Have you ever heard a story that should be terrifying, but after hearing it, you just say, “Yeah?” Ok. Whatever.”? Or maybe you were in a curious mood and read stories on the internet that were “true” only to learn that “a friend of mine had a cousin whose father’s friend’s sister had this happen to her.” Boring.
But there are many frightening stories that keep you awake at night that are verified as true or at least have some sort of visual “evidence.” And although pictures and videos can and are faked, there is just something about them that is in some way different. Folklore, urban legends, and creepy pasta are all platforms where frightening stories can grow.
10. St. Louis Cathedral
One of the region’s oldest cathedrals, the St. Louis Cathedral, is located in New Orleans. These are meant to be frightening tales, right? “I’m sure there wouldn’t be anything frightful at church! “and you’d be so mistaken.”
Many ghosts are rumored to haunt St. Louis Cathedral. Fr. is one of the most well-known. At the church, Antonio de Savilla served as a priest. Parishioners have confirmed seeing him at various Christmas masses, and many claim to have seen him walking down the alley close to the church.
Don’t, however, assume that the only ghost you saw was a kind priest. The Voodoo queen Maria Laveau and the malevolent socialite Delphine LaLaurie were among the faithful parishioners of St. Louis. Many people claim that these two sorcerers still prowl the cathedral’s grounds.
9. NPR
The majority of individuals in Western society can be categorized into one of three groups: those who do not believe in ghosts and do not care about them; those who do believe but are horrified by them; or those who are entirely open to the idea that ghosts might exist. It would be odd for you to not believe in ghosts and restless spirits among the nations of eastern Asia.
Ryan MacMichael spoke about his experience while visiting his wife’s family in Vietnam on the NPR episode The Truth That Creeps Beneath Our Spooky Ghost Stories. According to MacMichael, a figure shook him awake. MacMichael was still sound asleep because it was three in the morning. He was assisted in standing up and given a direction toward the restroom by the apparition.
Now that he was awake, he was unable to comprehend what had just occurred. Given that he had to unlock the door before leaving his room, he realized that it couldn’t have been a member of the family. He informed the family of the incident the following morning, and they showed no sign of concern. They explained that it was common for them and that their grandfather’s spirit was probably simply trying to assist him.
8. CCTV Hampton Court
A skeleton-like figure was seen closing a large fire door in 2003 while wearing clothing that appeared to be hundreds of years old. The image was captured by a CCTV surveillance camera. Security personnel initially didn’t give it much thought, assuming it was perhaps a camera malfunction. Someone noted in the guest book that day that they spotted an odd figure in the same location. They were able to plainly see the apparition when they viewed the security film.
Even while some people think it was a camera trick, those who are familiar with Hampton Court Palace have no trouble accepting the idea that Skeletor—the humorous name they gave the apparition—is not the only ghost that haunts the building. The mild-mannered Jane Seymore, third wife of King Henry VII, and Catherine Howard, fifth wife and “Screaming Queen,” are said to prowl the hallways. Additionally, the palace is home to the Grey Lady, Sybil Penn, a dedicated former maid and wet nurse.
7. Stone's Public House
The manager of Stone’s Public House saw a father and son entering the pub through the back entrance one evening while he was at a private function. They had been watching the trains go by on the lines that back up to the pub’s land. Should we assist that crying girl out there, he overheard the youngster asking his father. “You and I were the only ones out there, buddy,” the father retorted.
The son said, “She was right next to me,” as he stared at our fathers in confusion. “How did you miss her?”
The manager was fully aware of the boy’s subject. It was Mary, a worker’s daughter who had been killed while playing just next to the train tracks. Early in the 1800s, Stone’s Public House was constructed. It is thought to be haunted by ghosts who have been associated with the house since it was built.
6. The Watcher of New Jersey
A family settles into a stunning New Jersey home worth $1.3 million. The family is established and content, everyone enjoys the new neighborhood, and everything appears to be going swimmingly. And yet…
You begin to get letters from an unknown person who only goes by “The Watcher.” Such statements like “the house has been the subject of my family for decades” can be found in the letters. I’m in charge of keeping an eye on it and waiting for its second coming.
The letters will soon begin to make mention of your kids. Have they discovered what is within the walls yet, asks The Watcher? Additionally, “I am glad to know your names at this time, as well as the name of the young blood you have brought to me.”
This tale is entirely real. The incident involved a real family. The family was compelled to leave the residence since no one was ever able to locate The Watcher. There is a lawsuit pending against the previous owners.
