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Hvítárvellir-Skotta comes to Haunt a Family for over 120 Years

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How long can a ghost linger? Some Icelandic ghost stories claim it is for 120 years. But if we are to believe the legend of Hvítárvellir-Skotta, she has been haunting a particular family for much longer. Perhaps even today?

Hvítárvellir is an old large farm and mansion in Borgarfjörður at the mouth of the Hvítá River west of Iceland. The land was considered one of the most valuable lands in the country and was, among other things, one of the largest salmon fishing grounds in Borgarfjörður.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Iceland

The family living there centuries ago was plagued by a ghost said to have been raised from the dead and sent as vengeance after a woman chose to marry someone else. Some say that the descendants of the family are still haunted. 

Fylgur/Fylgja: The Old Norse Ghost

There were many different types of ghosts in Norse mythology and that the vikings believed in. One of them was the Fylgjur or Fylgja ghost, or Attending Spirits that we can find traces back in Iceland since the 12th century. These were originally a ghost of a very physical substance that interacted with the real world as if they were a part of it still. 

Read Also: Check out the Irish Fetch ghost, that has a huge resemblance to the norse Fylgja. 

In the Fylgjur stories from the middle ages, the spirits could be a beneficial one, almost like a messenger to help with the person’s path of life, some sort of totem animal or guiding spirit. But when the folklorist of Iceland started collecting old oral tales from farmers in the 17th century, the Fylgjur ghosts had drastically changed from its pagan old norse roots, throughout time, religious belief and superstition. 

Icelandic Ghosts and Ghouls: Fylgja or the draugr ghosts attached themselves to people that they haunted. They could also attach themselves to buildings or even entire towns. Many stories also talk about it being a generational haunting where the ghost decides to haunt all of the descendants of the original person it cursed. Most often the female line of the family. // An illustration to the Icelandic legend of the Skeleton in Hólar Church (Beinagrindin í Hólakirkju). From Icelandic Legends : Collected by Jón Arnason, illustrated by Jules Worms.

One thing that really changed was the Fylgjur’s purpose of haunting the living, and it was rarely to be of any help. Many stories talk about how they were wronged and it caused their death. They then came back to take revenge and were dangerous, even deadly. 

The Ghost Stormhöttur Haunting Hvítárvellir

At Hvítárvellir in the 18th century, Sigurður Jónson was sheriff in Borgarfjörður county (1704–1738, or perhaps rather until 1741). He had married Ólöf, daughter of Jón Magnússon the elder of Eyri in Seyðisfjörður to the west, and Ingibjörg. The wife of Dean Páll, mother of Ingibjörg, was named Helga and was the daughter of Halldór, the woman from the witchcraft persecutions in 1669. 

Ólöf Jónsdóttir had grown up in the west with her parents. She was a beautiful and popular woman that many men wanted to marry. Sigurður Jónsson was the lucky one though and won her hand after her first husband died in Stórabóla of 1707, a smallpox epidemic that wiped out a quarter to a third of Iceland’s population, only days after their wedding. 

It’s speculated that the rejected suitors grew hateful toward the married couple, Sigurður and Ólöf, although no names are mentioned. According to stories, they raised a ghost and sent it to her, saying that it should follow her. Many Icelandic ghost stories begin when the living raise the undead to do their bidding. 

Hvítárvellir: The Farm in Borgarfjörður around the turn of the century in 1897, which WG Collingwood drew during the summer when he was traveling around the country.// Source

This ghost was male, and it was called Stormhöttur who followed Ólöf for a time and became quite famous. Sigurður hated the ghost and quickly gathered some men to deal with it. Stormhöttur was confined in the Heggstaðir ridges a short distance southeast of Hvítárvellir and never appeared again, though those ridges are always thought to be haunted.

Others tell of Stormhöttur’s fate differently, saying that Ólöf went outside the first time he came to Hvítárvellir and met him in the yard, but when she knew his errand she said to him: “Go to the devil, north to the hayfields,” and that it is the same ghost that lies on the hay there so that it does not break apart. This is also told as a completely different ghost story that had nothing to do with Ólöf, but haunted the farm and is mostly known as The Ghost of the Hay Field. 

Hvítárvellir-Skotta is Sent to Haunt them

When word came west that Stormhöttur had been dealt with, those who had sent him felt themselves badly treated and sent a new spirit against Sigurður himself that would ruin him completely. They raised a woman from her grave, giving her dark powers and sent her to bring misfortune to Sigurður. 

Once Sigurður was traveling with another man west of the Hvítá when they saw a reddish-brown fox running after them. The fox spoke to them and asked where Sigurður of Hvítárvellir was. The sheriff suspected what the fox really was and told her that Sheriff Sigurður was down at Álftanes. The fox then turned aside and hurried off there, while the sheriff continued homeward as quickly as he could. But when he had just come home and was taking off his coat he was violently attacked and thrown to the floor of the main room as the Skotta could not be fooled so easily.

Sigurður was a courageous man, but needed help against this ghost. When she wrestled with Sigurður she had cast off the fox-skin and was then in the form of a woman. Her clothing is described as a black cloak-frock with an old-fashioned head-dress, but the end of the head-dress hung back on her neck like a tail, from which she took her name and was called Skotta. And because she was sent to Hvítárvellir she was called the Hvítárvellir-Skotta, and that name is very common, though later she received other names which will be mentioned still.

Another story is that Skotta caught Sigurður at the ferry across the Hvítá together with one of his farmhands, who was both strong and clairvoyant. He saw and recognized Skotta trying to get onto the boat and he grabbed the sheriff’s saddle and flung it at her. Skotta took the saddle and rode astride it along the western bank of the Hvítá, though it was slow, until she came upon another man who did not see her but recognized the sheriff’s saddle and picked it up. He was then ferried across to the south and brought the saddle to Sigurður, saying it must have been left behind in the west. But Skotta used that opportunity to get across the river without being noticed by anyone in the ferry.

The Danger of a Skotta Haunting

There’s no clear account of Skotta’s malice while she followed Sheriff Sigurður, but it was often said that ill befell wherever he went. Cattle, cows, and horses were found dead or crippled, and people attributed that to Skotta; and Sigurður often had to make compensation because of her.

When Sigurður and his wife were elderly he gave up the office of sheriff. One night after Þorri (1751) the farm at Hvítárvellir burned down, and it is said that it came from the fire of a tobacco pipe. Their son Páll was able to save them from the fire, but he himself burned inside with five other men. 

Some attributed that fire to the ill-will of Guðríðr Hinriksdóttir, sister of the brothers Ólafur and Sigurður Hinriksson, who had been farmhands at Hvítárvellir and died there, because Sheriff Sigurður had refused to grant her inheritance after them, having taken the farm of Hvítárvellir into his own hands. Others attributed the fire to Skotta. After the fire Sigurður went west to Setberg to his relatives.

