Haunted Paintings

I came across an article titled "5 Haunted and Cursed Paintings You Should Never Hang in Your Home" on The Occult Museum website, and I thought it was pretty interesting, so of course I had to share it here. No matter how much you love art, you definitely don't want to own the following paintings:

1. The Anguished Man (artist unknown): This painting is super creepy, so I don't know why anyone would want to hang it on their wall, but when Sean Robinson inherited it from his grandmother (who kept it hidden in the basement), he did just that. He put up with the banging noises and fog that appeared in the house soon after, but when he saw a shadowy figure in his bedroom one night, that was the last straw, and he put the painting in the basement where it belongs.

2. The Crying Boy (Giovanni Bragolin): Prints of this painting of a crying orphan have been the only thing to survive in dozens of house fires.

3. Love Letters (Richard King): This painting can be found at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas, and it is said to be haunted by Samantha Houston, a little girl who died at the hotel. Samantha's spirit has been seen playing with a ball (which is how she died) at the hotel, and people have reported feeling strange when they're near the painting.

4. The Dead Mother (Edvard Munch): People who have seen this painting of a child standing next to her mother's corpse have said that the little girl's eyes follow them and report hearing rustling bedsheets near the painting.

5. The Hands Resist Him (Bill Stoneham): A family who owned this unsettling painting of a boy and his doll said that their daughter saw the boy and the doll coming out of the painting several times in the middle of the night.

To find out more and see the paintings, check out The Occult Museum:

5 Haunted and Cursed Paintings you Should Never Hang in your Home

Colma: The Town of the Dead

I always find interesting paranormal stuff on Backpackerverse, and I wanted to share this article  about a small town in California that's known for having more dead residents than live ones. Colma has around 1,700 living residents, and they're far outnumbered by the 1.5 million dead residents buried in their 17 cemeteries. Of course this city has had some strange paranormal activity, and you can read about it here:

http://backpackerverse.com/colma/

Also, this 2005 article about Colma is pretty interesting:

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2005/10/31/colma-where-the-living-haunt-the-dead/

Haunted Airbnb Rentals

The Destination America website recently posted a list of five of the best haunted Airbnb rentals in the world, so of course I wanted to share it here. If you're planning on visiting London, Essex, Savannah, New Orleans, or Saint Paul and want to stay in a haunted Airbnb, check out the list. : )

http://www.destinationamerica.com/thehauntist/five-of-the-best-haunted-airbnb-getaways/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=thehauntist&sf43736098=1

Top 10 Most Haunted Islands

I'm always interested in finding out about haunted places (and if you read this blog, I'm guessing you are too), so when I came across this list of the ten most haunted islands, I had to share it here. The list includes Mexico's Isla de Las Munecas/Island of the Dolls (which I've mentioned before on this blog because it looks creepy as hell), California's Alcatraz Island in California, and England's Isle of Wight. If you've ever wanted to visit a haunted island, you can find out what to expect here:

http://theparanormal.ca/haunted_islands.html

Haunted Hotels

If you enjoy the paranormal and traveling, why not stay at a haunted hotel on your next trip? If you're not scared to sleep in a room with spirits, go to paranormal travel website Haunt Jaunts and check out their list of haunted hotels. You can find the list here (if you're going to California, you're in luck...they have a bunch of haunted hotels):

http://www.hauntjaunts.net/find-haunted-places/haunted-hotels-us/

If you do stay at a haunted hotel (or ever have before) and would like to write a guest post about it, please email me at crystalsmithconnelly@yahoo.com. : )

Asheville Ghost Tours

My husband and I went to Asheville, North Carolina, on our anniversary trip a few months ago, and we didn't have time to go on a ghost tour since we only spent one night there, but I picked up some brochures for some ghost tours that sounded interesting. The one that really caught my interest is called the LaZoom Haunted Comedy Tour. Comedy and the paranormal are two of my favorite things, so I'm sure I would enjoy the Haunted Comedy Tour, and I hope I'll be able to check it out the next time I go to Asheville. Tickets are $21, and the tour is only for those who are 17 or older.

http://www.lazoomtours.com/tours/haunted-tours/

Ghost Hunters of Asheville offers a few ghost tours: Downtown Spirits, Haunted Montford, Graveyard Ghosts, and Ghosts & Grapes. Ghosts & Grapes is for adults only and costs $65; the other tours are $20 for adults, $13 for kids and teenagers 6 to 15, and free for kids under 6. Guests get to use ghost-hunting equipment on all of the tours.

http://www.ghosthuntersofasheville.com/

If you take any of these tours and would like to write a guest post about it, please let me know (at crystalsmithconnelly@yahoo.com)...I'm always looking for guest bloggers. : )

Breaking Boo Ghost Tour

Are you a fan of Breaking Bad who also loves the paranormal?  Tours of Old Town in Albuquerque has just what you need: the Breaking Boo Ghost Tour.  The tour guides are local actors who have actually worked on the set of Breaking Bad, and they take up to 13 people in an RV to check out locations from the show that are rumored to be haunted.  The tour takes place the last Saturday of each month, and tickets are $45.  I'm going to Albuquerque this summer, and I really want to do this, but we'll be in Colorado the last Saturday in June, so we won't be able to take the tour.  If any of you guys go (or have already gone) and would like to write a guest post about your experience, email me at crystalsmithconnelly@yahoo.com and let me know!

