanna also felt dramatic temperature changes in the stone fireplace which rose up from the side porch (more on that part of the story in a bit).
The trip offered a chance for us to see what history and more recent endeavors had perhaps done to the stories there and to walk (and drive) the bridge in an attempt to connect. I was immediately struck by the cluttered decor, but more the odd floor plan. With rooms off of rooms and a staircase in the middle which felt almost like a New England split level than a traditional home, it might be easy to see things out of the corner of your eye or think something is somewhere it isn’t…or even lose yourself slightly in the landscape of the house.
In one of the bedrooms there was a mannequin placed in the corner wearing a white dress, an obvious nod to Lucille and her story. The whole place has become a holding ground for many of the historical society’s bits, and I wondered about bringing objects with their own history into an already haunted place.
- We also ran into a woman who was with the historical society. She has been following what we were doing on social media and had come to make sure we were treating the whole thing with respect. Although she would not allow us to record or directly quote her, she said her granddaughter had seen things and the history of sightings was well known. Investigators had been there and gotten evidence.
One thing she said, which was also echoed by Brian, stuck out to me. While the most common name for the ghost in white was Lucille and it would be understood if Lilian was still around, they kept referencing Lucy. It was unclear if this was another woman seen in an already filled house, but they had gotten the name from a paranormal group that had investigated there. I was struck by how quick they were to abandon what had been the traditional narrative for what these people had found.
Then there was a comment by Brian. While most of the night’s recordings came out fine, it was his interview (which I believe also contained the story below) that was erased from the recorder by the time we got home. In it, he talks about the number of homeless people who live under the edges of the bridge, especially the ones on the Lilian Place side. He said they are not dangerous for the most part but there is still that moment of pause. I wondered if they might account for the stories of a woman walking the bridge and disappearing. Then, without any prompting, he talked about how it was well known by people in the area that the fairies owned the bridge, and they were liable to do just about anything. He said this so matter of factly and then responded people in the neighborhood spoke of it openly.
The woman making her way back and forth is not looking to get to the homecoming dance but looking to bring her little boy home. She is stuck in an endless loop crossing time and again, trying to reunite with someone who is no longer there. But maybe he is. There have been stories told of a young boy playing on the porch. He is seen darting around corners or jumping off the stairs. Some have even explained it as if he’s playing some odd game of hide and seek. Then there are the phantom doorbells and knocking. The caretaker confirms this to some degree. He says he sometimes feels like he is being watched when working on the outside of the house, a sensation he feels comes from a young boy. He even once swore some invisible source climbed up the ladder he was using to do some work, something he attributes to a child based on the sound of the steps.
Listen to Episode 90…The Ladies Are Still Walking in DaytonaIt is clear that in recent days the stories of Lilian Place and the woman on the bridge have gotten mixed together and been influenced by other local ghost stories and basic haunted motifs. There is one story which connects so many of the dots (oddly, I do not remember where I read or heard the details of this part of the story, but it may have come from Brian) that it feels more like an urban legend crafted by knowing bits and pieces of different parts of the locations’ paranormal past. Years ago, a woman lost her son because she was deemed a bad mother. The father took sole custody, but unable to properly care for the child, he sent him to Lilian Place which was acting as a sort of boarding house at the time. Most of the children were girls, so the boy was forced to sleep outside on the porch, which may seem harsh but also has the flavor of adventure a young boy might actually find appealing. After some time, his mother had somewhat straightened out her life and wanted to spend time with him. She would sneak over the river and to the porch and talk and play games with him all night until the sun began to rise. It started with a monthly visit, but their meetings became more and more frequent. Then they suddenly stopped all together. The boy continued to wait for her at night, but she never came back. The story goes that she had been hit by a car crossing the bridge to see him one night and died there, never allowed to see him again.
It could be the two souls are doomed to never meet and never move on, both staying someplace where they found happiness once. It would be the very definition of unsolved emotions. Her not able to see him one last time, he thinking even his beloved mother had abandoned him again. No one is ever able to tell what happened to the boy after his time at Lilian Place, but most agree his mother’s name was Lucille.
It’s like so many of the details of Veterans Bridge and Lilian Place. Was the man who got hit by the car Tim or Mark? Was the name of this ghost or that one Lucy or Lucille or Lilian? Any lack of clarity adds to the story there in Daytona, which will continue to grow. The house recently had a haunted house there telling many of the ghost stories and it has opened itself up to ghost hunters and investigation events, all of which will add to legend and continue to draw people in. The more hands in the pot the more details get left behind so things can fit a narrative. It’s a interesting place to visit for anyone looking to touch history and be touched by the paranormal, a mix of pride in the past and awe of things otherworldly and the tricky highwire act of balancing the two. Dolls stare at you, and they can feed your fear of haunted objects or your love of historic toys.
Just don’t feel bad if you can’t get the names of the ghosts right.
SOURCES:
The Ghosts of Lilian Place: Haunted Daytona Beachhttps://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/coastal-volusia/2020/08/06/video-new-orange-avenue-bridge-gets-early-visitor-on-top-of-arch/112871576/
https://www.daytonabeach.com/blog/post/explore-history-and-maybe-meet-a-ghost-at-lilian-place/
Historic Florida Ghost Doesn’t Realize How Terrifying Her Presence Is
Veterans Memorial Bridge – Orange Avenue Bridge
https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/2012/10/25/ghosts-of-lilian-place-ready-to-entertain/30600348007/
Were Occultists Involved in Melbourne’s Early Design?from Arielle Richards on Vice
Scrolling Reddit one evening, in the kind of internet hole where an interim derealisation takes effect and you become so consumed by information overload that nothing sounds too unhinged and everything seems fascinating, I came across a post on r/melbourne.
“Does anyone have any local urban legends?” it read. “I’ve always kinda assumed that every area had an urban legend or two but I never seem to hear or remember any.”
Flying saucers at Westall primary school in 1966, panthers in the hills, chutes for the deceased in the labyrinthine “back of house” at Crown Casino, tunnels under the State Library, Museum, and CBD. Clickhole for people desperately craving some sort of lore to underpin all the copy paste late capitalism of Melbourne’s modern sprawl.
Read More: Were Occultists Involved in Melbourne’s Early Design?
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Scariest Missouri Urban Legend? A Young Girl, A Witch and a Cabinfrom Doc Holliday on 100.9 The Eagle
Norman shared the story of a family consisting of John and Suzanne from Hawk Point, Missouri who in 1905 got married and bought property in the woods where they built a cabin on Lincoln News Now.
The couple would eventually have a couple named Josie. I won’t ruin the full story which I highly recommend you check out in the original article and in the book, but it involves a witch that Josie would meet who wandered the woods near where the family lived. The woman meddled in the dark arts and would eventually lead Josie down that dark path until one day…she turned.
The now-possessed young girl would be found by her parents who were eventually brought to their end by her. The witch would confess what happened eventually on her death bed.
Read some other Tripping on Legends witch stories:
The Love Potion of Arbuckle CreekThe Swamp Witch of Pemberton FerryEpisode 96…Blame It on the WitchTripping on Legends Episode 100…Which Blair Witch is WhichTripping on Legends Episode 96…Blame It on the Witch Read More: A Young Girl, A Witch, and a Cabin
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
New Jersey’s Creepiest Urban Legend Is Not The One You Think It Isfrom Lou Russo on 94.3 The Point
In this bone-chilling story, there is the spirit of a young boy who seems extremely polite in most instances, and as the story goes, will even retrieve coins you drop on Clinton Rd., and return them to you within 24 hours.
