HGB Podcast 32 - Seguin Island Lighthouse

Moment in Oddity -  Self Mummification

The term self-mummification probably inspires some weird images, thoughts and questions. How does someone self-mummify and why? Monks in the countries of India, China and Japan have practiced self-mummification as far back as the 12th century. The process is arduous and takes a long time, around 3,000 days. The monk will eat a diet of nuts, bark, roots and seeds and exercise strenuously all in an attempt to basically starve himself. The monk's desire is to rid his body of fat and moisture. When the desired effect was obtained, the monk would drink a poisonous tea that would help him vomit up bodily fluids that would help prevent maggots and bacteria. He would enter a tomb and assume the lotus position. A tube would be run into the tomb to provide air and a bell would be installed for the monk to ring every day that he was still alive. When the bell rang no more, the tube would be removed and the tomb sealed. Once 1,000 days had passed, the tomb would be opened again and if the monk was found in a perfect state of mummification, it would be declared that he was only in a trance and he would be placed in a temple for worship until he re-awakened. Self-mummification recently made the news when a 1,000 year old Buddha was given a CT scan. The scan revealed something extraordinary. Inside the statue was the mummified body of a Chinese monk from 1100 AD. Inside his body were scraps of paper with Chinese writing instead of organs. We imagine more Buddha statues will be facing scans. Self-mummification is not only a horrible way to die, but quite odd. 

This Day in History - Remember the Alamo

"Remember the Alamo." Those three words summon visions of heroism and call people to stand up against insurmountable odds. On this day, March 6th, in 1836, the final assault on the Alamo was conducted. The Battle at the Alamo lasted thirteen days. It began on February 23, 1836 when Mexican dictator General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and his troops arrived in San Antonio. Santa Anna's force numbered 1500 men. The Alamo had only a little over 100 men to defend it lead by co-commanders William B. Travis and James Bowie. Travis sent out letters pleading for help, but no extra reinforcements were sent. For several days, the Alamo withstood cannonade from artillery batteries. On March 3rd, Travis sends out one final appeal for more men and declares in the letter, “I am determined to perish in the defense of this place, and may my bones reproach my country for her neglect.” In the early morning hours on March 6th, Santa Anna orders his troops to attack the Alamo and a 90 minute bloody battle follows with the Alamo falling in the end just before sunrise. Santa Anna ordered the bodies of those killed to be burned. Between 182 and 257 defenders were killed including folk hero Davy Crockett. The cruelty of Santa Anna's attack outraged Texans and drove many of them to join the fight in the Texas Revolution. Today, the Alamo is now the most popular tourist site in Texas.

Seguin Island Lighthouse

Seguin Island is an island off of Maine, which can only be reached by boat, and is home to Maine's tallest and second oldest lighthouse, Seguin Island Lighthouse. This lighthouse is known by its more common name, Seguin Light, and not only dates back to the birth of America, but it carries a rich history that includes a gruesome tale. What has happened at this lighthouse seems to live on, not only through stories, but through spirits as well. The light is always on at this lighthouse. Come with us as we climb the spiral staircase of legend into the afterlife.

Seguin Island sits ten miles from Boothbay Harbor at the mouth of the Kennebec River in Maine. The first English colony was established a few miles further down the Kennebec River in Popham in 1607. The colonists left after only a year because of hardships and returned to Europe. There is much debate as to how Seguin actually obtained its name. Most historians believe it is derived from both French and Native American, much like the name of Chicago. The Native American term was sutquin, meaning "where the sea vomits" because the ocean roils and pounds in this area. Originally, Seguin Island was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and it was the Commonwealth that gave the United States ten acres of the island that later grew to include the entire island after Seguin Light was commissioned.

President George Washington commissioned Seguin Light in 1795. The original structure that served as the lighthouse no longer exists. It was constructed from wood and rose to 50 feet. Oil lamps and crude reflectors served as the first lights. Obviously, wood was a bad idea and a new structure was built in 1819 out of stone. It too deteriorated. The current lighthouse was built in 1857. The tower was made from granite blocks that were painted white and the height of the tower makes Seguin Light the tallest lighthouse in Maine at 53 feet. The keeper's house was built of brick.

The 1st Order Fresnal Lens was installed at that same time. This type of lens is extremely rare. Fresnal lenses are beautiful masterpieces that were developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnal. The lenses have large apertures and short focal lengths enabling them to capture more light from a light source and send it across a greater distance, up to 20 miles away. The lens has 282 individual glass prisms. Seguin Light has the only 1st Order Fresnal Lens still in use in the state.

The lighthouse is currently lit by a 1,000 watt electric bulb that is powered by a 17,000 foot underwater cable, but originally a kerosene powered incandescent oil vapor lamp lit the lens. Lighthouse keepers were needed to not only keep the lenses maintained, but to keep the oil lamps burning. The lamps burned through two gallons of oil an hour. The first keeper was Major John Polerecsky and he established gardening on the island. He was described as genial and "Frenchy." He was replaced by Jonathan Delano in 1804, who was a less then stellar keeper. The Delano family traded thirty-six dozen wicks for tin ware and so he was relieved of his position in 1825 and replaced by John Salter. Many keepers and assistant keepers would follow including three women.

In 1895, a tramway was installed to make the half mile steep climb up to the lighthouse easier. The railway was 1006 feet long. The cart on the tramway was used to bring up coal, supplies, people and furniture. It is believed that originally oxen or mules were used to pull the cart upward. Later the entire tramway was rebuilt and a mechanical engine powered the tram. Passengers were no longer carried on the line after an accident in which the cable that pulled the tram snapped and a keeper's wife was severely injured in 1949.

Family life at the lighthouse was difficult. The lighthouse was hard to reach and supply and self-sufficiency was a must. Children were schooled by a tutor who would come for about two weeks every three months. Boredom was hard to endure and would lead to a disastrous outcome for one family at the lighthouse that we will share in a bit. Wives were expected to keep the quarters spotless in case of surprise inspections. The 1950s would finally bring changes in the form of electric generators, radio and television. In 1963, families were no longer a part of Seguin Light and the lighthouse went "stag."

Sequin Light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The station was automated in 1985 and decommissioned and the Friends of Seguin Island was formed to ensure the preservation of the site. The lighthouse is open in the summer and features a museum and tours. The lighthouse may not be open for business in the winter, but that does not mean that no activity is taking place at the location. Lighthouses around the world are famously haunted and Sequin Light is no exception.

Seguin Island was a treacherous place before the lighthouse was installed. The island is hard to see not only because of rough seas, but the fog that blankets the area on a regular basis is quite thick. Stories of shipwrecks near the island abound. There was the wreck of the Gondola in 1890. The Gondola was a Canadian schooner. A gale had trapped the ship and crashed it up against the rocky ledges. The crew left the ship in a small boat and despite their best efforts to reach the island, they were swept out to sea. Fortunately they were found and saved by another vessel. The Captain had stayed with the ship and witnesses watched helplessly as he clung to the hull of his destroyed ship. The Captain's body was never found. Could the Captain still be hanging around the island looking for his lost wrecked ship?