For more info about the Breaking Boo Ghost Tour, check out the Tours of Old Town website, and click on "Special Tours."

http://www.toursofoldtown.com/ 

Cool Website: The Haunted Writer

The Haunted Writer is a website that showcases free paranormal Kindle books, ghost hunting tools (and includes links to buy them), and videos and accounts of real paranormal occurrences.  If you've had your own paranormal experience, there's a place to submit your story, so submit away if you want the world to know about your brushes with the paranormal.  I thought the posts about haunted locations were really interesting, and you can find them here if you'd like to read them:

http://thehauntedwriter.com/category/haunted-locations/

Check out the video about the five most haunted places on Earth, which is near the top of the haunted locations page. : )

http://thehauntedwriter.com/

 

Is the Hollywood Historic Hotel haunted?

I'm taking a trip to Los Angeles in April to see a performance of one of my plays, and my husband and I will be staying at the Hollywood Historic Hotel.  The hotel, built in 1927, was formerly the Hollywood Melrose Hotel, and according to some of the reviews I read, it's haunted (a fact I didn't know until after I booked it).  Trip Advisor reviewer Aliceinhaw says that when she stayed at the Hollywood Historic Hotel, she saw "weird shadows" and "felt like something was watching [her]."  On Yelp, Jason B. wrote that "there is no doubt in [his] mind that this hotel is haunted" because he heard a lot of banging around and screaming in the room above him and heard a woman being thrown out of the window...but when he looked outside, there was no one on the ground.  A few other Yelp reviewers mentioned that they got a creepy feeling when they walked in the building.  Compared to some other hauntings I've heard about, this doesn't sound too bad...if I experience any paranormal activity while I'm there, I'll tell you guys all about it!

http://www.hollywoodhistorichotel.com/

Charleston Ghost Tours

I live in Charleston, SC, which is known for being haunted, so of course ghost walks/ghost tours are a popular thing to do.  I went on one in college and thought it was a lot of fun, so here's my guide to Charleston ghost tours for those of you who live here or just like to visit.

Ghostwalk

Hours: Monday-Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.
Cost: $16 for adults, $10 for children 5-12, free for children under 4
Reservations required: Yes.
Phone number: 843-720-TOUR
Meeting place: Tommy Condon's, 160 Church Street
http://www.ghostwalk.net/

Charleston Ghost Hunt

Hours: Every night at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.; there is also a 10:45 p.m. tour on Fridays and Saturdays
Cost: $19 (no one under 12 allowed)
Reservations required: Yes.
Phone number: 843-813-5055
Meeting Place: U.S. Custom House, 200 East Bay Street
http://charlestonghosthunt.com/

Charleston Ghost and Graveyard Walking Tour

Hours: Every night at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Cost: $18
Reservations required: No, but they're recommended, and you can get tickets online.
Phone number: 843-722-8687
Meeting Place: Rainbow Market, 40 North Market Street
http://bulldogtours.com/charleston-ghost-graveyard-walking-tour/

The Haunted Jail Tour

Hours: Every night at 7:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m.
Cost: $18 for adults, $10 for children 7-12
Reservations required: No, but they're recommended, and you can get tickets online.
Phone number: 843-722-8687
Meeting Place: Rainbow Market, 40 North Market Street
http://bulldogtours.com/the-haunted-jail-tour/

The Ghosts of Charleston

Hours: Every night at 5:00 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 9:30 p.m.
Cost: $18 for adults, $12 for children
Reservations required: Yes, and you can get tickets online.
Phone number: 800-979-3370
Meeting Place: The circular fountain at Waterfront Park, 1 Vendue Range

Cool Website of the Week: Eerie Place

This week's cool website is Eerie Place, which bills itself as "The First Stop For Haunted Places" and focuses on the UK.  There are sections for Haunted Hotels, Ghost Hunting Events, Paranormal Attractions, and Haunted Places, and if I ever go to England, I'm going to have to check some of these places out...after reading the blog post entitled "I've Discovered Ghosts, Witches, and UFOs in St. Osyth!," I definitely want to visit that place!  If you sign up for the website's email list, you'll receive two free ebooks in PDF form: "The A-Z of Ghost Hunting Equipment" and "The Best UK Haunted Places to Stay and Visit," and free stuff is always nice. : )  Thanks to Terry Lee Kercher, a member of my "Why would you want to be normal when you could be paranormal?" Facebook group for telling me about this website!

http://eerieplace.com/

Charleston Magazine: Haunted Charleston

The October issue of Charleston Magazine has an interesting article about haunted places in Charleston, SC.  The article features the Angel Oak, 37 Meeting Street, Magnolia Cemetery, the Bull-Huger House, Secessionville Hollows, the Brick Kiln Ruins in Brickyard Plantation, the Old Citadel, Fort Moultrie, The Wampee House, the Pink House, and the Joe E. Berry Residence Hall.  I've lived in Charleston for 28 years, and I've never even heard of some of these places, so I thought the article was very informative, and I really enjoyed it...here's the link if you'd like to read it:

http://charlestonmag.com/charleston_magazine/feature/haunted_charleston

Do any of you guys live in a haunted city?  Let me know, and I might write about it! : )