A once glorious and state of the art hotel in the Black Forest in Germany, the Schlosshotel Waldlust is now an empty shell of what it used to be. Old and abandoned, the place is now known as a haunted hotel after the manager was killed in one of the rooms.
Schlosshotel Waldlust is a haunted and abandoned hotel in Freudenstadt in the middle of the Black Forest in Germany. It certainly looks like a dark fairy tale building now, all dusty with decaying wallpaper and rustling in the old pipes.
But it used to be a state of the art hotel of 140 rooms where celebrity guests, writers, actors and royals alike came to spend time in the fresh mountain air. It opened in 1902 with Art Nouveau decor specialized for spa and relaxing atmospheres and entertained guests for decades.
The Murder in the Hotel
The one running the show at Schlosshotel Waldlust was Adele, or known as Adi who brought the guests to the hotel by throwing lavish and exclusive events. She is also a victim of the hotel and thought to haunt the place.
After the war the family run hotel of Schlosshotel Waldlust saw a rapid decline in guests and revenue. The hotel had already fallen from its heyday earlier in the century.
Grand Hotel: When it opened it was a luxury hotel. Now there is only ruins and damp empty rooms of it left.
The exact details about what happened to Adi is unclear as there never were a record of an Adele as a hotel owner or as a guest, but she was brutally murdered in the world famous hotel in 1949, and the hotel was never the same as she would never check out and leave.
The Haunted Hotel
After Adi died, the Schlosshotel Waldlust was used as a military hospital for years and many met their end in the former hotel. In the 1960s they tried to open the hotel again as a guesthouse with all the former glory, but something had changed.
The hotel staff started to notice strange things, the glass was shaking as if it was an earthquake, and they saw a woman with a white veil wandering the halls. They also heard a baby crying in the night, even though there was no one there.
Schlosshotel Waldlust finally closed in 2005, and is now almost only used for those that want to take a peek at what a haunted and abandoned hotel looks like.
When collecting folktales from Iceland, they encountered many tales about the ghost of children left by their mothers to die, an útburður, that came back to haunt their mothers. This is what the Icelandic ghost story Móðir mín í kví, kví or Dear Mother in a Pen, Pen is about.
Móðir mín í kví, kví means the Dear Mother in the Pen, Pen, and is one of Iceland’s most well known ghost stories, and also the base for the most horrifying lullaby children have gone to sleep with.
Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from Iceland
The Folktale of Móðir mín í kví, kví
Once there was a young girl living on a farm with a want for life, dancing, singing and partying. She was unmarried and poor though and became pregnant with a man that had no plans of taking her as his wife. When she gave birth she decided to carry the child and put it outside to die. She carried the child out in her shawl or veil, sometimes retold it was only a rag.
After it was all over and done with, she attended a vikivaki celebration with singing and dancing a ritual circle dance during the church holidays, something the girl loved. She got the invitation, but had nothing to wear for the occasion. So she didn’t go and was sorry to be sitting at home.
Just before the dance, the girl was milking sheep with another woman and complained to her that she had nothing to wear. As soon as she said it out loud they heard a voice from under the wall of the pen:
Icelandic: “Móðir mín í kví, kví, kvíddu ekki því, því; ég skal ljá þér duluna mína að dansa í og dansa í.”
English: “Dear mother, in a pen, a pen, do not worry about it because, because I’ll lend you my rag to dance in and dance in. “
In Icelandic ghost stories, the ghost often repeat the last word in the sentence as in this short verse. She knew the message was to her, and she knew it was a ghost, talking about the single piece of clothing she had left the child out to die in. She was so shaken up after hearing her dead child reciting the words to her and she went insane for the rest of her life.
The útburður Ghost in Icelandic Folktales
In Icelandic as well as Scandinavian ghost stories, people sometimes encounter an útburður or an utburd. They were ghosts of children that were put outside to die. Either the child was unwanted because it was born outside of wedlock, or the parents didn’t have the means to raise it.
útburðr: The ghost in Móðir mín í kví, kví is an utburd, found in many variations in Scandinavian folklore. The Swedish call them Myling, and Utburd or útburðr in Norwegian and Icelandic. They can remind of the English Changeling creature.
When Scandinavians were pagans, this was a practice that wasn’t a crime. Even when the pagans on Iceland turned Christian, this was something that they continued to have as a permitted custom until the 11th century. In fact, to have the child would be punished with fines or even death.
The children turned into ghosts, sometimes just to torment their mother, sometimes because they couldn’t enter heaven because they weren’t baptized.
You could hear them crying, and they were believed to have been bad omens.
In the old classic Fairmont Hotel Vancouver a certain Lady in Red is said to haunt the upper floors of the place she used to go ballroom dancing in the 1940s. Still to this day guests report seeing her in the lobby as well as their rooms and she has even been seen passing through walls and locked doors.
The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver is located in downtown Vancouver, and this haunted hotel is not to be mixed up with the haunted hotel in Ottawa bearing the same name. The place on West Georgia Street opened in May 1939 after being delayed for many years because of the Great Depression.
Once a Japanese family called up the front desk and asked if they had double booked the room. When they had entered their room on the 14th floor. The front desk said they had not, probably well knowing that the woman dressed in a red dress was not a living guest at the hotel.
The hotel is known as the Castle in the City because of the modern fairy tale-like tower and is also the home of the Lady in Red said to haunt the hotel.
The Legend of the Lady in Red
The story of the ghost of The Lady in Red is that a woman dressed in a long and fancy red dress is supposedly haunting the 14th floor of the hotel, although she has also been seen in other places of the hotel.
