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Hauntings at the Penkaet Castle in Scotland

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The Penkaet Castle in Scotland has its fair share of hauntings and is the home of not only one ghost, but several with its story of witchcraft, murder and royalty. 

Whether it’s a creaking door in an old castle or a cold chill down your spine in an abandoned building, many Scots have experienced paranormal activity during this festive season. As we explore Scotland’s age-old legends and curious customs this Christmas, let us not forget to look out for its ghosts too.

Penkaet Castle is a historic castle located in the Scottish Borders that is also known as Fountainhall near Haddington in Lothian, Scotland. The castle dates back to the 16th century and was originally built as a tower house by the Ker family. Over the years, the castle has been expanded and renovated, and today it stands inside in a walled garden as a magnificent example of Scottish architecture.

It also stands as a haunted castle and many have claimed to have heard screams and moans from voices in the corners and things being moved without any living having been there. 

History of Penkaet Castle

The Ker family were a prominent Scottish family who owned Penkaet Castle for many years. The castle was built in the 16th century as a tower house, and was expanded over the years to include additional wings and a courtyard. The castle was used as a residence for the Kers until the 18th century, when it was sold to the Pringles.

Penkaet Castle: The castle pictured from 1898 in Pencaitland in East Lothian in Scotland. It has several ghost stories attached to it.

The Pringles were another prominent Scottish family, and they continued to use the castle as a residence until the 20th century. During this time, the castle was renovated and updated to include modern amenities, such as electricity and running water. The castle was eventually sold to a private owner in the 1960s, and today it is a private residence.

Ghost of the Beggar that Cursed the Castle

One of the ghosts said to haunt the halls is the spirit of Alexander Hamilton. He was a beggar that was accused of witchcraft after the lady of the house, Lady Ormison and her eldest daughter died of a mysterious illness. 

It was believed that Alexander Hamilton had cursed them both after he was thrown off their property when he came to beg and had to go back empty handed. 

Because of how they had cruelly turned him away, it is said he returned and bound the gates with blue thread, which was some form of witchcraft he had used to kill the two women.  

Two days later the woman who turned him away died together with her daughter. An arrest order was put on Hamilton and he was caught and convicted. For this he was executed in Edinburgh on Castle Hill. 

Read Also: He is not the only convicted and executed on Castle. Read more about this is: Edinburgh Castle Ghosts and Legends and our stories about Witches

After his death, the ghost of Alexander Hamilton has been reported being seen close to the castle, perhaps vengeful of the family that sent him to his death and returned to the place of the crime. Question is, whose crime? His, or those who accused him for something like that?

The Murdered John Cockburn

A ghostly banging on the doors, moving of the furniture and strange footsteps are also thought to be the ghost of John Cockburn that once belonged in the house that har haunted by his bad conscience and then in turn, haunting the Penkaet Castle.

According to the legend, he killed his relative, John Deton and because of his bad conscience over what he did, he is still haunting the castle today. And people who have lived in the castle were often disturbed by a strange sound of something being dragged along over the floor. 

He has also been seen as the ghost of a man coming out from one of the cupboards and walking across the room before vanishing through the wall. 

When this was supposed to have happened is unsure, but it is said that a Sir George Cockburn of Ormiston sold the castle and the rest of the land to the Pringill family in 1635, so it must have been before this probably. 

The Ghost in the Fireplace

Sir Andrew Lauder’s family owned the estate from the end of the 1600s up to 1922. He claimed to have seen something that looked like a ghost upstairs by the fireplace when he was a child. 

He remembered the incident all the way through adulthood and thought the ghosts might have been one of his ancestors of the Lauder family. 

The Christmas Hauntings at Penkaet Castle

The legends about the castle being haunted really started getting attention when Professor Holbourn and his wife bought the Penkaet Castle in 1923. 

Many of the ghost stories from the room they called King Charles Bedroom comes from them, their family and the guests that had to stay the night at Penkaet Castle. 

It was said to have been haunted all year around, but there is in particular one Christmas in 1923, the Holbourn family remembered when a piece of wood carved with the family crest. They all saw it move on its own leaning away from the wall. It paused for a little moment before it returned to were it would be. Whatever happened that christmas is uncertain, but it led them to believe that the place was most definitely haunted.

The Haunted Bed of King Charles I

One of the rooms said to have an extra touch of hauntings is the room that has a bed King Charles I used. The bed is decorated with a copy of his death mask that was given to the owners in 1923 by his students. 

The King Haunting the Bed: One of the bed in Penkaet Castle they think is haunted with the death mask of King Charles I on one of the bed posts.

The story goes that the maid of the house would notice that the bedclothes of the bed would be found like if someone had slept in the bed, even though she knew very well no one hadn’t. The bed itself would move around in the room and sometimes people even claimed to have heard noises coming from the bed as if someone was actually sleeping there. 

In 1924 there was a guest coming to the castle that was put up in the room with the bed. When they entered it, the bed was already a mess, even though the housekeeper knew she had tidied the bed just moments before showing the guest in.  