The most famous haunting at the lighthouse revolves around one of the keeper's and his wife, although no one is sure which keeper. As we mentioned earlier, life at the lighthouse could be quite boring. The keeper decided to buy his wife a piano to give her something to do. When the piano arrived, it came with only one sheet of music. The wife worked hard to learn how to play the piano and she practiced for hours with this one sheet of music. And then she practiced some more. And even more. The same melody droning on and on for hours and hours. Nothing, but that same endless melody. All Winter long. No supplies came that could have possibly included more sheets of music for different melodies. The constant banging of that music was driving the keeper insane. He couldn't take it anymore and he embraced his inner Jack from "The Shining" and took an axe to the piano, chopping it into bits. He then turned on his wife nearly decapitating her. His madness continued as he ran and threw himself off the lighthouse. The haunting tinkling of a piano has been heard over the decades. Former keepers have documented the occurrences in journals and people who visit claim to hear piano music. The keeper's apparition has been seen many times as though he were continuing to fulfill his duties as keeper at the lighthouse.

One such experience about the piano is reported at the Haunted Lights website:

"I wanted to mention to you that when I went out to Seguin Island, ME with the USCG a few summers ago, after going to two other lights, I did have an uncanny experience at Seguin Light. I should say first that I had heard nothing about any sort of ghosts, nor had I read anything at all about ghosts, and merely went along on this beautiful, sunny day with USCG while they did their repairs to the ATON. Just a few days before, a couple had moved in to be the keepers at Seguin for the season - they were from California as I recall. I was standing outside the tower at its base and casually speaking with the woman, and, as she was speaking, I heard a piano playing - a rather quick, Scott Joplin style tune - I thought perhaps it might be an unseen radio, although it did have an ethereal quality to it - almost more like a memory on the wind than music. Since she was speaking to me at the time, I did not think to question her about it, or say anything to her. We had just done a walk through the structures which are impeccably restored. When we returned to the USCG office, the Ex-O asked if his staff had told me about the ghost at Seguin which plays the piano!!....My heart literally stopped when I heard that question...There is no doubt that I had heard it. It is a true story and unforgettable - all the more so in a way, since it was a sunny, almost timeless day, so quiet yet with high winds on the top of that cliff, with the music like a memory more than a song."

Though not talked about much, it is believed that their were several suicides at the lighthouse. One of those was a keeper's daughter whose silhouette is seen walking near the cliffs on occasion. She was buried in the island near the lighthouse grounds. The spirit is seen inside the lighthouse as well. The girl has been reported by keeper's after they see her running up and down the stairs and her giggling is heard as well.

The Coast Guard has reported their own stories as well. Members have claimed that they heard and saw furniture move and that clothes would be moved as well. Ghostly sounds were heard also. When the Coast Guard decommissioned the lighthouse in 1985, they went in to pack items up. After they had the boxes packed, they turned in for the night, but not for long. The Warrant Officer claims that he was awakened in the night by a male apparition that was shaking his bed violently. When the ghost saw that he was awake, he demanded that the men leave his home alone and leave the furniture. The Warrant Officer must have thought that he had only been dreaming or he decided not to listen to the demands of a dead man because the next morning the furniture was packed onto a boat and sent to the mainland. Only the boat never arrived. It sank before it could reach its destination. Did the angry ghost get his revenge?

Connie Small was the wife of a Head Keeper at the lighthouse from 1926 to 1930. In an interview she said that they had been warned that there were several ghosts at the lighthouse. She said that she knew a woman who had lived at the lighthouse and needed to be put in an asylum after her stay. A retired lighthouse keeper was convinced that there was a presence in the engine room. He would feel it many times whenever he entered that room. And then there was the first lighthouse keeper at Seguin Light, Major John Polerecsky. He had a hard time on the island with little food and his boat had been destroyed and so he could not get back to the mainland. He was older and he died on the island. People who pass the lighthouse claim to see an older man on the island when no one is suppose to be there. The figure sometimes climbs the stairs as if he is going up to maintain the light, which is now automated and so it does not need the daily care of a keeper.

Seguin Island is abandoned most days of the year...at least by the living. Are the keepers from years past still carrying on their duties? Can the haunting melody of a piano still be heard to this day? Is Seguin light haunted? That is for you to decide!

Show notes
*For further information and a more extensive history please see: http://www.seguinisland.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Seguin-200.pdf

HGB Podcast 31 - Oliver House

Moment in Oddity - MacKenzie's Tomb

William MacKenzie was a British civil engineer, but he was also a gambling man. He gambled with more than just cards legend tells us. MacKenzie may have gambled his very soul. Legend claims that MacKenzie played a game of cards with the Devil and the bet was his soul. Apparently, MacKenzie lost. Because of this, William MacKenzie planned an elaborate burial for himself that was carried out after his death in 1851. MacKenzie believed that the devil could only claim a soul if someone was buried in the ground. So he insisted that he be buried above the ground. His body was placed inside a pyramid shaped tomb that rose to fifteen feet. He was seated in a chair at a table and he held a winning hand of cards. At least, that is what legend tells us. The inscription on the pyramid reads, "In the vault beneath lie the remains of William MacKenzie of Newbie Dumfrishire, Esquire who died 29th October 1851 aged 57 years. Also, Mary his wife, who died 19th December 1838 aged 48 years and Sarah, his second wife who died 9th December 1867 aged 60 years. This monument was erected by his Brother Edward as a token of love and affection A.D. 1868. The memory of the just is blessed". So it would seem that he was buried underground and that the pyramid came almost two decades later. So now we are left to wonder, did Satan get the soul he won in the game of cards? Either way, the idea that a man would bet his soul in a game with Satan is not only crazy, it's a bit odd.

This Day in History - Blood Bath at Vassy

On this day, March 1st, in 1562, the Blood Bath at Vassy was carried out. The Massacre at Vassy occurred during the French Wars of Religion that waged between French Catholics and French Protestants, who were called Huguenots. The Huguenots followed the teachings of John Calvin. After Henry II took the throne in France, the Huguenots were persecuted and they needed to move their ceremonies into hiding. The Duke of Guise, Francois, was traveling through the town of Vassy and decided that he would like to attend Mass. He happened upon a barn where Huguenots were carrying on services. The Duke ordered some of his troops to investigate, but the Huguenots would not let them inside the barn. The Huguenots started throwing rocks and the Duke was hit. Outraged, he ordered his troops to do something purely evil. He ordered that the troops secure the town and burn down the church. Securing the town meant shooting people. Sixty-three people were killed and a hundred were wounded. The massacre sparked the first war of many in the French Wars of Religion. The conflict would not end until 1598, leaving nearly four million people dead.

Oliver House

The Oliver House Bed & Breakfast is located in Bisbee, Arizona. Bisbee is a quaint town with a historic mining background. As is the case in most mining towns, this town has a rich history with gambling, prostitution and murder taking center stage. The Bisbee of the modern era may have quieted considerably, but the unseen world has not stopped kicking up its heels. Long dead residents still seem to be hanging around and one of their favorite places to knock about is the Oliver House.

