Silver City Ghosts!I

In the 1960s a family in Bodfish began to save old buildings from the local ghost towns and preserve them so they wouldn't be lost forever. The collection from five ghost towns were put together and renamed "Silver City". Now its open as a museum where the old west comes to life with gunfighters and dance hall girls. But this is no tourist trap becaus,e Silver City has something other places do not--Real Ghosts! It has been featured in the show Haunted Discoveries where ghostly voices were recorded in the old Saloon and church. Others coming for the late night 'Lantern Tour' have seen paranormal events and phantoms! Doors open and close, lights on on and off, bottles float about and there are phantom sounds. the old jail was moved here and in 1905 it housed local gunfighter Newt Walker (who killed two men in an uneven gunfight on the main street of Halvalah). One ghost said to walk these streets owned the land before the buildings were moved here. Called "Wormie" Annie Sullivan she owned and operated a worm ranch here, selling worms to the local anglers. An eccentric woman, they have honored her with a display and they have named the saloon after her. It seems her ghost stops in from time to time! they even have a photograph that might show the heavyset woman looking in a window! If you are ever in Bodfish, look up the place and if you can, take one of the "creepy" Lantern Tours--keep an eye open for one of there wandering ghosts!

Herne -England's ancient ghost

Herne is perhaps the most famous ghost in All of Haunted England. He haunts Windsor Park and dates back to the 14th Century. Legend says he was an excentric gamekeeper (imagine that an eccentric Englishman?)who dressed up to scare poachers. Somehow, he disgraced himself and hung himself on an old oak. As he was hanging, lightning hit the tree and now, dressed in his deerskin with his Antler mask, his ghost rides though Windsor Park. He is mentioned in Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor So he was well known to the people in Tudor London. He is described as “…a wild, spectral object, possessing a slight resemblance to a human being, clad in the skin of a deer and wearing on its head a sort of helmet, formed of the skull of a stag, from which branched a large pair of antlers. It is surrounded by a blue phosphoric light.” Interestingly, I have seen and photographed the blue light at haunted places. Maybe Herne is seeking forgiveness for his sins?

Ghosts can come in many forms. The most curious took place over England in 1909, when phantom Zeppelins were reported to the police. There were none of these flying ships in Britain at the time—only one nation had them—Germany. At first some thought they were on spy missions over England—but Germany never sent them! They were given the name “Scareships” by the press and those who saw them were mocked and accused of drinking too much. Was it a form of panic? Relations between Imperial Germany and the British Empire were strained at the time. Recently invented moving pictures had shown people in England what these airships were like. Could these films have caused the sightings? Then came World War One in 1914. In 1915 the Germans did send Zeppelins loaded with bombs to drop! Could the images in the sky have been a form of precognition? Looking into the future when real airships would come to do their evil work on England? Could this give us a clue about the nature of ghosts? Maybe they are visions from the past or future? Ghosts could be linked to time?

A Classic Ghost Movie

One of the best movies on Ghost Hunting. It tells about ghost hunting as solving a mystery. Some cases can be very complex. It has some great lines in it--Like: "Be afraid, be very afraid," and " "It seems that Dogs can see the blasted things!" A great old movie, I like to watch it at least once a year.

Headless Ghosts a mystery. Why are so many ghosts lacking their head? Now in places like China and France where people were decapitated historically one might be able to understand why the spirits of such victims might be seen lacking a head but the sightings of headless figures seems to exceed the number of such events. Why? Could it be that the ghosts are Not headless we just can't see their head. Its a failure on the part of the ghost to manifest itself completely. In the case of the illustrated Bishop, now a saint, his actions were symbolic to prove the pagans who killed him were wrong. It left a real impression on the peasants and went a long way to confirming his saintly statue. This is an image one isn't likely to forget.

The Flight of the Hercules was my first published novel and is now on Kindel for 99 cents. Its set in 1895 and features a balloon voyage attempt to circle the earth. No ghosts but a fun read. It is written in the style of Jules Vern.

The American Civil War has a supernatural side to it. Many of the battlefields where brother fought brother are haunted to this very day. The bloody Battle of Shiloh was so awful that it is said the creek ran red with blood and the losses were so high for the Confederate forces that no one in the south smiled for a year. Ghosts were reported here weeks after the fighting. The reports of ghosts are what inspired the robes used by the Ku Klux Klan in the believe they would frighten and intimidate the newly freed blacks. Many other places have ghosts. Gettysburg is a hot bed of sightings as is Vicksburg and Stone Mountain and Bull Run. Even Fort Sumter has her share of ghosts. Lincoln has seances in the Red Room of the White House (to please his wife, most believe) and his assassination has many psychic links to it. If you are looking for ghosts, battlefields of the Civil War would be a good place to start.