I’m not exactly sure how an honest spirit returning money can be creepier than the Jersey Devil, but who am I to say?
Clinton Road in Passaic County is known for more than just this story. Many of them are much darker, and this road is considered to be one of the most haunted roads in the state.
You can learn about some really frightening stories associated with this road at Dangerous Roads.
Read More: New Jersey’s Creepiest Urban Legend
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Did American TV Viewers Hear the Devil’s Voice on Aug. 29, 1968?By David Emery on Snopes
Here’s a historical claim with an eerie supernatural twist that we’ve been asked to check out many times. This version was sent to us in 2016 by a reader named Neil:
I heard this thing that on August 29, 1968, every single TV went out across America at the same time. There was a strange noise coming from the TV, and some thought that it was the voice of the devil. The televisions were off for about 25 seconds, and no one was ever able to figure out what happened.
We have yet to come across a variant that provides any more detail than this: On Aug. 29, 1968, every TV set in America simultaneously “went out,” “turned off,” or “shut down” (meaning, perhaps, that the broadcast signal was interrupted) for about 25 seconds, during which time the televisions emitted a “strange noise” or “murmuring” sound, which some people took to be “the voice of the devil.”
This type of viral story is often called “creepypasta,” which in turn is a form of “copypasta” — as in a text (or text combined with images) that is copied and pasted and shared ad nauseam on the internet.
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
The One Town In America So Haunted That It’s Illegal To VisitBy NyRee Ausler on YourTango
The United States is filled with mysterious, mystical, and terrifying places that avid adventurers would love to explore.
Some of them are accessible, like the Alaska Triangle, where people tend to disappear, the paranormal vortex known as the Bridgewater Triangle, or the place where murder is thought to be completely legal, the “Zone of Death.”
But as frightening as all of those places are, there is one particular town in northwestern Connecticut that is so haunted and cryptic that it has been labeled off-limits to visitors and looky-loos.
Best known as a ghost town, Dudleytown, Connecticut is the subject of many strange theories.
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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10 Horror Movie Film Locations That Are Supposedly HauntedBY BROOKE WRIGHT on MovieWeb
Horror has always been an iconic genre. There’s something fascinating about watching paranormal terrors and serial killers, especially from the safety of our own couch. Even for those based on a true story, we are still separated from the fear by a screen. However, for those who make the movies, that is not the case. They live and breathe these movies for months, and, sometimes, the paranormal activity becomes very real to them.
There have been claims by many actors, directors, and crew workers that some of the sets of the horror movies they’ve worked on were actually haunted. From mysterious bruising to coincidental deaths, the terror didn’t stop when the cameras stopped rolling, or even when the workers left the set.
Here are 10 horror movie film locations that are supposedly haunted!
Hear a little more about the locations surrounding Jeepers Creepers, not on the list, and the curse attached to The Crow.
…and of course, our classic write-up on the Poltergeist Curse and the lies we learned from the movie.
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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With Ella begging me to allow her to do the Backrooms episode, we had to switch gears a little bit.
It’s okay to follow Robert’s Rules and believe in the curse. It’s okay to fall back on Voodoo curses and wild affairs and attempted murder. It’s okay to swoon when the tales get taller and the stories get darker and the monster comes out of the attic.
All Roberts are a representation of the life and times during which They Did It.
Just understand the doll you know and love is not the one you think he is, and the truth might be is as faded as the face on that little toy in Key West.
And you should be happy about that.
Join Tripping on Legends as they take a frank look at Key West’s most famous resident and question the little doll that started it all. We even get a call from our leading expert on Pemberton Ferry and artist Della Daughtery with a personal account of Robert.
We have done a few episodes worth relistening to about the Keys, from the haunted Key West Lighthouse to the horrific Hurricane of 1935.
Listen to Episode 28…0 Miles as the Crow FliesCheck out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Legend Has It There’s A Female Demon Who Kills Awful Husbandsby By Wear Your Voice Magazine on yourTango
Like all other cultures, South Asia has its own selection of other-worldly monsters to scare children (and even some adults). None of them really ever frightened me because they all seemed to have a reason for being the way they are.
The one that intrigues me the most of them all is the Churel also spelled Chuṛail, Cuḍel, Churreyl, Chudel, or Cuḍail.
In Pakistan, Churel is also the word for a living witch. But this ghostly female demon is the man-hating, anti-patriarchy, kind of iconic ghost that I hope to become when I pass away.
Read a little more about the infamous Stikini, a Seminole legend with some creepy similarities. Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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This Hudson Valley Home is so Terrifying it has Been Legally Declared Haunted by New York Stateby Travel Maven
New York State is filled with dozens of creepy urban legends and by now, you’ve probably already heard about the state’s most infamous haunted places including the Amityville Horror House, Utica State Hospital, and Buffalo’s Central Terminal.
However, there’s actually a home so haunted, it has legal proof. Thanks to the Ghostbusters court ruling, this house has been declared legally haunted by the state and the story behind it is fascinating, keep reading to learn more.
Read about the Massachusetts Court Case where a house was sued that was featured in Weird Massachusetts.
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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Legend Has It Terrifying Screams Are Heard Nightly on this Texas BridgeBy Rebecca Published: February 10, 2023
Originally posted on KROD.com
Normally I place a hook and then a link to the actual article. This one is so short, I figured it would be fine to post it all here. Check out the link from them to get other stories, including another portal to hell and a haunted cemetery in Lubbock.
Scary stories. They are taboo. They are terrifying and yet so satisfying. My entire life I have been prone to listening to and reading about spooky stories, urban legends and ghostly sightings. But I can without a doubt honestly say I have never heard the story of ‘the screaming bridge’ in Arlington. Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.
WHAT IS THE STORY OF THE SCREAMING BRIDGE IN ARLINGTON?On February 4, 1961, six teenage girls from Arlington, TX plunged off of the bridge not realizing that the bridge was not complete. The car took a tumble and landed upside down killing 2 of the girls in it instantly. Several of the other female passengers suffered severe injuries and were transported to the nearest local hospital where they later died.
WHY WAS THE BRIDGE IN ARLINGTON DAMAGED IN THE FIRST PLACE?The local fire marshall confirmed that it was arson and through the years it was determined that four Arlington High School students were responsible for burning the bridge while out pulling pranks one night. Coincidentally what is now known as the screaming bridge had actually been burned before, then repaired and eventually barricaded and never repaired again because far too many car accidents occurred there. The screaming bridge has also been called ‘death crossing’ for that reason.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU CROSS SCREAMING BRIDGE IN ARLINGTON?According to TikToker Mason Scythe,
it is said that if you stand on the bridge at night, you will hear the tormented screams of all 6 girls who plunged off the bridge that fateful February night. And the only way to get to it is to park…..and go by foot.
Would you dare walk this creepy, abandoned, dilapidated, haunted screaming bridge at night where many horrible things have happened?
@masonscythe Urban legends of Texas! #greenscreen#texas#urbanlegend#scary#creepy#paranormal#fyp#masonscythe#usa#foryou#foru#foryoupage♬ Creepy – Gib
Read More: Legend Has It Terrifying Screams Are Heard Nightly On This Texas | https://krod.com/legend-has-it-terrifying-screams-are-heard-nightly-on-this-texas-bridge/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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Behind the Curse of the White LighterOriginally posted by American Songwriter
BY ALLI PATTON
In the world of music, there is an urban legend-turned-superstition that exists, one in which a disposable BIC lighterstrikes caution in the hearts of all who carry it. The curse of the white lighter has been long-fabled musical lore, but where did it come from and is there any truth behind it?