Bisbee, Arizona was known as the Queen of the Copper Camps and gets its name from Judge DeWitt Bisbee who financed the Copper Queen Mine. The city lies in the Mule Mountains and initially started as a stake claim. In 1877, Army scouts and cavalrymen were sent to the Mule Mountains to investigate whether there were any Apache in the area. What they found instead of Apache were mineral deposits like lead, copper and silver. The town grew with the influx of prospectors. On January 9, 1902, the city of Bisbee received its official charter. By 1910, 25,000 people lived in the city. As usually happens when mining operations close up due to no more ore being found, the town went through a slump in the 1970s as people moved out and the housing market crashed. The town today has revived as a retiree and artist mecca.

Oliver House was built as an office building and boarding house for mining executives by Edith Ann Oliver, who was the wife of Henry W. Oliver. Henry was an Irish born American industrialist. His family emigrated to Pennsylvania when he was two. He served in the Civil War in 1861 and when he came home, he married Edith Cassidy in 1862. The following year he formed a partnership with two other men and they opened a company that specialized in making nuts and bolts. The company flourished and incorporated in 1888 as the Oliver Iron and Steel Company. Henry was considered an iron pioneer. He died in 1904. Edith had Oliver House built in 1909. It served the Calumet & Arizona Mining Company. Edith chose to build the house with red bricks to help prevent its destruction by fire because Bisbee was a town that had many fires.

Oliver House was purchased in 1986 by Dennis Schranz. He ran the place until 2005 and sold it to Patty Hill who is the current owner. The Oliver House features fourteen rooms with most of its original rustic charm. Each of the rooms has a certain theme and name like "The Blue Room," "Peach Pit," "Chili Pepper"and "Plum Parlor." The building has an ugly history though with as many as twenty-seven deaths tied to the boarding house. Most of these cannot be verified because historical documents were destroyed by fires. One story that can be verified is that of Nat Anderson because his murder was covered by the Tombstone Epitaph and it reads as follows:

  BISBEE. Feb. 23. The Investigation of the murder of Nat Anderson early Sunday morning has come practically to a standstill. Every clue that has presented itself to the police has been run down.

    On the evening prior to the murder Anderson was at a party at the home of Mrs. Norris Greeley in Wood Canyon. It was a simple social affair among friends, cards and dancing being the principal entertainment.

    Shortly before 1 o’clock the guests left the house in a crowd, proceeding a short ‘distance together. When they separated Anderson escorted Miss Elizabeth King to her home on Tembey Avenue. He entered the house and talked with her for a few minutes, leaving at about 2:25 o’clock. He then went to the English Kitchen on Main street and ate a light supper.

    Anderson left the English kitchen shortly after 2:30 o’clock and presumably went directly to the Oliver house where he rooms. It is but a few minutes walk. The shooting occurred at 3:10 o’clock.

    An inquest yesterday morning shed little or no light on the murder. The coroner’s Jury gave a verdict of death “from gunshot wounds at the hands of an unknown person.” Following the shooting both Mrs. Richard Davis, the landlady, and a roomer saw a man leaving the place. They did not see him clearly enough to describe him.

    The theft of money and a watch from Kay Ross’s room a short time prior to the shooting, remains a puzzling feature of the crime. The weight of evidence against the theory that the man who entered Ross’s room is the same man that shot Anderson is almost overwhelming. On the other hand everything points to the crime as being the act of a man who had some personal score to settle with Anderson, a score of violent hatred. Before firing the third shot into the prostrate man’s back his assailant cursed him with a vile epithet.

    There is a wooden foot bridge across the canyon leading to the front of the house. A nearby neighbor said that before the shooting a scuffle was heard on this bridge and a woman screamed.

    The police think that the robbery of Kay Ross’s room might have been a coincidence or might have been done with the object of throwing them off the trail to make it seem as if it was the act of common thiefs trying to escape.

The murder remains a mystery, but most believe that Nat Anderson was having an affair with a married woman. And apparently, Nat owed his mistress' husband money as well. When the husband found out about the affair, he went to Oliver House and shot Nat in the back and in the head outside of Room 13.

Oliver House seems to attract those who are adulterous. In the 1930s, the sheriff's wife had taken up with a young suitor and one day while they were at Oliver House in the Blue Room, the sheriff came in and shot both the young man and his wife before turning his gun on himself and committing suicide. The story is often referred to as a massacre with some tellings of the narrative including other patrons at the hotel being shot. Furniture is heard moving in this room as well as disembodied footsteps.

In a room that was dubbed "The Grandma Room," an elderly woman passed away. She had been seen in there at times rocking in a rocking chair and a broken clock would chime at 2am. The room was renamed and the chair removed by previous owner Dennis Schranz. This seems to have angered Grandma ghost who bopped a three old boy on the head while he slept in the room. He ran to his parents crying, but they did not believe his story...until the next morning when a dark bruise had appeared on his forehead.

One woman on TripAdvisor wrote of her experience at Oliver House:

"My family is sorta scared of the house because 1st it's creepy when you walk up to it and 2nd it's really dark inside. Plus I've had two different times of unexplained things happened to me. I've listened to a woman at two in the morning softly singing a song while walking down the hallway and stopping at my door to shake the doorknob. The other of a old man ghost cutting in front of me while I turned around taking my breath away. Of course the house is old with it's moans and groans of almost 100 year history."

 And another family reported:

"The rooms are old boarding house fair and have large old wooden doors with gaps at the bottom and dormer windows above for air circulation. The floors are wood plank and look original with scaring and all. So when we heard the clunking of boots going down the hall and up the stairs we weren't surprised. about the third time though we were a little annoyed and my wife asked me to check it out and to see if they stomper could be a little quieter. As I heard the steps come down the hall again and watched the shadows of someone walking buy I got out of bed and went to the door. Opened the door and looked to the right in the direction the person had traveled. Seeing no one I stepped out the door and turned right passed the last room on the floor and turned up the stairs still following the foot steps. I rounded the landing at the midway point up the stairs. Continued up to the top floor and turned left knowing I was right behind the stomper. Just as I rounded the corner and looked down the long hallway the steps stopped. There was no one in front of me. No doors opened or closed and no lights came on. I went back to the room and had to explain this to my wife. The rest of the night I barely slept. Wait for the steps to come back so I could catch the stomper. The rest of the night we heard very few sounds except for a few murmurs and what sounded like a heavy chain being dropped on the floor next to the night stand by our bed. That one did make us jump...As a side note, Ghost Adventurers TV show was there doing an investigation a couple of years later and one of the guys experienced the same chain sound in the same room and they caught it on tape."

While Ghost Adventurers was at the location, they caught a few EVPs, one of which was a scream. A disembodied laugh was captured as well and cold spots along with touching were felt. A guest book at the bed and breakfast is filled with countless stories of haunting experiences. People claim to see a shadow figure near Room 13 and running water is heard. Occasionally the sound of someone working on pipes is heard as well. Gunshot or firecracker sounds are heard too.