Today, most of the staff at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver know of her and in the hotel bar they even have named a drink after her, at least around Halloween season.
The Dancing Socialite with a Tragic Death
In life she went by the name Jennie Pearl Cox and she stayed at the hotel many times with her husband Harold according to the stories. She was a Vancouver socialite that attended hotel events and dances in the 1940s when the hotel was new and fresh.
Her stay at the hotel ended abruptly though when she was 25 years old and she got into a car accident in 1944 at the corner of Burrard and Georgia and died, but never really checked out from her favorite hotel.
The Haunted Hotel
Soon after her death the ghost of the Lady in Red started appearing in the lobby in the stairway and dancing in the ballrooms, especially on the 14th floor as many guests learned of the hard way according to the stories.
She can be seen walking through walls and locked doors as well and has become a well known ghost in residence at the hotel.
Not everyone is as used to seeing her as the senior staff at the hotel and when the tv-series X-Files were filming in Vancouver, one of the crew even claimed to have seen the ghost of a woman wearing a red dress.
The Ghost Captured on Camera
A couple of years ago, the legend got another boost when one of the upper floors’ windows got covered in red, but it was perhaps not the most convincing evidence, even if it made the news.
But was she even real like Jennie Cox? Or was she as real as the red dress that turned out to just be a tarp covering the window?
Some say she is just a figment of the hotel’s imagination, imagined to help promote the hotel and it is just an urban myth as there are no grave stones, birth certificate or even pictures from this socialite to claim she actually existed.
Ham House in England is said to be the eternal home to no more than 15 ghosts, at least! From the ambitious Duchess to former servants and even pets, the spirits of the old mansion far outweighs the living.
London is a city with a rich history full of tales of intrigue, mystery, and the paranormal. One of the most intriguing places in the city is Ham House, located in Richmond upon Thames. Ham House is a beautiful mansion that has been around for over 400 years, and it is known to be one of the most haunted places in London.
The chilling legends that surround this mansion have made it a popular destination for ghost hunters, paranormal enthusiasts, and curious visitors alike and has been dubbed the mansion with most ghost stories in the country. From the ghost of a woman dressed in white wandering the halls to the eerie sounds of children crying in the night, there is no shortage of spine-tingling stories to be told about Ham House.
The Ghostly Legends Surrounding Ham House
Ham House is a beautiful mansion that has been around for over 400 years. Built in 1610, it is one of the finest examples of 17th-century architecture in England. However, the mansion has a dark and mysterious history, and it is said to be one of the most haunted places in London with reports of at least 15 different ghosts.
Mysterious footprint appears in the dust of the staircase and the upstairs floors when no one has walked there. There is a wheelchair in the house kept in one of the servants’ rooms at the top of the house that are said to move around and appear when no one intends to put it.
There are many ghostly legends surrounding Ham House. Some of the most famous include the ghost of Elizabeth Murray, Duchess of Lauderdale, the ghost of the Green Closet, and the ghost of the Lady in White. These ghosts are said to haunt the mansion to this day, and many visitors have reported seeing or hearing them.
The Ghost of Elizabeth Murray, Duchess of Lauderdale
Elizabeth Murray, Duchess of Lauderdale, was a powerful and influential woman who lived in Ham House in the 17th century. She was the daughter of William Murray, the whipping boy to King Charles I that gifted the house to him when they grew up.
She was married to John Maitland, the Duke of Lauderdale, who was a close friend and advisor to King Charles II. Elizabeth was known for her beauty, her intelligence, and her strong personality. Some even think that she murdered her first husband to marry the Duke.
The Duke and Duchess of Lauderdale: Elizabeth Murray had strong opinions and was also political active. One of the more darker rumours surrounding her was that she poisoned her first husband who only was a Baron to climb the social ladder by marrying a Duke.
Legend has it that Elizabeth haunts Ham House to this day. In her later years she was known to have been walking with a cane, and many claim to have heard the tapping of her cane upstairs, and on the Grand Staircase of the mansion.
Visitors have reported seeing her ghostly figure wandering the halls of the mansions. Some have even claimed to have seen her reflection in the mirrors in her old bedchamber were she died.
People that have stayed in the room have reported about an oppressive force in the room and the smell of roses, something she was known for smelling lingering in the air. The staff have been known to say: Good afternoon your ladyship, before entering just for good measure.
One of the most famous haunted objects in Ham House is the portrait of Elizabeth Murray, Duchess of Lauderdale. Legend has it that the portrait is haunted by the ghost of Elizabeth herself. Visitors have reported seeing the portrait move or change expression when they are alone in the room.
The Lady in Black Pushing People on the Stairs
Elizabeth Murray: Countess of Dysart, later Duchess of Lauderdale (1626-1698)
As mentioned, people have reported about the sound of the Duchess cane tapping by the grand staircase. They have also reported about seeing a lady in black they think must have been the Duchess haunting the mansion and seeing who comes and goes in her mansion.
What is scary is that one of the tour guides told a story about standing on it during one if his tours and suddenly felt like someone gave him a push and almost came tumbling down the stairs.
Several of visitors have also claimed to have a feeling of being pushed when walking up and down the stairs.
Visitors are advised to not use the third step and it is often marked with something to remind people. There are many theories as to why this step is said to be haunted and one of those stories is that this is where the Duchess decided to poison her second husband as well. Or was it perhaps the first?