5. Lam
A blogger visits the western US on his travels. She records her journey in order to share it with everyone. She checked at the iconic Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles towards the end of January 2013. The blogger disappeared on December 31.
A surveillance video from the hotel elevator serves as the only lead in relation to her disappearance. The blogger, whose real name is Elisa Lam, can be seen stooping down, chatting with shadowy figures, and cautiously scanning the area around the door in the video. She repeatedly opens and shuts the elevator door.
When she finally leaves the elevator, no one ever hears from her again. Authorities look for her without finding her. A hotel employee went to examine the water tanks on the hotel’s roof in February after hearing complaints that the water had a strange flavor and smell. He peeks inside and discovers Lam’s lifeless body.
Although the authorities found that the killing was unintentional, it is still unclear how Lam managed to access the always-locked roof and enter the tank.
4. Delphine Lalaurie
Delphine Lalaurie was regarded as a respectable citizen by everybody who knew her. She was a socialite from New Orleans who felt at home in the upper tiers of luxury and status. LaLaurie, like the majority of wealthy individuals of the time, employed a large number of slaves to maintain the mansion’s grounds and to work on the building itself.
She socialised in public with a large number of slaves from the various mansions in the city. Yes, she had slaves, but for her period, she seemed to have a lot of compassion for them. Things were extremely different when people were not present.
Nobody was aware of Delaurie’s history as a brutal serial killer. Reports about how she treated the people she owned started to circulate. One afternoon, a young girl was on the roof trying to hide from terrible beatings when she fell to her death.
The mansion caught fire on another day. It came out that the cook, who was tethered to the stove 24 hours a day, had started it in an effort to end his life. The LaLauries forbade others from helping and rescuing the slaves from the fire. The crowd was able to save many people after the door was torn down.
But what they discovered upstairs surprised them. The upstairs room of the house was littered with bodies, some of which were seriously decomposing. They had been mutilated, those that were still living. They even discovered one whose bones had been fractured and rearranged to resemble a crab. Numerous dead were discovered within the house and buried nearby over the course of the investigations.
When the horrors were discovered, the crowd tore the house to pieces, leaving just a few walls intact. Lalaurie, on the other hand, escaped the mob and boarded a ship for France, where she spent the rest of her days in exile.
3. HH Holmes
The story of H. H. Holmes, the nation’s first serial killer, has been greatly inflated. Holmes is alleged to have created a “Murder Castle” where he enticed guests of the Chicago World’s Fair. The hotel was designed with gas chambers, a body chute, trap doors, concealed chambers, and a crematorium in the basement.
The legend paints him as a homicidal genius, despite the fact that some elements of the story are factual. The truth, though, ought to be considerably frightening. Holmes was a con man who murdered people to steal identities, wed various women, and scam insurance firms and investors. Yes, he was a methodical serial killer as well.
In actuality, the most dangerous living thing to fear is not ghosts or monsters but rather our fellow humans.
2. The Poe Toaster
Starting in 1949, a stranger would slink into the tiny church cemetery where Edgar Allen Poe was first interred once a year while donning a dark cloak and a white scarf. He murmured a few private words, placed a bottle of French cognac and three red roses on the author’s tomb, and then snuck back into the night.
It always took place between the hours of midnight and six in the morning on January 19, which is Poe’s birthday. There was always a small crew of individuals keeping watch for the Poe Toaster (as he came to be called). No one ever sought to approach the person or remove his mask; they just left him alone and showed him respect (aside from a 2006 unsuccessful attempt to unmask him).When there was no visit in 2010, the nearly 80-year-old tradition abruptly came to an end.
The figure was never identified, and after vanishing into the darkness, no trace of him was ever discovered.
1. Grandmas in the Cemetery
A dad named Jeff who was traveling with his son, Miles, in the Dayton, Ohio, region related another spooky tale on the Monsters Among Us podcast. A modest cemetery with only flowers and plants and tiny plaques to identify the graves was passed by as they were driving. Miles pointed as they passed the small cemetery and exclaimed, “Look at all those folks! ”
Jeff spun around but couldn’t see anyone. When he inquired about the individuals he was referring to, Miles replied, “All those people over there! Miles said, “They are all just standing there looking at the ground. There sure are a lot of grandmothers there.
Miles said, “You know, they weren’t alive,” as he was lazily watching his favorite cartoon late in the day. All of the individuals we observed “were on pause.”
When I say that children can occasionally be quite creepy, I’m not joking.