Have the previous patrons of Oliver House decided to book eternal stays? Are the spirits of the murdered still hanging around the halls? Is Oliver House haunted? That is for you to decide!


Show Notes
Old Bisbee Ghost Tours:  http://www.oldbisbeeghosttour.com/
Louis Vuitton trunk we mention in podcast:   http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/8660834
Our interview on the 9th Story Podcast:  http://www.9thstory.com/308/

HGB BonusCast 3 - Ghosts and the Bible

On this BonusCast we discuss the Biblical view of ghosts. We examine the general belief in the Church about ghosts, which is way oversimplified and not Biblical and then we look at a couple of ghost examples in the Bible. This broadcast will not be for everybody, but if you do listen, we hope we give you some things to think about and consider. The Bible is one of the most supernatural books and Christianity does not have to be boring or what we see on television: Your best life now and God the big piggy bank in the sky. See if you come to the same conclusions that we do at History Goes Bump. We'd love to hear our listeners thoughts on the topic!

Bible passage on King Saul and Samuel:  1 Samuel 28


Jesus mistaken as ghost passages:  Matthew 14:25-27, Luke 24:36-39

Bible passages about going to Heaven upon death:  Hebrews 9:27 (More support for an anti-reincarnation stance than support for going straight to Heaven.), 1 Corinthians 5:8

But what about the Great White Throne Judgement for the unsaved:  Revelations 20:11-15

Nephilim:  Genesis 6:1-4  Could they be demons? So non-human spirit beings = angels, fallen angels, demons.

Great book for further reading from Christian apologist Cris Putnam: The Supernatural Worldview: Examining Paranormal, PSI and the Apocalyptic.

HGB Podcast 30 - Aokigahara Forest in Japan

Moment in Oddity - Sword Swallowing

The last Saturday in February of every year is officially World Sword Swallowing Day. Events are hosted at the various Ripley Odditorium locations around the world. Sword swallowing is an ancient practice with origins in India dating back to 2000 BC. Shaman and priests were the first to practice the art of sword swallowing and they used it not only to awe crowds, but to  make people think they held special powers. While special powers are not involved, special skills are required. Sword swallowers need to learn how to master their bodies, particularly their gag reflex, both externally and internally and they must maintain focus. Most train themselves slowly using fingers and small objects to master the gag reflex and then dull short swords are used as the performer works up to longer swords that can reach 25 inches in length. Performers lubricate the swords with oil or saliva and sometimes they will eat a large meal to distend the stomach. Sword swallowing spread from India into the Far East and throughout Europe, where the practice was condemned by the Catholic Church. Street performers continued the practice anyway. Sword swallowing came to America in 1817 in an exhibition hosted in New York with Indian Fakir Senaa Samma performing. The art then became a regular part of side show oddities and Vaudeville shows. The Chicago World's Fair also presented sword swallowing. This is a very dangerous practice with swords passing within centimeters of vital organs and it is stunning to witness. And, of course, a bit odd.

This Day in History - Internment of Japanese-Americans Condemned

On this day, February 24th, in 1983, the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians that had been established by Congress in 1980, issued a report about a black spot in American history: the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The Congressional Commission report condemned the action and stated that it was a ''grave injustice'' that came from ''racial prejudice, war hysteria and failure of political leadership.'' The report also found that the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans was not only unnecessary when it came to the military and security, but that President Roosevelt deserved most of the blame. The Japanese celebrated the report by printing the story about the report on the front page of all of their newspapers. Asians had endured much discrimination over the decades as they immigrated to America, but it intensified after the empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. President Roosevelt authorized Executive Order 9906 on February 19, 1942, which gave General DeWitt, who commanded the West Coast area, authority to do pretty much anything he wanted with the Japanese Americans. It began with curfews, which evolved into internment in detention camps. Enforcement stopped in 1944 and the last camp was closed in 1946. Executive Order 9906 was not officially rescinded until President Ford revoked it in 1976. Nearly 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were interned during World War II.

Aokigahara Forest in Japan

At the base of Mount Fuji in Japan lies a forest that is 14 square miles in size and is referred to by some as the Sea of Trees. The forest's official name is Aokigahara Forest and is known for being very quiet. Aokigahara is notorious though for its reputation as a place people go to die by their own hand. Most people call this wooded area "The Suicide Forest." There are rumors that demons run the place. And the tales of hauntings are numerous.

Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan and it is a dormant volcano. It has not erupted since the 1700s, but through its previous eruptions it formed a bed of volcanic rock that the Aokigahara Forest sprang from. The floor of the forest is so hard that it is difficult to use a shovel or pick to dig.The trees are thick and twisted and very little animal life lives in the forest and no birds are ever heard singing. The tree roots snake across the surface of the forest floor like fingers reaching out to curl around visitors, never allowing them to leave. The forest is treacherous to walk through at times with areas being cloaked in almost total darkness and caves dot the landscape hidden so well in the topography that people could easily fall into them. The terrain is rocky and uneven. Hikers often get lost here. Some carry tape with them to mark their way as though in a modern day fairytale about Hansel and Gretel.

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. It is never the right solution. Nearly one million people make that choice every year. Some people choose to go quietly while others choose a more grandiose exit. There are places on Earth that have earned reputations as great places to die. These places include the Eiffel Tower, the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, Niagara Falls and the Golden Gate Bridge. Aokigahara Forest usually ranks one or two on a list of places to die with nearly 108 suicides every year. Most forest trails have signs indicating the distance to different spots along the route, but at Aokigahara suicides are so prevalent in the forest that signs have been erected all over inside of it encouraging people to live and seek help. Annual body searches have been carried out since the 70s. The Japanese have a certain practice they follow when a body is found in the forest. The body is brought to a special room in a building near the forest. Someone remains in the room as a type of sentinel, not even leaving at night. As one might imagine, the job of staying overnight with a dead body is not one that most people want. The guards actually play rock-paper-scissors to see who will get stuck with the duty. It is important to have a guard or else the ghost of the dead person might haunt the building, screaming and acting deranged.

Why has suicide become so popular here? Some blame a 1960 novel by Seicho Matsumoto named in English "Black Sea of Trees" with a plot featuring young lovers who commit suicide in the Aokigahara Forest. The lore of the forest goes back much further than the 60s and is steeped in Japanese culture. The Japanese used to follow a tradition called ubasute, which loosely translated in English means "abandoning an old woman." During times of famine and sometimes at other times, the elderly and infirm were taken high up on mountains or into forests and they were left to die of exposure and dehydration. It is believed that Aokigahara was one such location where ubasute was practiced. A Buddhist poem tells one such story:

    "In the depths of the mountains,
    Who was it for the aged mother snapped
    One twig after another?
    Heedless of herself
    She did so
    For the sake of her son."