The superstition’s origins are steeped in rumor and hearsay. Tied to the famed 27 Club, a cultural phenomenon in which several musicians died at the age of 27, the tale poses that several members – like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain – were all in possession of white lighters when they passed.
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
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There are a few rules that you should never break when thinking about tripping after a ghostly legend. Don’t forget a flashlight if you’re going into the woods. Never cross a bridge unless you’ve seen someone heavier cross it first. Remember to leave a few coins whenever you pass by some graves.
And of course, if you hear music in the woods, never follow it.
Or maybe always follow it, just never try to join in on the beat.
There is a deep history of music from the woods, but in the last two decades, people around the world have reported abandoned pianos in forest. Like the stairways among the trees, they appear without warning, often looking like they have been there.
Tripping on Legends goes deep into the stories that have been reported across the globe from Massachusetts to Utah to Sweden and the music’s place in urban legends and folklore. We’ll then turn our attention more local and look at a haunted bridge on Merritt Island said to still ring with the songs of parties past.
Listen to the Haunted Roads episode where we first looked at Merritt Island…
Listen to Episode 113…Haunted Roads, Take Me HomeCheck out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
The Curse That Haunted The Allman Brothers BandOriginally posted by Rock Celebrities
BY: Elif Ozden
In the history of rock music, there have been many ill-fated incidents that fall upon artists. For instance, the age of 27 became a curse for numerous rock stars, including Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Jimi Hendrix. After the mysterious deaths of artists at 27, fans now stop and think when a musician passes away at the same age. There are also some interesting urban myths about the 27 club, one of them being the white lighter curse.
Looking through the music career of the Allman Brothers Band, there is something that stands out — many of their bandmates passed away one by one. In 1971, just two years after the band’s formation, Duane Allman tragically died in a motorcycle accident while driving his motorcycle at high speed. A year later, Berry Oakley also had a motorcycle accident just three blocks from where Duane died. Sadly, he shared the same fate with Duane.
Listen to one our breakdown of the legend:
Tripping on Legends Live: The Haunted VacationClick to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
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WARNING: SOME OF THE PICTURES IN THIS ARTICLE ARE INTENSE AND GRAPHIC.
Horrifying injuries of poor ‘Charlie No-Face’ bogeyman who ‘glowed green’ after accident
Originally posted by The Daily Star
BY: Joe Faretra
According to urban legend, he was either a ghost who wandered the highway with a head that glowed green, or some lurid creature who grew up in squalor after his features melted away.
But in actual fact, the Green Man, or Charlie No-Face, wasn’t just a bogeyman used in stories to scare children and adults alike. He was a real person with a harrowing story.
In Koppel, a small borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, people would go on late night adventures in the hope of catching a glimpse of the fabled phantom.
The story, dating back 100 years, has been passed through generations, but those raised on tales of Charlie No-Face are often surprised to learn the truth.
In a twist, the so-called Green Man was actually said to be a “beautiful, kind man”.
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
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The Urban Legend Of Haunchyville, Wisconsin Is Pure Nightmare Fuel
Originally posted by US104.9
By Sarah Stringer Published: January 31, 2023
One Wisconsin “town” has a particularly spooky legend attached to it.
Wisconsin doesn’t have any shortage on urban legends. There’s even a “ghost ship” that’s completely landbound in Prairie du Chien.
The town of Haunchyville, Wisconsin itself is the legend. It’s rumored to be a village in the woods (near the real town of Muskego) that consists of dwarves, according to Wikipedia. How did they get there and how did the legend begin?
Read More: The Urban Legend Of Haunchyville, WI Is Pure Nightmare Fuel
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
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Paranormal Lovers Can Celebrate Valentine’s in Haunted CourthouseOriginally posted by ESPN El Paso
If you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day date night idea that’s not the usual mushy-gushy dinner date, consider shaking it up and getting ghosted instead.
But not in the rejected without closure kind of way. More like in the hold-your-honey-tight fright-night that’s anything but cliché.
According to the event post, the night will start in a second-floor courtroom with music, Hors D’oeuvres, complimentary wine, and a few dating games. Afterward, a guide will lead you by candlelight into the jail area where the unique lockdown will begin.
Read More: Paranormal Lovers Can Celebrate Valentine’s in Haunted Courthouse
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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Gatlinburg Is Allegedly One Of Tennessee’s Most Haunted Small TownsOriginally posted by OnlyInYourState
Posted in Tennessee Creepy, Haunted January 26, 2023 by Clarisa
Do you love the weird, the odd, and the spooky things in life? Ghost stories have been around since stories have been told, but some towns have more than their fair share of paranormal tales. Of course, most small towns come with a ghost story or two around historic buildings or a particularly eerie graveyard. Despite embracing the strange and spooky, Gatlinburg happens to be one of Tennessee’s most haunted small towns. If you disagree, you may want to read these legends before you decide on a final answer.
Read the whole legend…Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
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A clock tower, and mausoleum made to order, and an old man with no head waiting to chit chat for a while. Tallahassee does its ghost stories a little differently.
Tripping on Legends travels up to the state capital to examine the case of Calvin C. Phillips, the Northern designer and loner who decided to come to Florida to die. Most people find some kind of peace after death, but Phillips and his story have changed as his body changes over the years, and the man who had been a mystery while he was alive, continues to be one in the afterlife.
If only the poor man could find his head.
Listen to the first part on Episode 120…No Heads Are Better Than One Listen to Episode 50 on the Dead Man’s OakCheck out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
The story of the Dead Man’s Oak is one of those Tripping on Legends covered early, and one that continues to confuse folklorist, legend trippers, and investigators in Florida, but the Dead Man is not the only headless ghost in the state.
Join Christopher Balzano and Deanna Mulhern as they travel to three corners of the state tracking four ghostly legends where the walking dead end just above the shoulders.
And there may be a few haunted dog, pirates, and politician along the way.
Listen to Episode 50 on the Dead Man’s OakCheck out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
La Pascualita: Bridal Shop Mannequin or Embalmed Corpse?Originally posted by HowStuffWork
Dressed in the latest fashion, mannequins are common in store front windows as a way to attract potential customers. But sometimes the mannequin becomes the main attraction. That’s the case for a family-owned bridal shop, La Popular Dress Shop, in Chihuahua, Mexico, where there is plenty of lore and legend about whether the woman standing in the window is actually a mannequin. La Pascualita is an eerie, lifelike mannequin, and the speculation is that she’s the actual dead body of the daughter of a former owner.
The tale of the mannequin of La Pascualita is a popular regional story in northern Mexico, but this famous mannequin and the store window she stands in have gained more of a reputation as a tourist attraction. “It’s there in this norteño borderlands region of Mexico where her story is most prevalent, and because it’s the borderlands, the U.S. is more aware of it, too, especially in Texas and New Mexico,” explains Tomás Prower, Latino licensed mortuary professional and author of “Morbid Magic: Death Spirituality & Culture From Around the World.”
Read the whole legend…Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
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Tripping on Legends continues its Halloween haunted trek into the Ocala to a place where what’s on the shelf has a mind of its own. We put the tarot decks down and get more into the little shop where dolls move, keys unlock the unknown, and even simple cutlery can get spooky.
Corrine Kenner, curator of Deland’s Haunted Antique Shop and Paranormal Museum and author of Gently Haunted joins Dan Horon as Christopher Balzano and Nikki Mu spend the night before the big day touring the idea of haunted objects and getting a little more into the story of what’s for sale at the store.