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References:

Penkaet Castle | Fountainhall | The Castles of Scotland, Coventry | Goblinshead

Nightmare before Christmas: The history of festive ghost stories

Penkaet Castle – Mysterious Britain & Ireland

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The Philosopher Ghost in Ca’Mocenigo

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In the once glorious palace Ca’Mocenigo in Venice, strange hauntings related to water have been happening since the middle ages. Some claim it is the ghost of Giordano Bruno, a former philosopher that used to reside in the palace. 

Giordano Bruno wasn’t the usual heretic. He was actually a 16th century Dominican friar as well as a philosopher, mathematician, poet and most dangerously for him, a cosmological theorist. He was one of the forward thinkers and questioned the geocentric doctrine of the Catholic Church. Something he had to pay greatly for.  

For this and other things he was arrested by the Venetian Inquisition on 22nd of May 1592. It was the local patrician Giovanni Mocenigo that once invited Giordano Bruno to Venice in 1592 for eight months to teach Giovanni Mocenigo about the secrets of memory, and also, most likely some alchemy and magic as well. 

Giordano Bruno had already fled Rome for being a suspected heretic, still, he continued his teachings. Together, they stayed in Giovanni Mocenigo own palace in Campo San Samuele Ca’Mocenigo. However, only two months into his stay, they had a fallout. 

Convicted as a Heretic and Burnt at the Stake

On May 23, Mocenigo himself gave Giordano Bruno’s name to the inquisitors and they denuncieted him and put him in prison as a heretic. Why the sudden fallout? There are several theories, one being that Giordano Bruno was about to leave Venice. There are also those saying Mocenigo did this because he didn’t like the philosopher as a person as well as he didn’t like the then controversial teachings he did. 

Giordano was extradited to Rome where he for seven years was imprisoned and tried. In Roma he refused to take back what he had been teaching about the world. He considered it science, the church saw it as blasphemy. They eventually burned him at the stake in 1600 in Campo de Fiori in Rome for his crimes. 

The Haunting of Ca’Mocenigo by Giordano Bruno

But this wasn’t the end of the dispute between Giordano and his former host, Giovanni. He came back in his afterlife, just to haunt his palace called Ca’Mocenigo of his old master and patron. 

Every year on the death anniversary on February 17th, strange things started to happen that related to water in the palace Ca’Mocenigo. Pipes would burst and flood the rooms for example, but there would be no known cause to just why it happened. 

One very specific legend is that the face of Giordano Bruno can be seen in the upper right window of the palace Ca’Mocenigo, engulfed in flames as his burning on the stake. However, according to this legend it can only be spotted by ladies over 85 years old. 

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Feature picture: Wikimedia/Z thomas

Haunted Venice – Legends, Mysteries and Stories

Giordano Bruno’s ghost in Venice – the tales of Ca’ Mocenigo

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The Ghost Children at Mang Gui Kiu Bridge

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After a terrible flooding accident on the Mang Gui Kiu Bridge in Hong Kong, there have been several reports about drivers and passerby seeing ashen faced ghost children waving at them, hoping that someone will finally get them out from the place

In Tsung Tsai Yuen (松仔園) in the Tai Po district in Hong Kong there is a bridge that drivers claim to be haunted. Ever since the 1950s have the Mang Gui Kiu Bridge (猛鬼橋) Nearby there is a monument that can perhaps shed some light at just who it can be haunting this bridge. 

Read More: Check out all our collection of ghost stories from China

Tsung Tsai Yuen is still a popular place to have an outdoor picnic because of the beautiful scenery and the long river below. The Mang Gui Kiu Bridge was originally called the Hung Shui Kiu, meaning Bridge of Flooding because of being flooded because of rain frequently. This is what led to the tragedy on that day 1955 when 28 children died. 

The Flooding Accident in 1955

On 28th of August in 1955 there was a group of teachers from the St. James’ Settlement that were driving through with children from the Tai Po Rural Orphanage. The teachers and students were on a week-long trip and were having a final picnic before returning home. 

At 13:30 in the afternoon they got caught in heavy rain and they all ran to take shelter under the Mang Gui Kiu Bridge. But it rained too hard and the bridge was flooded and a sudden landslide washed them away. There were only a few survivors, but it is said that many of them remained as ghosts, haunting the bridge to this day. 

The Ashen Faced Children Ghost by Mang Gui Kiu Bridge

They claim to have seen ashen-faced children waving in the dark at passing cars at night, running over the nearby roads.

There are even some locals that have claimed to have seen their children both holding hands and playing with just air at times, almost like there are some ghostly children there with them.  

Taxi and bus drivers have also said that they have experienced passengers that get into their vehicles only to vanish into thin air as soon as they turn on the engine and lights. 

The Ghost Passenger

One of these stories was aout one of the bus drivers that drove the route passed Mang Gui Kiu Bridge with an empty bus when he saw a woman. She got onboard, but the driver noticed that there was only a crumpled piece of chinese ghost money in the cashbox, not real money for the living. 

He shouted back at the pale woman that had just stepped onto his ride, but when he turned there was no one there. He thought to himself that it had to be a ghost and kept on driving to not offend the spirit and perhaps even help her. 

When approaching the next stop he saw that the signal light was on and he pulled into the stop and opened the door, even though no passengers stepping on or off was in sight. 

Then he suddenly hears a voice saying Thank You. 