Suicide holds a unique place in Japanese culture as well. Japan's suicide rate is the eighth highest in the world. Current trends of suicide have been blamed on economic hardship and work demands, but suicide has long been considered a noble act in Japanese culture. Kamikaze pilots helped lead the Japanese to many victories. These pilots did not fear death, so they would take on very risky missions and after dropping their bombs, they would turn their planes into missiles by flying them directly into targets on purpose, killing the pilot.

The Samurai practiced honorable suicide, which is seppukku in Japanese. If the Samurai was unsuccessful in battle or meeting certain death, he would use a knife called a tanto that had a short blade and slash open his abdomen with a side to side motion. The act was thought to release the Samurai warrior's spirit onto the enemy and prevent any kind of dishonorable execution or torture. The Samurai would also practice seppuku if he brought dishonor upon himself or did something offensive to the group. If seppuku took place outside of battle, there was an elaborate ritual connected, which usually included a second who would cut off the head of the Samurai. The Samurai's wife would also kill herself by slashing her own throat. Women were taught how to do this as children. It was not only considered honorable, but was also done to prevent rape. She would tie her knees together, so that she died in a dignified pose.

Minamoto no Yorimasa is the first person to have practiced seppuku in recorded history. He was a poet, but also a warrior. The Minamoto part of his name represents the clan he belonged to and he lead the Minamoto army in many battles. It was during the Battle of Uji in the Genpei War in 1180 that Yorimasa took his own life. The temple he was defending was taken by a rival clan during the battle. He was shamed by the defeat. Seppuku was used for capital punishment as well and was not abolished until 1873. The last notable case of seppuku happened in 1970. Author Yukio Mishima tried to form a coup d'etat, but was unsuccessful. He went to the office of General Kanetoshi Mashita and sliced open his abdomen there while his second, Masakatsu Morita, tried to cut off his head three times. Another man finally finished the deed and then helped Morita with his own seppuku.

When it comes to hauntings at Aokigahara Forest, Japanese spiritualists and paranormal investigators believe that the spirits of those who have committed suicide or been left to die in the forest are absorbed by the trees leading to paranormal activity. Skeptics might be quick to point out that the volcanic floor of the forest contains magnetic iron, which can cause compasses to go haywire and could give people a weird feeling, but the military has proven that GPS and compasses work just fine while in the forest. Is it possible that such a hotbed for death could be cursed? Could the darkness that permeates suicide and abandonment possibly call out to dark forces?

The Japanese have lore about ghosts they call Yurei. These Yurei are angry or sad spirits. These spirits reportedly come from those who have been murdered or commit suicide and thus have not had either proper burials or good deaths. Emotions like hatred and loneliness or an overwhelming desire for revenge cause souls to be trapped on this plane and unable to leave. Japanese legends claim these souls are left to wander. White forms have been seen gliding between the trees, some possibly beckoning to those who have chosen this place to die. Yurei are heard howling in the forest. People claim that faces can be seen in the bark of the trees. EVPs have been captured as well as ghost pictures along with strange lights. Objects that are set down reportedly move on their own. Hikers claim that the trees feel as if they are pressing in on them and that they move as well.

Do the trees live in Aokigahara? Do they soak in the spirit and energy of those who have died and the negativity around them? Is this forest the home of demons? Is this forest haunted? That is for you to decide.

*Suicide prevention hotline:  1-800-273-TALK  Website: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

HGB Podcast 29 - The Life and Afterlife of Mark Twain

Moment in Oddity - Spider-Tailed Horned Viper

A snake that originates in Iran has a unique design for its tail. The tip of the Spider-Tailed Horned Viper's tail resembles exactly what its name indicates: a spider. The end of the tail is shaped like a creme or grey colored bulb and the scales that are near the end of the tail are long and thin and branch out, resembling little legs. A single Spider-Tailed Horned Viper was first discovered in the 60s and biologists thought it was a defect in the snake, until more were found later and it was classified as its own species when it was formally described in 2006. The snake uses the arachnid shaped tail much like a fishing lure. It shakes the end of its tail, so that any creatures that like to feed on insects will be lured close enough that the viper can strike. Victims include rodents and birds. The viper is the master of disguise as well. Its entire body is bumpy and colored like the surrounding terrain in sand and brown colors. This includes the snake's eyes. Snakes and spiders are creepy enough on their own. Combine the two and you have one terrifying oddity.

This Day in History - Huaynaputina Volcano Erupts

In Southern Peru lies a small volcano named Huaynaputina with a big history. On this day, February 19th, in 1600, this volcano exploded in the most violent eruption of any volcano recorded in South America. Huaynaputina is unique in that it does not rise high in elevation like most volcanoes, which resemble mountains. This volcano is located inside a caldera that was formed by a glacier. Because of the way it was formed, no one knew that it was a volcano. It was described as a ridge by those who saw it. That all changed when it erupted in an explosion that is considered one of the largest in the last 2000 years. It has been compared to the 1883 eruption of Krakatau. Within 24 hours, the nearby city of Arequipa was covered in 10 inches of ash. Pumice and ashfall covered areas up to 310 miles away. Lava flows traveled for 8 miles to the east and hot mud flows made it all the way to the Pacific Ocean 75 miles away. The eruptions continued on into March and people compared the sounds of the explosions to cannon fire. The indigenous people of the area blamed the eruption on their lack of sacrifice. They had once sacrificed humans and animals to appease the gods and they believed this eruption was their punishment for converting to Catholicism. When the volcano finally calmed, 1500 people had been killed. It took agriculture 150 years to recover.

The Life and Afterlife of Mark Twain

Mark Twain authored some of the most beloved stories in American literature. Everyone knows the story of
Tom Sawyer, his buddy Huck Finn and about whitewashing wood fences. Not many people know the details of the life of Mark Twain though. Twain's life was one of literary genius, but it was also one of financial ruin and immense pain when it came to his family life. The Twain's owned a home in Hartford, Connecticut and Twain claimed that the years that he and his family lived in the Hartford home were the happiest years of their life. They would eventually move from the home, but did their spirits actually leave the home? Twain was a lifelong skeptic, but is he now a true believer as his spirit continues to roam on this side of the veil?

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835. Samuel was number six of seven children born to John and Jane Marshall Clemens. Only four of the Clemens children survived into adulthood. John Clemens himself died from pneumonia when Samuel was twelve years old. John Clemens was a lawyer and a judge and he moved his family to Hannibal, Missouri when Samuel was four. Hannibal was a growing port city in 1839 and the setting would provide inspiration for Samuel's future writing. Childhood was tough for Samuel. Not only did three of his siblings die, but he was a sickly child who was mostly kept inside until he was nine years old. He would visit his uncle's farm in the summers and spend hours at the slave quarters listening to their tales and songs. After his father's death, Samuel decided he was done with school and he dropped out taking a job as a printer's apprentice.