You can listen to the first part of the episode where we get into the Tarot of Physics.
- You can learn more at: http://tarotofphysics.com/
Here’s her site for a little preview of what the shop has to offer:
Click to visit…You can learn more at: http://tarotofphysics.com/
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
The Urban Legend Surrounding this Castle in North Carolina is FascinatingOriginally posted by The Travel Maven
There’s something particularly intriguing about a historic castle. While North Carolina is home to nearly a dozen, none are quite as fascinating as the one at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The legend dates back to the late 1800s when Peter Dromgoole, a student who enrolled at the University, fell in love with a local woman known as Miss Fanny. However, there was another student competing for her love.
Read the whole legend…Explore Tripping on Legends in North Carolina…Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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As the temperature rises and the kids run out of school, Natalie Crist and Christopher Balzano sit down to discuss potential sites for their upcoming road trip. The Trippers discuss several sites in Tennessee and North Carolina, including a Lover’s Leap legend, Old Green Eyes, and the Devil’s Trampling ground. They move on to the great state of Indiana, including the 100 Step Cemetery in Brazil and Mounds State Park to track down some Pukwudgie reports…
…with enough time left over to touch on the importance of The Mandrell Sisters…
Explore all of the episodes having to do with the 2017 Summer Legend Trip:Travel Log…100 Steps Cemetery in IndianaEpisode 22…Meeting the Pukwudgies in IndianaEpisode 23…100 Step Cemetery in IndianaEpisode 15…Cool for the SummerEpisode 17…Trips, Triangles, and North Carolina FolkloreEpisode 18…Whispers and Screams from ShilohEpisode 19…Tripping Carolina in My MindTravel Log…The Devil’s Tramping GroundEpisode 20…There’s Something in Room 223Episode 21…but Who Is Haunting LydiaTravel Log…The Lady of Shiloh Cemetery in Sanford, FloridaWhen the Trippers Hit CarolinaCheck out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
LEGEND OR LEGENDARY: The history, tales, and ghosts of Rowan OakOriginally posted by The Daily Journal
By BROOKE BULLOCK BURLESON
OXFORD — Nestled in the hills of Oxford, Mississippi, lies Rowan Oak, an antebellum style home built in 1844 by Irish immigrant Colonel Robert Sheegog and mostly known as the longtime residence of William Faulkner.
The world-renowned writer and Nobel Prize winner bought the home in 1930 and called it home until his death in 1962. Since then, the iconic property has gained a reputation as a home for some ghostly inhabitants … a reputation almost entirely created by the author himself.
Haunted Ocala is now ready for order…Click to orderFeel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Tripping on Legends is now part of the Midnight FM family. Check us out and see some of the other amazing shows they offer at https://midnight.fm/.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.com
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www.facebook.com/ThisTownisMyth
and with the hashtag #ThisTownisMyth on all our social media platforms
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
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Things go wrong and there is only one logical reason. It has to be that woman on the edge of town, the one little kids fear and older people secretly go to for help. She’s the perfect combination of outsider and un-understandable power. She’s coming for your children and is the focus of your rage. Join Tripping on Legends as we explore the history of blaming the witch in Florida from some old legends already told to the infamous Blue Moon Killing. Of course, there will be time to connect all of it to the witch living in your neighborhood.
Check out some of our witches episodes…
Witches and Murderers at Arbuckle Creek in Lorida
The Swamp Witch of Hog Island
The Three Ghostly Witches of Florida
Click to view books on AmazonYou can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved or whenever just to share a legend you’ve heard to ask a question at ((813) 418-6822.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com
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Horror writer Douglas Ford uses the old ghost story of the haunted train of Pemberton Ferry as the inspiration and setting for his story The Baron of the Rails.34 OrchardA literary journal that takes you dark places.
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ISSUE 6Click here to download as PDF: 34 ORCHARD ISSUE 6 AUTUMN 2022
Table of Contents
Cover Art: Ophelia’s Last Secret – Robert Cedergren
Shrike Song – Zachary Kellian
The Beginning of You – Samantha Bryant
The Gritter – Kurt Newton
The Baron of the Rails – Douglas Ford
The Dusk of Day-shapes – David H. West
And Satyrs Shall Dance There – John Berbrich
The Yakshi Next Door – Hareendran Kallinkeel
Head – Mark Steensland
Memory Foam – Rowan Hill
Her Color – Grace Rolen
Step on a Crack – Jake Jerome
Birthday Dinner, May 28. – Jennifer Judge
All Aboard – KC Grifant
Young People in Love – Sam Lesek
Ugly Cinderella – Molly Greer
Insert Name Here – J. Paul Ross
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HEADER PHOTO: TORNADO DAMAGE, C. JEN CONNIC, 2019
What was supposed to be the nuts and bolts of haunted objects and creepy antiques on the eve of Halloween quickly shifted gears just as the cameras rolled. Before we can get into the discussion, Dan Horon of the Haunted Antique Shop in Deland throws out there the idea of the Tarot of Physics. Before we know it, the Trippers are off on a journey into some crazy ideas into the nature and changing face of the decks which move the supernatural.
- Corrine Kenner, curator of Deland’s Haunted Antique Shop and Paranormal Museum and author of Gently Haunted joins Horon as Christopher Balzano and Nikki Mu spend the night before the big day shuffling decks and getting deeper into astrology and its place among the haunted dolls.
And we still have a whole episode just on the shop and haunted objects still to come from that night.
You can learn more at: http://tarotofphysics.com/
Here’s her site for a little preview of what the shop has to offer.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
It’s Halloween time and mixed in with all of the witches and ghosts and spooky decorations, a newer mascot of the season has popped up in the last few years and taken control of the holiday.
Sam is the driving force behind the movie Trick R Treat and the living embodiment of Halloween. He stalks the night offering a framing for the tales in the movie and enforcing the unwritten rules of the season. With a new theatrical release for 2022, it’s a great time to watch the movie and look at who this little guy is and how he taps into some of the bigger themes of Halloween and horror.
Join Christopher Balzano and Nikki Mu as they sit down with their popcorn and explore Halloween, Trick R Treat, and the mini monster decorating your neighbor’s yard and walking around on Halloween night pretending to be just another kid.
Check out Christopher Balzano’s books, including the newly released Haunted Ocala National Forest
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
“How the Ghosts Stole Christmas” Is a Rare Happy ‘X-Files’ Holiday EpisodeOriginally posted Collider
BY ALYSE WAX
As the story goes that Mulder (David Duchovny) tells Scully (Gillian Anderson), Maurice and Lyda were star-crossed lovers who couldn’t stand to spend a single day apart. So, on Christmas Eve, they made a lover’s pact and killed themselves in a spooky old house so that they would never be alone again. Ghost hunters claim that their spirits haunt the house every year on Christmas.
While Mulder and Scully aren’t exactly “star-crossed lovers,” and won’t officially be lovers for another season and a half, they are… something, so when they go into the house, the pair discover corpses that look suspiciously like themselves under the floorboards before they are separated for pop-psychology sessions with Maurice (Asner) and Lyda (Tomlin). Maurice starts off with Mulder, telling him he is “prone to obsessive compulsiveness workaholism” and “antisocialism,” while Lyda is with Scully, telling her that she is seeking “intimacy through co-dependency.”
Read Tripping on Legends own breakdown of the episode.