The Ghosts of Marching Soldiers

This is not the only haunted tale from this area though. It is said that the nearby village, the Dan Kwai Village was an alleged execution place during the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937-1945, primarily a conflict between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. 

It is said that the blood of the executed were washed into the water under the Mang Gui Kiu Bridge, coloring it red. 

Years later it was reported about the sound of soldiers marching from the locals and seeing their ghosts at midnight. 

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Mang Gui Kiu – Wikipedia 

Top 10 spooky stories in Hong Kong

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The Creepy History of The Haunted Old Spaghetti Factory

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Take a journey through the macabre and spooky history of The Haunted Old Spaghetti Factory in Vancouver, a family restaurant where you get a ghost story served with your meal. 

Right before opening time, a waitress was walking in the back of the restaurant to check if all the tables were set. She suddenly saw a little boy under one of the boots and went over to him to see if he was alright. Suddenly the books on a bookshelf fell out with a bang and she looked away for a couple of seconds. When she looked back at the boy under the table he was gone. 

She had just seen one of the residential ghosts she had heard stories about in all her years working there, and now she had seen the ghost herself. That was her last shift at the Old Spaghetti Factory. 

Are you ready to explore the chilling history of The Haunted Old Spaghetti Factory? The haunted restaurant is located in Vancouver in Canada, and these eerie walls have been home to tales of ghosts, ghouls, and strange occurrences throughout the years as well as pasta. 

From strange noises and flickering lights to sightings of mysterious shadows, there’s no telling what secrets this haunted restaurant has hidden away.

The Old Spaghetti Factory in Vancouver

Located in Vancouver, The Old Spaghetti Factory is well-known for its alleged hauntings and is located in the cobbled streets of Gastown, the oldest parts of the city. 

The Haunted Old Spaghetti Factory opened its door in 1970 and is located in the Malkin Building on 53 Water Street in Vancouver, Canada. The building has been a staple of the local landscape since 1887. 

Its mysterious energy and eerie vibes have attracted many people to investigate its depths – some of whom claim to have experienced terrifying supernatural encounters while they were there and the former owner of the building, William Harold Malkin is said to haunt, not only the building, but Gastown as a whole.

The Haunted Old Tram, Number 53

Inside of the restaurant there are many old and vintage decorations, like an old trolley cart from 1904 that used to be on the streets of Vancouver. 

One of the most notorious tales that haunt The Haunted Old Spaghetti Factory is that of the old trolley car, Number 53. At first glance it looks like it is just a part of the restaurant’s rustic decor, but this is the thing that makes it so haunted.

Some people claim that it is the ghost of the conductor that once worked in the tram that is haunting the restaurant and the tram he once worked in and that the hauntings first started when they put the tram inside of the restaurant. 

Many visitors to The Haunted Old Spaghetti Factory have reported seeing a strange ghost in uniform inside of the tram after closing time. 

The Little Red Man Pulling Pranks

Another ghost that is said to haunt the restaurant goes by the name of The Little Red Man or Looky-Loo and is the mischievous ghost with auburn hair or red clothing, depending on who tells the story.

He is said to be running around the kitchen and creeping out the staff by calling out their name. He has also been known to scare women in the restroom.

The Young Boy Scaring Staff to Quit their Jobs

The third ghost is said to be a young boy around 11 or 12 with blonde hair wearing blue overalls. The staff have eventually named him Edward and he runs around in the restaurant after closing time or is seen trying to bend the cutlery or unscrew the light bulbs. 

“We asked, ‘Can you swing a lamp or move some cutlery or move a chair right now to prove that you are here?’ Five seconds later a fork lifted up off the table, swiveled around, and dropped back onto the table. A lamp started swinging and chairs collided. This was all visible and audible to us,” Kris Newson, a former staff member in the restaurant, said in an interview.

One story goes that a waitress saw the young boy on her first closing shift and got so spooked out by the experience that she quit that very day. 

The Girl with the Balloon Looking for her Mom

There is also a legend about a young girl sitting by herself at a table, holding a balloon that no one knows. A friend of the general manager is said to have talked with her for a long time and said she had told him she was looking for her mother. But when another came over to the table, she apparently vanished right then and there. 

The Dark Vortex the Reason for the Paranormal Happenings?

Once the restaurant had a psychic that came and inspected the place to understand why there was such a presence of ghosts there. The psychic claimed that the ghosts were attracted to the place because of a vortex in the back of the restaurant as well as the spirits attachment to the decor of the restaurant. 

Some say the concentration of ghosts in this single restaurants is because of the long history of both the building and the area. 

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References:

Haunted Tales From The Old Spaghetti Factory – Gastown 

This Vancouver Restaurant Is so Haunted That Staff Have Quit After One Shift 

This Gastown restaurant is the most haunted place in Vancouver | Dished 

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The Haunted Lui Seng Chun Building

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When they tried to remodel the historical Lui Seng Chun building in Hong Kong everything went wrong and it was believed the whole process was cursed. After it was abandoned, people passing by kept seeing ghosts haunting the place.

In the 1980s, construction workers were planning to remodel the historical Liu Seng Chun building (雷生春). The building is a striking one amidst all the high risers, and they were planning to demolish it and rebuilt it into something more modern. But according to legend, as they were working, one after one of the construction workers as well as the cleaning staff fell mysteriously ill. 