The printing business proved to be a good fit for Samuel and when he was fifteen he joined the paper his brother Orion owned, the Hannibal Journal, and he served as a printer and an editorial assistant there. He started contributing articles and bits of humor to the paper and found that he enjoyed writing. Samuel decided he wanted to see the world and have adventure when he was eighteen. He headed east and found work as a printer at several newspapers in New York and Philadelphia. In the evenings, Samuel would go to the libraries where he would educate himself and study subjects he would have never had an opportunity to study when he was in school.

As a boy, Samuel and his friends had discussed and dreamed about becoming steamship captains and pilots. Steamboat pilots made a lot of money. Following those dreams, Samuel headed back to Missouri in 1857. In St. Louis, Samuel became an apprentice to steamboat pilot Horace E. Bixby and learned how to steer a steamboat on a course that went from St. Louis to New Orleans. Samuel learned the intricacies of the Mississippi River, another skill that would contribute to his future writings. He also acquired his pen name at this time using lingo from the steamboat industry. The term "Mark Twain" meant that the river's depth was two fathoms or twelve feet. Steamboats needed at least two fathoms of depth to keep clear of the river bottom. Samuel liked the term, but he would not use the pseudonym until 1861. Samuel invited his younger brother Henry to join him as he trained and Henry accepted. It would be something Samuel would regret the rest of his life. On June 21, 1858, the steamboat Henry was working aboard exploded and he was killed. Samuel would always feel responsible for the death, but he finished his training and he received his pilot license in 1859. And then the Civil War started.

Traffic along the Mississippi was impeded by the war and Samuel decided to join the fight and enlisted with a Confederate unit called the Marion Rangers. The experience only lasted two weeks. Samuel wrote an article about it called "The Private History of a Campaign that Failed." He went out to Nevada to work for his brother Orion again, who now was Secretary of the Nevada Territory. The trip was an adventure. Samuel traveled by stagecoach, met Native Americans along the way and made a stop in the Mormon community in Salt Lake City.  He wrote a book of short stories named "Roughing It" that detailed the trip. Silver mining was hot in Nevada and Samuel even tried his hand at silver prospecting, but he failed horribly and went back to writing, taking a job at the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. It was at this time that he started using the name Mark Twain.

In 1864, Twain continued west, stopping in San Francisco and wrote for a paper there. By the next year, he had a piece that made it into many of the magazines and the papers in the nation entitled "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog." The short story was a tall tale about a gambler named Jim Smiley. The plot features a bet over a frog jumping contest. Based on that success, the Sacramento Union hired Twain to go to the Sandwich Islands and report on them. His stories were widely followed and when he returned to the Continental US he embarked on a lecture tour where his knack for stage performing was demonstrated.

His travel writing continued to the east and after arriving in New York, Twain set off for Europe and the Holy Land. The stories he wrote as he traveled were later compiled into his book "The Innocents Abroad" that was published in 1869. While he was traveling, he met Charles Langdon. The two men shared stories and Charles showed Twain a picture of his sister Olivia. It was love at first sight for Twain. Twain started writing Olivia and he asked her to marry him. She refused. He asked again a couple months later and she agreed. They married in 1870. They settled in Buffalo, New York where Twain was writing for and editing the Buffalo Express.

While in Buffalo, Langdon Clemens was born. Twain and Livy decided to move to Hartford, Connecticut and they rented a home there. Twain wanted to be closer to his publisher and at the time, Hartford was the city that had the highest per-capita income in America. Twain described Hartford as "Of all the beautiful towns it has been my fortune to see, this is the chief...You do not know what beauty is if you have not been here." Tragedy would strike again for Twain as two year old Langdon came down with diphtheria. The disease killed the boy. But there was a light at that time as well when their daughter Susy was born. Twain published his novel "The Gilded Age" in 1873. The book was a social commentary on corruption and greed. In 1874, the Clemenses moved into a beautiful twenty-five room mansion they had built on Farmington Avenue. This home would see Twain's greatest successes and more tragedy.

 The Mark Twain House was designed by architect Edward Tuckerman Potter from New York. Construction began in 1873 while the Clemenses were traveling abroad and the project was plagued by delays and ever rising costs. When the family moved into the house in 1874, the construction was not yet finished. Daughter Clara was born that same year. The style of the home is Victorian Gothic Revival. It truly is a beautifully designed home and Livy played a big role in the design. Some claim that the house was designed to look like a riverboat. The decor reflected the family's world travels with inspiration from Japan, India, Morocco, China and Turkey. The top floor of the home was a billiards room and a private office where Twain did his writing and cursing. The library had embossed wallpaper, hand stenciled paneling, fireplaces from India and a large handcrafted mantel from Scotland. The children had their

own own nursery and playroom and a classroom where Livy taught the children. This was on the second floor along with the master bedroom. The entrance hall is ornate with a large wraparound staircase. The area features carved wood on the ceiling, wall paneling and banisters. In 1880, daughter Jean was born. In 1881, following the success of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," which had been published in1876, Twain decided to renovate and expand the home. The kitchen was rebuilt and doubled in size, a phone was added in the entrance hall and it was enlarged, the driveway was redone and the grounds were re-landscaped.

Twain wrote most of the works he is known for while living in this house. Out of this home came "The Gilded Age," "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," "Life on the Mississippi," "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." He also started investing at this time and many of those investments would bring him to financial ruin. The typesetting machine that was invented by James W. Paige seemed like a great idea, so Twain invested heavily. Unfortunately, the linotype machine was invented at the same time by Whitlaw Reid and it proved to be a superior machine since the typesetter never worked properly. Twain also formed the Charles L. Webster & Company publishing firm. The company went bankrupt. Bank panics like the Panic of 1893 did not help either and by 1891, the Clemenses were looking for a way to get away. They decided to move to Europe.

In 1894, Twain, Livy and Clara set off on a lecture tour to try to get money to throw towards their ever growing debts. Susy and Jean stayed behind at the Hartford home. Susy contracted spinal meningitis and died in the home on August 18, 1896. She was only 24 and her death in the home made it so that Livy could not bear to return to the home. The Clemenses eventually would sell the home in 1903 and it would later serve as a school, then an apartment building and a library. The home was registered as a National Historic Landmark in 1962. The house was extensively renovated and turned into a museum dedicated to the life of Twain. In 2003, the Mark Twain Museum Center was opened and features documentaries, exhibits, a great hall, cafe and research library. Financial hardship almost closed the home in 2008, but it was back in black by 2011 after donations from the state, concerned citizens and businesses. Attendance is now record setting and the home generates millions in tourist dollars.

The years following Susy's death turned very dark for Twain and that darkness was reflected in his writing. Lectures followed suit with Twain even giving a harshly sarcastic introduction for Winston Churchill. Later works were rejected by magazines as they seemed to shed a bad light on Twain. Their were whispers of Twain turning traitor. The Clemenses lived in New York City from 1900 to 1903 when Livy became ill. Twain took her to Italy and she died in 1904. He returned to New York and then moved back to Connecticut in 1908. Twain's youngest daughter Jean died the following year from an epileptic seizure, leaving only Clara who was recently married. Twain died shortly thereafter on April 21, 1910 at the age of 74 from a heart attack. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in New York. Twain had paid off all his pre-bankruptcy debt even though he was no longer responsible for the debt before he died. Twain showcased in his writings a changing world whether it was via technology, attitudes about slavery, traveling, culture or observations on history. We are a better world for his gift of the written word.