Haunted Ocala is now ready for order…Click to orderFeel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Tripping on Legends is now part of the Midnight FM family. Check us out and see some of the other amazing shows they offer at https://midnight.fm/.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.com
Follow our new project, This Town is Myth on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/ThisTownisMyth
and with the hashtag #ThisTownisMyth on all our social media platforms
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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The Creepy True Story of the Missouri House with Screaming WallsOriginally posted by KMHO Radio
BY Doc Holiday
If you’ve never heard of “The Screaming House” in Union, Missouri, you’re in for a treat. Steven LaChance moved into the house 11 years ago and ended up fleeing in terror after the house became more than they could handle.
Fright Find fills in even more details of Steven LeChance and his family’s ordeal inside “The Screaming House”. As they mention, he became so desperate for help, he reached out to The Warren’s who gained fame in the movie “The Conjuring”.
Doors would open and close and the walls would…scream. The activity escalated to such a degree that Steven would eventually yell out loud “God help me!” and the stories claim when he uttered those words, the front door opened and the family left.
Read More: The Creepy True Story of the Missouri House with Screaming Walls | https://khmoradio.com/ixp/463/p/the-creepy-true-story-of-the-missouri-house-with-screaming-walls/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Read More: The Creepy True Story of the Missouri House with Screaming Walls
Haunted Ocala is now ready for order…Click to orderFeel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Tripping on Legends is now part of the Midnight FM family. Check us out and see some of the other amazing shows they offer at https://midnight.fm/.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.com
Follow our new project, This Town is Myth on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/ThisTownisMyth
and with the hashtag #ThisTownisMyth on all our social media platforms
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
True crime and ghostly folklore go together like Chicago and bootlegging or guns and bullets……and when you’re in the shadow of Ocala, no gangster can rest in peace without a ghost story. Florida’s haunted locations act as a map of unusual crime and famous villains, but there is one name that keeps coming up when you talk old time criminals and Florida phantoms.Ma Barker might be one of the lesser known names to some outsiders, but her family’s story is intermixed with that of the state. Her house, or the reflection of it, forces us to keep asking about both sides of the mirror.
We don't call it Tripping on Legends because of mushrooms...After digging deeper into the ghost story of the Lott children, we've discovered some new information that casts the story in a new light......and offers a great chance to talk about cemetery legends involving little things you leave.
We don't call it Tripping on Legends because of mushrooms...After digging deeper into the ghost story of the Lott children, we've discovered some new information that casts the story in a new light......and offers a great chance to talk about cemetery legends involving little things you leave.
It was a dark night, and I was riding down this little country road at 2 in the morning. With that setup, nothing good is about to happen. Instead, hold your breath, try to stay awake, and wait for the ghost stories to write themselves.
Whether or not they actually captured anything paranormal is up for debate, but the songs still manage to hold up regardless, taking the common tropes that rock and roll is known for and making tracks that are much more than your typical throwaway filler material. While these records might not be for everyone necessarily, it’s nice to know that these bands have fans on the other side.
Originally posted on A Tribe Called Sanford:
You may have driven by Sanford’s Evergreen Cemetery multiple times without much thought. But have you ever stopped by and explored? There are so many interesting things to be found! Turn off 46A and you’ll find a peaceful property shaded by large oak trees. On the right is the…
Throughout history, time slips and involuntary time travel have been reported. Still, no one knows how they’re caused or if they are actual time travel incidents (or hallucinations, lies, hoaxes). Some of the most famous cases of time slips include the “Ghosts of Versailles” case of 1901, where two visitors spotted the long-dead Queen Marie Antoinette wandering through the gardens at the Palace of Versailles. However, moments later, they were back in the modern day.
Another famous case of time-traveling is the case of an old couple from Loch Ness (a place inexplicably famous for the Loch Ness Monster) who disappeared in the mid-18th century and turned up a hundred years later at a local almshouse before disappearing again. Then we have urban legends like the tale of Rudolph Fentz, where a man turned up in the middle of Times Square, dressed in clothes from the 19th century, and was almost instantaneously hit by a car. The weird part? He was the description of a man who disappeared 74 years earlier. But are there any other cases of time traveling in recent times? As it turns out, there are.
Outside of Rochester, in the little town of Irondequoit, is the 977-acre Durand-Eastman Park, formally dedicated on May 22, 1909. The 5,000 feet of Lake Ontario shoreline at Durand Eastman Park is conducive to a peaceful summer atmosphere that draws many visitors. The park's incredible beauty, enhanced by its steep wooded slopes, stunning panoramas, and small lakes, keeps many hikers and nature lovers coming back for more.
But another type of traveler frequents Durand Eastman Park: fans of mystery and suspense. Many of these sightseers travel to the area hoping to catch a glimpse of the White Lady's Castle, a wall of stone that looks like something out of the Middle Ages. The wall, legend has it, was once part of a grand castle atop the hill, where a mysterious woman and her beautiful daughter are said to have lived in seclusion.
Former Megadeth bassist, David Ellefson was born and raised in the small town of Jackson, Minnesota. Like many small towns, Jackson Minnesota has an urban legend about a young lady named Mary Jane Twiliger, who was buried at Loon Lake Cemetery in the early 1880s. The urban legend was translated into one of the band's most misunderstood songs.
Here are five of the most popular roadside ghost stories from the West Virginia Ghosts collection. Haunted highways and tales of roadside ghosts refer to streets, roads, or highways that are the subject of folklore and urban legends, including rumors and reports of ghostly apparitions, ghostly figures, phantom hitchhikers, phantom vehicles, repeating or looping highways, or other paranormal phenomena.
Belief in ghosts is widespread in folklore and mythology, stretching back thousands of years. Most cultures have legends about the afterlife, including souls lingering on earth after their bodies have perished. In literature, ghosts appear in ancient works like the Oresteia and Homer's Odyssey.
In the millennia since, ghosts have remained a mainstay in fiction, from the works of Shakespeare to the classic ghost stories of the Victorian era. From the 1920s onward, ghosts appeared in dozens of Hollywood horror movies, often depicted in a sympathetic light. Since the 1970s, movies about ghosts have tended to be horrors or comedies, with the latter frequently subverting the genre's tropes. It's a testament to the power of the ghost as an idea that storytellers continue to depict it in books and movies to this day.
A cold chill fills the air. Your heart starts to beat faster, and the hairs on your neck stand up. A door slowly creaks open and then slams shut. The sound of feet running across the floor echoes in the house. Suddenly, a fear-inducing screech sends a paralyzing chill up the spine. Don’t turn around. Someone or something is standing behind you. Unfortunately, this isn’t an opening scene of a classic horror movie but real-life. Indeed, these true ghost stories will scare you silly.
For centuries there have been sightings of real-life ghosts all over the world. In modern times, ghost stories and haunted houses are all the rage. People love the feeling of fear. So with that in mind, read on and enjoy these spooky true ghost stories.
people. It’s no surprise that rumors of ghosts and spirits often surround cemeteries, and it’s not uncommon for there to be stories about unexplained phenomena like floating orbs or strange sounds coming from cemeteries. One beautiful and historic cemetery that has some urban legends surrounding it is Great Hill Cemetery in Seymour. The 18th-century burial ground is tucked away in the woods and is still in use today.
No matter where you stand on the showroom floor, chances are that a doll or mannequin is watching you. Fortunately, unlike in the movies, they don't skitter across the floor when your back is turned. But the sheer number of these playthings on display ensures you're bound to wander into the line of sight of at least one pair of glass eyes.
Similar to clowns and sharks, an aged doll has an unsettling connotation attached to it.
"Movies definitely fueled that," confirms Brittany Nicole, co-owner and operator of Old Ghosts Odditorium. "You think back to the '30s, and you look at one of those dolls, that was a brand-new baby doll that brought some little kid somewhere so much joy. That was the one toy they had that their parents could afford to buy them."
One road in particular is notorious for ghostly sightings and it's been named as one of the UK's most dangerous roads.
The Kirkstone Pass, which sweeps through the Lake District, has been noted as being full of ghosts with a dark history haunting it.
The story that persists is that Thatcher tried to make a deal with the Devil to bring his loved ones back. No one knows whether he got his wish or not, but since then people have travelled to the burial ground to try and talk to whatever might be left at the bricks, earning it the name The Devil’s Chair. If you sit in the chair, especially at midnight when the cemetery is closed, you can talk directly to the demon yourself, offering your soul up for whatever you want. If you do not say anything yourself, he will whisper in your left ear the name of your true love or the date of your death. People said to do this have been known to die within a year of visiting. You may also hear a baby cry, meaning someone under the age of ten in your life will pass soon.
We rarely break into commentary when we post the articles we gather from news sources, but as this one hits close to home and we specifically did a show on it, we feel the need to drop a little something in about the nature of urban legends, folklore, and the haunted stories that are often too strong to be killed by facts.
And the facts are these; the song American Girl is not about the suicide that happened on the campus of the University of Florida.
If you thought the legend and scary tales of 'Cry Baby Bridge' were disturbing this century-plus old bridge named 'Dead Woman's Crossing' in near Weatherford, Oklahoma is the stuff of pure nightmares. Unlike many other haunted bridges in the state and across the country that have dubious histories that flow from urban legends, the horrific story of 'Dead Woman's Crossing' is actually true and absolutely terrifying.
The bridge is said to be haunted by the spirit of a woman who was killed and beheaded there back in the early 1900s. This murder actually took place and was never solved. Her restless spirit haunts the bridge and has been seen and heard by those brave or foolish enough to venture onto 'Dead Woman's Crossing.'
It was a dark night, and I was riding down this little country road at 2 in the morning. With that setup, nothing good is about to happen. Instead, hold your breath, try to stay awake, and wait for the ghost stories to write themselves.
Several haunted bridges are located throughout Alabama. One in particular is Cry Baby Bridge. There’s a variety of stories behind this haunted bridge, and we’ve included one of them below. While many people believe the story about Cry Baby Bridge is true, several others believe it’s an urban legend.
Even if you put the reported paranormal activity at Greyfriars monastery aside, there's undoubtedly an eerie feeling around the village of Dunwich. Today, Dunwich is home to around 200 people, but the village is a shadow of its former self.
Join writer and folklorist Christopher Balzano as he takes you above the trees and into the towns of the Ocala looking for some of the odd tales people whisper across campfires and when they think outsiders aren’t listening. Part first-hand accounts, part urban legend, these stories will offer a little dose of history and large measure of weirdness.
After our weekend legend trip to Boca Raton, we discovered more about who the mysterious Little Mary might be...and the story is both heartbreaking and inspirational.
Join us live as we explore who might be walking the mausoleum and trying to comfort in death the way she did in life
For a lot of people the only thing that's scarier than a creepy clown, is a ghost clown! Talk about nightmare fuel, that's taking it to a whole new level of terror. Oh, but it gets even scarier. Add in the spectral presence of circus animals, performers, freaks, and even the spirits of deceased audience members and you've got an idea of what this place is all about. It's the old abandoned Gandini’s Circus Camp in Edmond, Oklahoma.
The Sooner State has a wealth of old creepy abandoned places, all of which are rumored to be haunted. Some have legitimate stories and backgrounds, others are the stuff of urban legend and frightening fiction. What is it about these empty and forgotten places that make them so unwelcoming and scary? In Oklahoma, we have abandoned and haunted houses, churches, schools, hospitals, cemeteries, and even circuses!
Every once in a while, you’re bound to come across chilling ghost stories that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand. Ghost stories are quick to capture people’s attention — regardless if they believe in ghosts or not.
In pop culture, shows like “Are You Afraid of the Dark” create a hype on chilling tales of ghosts and the otherworldly. It features a group of storytellers called the “Midnight Society” gathered around a campfire chilling tales like how a ghost appears in a mirror or how a pale-looking boy appears out of nowhere saying he’s cold.
Once upon a time, two trippers got into a car to look into the ghostly legend of a man who screams at night, a little girl who comforts the living visiting the dead, and a wall where a witch traps children before stealing their souls. They ended up searching for the grave of a teen and rescuing a soul from a wall of coral…at least if you believe the stories.
It was the coldest winter for 200 years, and three friends out shooting near the Acle Straight didn’t think their blood could be any chillier: until they heard an eerie whistle.
There, approaching them on the ice, was a figure, walking purposefully towards the rivulet that was the only element of Breydon Water left unfrozen.
And as he walked, he whistled.
Weird Norfolk received a letter from reader JB Howkins, who described an unsettling meeting in the early 1960s, when he and two friends were close to the Acle Straight.
In the world of haunted storytelling and urban legends, we who set the story can’t always control it. Often times the nature of a ghost is determined by the tales we tell about it. Once it’s out there, the haunting takes a life of its own and can’t be erased.
Depending on who's telling the story, you'll hear of experiments on Albinos that would happen on the property. As you might imagine, that kind of tale attracts many to want to investigate. A few years ago, KSMU shared the story of a book that documented the legends impact on a real family. The author told the story of how the Sheedy family had to spend a fortune on security for the farm after many would attempt to come on the property to do drugs and sometimes worse. The book is fiction, but it's based on a very sad truth..
There is no cemetery in Illinois that has a wilder variety of history than Rosehill. It's the final resting place of many of Abraham Lincoln's friends. Oh, and it might also include a vampire. Really.
In the world of haunted storytelling and urban legends, we who set the story can’t always control it. Often times the nature of a ghost is determined by the tales we tell about it. Once it’s out there, the haunting takes a life of its own and can’t be erased.
In Middlebury lies a collection of tiny houses in the woods known as "Little People's Village," AKA the "Fairy Village." Some say it's creepy and cursed, and others say it's haunted and hellacious.
There are many versions of the story about these miniature buildings and who lived there if anyone. People who have visited the site have called it captivating and disturbing, but there is a story that goes along with the history of this abandoned village of small buildings.
May is a busy month in the paranormal world as dozens of recurring ghosts pop up for an annual walkabout centuries after shuffled off the mortal coil. There's a real royal flavour to the spooks this month with the anniversary of the beheading of Anne Boleyn marked by not only the one-time Queen herswelf, but her dad too,
Originally posted on 3 Notch Paranormal Investigations:
There’s something about covered bridges that draw paranormal investigators like moths to the flame. It seems every covered bridge left in the United States has some spooky story to tell. Recently, the 3 Notch Paranormal Investigations Team traveled a bit north, to Harford County, Maryland, to investigate the old…
Originally posted on Leigh Goff :
The Chesapeake region is known for blue crabs, sailing, and the U.S. Naval Academy. However, Maryland’s past is cloaked in a dark secret–an intriguing and rarely mentioned history of witches. In 1635, the state adopted the Witchcraft Act of 1604 that declared witchcraft a felony, punishable by death. Rebecca Fowler suffered the…
From Cropsey to Bloody Mary, several horror icons have been inspired by modern folklore. To me, the most interesting part of these naturally formed bogeymen is how their mythology has no single author, as these stories are usually developed by several different people recounting what they’ve heard from others, adding and forgetting crucial details along the way in a form of narrative evolution.