In addition to the workers feeling something was wrong with their health, there were also things disappearing from the construction site without a trace and fatal accidents happened that people thought something paranormal were behind. 

Read More: Check out all our collection of ghost stories from China

All of this caused a sudden halt in the project and the Lui Seng Chun building was abandoned for decades. Was there really something paranormal going on in the historical Lui Seng Chun building?

Lui Seng Chun: The building of how it looked in 2012: Source

Angry Ancestors Because of Demolition Plans

For decades Lui Seng Chun on 119 Lai Chi Kok Road in the Mong Kok area in Hong Kong stood abandoned because people didn’t dare to touch the four storey tong-lau (term for a shop style building in Hong kong) that was built in 1931. No one wanted to repeat the same mistake that happened when they tried it in the 80s.

The legend goes that it was believed that the ancestors of Lei Liang, the original owner of Lui Seng Chun, were angry at the demolition plans and instead kept it as it had always been and preserved it.

Only Ghosts in the Lui Seng Chun Building

But it wasn’t the ghost of Lei Liang that people kept claiming to have seen. When people would start reporting ghostly sightings inside and around Lui Seng Chun it was about ghostly children. 

They reportedly saw children playing something that looked like football and at first it looked innocent and normal. But when they looked closer, they saw the ball they were playing with was actually a decapitated head. 

There were also people that claimed that the lights in the upper floors kept turning on in the middle of the night in the abandoned building and that numerous shadows were seen as they passed by the windows. 

Today the Lui Seng Chun building is a Chinese medicine and healthcare center for the Baptist University that opened in 2012 after finally being restored. It is uncertain if the people around the building are still experiencing the same strange and haunted things that used to be reported about. Perhaps finally,the ancestors of the original owners were pleased with how they restored his building to its former glory?

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References:

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%9B%B7%E7%94%9F%E6%98%A5/10091589

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lui_Seng_Chun

9 of the most haunted places in Hong Kong

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The Tragic Tale of Miklabæjar-Solveig

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Probably the closest thing Iceland has to a gothic romance tale, the ghost story of Miklabæjar-Solveig was the story of a real woman that was said to haunt the village she killed herself in after an unrequited love for a priest. 

The story about Miklabæjar-Solveig turned into a mystery and there have been many legends about what really happened to her. 

She is perhaps best known in connection to a priest that disappeared that she used to work for and may have had an affair with before he cast her aside to marry another. Some even think she  came from beyond the grave and took him with her as he was never seen again.  

Miklabæjar-Solveig and her Tragic Death

Not much about Miklabæjar-Solveig’s life is known and even her full name is disputed and could have been Solveig Þorleifsdóttir, but we simply don’t know. She could have been from Hrolleifsdal, a valley on the eastern side of Skagafjörður on the northern side of Iceland. 

According to the stories, she was a housekeeper or maid for Odd Gíslason, the local priest in the village, before he got married. It is said that Miklabæjar-Solveig fell in love with Odd as a one sided crush, or was even his mistress for some time. But her feelings would have an unhappy end and he married Guðrúna Jónsdóttir in 1777, although he continued to have her working in his house.

Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from Iceland.

This was too much for Solveig and it is said that she went insane, or at least fell into a deep depression and constantly tried to take her own life. The other workers in the house were put on watch to watch over her and prevent her from harming herself, one of them was Guðlaug Björnsdóttir, the sister of Sir Snorri á Húsafell, who slept by her side at night. It was also to prevent her from going upstairs to the reverend. 

Although they tried to keep her away from doing anything, she managed to slip away one night. On April 11th in 1778 she jumped out the window onto the grass and ran off. A worker named Þorsteinn saw her and ran after her, but it was too late. She was too quick, and when he finally reached her, she had already cut her throat and died. 

It is said that Þorsteinn said to her something of the likes of that the devil would take her. Miklabæjar-Solveig didn’t have an opportunity to answer, and died that night in 1778.

Þorsteinn came back with the news, her body and said that her final wish had been to be buried in the cemetery. They wrote to their superiors about this, but were denied. 

Miklabæjar-Solveig was buried outside of the cemetery, and her death was not recorded in the church book. This was the custom with people that took their own life, but her grave was there, just north of the cemetery. 

The Ghost of Miklabæjar-Solveig Returns

Then the rumors started and people started to whisper among themselves that her corpse was not lying still in the grave and that she was angry about not burying her in a consecrated ground.

It is said that the priest had dreams about her and about how angry was with him. She said to him that since he had refused to bury her in holy ground, he too would meet the same fate.  

People referred to her now as Miklabæjar-Solveig and talked about seeing her around the cemetery, the village as well as their dreams with blood gushing from her throat, angry at them. 

Miklabæjar-Solveig: According to the legend, Miklabæjar-Solveig continued to haunt the village after they refused to bury her on holy ground. She came back as a vengeful ghost that are said to have even dragged people down to her grave.

The Disappearance of the Priest

8 years went past and the ghost stories about Solveig were told among the locals. Then on October 1st in 1786 Odd Gíslason went to Silfrastaðir for mass not far from his home. He never returned from the trip. It is known that he did stop at Víðivellir to speak with the county commissioner Vigfús Scheving

From there it was only a kilometer to Miklabær and he was riding home alone in the dark, possibly very drunk. He usually rode with a companion because of how badly Solveig haunted him, but for some reason, this night he was alone. 