Is there more still existing on this side of the veil in regards to Mark Twain than just his contributions through writing? Are the rumors of hauntings at the Mark Twain Home true? Before we discuss the paranormal aspects of this tour, we should touch on the spiritual beliefs of Twain.  Earlier we referred to the death of Twain's younger brother Henry aboard a steamboat that exploded. What we did not mention is that Twain dreamed about the event before it happened. This prompted him to explore parapsychology and he became interested in Spiritualism. He became an early member of the Society for Psychical Research. Spiritualism was in its heyday in the late 1800s, particularly in America. Eight million people in America and Europe belonged to the religion at that time. It was not weird for members of upper crust society to host seances in their parlor rooms.

As early as 1866, Twain wrote against Spiritualism calling it a "new and unprospected wildcat religion" in an article for the "Territorial Enterprise." But his interest in this religion grew, particularly after Susy died. He made attempts to contact her using the Ouija board. The Ouija board comes up again in regards to Twain after his death. A 1918 lawsuit was brought by the publishers of Mark Twain's writings, Harper & Brothers, against a publisher named Mitchell Kennerley who published a book named "Jap Herron." The book was written by Emily Grant Hutchings and she claimed that Mark Twain had dictated the novel to her letter by letter via a Ouija board. The case grew from a simple copyright infringement in regards to Mark Twain's name to a trial on the afterlife. Lawyers wanted to put the issue of immortality into the hands of the Supreme Court. The writing seemed to be above the level of what Ms. Hutchings usually put out, but many claimed that Jap Herron was not at Twain's level either. (To read the New York Times articles on this topic, please go here.) The case never went to trial after it was agreed that Jap Herron would not be distributed and most copies were destroyed.

Twain is a conundrum when it comes to the afterlife. Many people, including Twain himself, claim that he did not believe in an afterlife. The Mark Twain Museum currently is exhibiting "Spiritualism, Seances and Sam." The Interim Curator of the museum, Mallory Howard says on the website, "Mark Twain was fascinated with spiritualism, reveling in debunking seances as a young reporter in San Francisco, and maintaining skepticism on the subject all his life -- but sanctioning his wife Livy's attempts to seek solace in seances after their daughter's death. But the exhibition is broader than that -- it covers the gamut of spiritualism, mourning and attitudes toward death in his era and after, and how his attitudes fit into that continuum. We bring the story into the 20th century with an extraordinary collection of objects loaned by artist Calvin von Crush, and finally into the present century."

Would Twain approve? It's hard to say. Twain did write to Reverend JH Twichell, "Susy is gone, George is gone, Libby Hamersley, Ned Bunce, Henry Robinson. The friends are passing, one by one; our house, where such warm blood and such dear blood flowed so freely, is become a cemetery. But not in any repellent sense. Our dead are welcome there; their life made it beautiful, their death has hallowed it, we shall have them with us always, and there will be no parting."

The afterlife is active in the Clemenses beloved home though. Susy had died in the home and her manifestation is the one most reported by visitors and employees of the museum. She has been seen sitting on a round velvet couch in the front entryway. A young woman in a white dress has been seen floating in a hallway. A spirit was witnessed looking out of an upstairs window and even caught on film. Typical cold drafts and flickering lights have been reported as well as female giggling.

Susy is not the only female at the home. Many believe her mother Olivia resides at the home as well. She is seen wearing black with a black veil. A maid that the family had also seems to have returned in the afterlife to continue working in the home. A woman has been seen by an employee wearing a hoop skirt, but no one is sure which of the women this could have been. Clothing has been tugged and the laughter of children is heard as well.

The billiard room where Twain wrote and spent much of his time, reportedly has the smell of cigars in there on occasion and knocking is heard on the walls. Mark Twain's ghost has not been seen in the house, but supposedly has been seen walking the hallways of an apartment building in New York on West 10th Street where he once lived.  A woman claimed in the 1930s that she came into her apartment and saw a man with wild white hair sitting at a chair looking out the window. When she demanded to know who he was he told her, "My name is Clemens and I got problems here I gotta settle."

The basement is altogether another story. Reports of experiences in the basement are far from pleasant. A security guard claims that a silver serving tray was thrown at him when he was down there. Several people have reported hearing a growling sound when they are down there. A psychic exploring the basement was overcome with terror and ran from the house. Has something taken up residence here that is possibly demonic? Keep in mind that something could have been opened up with the use of seances and Ouija boards by Livy Clemens (although these were not used in the home) and paranormal investigators sometimes bring along supernatural hitchhikers with them.

Graveyard Shift tours are offered by the museum that explore spiritualism and haunting experiences. In 2009, Ghost Hunters investigated the site for their cable show and reported evidence. Has Samuel Clemens continued his writing in the afterlife? Is the Mark Twain House haunted? That is for you to decide.

HGB Podcast 28 - St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Moment in Oddity - The Story Behind The Birds

Alfred Hitchcock was an amazing director and one of his most well known films is The Birds. Birds never seemed very frightening until that movie was made, except for perhaps Ravens, which acquired their infamous creepiness from Edgar Allan Poe. In Monterey Bay, California in 1961, thousands of Sooty Shearwaters descended on the city and began acting erratically. They ran into buildings and people, regurgitated fish and finally died. Newspapers reported the story on August 18th and soon one of the papers got a call from Alfred Hitchcock who wanted to know more. Such an event had never been reported before and it seemed isolated. Hitchcock had read the 1952 story by Daphne du Maurier named The Birds, which was about unexplained bird attacks on humans. He decided to go ahead and make the movie because not only was there real life proof of birds acting oddly, but the story was hot because it had made the news. Tippi Hedron was cast as the lead and Hitchcock had Evan Hunter write the screenplay. He instructed Hunter to re-write the entire story, keeping only the name and concept of the original. The movie premiered in 1963. The true story of weird bird activity was not isolated though. Thirty years later, Brown Pelicans went berserk in the same area. Biologists decided to figure out what was going on and they did. They isolated a toxin in the birds called Domoic Acid. The acid is produced by algae that is eaten by zoo-plankton. This toxin can effect humans as well by giving them shellfish poisoning. People have actually died from this. The effects of Domoic Acid not only inspired a great movie, but the behavior it creates certainly is odd.