The Haunted Staircase: Beware the third step of the stairs, as it is said to bring the ghosts forth and give people a puh.
The Hag in the Wall
One of the enduring legends and mysteries is whether or not the Duchess really did kill her first husband. According to one story there used to work a butler that had his 6 year old daughter living there with him. She kept complaining about scratching on the walls of her room, and an old hag that kept visiting her at night.
When they investigated the wall, they found a hidden panel. There were the documents that proved that the Duchess really did kill her first husband. But what butler, when or behind what panel has never been pinned down, and is now one of the many legends of the house.
The Servant on the Terrace
There used to be a servant called John MacFarlane that worked in the mansion. He was said to be very young, around 17 years old. In 1790 or 80 he fell in love with one of the kitchen maids. She rejected him however and her refusal made him suicidal.
According to the legend he scratched his name on a window panel, or in some version in a pane of glass upstairs before he jumped to his death. According to legend, he is now haunting the terrace underneath the window.
Countess Charlotte Walpole
The Countess of Dysart used to live in Ham House and used to love it. Charlotte Walpole was the youngest of the three illegitimate daughters of Sir Edward Walpole. In 1760 she married Lionel Tollemache, Lord Huntingtower, son of the 4th Earl of Dysart (1734-1799), who wed her in secret without the knowledge or consent of his father.
After her death it has been said that she has haunted the upstairs chamber and has happily been waving at visitors. Seeing this has been thought to be a good omen.
Charlotte Walpole: The Countess of Dysart (1738-1789) is said to be a happy ghost and a good omen if seen at Ham House.
Prince Charles II
The Murray family that Elizabeth, Duchess of Lauderdale was a daughter of, was loyal royalists during and after the English Civil War. They used to be members of a secret society known as the Sealed Knot that supported Charles II who was in exile.
When he was given the throne, he awarded the Duchess for her and her family’s loyalty. He visited the Ham House many times during his lifetime, and according to the legend, he still visits, even in his afterlife.
Many people claimed to have seen the ghost of Charles II in the gardens, or even smelled the tobacco he used to smoke in the hall.
Coronation portrait: Charles was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661.
The Christmas Haunting
No mansion ghost story is complete without its Christmas Haunting. At Ham House there is a cottage that used to belong to the driver to the 9th Earl of Dysart.
It is said that it is haunted by a 19th century house and every Christmas Eve or Day, people staying in the cottage can hear the sound of a walking stick over the cobbled path to the cottage.
It is said that every year he brought presents over to the cottage. He died in 1935, but apparently his nice yearly gestures seem to continue.
Christmas Christmas is supposed to be the merry season with joy and light in the darkness. But many places is haunted by ghosts and paranormal activity in during this time. In fact, many of these ghost stories are haunted especially around Christmas. Here are some of the ghost stories that are told during Christmas times.
The Ghost Pets
Another curious ghost supposedly haunting the house is that of the pet dogs the Duchess used to keep.
Visitors have been confused as to why they are not allowed to bring their dogs, when there clearly are dog prints in the dust and the faint barking indoors of one. Except it isn’t. It is believed that it is a King Charles spaniel.
They found the bones of it in a basket in the kitchen garden. The ghost dog is seen running on the first floor with its tail disappearing behind doorways and jumping at unsuspecting guests.
The Haunted Ham House
Ham House is one of the most haunted places in London, and its ghostly legends have captivated visitors for centuries. And it is said when the darkness comes over the house, especially during the Christmas season, the eternal residents of Ham House comes out.
Ada Buisson (26 March 1839 – 27 December 1866) was an English author and novelist remembered today for her ghost stories.
During her short lifetime Buisson published one novel, Put to the Test (1865), Her second novel, A Terrible Wrong: A Novel (1867) and short stories were published after her early death. Various of her writings appeared in Belgravia, a magazine edited by her friend the novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon. This is were the short story The Ghost’s Summons were published in 1868.
“Wanted, sir—a patient.”
It was in the early days of my professional career, when patients were scarce and fees scarcer; and though I was in the act of sitting down to my chop, and had promise! myself a glass of steaming punch afterwards, in honour of the Christmas season, I hurried instantly into my surgery.
I entered briskly; but no sooner did I catch sight of the figure standing leaning against the counter than I started back with a strange feeling of horror which for the life of me I could not comprehend.
Never shall I forget the ghastliness of that face—the white horror stamped upon every feature — the agony which seemed to sink the very eyes beneath the contracted brows; it was awful to me to behold, accustomed as I was to scenes of terror.
“You seek advice,” I began, with some hesitation.
“No; I am not ill.”
“You require then—”
“Hush!” he interrupted, approaching more nearly, and dropping his already low murmur to a mere whisper. “I believe you are not rich. Would you be willing to earn a thousand pounds?”
A thousand pounds! His words seemed to burn my very ears.
“I should be thankful, if I could do so honestly,” I replied with dignity. “What is the service required of me?”
A peculiar look of intense horror passed over the white face before me; but the blue-black lips answered firmly, “To attend a death-bed.”
“A thousand pounds to attend a death-bed! Where am I to go, then ?—whose is it?”
“Mine.”
The voice in which this was said sounded so hollow and distant, that involuntarily I shrank back. “Yours! What nonsense! You are not a dying man. You are pale, but you appear perfectly healthy. You—”
“Hush!” he interrupted; “I know all this. You cannot be more convinced of my physical health than I am myself; yet I know that before the clock tolls the first hour after midnight I shall be a dead man.”