It is said that the locals of Miklabær heard someone coming to their windows knocking. But there was a sinister sound to it and they became afraid and didn’t want to check it out. It is said that the youngest son was sent to the door to greet his father. When he opened it though there was no one there. 

When they woke up the next day they found his horse not far from the town, but the priest had vanished into thin air. They searched for him for many days, but not a single trace of him was found. 

Miklabæjar-Solveig took him to her Grave

Soon the stories about Solveig and that she had something to do with his disappearance started to form. They thought that she had come out from her grave and dragged him with her and that his body was now in her coffin. 

Þorsteinn was not satisfied with leaving what happened as a mystery and made a resolution to continue to look for his master. 

Þorsteinn shared a room with Guðlaug, the one who had shared a bed with Solveig before she took her own life. Guðlaug was a clairvoyant and kept seeing the ghost of her former colleague. 

As an experiment, Þorsteinn put the priest’s clothes under his pillow and went to sleep. Guðlaug saw Solveig come into the room and towards them. Solveig reaches out her hand towards Þorsteinn’s throat. Afraid of what Solveig is doing, she wakes Þorsteinn and sees that Solveig has left a cut along his throat. 

In his sleep, Þorsteinn dreamt that he met Solveig were she told him that he would never find out what happened to his master and then motioned as if once again trying to cut her throat which she still blamed them for. When he woke up, Þorsteinn decided to end his quest and would let it all remain a mystery.   

The Truth About the Missing Priest

What really happened to the priest? The truth is up for debate now as there are many conflicting versions. For the longest time the villagers were left without a clue to where he had gone to and what happened to him, except from the rumors about Miklabæjar-Solveig. 

One letter that is found about this is from Ragnheiður Þórarinsdóttir that was written in 1789. She was the wife of the assistant bailiff, Jón Skúlason. In her letter she stated that they actually did find his body in the Gegni stream that ran below the village. This is also written up in Vatnsfjarðarannál the youngest. 

So why all the mystery surrounding his death? It seems that his burial was kept a secret from most of them. Everything indicated that he had passed away, and by his own hand, something that would make his property go to the king and that he would be refused a cemetery burial. Therefore his death and burial was kept a secret, although the talk about the ghost of Solveig had something to do with it wouldn’t let go and perhaps even fuel to cover up the truth. 

The Legend about Miklabæjar-Solveig Continues

Decades later most believed that his body was never found and was most likely in Solveig’s grave. Ghost stories about her rising from her grave with blood dripping from her throat were still told. 

From the Grave: In the grave they dug up they found these jewelry, that could possible have been hers.//Source: From
bygdasafn skagafjordur.

A story told about Hannes Bjarnason met Miklabæjar-Solveig in Djúpadal where she haunted the hill and stopped him from getting up to the town until someone came and helped him. Going into the 19th century though, the legend about Miklabæjar-Solveig died down until 1910.

In 1910 they expanded the cemetery and suddenly Solveig’s grave was inside of it. They dug up one of the graves in 1914 and found that the coffin was buried towards the south, the opposite of the customs and people believed that this was her coffin. When they moved the coffin it was destroyed and the bones buried next to the burial site. There was nothing unusual when they reburied her. 

Miklabæjar-Solveig was laid to rest like this until 1937 when she once again was exhumed and buried inside of the Glaumbær cemetery and not a whole lot has been heard from her ghost since then. Perhaps she finally was able to rest in peace?

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References:

Miklabæjar-Solveig – Wikipedia, frjálsa alfræðiritið 

Tíminn Sunnudagsblað – 23. tölublað (05.08.1962) – Tímarit.is 

Miklabæjar-Solveig

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The Myths and Legends of Frankenstein Castle

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The historic building of Frankenstein Castle is now mostly in ruins, but is still a place for myths and legends to live on and inspire new horror. 

On a stoney hilltop amidst the dark forest there at the spurs of the low mountain range of Odenwald in Germany is an old medieval castle called Frankenstein Castle. 

The place itself with its narrow valleys and dark trees contains many legends and is heavy with myths of the past. The same can be said for the castle on the hilltop that has weathered many storms, legends and ghosts since it was built. 

The Frankenstein Castle or Burg Frankenstein was built sometime before 1252, the year of the first historical record, by Lord Conrad Reiz of Breuberg. Already then the place was filled with myths and stories about other older castles that had once stood there. 

The castle went through many modernisations and so did the Frankenstein family living there for over 400 years. They saw many things change during their reign as lords and knights and during the Reformation they were strong opponents to the Lutherans, being devoted Roman Catholics. 

By the 18th century the castle was used as a hospital and refuge until it fell into ruins. The two iconic towers that are seen today are nothing more than a restoration from the mid 19th century. And an inaccurate version of that. 

Myths and Legends of the Frankenstein Castle

Many strange things have happened near this place. Like in the 18th century when fortune tellers made everyone believe that a treasure was hidden close to the castle in 1763. Everyone started digging for it until local authorities had to ban people from gold digging altogether. 

Close to the castle you will also find magnetic stones on Mount Ilbes were compases don’t work properly. Many say that there is witchcraft practice at these stones on special occasions like on summer solstice. It is said that Mount Ilbes is the second most important meeting place for witches in the country after Mount Brocken, and visitors are advised to not disturb any ongoing rituals. 

Another mythical thing close to the Frankenstein Castleis the Sea of Rocks known as Felsenmeer, and believed to be a place where Siegfried the dragonslayer was murdered in the epic poem Nibelungenlied. 

This is also a place where you can see legendary creatures like water spirits that change into a fox. 

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

The Frankenstein Castle may or may not have been inspired by this historic castle when she wrote her novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus in 1818. 

The meaning behind the name is the two words, Franks, a Germanic tribe, and Stein, meaning stone. And the name itself is actually a pretty common name for castles in this region. There is also the connection to Benjamin Franklin as an inspiration, so the name itself doesn’t necessarily prove anything. 

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: Whether or not she really was inspired by the castle or the legends about the place is unclear. But there are myths about a scientist creating a monster with the help of lightening within the walls of Frankenstein Castle.

There is however no mention of the castle itself in the book and many researchers doubt Shelley’s connection to the castle as she herself never went. It is possible that she heard stories about it as the legends were quite notorious when she visited Germany. 

The biggest connection is the rumors surrounding one of the alchemists living in Frankenstein castle that the rumors said he also created a monster. 

The Alchemist and the Elixir of Life

Once there was a man named Johann Konrad Dippel (1673-1734) who was born in the castle. This man would later become a professional alchemist and he created an oil said to contain the ‘Elixir of Life’ meant to grant eternal life. 

The animal oil, which is known as Dippel’s Oil is a dark, tar like liquid with a horrible smell from distillation of bones. It was used mostly as an animal and insect repellent. In World War II it was used to make wells undrinkable.  Dippel tried to buy the castle in exchange for the elixir of life, but was turned down. 

Fountain of youth: Near castle Frankenstein you will find the fountain of youth. // Source: Pascal Rehfeldt

During his stay at Frankenstein castle there were many rumors going on about the man. He supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for secret knowledge. They also said he did not only practice alchemy, but also anatomy, a practice strictly forbidden more so than the magic of alchemy.

They said he performed experiments on dead bodies he dug up and took back to the castle. The local cleric warned his parish that Dippel created a monster that he brought to life with the help of a bolt of lightning. 

Although none of these experiments have been proven there are local people claiming to this day that this happened within the castle walls.  

This is not the only connection the place has with eternal life though, as it is said the place is also where you can find the fountain of youth. According to legend, on the first full-moon night after Walpurgis Night, which is on the night of April 30. Old women from the villages closeby went to test their courage. Those who succeeded would become as young as she had been on her wedding night. 

Lord George and the Dragon

According to legend, there lived a dragon in the garden of the Frankenstein Castle near the well in the 1200s. The villagers in the neighboring village Nieder Beerbach lived in fear from this monster who snuck into the village at night to eat them and their children in their sleep. 

The Gardens of the Castle: Nature is slowly taking over the castle. According to myth, there was a dragon near the well in the Frankenstein Castle garden// Source: Frank Vincentz

One day a knight named Lord George came by and the people were desperate for his help, which he promised. 

The very next day he put on his armor and got his shield and sword. He rode up to the Frankenstein Castle gardens, straight to the well where the dragon was resting in the sun. 

The battle that ensued lasted for hours, and Lord George nearly gave up from exhaustion while the dragon spat fire and steam. But Lord George managed at last to pierce the underbelly of the dragon with his sword, giving him a killing blow. But just as the dragon was dying, he clung to the knight with his poisonous tail and stung the knight, leaving them both to die. 

The villagers were relieved and happy though and gave the knight an honorable burial for his sacrifice. They took him to the Church of Nieder Beerbach, in a valley east of the Frankenstein Castle, making a tomb for him. 

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The Dark and Haunted Towers of Zvíkov Castle

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The beautiful Zvíkov Castle in the Czech Republic is thought to be haunted by a demonic imp that resides inside of the old castle towers as well as a residence Lady in White and a hellhound guarding a secret entrance. 

Nestled on a rocky outcrop above the confluence of the Vltava and Otava rivers in the Czech Republic, Zvíkov Castle is a magnificent fortress steeped in history and often called The King of Czech Castles. 

Its majestic towers and formidable walls have withstood the test of time, bearing witness to centuries of political intrigue, battles, and conquests that shaped the country. But beneath the Zvíkov Castle’s grandeur lies a darker side, one that is shrouded in mystery and haunted by legends of ghosts, curses, and malevolent spirits. 

The role of Zvíkov Castle in Czech History

Zvíkov Castle has a rich and fascinating history, one that is full of political intrigue, battles, and conquests all the way from the Bohemian Přemyslid dynasty. The castle played a key role in many of the major events that shaped the history of medieval Bohemia, including the Hussite Wars, the Thirty Years’ War, and the rise of the Habsburgs.

Zvíkov Castle played a significant role in the history of medieval Bohemia and the Czech Republic. The castle built with water all around was a key stronghold for the Rosenbergs, who were among the most powerful and influential families in the region. It was also a center of political and cultural activity, hosting many of the most important figures of the time.