. Cemeteries are supposed to be places of sorrow. They’re where we remember those who lives have been taken from us, moments mixed with memories of their lives and the sadness of their passing. In Boca Raton, there’s a mourner who goes too far, screaming his grief for the whole neighborhood to hear, even though […]
You're walking through the woods, maybe just slightly off the path. There's a odd quiet in the trees and your gut tells you something isn't right. You squint into the distance, trying to make out that odd shadow being formed by the disappearing sun when your eyes adjust and you see it; a staircase in the middle of the forest.
Would you climb them?
Fort Ontario may be the perfect spot for this years Haunted Break or Summer Legend Trip. From the mysterious man walking along the train tracks with his lantern to the little boy who loves to get his photo taken, there is a long history behind the spooky things up there on the border. And we haven't even gotten to Post Ghost and his connection to Whistling Past the Cemetery.
A folklorist, a witch, and a seeker walk into the woods. There’s no punchline, it’s just the beginning of an odd journey and an unusual episode of Tripping on Legends…and there’s no better topic for a weird episode of weird than the fungi that may just rule the world.
Hillside Cemetery is where Eastport's 'Devil's Chair' is nearby, which makes this legend even more creepy. A path off of the cemetery leads you to this rock where legend has it the devil will meet you at midnight to strike a deal. The contributor states 'As kids we always dared each other to walk the path and go there, but none of us ever dared go there at midnight.'
Click to listen Finding the right story for Whistling Past the Cemetery is scary thing to do. You need to find the right location, the right backstory, and the right mix of creepy while looking to see who is sneaking in to knock three times or wipe the tears from the statue’s eyes.
Enter Georgia, just a short ride from Southwest Florida. Follow the tour of the Queen of Southern Gothic Literature and you’ll find three waiting for someone to stand straight against a curse or two.
Join Christopher Balzano as he plans his trip to Georgia to track down a few tales for his new book. This time, he’ll mix his favorite short story with a haunting right out of a plot from a Poe story…literally.
Get your tickets to hear us and some of the best in the cryptid business now for the SWFL Skunk Ape Conference coming June 4th.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
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Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Is This Scary Urban Legend About a Well in Maine a True Story?
From WOKQ 97.5
By: Kira
If you don’t know, the Sabattus Well legend goes like this, according to Ancestralfindings.com: A group of kids went to a known-to-be-haunted well that is located in the back of a cemetery and dared one of them to go down the well. Of course, the friend reportedly agreed, as he wanted to impress everyone.
None of them were prepared for what came next.
Ancestralfindings.com stated that they lowered their friend down on a tire tied to some rope, and after a couple of minutes pulled him back up only to find that their friend’s hair was white and he had aged drastically in one a few minutes.
Read More: Would You Try to Find This Haunted Well in Sabattus, Maine?
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Tripping on Legends is now part of the Midnight FM family. Check us out and see some of the other amazing shows they offer at https://midnight.fm/.
Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
Click to buy
You can follow our dark journey through the forest as we prepare for the book at
https://www.facebook.com/The-Haunted-Ocala-National-Forest-623189158309846
or by following the hashtag #hauntedOcala.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.com
Follow our new project, This Town is Myth on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/ThisTownisMyth
and with the hashtag #ThisTownisMyth on all our social media platforms
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Follow us at:
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Rhetta's Blog
Dixie Haygood was born Anna Jarrett in 1861, according to the New Georgia Encyclpedia and married George Haygood when she was 17 years old. In 1885, she began performing a stage act under the stage name “Annie Abbott the Little Georgia Magnet” that astonished not only audiences in the US but across Europe.
At only 100 pounds, Dixie was able to perform amazing feats of strength and resistance, such as lifting a table with four strong men on it or preventing three men from lifting a pool cue simply by touching one of the men. She was examined by doctors, who could not explain how she could do what she could do.
Many people then and now claim that Dixie’s act was a mixture of clever use of the center of gravity, illusion and charm. Dixie herself claimed to be a spiritualist. Over time, many people began to consider a…
View original post 355 more words
While living in Portland we needed a quick getaway, from our apartment, from the crowds of people, from our everyday life. A reset really, so we …
Lone Fir Cemetery in Portland, Oregon
Is the Palace Theater in Manchester, New Hampshire Haunted? From 949Whom.com
By: Chantel
With over 100 years in New Hampshire, it seems that The Palace Theater has many ghosts hanging around. These include a woman in white named Mary that lingers backstage, a mysterious ghost that seems to make things go wrong (such as faulty equipment), and a man that likes to yell at people through an EVP.
Read more about Tripping on Legend’s haunted theaters.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Tripping on Legends is now part of the Midnight FM family. Check us out and see some of the other amazing shows they offer at https://midnight.fm/.
Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
Click to buy
You can follow our dark journey through the forest as we prepare for the book at
https://www.facebook.com/The-Haunted-Ocala-National-Forest-623189158309846
or by following the hashtag #hauntedOcala.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.com
Follow our new project, This Town is Myth on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/ThisTownisMyth
and with the hashtag #ThisTownisMyth on all our social media platforms
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
The 1st murderer condemned on Maine soil was convicted with supernatural evidence From Bangor Daily News
BY Troy R. Bennett
Before the year was out, Cornish’s wife would be tried, convicted and hanged for the killing in the first government-sponsored execution on Maine soil. There was no physical evidence against her, nor did she confess her guilt. Instead, she was condemned on the basis of a supernatural investigative method from the Middle Ages known as “trial by touch.”
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Tripping on Legends is now part of the Midnight FM family. Check us out and see some of the other amazing shows they offer at https://midnight.fm/.
Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
Click to buy
You can follow our dark journey through the forest as we prepare for the book at
https://www.facebook.com/The-Haunted-Ocala-National-Forest-623189158309846
or by following the hashtag #hauntedOcala.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.com
Follow our new project, This Town is Myth on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/ThisTownisMyth
and with the hashtag #ThisTownisMyth on all our social media platforms
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Click to listen Just say the magic words and whatever you want will come true…just make sure your legend trip is over before midnight.
Christopher Balzano and Deanna Mulhern travel back to Northern Florida to talk about their experiences at two legend trips during a recent journey up the other coast.
First, the Trippers get into the Jacksonville Beach Lifeguard Station and some odd moments with a street light looking to talk. They then explore haunted Fort Clinch on Amelia Island to write love letters to the dead and wonder what a message they got might mean.
Watch our Instagram video showing one part of the legend trip at Fort Clinch…
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tripping On Legends (@spookytripping)
…and here’s the Facebook Live Tripping on Legends did from the fort…
Watch our recent encounter with a talkative streetlight as we tripped the life guard tower.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Click to listen They’re your typical kids. They like to run around and pull pranks and dance when the time is right. They play jump frog and sneak out of bounds when they can and just love to play hide and seek. The only difference is they have been dead for almost fifty-five years.
This odd moment from the cemetery…
Travel back to Cursed Arcadia and walk back into Oak Ridge Cemetery with the Trippers. This time, they focus on the Richardson Children, murdered in the 1960s and the games they play. It’s a case of dark history, murder, and racial injustice. It’s also one of those ghostly legends that is so close to the truth it will make you cry and feel hope at the same time.
We’ve spoken about it before, but it will be our chance to talk about ghost children and the morality of using games during a legend trip.
Deanna reading to the kids…
Look into the other children playing hide and seek in Arcadia.
Explore some of the details of one of our first ever legend trips back in the day when we looked at the legend of the Talking Mary statue and the ghosts of the RAFs in Oak Ridge.