“But—”
He shuddered slightly; but stretching out his hand commandingly, motioned me to be silent. “I am but too well informed of what I affirm,” he said quietly; “I have received a mysterious summons from the dead. No mortal aid can avail me. I am as doomed as the wretch on whom the judge has passed sentence. I do not come either to seek your advice or to argue the matter with you, but simply to buy your services. I offer you a thousand pounds to pass the night in my chamber, and witness the scene which takes place. The sum may appear to you extravagant. But I have no further need to count the cost of any gratification; and the spectacle you will have to witness is no common sight of horror.”
The words, strange as they were, were spoken calmly enough; but as the last sentence dropped slowly from the livid lips, an expression of such wild horror again passed over the stranger’s face, that, in spite of the immense fee, I hesitated to answer.
“You fear to trust to the promise of a dead man! See here, and be convinced,” he exclaimed eagerly; and the next instant, on the counter between us lay a parchment document; and following the indication of that white muscular hand, I read the words, “And to Mr. Frederick Kead, of 14 High-street, Alton, I bequeath the sum of one thousand pounds for certain services rendered to me.”
“I have had that will drawn up within the last twenty-four hours, and I signed it an hour ago, in the presence of competent witnesses. I am prepared, you see. Now, do you accept my offer, or not?”
My answer was to walk across the room and take down my hat, and then lock the door of the surgery communicating with the house.
It was a dark, icy-cold night, and somehow the courage and determination which the sight of my own name in connection with a thousand pounds had given me, flagged considerably as I found myself hurried along through the silent darkness by a man whose death-bed I was about to attend.
He was grimly silent; but as his hand touched mine, in spite of the frost, it felt like a burning coal.
On we went—tramp, tramp, through the snow—on, on, till even I grew weary, and at length on my appalled ear struck the chimes of a church-clock; whilst close at hand I distinguished the snowy hillocks of a churchyard.
Heavens! was this awful scene of which I was to be the witness to take place veritably amongst the dead?
“Eleven,” groaned the doomed man. “Gracious God! but two hours more, and that ghostly messenger will bring the summons. Come, come; for mercy’s sake, let us hasten.”
There was but a short road separating us now from a wall which surrounded a large mansion, and along this we hastened until we reached a small door.
Passing through this, in a few minutes we were stealthily ascending the private staircase to a splendidly-furnished apartment, which left no doubt of the wealth of its owner.
All was intensely silent, however, through the house; and about this room in particular there was a stillness that, as I gazed around, struck me as almost ghastly.
My companion glanced at the clock on the mantelshelf, and sank into a large chair by the side of the fire with a shudder. “Only an hour and a half longer,” he muttered. “Great heaven! I thought I had more fortitude. This horror unmans me.” Then, in a fiercer tone, and clutching my arm, he added, “Ha! you mock me, you think me mad; but wait till you see—wait till you see!”
I put my hand on his wrist; for there was now a fever in his sunken eyes which checked the superstitious chill which had been gathering over me, and made me hope that, after all, my first suspicion was correct, and that my patient was but the victim of some fearful hallucination.
“Mock you!” I answered soothingly. “Far from it; I sympathise intensely with you, and would do much to aid you. You require sleep. Lie down, and leave me to watch.”
He groaned, but rose, and began throwing off his clothes; and, watching my opportunity, I slipped a sleeping-powder, which I had managed to put in my pocket before leaving the surgery, into the tumbler of claret that stood beside him.
The more I saw, the more I felt convinced that it was the nervous system of my patient which required my attention; and it was with sincere satisfaction I saw him drink the wine, and then stretch himself on the luxurious bed.
“Ha,” thought I, as the clock struck twelve, and instead of a groan, the deep breathing of the sleeper sounded through the room; “you won’t receive any summons to-night, and I may make myself comfortable.”
Noiselessly, therefore, I replenished the fire, poured myself out a large glass of wine, and drawing the curtain so that the firelight should not disturb the sleeper, I put myself in a position to follow his example.
How long I slept I know not, but suddenly I aroused with a start and as ghostly a thrill of horror as ever I remember to have felt in my life.
Something—what, I knew not—seemed near, something nameless, but unutterably awful.
I gazed round.
The fire emitted a faint blue glow, just sufficient to enable me to see that the room was exactly the same as when I fell asleep, but that the long hand of the clock wanted but five minutes of the mysterious hour which was to be the death-moment of the “summoned” man!
Was there anything in it, then?—any truth in the strange story he had told?
The silence was intense.
I could not even hear a breath from the bed; and I was about to rise and approach, when again that awful horror seized me, and at the same moment my eye fell upon the mirror opposite the door, and I saw—
Great heaven! that awful Shape—that ghastly mockery of what had been humanity—was it really a messenger from the buried, quiet dead?
It stood there in visible death-clothes; but the awful face was ghastly with corruption, and the sunken eyes gleamed forth a green glassy glare which seemed a veritable blast from the infernal fires below.
To move or utter a sound in that hideous presence was impossible; and like a statue I sat and saw that horrid Shape move slowly towards the bed.
What was the awful scene enacted there, I know not. I heard nothing, except a low stifled agonised groan; and I saw the shadow of that ghastly messenger bending over the bed.
Whether it was some dreadful but wordless sentence its breathless lips conveyed as it stood there, I know not; but for an instant the shadow of a claw-like hand, from which the third finger was missing, appeared extended over the doomed man’s head; and then, as the clock struck one clear silvery stroke, it fell, and a wild shriek rang through the room—a death-shriek.