Skotta Haunting the Decendants

The sons of Sheriff Sigurður and Ólöf were Páll, who burned at Hvítárvellir, and Jón, pastor at Hvammur in Norðurárdal (1752, †1780). He was married to Kristín Guðmundsdóttir, sister of Lady Þórunn and Eggert of Álftanes. Reverend Jón Sigurðsson and his wife Kristín had a daughter named Ragnheiður. She married Jón Jónsson the younger, pastor at Gilsbakki (1771, †1796). Their children were: Reverend Jón at Bergsstaðir (1826, †1838 or 1839), the housewives Kristín of Víðidalstunga, and Halla, first wife of Jón of Leirá. Ragnheiður Jónsdóttir lost her husband and married again, to Einar Guðbrandsson, assistant pastor at Hvammur in 1801, and they lived at Brekka in Norðurárdal. At that time the pastor at Hvammur was Þórður Þorsteinsson.

Hvítárvellir around 1900: Then used as a dairy school in what was called the Baron’s House, which is on the far left in the picture. The building was moved in 1925 to Hvítárbakki, Borgarfjörður.

There are few stories of Skotta from this period, but she did follow the couple at Gilsbakki, and people thought they saw her skipping ahead of Reverend Jón when he rode to the annex at Síðumúli. She was always in the meadow at Síðumúli when the pastor was seen on the Háafell slopes, Háafell being the outermost farm in Síðumúli parish.

After Lady Ragnheiður married Reverend Einar and they moved to Brekka she was called the Brekka-Skotta. Few deeds of hers are recorded there, though she was said to have killed a farmhand at Brekka named Gunnar. He had gone into the cowshed in the evening, either to carry water for the cowshed hand or to see how things were, but in any case he was found dead in the cowshed passage, while the cowshed hand heard, at that very moment, the sound of hide being dragged behind him along the cowshed ridge. 

Once Reverend Þórður of Hvammur was riding through his parish. He had gone down into the valley on his business, and his path lay along the banks between Brekka and Hraunsnef, called Pálsengi. The pastor then saw Skotta come to him. She did nothing but sit up behind him on the horse. The pastor was a resolute man and did not let it shake him. He quickly leapt off, cut the girth, and pulled the saddle back off. Then he mounted again and rode home bareback, while Skotta was seen sitting on the saddle for a long time that day, beating the stirrup-leathers.

After the death of Lady Ragnheiður, Skotta followed her children. Her daughter Kristín married Jón Friðriksson Thorarensen, a student, in Víðidalstunga. He considered Skotta no welcome guest in his family and wanted to be rid of her. Skotta was then grown old and weak in the knees, as was to be expected, since few had been able to harm her. They met when Jón returned from a journey south and was riding north over Arnarvatnsheiði. He asked Skotta what journey she was on, and she said she intended to visit his wife. But since Skotta was sore-footed and Jón wished to be rid of her, they agreed that she should leave his family in peace if he would give her something for her feet. He then took off his strong riding-boots, iron-shod, and threw them to her, and she put them on at once and disappeared.

There are no stories of her following Jón, pastor at Bergsstaðir, but people believed that she followed his son Jónas, who was a farmer at Arnarholt in Stafholtstungur, and he is often thought to bring misfortune wherever he comes. After Jón in Víðidalstunga and Skotta parted, people say that she chiefly stayed with Halla, first wife of Jón of Leirá, and she played him many tricks, killed livestock, and such things. Jón spent the first years of his farming at Kalmanstunga in Hvítársíða. From there he moved to Leirá, and after that Skotta was called the Leirá-Skotta, which name she still bears, and she follows the children of Jón’s first wife at Leirá. There is little to be told of her deeds since, for she is very old and worn, so much so that she herself is reported to have said that she could only drag herself by crawling on her knees, and she has long surpassed the usual age of ghosts, 120 years.

Even so, the people of Leirá are always thought to bring misfortune wherever they go, and men often think they see her at Akranes, since both farmhands from Leirá row there and come on various errands, but always she seems to be noticed before them.

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References:

Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri/Draugasögur/Hvítárvalla-Skotta – Wikiheimild

Hvítárvellir – Wikipedia, frjálsa alfræðiritið

Stórabóla – Wikipedia, frjálsa alfræðiritið

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The Haunting of the Antoniterkirche: Where the Monks Never Left

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The transition from Catholicism to Protestantism sometimes got bloody. This was also the case in Bern where the Antonite monks of Antoniterkirche had been residing for centuries. Cast out, their former churches and chapels were left desecrated, but did they truly leave the city?

In the twisted veins of Bern’s Old Town, where cobblestones whisper and centuries sleep behind shuttered windows, stands a building most passersby ignore. They shouldn’t. Tucked behind Postgasse 62 is the Antoniterkirche, now a shell of holy ground that once echoed with prayers and plague, now just as likely to echo with ghostly footsteps and the whispers of dead monks.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Switzerland

The Bern Disputation was a debate over the theology of the Swiss Reformation that occurred in Bern from 6 to 26 January 1528 that ended in Bern becoming the second Swiss canton to officially become Protestant. After this, the monks were expelled from the city, but according to some ghost stories, some never left. 

The Church: Painting by Michael Neher (1798–1876), The former Antoniter Church as a fire-fighting equipment house (1870)

The Antonites and their History in Bern

The Antonites, a medieval order of monks known for their care of the sick and their infamous symbol of the Tau cross, settled here in Bern before 1283 as servants of St. Anthony the Great. They were healers, yes—but also collectors of bone relics and donations, said to tend to the ill with both herbs and dark rituals. As their presence grew, so did the unease around them. Something about the way they looked at you, it was said. Something about the smell that clung to their robes.

The Monks: They were known across Europe for caring for the sick—particularly those suffering from “holy fire,” or ergotism, a disease that twisted limbs and seared flesh with a burning agony. Clad in black habits emblazoned with the blue tau cross, the brothers brought with them piety, relics, and rituals.

Their grand church, rebuilt in 1444 and again in the 1490s, stood proud for just a few short decades. By the 15th century, they had rebuilt their chapel into a grand Gothic church, welcomed the Shoemakers’ Guild and the Society of Rebleuten to worship at its altars, and staffed their hospital with six brothers and several lay nurses.

Then came the Reformation—a righteous blaze that burned through Bern and cast the Antonites into shadow. In 1528, the last friar was expelled. Mobs ransacked the sanctuary. Altars were shattered. Candles snuffed. Statues dragged and burned in the streets. 

Hatred had also accumulated against the Antonite brothers, as against all monks, in the years before the Reformation. People complained about their shameless begging, the decline in morals, and their unexemplary lifestyle. This hatred now erupted. Lynchings of monks were not uncommon. But did the monks ever truly leave?

The Haunting of The Antoniterkirche

After its secularization, the church served many purposes: a granary, a saddlery, a fire station. The pews were torn out, the partitions fell, and the prayers ceased. But not the presence. In every incarnation, workers reported strange noises. Moaning. Shuffling. Cold hands where there should be none. Rats, people claimed. But rats don’t whisper in Latin. Rats don’t sigh from behind the walls.

Antonierkirche before 1930

And then there’s the woodcutter’s tale that was written down in a collection of ghost stories from Bern. He was working alone in a partitioned room when a cold wind passed through the boarded walls. Something moved behind him. He turned, expecting vermin. Instead, there stood a tall figure in the black robes of a monk, cowl drawn, eyes large and sorrowful. The monk raised his hands slowly. No sound, no breath, just that chilling gaze. The woodcutter dropped his saw. “It was the prior,” he said later, trembling. “The last one. The one who never left.”