This Day in History - Bradley Announces the Earth Wobbles

On this day, February 14th, in 1747, Astronomer James Bradley makes a presentation before the Royal Society in London of an incredible discovery he made. Bradley was born in Gloucestershire to an aristocratic family. Bradley was raised mainly by an uncle who was an amateur astronomer and was friends with men like Newton and Halley. Bradley became interested in astronomy as well, but he decided to become a vicar. He continued with astronomy on the side and his love for it grew. With a recommendation from Newton, Bradley got an appointment which allowed him to do astronomy full-time. A rich amateur astronomer named Samuel Molyneux approached Bradley about working together. Molyneux had commissioned the building of a 24-foot zenith sector. With this instrument, Bradley developed a new era in astronomy of high-precision observation. Bradley later changed to a 12-foot sector, which he used to verify a theory that Newton had put forward. Newton claimed that the Earth moved on its axis. The reason why Newton believed this to be true is because stellar positions seemed to change slightly. Bradley was able to prove that the Earth wobbled on its axis by as much as a 9-second arc. This effect was caused by the moon's gravitational pull. Bradley called this nutation. Bradley presented these findings to the Royal Society and he was given the position of 3rd Astronomer Royal.

St. Valentine's Day Massacre

The most notorious gangster shooting in history occurred on a day that was meant for the veneration of a saint and for the commercialization of love: St. Valentine's Day.  This event occurred during the era of Prohibition and tension between rival Mafia families was at an all time high.  The crime was horrific and bloody and forever left its mark.  But this event not only holds a place in history, it seems to hold a place in time and location in the present even though the building in which the massacre took place has been torn down.  This event is haunted.

The S-M-C Cartage Co. building stood along North Clark Street at number 2122.  The building was a

red brick nondescript office building with a garage in the rear.  The sign hanging at the top of the building claimed that the business specialized in packing and shipping.  The only packing and shipping that was going on in this location was in the transportation of bootleg liquor.  In 1929, Prohibition was in full force.  Ten years earlier, the 18th Amendment had been ratified making the production and sale of liquor illegal.  However, people could still consume liquor legally though and so this era became a prime time for illegal activity in regards to alcohol.  The man who owned the S-M-C Cartage building was Adam Heyer.  He was good friends with a man named George Moran, whom everybody called "Bugs."

 Bugs Moran was born in 1893.  Bugs' father was born in a part of the German Empire called Alsace-Lorraine.  His mother was from Canada and both parents were French Catholics.  Bugs was a bad kid from the very beginning.  By the time he was 21 years old, he had been jailed three times.  He ran away from home when he was nineteen and headed for Chicago.  Bugs joined a group of Irish thugs that called itself the "North Side Gang" and this gang was lead by a man named Dion O'Banion.  O'Banion and the North Side Gang were the main rivals to another mobster group in the Chicago area, the Chicago Outfit, which was an Italian mobster group from the south side run by Johnny Torrio.  These two groups fought each other for control of Chicago.  Torrio invited a chap from New York to come to Chicago and help him run the gang and that man was Al Capone, who came to be known as Scarface.

Capone was born in Brooklyn in 1899.  Both of his parents had immigrated from Italy.  Capone did

well academically in school, but he hated the rules at his Catholic school.  He dropped out when he was fourteen years old because he was facing expulsion for hitting a female teacher in the face.  Like Bugs, Capone found trouble early.  He joined several gangs in New York, finally working his way into the powerful Five Points Gang in Lower Manhattan.  Capone's trouble with women would continue and while he was with this gang, he worked as a bouncer at a nightclub and insulted a woman there.  Her brother took a knife to Capone's face, leaving him with the lifelong scar that lead to his nickname "Scarface."  Capone got married when he was nineteen and moved to Chicago at the age of twenty on Johnny Torrio's invite.  There he would work as a bouncer at a brothel where he would contract the Syphilis that would eventually kill him.

Dion O'Banion pioneered bootlegging in Chicago, striking deals with beer makers in Canada and gin and whiskey distributors.  He also hijacked other gang's liquor supplies.  His first hijacking took place in 1921 and within several months, the North Side Gang had eliminated all their competition.  O'Banion was making $1 million a year.  O'Banion bought a flower shop as his front for criminal activity.  It would be in this flower shop that he would meet his end on November 10, 1924.  Shortly after returning from a trip to Colorado where he purchased three Tommy guns, O'Banion had a disagreeable phone conversation with a rival named Angelo Genna.  Genna had earlier dropped a lot of a cash and a large marker, which is a line of credit at a casino, at a casino owned by O'Banion.  Capone wanted the marker to be forgiven as a professional courtesy, but O'Banion refused and called Genna demanding the money.  Genna and his family put out a hit on O'Banion and Frankie Yale, John Scalise and Albert Anselmi carried it out at O'Banion's flower shop on a ruse that they were there to get flowers for another Mob boss' funeral.

The O'Banion murder sparked a five year gang war.  At one point during that war, Bugs ordered a hit

on Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn. McGurn was born in Sicily and his family emigrated to America when he was a year old. The Chicago slums would become his home and he would become a boxer. Now if the surname has you confused, the reason is that Jack changed his last name from Gibaldi to McGurn during his boxing days because Irish boxers got better bookings. McGurn was not a bad kid and he had no interest in gangs. That all changed when his father was assassinated because he had been mistaken as a gang member. McGurn avenged his father's death and killed the three men who had assassinated his father. Capone was impressed and invited McGurn to join the Chicago Outfit. McGurn opened up a club called The Green Mill right in the middle of Bugs' territory. He served Capone's booze there, which probably set Bugs off.

McGurn survived the assassination attempt by Bugs and he flew to Miami to see Capone, who was vacationing there in the winter. He wanted revenge against Bugs and everyone agreed that the trouble with the North Side Gang needed to stop. The two men decided they needed to do something big and that the entire gang needed to be executed. Capone agreed to put up the funds needed and McGurn agreed to plan the hit. McGurn worked the streets and found out that the headquarters for the North Side Gang was at the S-M-C Cartage building. Now he needed to figure out a way to get everybody to be there at the same time, including Bugs. A big shipment of liquor is what McGurn decided to use as bait. McGurn decided to enlist the help of gunmen outside the Chicago area because he worried that if anybody managed to survive, they would recognize members of Capone's gang. McGurn got his hands on police officer uniforms and a police car to help perpetuate the elaborate sham he was planning. He then contacted a booze hijacker and asked him to call Bugs and tell him that he had a shipment of Old Log Cabin Whiskey that he was selling for $57 per case. This bait was perfect because that brand of whiskey was not only good, but very expensive and this was a deal. Bugs agreed to meet the hijacker the following morning, February 14th, at 10:30am.

Lookout nest

Now that we have set the stage, let's get to the event that occurred on February 14th, 1929. It was 10:30am on North Clark Street. Harry and Phil Keywell were at a rented room across the street at 2119 in position as lookouts. These boys were from the infamous Purple Gang of Detroit. Harry Keywell would later tell police he was not there and he supposedly had a solid alibi, but alibis at this time were bought or lied about.

Bugs Moran was running late. At 10:30am, he and one of his men, Ted Newberry, were still on the way to the meeting. The lookouts saw gang member Albert Weinshank come towards the building and enter. Weinshank had the same build as Bugs and looked much like him as well. The lookouts mistook him for Bugs and they gave the signal to the assassins that Bugs had arrived at the garage and it was time to launch the plan. The police car that McGurn had acquired pulled up outside of the garage. