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Agnes Keith and the Ghost in her House

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From a house that has seen it all, this American author wrote about the ghost that lived with them. 

“I don’t believe in ghosts. But every day, I see a tall gaunt woman telling her husband goodbye, taking her baby, and walking down the path alone, standing at the bottom of the path and looking back,”

White Man Returns, Agnes Keith
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This is a quote from American author and journalist Agnes Keith’s novel, “White Man Returns” from 1951, a novel she wrote about returning to her beloved house after being imprisoned by Japanese during the war. 

Among the detailing of her everyday life in Malaysia and in that house, snippets of a darker corner of the house take shape. And often, the ghost that resides in the Newlands House is what remains to this day. Especially when the museum itself wants to focus on the dark tourism aspect of it all. 

The Land Below The Wind

Agnes Keith was living with her husband and her son in Sandakan in what we now know as Malaysia. She came to this place in 1934 and found a new place to call home. Being under the British Crown at the time, they lived in the colonial-styled architectured house with their servant. She was writing books like “Land Below The Wind” in 1939 about their life in the then called British North Borneo, which is was then called, with her husband working as a Conservator of Forest. 

The house: Newlands, the home of Agnes Newton Keith in Sandakan, Borneo from 2007.
Photo: Warren Apel

She loved their house and their home and was said to be very well liked by those around them. The house on the hill had a grand view of Sandakan Bay in the front and the Sulu sea from the back. But then the war came and it would be a long time until she would live in the house again. 

The Scar of the War

Like many Europeans on the island Agnes Keith and her family were put in internment camps when the Japanese invaded Borneo. The whole family survived though, and it is said that one of the Japanese camp commandants had read Agnes’s work and made sure to treat the family well. They stayed in the camp until the end of the war in 1945, but she was never the same again. 

“The story of war is always the story of hate; it makes no difference with whom one fights. The hate destroys you.”

Three Came Home, Agnes Keith
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When they returned to Sandakan in 1947, they found their beloved house destroyed. They decided to rebuild nearby, and named the house for Newlands, although it is more known as Agnes Keith House today. But the haunting memories from the war seemed to also manifest in the house as well. Through her writing, she notes about the paranormal activity going on around her. 

They left North Borneo for good in 1952 when she moved to Canada and the house passed to someone else. But the legends about the hauntings didn’t stop with the highly imaginative writer.

The Woman by the bed

G.L Carlson took over the husband’s position as a forest conservator after the Keiths left for Canada. His wife, Rosemary also told stories about apparitions in the bedroom when her husband was away. She woke at dawn and heard the door to the room open and close several times. When she opened her eyes, there was someone there, staring at her. 

“There was a figure standing, leaning over, and looking down at me. The figure appeared to be a female with a white bandage around her head. She was pale faced. She was dressed in what looked like a white, short-sleeved T-shirt or blouse with a wide-shoulder-strapped, dark-coloured pinafore dress. (…) She was quite a short person of normal build, and I could not see the lower part of her body. At this stage, I must have passed out. When I came to, it was already dawn and I was alone.”  

– Rosemary Carlson

The Ghost Resident

Maids, visitors and security guards can tell the same story about a woman shoving up in the stairs or in the corner of the rooms in the house. Places where she doesn’t belong. Or perhaps she belongs there more than anyone else at this point? 

By now the Agnes Keith house has fallen into the hands of the Sabah Museum Department and restored to become a public museum, to keep the house intact as well as the lingering residents that may still be there. 

  

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Agnes Keith: the American author who loved Sabah | Free Malaysia Today (FMT)

Spooktacular Sabah: Agnes Keith House first stop in state’s haunt jaunt push | Malaysia | The Vibes

https://web.archive.org/web/20190614110302/https://www.thepatriots.asia/misteri-kisah-seram-rumah-agam-agnes-keith-sandakan/

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The Mantelgeist of the Fortress

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Because of the cold winter with no food, people starved to death, even inside the castle walls. And ever since then, the ghost of the queens chambermaid still haunts the castle, known as the Mantelgeist.

The Queen: Left alone in the castle begging for food, Queen Margrete I of Norway was left.

It was a hard winter in medieval times in Oslo in Norway, a place known for its cold and harsh winters. So far north, the cold was biting, sparing no one. The plague had returned to the country again, and the King’s coffins were empty.

There was nothing to buy food with and people fell dead were they were standing either by starvation or the cold. Not only by the deadly plague that killed every one it touched, but the hunger as well was a silent killer.

Norway was a much different country than today, yes it was in the middle ages, but even by medieval standard, the country was poor, uneducated, and ravaged by hunger, weather and wars. Even the royals didn’t escape the plagues clutch.

A hard winter in the 1370s, there was not much food at the Akershus fort, were the queen resided. King Håkon IV Magnusson was king, and the queen was Margrete I, the one that were going to rule all of Scandinavia. But before that, she would go through her hardest winter.

The Cold Winters in the North

There were only decades since the Black Death had put the country in ruins. No another plague was at it and even behind the heavy doors at the fortress the repercussion of the killing plague hit them.

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The queen sat alone at the fortress as her husband was away. Pregnant, hungry and desperate. In a letter, she detailed that she and her servants no longer could sustain themselves on the food available. She asked a prayer, begging the King her husband make sure she got credit at a tradesman so that she could manage through the winter with the rest of the court. The nation was in her hands, that’s how bad it was.

The Starved Chambermaid

Queen Margrete made it through alive. As the queen she was, she got the food. Not everyone was that lucky. One of her chambermaids are supposed to have died of starvation that winter. A servant that was much closer to the queen than many, that dressed her and took care of her every need. No she will never leave the fortress.

It is said that she still wanders through the fortress, through the Margrete hall in particular, were she ended her days that cold winter with no food. Her ghostly figure enters in a long robe, thereby the name Mantel, meaning robe or cloak. When she turns to those in the room, she has no face, only a blank surface stares back.

We have no name to the poor girl at the fortress. She is only called the Maiden at the fortress or the Mantelgeist. And that is how she will spend the remaining years, nameless and faceless.

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Chaonei No. 81 — Beijing Horror House

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Shadowy figures in the window, chilling entrance during the summer, the old and haunted church in Beijing called Chaonei No. 81, keeps its secrets close to the chest. The famous haunted house is believed to be haunted by a woman said to have taken her life inside.

Chaonei No. 81 ( 朝内81号), also called Chaonei Church as it was built with that in mind, perhaps, the records aren’t clear. The French reimagined baroque architecture from the 20th century stands out amongst the modern Beijing skyscrapers and the Ming dynasty buddhist temples.

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

Out of place it has passed from a French manager of the railway or Christian missionaries, different governmental members of the Chinese Republic as well as the Catholic Church. But one thing remains the same, the rumours about a restless spirit that lingers, no matter who lives there. 

The Mystery of the Chaonei Church Building

The story behind the supposed haunted house at Chaonei No. 81 is hard to get straight. As with a lot of buildings before the formation of the People’s Republic of China was formed, because of missing paperwork. Who built the Chaonei Church? Was it the French manager of the railway? Or it might even have been the Qing imperial family building it for the British to use as a church? However it is believed to have been built around 1910, although some claim it is even older.

Read Also: Check out the rest of MoonMausoleums Haunted Houses

Chaonei Church Building: How Chaonei No. 81 ( 朝内81号) looked from across the street in 2014, looming dark in the otherwise bright and busy street. //Photo: Daniel Case/Wikimedia.

By the neighbouring hutong, the traditional streets in Beijing, the house has always been remembered as haunted. And even during the 1970s, during the cultural revolution, the neighbours remember the Red Guard that lived in the Chaonei Church, got so frightened after staying inside of the haunted house, they had to leave after a few days. 

The Woman Hanging from the Rafters

But who frightened its inhabitants, that even the red guard couldn’t handle? According to the most commonly told legend, it is to a woman that once resided in Chaonei No. 81. Or rather, a scorned woman that used to live there, as most haunted histories start with.

The woman that used to live in the Chaonei Church is said to have been a wife or maybe a lover of an officer of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the nationalist party of China) that fought against the communist party during the Chinese civil war in the 1940s. The nationalist lost, and fled to Taiwan as the communist came into power.

The woman was allegedly left behind by her officer man who fled with the army to Taiwan, and she is said to have hung herself from the rafters of the house. 

The Ghost Inside of Chaonei No. 81: According to legend, the ghost haunting Chaonei No. 81 is the spirit of a woman left alone in the house by an officer who fled the country.

Whether the outcome of the war had anything to do with her death is debatable, as some suggest it was more that the officer was never at home, not paying her the attention she needed than the victory of the communists that led her to her decision of taking her life in the Chaonei Church.

Her existence at all is debatable as a lot of things during the civil war are lost, forgotten or even hidden away and a lot of documentation to confirm or deny the story is not there. What we can go by is the word of mouth however, and many that have stayed in Chaonei No. 81 knowing its history say there was never a KMT officer living there, and no woman hung herself in the rafters. 

The history behind Chaonei No. 81 is clouded in mystery, and there seems that no one can really agree on one account. But ghost stories have their own way of ignoring this, and sneaking their way into the mind of those around anyway. And according to the locals, this place has always been haunted. The locals persist in their own lore that she can indeed be heard, especially on those stormy nights, screaming from the empty house during thunder. 

