oddsandends

The Dark Angel of Maple Grove Cemetery

There are two versions of the legend surrounding the infamous "Dark Angel" statue located in Maple Grove Cemetery, both of which center around a woman named Alice. The most popular version claims that Alice took the life of her small daughter.
Overcome with grief, Alice erected the statue of a larger- than-life angel over the child’s grave. Shortly after, Alice went "insane with grief" and died. She was buried next to her daughter in Maple Grove Cemetery.
Almost immediately after Alice’s death, locals began reporting that their livestock were mysteriously dying. Others noticed that the angel statue had what appeared to be blood on its hands and mouth. According to this version of the legend, it was that the evil spirit of Alice was inhabiting the statue, causing it to leave its place in the cemetery at night and fly across the countryside attacking and killing livestock. It was decided that the hands and wings of the statue should be cut off, thereby preventing it from causing any more destruction.
After the hands of the statue were sawed off and its wings were "clipped", there were no more reports of livestock being killed. In addition, it is said that what appeared to be tearstains appeared on the angel’s face, supposedly caused by the spirit of Alice weeping for her sins.

Another version of the story also claims that the spirit of Alice inhabits the statue, however in this version, she was a kind spirit... at least in the beginning. It is said that during a cholera epidemic in the early 1900s, bereaved parents would bring the bodies of their children to the cemetery and place them in the arms of the statue, asking that the angel take the children away to heaven.. As a result, the hands of the statue were sawed off. This evidently angered Alice’s spirit and it is said that from that point on, anyone desecrating or tormenting the statue would meet an untimely death.

Recently the Cemetery has removed the statue all together because of the ledgend that surrounds it and all that is left to show that it once stood there is a concrete base.

Stull Cemetery, Kansas City (Gate way to Hell)

At first sight, the cemetery appears very normal.Roughly 100 graves, an old tree, and a burnt out church pretty much make the scene, but as always, there is more lingering right under the surface.

In 1995, Time Magazine asked Pope John Paul 2nd why he ordered his plane to fly around Kansas, and his response..."I don't want to fly over unholy ground..."

Some of the hype may come from the fact that Stull Cemetery is located in the Topeka zip code prefix of "666", or perhaps even that the road leading up to the cemetery, was literally named Devil's Lane up until 1905.

In 1974, the University of Kansas college newspaper did a report on Stull Cemetery, which sites the legend being over 100 years old.The elders of the small town believe that Stull Cemetery is one of the alleged 7 gateways to hell, allowing Satan to allegedly manifest on earth through a supernatural portal..

This legend comes from a handful of local rumors, one being that Satan's unholy son is buried within the walls of Stull, and that on the Spring Equinox, and on midnight of Halloween, the Prince of Darkness comes to earth to visit the tomb of his son.

The exact location of the gateway to hell is unknown, but most of the controversey centers around the burnt out church in the cemetery.The church was build in 1867, and was swept over by the mysterious fire in the early 1900's.Some say that the religious communtiy destroyed the church in an attempt to seal the gateway to hell.Although the church has no roof, it is said that no rain will ever fall within the church.

Another secret to the Stull mystery revolves around the pine tree that was mentioned above.It is reported that witches were hung from this tree during the Spring Equinox Sabbat years ago, and that a town man was reported missing for some time, only to be found later hanging from this very tree.

Modern covens did indeed visit this cemetery to pay homage to those witches that died there, up until 1998, when the caretakers had the tree cut down and removed.

Halloween night of 1999, media from Lawrence Journal World and Sunflower Cable Station Channel 6 News were at the cemetery by permission of the Sheriff.At 11:30pm, only 30 minutes before the alleged gate to hell would be cast open, an unknown representative of the cemetery caretakers appeared, and requested the Sheriff to remove the reporters.The media left peacefully, mere moments before the stroke of midnigh

Bloody Mary

If you stand in front of a mirror in a dark room and chant "Bloody Mary" thirteen times starting at the stroke of midnight, the face of a hideous woman will appear in the mirror. It's the spirit of a girl who was born with a disfiguring disease and was killed by a cruel joke gone awry.

There are many variations to this classic, what Mary does when appearing varies. Besides appearing, sometimes she slaps the summoner, or scratches their face, grabs at them, drives them mad, etc.

Otterbein Cemetery , ohio- Bloody Horseshoe Grave

It was during the 1840's that James Henry was faced with a dilemma. He had been courting two women, Rachel Hodge and Mary Angle, and could not decide which one he wanted to marry. As the story goes, the final decision was not to be made by Henry, but by his horse.
One night, Henry fell asleep while riding home. When he awoke, he found that his horse had not taken him home, but had instead stopped in front of Mary Angle's house. Henry took it as a sign and he and Mary were soon married. And as a wedding present, Henry gave Mary the very horse that had brought the two together.
By all accounts, the couple was very happy. But that happiness was to be short-lived when Mary died in February of 1845. She was buried in Otterbein Cemetery.
As fate would have it, Henry again starting courting Rachel Hodge. And in 1848, the two were united in marriage. One version of the story actually has Henry giving Rachel the same wedding present he had given Mary; the very horse that had brought Mary and James Henry together years ago.
Rachel and James had not been married very long when the townsfolk noticed something strange on Mary Henry's tombstone; the outline of a horseshoe.
James Henry was distraught. He not only took the horseshoe to represent Mary's displeasure over his new marriage, he also felt that he was now cursed. And perhaps he was. For legend has it that the night after witnesses reported strange noises and lights coming from Otterbein Cemetery, James Henry was found dead in his barn... the mark of a horseshoe clearly visible on his forehead. His death was ruled an accident, as Henry has been alone in the barn. Indeed, the only other living creature that was said to have been in the barn at the time of the accident was... a horse.
Even today, a strange mark resembling a horseshoe is still visible on Mary Henry's tombstone. Some even claim that on certain nights, you can hear ghostly hoofbeats running up and down the road near Otterbein Cemetery.

Franklin Castle is the most haunted house in Ohio. During its long and strange history, the ghost stories have become an integral part of the lore. For years, tales have been told of doors that explode off their hinges, lights that spin on their own, electric circuits that behave erratically, the inexplicable sounds of a baby crying and even a woman in black who has been seen staring forlornly from a tiny window in the front tower room.
There are many ghosts here, the legends say. But what dark deeds caused this house to become so haunted? Are the stories of the murders committed here actually true, or the stuff of legend?
Strange voices coming from empty rooms and behind the walls, sounds of crying children, faces that suddenly materialize in the woodwork, spinning chandeliers, cold spots, and mysterious ectoplasm…these are but a few of the bizarre occurrences witnessed by those who have entered Franklin Castle, one of Ohio’s most notorious haunted places. Built in 1865, this Gothic mansion located on Franklin Avenue in Ohio City was home to German immigrant Hannes Tiedemann, his wife, mother, and several children.
Hannes Tiedemann was a grocer and investment banker who had a reputation as a loud, harsh man. Because of his personality, many in the community believed that he was also abusive toward his family and ran his household like a tyrant. These rumors only intensified following the deaths of his children, wife and mother, who all died within a short period of time under “mysterious” circumstances. Many believe that Hannes also murdered his niece and a young servant girl.
Hannes Tiedemann left the castle in 1895 shortly after his wife died.
Yet, the legends and legacy of the castle continued, leading some to conclude that the castle itself is cursed.
The Tiedemann deaths began with Hannes’ 15 year-old daughter, Emma. Although her official cause of death was diabetes, legend has it that Emma was actually found hanging from the rafters in the attic. A few weeks after her death, Hannes’ elderly mother died. Her cause of death is not known.
Then, between 1886 and 1888, at least 3 more Tiedemann children died in the castle. Again, their cause of death was not known, although some suspicious eyes fell upon Hannes. More babies were believed to have been born inside the castle, but that Hannes hid their death from the public.
According to legend, Hannes also murdered his young niece by hanging her from the rafters of a secret tunnel. He is also said to have killed a young servant girl on her wedding day in a fit of jealous rage, and strangled one of his mistresses.
Hannes’ wife died in 1895. Officially, she died from liver disease, although many quietly suspected that Hannes was responsible for her death.
In 1913, Franklin Castle was sold to the German Socialist Party. The group owned the castle for the next 55 years. During this time, not much is known about the goings on inside the castle, although many speculate that the party held secret meetings and engaged in espionage.
The wildest rumor involves the mass political assassination of about 20 members.
The party later rented out rooms of the castle to boarders. One of those persons was believed to be a doctor who performed “strange” experiments using human specimens.
Secret rooms and passages do exist inside the castle, although it is not known how many. Hannes Tiedemann supposedly used a secret room to store the bodies of his dead babies, and killed his niece in a hidden passage by the ballroom. His wife is said to have used a passage to safely gain access to her children, away from the prying eyes of her tyrannical husband.
The German Socialist party is said to have used the rooms and passages to their own advantage, even hiding the bullet-ridden bodies of its members in a secret room in the basement.
It is also believed that there is an underground tunnel that extends to Lake Erie. However, those who say they have been in the tunnel note that it ends at some point before the lake. An old still was found in one secret room by a later homeowner, giving rise to speculation that the house was also used as a speakeasy during Prohibition and that the tunnel was used to run booze out of the castle.
Inside the carriage house, the owner found a “mysterious cemented-over area in the floor.”
In the windows of the turret , many have claimed seeing a woman dressed in black. She is believed to be the ghost of Rachel, the young servant girl Hannes murdered. According to legend, it was in front of one of these windows that Hannes hacked her to death with an axe. In another variation of the tale, the black-clothed Rachel is actually one of the mistresses that Hannes strangled in one of the bedrooms.
In the 1970’s, one of the owners found the skeletons of at least a dozen babies inside a small sealed room. They were later examined by the county coroner, who could make no definitive determination other than stating that the bones were very old. These skeletons could have simply been harmless medical specimens, although some say they are the bones of the missing Tiedemann children.
In the late 1970’s, owner Sam Muscatello discovered a hidden panel in one of the walls in the tower room. Inside, he found a skeleton. No other information is known, although the current owner has suggested that Muscatello himself placed the skeleton there as a way to attract publicity.
A young girl haunts the 4th floor ballroom. She may be the ghost of young Rachel, or Tiedemann’s niece. In the ballroom, it is said that a large blood stain still appears on the marble floor, even though it was replaced about 30 years ago. In 1999, the ballroom was damaged in a fire and is being renovated. One wonders if this bloodstain will come back after the work is done.
The Romano family, who owned the home from 1968 to 1976, claimed it was visited by the ghost of a young girl, who interacted with the Romano children. The family later moved out of the house after receiving warnings by the ghost of a future death.
Muscatello, who found the skeleton, became physically ill while at the house and invited a local news crew to investigate. They reported strange events, including spinning chandeliers and equipment that moved on their own accord.
A newspaper boy claimed that when he knocked on the door, a voice told him to “come in.” Once inside the foyer, he saw an apparition of a woman in white, who glided down the staircase and disappeared through a closed door.
Many have heard voices of children (often crying), and have seen faces that seem to suddenly materialize in the woodwork. Others say that doors open and shut on their own, and have seen fog or ectoplasm form inside the rooms. Voices coming from the walls, and “cold spots”, have also been reported.
Others say the ghost of Tiedemann himself can sometimes be seen at the park where he died, looking to hitch a ride back home to his castle.