I am not given to fainting, but I certainly confess that the next ten minutes of my existence was a cold blank; and even when I did manage to stagger to my feet, I gazed round, vainly endeavouring to understand the chilly horror which still possessed me.
Thank God! the room was rid of that awful presence—I saw that; so, gulping down some wine, I lighted a wax-taper and staggered towards the bed. Ah, how I prayed that, after all, I might have been dreaming, and that my own excited imagination had but conjured up some hideous memory of the dissecting-room!
But one glance was sufficient to answer that.
No! The summons had indeed been given and answered.
I flashed the light over the dead face, swollen, convulsed still with the death-agony; but suddenly I shrank back.
Even as I gazed, the expression of the face seemed to change: the blackness faded into a deathly whiteness; the convulsed features relaxed, and, even as if the victim of that dread apparition still lived, a sad solemn smile stole over the pale lips.
I was intensely horrified, but still I retained sufficient self-consciousness to be struck professionally by such a phenomenon.
Surely there was something more than supernatural agency in all this?
Again I scrutinised the dead face, and even the throat and chest; but, with the exception of a tiny pimple on one temple beneath a cluster of hair, not a mark appeared. To look at the corpse, one would have believed that this man had indeed died by the visitation of God, peacefully, whilst sleeping.
How long I stood there I know not, but time enough to gather my scattered senses and to reflect that, all things considered, my own position would be very unpleasant if I was found thus unexpectedly in the room of the mysteriously dead man.
So, as noiselessly as I could, I made my way out of the house. No one met me on the private staircase; the little door opening into the road was easily unfastened; and thankful indeed was I to feel again the fresh wintry air as I hurried along that road by the churchyard.
There was a magnificent funeral soon in that church; and it was said that the young widow of the buried man was inconsolable; and then rumours got abroad of a horrible apparition which had been seen on the night of the death; and it was whispered the young widow was terrified, and insisted upon leaving her splendid mansion.
I was too mystified with the whole affair to risk my reputation by saying what I knew, and I should have allowed my share in it to remain for ever buried in oblivion, had I not suddenly heard that the widow, objecting to many of the legacies in the last will of her husband, intended to dispute it on the score of insanity, and then there gradually arose the rumour of his belief in having received a mysterious summons.
On this I went to the lawyer, and sent a message to the lady, that, as the last person who had attended her husband, I undertook to prove his sanity; and I besought her to grant me an interview, in which I would relate as strange and horrible a story as ear had ever heard. The same evening I received an invitation to go to the mansion. I was ushered immediately into a splendid room, and there, standing before the fire, was the most dazzlingly beautiful young creature I had ever seen.
She was very small, but exquisitely made; had it not been for the dignity of her carriage, I should have believed her a mere child. With a stately bow she advanced, but did not speak.”I come on a strange and painful errand,” I began, and then I started, for I happened to glance full into her eyes, and from them down to the small right hand grasping the chair. The wedding-ring was on that hand!
“I conclude you are the Mr. Kead who requested permission to tell me some absurd ghost-story, and whom my late husband mentions here.” And as she spoke she stretched out her left hand towards something—but what I knew not, for my eyes were fixed on that hand.
Horror! White and delicate it might be, but it was shaped like a claw, and the third finger was missing!
One sentence was enough after that. “Madam, all I can tell you is, that the ghost who summoned your husband was marked by a singular deformity. The third finger of the left hand was missing,” I said sternly; and the next instant I had left that beautiful sinful presence.
That will was never disputed. The next morning, too, I received a check for a thousand pounds; and the next news I heard of the widow was, that she had herself seen that awful apparition, and had left the mansion immediately.
Mirroring the famous Dance Macabre mural that used to hang on the walls near the Predigerkirche in Basel, it is said that plague victims were buried in the patch of grass outside of the church. Legend has it that when the city needs it, the dead will rise from it in a macabre procession, as a warning of an oncoming disaster.
Where history whispers and shadows reign, the Rathaus in Bern is said to be haunted by a myriad of ghosts. Who are the ghosts lingering in the City Hall after dark?
The two adjoining cloisters by Basel Cathedral are said to be haunted by a couple of spectres entombed within the building. In the darkness of Basel’s Double Cloister, it is said you can hear the moaning of a man slowly suffocating and feel the unsuspected slap from a man, as mean in death as he was in life.
A lock keeper from the adjacent lock next The Portobello Bar in Dublin is said to be haunting it. Ever since his mistake cost the lives of someone crossing, he is said to be lingering in the area.
In an old sanatorium in Switzerland the ghost of Hermann is said to have been haunting for ages. But who was he when he was alive, and what was his true name before he died in the remote fortress up in the mountains? And is he still haunting the old halls where he never made his recovery?
After his master died at sea, the faithful dog was by his master’s grave, day in and day out. After dying of hunger and grief it is said that the Newfoundland dog is still seen, slipping between the graves at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.
Once, the city of Bern was filled with nuns working and living inside of the city walls. According to ghost stories though, some of them remained, even after the Reformation that closed their convents down. And those stories tell about them being guilty of terrible things with terrible ends.
Seeking new land and a new life, the Salladay family went to Ohio, but brought a silent killer with them: Consumption. Falling into odd superstitions, they believed the only way to stop the disease was to stop the undead from rising from their graves.
Is Cell Number 11 in the former prison for the criminally insane haunted? The attic of the Norwegian Justice Museum in Trondheim, Norway has had many who come out, claiming so.
Now a place you can rent and stay at, the Beck House in Canada is said to be one of the more haunted places. Those who have stayed the night come back with stories of strange encounters, believed to be the ghost of the Beck family members.
Where the Nydegg Church is today, there once used to be a castle. Tales about ghosts lingering around the old Nydegg Castle and the stairs leading up to it still roams. And one of the more infamous and feared ghosts of Bern is the Burgträppe-Balzli.
The Qiu Mansion in Shanghai is said to be one of the city’s most haunted places. It was owned by the Qiu brothers who mysteriously disappeared and left a haunted house and an unsolved mystery.
The Qiu Brothers Mansion, also called the Cha House or Cha Gong Guan is an old mansion now restored as a historic building combining both western and chinese style in Shanghai in China. It is in the high end district of Jing’an and was built in a time where Shanghai was a place for people all over the country and world to make money.
Shanghai is known for its diverse cultural elements with a French or British flare to the architecture as well as traditional Chinese. In the early 1900s, it was known as the Athens of China by the Europeans and many tried to make the city their own as they saw the financial importance it played by the coast.
Read Also: Check out all of the ghost stories from China
By the early 1900s there were a lot of from rags to riches stories, and plenty of people came to the Bund and to Shanghai to try to make a fortune. Some did make good money, although most just kept working away. Even fewer ended up keeping their riches forever.
The Qui Brothers
The Qiu brothers, Qiu Xinshan and Qiu Weiqing began their story as migrant workers in Shanghai that started from nothing and worked their way up. They came from a fishing family on Weishang Lake in Shandong Province, and had to go east in search of a better future.
The Qiu Brother Mansion: One of the most modern buildings in Shanghai is changing into an old classic in the city.
The pair made their fortunes selling paint in the early 1900s when the First World War broke out and the Germans couldn’t trade with China anymore, so the Qiu brothers took over the work from a German merchant selling paint and soon started to see their fortune grow.
With the money from the paint selling business, the two brothers took it and built two identical mansions next to one another in the heart of the city in 1913, or even later in the 1920s.
The brothers became incredibly rich and lived a lavish lifestyle and their ornate Qiu Mansion grounds became home to the brother’s collection of exotic pets that included Burmese tigers, peacocks, and even crocodiles roamed the gardens.
The Missing Mystery
At the height of their fame and notoriety, the Qiu brothers mysteriously disappeared as their paint industry started to decline in the wake of the wars raging. The Qiu Mansions started to decay and their once great gardens withered. The animals disappeared one by one, many just straight up killed to get rid off or eaten.
What really happened could be something quite different though, as it is also said they moved to a smaller apartment, and they rented out the mansion to be used as a school. What happened to them in the end though, seems to be shrouded in shadows though.
Haunted Rumors of the Qiu Mansion
Rumors emerged of strange occurrences such as objects moving by themselves or shadows appearing in the abandoned mansion and eerie noises could be heard in the night. Yet, no one has been able to prove the legends.
During World War II the mansions were used as a middle school until 2002 and one of the buildings of the Qiu Mansion was demolished in the 1950s. In 2010 they moved the remaining house almost 60 meters down the road and reopened in 2019 as a historic building.
Just across the street there is a Four Seasons Hotel facing the former Qiu Mansion. From there, many visitors as well as staff have reported hearing and seeing strange animals roaming around the abandoned site.
Perhaps the weirdest thing happening to the place is the rumors from the workers working all around the hotel. Construction workers from the restoration have sometimes sought hospital treatment for strange bites they believe come from animals, even though no one knows where and how they got injured.
One of the most haunted houses in London was 50 Berkeley Square, which according to the stories had a dangerous ghost that could kill the people staying in the attic.
Once there was a house that was thought to be London’s most haunted house. The Georgian townhouse was located on 50 Berkeley Square in upmarket Mayfair.
Back in the 18th and 19th century the place was linked with many horrific deaths and mysterious things happening. Residents as well as guests claimed to have seen ghosts in the house before they themselves were found dead. Their mouths and eyes wide open as if they died of pure fear.
In 1879, reports of the house were published in Mayfair Magazine, telling about a maid who stayed in the attic and was found mad and died in an asylum the day after. In the same article there was also said a nobleman spent the night in the same attic and by morning he was found paralyzed, so scared that he couldn’t even speak. Also he died shortly after.
The Victorian Christmas Deaths
Britain is known for its ghost stories tied to Christmastime, and this is one of those. One of the more haunted happenings in the house is said to have taken place on Christmas Eve, at least it was published in the magazine as it.
This is what happened on Christmas Eve in 1887 when two sailors came to London. Blunden and Martin were on leave from HMS Penelope from the Royal Navy and walked through the dark and foggy winter streets, trying to find a place to stay for the night. If they were allowed to come in for the night or if they broke into the house is unclear, but they at least settled for the night in the attic.
What they didn’t know at the time when they found lodging at 50 Berkeley Square when they stumbled upon it, happy to find someplace warm in the cold night, was all the haunted rumors and that the previous occupants of their room had been found mysteriously dead in the very room.
During the night, Blunden felt uneasy and unable to fall asleep. Something wasn’t right in the house. He woke up Martin when he saw a ghost hanging over him. Blunden acted quickly and went for his weapon to protect them. The ghost came toward him as Martin managed to get out to the streets and found a policeman.
Martin came back with the bobby and went inside of the house. They found Blunden at the bottom of the stairs, dead. His neck had been broken, probably because of the fall from the stairs. His eyes were wide open, as if from pure terror and fear.
The Woman in the Attic
The most told legend is that the house was haunted by the spirit of a young woman who killed herself in the attic. After being abused by her uncle for a long time, she is said to have thrown herself out from the top-floor window in the attic. She is said to be the one behind the strange deaths as well, as her sight is so frightful people have died from fear of it. Depending who you ask, her spirit takes mostly form as a brown mist or a white ghostly figure.
The Starved Man
Another version of the haunted legends of the house is that there once was a man who was locked in the attic room and was only fed through a hole in the door. His brother, Mr. Du Pre of Wilton Park had to lock him inside because of his violent madness. In some versions he wasn’t mad to start with, but he eventually went mad and died.
After his death he became a ghost and his moans and screams haunted the whole neighborhood.
The Strange Thomas Myers of 50 Berkeley Square
So who was haunting the house that in modern times were owned by the Maggs Bros, Antiquarian Booksellers? Most stories are thought to have come from one of the peculiars occupants, Thomas Myers. He slept during the day, and in the night he made strange noises that many believed became exaggerated later.
He moved into 50 Berkeley Square in 1859 after having been rejected by his fiancee according to the stories. He lived there alone and was said to be slowly getting mad as he locked himself in all day until he died in 1874 at 76.
When he stayed there, the house with the sweeping stairs, high plaster ceilings and marble floors slowly started decaying more and more and rumors about it being haunted started to form around this time.
When he was summoned to court for not paying his rates of 50 Berkeley Square, the magistrate excused him because they all knew he lived in a haunted house. So what came first? Thomas Myers or the hauntings?
The Haunted House
The spirits of the house at 50 Berkeley Square are said to be so strong that you only need to touch the Gregorian exterior of the house to feel the shivering hauntings that have infected the house.
In modern times, we don’t really hear much about any more of the haunted incidents as before, and owners have refuted that the building is haunted.
So the question is really, was the strange behavior of Mr. Myers the cause behind all of the haunting in the house, or did he see something that made him so?
Djákninn á Myrká meaning the Deacon of Dark River is an Icelandic folk tale that have been passed down for generations now. It tells the story of the ghost of a man trying to make his girlfriend join him in death.
Once upon a time in Horgardalur not far from Akureyri in Iceland a deacon lived on a farm called Myrká. He was riding his trusted horse called Faxi to meet up with the woman he loved named Guðrún. It was the day before Christmas, a stormy and cold winter night.
It was a long ride to her farm called Bægisá. On the way to her he had to cross the river Hörgá, but he fell into it. He ended up drowning and only his horse survived the night. He was found the next morning by a farmer and laid to rest, but Guðrún didn’t get the message and she waited for her loved one to come and pick her up.
So when she got a visitor in the darkness she believed it was him and went with him. He was behaving strangely though and kept calling her Garún. In Icelandic folklore, ghosts are unable to utter the word for God, which Guðrún is compiled of.
It wasn’t before the raging wind blows off the large hat on the visitor she realizes it isn’t her boyfriend alive, but a skeleton. She also saw an open grave in the graveyard the skeleton tried to pull her towards.
The ghost skeleton of her boyfriend keeps pestering her and he wants her to join him in death so they can be together. Guðrún finally breaks free from the ghost and gets the help of a sorcerer. The sorcerer traps the ghost on unholy ground outside the graveyard belonging to the church at Myrka.
He places a large and cursed stone on it that still holds the ghost of the priest’s apprentice. You can still see it today on the unholy ground, still waiting for his girlfriend to be together forever.
Every year the British Royal family celebrates their Christmas at Sandringham House in Norfolk, England. Stories say that the place is particularly haunted during the Christmas season both for the royals and their servants.
One Christmas in 1996, the footman, Shaun Croasdale made his way down to the wine cellar to pick out some wine for the royals that had come to celebrate Christmas at Sandringham House. With wine bottles in his hand, he suddenly saw one of the favorite servants of the late Queen, Tony Jarred.
Perhaps this is nothing to worry about, except that Tony Jarred had died the previous year after almost 40 years in service for her majesty. The footman dropped the bottles and ran screaming from the cellar. No one was really surprised at this however, as it was Christmas time, and Sandringham House is notoriously haunted every year.
Ghost of Christmas Pasts at Sandringham House
England has its fair share of ghostly history and Christmas time is no different. Each year, English haunted buildings come alive with stories of ghosts, spirits and shadows of the past. From extravagant castles to medieval manor houses, spooky apparitions haunt the grounds and make their presence known during the winter season.
Many people believe that these ghosts are lords and servants who once inhabited these old buildings, now returning during Christmas to either fulfill a task or simply bring good cheer and memories to those they left behind. Moreover, Christmas ghost stories have become a beloved pastime among many Brits who can be found throughout England’s haunted buildings searching for their own spooky mysteries.
Sandringham House, located in Norfolk, England, is the private residence of the British royal family and has been since 1862. Every year, the Queen and her family spend Christmas at Sandringham House, a tradition that dates back over a century.
In the later years though, it has also been known as an annual haunting, starting most often at Christmas Eve and lasting for a few weeks.
History of Christmas at Sandringham House
The tradition of spending Christmas at Sandringham House began in the late 19th century, when Queen Victoria’s son, King Edward VII, purchased the estate. Since then, the royal family has spent every Christmas at Sandringham House, with the exception of a few years during World War II.
The Queen and her family typically arrive at Sandringham House a few days before Christmas, and spend the holiday period together. The festivities include a number of traditions, such as the exchange of gifts on Christmas Eve and a formal dinner on Christmas Day.