The Vanishing Workers From the Chaonei Church

Even the construction of the house has been up for dispute with strange tales from the Chaonei Church. Like the story of a British priest who supposedly built on the property disappeared before being able to build the church. When a search party was sent, they supposedly found a secret tunnel leading all the way northeast of the premise to the Dashanzi neighborhood. 

There have also been three people, working on construction down in the basement in the building next to Chaonei No. 81 that supposedly vanished into thin air. They got drunk on the job and decided to break into the house by breaking the thin wall that separated the two houses. They were never seen again according to the reports. 

The House that Never Dies

A message to the entrance is put up, telling the visitors that there are no ghosts residing there, contrary to local beliefs, urging the paranormal seekers to stay away from the Chaonei Church.

Warning off people: Chalked notice on Chaonei No. 81 in Chinese, warning of ghosts in the house. Original text: “请勿相信谎言 无鬼” (Please do not believe lies, there are no ghosts)//Photo by Daniel Case//wikimedia

Especially after the horror movie, The House that Never Dies, inspired by the the haunted legends of Chaonei No. 81 and its story, the interest of it came back. And after its release in 2014, up to five hundred people crowded outside the house, causing the catholic church to close the gates, only letting a few in at the time.  

The same thing happened with Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital when a movie was made about the legend and they eventually demolished the entire building because the paranormal seekers were too much and the construction of the building not safe enough.

Keeping the legend alive: The movie trailer from the 2014 movie ‘The House that Never Die’, inspired about the legends surrounding Chaonei 81.

In 2016 however, Chaonei No. 81. interior and outside was renovated and rented out. Perhaps that is what it took to get rid of the spirit and the lore seeping from the old bricks of the Chaonei Church. But there are also those claiming they have an uneasy feeling of dread when walking by the house. And even in the hot summer, with the sun scorching right at the door, the doorway of the mansion somehow always feels cooler than in the shade.

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Featured Picture by Daniel Case source:

Chaonei No. 81

The House That Never Dies  

Dilapidated Mansion Has Had Many Occupants, Maybe Even a Ghost (Published 2013)

This abandoned “Chaonei No.81” house in China is described as “Beijing’s most celebrated haunted building” …  Raising Ghosts: Five of Beijing’s Most Haunted Attractions

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Lady of the Lake in Durand Eastman Park in Rochester

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The legend of the Lady of the Lake in Rochester has been around the Durand Eastman Park in the state of New York for centuries, haunting the lakes and park, in search for her daughter – and possible revenge.

Between the cities of Rochester and Irondequoit in the state of New York, the Durand Eastman Park has been a place for a nice park and a cozy picnic since the turn of the century. According to the legend though, the park is not always sunny sundays as the Durand Eastman Park is allegedly haunted by the ghost of a woman named The Woman of the Lake.

This type of ghosts takes on numerous names: The Lady in White, The White Lady, Lady of the Lake. She becomes a different entity with those names, one of many, a ghostly transparent figure of folklore. She loses her humanity and such, gains her legacy that lasts longer than a human lifetime. But who were this lady down by the lake when she was alive? Does she have a name?

Read Also: Check out the rest of our ghost stories from the USA

According The Rochester Candlelight ghost walk, the legend of the Lady of the Lake in Rochester have been told as far back as when the Durand Eastman Park was used as a vacation destination. And when a Boy Scout Camp was set up in the park, the legend grew around the campfire when they started to whisper about who the one in the deep lake could be and what she was after.

The Legend of Lady of the Lake in Rochester

Before the 1900’s, the area surrounding the Durand Eastman Park was a swampy place and not the nice and curated park we see today. It was farmland and small farms was around the lake with a few families living in the area. The lady that has been roaming the place since the early 1800’s is said to have been the wife of one of those farmers, farming this swampy land.

A walk in the park: During the day, the Durand Eastman Park is a pleasant place for a walk. But at night though remember there is a ghost story about Lady of the Lake in Rochester// Photo: DanielPenfield

Lady of the Lake in Rochester’s name, according to written accounts and oral storytelling, her name was Eelissa. She appeared in different shapes and forms. Sometimes she was told to be an old and ugly woman. In other variants of the legend, she is a youthful spirit of the lake, almost more like the mythical fairy from the stories than a real woman.

Through the generations the story has been passed down through the locals, the story about this Lady in White or Lady of the Lake that has been haunting the park since the early 1800s has taken some different roads along the way. But the main overview remains the same.

Read Also: The Enchanted Forest of Brocéliande for more about the myths about the Lady of the Lake from the Arthurian Legends.

In one of the variations of this ghost story, Eelissa had an abusive husband that left her for another woman when he got tired from her. In her jealous rage, she killed them both when she realised she would be alone. It is said that this is why she is haunting the Durand Eastman Park, mistaking young couples for her husband and mistress.

