Tag Archives: Europe

Ukategorisert

The Haunting of The House of Hohenzollern

8 Comments
Advertisements

Thes old and noble family House of Hohenzollern in Germany seems to forever be haunted by a Lady in White. Both the ancient family homes of the family, and also the family members, however far they go away, the curse of the house will follow.

In December 1628, the Palace in Berlin can’t keep the cold out, not completely. A hereditary haunting of the ruling family of Prussia sits in the walls of their castles — a bad omen. Most often the bad omen of the curse is seen as a woman dressed in white. You can hear her sometimes, the clanking of the large keys around her waist. A young prince is next this time. She appears to a him and says: – ‘Veni, judica vivos et mortuos’ which means ‘Come, I judge the living and the dead’. The day after, he dies of an illness.

But who is it that haunts this old and noble family? Even the young princes? Years before the young person died, she was also spotted by three young pages in 1619. In one of Hohenzollern Castle halls, it doesn’t need to be the one in Berlin. As long as it is one of the ruling Hohenzollerns. The young pages thought she was a living human being, and approached her. When he asked what she was doing here she turned to him and hit him with her keys, killing him. The two pages ran away, terrified.

The House of Hohenzollerns was growing restless when they heard about the sighting of the woman. She had been spotted again, it was a bad omen. Something was about to happen. Three weeks later, John Sigismund Prince-Elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern, died.

House of Hohenzollern in Germany

The family is an old one. The House of Hohenzollern once ruled what is now known as Germany as a dynasty being princes, electors, kings and emperors. They ruled the lands of Brandenburg, Prussia, The German Empire and as far as to Romania.

Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from Germany

They began their ruling dynasty in Swabia, in a town called Hechingen during the 11th century and took their name from their ancestral Hohenzollern Castle. The first ancestors of the House of Hohenzollerns were mentioned in 1061.

Burg Hohenzollern on the Hill: The ancestral home in Swabia, Germany, constructed in the early 11th century to the House of Hohenzollern. The haunting may have started here, but the sightings of the White Lady Haunting the family has been spotted everywhere were a member of the family has been residing.

They were the rulers of the lands, growing in power until 18 71 with the unification of the German Empire with the Hohenzollerns as hereditary German Emperors and Kings of Prussia. This title they held until Germany’s defeat in World War I in 1918 led to the German Revolution. The House of Hohenzollerns were overthrown and the Weimar Republic was established, thus bringing an end to the German monarchy.

Sure, they were powerful, and powerful families makes powerful enemies. Blue blood attracts bad blood. But who was so intent on following the family, haunting them for centuries? There have been many claims as to who exactly is the woman behind the hauntings. And this here, is one of the more famed ones.

The Noble Killer Nun Haunting the House of Hohenzollern

Kunigunde von Orlamünde is a ghostly reminder of the ancient past. She was born in 1303 as the first child of Ulrich I, Landgrave of Leuchtenberg, and part of their Bavarian dynasty in the middle-ages.

According to legend, Kunigunde von Orlamünde fell in love in a man called Albrecht the fair, the fourth son of Frederick IV, Burgrave of Nuremberg. A man of the House of Hohenzollern.

The Abbess: Tombstone of Kunigunde von Orlamünde at Himmelskron, is rumored to be behind the curse of the House of Hohenzollern.

Albrecht had expressed that he would marry Kunigunde von Orlamünde, hadn’t it been for that “four eyes did not stand in the way”. Kunigunde thought he meant her son and daughter. Therefore, she stabbed their eyes out with a needle, and they died, freeing her to marry the man she loved.

Johann Löer made a verse about this in 1559:

And thought, those small children I wanted
Will certainly be the eyes that
Robs me of my love!
And if the woman even did
That murdered her own children
That misery robbed their life
That stabbed them with pins
Tender and soft all over

This is not what Albrecht meant though, as he was talking about his parents as they disapproved of their match. He refused to marry her after her actions. He married a woman named Sophie von Henneberg and got two daughters on his own.

Kunigunde von Orlamünde was devastated and full of regret. She had murdered her own children for a man that didn’t even want her. Therefore she started on a pilgrimage to the Vatican to get absolution for her sins from the Pope himself. He ordered her to build a monastery and become a nun. She joined the Kloster Himmelkron.

Read Also: Dracula and Ghost Nuns in Whitby Abbey

In some version she she was sentenced to life in prison for the murders, other tell of how she died on the way to the Vatican, not being able to beg of forgiveness. She is one of the origin stories of the curse over the House of Hohenzollern and she has been haunting the family ever since.

Weiße Frauen Haunting the House of Hohenzollern

Could Kunigunde von Orlamünde be the lady following the haunted House of Hohenzollern? Lurking along the walls with her keys, paying close attention on every male descendant in the family that she never got to be a part of? A family growing bigger by every generation while she cut down her own? In any case, the legend of the Lady in White is old. Perhaps so old that even not history keeps it in its records?

Read More: Check out these German ghost stories based on a Lady in white like The White Lady In Freihung and The Lady in White in Zitadelle Spandau

Basking in the sunlight, hiding in the shadows, her dress is always white. In German legends and folklore the stories of the Weiße Frauen, meaning White Women used to be a name meant to the elven-spirits and the stories of the light elves from pagan times. Many of the ghost stories seems to be based on these old folklore types of myths and legends, even to this day.

The White Lady Haunting Germany: Illustration from the opera, The White Lady. The White women or the Weiße Frauen has been a part of the German mythology for ages. It has know been a part of German ghost stories as well for centuries.

The legend of the Weiße Frauen or white woman has, as everything does, evolved from its elven origins. Now the name is also used on women dying in grief, of sorrow or with a urge of revenge. It has spread throughout Europe and is an image with strong connotations, even today.

The Family Curse Over the House of Hohenzollern

Some call her the White Lady, some call her ‘The Harbinger’. She brings bad luck to those seeing her, and reports of her sightings has been going on for centuries.

In 1667, Louise Henrietta of Orange, the wife of Elector Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg, was lying ill. A few days before she passed away, she saw the White Lady, sitting by her desk almost as an omen that warned the family that death was approaching.

Read More: Check out more ghost stories about curses and cursed people like The Cursed Merchants at Campo dei Mori, Baron Falkenberg that were Cursed to Sail the Sea for 600 Years or The Accursed Mountains of Albania.

The family members started to learn to spot the signs, but was unable to do anything after her sightings. In 1678, the Margrave Erdmann Philip of Brandenburg saw the White Lady in his armchair as he entered his chamber in Baireuth. He left the room, shocked and terrified. The next day he rode his horse out in the court and there was something weird going on. The horse was uneasy, as if seeing something that scared it and he threw the prince off. The Prince stood up, seemingly fine and he retired to his chamber. But after two hours, he was dead.

Weiße Frauen Curse of the House of Hohenzollern: The White lady, also known as the Harbinger, has been haunting the family for centuries, acting as an omen when someone is about to day, and even as a warning. Is it really a curse, or actually someone watching over them, trying to warn them when danger is afoot?

Even the dead ones seems to warn about the White Lady that haunts the House of Hohenzollern. The White Lady was supposedly absent during Frederick the Great’s reign, but in his death, he came back to warn them about her. In 1792 in Paris, his nephew Frederick William the Second was camped outside the city with his troops, ready to attack the next day. That night his dead uncle appeared before him, warning him about the seeing the White Lady if he didn’t call off the attack. His nephew listened and left France, avoiding the harbinger and according to the legend, a certain death.

Even Napoleon tried to spend a night in one of Hohenzollern castles but left bothered by the ghost haunting the place. In 1806 he had defeated Prussia and claimed some of its land as a French province. He left the next day, never to returned, calling it le maudit chateau, ‘the cursed castle’.

But today? Were is she? Just before World War I in 1914, she was last reported. Just before the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. After they lost the war Kaiser Wilhelm the Second was the last ruling Hohenzollern, and he later abdicated the throne.

And it is said as long as there is no Hohenzollern that rules, the White Lady will stay in the shadows, and hopefully, outside of the Hohenzollern castles.

What is the Truth Behind the Curse?

Such a dramatic story, but does it ring any truth? What is true is that Kunigunde married Otto VI, Count of Weimar-Orlamünde. Historians refute the legend as according to record, their marriage produced no children. It is true that she and her husband adopted a daughter, Podika von Schaumburg, but she grew up and married Poske Ritter von Schweritz in 1341.

There are also records of her dying in 29th of April in 1382. And if she really was born in 1303 she would have been close to 80 and most likely in a comfortable home, not on the road to Rome or in prison.

Read More: Check out more curses placed on objects like Tomino’s Hell — The Cursed Poem, Cursed Books and Manuscripts and Cursed and Haunted Paintings

Kinigunde’s husband died in 1340, leaving her with a vast inheritance. She spent it on the monastery she herself would join as a nun. Funnily enough, sources tells he actually bought the monastery from Albrecht.

The Harbinger of Death

For a story as old as this one, there is now difficult to separate facts from fiction and the story of the curse that allegedly looms over the House of Hohenzollern seems to still be there, even if no one has reported about the White Lady for a while.

But what about The House of Hohenzollern and their sightings of the White Lady over the centuries? All of their stories? Were they just that? Stories? Or is it that some details of the past is not for us to know. Not the living.

Could it be something else than a woman with a flare for eternal vengeance? Perhaps something even older like the German myths and legends have been telling for ages?

More like this

Newest Posts

source: http://www.historicalblindness.com/blogandpodcast//the-white-ladies-of-german-lore
https://castles.today/linnoja/saksa/hohenzollern/legends/
https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1919/4/1/is-the-ex-kaiser-haunted

The University Magazine: A Literary and Philosophic Review: https://books.google.no/books?id=gDMzAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PA702&lpg=RA4-PA702&dq=House+of+Hohenzollern+haunted&source=bl&ots=vM1XBLfNjb&sig=ACfU3U2mzSiLwgsqT8tF8rD0D9I1JBHgSw&hl=no&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0gZ7v9bbqAhUZ5KYKHfBPAaY4ChDoATABegQICRAB#v=onepage&q=House%20of%20Hohenzollern%20haunted&f=false

Uncategorized

The Haunting of The Blue Lady at Verdala Palace

Leave a comment
Advertisements

The mysterious legend about the Blue Lady in Verdala Palace on Malta is shrouded in questions as she is supposedly haunting the beautiful castle. What happened to her and Who is she? Will she ever find peace?

On the height of the Buskett Gardens lies The Verdala Palace. Set in the heart of the idyllic gardens and surrounding forests it gives some breathtaking views of the island. Today it is used as a summer residence for the president of Malta and is an enormous building sitting alone at the hill.

The Verdala Palace is closed off to public except on the annual Moon Ball held every August. And perhaps, sometimes, a woman wearing her blue dress dances among the guests, not being able to escape the palace, even in her death.

The History of Malta and the Verdala Palace

For a time Malta was ruled by a religious order. The Order of Saint John, was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order and the ones that built the Verdala Palace in the 1500s as a hunting lodge. And the island of Malta was ruled by the Order of Saint John as a vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily from 1530 to 1798 when the legend is said to have taken place. 

The Verdala Palace: Majestic as it stands from it was built by the Grandmaster Verdalle in 1586, it is now used as a summer residence for the president of Malta. Local legend has it that the Verdala Palace is supposedly haunted by The Blue Lady, a tragic story about a woman who was imprisoned in one of the towers.//Photo: ERWEH

The order thought self that they turned, “merely a rock of soft sandstone” into a flourishing island with mighty defenses and a capital city among the great powers of Europe during the 268 years they ruled the island.

The native felt otherwise though, as the Knights were French and excluded the native islanders from important positions. They were especially loathed for the way they took advantage of the native women. Perhaps The Blue Lady is an echo of these women?

The Blue Lady in Verdala Palace

The order was ruled by a so called Grand Master. And the last Grand Master of Malta was Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc. He had a niece according to legend who is said to be The Blue Lady in the Verdala Palace. But as the legend goes, even though the order were eventually expelled by the French from the Island, she remains there as a ghost, haunting the palace she ended up trapped inside of.

The Blue Lady: The Verdala Palace is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a lady wearing a blue dress.

Walking the halls of the Renaissance palace under the intricate frescoes in the ceiling, the bold architecture, grand staircases and passing under the high, arched ceilings, The Blue Lady is unable to find any rest in her castle prison.

Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories set in haunted palaces, mansions and castles from all over the world.

The Blue Lady, sometimes referred to as Is-sinjura tal-Verdala, was supposed to marry a man she didn’t love according to legend often told about her. Who this man was varies, but it is often thought he was one of the knights.

She had no say in that matter and was forced to it but kept trying to refuse the man she would be forced to spend the rest of her life with. The man grew angry and impatient at her refusals and imprisoned her in her room in the palace to teach her a lesson and keep her in her place.

Imprisoned and forced to compliance, she had no way of getting out. Unless… the only way she saw an escape was through the windows. The palace was many floors high and it was dangerous, some might even say impossible to escape this way. She slipped and fell to her death.

In some version she just gave up completely and threw herself out from the window to take her own life instead of marrying a man she didn’t love. Today we will never know.

After her tragic death she returned as a ghost. The Blue Lady has been spotted inside of Verdala Palace, walking the halls in her blue dress. The very same dress she wore when she died.

Interested in more stories about ghosts that were trapped in a castle? Read the story about The Prisoner of Château de Puymartin

Sightings of the Ghost at the Verdala Palace

https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulomb/6955536113/in/photostream/
The Moon Ball: Sightings of the Blue Lady in the Verdala Palace is often during the August Moon Ball held in the palace. //Photo: Pablo Torres Flickr.

So why is she haunting the place she felt so trapped in? Many of these so called ghost ladies often found in old castles and mansions is haunting the place because of the tragic way they died. They are perhaps bitter about how it ended, but harmless according to most ghost stories about those ladies in white, grey and black from Europe.

So exactly why she is haunting the place is harder to pinpoint, however, we do have many written accounts of her haunting dating over a century back in time.

One of the written accounts of seeing The Blue Lady is from a Howard Jones in 1917. At this time, Jones worked as a staff member of Admiral Sir Arthur Gough-Calthorpe. He once visited the Verdala Palace and came back with a ghost story. I

n the diary, penned by a Capt. Robert Ingham, the aide-de-camp of the Gouverneur of Malta, he relayed Jones story of him seeing the Lady in Blue at Verdala Palace.

One time, Jones went to the Verdala Palace for a weekend in July, 1917. There, he was given a small room with a window overlooking the ditch. On the second floor there is something that are known as “Blue Lady’s Quarters”.

Today these quarters are almost empty and uninhabited and houses little to no guests. The walls are painted in dark wedgewood blue.

According to the diary, The Blue Lady appeared there before him as a ghost. When Jones was doing his tie in the mirror, a lady dressed in blue walked up behind him, but when he turned around there was no one there.

The Lost Name of the Lady in Blue

Even though the story has persisted for a very long time, little is known about the name of the Lady in Blue in Verdala Palace, even though she is a descendant of a noble family. But she has been embraced by the Malta as part of the history and even the official presidential website mentions her, writing: “This is only a legend, however many people do confirm that she does indeed appear in the palace wearing a blue dress.”

A possible link could be one of the de Rohan Polduc members seemingly being linked as siblings to Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc, which The Blue Lady is supposedly a niece of. They are:

  • Jean-Baptiste de Rohan-Polduc (1724-1782))
  • Marie Pélagie de Rohan-Polduc (1724-1753), married (1737) François de Groesquer, Count of Groesquer
  • Jean Léonard de Rohan-Polduc (?-1748)

Another version (a very dramatic one) of the legend behind the The Blue Lady in the Verdala Palace is:

Cecile, a niece of Grand Master de Rohan, who had eloped with a commoner and found herself in her uncle’s care. It is said that after the Grand Master’s death during the French occupation of Malta, her fiancé was tortured in order to make him divulge the whereabouts of a supposed treasure hoard at Verdala Castle. Cecile took hold of the sword belonging to a French soldier, killed her fiancé to end his misery, and then jumped to her death from a castle window.

azure.com.mt

Whoever The Blue Lady is, at the annual Ball at Verdala Palace in August, when the gates to the palace opens, when it is once filled with people, with life, the guests still, again and again, insist on seeing The Lady in Blue dancing in the halls in her blue dress.

More like this

Newest Posts

Sources: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/The-Blue-lady.654131
https://maltaprivateguide.com/verdala-palace/
https://president.gov.mt/the-palace-verdala/
https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/49535

Ukategorisert

Loftus Hall – Ireland’s most haunted

2 Comments
Advertisements

Loftus Hall is said to be one of Ireland’s most haunted mansions. It is thought that the place is haunted by one of the daughters that had an encounter with the devil himself in disguise and never recovered from the shock after she found out the truth.

A magnificent and stately manor to look at is Loftus Hall, one of Ireland’s finer ones of the Hook peninsula of County Wexford. This area is a famous site in Irish history, known as the place “where Ireland was lost and won”. The coastline offers a beach a day for a fortnight and is one of the special attractions of this area. Pretty fishing villages and bird watching on the mudflats of Bannow Estuary.

Read More: Have a look at all of our ghost stories from Ireland.

A little aside from the shore, from the village and from people, a Hall stands. Weathered, sure, but still in all its glory a moldy, ancient place inhabits. It stands alone in the austere and rather bleak landscape. But a dark legends hangs over the old house, and it has done so, for quite some time. Rumors about the devil that roams the ground as well as the ghost of a woman haunting the place.

A Windy Place: The Loftus Hall has been withstanding the test of times, even in a weathered place like it was built on the coast of Ireland.

The Loftus Hall was built in the 1350’s, also known for being the time of the Black Death Plague, taking the lives of so many in Ireland. It was built by the Redmond family to replace their castle. Back then it was known as Redmond Hall.

The Loftus Hall has always attracted the eyes of the darker and more sinister stories, especially since the legends started to cross the sea that lies so dark and rough just ahead. It even featured as the plays were they shot the horror movie, The Lodgers.

Read the movie review:

The Lodgers

The Lodgers from 2017 is an Irish Gothic horror film by David Turpin and Brian O’Malley. It stars Charlotte Vega, Bill Milner and Eugene Simon. If you like eerily dark and hauntingly beautiful movies like The Others or newer one like Crimson Peak, The Lodgers will be an obvious next escape to a haunted house…

The Legend Behind Loftus Hall

In the mid 1700s, Charles Tottenham became Lord of the manor by marrying Anne Loftus. They had six children, one of their daughters, was also called Anne and this is her story. About her and the devil himself that knocked on her door and entered her heart.

Inside Loftus Hall: The movie, The Lodgers is worth watching just to catch glimpse of the interior of the Loftus Hall inside the three-storey, 22-bedroom Palladian mansion.

According to the legend, on a dark and stormy night, a mysterious stranger came to the house on horseback. He went straight to the hall, asking for shelter, claiming that his ship ran ashore in the rough sea. The Tottenham family, who lived there at the time, invited the strange in.

The young daughter, Lady Anne Tottenham met this stranger, and instantly took a liking to him. And he to her. And soon they became very close. In some accounts, they even became lovers.

Whatever they were he stayed for a while and no one really noticed anything strange about the stranger before one fateful evening.

On one particular evening, she played cards with the mysterious visitor in one of the rooms of Loftus Hall. In the game, each player received 3 cards apart from Anne who was only dealt 2 by the mystery man. A butler serving the Tottenham family at the table was just about to question the man when Anne bent down to pick another card from the floor which she must have been dropped.

She bent over to pick them up and that is when she saw it under the table. The man had no feet of that of a man. They were cloven hooves, like a beast and she understood he had to be Beelzebub, the devil himself.

Read more: Check out more ghost stories were the devil himself made an appearance like The Jersey Devil in the Pine Barrens New Jersey or Baron Falkenberg that were Cursed to Sail the Sea for 600 Years.

Anne screamed at the sight of the man she thought she knew. As soon as the man noticed Anne’s look on her face, he knew that he’s been found out and disappeared from the mansion in most extra way possible by shooting himself through the roof of the halls, in a ball of flames.

The Ghost Haunting Loftus Hall

Anne herself never recovered after this traumatic incident and went into some sort of shock people say that she never got out of.

Haunting the Manor: It is said that Anne is still haunting the place.//Source: Loftus Hall Facebook

Some say her family was so ashamed of her and her unladylike behaviour that they locked her away in her favorite room, called the tapestry room. She didn’t want anything to eat or drink after the shock, only staring out her window, across the sea to where Dunmore east is today.

What she was thinking about differs from who you ask. Some say that she was waiting for her mysterious stranger to return, even though she knew who he was. Others say she locked herself in the room, wanting to feel safe from the devil who had invaded her safe space, her home and her heart unknowingly.

Read More: Check out more mansions and castles believed to be haunted from all over the world.

No matter what the reason was and what happened that night at Loftus Hall we will probably never know for sure. What we do know is that Anne died in the very room in 1775. She died sitting and when she died, they could not straighten her body out, and she had to be buried in the same sitting position she died in.

After her death many talked about the place becoming haunted. Some claims she stills walks the corridors in her ghostly form, still in shock after her encounter with the devil, unable to move on, or perhaps even scared for where she would end up.

The Paranormal Reports

Now, that is one hell of a story. And a pretty crazy one at that. But the reports of strange encounters and supposed evidence of the paranormal still keeps coming, even after all this time.

Loftus Hall was after the devil incident the owners of the manor had an exorcism by Father Thomas Broaders whose powers is said to have worked and the evil that lingered went away. Father Broarders went on to become Parish Priest of the parishes of the Hook and Ramsgrange for almost 50 years.

Even the original building was almost leveled to the ground, and the manor we see today is the one they rebuilt in 1865 to 1875 were it went through extensive renovations.

But even though it is said that the exorcism worked, reports about strange paranormal activity has been reported a lot. And a lot more since it was opened to the public in 2012. And this is why some say that Loftus Hall is Ireland’s most haunted place in Ireland.

There are stuff though, that are without a question just very creepy. Like when during a renovation of the house years later in recent times, the skeleton of an infant was discovered in the walls. What the story behind this could be, only the dead knows.

One of the supposed evidence of paranormal happenings in the manor comes from a nice summer of 2014, when Thomas Beavis made a trip to the scenic place to do some sightseeing. When he looked through his pictures from his holiday after he came home he was shocked.

Picture of a ghost: This is the viral photo of the alleged ghost a visitor took when visiting Loftus Hall in 2014. What do we think? Could it be the ghost of Anne who has been rumoured to haunt the place ever since her death?

In the background there is a ghostly outline, most likely of a young girl or woman, looking out the windows of the hall. Could it just be a reflection of the tourist walking outside? Or could it be something more eerie. Could it be Anne who is said to haunt Loftus Hall?

Throughout the years, the hall has been a lot. A castle, a convent, a school and under attack from foreign invaders. Today it remains as a tourist attraction. A dark one at that, embracing its history and people travelling from all over the world to take part in paranormal investigations following Ghost Adventures with Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin and Nick Groff. But know, in the summer of 2020, the Hall will once again close its doors for visitors. And the answers we seek will maybe never be answered.

As of 2023, Loftus Hall is still closed down and not open to the public as it is renovated.

The Haunted House filmed: A Youtube snippet about the house and the hauntings that is rumored to be going on inside of the Loftus Hall.

More like this

Newest Posts

Sources:

  1. https://www.irishpost.com/news/netflix-horror-film-the-lodgers-159185
  2. https://www.loftushall.ie/about/
  3. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/haunted-loftus-hall-to-be-laid-to-rest-gdtkv05mh
  4. https://allthatsinteresting.com/loftus-hall
article, Ghost

The Running Lady of Beeford

Leave a comment
Advertisements

Along the road in the English town, the ghost of a lady on the run haunts the area, allegedly causing accidents, and even deaths. This is the legend of the running lady of Beeford.

Beeford, East Yorkshire in England doesn’t sound like the most haunted place on earth. With the red bricked houses it looks like a classical quaint English town, never changing, dormant. Perhaps like the set of Midsummer Murders or the location of an Agatha Christie novel. Perhaps it indeed look a bit haunted, after all. Truth is, this place has been there even before England came to be. Mention in the Domesday Book, it has been there for a thousand years. Perhaps it will last a thousand more?

Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from England and the UK like Ghost of Nan Tuck Haunting the English Countryside or The Ghost on the Moor.

And everyone knows that old towns must have their own local ghosts. And here, they have the legend of the running lady of Beeford that is haunting the roads leading in and out of the town.

Causing Accidents and Deaths

This particular ghost is a ghost on the road. On a stretch of road between Beeford and Brandenburton, a ghost of a lady has been seen roaming around late at night. The ghost lady is also called the Running Lady as she is seen running across the Beeford Straight toward the North Frodingham junction.

Tales of her ghost causing accidents have been told over the years in the more modern area, as it’s usually involves cars. Not only is the ghost reported on being seen, but the running lady of Beeford has also been the one to blame for several accidents on this particular road.

The Running Lady of Beeford: There is a local legend that people have seen the Runnin Lady of Beeford, haunting the road. Some of the stories about her, even hints that she was the cause of a deadly car crash.

One of these stories details the curse she has supposedly put on this place made a car crash into a three, killing six people. What made the crash? An accident caused by witnessing the running lady of Beeford, or something more sinister as some of the version of the legend hints at?

Read more: Have a look at all of our ghost stories about Haunted Roads from all over the world like The Highwayman Robbed of his Life or The Hitchhiking Woman in White in Palavas-les-Flots

There is also an anecdote about a motorcyclist picking up a female on the stretch on that road, only to find her gone when he turned around after a few miles. This story collides a bit with her habit of being on the run, but falls in line of the urban legend of a hitchhiker wanting a lift, but disappearing.

Read the urban legend of the vanishing hitchiker:

The Vanishing Hitchhiker

The Vanishing Hitchhiker is a well known urban legend throughout the world. Here is a Moonmausoleum original writings based on the Urban Legend – The Vanishing Hitchhiker

Keep reading

What’s the Truth Behind the Running Lady of Beeford?

This ghost story falls right into the White Lady legend from Europe we can read about in so many of the classic ghost stories. Also, stories about ghosts along the road is also a well documented phenomenon across the world by now. But what about this particular legend of the running lady of Beeford? How much does it ring true?

Considering that Beeford is such a small place there would be more documented that six people actually died in a car crash around that area. But as per now, we have found no such proof.

And the description of her appearance is so vague and non existing that it’s hard to make out what type of lady we are seeing. Well that is, if we see anything at all.

More like this

Newest Posts

article, Ghost, Ukategorisert

Hvítárnes — The Haunted Hut on Iceland

1 Comment
Advertisements

One of the more well known Icelandic ghost stories that are told over the cold and desolate island, is the haunted hut in the middle of nowhere. Here the ghost of a lady in gray is haunting the place. This is the story of Hvítárnes hut, one of the most haunted places in Iceland.

South on the Island of Iceland a small hut is placed on a field in the middle of nowhere. From it you can look far into the distance in every direction, nature, beautiful nature, lonesome nature that in the winter turns pitch black. And the legends surrounding the Hvítárnes hut, is of the paranormal sort.

The Icelandic Touring Association built the lodge in 1930 for a place off the road were one could be in peace in the southern highlands of Iceland. The turf roofed hut is protected by Icelandic law because of its old age and uniqueness. The hut is the oldest mountain hut owned and operated by the Ferðafélag Íslands, The Iceland Touring Association.

Read Also: Check out all of the ghost stories from Iceland like Apollonia Schwartzkopf the Ghost at Bessastadir or The Viking Ghost at Stokksnes Beach.

The hut, the name of it meaning white is far from everything else and the closest neighbour to the hut is some old farm ruins in the distance. Farming was a way of living here in the old days, although, no one lives there all year today, and the only true neighbours are the echos from the surrounding mountains.

The Haunted Hut In solitude: Hvítárnes hut in the wild is one of the most well known icelandic ghost stories. There are stories about a woman haunting the little hut in the wilderness and many of the guests have felt her presence.

To the north towers Iceland’s second largest glacier, Langjökull over the horizon, always reminding the passing summer there is a cold winter after it that will take over the landscape. In the winter, storms can havock the highlands for days, making the area harsh in the winter, and green in the brief summer.

The Most Haunted Place in Iceland

Today it’s those fond of nature and solitude that are drawn to this place, to Hvítárnes hut. The hut has two floors and room to 30 persons in bunk beds with a warden watching the place during the summer months. The kitchen is narrow, but has running cold water and a gas oven and the toilet is outside. In other words, the Hvítárnes hut is a place for people seeking something simpler. Although, perhaps the rumours and legends of ghosts are not really a part of that simple life.

Hvítárnes hut is said to be one of the most haunted places in Iceland, and that is saying something for a country so steeped in the supernatural ways and legends. Since Hvítárnes hut was built, the hut has had complaints about something lurking, howling as the winter storms outside, although no one can really pinpoint exactly where or from who the howling is coming from.

Read Also: Check out all of our ghost stories in haunted houses from all over the world

Story goes that when guests arrive late at night, maybe coming down from hiking the ancient Kjölur hiking trail, they have vividly seen the face of a woman inside the hut through the window, expecting to meet her when entering. But once inside, there is no one but the gathering dust and coldness of solitude. However, as the short days and long nights in Hvítárnes hut passes, the ghost of this female present won’t leave the guests alone.

The Ghost of the Woman in the Window

According to the stories, the ghost of this mysterious woman you can see through the window, is refusing the guests to get a good night sleep after a long day in the wilderness and she is persistent in making her presence become known for the guests.

What she does varies, but it is often during their sleep they can feel her presence. She is been known to almost sit on top of people chests, pressing them down so that they are unable to breathe as well as being haunted by horrible nightmares.

Sometimes she even kicks them out of the many bunk beds they were assigned to. There are particular male guests that have been tormented, some even driven out from the warm hut out in the freezing cold because of the fear of what the ghost of the woman are capable of.

Read Also: Check out ghost stories from haunted hotels from all over the world you can check in to.

There is especially this one bed in the hut that are rumoured to be the most haunted one, and if you are so unlucky to be placed on it, try to move or accept that you might not get a good nights sleep. According to the stories no one are able to get a good rest on the bed and it’s nicknamed the ‘ghost bunk’ or ‘her bed’. The bed is placed on the opposite way than the rest of the beds by the door, so it’s easy to see if you got the short end of the stick.

The Ghost in the Window: According to many of the guests staying at the hut, they claim to have seen a woman in the window. Many also reports of having their sleep disturbed by something paranormal. Who can she be, is there really a ghost haunting this place?

In all lodges with a long history as this and as many guests passing by, there must be a guest book. Guest Books are meant to leave nice messages about your stay, how the weather was, and how the days went by in the little hut. And in this one, countless of frightened visitors have scribble down how they slept in their car instead, or didn’t get a single minute of sleep because of the hauntings. Someone just scribbling down the word: Ghost. This is a very old entry as well, and it shows that the hut has been deemed haunted for a very long time.

Who is the Ghost Haunting Hvítárnes Hut

There are several theories of who this girl can be. The building was built for travellers, and no one ever lived in the hut. Perhaps it is a lost traveller that disappeared a long time ago, trying to seek shelter. Perhaps there is something about the ruins of the farm that can shed some light of this?

Just a stone throw away from the hut there have been discovered traces of the ruins of a village, at least settlements called Tjarnarkot. Could the ghost be from this time? It is said to have been inhabited as soon as Iceland was discovered, but after Hekla, the volcano erupted around 1104, the place was deserted. Was it before this? Was it after? Was it ever?

There are many theories of who she could be, and they are almost all linked to the farm ruins nearby. Some claim that there was a girl working for the farmer and his wife once upon a time. The farmer tried to sleep with the girl once, but she refused him. Angered by her refusal, he locked her outside in a snowstorm, which around these parts can rage for days. She died in the snowstorm. But the farmer didn’t live long after as his wife killed him to avenge the poor girl that was under their care.

A Country of Fairy Tales: Iceland is a highly superstitious country. Here is a little cottage made for the fairies they believe lives on the island. There are plenty of places were they think these supernatural creatures lives, and they even have the modern infrastructure like making roads go around so not to disturb them.

Another theory of what happened is that she was the farmers wife, and her husband cut of her arm and drowned her in a lake nearby. Another is that she died after being left by him while pregnant. Classic tales of female ghosts in these icelandic ghost stories. All trying to explain why she mostly goes after male guests.

Whoever she is, she refuses to leave. In 1996, there was a priest named Björn H. Jónsson that blessed the hut, but to no avail, she won’t leave Hvítárnes hut. Books, podcasts, the news and paranormal researchers of icelandic ghost stories have tried and failed to find her identity or proof of her existence for years. And she is not likely to be leaving anytime soon. She has been her long before the guests started arriving at the hut, and she will be staying long after they have gone.

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

Hvítárvatn lake, the haunted hut and a bed that includes a young female ghost

Hvítárnes highlands lodge: Haunted by the girl in grey

Skáli: Hvítárnes

Reimleikinn í Hvítárnesi: Sparkað úr rúminu og greinilegt kvenmannsandlit í eldhúsglugganum

Hvítárnes á Kili – Áfangar.com

Haunted Hvítárnes – Perspective Magazine

article, Ghost

The Evil Bishop Against the Maiden in Love – The Ghost of Haapsalu Castle

1 Comment
Advertisements

There is a ghost story that a Lady in White is haunting Haapsalu Castle in Estonia. According to the legend, she was walled up alive inside of the walls when the Bishop discovered her true identity. Her crime? She fell in love.

The ghost of the Lady in White is a wide spread thing in Europe. Every country and even region have their own local version on it. Many are haunting the old castles, cathedrals and mansions scattered across the universe. Some are haunting the waterfalls, some haunts whole families. Estonia is no exception and according to legend, their White Lady is found in Haapsalu Castle.

Sitting in the midst at the cusp of the eastern Europe Baltic heritage as well as so far north, the culture of Estonia is somewhat of a mix of the two. Many consider themselves more Nordic than Baltic, being so influenced by both Sweden and Finland, they have a rich and varied lore still alive and well today.

The Haunted Haapsalu Castle

On the western shore, the sleepy seaside town of Haapsalu is best known for its warm seawater, curative mud and peaceful atmosphere facing the Vaiinameri Sea. Salt mud spas frequented by the Russian Romanov family still operate. Everything is made for a relaxing weekend and a nice holiday for sunny days. Just don’t go to the Haapsalu Castle, it’s haunted.

Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from Haunted Castles around the world

In the 13th century in the coastal city of Haapsalu, a castle and a cathedral was built from 1279 and it’s the only one of its kind preserved today. It was also known as Haapsalu piiskopilinnus, or more simply Bishop’s Castle. It was to be the new seat of the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek, were God’s law was the lands law. So it was a sort of royal as well as godly position, and the design of the castle was as well.

The Haapsalu Castle by night: The castle in Haapsalu is said to be haunted by a lady in white that still lingers long after her death. She is perhaps the most well known ghost in Estonia. Here is a picture from Haapsalu Castle in the dark, or, at least what is left, is still there. Photo:Sergei Gussev/

It was not a particular popular way of ruling as the last seat they had ruled from in Perona, where the Lithuanians burned his home down to the ground. Although he needed the place quick as his previous residence had been burned down, the whole castle took around 300 years to complete with the attached cathedral and monastery to it.

The position of Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek changed hands all up to the 1500s, and in 1279, the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek was Hermann of Buxhoeveden. It was also then he founded the castle and probably the bishop who is talked about in the legend of the Lady in White in Haapsalu Castle.

The life there, especially in the episcopal castle, was a strict one. Every canon working and living there in the monasteries were meant to live a chaste and virtuous life according to the monastery rules.

Read Also: Check out our ghost stories from all of the churches and monasteries from around the world.

Meeting women in the Haapsalu Castle was therefore strictly forbidden and punishable by death. The castle forbade all access for women and the monks rarely ventured outside to test their vows. But all of these rules is useless, love will always find a way.

The Maiden and the Canon in Love

The Forbidden Love inside of the Castle Walls: One of the monks was on a walk outside of the castle walls when he fell in love with a woman he brought back to the castle with him.

As legend of the White Lady Haapsalu Castle tells, one of the canon working there fell in love with a girl when he was outside of the castle walls. When it was clear they had to be together no matter what, he brought her with him to the Haapsalu Castle.

As there was a strict no women allowed policy, they had to disguise her so that no one would now her true identity. She went undercover and was working as a choirboy for a while to be able to meet and have a relationship with him.

They were then able to meet and talk and be in each others lives as long as they were able to pass her off as a boy to the rest of the men living there. They had no other choice if they wanted to be together. He had taken a vow to god that couldn’t be broken, and she had no way of following him with being herself.

Read Also: Check out more ghost stories about love that goes wrong with The Lady Nak of Phra Khanong — Thailand’s Famous Ghost Mae Nak, The Hauntings of the Chute de la Dame Blanche or Botan Dōrō – Tales of the Peony Lantern.

Their little scheme worked for a while. That is, until the bishop came back to the castle and their whole world came crashing down.

The bishop had been away for some time while this was going on and when he returned, a young choirboy caught his eye. Something was off, and even though they had been able to fool the rest he caught on to the deceit.

Perhaps he wasn’t the only one who knew, but everyone else had left them in peace as long as it was discreet. These details we’ll never know for sure. The bishop however couldn’t be fooled and he ordered an investigation, finding out the singer’s gender and found her to be a woman.

Starving to Death inside of Haapsalu Castle Walls

Sightings of the White Lady: The ghost of the Lady in White in Haapsalu Castle has been spotted in the chapel for a long time. Photo: Sander Säde

When the girl was found out, the bishop summoned his council to decide on their punishment. The boy was sentenced to prison were he was going to starve to death. But the girl got the worst end of the deal according to some.

She was to be put immured inside of the walls of Haapsalu Castle. The chapel was under construction at the time and they made a space where they could wall her up. They gave her a single piece of bread and mug of water before they closed up the wall with her inside and left her to die.

Read Also: This was a crime that happened from time to time. To hear more ghost stories about women being buried alive inside the walls, have a look at The Finnish Maiden of Olavinlinna Castle or Dracula and Ghost Nuns in Whitby Abbey

For several days her cries for help, her banging on the walls rung throughout the castle. No one came to her aid and everyone just passed the wall in silence, ignoring the screams that grew fainter and fainter.

Who know what she must have been thinking. She probably didn’t know she would die the way that she had been living since she arrived at Haapsalu castle, hidden inside of the castle walls.

Eventually, she died. But her soul, according to legend, remained and came back as a ghost.

Haunting the Chapel During Full Moon

Now the White Lady can move through the walls. In Haapsalu Castle there was built a chapel still standing today, and this girl is always seen at the inner wall of it, or standing by the Baptistery window around the place she is said to have been walled up.

Read Also: Check out the ghost story of the old Japanese practice of walling people up inside of walls of buildings in O-shizu, Hitobashira — The Human Sacrifice of Maruoka Castle

Whether some have actually done some digging and looked if there actually is a walled up skeleton inside of the chapel wall, is unknown.

The sightseeing of this Lady in White are always around full moons, particularly in August, when it is said is when the Bishop returned to Haapsalu Castle and she was walled up inside of the walls. Why full moon? Did it all happen during a full moon? Perhaps because of the legends that strange things happen during full moons? Or perhaps it was the imagination of the writer Carl Russwurn who popularized the legend, or perhaps even made it up?

Full Moon Haunting: It is said that the ghost of the Lady in White comes out and shows herself during the hot August full moons. Photo by Ben Mack on Pexels.com

The Lady in White is not said to do anything in particular other than to mourn her lost love and life that were taken from her because of the verdic of one man.

Coincidentally, the sightings of her in Haapsalu Castle happens during full moon in the hot August nights. This sightings is also said to happen when a music festival is held in her honor, called: The White Lady Days.

More like this

Newest Posts

Uncategorized

The Malcanis Guarding the Fortress

Leave a comment
Advertisements

In Akershus Fortress in Oslo, Norway, there are rumours about something strange haunting the former castle. There is a legend of a ghost of a dog haunting the place, called the Malcanis, or Evil Dog as it means.

In medieval times it was a king’s castle were Akershus fortress in Oslo is today, looking out over the fjords. Under the building of the castle the workers bricked in a living dog. It was a relative normal custom in those days. According to them, they meant that it would bring good luck. Coincidentally, the custom was also meant to warn about accidents.

But when the castle was done around 1299 the “Malacanis” as they called it, “the evil dog” haunts the place, and seemed to be something else than an omen.

Read also: There are many ghost stories about dogs and cats haunting places. Check out The Story that Inspired The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Poltergeist of Greyfriars Kirkyard and The Black Cat of War.

The Dark Hallway

Among its first victims that would feel the wrath of the Malcanis was the commander at the fortress at the time. Around the year 1550 the hallway were the dog was bricked in collapsed.

Unrest crept into the guards at the fortress. “What about the Malcanis? It was right there the collapse happened”, they whispered among themselves when they were standing guard. Everyone knew about the legend about the poor dog that had been bricked up. And reports about people spotting the ghost there was plenty of.

The Ghost Under Jomrutårnet: The ghost of the Malcanis is said to be put to rest in the walls around the Virgin tower when it was bricked up there for good luck. Allegedly a tower difficult to penetrate and many thought it was because of the ghost dog.

A sound was heard in the hallway under the fortress and everyone feared that the castle was under attack. No one was brave enough to investigate the cause of the ruckus. Not even if the intruders was Swedish forces. The Malcanis put fear in the soldiers.

Read Also: This is not the only ghost thought to haunt Akershus Fortress. There is also rumours about the ghost of a former maid that are still lingering inside. Check out The Mantelgeist of the Fortress for the full ghost story.

In the end, commander Peder Hanssøn Litle walked down Mørkegangen (The dark hallway) himself, as the rest of the guards refused because of fear from the ghost dog. With a single torch he closed in on the fallen stones and started investigating the dark hallway and tried to get a sense of what had happened.

From the shadows he saw a dog, red-glowing eyes appeared with fangs and a chain around its neck. He got into a bloody fight with the ghost dog, that didn’t disappeared until Peder threw a torch right at it and it retreated back into the darkness. The commander came crawling out on all four, more dead than alive, stuttering only one word: The Malcanis!

The Bad Omen

The hero commander survived – but around a month later he died after being thrown off the horse. Unrelated perhaps, but rumours about his death started to circulate among the guards. Others that have seen the Malcanisen in the eyes suffered a similar fate, according to legends. Could it be that it was because of this the commander died? And if so, was seeing the dog then the warning or the curse?

Read Also: Check out all of the ghost stories from Norway

It was also spotted a ghost hound in 1550, then called Malcanisten in the same hallway under the Virgin Tower that was built at that time. After a soldier was killed by a horse in 1567 it is said it was observed several times under the same tower, and those who observe it, won’t live the year.

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

«Spøkelseshunden er også blitt filmet nå» 

article, Ghost, Ukategorisert

Dracula and Ghost Nuns in Whitby Abbey

4 Comments
Advertisements

The gothic haunting of the small town of Whitby is said to be by the old Whitby Abbey were the ghost of a nun is haunting the ruins. Whitby was also a place Bram Stoker used for a setting for Dracula’s arrival to England.

Whitby is cute little English town on the Yorkshire Coast, like taken out from any period drama movie. By the sea on nice days, the people are out in the streets, walking up the piers, sitting in the small cute boat and walking past the picturesque houses. But that is until the weather turns and the clouds are gathering in the sky, making the once blue sea foam. And the weather always turns for the worse in these seaside towns facing the North Sea.

Steeped in history, one need only to spin around to touch ruins, memories and ghosts of the past. And Whitby town is indeed haunted, at least if you believe Bram Stoker, the father of modern horror.

The Legends of Whitby Abbey

But before talking about Dracula, let’s have a look at some of the older legends the place is haunted by.

Much of the settlements back in the day was attributed to Whitby Abbey that was built in the mid 600 and founded by Hilda of Whitby, the abbess of several monasteries and an important figure in the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England. At that time the Whitby Abbey was a center for the medieval Northumbrian kingdom.

Hilda of Whitby was renowned for her wisdom and counseled Kings, princes and nuns alike. Whitby Abbey was known as Streoneshalh, and she remained there for the rest of her years as an abbess. Hilda of Whitby was was also the one inspiring one of the first British poets, Cædmon, to start out in his endeavor.

Saint Hilda of Whitby: The Abbess of Whitby Abbey was a well known woman and known for her wisdom and good counselling. She is also one of the ghost reported to haunt the ruins of the abbey.//Source: Detail from St. Hilda at Hartlepool by James Clark James (artist) (oil painting)

The last seven years of her life was a struggle for Hilda as she suffered from a fever. But nevertheless she continued her work until her death on 17th of November in 680 AD. She was then 66 years old, and that was pretty impressive in those days. According to a nun who lived there called Begu, she saw Hilda’s soul being carried to heaven by angels and she became a Saint.

The Ghost of Hilda of Whitby

Many strange legends arose after her death, like how a local legend says that when sea birds fly over the abbey they dip their wings in honour of Saint Hilda.

Read Also: The Haunting of The House of Hohenzollern, a ghost story about the hauntings by a nun.

And it was not the last time someone would claim to see her after her death. On dark nights in Whitby there have been reports of Hilda in the highest window on the northern side of Whitby Abbey when the winds comes blowing in from the sea. She is only seen for a few moments, looking out the window before she again disappears.

According to lore there are also two faiths that can befall you if you look into the well at the abbey at midnight. Those with a pure heart will see Hilda of Whitby, those without a pure will be taken by the devil. So perhaps seeing a ghost here is just a good omen?

Read More: Have a look at all of our ghost stories from churches and monasteries: Haunted Monasteries and Churches

We know little of what happened to Whitby Abbey after the death of Hilda, as Danish Vikings invaded it in 867, leaving it desolate for more than 200 years. It was first then the name Whitby was being used, meaning White City in old Norse.

The Picturesque Scenery: The ruins of Whitby Abbey in the sunset. There have been many legends about this abbey being haunted by the founding abbess, seen in the dark nights in one of the windows, the bells that used to hang in the abbey are sometimes heard ringing under the water where they sank./Wikimedia

After the invaders of the Norman, they made the Whitby Abbey to a Benedictine house for men that lasted to the Dissolution of Monasteries in 1539. A process that was often painted with the blood of the Catholics and where they stripped the churches, abbeys and other holy catholic places for its riches. In any case they stole the bells in Whitby Abbey and tried to take them to London, but on the way there, the ship sank together with the bells.

It is said that the ghost of St Hilda of Whitby appears in the ruins sometime as the bells can be heard ringing under the water were they sank. Now the ruins of the abbey stands at the top of East Cliff, looking out to the sea, missing its bells, its walls and its roof that are now only a story.

The Ghost of the Walled up Nun Haunting Whitby Abbey

But Hilda isn’t alone in the ruins of Whitby Abbey according to the local legend. The legend tells of another nun, a Constance De Beverley, who is haunting the walls of the ruined abbey.

Constance De Beverley was a young girl, but had already taken her vow to become a nun and devote herself to God and take no man for the rest of her life. But she broke them when she fell in love with a young knight and thereby breaking her celibacy. She was found out and the sisters in Whitby Abbey walled her inside the walls when she was still alive in the dungeon.

Haunted by the Ghost of its Nuns: Ruins of Whitby Abbey filled of history, myths and secrets. One of them is the story about the nun who according to legend became walled up inside the walls of the abbey because of her sins. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Could it be St. Hilda of Whitby who did it? A confirmed Saint that could have done something like burying one of her sisters inside of the walls? These were, as they’re called: The Dark Ages. The abbey had many abbesses over the years though, and who and when it was suppose to happen, is a bit unclear.

It is said that according to legend, if you walk around the ruins one can perhaps hear the screams of a woman in the wind and a plea for forgiveness and mercy. Perhaps it is coming from the walls? There has also reported a fleeting image of the ghost of a young girl, fleeing the abbey, trying to free herself for her eternal tomb in the walls.

Whether the story is true or not, it has certainly left an impression on those who heard it. The story of Constance De Beverley being condemned to be walled up in the abbey might have been the inspiration of Sir Walter Scott’s poem ‘Marmion‘ . It is about a nun of the same name that meets the same fate. Or perhaps the poem gave birth to a legend? Who’s to say?

Read More: This is not the only ghost story about people being buried inside of the walls. Also check out: The Finnish Maiden of Olavinlinna Castle, The Evil Bishop Against the Maiden in Love – A Ghost Story and O-shizu, Hitobashira — The Human Sacrifice of Maruoka Castle

Dracula Arrives In Demeter at Whitby

But perhaps today, Whitby is more known for its fiction than for its history. Today, every summer there is a performance of the story of Dracula at Whitby Abbey. Wonder what Hilda thinks of that.

But many things found in Dracula is drawn on the experience of the Whitby history, even the legend about a nun haunting hte abbey. In the book, Mina writes in her diary:

“Right over the town is the ruin of Whitby Abbey, which was sacked by the Danes … It is a most noble ruin, of immense size, and full of beautiful and romantic bits; there is a legend that a white lady is seen in one of the windows.”

Read Also: 5 Works With Vampires Before Dracula and An Introduction to the Horror Classics

In the book, Dracula arrives with a ship that beaches on the shores of Whitby. This actually happened with the Russian ship Dmitri: “The sequel to the strange arrival of the derelict in the storm last night is almost more startling than the thing itself. It turns out that the schooner is a Russian from Varna, and is called the Demeter. She is almost entirely in ballast of silver sand . . . “ (Bram Stoker, Dracula, 1897). Even the name, Dracula, Stoker found in the old library there.

Dracula in Whitby Town: The arrival of Dracula arriving on the ship Demeter has become a pretty iconic part of the lore. Bram Stoker became inspired to write his story when he visited Whitby Town and and saw the gothic ruins of Whitby Abbey and the grey shores on the English countryside.

Bram Stoker arrived and stayed at Mrs Vewazey’s Guesthouse in the summer of 1890. He was supposed to work on a new story, set in Styria, Austria with a character called Count Wampyr (thank you old public library of Whitby for giving the character another name than that). The Gothic literature drew on landscapes like this, and maybe not surprisingly, the ruins of Whitby Abbey, the desolated shores and the ghostly tales by the locals made it a perfect setting for what would become Dracula’s first encounter with England.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter

The interest for Dracula related movies and books continues to this day, and is based on the single chapter, the Captain’s Log, from Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 novel Dracula, the story is set aboard the Russian schooner Demeter and what happens before they arrive at Whitby Harbour.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States on August 11, 2023 and will help keep the legends of the Whitby haunting alive as well as creating its own vampiric lore there.

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

Whitby Abbey, An Essential Guide To Its Hauntings | Spooky Isles

Spooky Sunday; the ghost of Constance de Beverley | Whitby Uncovered

article, Ghost, Ukategorisert

The Ghost Girl in the Pond at the Manor House in Larvik

Leave a comment
Advertisements

There is more than one ghost at the old manor house in Norway. In addition to a classical Lady in Grey, there are stories about an orphan girl is forever confined to a strange country without her family, trying to lure other children to the same pond she died in at the Manor House in Larvik.

Far back in 1671, a ship came over from Denmark across the Nordic sea. In a time when Norway didn’t have its own king, the Lord High Steward of Norway, Gyldenløve, ruled the country in the danish crown service. He was also the founder of the city this story takes place in, Larvik, still a city today. And with it, he built the Manor House in Larvik that is today rumored to be haunted by more than one ghost.

Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from Norway

The late 1600s was a time of living large. The wigs were tall, the makeup overdone and the dresses were huge. The french fashion was the only fashion and the kings and nobility had never been stronger.

The Haunted Mansion: The Manor House in Larvik was built to be finished to Gyldenløve’s third wedding in 1677. The Baroque mansion is today rumored to be haunted.

This lifestyle was however only reserved for the rich, like the people owning The Manor House in Larvik. But it was also a more modest soul crossing the ocean to work for these people.

The Young Seamstress with Half of a Medallion

When Gyldenløve came to Norway to found the Countship of Larvik and build the Manor House in Larvik he brought his Danish tailor as well. A young girl followed the tailor because of her skills as a seamstress to work for the High Steward of Norway. The young Danish girl was an orphan and the only relative was a brother, working as a blacksmith in Denmark and had no way of following her.

Before the two orphan’s mother died, she had given her daughter a medallion split in two. The children got each one of the half. They promised they would reunite the medallion when they met again after working. All alone she traveled to work at the Manor House in Larvik, hoping she would one time be back with her brother and see her country again.

Read also: Banchō Sarayashiki — the Ghost of Okiku or The Mantelgeist of the Fortress about the ghosts of servants haunting the mansions they used to work in like the ghosts of the Manor House in Larvik.

It had only been a few years since she got to Norway and the year was 1677. It was just after Gyldenløves wedding with his third wife, 17 year old Antoinette Augusta Komtesse Aldenburg. The city of Larvik was still in a wedding frenzy as it wasn’t everyday the Count himself got married.

For the young girl however, the festive wedding days got an abrupt end and she died at the Manor House of Larvik. She never would see the white beaches of Denmark again, never the open flat fields. The last she would see was the bottom of a carp pond.

The Ghost of the Girl from the Koi Pond

The girl was found dead, floating in the koi pond in the garden at the Manor House in Larvik. She liked to sit there, feeding the carps, watching them swim under the surface. What happened that fateful day only she and the depth of the pond knows. People figured it was an accident as she didn’t know how to swim. Most think that the girl fell into the koi pond when she was feeding the fishes and no one heard her cries of help.

Read Also: The Child Coffin in the Venetian Lagoon, another ghost story about a child that drowned.

The 1600s and 1700s was a restless one for the ghost of the little girl. The locals in Larvik reported on observing her, haunting the mansion in this strange country she had found herself in and named her Piken fra Karpedammen (Girl from the Koi Pond). Young children seemed to see the ghost of her the most. Her ghost lingered for years, trying to lure children down to the pond. For what reason is uncertain. To help her in some way? Something more ominous like make them suffer the same faith she did?

The Girl from the Koi Pond: The Manor House of Larvik was said to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl that used to work in the mansion. She was said to appear close to the koi pond were she was found drowned.

In any case, the legend has it one can only make her find rest with reuniting her medallions she and her brother shared and thereby giving them peace in the afterlife. The fact that people have reported about seeing her ghost less and less in the later years, gives hope that she somehow found peace.

This is what is told in the legend of Comtesse Juliane Sophie, the daughter of the Count a hundred years later. The young Comtesse came from Denmark when she was 9 years old in 1766. She was said to have seen the ghost of the girl and somehow reunited the medallion the girl was rumored to carry and therefore giving the siblings spirits the rest and peace they were looking for.

The Grey Lady of the Manor House in Larvik

But the ghost of the girl in the koi pond isn’t the only one walking the Manor House in Larvik after her death. There is also suppose to be a grey lady haunting inside the mansion that have been called the Grey Lady in Larvik, or Den Grå Damen i Larvik as she is known as in Norwegian.

The Grey Lady of Larvik: The Manor House in Larvik is also haunted by a woman wearing grey that moves around the furnitures in the mansion.

Old castles and mansions have often legends about women haunting the place wearing a particular color. Most often we talk about women wearing white, like in the legends of La Llorona in Mexico or The Korean Virgin Ghost for example. In Norway together with the other Nordic countries they are often described as the Grey Lady like The Grey Lady of Stavern at Hotel Wassilioff or the Woman in Grey like in Hvítárnes — The Haunted Hut on Iceland.

But of her ghost and who she is, we know less of. We know the Grey Lady in Larvik is supposedly the woman in a painting hanging in the hall called the knight hall. It is the only picture were the people isn’t identified hanging in the Manor House in Larvik.

Read Also: Check out Cursed and Haunted Paintings and The Friendly Ghost Octavia at Den Nationale Scene for more haunted paintings.

People that have visited the Manor House in Larvik claim that the picture itself is creepy and perhaps the thing that ties the ghost to the house. When visitors walk around the room it hangs in, they claim the woman in the painting watches and her eyes are following them.

In the addition of the eerie painting and appearing in the corner of the eyes for the staff and visitors, the Grey Lady of Larvik also reported to be somewhat of a classical poltergeist according to the legends. It is said that her ghost is moving around the chairs and other furniture in the mansion.

According to people that have visited the mansion, the ghost of the Grey Lady seems to be active even to this day. Unlike the ghost of the girl in the koi pond, it seems that this ghost still has some unfinished business and haunts the halls of the Manor House in Larvik until further notice.

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

Den grå dame i Larvik – Wikipedia

Her møter du spøkelser – Underholdning 

Piken i dammen – Skyggeverdenen 

Piken fra karpedammen – Wikipedia 

Uncategorized

5 Haunted Attractions to Visit

Leave a comment
Advertisements

Perhaps this is not the greatest summer to travel, but as the borders are opening up, so do we as well move over greater distances than we have. Perhaps some of these places are even closer to you than you think? Here we have gathered some of the most haunted attractions around the world you can visit for a ticket.

Winchester Mystery House
San Jose, California

The Mystery House: Front view of the Winchester Mystery House/Ben Franske

This strange house, built upon the money, wealth and grief of the family fortune, the gun trade, this house is something else. Wind winding staircases going nowhere, doors leading to unknown destination and who know how much else secrets and hauntings the house holds.

Akershus Fortress
Oslo, Norway

By the Sea: Akershus Castle in Oslo, Norway/Pudelek (Marcin Szala)

The fortress was built in medieval times, withstanding plague, starvation from the cold winters and as a last stand during wars. It is also the location of several ghost the fortress has claimed as its own over the years. Smacked in the middle of the modern city of Oslo, it stands as a stark contrast of old and new, living and dead.

Advertisements

Island of the Dolls, (La Isla de las Muñecas)
Mexico City, Mexico

Isla de las Muñecas: nearby the Xochimilco canals/Esparta Palma/wikicommons

If not for the ghost, go for the creepy decor. Allegedly a man found a dead girl and her doll. He started collecting dolls to appease the girls spirit. Now the island is full of them, hanging from trees, looking at all the tourists taking their holiday at this peculiar place. For around 200 pesos you can get a boat to take you there. On the island, there is also a bar. So, hey, holiday!

The Catacombs
Paris, France

Bones: Wall made of skulls, catacombs of Paris/Djtox/wikicommons

A final resting place for some, not so restful for others. The catacombs were created in 1786 and are 500 miles of an underground maze, built of bones of the dead. And for a ticket, you can walk them. It has been held several scary paranormal claims, and it will only probably be more of them.

The Tower
London, England

The Tower: This is a picture of the so called White Tower of the Tower of London/Dietmar Rabich, London, Tower of London, White Tower — 2016 — 4679, CC BY-SA 4.0

Yes, the tower, how many ghosts do you have captured? The fortress smacked in the busy streets of Londong have been a infamous spot for death and misery for over 900 years. It also holds some royal ghosts that never found peace, among them Anne Boleyn and Mary, Queen of Scots.

Advertisements

More like this

Newest Posts