The Ghosts of Cemetery Park Ventura The low hill has been a burying ground in Ventura, California, since 1866. How its a park and the headstones were removed. The place is haunted and has been for a long time. Headless ghosts have seen seen here as well as a phantom woman in a large hat and long dress. Ghost lights are seen here as well. On June 29, Richard and Debbie Senate will lead a unique Ghost Tour of this site and try to contact the many spirits said to walk there. The Tour starts at the Bank of Books shop on Main Street (across from the funeral home). The fee is $5 a person. DO bring cameras, Flashlight and any other ghost hunting tools. Tour starts with a talk at 7:00 PM. Many believe the ghosts may well be linked to the veterans of the Civil War who rest there now. As this is the 150 anniversary of the war--that may be why they walk!

The Crisis Apparition--a most common

Of all types of ghosts, the most common and most reported are crisis apparitions, they are a phantom of a loved one who appears at the moment (or near the moment) of their death. Even if that death was many thousands of miles away. Most are silent and some call the the “Goodbye Ghosts”. Many cases of this sort of ghost fill the files of ghost hunters. Many of them are linked to wars and the military service. One of the best is the strange account of Vice Admiral George Tyron, of the British Royal Navy. On July 22, 1893 he was in command of a fleet operating off Syria. He committed a terrible blunder and ordered the HMS Camperdown to turn, causing the ship to ram his flagship, the HMS Victoria. The accident opened a 12 foot hole in the British Monitor causing her to sink. 357 crew, including the Admiral, went down with the ship. At that same time, George’s wife was holding a party in their posh London home. The attendees became hushed as they saw The Admiral, in full uniform, walk down the staircase, march across the room, open a door and walk out! Perhaps he was looking for Lady Tyron? Many report this type of sighting.

The headless Ghost of Anne Boleyn

The Ghost of Queen Anne Boleyn has been seen for centuries walking the Tower of London where she was decapitated accused of witchcraft. Perhaps the best reported sighting was in 1863, when a guard fainted away at the sight of the woman, holding her severed head. Another saw it as well. She has been seen many times, some say she seeks the ghost of her husband, King Henry VIII to tell him that the charges against her were false. She did have several unique elements about her person--such as six fingers on one hand and three breasts! I have investigated the Tower and it lives up to its reputation as one of the most haunted places in the world. It is creepy! Anne is encountered in several locations, sometimes with, and sometimes without, her head. If you ever get across the pond to the UK, do visit the tower of London! You will be glad you did.

Ghost of Hollywood-By-The-Sea

The beach community is known for its party life more than anything else. This is the tiny community called Hollywood-By-The Sea. Yes back in the days of silent film a few movies were cranked out here, mostly short comedies made by a distant ancestor of mine-Mack Sennett. Some believe "The Sheikh" was filmed there in the sand dunes. The houses are small and some old enough to date back the the 1920s movie companies. More than a few are haunted. We were investigating reports of a ghost on Burbank Street that warm afternoon. We found the address and it was one of the older ones. We met the owner and toured the tastefully decorative place. Even I could feel the cold that seemed to suck the life out of anything that came into the room. She believed it had something to do with the moving picture people—but I didn’t The psychic I brought went into a sort of trance and felt that the ghost was that of a young man who died in the 1960s. She saw him in a doorway and described his ripped shirt and long blond hair and beard. She gasped and said he was coming towards her—she fell onto the floor—When she recovered herself she was speaking in another voice! Deeper raspy, She demanded who we were and why we were here? I could feel she was possessed by the young man’s spirit. I told him he was dead and we were here to help him. He screamed that he was alive and we were dead! He could see right though us! He had forgotten the drug overdose that killed him so long ago—he was waiting for someone. We told him to move on—he wasn’t in the world of the living! We asked if he had seen a light—were there others to help him. After a time, he moved out of the psychic’s body and toward “the others”—-after that the small house was no longer haunted. This was the first time I had ever had such a thing happen to me. I had thought such things were just for the movies--but I found things like this can happen.