Legend has it that she is a dangerous ghosts, still blinding by rage and keeps slaying them, again and again for revenge. This variant of the legend about the scorned woman turned deadly is a classic take on a ghost story to tell around the campfire, but it is certainly not the most famous take on this legend.

The variation retold the most about the Lady of the Lake in Rochester, is that the Lady of the Lake is a grieving mother more than a scorned woman. The ghost of her is seen around the beach of the park, looking for her daughter she lost. In some variation, the daughter ran away with a lover and away from her overprotective mother to live their life in peace. Left all alone she haunts the place waiting for the return of her daughter.

In other versions the daughter was brutally raped and murdered close to the lake. The mother was unable to go on after this when the culprits got away without punishment. The grieving mother looks for remains of her daughter to this day, as well as those who did her harm. In some variations of the story, she is accompanied by two ghost dogs, helping her in the search.

Read Also: Lady of the Lake at Gotts Point in Lake Lowell

No matter how the story is told, one thing is a binding link: She still have an enormous mistrust in men, even in the afterlife. Perhaps because of the abusive husband, perhaps because of the man stealing her daughter away or because of the rapist and murderers that took the life of her daughter. Who knows really, perhaps it could be all of them?

She is therefore rumored to attack men that in some ways are: ‘hindering’ her mission and interrupting her search. So if you are a man taking a stroll in the Durand Eastman Park, beware so to not be hindering anyone.

The Castle Housing the Lady of the Lake in Durand Eastman Park

In the Durand Eastman Park, the ruins of a stone wall is hidden among the trees. It is called, the castle. The Castle is a common place to gather for parties and retelling of the legend of Lady of the Lake in Rochester. It has over the years also become a part of it. Whispers that it is actually a part of the Lady of the Lake’s house when she was alive, or that it used to be an insane asylum or even a cannon wall.

Read Also: Check out all of our ghost stories about Haunted Castles.

But in reality the castle is just the remains of a dining hall that used to be there. Before the Great Depression this was a place people in the Durand Eastman Park could get some refreshments while strolling among the trees after it was built in 1911. But over the years after vandalism, even arson and the passing of time, this wall is all there remains of the building.

The Castle in the Park: In Durand eastman park, there is something that look like a castle that has become a part of the woman in white in Rochester.

Investigation The Lady of the Lake in Rochester

The blogger for The Rochester Subway, spoke to a Jenni Lynn that owns the Rochester Candlelight Ghost Walks that includes the ghost story about the Lady of the Lake in Rochester. She told that they had teamed up with local physic, Shelly Phillips to investigate the Lady of the Lake in Rochester once to get to the bottom of the matter. Could they possible find out anything about the ghost supposedly haunting Durand Eastman Park?

They had used several different equipment, including divining rods, EMF-detectors, temperature readers as well as noise monitors. According to Lynn, Phillips was able to stand behind the legend that Eelissa’s daughter ran away together with a local farm boy and that this was the true origin story of the legend.

Lynn also says she spoke with the local police, The Irondequoit Police Department to try to get some hard facts that could perhaps shed some light on the matter. According to her, there have been many reports to the police regarding the Lady of the Lake in Rochester and that people claimed to have seen her. These reports is maybe including even the police officers themselves when they have been patrolling the Durand Eastman Park.

Lady of the Lake: In Durand Eastman Park there are rumours about the ghost of a lady in white walking around the lake in search of her lost daughter.

It is worth noting though, the police department themselves have not confirmed this, and the stories about the Lady of the Lake in Rochester is for now just that, stories.

But then, there must be some historical records of this, right? Eelissa is such an uncommon name, and the place is well documented. But according to town historian Patricia Wayne, there are no such records, documents or proof that can verify the story. Even so, every year, reports of sightings every year comes in of people claiming to have seen the Lady of the Lake in Rochester.

The Lady in the Tree in Rochester

Telling of these ghost stories varies throughout the time, and sometimes there’s things that happens that gives new life into old stories. One thing that literary blew some new life into the story of The Lady of the Lake in Rochester though, happened in 2017. A forceful wind was storming around the Rochester area, awakening the ghost once more.

Read Also: The Haunting in Pasir Ris Park 

According to Democrat and Chronicle this storm seems to be the first that broke the story online when the wind ripped apart a chunk of wood from a tree in the Durand Eastman Park. It left in splintered in the form of a skull like female, that many believed to be the ghost of the Lady of the Lake in Rochester, centuries after the legend was born, reminding everyone that she was still here.

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References:

RochesterSubway.com : Durand Eastman Park and the Lady In White

Lady In White – Rochester Wiki 

Ghost sighting: White Lady emerges from tree

Rochester Candlelight Ghost Walks – Legend of the Lady in White