The Haunted Former Church

Source

The building today is shared by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bern, and the Russian Orthodox chapel hides quietly in the basement. The altar is long gone, the pews removed, but those who enter the chapel still speak of feeling watched. Of cold drafts that move against the grain of the wind. Of whispered invocations they didn’t speak.

The faithful come and go. But beneath the floorboards, something still lingers. In the coldest months, neighbors speak of low chanting beneath the stone. Of muffled crying. Of ghostly figures moving along the old monastic paths.

The Antoniterkirche was meant to be a place of healing. But after centuries of misuse, desecration, and silence—it seems the wounds here go too deep. And in Bern’s dark heart, the dead do not always rest easy.

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References:

Die Geschichte der Antonierkirche | Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Bern

https://www.maerchenstiftung.ch/maerchendatenbank/11839/im-antonierkloster

Antoniterkirche (Bern) – Wikipedia

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The Dying Screams of a Girl on Fire Haunting the Screaming Tunnel in Canada

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Said to be haunted by the dying screams of a young girl who was set on fire and died, the Screaming Tunnel in Niagara Falls in Canada has become the site of some of the most eerily ghost legends said to linger within the dark. 

The Screaming Tunnel is located in the Canadian town of Niagara Falls in Ontario and the haunted site can be easily accessed by car or on foot. It is today said to be one of the most haunted places in the country although the root of the haunting remains a mystery. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Canada

The Screaming Tunnel is a small limestone tunnel that runs underneath the railroad tracks, and it’s said to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl who died in a tragic fire.This 125-foot-long mysterious tunnel has been the subject of many chilling tales and legends for over a century. The tunnel is situated off Warner Road, just a short distance from the Niagara Parkway. 

Source

The limestone tunnel built in the early 1800s was running underneath what once was a Grand Trunk Railway line, now the Canadian National Railway. The Screaming Tunnel actually shares the same railway with the supposedly haunted Blue Ghost Tunnel as well. This has led to the belief that the spirits are using this railway to travel. It wasn’t made for passage though, but as a drainage passage to keep the tracks from being lost beneath flood waters.

The Legend Behind the Screaming Tunnel

Embraced with overgrown mosses, vines, and vibrant foliage, The Screaming Tunnel has a tragic story behind its eerie reputation, although no one can quite prove that it actually happened. The natural smell of sulfur is heavily prevalent.  According to the legend, the tunnel was once part of a farm owned by a wealthy family in the early 1900s in an old farmhouse behind the south side of the tunnel. The far end of the tunnel leads to a pathway through woods and a small cluster of homes was found around here.

One night, the family’s house caught fire, and the girl was trapped inside and her clothing and hair caught fire. She managed to get out by herself and ran out from the burning house aflame. She made it to the tunnel where she tried to extinguish herself as the flames tore through her clothes and skin. Panicked, she was looking for help from one of the nearby houses or anything that would extinguish the flames. But it was futile as she didn’t manage to put the flames out by herself and she died alone in the darkness of the tunnel. 

Source

While the story of the girl set on fire inside of the Screaming Tunnel is widely accepted, there are some variations to the legend. 

Some believe that the girl was murdered by her father who was mentally unstable. This is speculation, but it could seem like this version of the legend is a bit more modern. According to this version, he was abusive and a drunkard and that he was the one setting her on fire in the midst of a bitter custody battle. His wife had finally had enough and was taking their daughter with her when she was leaving him. Another fight ensued and the daughter ran away from them. But her father chased her and when he found her hiding in the tunnel before pouring gasoline over her and setting her on fire himself. 

Others claim that she was a victim of a love triangle gone wrong or even more disturbingly, the girl was raped by a drunkard she met when she was passing through the tunnel. In this version her body burned to destroy the evidence. Regardless of the specifics, the story has become a part of Canadian folklore and continues to attract visitors from around the world.

Evoking the Ghost of the Screaming Tunnel

As you walk through the tunnel, you can feel the weight of the legend on your shoulders, and every sound seems to echo louder than it should. Those brave enough to test the legend come prepared to the tunnel with matches. 

According to the legend, if you light a match in the tunnel at midnight and say the girl’s name three times, her ghost will appear, and you’ll hear her scream. Although what name she has been given is strangely not really known. 

Source

Some say that there is no name needed and that evoking her ghost is much simpler. If you light a wooden match while standing in the middle of the tunnel, you’ll hear a shrilling scream and your match will immediately blow out. Perhaps a cruel test to do on a ghost legend who perished in this exact way, but a rite of passage for the teens in Niagara Falls and a path of litter of beer and liquor bottles and graffiti trails after them.

The Pyre of Donald Jordanson

A completely different legend that has emerged in newer times though is the legend of Donald Jordanson that has been making rounds online. He lived on 16 acres of farming land. In 1924, he was newly married and had a newborn baby named Sam. That year it was a drought after the El Nino and the wheat and corn crops failed after the stormy weather. That dreadful summer, he lost everything. His wife left him and he lost his farm, and he lost himself in a psychosis. 

He disappeared and soon others did too. The lawyer Frank Male, his former neighbour Ethal Davidson and his business partner John Frew. When the police went to his farm to investigate, they noticed smoke coming from the tunnel. At least a dozen bodies were piled up on each other in a blazing pyre. The farmer, crazed and screaming, wawed a pitchfork towards the officers and fell over, impaling himself. So perhaps it is really the ghost of Donald Jordanson who is crying out in the tunnel? 

Although as with most of the urban legends, there really isn’t much substantial evidence that this even happened. And considering there are few, close to no sources for this as well, makes it even less likely to be rooted in truth. 

Source

Alternative Stories Behind the Screaming Tunnel

But really, how much of the legend is actually true? Despite being a very popular legend, it is strangely without many details and facts. A reporter for the Niagara Falls Review once tried to find any historical evidence of a farmhouse set on fire, but found nothing. 

Historically there used to be a small group of houses on the other side of the tunnel a bit away from the main road like in the legend. The small village is gone now, but you can still see the old foundations of the houses among the trees. It is said that one of the people living in one of the houses was a woman who was known by the neighbours for being a bit off, or at least enough enraged to leave her mark.

Read also: Ghostly Encounters in Moonville Tunnel in Ohio, The Haunted Cantabrian Tunnel of Engaña and The Hangman’s Tunnel in Loja for more haunted tunnels around the world

It is said that she had a tumultuous marriage and got in a lot of loud fights with her husband. But she wouldn’t necessarily unleash all of her anger towards him. After having a fight with her husband, she would bottle up all that anger and hold it in until he left for work and would walk to the very middle of the “Screaming Tunnel” and scream at the top of her lungs. 