List to the original Oak Ridge Episode Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
The Legend Of Kirksville Devil’s Chair In Missouri May Send Chills Down Your Spine From ONLY IN YOUR STATE
BY Beth Price-Williams
Legend says that those who are brave enough to sit in the chair at the stroke of midnight or on Halloween night will be grabbed by a hand from the below the ground.
Read about Tripping on Legend’s time at the Devil’s Chair…
Click to get our trip there And listen to our Old School episode exploring the legend…
And our not so old school revisit…
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Tripping on Legends is now part of the Midnight FM family. Check us out and see some of the other amazing shows they offer at https://midnight.fm/.
Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
Click to buy
You can follow our dark journey through the forest as we prepare for the book at
https://www.facebook.com/The-Haunted-Ocala-National-Forest-623189158309846
or by following the hashtag #hauntedOcala.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.com
Follow our new project, This Town is Myth on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/ThisTownisMyth
and with the hashtag #ThisTownisMyth on all our social media platforms
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Click to listen Natalie Crist and Christopher Balzano explore several new places to trip, including a haunted diner in Miami where Tinder dates goes bad and the Devil’s Millhopper in Gainesville. They also look at ideas of the Devil over time and play the name game to see how many places are connected to Satan.
The Tripper then talk about the Devil’s Tree at the Oak Hammock Park in Port St. Lucie and then hit the road in search of serial killers, haunted bathrooms, and a tree said to be a vortex to the other side.
Read about Boogeyman and the Devil’s Tree.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
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Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Click to listen A man looks off into the distance pledging no matter what happens he will return to his lost love, even if he dies. The ghosts of three soldiers pointing out their friend is sick. A group of men whose sacrifices may be a cover story for a horrible crime refusing to be hidden.
It’s going to be a great new year at Tripping on Legends…and that’s only one trip.
Join Christopher Balzano as he looks into the weirdness in two of Northern Florida’s most haunted locations. He’ll explore the haunted legends of Fort Clinch and Amelia Island before digging into one of Jacksonville’s most enduring urban legends.
Watch our Instagram video showing one part of the legend trip at Fort Clinch…
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tripping On Legends (@spookytripping)
…and here’s the Facebook Live Tripping on Legends did from the fort…
Watch our recent encounter with a talkative streetlight as we tripped the life guard tower.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Click to listen Name a song you associate with Thanksgiving not sung by Adam Sandler. It is the holiday people enjoy, but most of its traditions are internal. We eat similar food, but the story of the holiday is more the story of our own families.
But does the have its own ghost stories? Join Christopher Balzano as he looks at the ABCs of the Thanksgiving haunted legends. Along the way, Tripping on Legends will explore the why and why nots while looking at a few notable stories, including the unusual case of Duffy’s Cut in Pennsylvania.
For a more in-depth look at the Duffy”s Cut story, visit Crystal Ponti’s podcast Historium Unearthia
http://historiumunearthia.com/episodes/bonus-episode-a-thanksgiving-ghost-story/
Get into some of our past Christmas episodes of the past to get in the holiday mood:
Episode 51…Making Christmas Creepy
Tripping on Legends Episode 51…Making Christmas Creepy
Christmas Eve Ghost Stories
Tripping on Legends Live…Christmas Eve Ghost Stories
Ghosts of Christmas Past
Tripping on Legends Live: Ghosts of Christmas Past
Episode 84…Christmas and the Island of Haunted Toys
Tripping on Legends Episode 84…Christmas and the Island of Haunted Toys
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
In 1692, Invisible Witches Danced in Boston on Christmas Day From New England Folklore
BY Peter Muise
In 1659, the Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony even enacted a law called “Penalty for Keeping Christmas,” which fined anyone who celebrated the holiday. The law was repealed in 1681 under pressure from the British king, but the Puritans still did not embrace Christmas. They thought it was a holiday for heretics (like Catholics and Anglicans) and for witches, who apparently, liked to celebrate Christmas with dancing.
You can also read Peter Muise’s new book
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Tripping on Legends is now part of the Midnight FM family. Check us out and see some of the other amazing shows they offer at https://midnight.fm/.
Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
Click to buy
You can follow our dark journey through the forest as we prepare for the book at
https://www.facebook.com/The-Haunted-Ocala-National-Forest-623189158309846
or by following the hashtag #hauntedOcala.
Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.com
Follow our new project, This Town is Myth on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/ThisTownisMyth
and with the hashtag #ThisTownisMyth on all our social media platforms
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Click to listen More than 20 years ago the Blair Witch Project premiered and changed the face of horror film making, but before that there were filmmakers in Florida, sly marketing, and rumors of a witch in Pemberton Ferry. With a movie that relied on blurring the lines of what was real and what was fake, it’s tough to figure out just what might be folklore and what might be straight fiction.
Before his Lee County event of a special showing of the movie with Director Daniel Myrick, Christopher Balzano looks at the lore of the film, it’s impact on legends and movies, and the case that may have inspired it all. It’s This Town is Myth meets Movie Night.
Here’s the video of the swinging vine that changed everything for Tripping on Legends…
And the show that started it all…
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Click to listen Annabelle is a creepy blond doll and Slenderman is a character in a video game. The bigger you get, the harder it is to look in the mirror.
The man behind the hit podcast Lore has set his sights on the Bridgewater Triangle (again) with a new radio play called Bridgewater. Half way through its run, with an all-star cast and almost 1,700 ratings on ITunes, it can be considered a hit with its own cult following. As more people learn the folklore and headlines of the Triangle, is there a risk of the trees forgetting the forest.
Christopher Balzano goes deep into the podcast to explores the impact the show is already having on the Triangle and theorize about how the needle will shift more based on the popular show.
Warm up for the show by watching a classic episode of Tripping on Legends where we explore Why the Triangle Will Never Make It Big:
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
Click to listen It’s been called the Storm of the Century, Murder at Matecumbe Key, and Hemingway’s Hurricane, but most just refer to it as the Labor Day Hurricane.
On September 2, 1935, one of the worst hurricanes in Florida hit the Keys. Workers, looking to improve the conditions of the Overseas Railway were ill prepared and ill defended for the storm as it hit, resulting in close to 500 deaths in a single day. What followed was a Perfect Storm of its own, perfectly setting the backdrop for the unexplained happenings for the next 85 years.
Join Christopher Balzano as he looks at the history of the disaster and the multiple haunted legends the storm spawned. From Key West to Islamorada to Miami, the legacy of the hurricane remains, told in ghost stories and tales of haunted monuments.
Feel free to call our new phone number during our live shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at (813) 418-6822.
Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends
Twitter: @SpookyBalzano
Instagram: @SpookyTripping
Haunted Florida Love Stories is finally available
You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com.
The Unofficial Monster Hunter of Lake County
By Ed Staskus
When Emma looked at her brother Oliver, she saw a towheaded boy about four feet tall and not even fifty pounds. He wore his hair short, ran up and down the stairs, was a slow eater, could be shy but always spoke up, and was learning how to play the piano, although he wasn’t nearly as good as she was. He was an all-American boy, half German and half Lithuanian, like her. He was also the Unofficial Monster Hunter of Lake County. How did a first grader become that? She was in third grade, taller, bigger, and smarter. She had mastered division and multiplication. Oliver was just learning how to read and write, for goodness’ sake.
Sometimes she thought she should be the monster hunter, not her brother’s right-hand man. She was even more unofficial than him. She wasn’t sure she liked that, although she had to…
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