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During the Hussite Wars, Zvíkov Castle was besieged by Hussite armies, who attempted to storm the castle’s walls. The castle’s defenders held out for several months, but were eventually forced to surrender. The castle was later destroyed by the Hussites, but was rebuilt by the Rosenbergs in the 16th century.

Today, Zvíkov Castle is a popular tourist attraction, drawing visitors from around the world to explore its history, architecture, and legends. The castle’s haunting beauty and rich history make it a must-visit destination for anyone interested in the dark and mysterious side of Europe’s past.

The Imp Haunting the Towers

Zvíkov Castle is renowned for its ghostly sightings and paranormal experiences. Visitors to the castle have reported seeing shadowy figures moving through the halls, hearing strange noises and footsteps, and feeling cold spots and sudden drops in temperature. Some have even claimed to have been touched or pushed by unseen hands.

One of the ghosts said to be haunting the castle is called the Zvikov’s Imp. He is said to be haunting the ancient tower Markomanka, a tower with mysterious markings or runes in the stones. He has also been reported to haunt another tower called Hlíza or The Black Tower.

Read More: Check out all of the ghost stories from the haunted castles around the world

Stories have been circulating about him for hundreds of years and is known for playing tricks on people like punching, poking, moving their objects or tripping them. 

It is said that people that have visited the castle tell about seeing strange things in their photoes when coming home as well as experiencing technical issues. 

Animals are also said to be affected and have shown bizarre behavior, almost like possessed

This story most likely comes from the stories about the Rarášek from Slavic folklore. Described as a sort of imp or a trickster spirit. The legend of the Zvíkovský rarášek has been told since 1597 when they were doing work in the Markomanka Tower that is also the oldest part of the castle. 

It was said that the workers were driven out from the evil spirit, and that it has since haunted the Throne Room at midnight. 

Dead Within a Year

Another story told about the Zvíkov Castle is that anyone that sleeps over in the main tower is said to die within a year. Perhaps one of the demonic imps more deadly tricks?

Another thing to beware is down in the catacombs of the castle where it is said that bloody hellhounds roam and have been blamed when some hear strange howling in the night. According to the legends there is a secret passage they are guarding from the gothic chapel of St. Anne from the 1200s. 

The Legend of the White Lady

Another one of the enduring legends of Zvíkov Castle is that of the White Lady, a ghostly apparition that is said to haunt the castle’s halls, although she is said to not be as demonic as the other strange occurrences from the castle. 

Many visitors to Zvíkov Castle have reported seeing the White Lady, dressed in a flowing white gown, gliding through the castle’s rooms and appearing in the stairs. Some have even claimed to have heard her weeping and 

Conclusion and final thoughts

Zvíkov Castle is a hauntingly beautiful fortress steeped in history and legend. Its dark past is a testament to the trials and tribulations of medieval Bohemia, and it’s haunted legends continue to intrigue and fascinate visitors to this day. So, gather your courage, and join us on a journey into the heart of one of Europe’s most haunted castles.

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Zvíkov (hrad) – Wikipedie 

A Haunted Czech Castle and its Demonic Imp – Journalnews 

Zvíkov Castle – Wikipedia 

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Deadly Immortality in Telford Gardens

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After a mass murder at Telford Gardens, cleaners at the apartment blocks have claimed that something supernatural is going on, and the whole apartment complex has been called cursed because of the tragic incidents that keep piling up.

On July 22nd in Hong Kong in 1998, the police were making their way into an apartment in Telford Gardens (德福花園) in Kowloon Bay. The place is a private housing estate located above the MTR Kowloon Bay Depot and alongside Kowloon Bay station in Kowloon Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The place would later be known as a cursed place as bad things like mysterious deaths and murders kept happening there.

Telford Gardens in Hong Kong: Three close friends and the two teenage daughters of one of the women were poisoned by Chinese feng shui practitioner Li Yuhui during a ‘longevity rite’

When the police entered the apartment in the Block C apartment that summer day in 98’ they found five dead women, all in different rooms. They had all died from cyanide poisoning. 

Read More: Check out all our collection of ghost stories from China

The estate comprises a total of 41 residential blocks completed between 1980 and 1982, organised by alphabetical order (from A to U), with only Block L not sharing its lobby with a twin block. A round mirror tied to a pair of scissors with a red string is hanging outside the window and was the only sign from the outside that something was apparently amiss. 

The murder victims was Becky Lam Chun-lai, the 49-year-old executive director of a publicly traded company, who lived with her husband and three children in Repulse Bay; Choi Sau-chun, 44, a mother of one and resident of Telford Gardens; Tsui Shun-kam, 40, who lived in the fifth-floor flat, also in Telford Gardens, in which the bodies were found; and Tsui’s daughters, Lee Ying-fai, 17, and Lee Ying-hei, 13.

Mass Suicide as a Cult Pact

This was a feng shui ornament and three of the women were believers of Shintoism. This led the initial investigation in the direction that this was a mass suicide in connection to some sort of cult activity. 

“A mother, her two teenage daughters, and two women friends were found dead in a suspected suicide pact in a flat in Kowloon Bay last night,” was the story in the South China Morning Post on July 24, 1998.