Neighbours would hear this but ignore it, as many didn’t want to deal with the woman, or perhaps understood her anger. This is what many believe to be the true origins of the name “The Screaming Tunnel”

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  • The Haunted Halls of the Bern City Hall (Rathaus)
    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 Restless Dead Buried Inside of Basel’s Double Cloister
    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.
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  • Cell Number 11: Whispers in the Attic of the Norwegian Justice Museum in Trondheim
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  • The Haunted Legends of Carl Beck House in Ontario, Canada
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  • The Burgträppe-Balzli Haunting: The Ghost of Nydegg Castle
    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 Wailing Spirit of Old Beaupre Castle
    The Haunted Ruins of Beaupre Castle in Wales is one of the places in Wales said to have been haunted by the wailing spirit and deadly omen of the The Gwrach y Rhibyn, also known as the Hag of Mist.

References:

https://web.archive.org/web/20120102103052/http://www.hauntedhamilton.com/14_niagara_screamingtunnel.html

Screaming Tunnel – Atlas Obscura

Screaming Tunnel | Niagara’s Haunted Place to Visit | Articles

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The Restless Gatekeeper of the Rhine Gate in Basel

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After the gatekeeper’s young daughter died in the Rhine, his only wish was to be buried next to her in the cemetery. As they all believed his own death was a suicide he was denied a burial in a consecrated ground. Now, he is forced to linger in the shadows, his only way to visit her grave. 

Basel’s old city once bristled with gates and towers and its guardians of the bridges, streets, and walls that kept the medieval town secure. None was more important than the Rhine Gate on the Grossbasel side, the fortified passage controlling access to the ancient Rhine Bridge, the vital link between Gross- and Kleinbasel. The gate itself was torn down in 1839, but one of its most tragic stories clings to the city like mist over the river.

Read more: Check out all ghost stories from Switzerland

The Mittlere Brücke, or the middle bridge is one of the oldest bridges across the Rhine, dating back to 1223, and has become the very symbol of Basel today, connecting Grossbasel (Greater Basel) and Kleinbasel (Lesser Basel).

Legend has it that there once was a silver bell hanging from the Minster towers in Basel. After the earthquake in 1356, the towers collapsed and the bell sank into the Rhine, only now calling the river spirits to midnight prayer at full moon. It is said that the bell can only be raised when the Minster becomes a Catholic church again. If you look and listen closely from the banks or the bridge, it is said you can see the silver glimmer and hear the faint ringing sound. 

The Legend of the Ghostly Gatekeeper

In the 17th century, a drunken gatekeeper served at the Rhine Gate on the Grossbasel side of the river. A man with a weakness for drink, his reputation in the city was poor, and yet there was one bright, innocent light in his otherwise dim existence that was his beloved four-year-old daughter.

The tragedy happened one afternoon as the little girl played near the bridge’s edge, close enough for her father to see, but far enough for danger. He was, as too often, deep in his cups. And though he was clear in the head enough to see the horror unfolding in front of him, he was too drunk to save her when she fell in. 

It was the boatmen of the guildhouse at the bridge who reacted first, leaping into their boats and chasing the swiftly moving current. They managed to pull the girl from the water near St. John’s, but it was too late. The child was gone.

The Phantom at St. Martin’s

She was buried in St- Martin’s Church, or Martinskirche, the oldest parish church in the city on Cathedral Hill or the Münsterhügel.

The gatekeeper was crushed and filled with immense guilt. At the girl’s burial in St. Martin’s churchyard, he stood motionless at the grave long after the others had left. He carried his guilt heavily, a man haunted in life.

Die Martinskirche in Basel// Source: Andreas Faessler/Wikimedia

Weeks later, his body was found floating near the Klingental corner tower on the Rhine. Whether from despair or drink, he had slipped into the water. And because suicide was suspected, he was denied burial beside his daughter in consecrated ground. Instead, his remains were laid to rest in the old lay cemetery at Klingental, where plague victims, beggars, and outcasts were consigned.

Yet, his soul found no peace. Even decades, or perhaps even centuries later depending on when this actually happened he was still haunting the churchyard. During the time of Pastor Theodor Falkeysen (1725–1815), people whispered of a spectral figure seen standing in the churchyard of St. Martin’s on moonlit nights. Described as rigid and bent, dressed in the tattered clothes of a gatekeeper, his hollow eyes fixed forever on his child’s grave.

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    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.
  • The Haunted Halls of the Bern City Hall (Rathaus)
    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 Restless Dead Buried Inside of Basel’s Double Cloister
    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.
  • The Portobello Bar: Spirits on the Canal
    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.
  • Val Sinestra Hotel and the Ghost of Hermann Haunting the Lower Engadine
    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?
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  • The Ghosts of the Sinful Nuns Haunting Bern
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  • Cell Number 11: Whispers in the Attic of the Norwegian Justice Museum in Trondheim
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  • The Burgträppe-Balzli Haunting: The Ghost of Nydegg Castle
    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 Wailing Spirit of Old Beaupre Castle
    The Haunted Ruins of Beaupre Castle in Wales is one of the places in Wales said to have been haunted by the wailing spirit and deadly omen of the The Gwrach y Rhibyn, also known as the Hag of Mist.

References:

Spuk und Geister im alten Basel

Mittlere Brücke (Basel) – Everything you need to know in 2025 

Glaubet nid an Gaischter? Von wegen. Basel ist voll davon. | barfi.ch

Tour Description «Walk of legends» Place 1: Claraplatz and Rebgasse

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The Haunting of Nes Church Ruins in Norway

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The mysterious Nes Church Ruins in Norway has attracted ghost hunters and legends for centuries by now. But what is really lurking among the old stones after dark?

Where the rivers Vorma and Glomma meet in Nes, west in Norway, there are the ruins of a church that are said to be haunted. Some claim that these ruins could possibly be the most haunted place in the country. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

By daylight, the ancient church ruins of Nes are a peaceful historical site. Stone walls softened by moss, the wind threading through broken archways, and birds nested in the quiet masonry. Yet when night settles, the place transforms. Ghost hunters and thrill seekers come armed with flashlights and recording devices, hoping to capture the strange energy that locals insist has lingered here for centuries.

Source: Tommy Gildseth/Wikimedia

A Thousand Years of History

These crumbling walls date back to the eleventh century, making them among the oldest standing church structures in the region. Even before it was a christian church, it was most likely a pagan place of worship. 

Throughout the years it was expanded and torn down, and in 1567 it was burned down in the Nordic Seven Years War. In 1854 the church burned down after it was struck by lightning and wasn’t rebuilt because they feared mudslides. The ruins are now a popular place for weddings, worship and concerts with grass as the floor and the sky as the roof and the graves surrounding the gothic ruins makes it a sort of park. 

Stories circulate of electronics malfunctioning the moment investigators step onto the grounds. Phones that suddenly power down, camera screens flickering into blackness, lights strobing without any cause. Visitors report the sense that someone, or perhaps several someones, does not appreciate the intrusion. The ruins, heavy with memory, seem to breathe and watch.

The Tragic Priest Said to Haunt the Church Ruins in Nes

Weathered but still imposing, they mark where generations lived, worshipped, and were buried. And beside them stands a solitary grave: the resting place of Priest Jacob Christian Finckenhagen who was buried here in 1837.

Finckenhagen served here in the early nineteenth century from 1800 to his death, remembered in local folklore as a deeply troubled man. Some say he took his own life inside the church, unable to bear the weight of his despair. Others insist that even death did not bring him peace.

Many visitors claim to have seen a figure in the black priest’s robes walking the path toward his gravestone. He is silent, moving with a slow and deliberate step, as if still patrolling the grounds of his parish. Those who have witnessed him say he follows at a distance, never closing in, never turning away.

Children Behind the Walls

The darkest story tied to Nes is whispered with lowered voices. According to local legend, Finckenhagen’s children were sealed within the church itself. 

He married his wife, Charlotta Amalia Hassing and had three children together as well as Charlotta’s daughter from her first marriage. No records confirm it, but many swear the land remembers that they were in fact entombed inside of the ruins. People walking the perimeter after sunset report faint cries echoing through the stonework. High, distant, and pleading. Some turn back immediately. Others keep walking until the darkness grows too heavy.

The Truth Behind the Haunted Rumors

But how much is true about the ghostly priest said to linger? Records show that Priest Jacob Christian Finckenhagen actually died of a sudden stroke, and that he was 81 years old when it happened. His iron cross is still there, and at his funeral, one of Norway’s most famous writers, Henrik Wergeland had written a poem in his honor. 

So what of his children? There are absolutely no records about them being interred in the walls of the ruins. His son Søren even did as his father had done and grew up to become a priest. 

So when did the stories start to form? Although people have been talking about strange things happening by the ruins for ages, the story of Finckenhagen was told from the early 1900 at least. And what was told about the strange ruins before this is perhaps lost to history.

Haunted By the Past

Whether the priest is a restless soul, a lingering echo, or a remnant of old fears and superstition, the legends are impossible to ignore. The Nes ruins are more than a historical site. They are a place where something remains, something that refuses to sleep.

What is true though, is that it has definitely drawn people to it though. It got so bad that they had to put on cameras as people vandalized the ruins by driving on the grass, digging illegally and spray painting on the ancient walls. Perhaps the biggest haunting of the church ruins today is from the living.

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  • The Haunted Halls of the Bern City Hall (Rathaus)
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  • The Restless Dead Buried Inside of Basel’s Double Cloister
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  • The Portobello Bar: Spirits on the Canal
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  • The Ghosts of the Sinful Nuns Haunting Bern
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    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.
  • The Burgträppe-Balzli Haunting: The Ghost of Nydegg Castle
    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 Wailing Spirit of Old Beaupre Castle
    The Haunted Ruins of Beaupre Castle in Wales is one of the places in Wales said to have been haunted by the wailing spirit and deadly omen of the The Gwrach y Rhibyn, also known as the Hag of Mist.

References:

Nes kirkeruin

Rev Jacob Christian Finckenhagen (1756-1837) – Find a Grave Memorial 

Kirkeruinene omtalt i Forbes Magazine: – Er jo litt skummelt 

NYHETER | «Hjemsøkt» sommerperle

Kirkeruinene får kameraovervåkning: – Vi ser dessverre ingen annen løsning 

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The Ghost of the Hay at Hvítárvellir on the White Floor

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On the night before her wedding, a girl was tracked down by a ghost sent to kill her. Who was behind the haunting, and where did the ghost go after their encounter?

Once there was a farmhand at Hvítárvellir who is not himself named, nor is it said who his master was. Hvítárvellir is an old large farm and mansion in Borgarfjörður at the mouth of the Hvítá River. The land was considered one of the most valuable lands in the country and was, among other things, one of the largest salmon fishing grounds in Borgarfjörður.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Iceland

As an old farm with a long history, there have been more than one ghost passing through the place. But unlike the more vengeful ghost of Stormhöttir and the Hvítárvellir-Skotta that caused misery, accidents and even deaths, the spectre that became known as the Ghost of the Hay, was a more tragic figure. 

The Ghost of the Hay

Before he came back as a ghost, he was a gardener at Hvítárvellir and harvested all the hay, and he had plenty of work, for there was then a large herd of cattle, both cows and steers. This man with no name set his heart on a girl at the farm. Although the farm has a pretty good record of those who have lived there throughout the years, she also remains nameless. 

Hvítárvellir: The Farm in Borgarfjörður around the turn of the century in 1897, which WG Collingwood drew during the summer when he was traveling around the country.// Source

Alas, she did not want to have the gardener and she rejected him. Because of this the man became depressed and isolated himself from the others and only focused on his work that was done as it always had been. Now, no one wanted him, and he wanted no one. 

One day, he was found hanged in his own neckerchief in one of the haystacks. People believed that he had taken his own life out of grief because he could not have the girl. She had meanwhile become betrothed to another man.

Life went on, and on the evening before her wedding, the weather was fine and the moonlight bright. The girl still had things to get in order for her wedding in the morning, like finishing her bridal shoes. She said to a maid at Hvítárvellir that she should come with her out to the doorway of the house to keep her company as she worked on her shoes, since the night was so fair and bright outside and it was not yet the time when people lit lamps. 

They sat on the doorstep for a while, the bride-to-be working on the shoes and the other maid relaxing beside the bride-to-be until the maid got sleepy and yawned before calling it a night. The bride-to-be sat still as before and finished the shoes. When she had completed them she happened to look out and saw a man coming up from below the field. 

He looked rather imposing, and he did not greet her. She addressed him first and asked who he was. According to the sources, he introduced himself, but there are no signs of her knowing or recognizing him. He claimed he had business with her. She said: “It is good then that I was not in bed since you have business with me, but what is your business now?” 

“I intend to kill you,” he said.

 “I think you will not do that,” she said, “and now do either this: go to the lowest and worst hell, or go to the damned north to a hayfield and row there for eternity. You will have nothing else from me.” 

“I’ll rather go north to the hayfield a thousand times,” said the ghost, and he quickly turned and went there, and clairvoyant men have often seen him rowing there. After that the girl was entirely free of him and she was married in the morning.

It is, in short, common talk that although it is often stormy at Hvítárvellir, as in many places in that district, never there does hay break apart in the yard if neither stones nor people are put on it, and men credit this to the ghost who lies on the hay and protects the hayyard from all hay damage, provided that he may be alone on the stack. But if people lie there on the hay or put stones on it, it is said that the hay breaks apart and is whirled away down to the fence-lines. 

Hvítárvellir around 1900: Then used as a dairy school in what was called the Baron’s House, which is on the far left in the picture. The building was moved in 1925 to Hvítárbakki, Borgarfjörður.

Once when the weather grew stormy there were in the hayyard at Hvítárvellir two haystacks among others, one newly stacked of loose and light meadow hay and unturfed, but the other compact and settled hay, turfed and well cared for. But all the same, all the turf and stones were flung off the latter haystack as if they were thrown, and the hay itself was scattered everywhere, while the newly piled hay was not disturbed in the least.

The Icelandic Ghost of Vengeance

About this ghost it is quite remarkable that he is one of the few who does good and not evil. A Móri is a male ghost in Iceland. When a male is raised from the dead for such a purpose like vengeance, he is not called a ghost, but a Móri. Often the term Fylgja ghost was used interchangeably with the Draug ghost. The female version of this vengeful ghost was called Skotta. Móri means rust brown in Icelandic and the ghosts were named so because of the color of their clothes.

Icelandic Ghosts and Ghouls: Fylgja or the draugr ghosts attached themselves to people that they haunted. They could also attach themselves to buildings or even entire towns. Many stories also talk about it being a generational haunting where the ghost decides to haunt all of the descendants of the original person it cursed. Most often the female line of the family. // An illustration to the Icelandic legend of the Skeleton in Hólar Church (Beinagrindin í Hólakirkju). From Icelandic Legends : Collected by Jón Arnason, illustrated by Jules Worms.

Who was this ghost that came to her door the night before her wedding? Was it the man who took his own life, or perhaps a ghost he raised as revenge before leaving the world himself? There has also been speculation that the ghost who lies on the hay is the Skotti or the Hvítárvellir-Skotti that were mentioned earlier. Some also say that it is Stormhöttur who guards the hay there, as is mentioned regarding the Hvítárvellir-Skotta. But that’s another story.

Newest Posts

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  • The Haunted Halls of the Bern City Hall (Rathaus)
    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 Restless Dead Buried Inside of Basel’s Double Cloister
    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.
  • The Portobello Bar: Spirits on the Canal
    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.
  • Val Sinestra Hotel and the Ghost of Hermann Haunting the Lower Engadine
    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?
  • Glasnevin Cemetery and the Faithful Ghost Dog still Waiting for his Master
    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.
  • The Ghosts of the Sinful Nuns Haunting Bern
    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.
  • A Vampire in Ohio: The Strange and Grim Superstition of the Salladay Family
    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.
  • Cell Number 11: Whispers in the Attic of the Norwegian Justice Museum in Trondheim
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  • The Haunted Legends of Carl Beck House in Ontario, Canada
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  • The Burgträppe-Balzli Haunting: The Ghost of Nydegg Castle
    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 Wailing Spirit of Old Beaupre Castle
    The Haunted Ruins of Beaupre Castle in Wales is one of the places in Wales said to have been haunted by the wailing spirit and deadly omen of the The Gwrach y Rhibyn, also known as the Hag of Mist.

References:

Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri/Draugasögur/Heygarðsdraugurinn á Hvítárvöllum – Wikiheimild

Hvítárvellir – Wikipedia, frjálsa alfræðiritið 

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The Slave Trader of Ebenrain: A Tormented Spirit in the Shadows of Sissach

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Meant to be a peaceful summer residence in Sissach, outside of Basel in Switzerland, the Ebenrain Castle turned into a haunted one after one of its former inhabitants is still haunting it. 

In the peaceful town of Sissach, nestled amid the soft hills and dense forests of Baselland, stands the elegant yet somber Ebenrain Castle. Built as a summer residence for the rich and wealthy from Basel city in 1774–1776, it is considered the most significant late baroque residence in northwestern Switzerland. 

Today it serves as a venue for art exhibitions, concerts, and cultural events, but behind its grand Baroque façade lingers a chilling story — one of guilt, scandal, and restless spirits.

Read more: Check out all ghost stories from Switzerland

The ghost said to haunt this stately estate is none other than Johann Rudolf Ryhiner-Streckeisen, a wealthy Basel merchant whose checkered past and tragic end cast a long, eerie shadow over Ebenrain.

Haunted Castle: Ebenrain Castle in Sissach, Basel-Land canton, Switzerland. It is said to be haunted by the ghost of a potential slave trader. // Source: Ikiwaner/ Wikimedia

A Man of Wealth and Sullied Reputation

Martin Bachofen (1727-1814), Basel silk ribbon manufacturer, builder of Ebenrain Castle

The story of Ebenrain begins with Martin Bachofen (1727–1814), a prosperous Basel silk manufacturer who built the castle as his country residence. But it was in the hands of Johann Rudolf Ryhiner-Streckeisen that the estate’s most notorious chapter was written.

Ryhiner was a man of considerable means, but also of questionable morals. Whispers surrounded him — not only for his extravagant lifestyle and tangled personal affairs, but for his alleged ties to the transatlantic slave trade, a grim and unspoken stain on Basel’s mercantile history. These rumors would cling to his name, long after his death.

Faced with accusations of bigamy — a scandal that threatened to unravel both his public and private life — Ryhiner’s world crumbled. On July 29, 1824, he took his own life with a pistol shot in one of the castle’s stately rooms, leaving behind a legacy of shame and whispered curses. Two years later, his widow sold the castle to Ludwig Vest, a businessman from Liestal. 

A Restless Presence in the Dusk

But death did not silence Ryhiner. According to local legend, the merchant’s spirit returned to Ebenrain, condemned by his crimes and cowardice to linger in the place of his demise.

At dusk, when the mist gathers low along the castle’s lawns and the evening air turns chill, a tall gentleman has been seen strolling through the park. He swings a walking stick, his posture stiff and his gaze vacant. Some witnesses even claim he is accompanied by another indistinct, shadowy figure — perhaps a former accomplice, or one of the countless lives entangled in his dark dealings.

Those who have wandered the castle grounds after dark speak of sudden cold drafts, of unseen hands brushing their skin, and of a bloodstain in the west room — the very chamber where Ryhiner ended his life — that no servant or owner has ever been able to scrub away. Even after renovations, it is said to bleed through fresh plaster and paint, a grim, unyielding mark of guilt.

The Weight of an Unquiet Past

While Ebenrain Castle today stands as a proud cultural landmark, its ghostly past endures in local memory. The story of Johann Rudolf Ryhiner-Streckeisen is a reminder of the unspoken histories that linger in beautiful places. His restless spirit is said to prowl not for revenge, but tormented by a lifetime of sin and silence — a phantom burdened by the weight of lives lost and wrongs unrighted.

Schloss Ebenrain, Sissach, Schweiz. // EinDao/Wikimedia

So should you find yourself in the gardens of Ebenrain as the sun sinks behind the Jura hills, watch the tree-shrouded paths carefully. You might just glimpse a figure in 19th-century dress, cane in hand, forever pacing through the estate he could neither truly possess in life nor leave in death.

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References:

Huhuuuh! – Sieben Spukhäuser in der Region | TagesWoche

Schloss Ebenrain – Wikipedia

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The Eerie and Haunted History of Old City Hall in Toronto

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Said to be haunted by numerous ghosts, the Old City Hall in Toronto, Canada is now known as one of the creepiest buildings in the city. From strange entities targeting judges’ robes in the stairs to the last executed prisoners in the country, the spirits of the building are said to linger. 

The eerie history of Old City Hall in Toronto has many believe that it is the most haunted building in the city. This Romanesque building of justice was constructed in the late 1800s and has served as a city hall, courthouse, and even a movie set. It was originally home to Toronto’s city council from 1899 to 1966 and was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1984.

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Designed by prominent architect E.J. Lennox, known as the builder of Toronto, the building was constructed between 1889 and 1899, replacing the original city hall that stood on the same site on the corner of Queen and Bay street. The building features a clock tower that stands over 300 feet tall, making it one of the tallest structures in Toronto at the time and was such for the next 18 years.

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The Haunted Prison Cellar

The Old City Hall is known for its dark and eerie past, and many people believe that the building is haunted. There are several ghostly tales associated with the building, including reports of apparitions, strange noises, and unexplained occurrences. It is also said that some security guards will not venture into certain areas or floors late at night.

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The first place said to be haunted is the building’s basement. The cellars acted at one time as a holding center for prisoners and still today the old cells are still there. Because of this, it is no wonder that people believe this place was also a place of haunting, although the prisoners who spent time here didn’t stay for long. 

But could it be that some of their ghosts stayed for eternity? According to legends about the Old City hall,  the moans of the incarcerated have been heard as well. 

The Northwest attic that was used to store the City’s first record archive, is also a spot where a presence is felt, but no one is quite sure what it is. People who have been in the attic claim they are often suddenly overcome with a peculiar “feeling” that no one has ever managed to solve the mystery of. .

The Haunted Staircase and the Tugging Poltergeist

The rear staircase is one of the haunted locations within the building and has a lot of documentation and anecdotes. According to both visitors as well as working judges, the staircase is haunted by a poltergeist-like spirit that seems to enjoy tugging at judges’ robes. In addition to targeting judges specifically, visitors have been frightened by the sounds of footsteps walking up and down the stairs in the darkness of night when no one is supposed to be there. 

The haunting was first reported by Judge S. Tupper Bigelow (3 August 1901–13 June 1993), who said he would hear footsteps behind him and feel something pulling at his judicial robe. Perhaps it is also worth noting that this judge was one of the world’s leading authorities on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes mystery novels, and loved a good story and strange occurrence. 

The same experience of the tugging ghost was however also said to have happened to Judge Pete Wilch.

Source

The Condemned Prisoners in Courtroom 33

Although there are several rooms within the building said to be haunted, none more than one of the old courtrooms where some of the prisoners learned their fatal fate. Courtroom 33 is said to be haunted by the spirits of the last men condemned to hang in Canada in 1962. 

Before 1961, murder carried a mandatory death sentence in Canada. In July 1961, the Canadian government adopted a law establishing two degrees of murder: capital murder and non-capital murder. Capital murder carried a death sentence, while non-capital murder carried a life sentence with parole eligibility after 10 years. 

Ronald Arthur Turpin was convicted of killing an officer and was charged with capital murder since the victim was a police officer. The Toronto Star reports Turpin to have said in his final hours “If our dying means capital punishment in this country will be abolished for good, we will not have died in vain.”

Arthur Lucas was the other prisoner executed alongside Turpin. He was convicted for killing an undercover narcotics agent, Therland Crater from Detroit in a Toronto hotel. He is also assumed to have killed 20-year-old Carolyn Ann Newman, Crater’s common-law wife, but was never tried in her death. Lucas was charged with capital murder since the crime was premeditated.

They were tried for separate crimes but had the same lawyer, Ross MacKay, who believed both men to be innocent or acted in self defense. Lucas maintained that he was framed for the murders of Crater and Newman, but also that “he’d done many other terrible things in his so-called career that it was just catching up with him.” 

They were both hanged at the Don Jail. The ghosts of Turpin and Lucas are also rumored to haunt the Old Don Jail, known for its inhumane living conditions and where they served time before their executions. 

Source

Haunted Nights in the Old City Halls of Toronto

On Halloween it has become a tradition for journalists to stay in courtroom 33 to see if they can experience any paranormal activity that is said to exist in the courtroom. In John Robert Colombo’s book Haunted Toronto, he tells of a pair of reporters that almost managed to spend the night but gave in by 4am. But then the reporters experienced what they described as “cool fogs” and weird noises that left them, at times, glued to the floor and they decided to pack up and leave.

Source

Old City Hall is a fascinating and eerie landmark in Toronto’s history. From its stunning architecture to its dark past and ghostly tales, the building has captured the imaginations of visitors and locals alike. In April 2025, the government moved out from the building and it will no longer serve as a courthouse. 

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References:

Old City Hall

Ronald Turpin – Wikipedia 

Arthur Lucas – Wikipedia 

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The Ghostly Monk of Spittelsprung (Münsterberg) in Basel

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Back at a time when the hills of Münsterberg were called Spittelsprung in the really old parts of Basel in Switzerland, it was also said a monk was haunting the streets. Gliding in and out of the houses frightening the children, he took no notice of the world of the living, always deep in his prayers. The question is, prayer for what?

In the tangled web of Basel’s medieval streets, history lies thick as mist, and nowhere more so than on the Münsterberg, the quiet hill crowned by the grand sandstone edifice of Basel Münster. The old town rises and falls with small hills, each carrying the weight of centuries. 

The Münsterberg is the most storied of them, its cobbled alleys flanked by 18th-century palaces, austere official buildings, and the venerable Naturhistorisches Museum. Yet long before these elegant façades graced the streets, this hill bore another name: Spittelsprung.

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In the days when death came swiftly and often, a hospital and almshouse once stood here. A place where the sick and dying clung to what comfort the Church could offer, and where sins were whispered to unseen ears in dimly lit corners.

And it is from this time that one of Basel’s most quietly unnerving hauntings is said to have begun.

A Monastic Shadow Along the Streets of Münsterberg

According to accounts passed down through generations, a spectral monk used to make his mournful rounds upon the Münsterberg back when it was called Spittelsburg. It is told that on certain nights, when the wind sighs low through the narrow alleys and the bell of the cathedral tolls its midnight note, he appears without warning in one of the houses along the hill.

It was said that the pale glow of a flickering lamp or hearth reveals his dark robes and tonsured head as he silently crosses the living room floor, eyes never lifting from the pages of his ancient breviary. His lips move in soundless prayer, and the room fills with a sense of something ancient and sorrowful.

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Children, watching from behind chairs or half-open doors, would scream at the sight of him, but the ghostly monk didn’t seem to even notice them, never pausing in his devotions or lifting his head from his books. It was only when an adult stepped forward to confront him, hand outstretched or voice raised in command, that the figure would vanish like smoke caught in a draft, leaving nothing but the lingering scent of old candle wax and dust.

The Forgotten Sins of Spittelsprung

Why this monk’s restless soul should remain is lost to time. Was he a healer who succumbed to one of the plagues that ravaged Basel? A sinner seeking penance? Or perhaps a witness to unspoken horrors within the hospital walls?

He was certainly not the only monk that used to haunt the city of Basel. On Herbergsgasse there used to be a poorhouse that used to be haunted by one as well. At least back in 1626 where fire crackling in the stove could be heard when there was no fire seen. A  monk in a dark robe appeared with a small dog in his arms in the rooms several times and the farmers who stayed overnight at the inn to pay their rent to the landlords were said to have been paralyzed when they laid in their beds, watching the monk glide through their rooms.

The street, now called Münsterberg, seems tranquil in daylight, its medieval square echoing with little but the footsteps of museum-goers and students. But come nightfall, when the ancient stones remember their past, the air can turn heavy. Locals whisper that in certain houses, a shape still moves by lamplight, and prayers too old for memory still pass through unseen lips.

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Spuk und Geister im alten Basel

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The Haunting of the Gray Lady at Søndre Brekke Manor

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For centuries now, there have been rumours about the ghost of a gray lady haunting the Søndre Brekke Manor house in Norway. A presence so strong that even an exorcism didn’t have help. 

Søndre Brekke Gård in Skien, Telemark, in the south-eastern part of Norway, has a history since the 1400s as a manor house for the rich and wealthy. Since 1909 it has been used as a museum for, although some believe one resident never moved out. And rumor has it that the manor house comes with its own Lady in Gray. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

For over two centuries, staff and visitors have reported strange disturbances, unexplained noises, and glimpses of a sorrowful woman who has never found rest. But who is this lady said to still roam the halls of the former manor house?

Source

A Sudden Death in 1813 at Søndre Brekke Gård

The legend begins in 1813, when a young woman of unknown identity died suddenly inside the grand hall of the manor. No records reveal her name, her origin, or even the circumstances of her death. What is known is that she never left. Her spirit, troubled and unable to move on, is said to still drift quietly through the corridors of Søndre Brekke, seen only by the unlucky or the unwary.

This was during the time the minister of commerce, Niels Aall had bought the manor house in 1810 and the museum is decorated just as they think he might have had it when living in it. In 1813 though, Prince Christian Frederik, who would later be king of Denmark-Norway, came for a visit and a feast was held in his honor on the 21st of August. He was doing a tour to strengthen the ties Norway had with Denmark, which had been weakened after Denmark’s alliance with Napoleon in the wars. 

Although politically it wasn’t necessarily a popular visit, the feast was a welcome break for the locals, and they all joined to participate. 

There aren’t many details of how this nameless woman died though. Some say that she was very ill and it wasn’t taken into consideration as there was a visit from the Prince that took all the attention. Some say that Nils Aal had apologized to not make the party a ball because of respect for his ailing mother, Amborg Jørgensdatter Aall, was on her deathbed. The Prince ignored this though, and asked a peasant girl to dance and the feast turned into a ball either way. This version is from the famed Norwegian writer, Henrik Wergeland in his Konstitutionshistorie from 1841.

In 1895 Øverland wrote in his book Norway’s History from 1895, that it wasn’t Niels Aall’s mother dying, but his aunt, Benedicta Henrikka Løvenskiold. She died three days before the party took place. But this is uncertain as well as she died at the Kammerherregården in Porsgrunn, hours away from Brekke. 

These are just two of the texts about it, but the local legends said more. She has forever remained nameless and largely forgotten as she died in the room next to the feasting ballroom and returned as a ghost to roam its halls. 

A Warning from Beyond to the Museum’s Caretaker

One of the most unnerving encounters involves the caretaker of the manor, Jarle Ravik who was considered the go to for the story and the haunted experiences that he said happened during his shifts. 

While alone on duty on a stormy night with the wind howling, he suddenly felt a cold hand grip his arm. Shocked, he spun around, but no one was there. Just seconds later, a large tree crashed to the ground directly in front of him. Had the Gray Lady saved him from a fatal accident? Or was it simply a strange coincidence? No one knows, but the caretaker never forgot the sensation of that unseen hand.

Source

Another time he was walking a round after closing time and opened the door to the ballroom. There, the Lady in Gray was standing in front of him. He closed the door in panic before opening it again, but by then, she was gone. Ever since that time, he never saw her again, although he claimed to feel her presence, like she was watching out for him working at the museum. 

According to Ravik, he proposed a completely different tale about the ghost and the origin. He claimed he had heard about it from two old ladies from Skien. According to them, the woman who died was from a Swedish or Danish noble woman who visited with her daughter when the prince came to visit. 

According to the woman, it was unseemly for a ball because of a death in one of the European noble families, and she stormed out from the feast in protest. Her daughter remained though and when the woman returned the next day, her daughter had been assaulted by one of the prince’s officers. Because of this, she swore she would never leave the manor house again, a promise she apparently held.  

Disturbances in the Dark from the Lady in Gray

Others have experienced her presence in less dramatic but equally unsettling ways. Chairs slide across the floor with no one near them. Doors slam shut as though someone is passing briskly through the corridors. The atmosphere turns heavy, as though watched by someone who lingers just beyond sight. Some feel dread. Others feel sorrow. But everyone agrees: she is there.

A room on the second floor has been called «Den grå dames værelse», or the Lady in Gray’s Room. Other sightings have traced back to 1899 in writing when the doctor and engineer. The same year a package was delivered to Høyer who lived there at the time and the lady suddenly showed up. He described her as middle tall, a bit short grey skirt. Bråtu who delivered the package turned to address her, but she glided past him and into a door without looking at him. Bråtu didn’t think much about it, as he was used to rude rich people. But when he told the servants about her to the servants, Høyer was summoned and they went through his observation. 

“She went through a door?” Høyer asked and Bråtu pointed, but first then noticed that where she had gone through there was no door at all. 

She also showed up in 1905 a late Sunday breakfast in the room next to the Lady in Grey’s Room. The dog started barking and the man staying in the room saw her standing in front of him. 

In her room there was a new servant employed at Brekke and she went into the room one summer evening. She came out pale and silent before she collapsed in spasms. 

In the early 1900s, sightings of her were so common among the locals, they just commented, “it’s just her” when someone met her in the late 1920s. She was even spotted outside of the manor and walking around the city center in Kleiva. 

The Haunted Ibsen Show

In 1925 there was an Ibsen display in the north wing at Brekke. When they locked the room for the night, everything was fine. When they returned in the morning though, the chairs were moved, the window blinds fell down and a newly restored portrait of Ibsen had fallen to the ground and was broken. 

Was this the Lady in Grey though or was it actually the ghost of Lammers, that had the furniture displayed there? They called a ghost expert to investigate this, the father of the infamous Norwegian traitor from the second world war, Vidkun Quisling. He published his book Believable ghost stories in 1911 and was known as the expert in the field. Interestingly enough though, he didn’t mention the Grey Lady at all.

Later it was said that even an exorcism was conducted to drive the ghost out, but it seemingly didn’t have an effect. So the question remains, is the Lady in Gray still haunting the Søndre Brekke Gård?

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    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?
  • Glasnevin Cemetery and the Faithful Ghost Dog still Waiting for his Master
    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.
  • The Ghosts of the Sinful Nuns Haunting Bern
    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.
  • A Vampire in Ohio: The Strange and Grim Superstition of the Salladay Family
    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.
  • Cell Number 11: Whispers in the Attic of the Norwegian Justice Museum in Trondheim
    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.
  • The Haunted Legends of Carl Beck House in Ontario, Canada
    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.
  • The Burgträppe-Balzli Haunting: The Ghost of Nydegg Castle
    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 Wailing Spirit of Old Beaupre Castle
    The Haunted Ruins of Beaupre Castle in Wales is one of the places in Wales said to have been haunted by the wailing spirit and deadly omen of the The Gwrach y Rhibyn, also known as the Hag of Mist.

References:

Søndre Brekke gård – Wikipedia

Herskapshuset Søndre Brekke – Telemark museum 

https://www.telemarkmuseum.no/wp-content/uploads/gra_dame_ferdig.pdf

Den grå dame i Brekkeparken – Telemarkshistorier