My book, The Accidental Witch, is set in one of my favorite haunted houses, The Moody Brick. Ghost stories gather there like dust gathers in corners. I love this ghost story but all ghost stories hold unending fascination for me and the ones that contain the most mystery are the haunted house stories. I know I'm not alone in this because there seem to be unending movies and books written about Haunted Houses. The list is long and prestigious. The terror held by house hauntings is unique. You are bound to the haunted location by financial obligation, family, and sentiment. It is your home that holds the shadows and that can't be easily escaped. The ghosts or dark spirits can catch you in bed, with your children, and in the shower. There is a unique vulnerability to being in a haunted house. So here is my list of the most compelling house haunting stories I've heard.
5. The House on Larabee Street:
This haunting story has always been one of my favorites because it does not have a history. The haunting on Larrabbee Street has often been compared to the Amityville case, however, the house on Larrabee Street didn't have the history the Amityville house had. It is a haunting that is unexplainable. The spirit that haunted Allen and Deborah Tallman came from nowhere.
The Tallman's found their dream home on Larabee street and the house slowly turned evil. At first, the family began to get sick and sickness became nightmares and ghosts and monsters that crawled in and out of the woodwork tormenting the family and their children until they finally flee there home. For a more detailed write up on this fascinating haunting you can go to:
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2010/01/haunting-on-larrabee-street.html
4. The Demon in the Shadows:
This is a haunting I learned about during an interview for Haunted North Alabama. A young woman came forward and told me she wanted to talk to me and the story she told me was chilling. This young woman bought a lovely home with her husband and the house immediately showed signs of haunting. Doors opened and closed on their own. Light bulbs exploded. Phantom mists tormented the woman and her family. Finally, the woman would wake in the morning to find deep gashes in her back where the hostile entity had clawed her. She and her family had to flee their home. The complete write up for this haunting can be found in Haunted North Alabama.
3. A Haunting in Conneticut:
This is one of the most famous hauntings. It was made into a movie, that was not true to the facts of the actual haunting, but was still an interesting movie. The real haunting in this case began with a house that had been a funeral home. The eldest son of the family that moved into this home was driven slowly mad by a hostile entity that lived in the house and when he went to an institution the entity turned to the rest of the family. Psychics involved in this case say an old evil lived in this house that preyed on the living. An exorcism was performed of the house and the case resolved, but the family still moved . You can read more about this case at:
http://www.thecabinet.com/darkdestinations/location.php?sub_id=dark_destinations&location_id=the_haunting_in_connecticut_house
2. The LaLaurie Mansion:
This infamous haunted house was home to the famous Madam LaLaurie. Madam LaLaurie was a sadist and the things she did to her slaves in this New Orleans Mansion are beyond horrific. She sewed slaves together and removed their appendages and reattached them to other places. After a fire, the community discovered Madam LaLaurie's sadism and she fled, leaving behind her a trail of ghost stories and a house that is so haunted it screams with ghosts. You can learn more about this ghoulish haunting at:
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2009/12/this-is-famous-ghost-story-and-any.html
1. Hull House:
This is another haunting that was so famous it inspired a movie. Hull House is tucked away neatly on a campus in Chicago. It was founded by Jane Addams as a refuge for displaced young woman. Jane Addams was a remarkable woman and the work she did for those in need is admirable on every level. That is why she hated that Hull House became most known as the house where Satan's baby was born. According to legend, one of the young women living in this house gave birth to a demon spawn in this house. Ever since then tails of ghosts and paranormal activity surrounding this location have proliferated. Hull House is a popular stop on the Chicago Ghost tours and is one of the few places I've photographed in which I got something that looked like a ghost on film. The story behind Hull House was the inspiration for Rosemary's Baby. Learn more about this one at:
http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2009/12/this-is-famous-ghost-story-and-any.html
I know there are many other house hauntings that aren't on my list. The Winchester House, Lemp Mansion, Whaley House, and The Myrtles Plantation all have wonderful haunted histories, but these five are my favorite and the they have stories that give me a chill every time.
The Accidental Witch
The Darkest Arts Series
Book 1
Jessica Penot
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Lachesis Publishing
ASIN: B00GG83WLE
Number of pages: 276
Word Count: 85,000
All Romance eBook Bookstrand Kindle UK
Kindle US Lachesis Publishing Inc OmniLit
Book Description:
Phaedra Michaels is a small town psychologist who is beginning to lose hope. Two of her patients at the local hospital in Dismal, Alabama have just killed themselves, she’s still reeling from her divorce and what turned out to be a disastrous marriage, and her father has died, leaving her without any notion of who her real mother is.
Just as Phaedra decides to commit herself to a serious drinking problem and an eating disorder, or two, a mysterious spell book arrives in the mail. Feeling desperate, Phaedra uses it to cast spells to save her fading patients. Suddenly, good things start happening. Phaedra’s patients begin to get better and she even starts dating the sexy doctor from the hospital.
Phaedra is so happy she doesn't notice the small things that start to go wrong in Dismal, or the dark creatures slithering out of the shadows near her house. When Phaedra finally realizes her spells have attracted every card-carrying demon from hell, she has no choice but to accept help from a slightly nerdy, 500 year-old warlock with a penchant for wearing super hero T-shirts and a knack for getting under Phaedra’s skin. Now, if only she could get the hang of this witch thing, she might be able to save her town.
Excerpt
It is amazing how the most world-changing days can seem entirely mundane to begin with. Friday the 13th seemed no different than any other day to me. I woke up late, as always, and rushed to get dressed and make it to the car with my usual box of animal crackers and diet cola. I pulled my shoes on as I backed out of the driveway and ate while I drove to work.
I was late to work, but just early enough to not be noticed as late. The small hospital where I worked was a blip in a vast nowhere and the small psychiatric floor I worked on was a blip in a blip. I was a blip within a blip within a blip, making me practically nothing. I could’ve died in my sleep and the world would barely belch. I liked to think that I was good at what I did. I liked to think that even though I was a nothing, I made a difference in the patients’ lives. I was one of those deluded people that believed in saving the world one person at a time. I guess I still am. Certainly, I was one of the few people that actually cared about the patients. The management didn’t care that I cared. Management was too busy trying to balance the books and keep the floor profitable to care what the staff did with the patients. I could take all the patients outside and have them moo like cows and management wouldn’t care as long as I billed it as a recreational therapy group and got the proper reimbursement.
About the Author:
Jessica Penot is a therapist who lives in Alabama with her 2 corgis, cat, sons, husband and other strange creatures. She is the author of Haunted North Alabama, Haunted Chattanooga, and Circe.
www.jessicapenot.net
www.ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com
https://www.facebook.com/jessica.penot
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