Christmas at Sandringham House Today
Today, Christmas at Sandringham House is a highly anticipated event, both for the royal family and for the public. Members of the royal family attend a Christmas Day church service at St. Mary Magdalene Church, which is located on the Sandringham estate. Crowds of well-wishers gather outside the church to catch a glimpse of the royals as they arrive and leave.
In addition to the church service, the Queen and her family participate in a number of other holiday traditions. These include a Christmas Eve dinner, where the family exchanges gifts, and a Boxing Day pheasant shoot.
Ghost Haunting SAndringham House
So who is it actually that haunts Sandringham House, even in the place of the royals?
The Victorian residence has been said to have some sort of poltergeist-like activity, especially in the servant quarters of the house where blankets are pulled off the beds. They hear mysterious footsteps in the dead of night and the doors are closing and opening by themselves.
The most haunted place is the sergeant footman’s corridor where the maids only go in pair or groups. The lights turn on and off and there have also been said to be a heavy and haunted breathing from the empty rooms in the service corridors, and at one point, servants were refusing to go into certain rooms as they thought the heavy breathing was the ghost of a former footman. Christmas cards move around and are thrown all over the floor on Christmas Eve.
Even the Royals have Noticed the Hauntings
It is not only the servants that have said they have felt the haunting presence, but even the King himself is said to have noticed. Ken Stronach, the valet of King Charles said in an interview that:
“Everyone believes there are ghosts because so many have -experienced them, ¬ including Prince Charles. There are old parts of the house where nobody wants to go or be alone,”
The valet also talked about an incident in the mid 80’s where they also had an experience of a drop in temperature and that they both were convinced that someone was there in the room with them.
The uncle of Prince Phillip, Prince Christopher of Greece claimed to have seen the head and shoulders of a woman in a mirror when he was staying in Sandringham. Later he saw a portrait of the woman that he claimed it was of. Her name was Dorothy Walpole, and has been called the Brown Lady as she has been frequently seen haunting her old home in Raynham Hall in Norfolk.
Also the library in the house is said to be one of the more haunted rooms in the house. A servant was once napping in the room when being woken up by the books flying off the shelves. The hands of an old clock are also said to be moving by themselves, not following the time at all.
Queen Elizabeth had an Exorcism?
One of the more surprising things that happened though, is when the late Queen Elizabeth II had a ritual in one of the rooms because of the ghosts they believed resided in there.
The room in question belonged to the Queen’s late father, King George VI on the ground floor they used for him before his death, and it was said it was so haunted that the staff refused to work there.
According to reports, a person came to hold a service to, as quoted, “not exactly of exorcism, but bringing tranquility.” The service was to hola a congregation where they took the Holy Communion and said some special prayers.
Checking into the Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel in Chengde, China? According to legend, this is a haunted hotel, and the ghost in question is none else than the former Empress Dowager Cixi.
In the mountains to the northeast, three hours from Beijing is the city of Chengde in Hebei province, home to the Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel (承德云山饭店) situated by the Yangtze River and was built as the modern pride of the city to welcome guests.
The Hotel has around 220 rooms and is the old imperial resort destination of Chengde and was the first four star hotel in the city meant to cater to foreign tourists as well as locals. The hotel is also known as one of the more haunted hotels in the country.
The Ghost of The Empress Dowager Cixi
Yehe Nara Xingzhen: (29.11 1835 – 15.11 1908), a Chinese noblewoman of the Manchu Yehe Nara clan who controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty as empress dowager. Selected as a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor she gave birth to a son, Zaichun, in 1856 and controlled until her death.
The Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel overlooks the Yangtze River and is said to be the haunting grounds of Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧太后) from the Qing Dynasty, the last empress of China.
Empress Dowager Cixi governed the country for 47 years until her death in 1861 after working her way from the position as a concubine and was a highly controversial figure, often depicted as a ruthless despot that was a big reason for China’s corruption problem, anarchy and revolution that came in the following years.
Although in recent years, other perspectives on her have emerged as well as many, this meant that the problems in China at the time were much more deep rooted to blame on just one regent.
Read More: Check out all our collection of ghost stories from China
The Empress is said to watch over her former gardens which the site where Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel is built on used to be a part of. The Empress Dowager Cixi is said to be appearing at the end of the hallway on the 8th floor dressed in the traditional Chinese clothes from the late 1800s.
For what reason The Empress Dowager Cixi is said to be haunting this exact hotel is uncertain and in no sources found do they state a connection to the place other than the gardens.
The Man in Western Clothes
The Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel is not a hotel with just one ghost if we are to believe the legend though. The Hotel is also said to be haunted by a man wearing western style clothes who also hangs around on the same floor as well as the ghost of the The Empress Dowager Cixi.
Whether this particular ghost actually was a western visitor or just wearing the clothes are never really made clear. Although the female ghost both has a name and a history, the ghost of the man is for now nameless and no one knows who it can be.
Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel: Supposedly one of the more haunted hotels in China. // Source
The Legends of the Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel
The one problem encountered with this story of a haunted hotel though is the lack of Chinese sources for it. Why are they all seemingly just speaking in English? Have the ghosts just been seen by foreign tourists? Did the haunted rumors just happen to be jotted down in English on English sites or are the ghost stories about the former dowagers thinner than the top haunted lists would have it?
The question remains, is there actually a more deep rooted ghost story in The Yun Shan Fan Dian Hotel?
An online magazine about the paranormal, haunted and macabre. We collect the ghost stories from all around the world as well as review horror and gothic media.