Then they found out that one of the women was a CEO and had withdrawn 700 000 dollars on the day they died. They had all withdrawn huge sums of money and it turned out the story was far from a mass suicide.

The Feng Shui Murderer

The Telford Garden Murder: “The women, who had only known Li a month, were given ‘holy water’ – later confirmed to have been cyanide – to drink and told that every $10,000 could buy another year of life” as part of a longevity rite in the Telford Gardens murders. Tsui was told to give each daughter a cup of “holy water” to drink. Once all five were dead, Li took the HK$1.3 million and returned to the mainland.

The truth was that they were all superstitious and had been scammed by a fake feng shui master from mainland China. Feng Shui master Li Yuhui took an enormous amount of money from them and spent them all on a longevity ritual. At least that is what he said when he was standing trial. 

He was executed by a firing squad in 1998 after he was convicted for manslaughter after killing the five women in Telford Gardens.

One of the things he gave was a drinkable talisman, a so-called holy water. that one of the women even shared with her daughter. This was poisonous though and killed them all. Once all five were dead, Li took the HK$1.3 million and returned to the mainland.

Li’s trial began on March 4, 1999, in Shantou, Guangdong province. The accused denied the charges levelled against him, claiming a Zen Buddhist was the master­mind behind the crime. “I’m not the real murderer,” he reportedly told the court.

Although he tried to appeal the case of the Telford Gardens murders, he was sentenced to death and killed by a firing squad executed on April 20, his plea was rejected and he was executed by firing squad.

The Ghost of Telford Gardens

After this, there have been reports of haunting around the block, and especially cleaners in Telford Gardens have gotten the dark end of it. Many have quit their jobs after experiencing paranormal things. For example there was a cleaner that claimed she saw and heard something when she was taking out the trash from the floor the apartment was on. 

She heard footsteps coming down the corridor and the sound of a woman calling out for her. 

“Wait for me, I haven’t taken out the trash yet!”

But there would be no one there. 

After she was done though she turned back to the stairwell and found a trash bag that she had no explanation how it got there. 

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References:

How did ‘holy water’ kill five Hong Kong women? | South China Morning Post 

https://www.localiiz.com/post/culture-local-stories-creepy-urban-legends-hong-kong

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The Mystic Realm at Sai Kung

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What really happened to the missing hikers that mysteriously disappeared at Sai Kung? Did they simply get lost and die in the dense jungle? Or could it be that there really is something of a mystic realm that leads to another dimension there?

Sai Kung is a popular place for hikers to enjoy nature away from the bustling urban life. There is however a dark side to this as many hikers are said to have disappeared from what has been called, this mystic realm or the Sai Kung Barrier 西貢結界. 

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

This mysterious realm is also located at a popular hiking area at the Sai Kung Peninsula 西貢半島, on the outskirts of Hong Kong.

People speculate as to what this is caused by, and some claim that the place is an entrance to a parallel timeline or something of another dimension. 

Read also: Hoia Baciu – a place where there are also said people have been reported disappearing and reappearing as if coming out from another realm.

The Missing Police Officer

One of the more popular stories that are connected to this urban legend is the story about a missing police officer. The story got so famous they even made a movie based on it. 

One day in 2005, a police officer was out hiking on his day off close to Pak Tam Chung and got lost. He called 999 for help as he knew precisely how it was done, working in the police force himself. 

He gave his coordinates to the dispatchers, but they were unable to locate them. The conversation was strange and somewhat halted. They did send out rescuers, but to this day, he has never been found. 

The Dead Boy Scout Leader

Just a month later there was another strange case that would happen in the area. Four hikers set out from Cheung Shand and went through Shek Uk Shan, Nam Shan Yung and Pak Sha O. 

They stopped to rest close to where the missing police officer had disappeared just a month before. One of the hikers was a 23 year old experienced Boy Scout leader. He felt sick and asked the three women he was hiking with to go on without him. 

Two days later his body was found by the police. 

The Missing Bus Driver

Fast forward to 2009 there was another strange thing that happened in the mountain. A bus driver went missing in Sai Kung, but his belongings were found. His family called his cellphone and a fisherman answered it and said he had found it while he was fishing in the deep blue sea. 

The bus driver became one of those who were never found again. 

The Missing Hiker

In 2011 999 received a phone call near Pak Tam from someone asking for help, but the phone call was mysteriously strange, just as the police officers had been years before. 

They couldn’t find the missing man this time either. 

Found hikers that ended up dead were also discovered in 2019 and 2020 and 2021. It is after all a popular hiking area. 

What Really Happened at Sai Kung

These mysterious disappearances have caused major speculations over the years. People disappearing out in the wild is perhaps not as uncommon as we want it to be, especially not in a jungle as dense as it is here with many places to go off parth, but so many over the years? What is it about this place?

A common denominator about these cases is that they were in the far northeast of Sai Kung, and whether it is a portal to another dimension or a huge python snake that got to the disappeared hikers, or even bad Feng Shui in the area that makes it haunted, you should always thread carefully and never off the path. 

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References:

Mysteries of the missing hikers | The Standard

Urban Legends: Sai Kung Barrier 

Top 10 spooky stories in Hong Kong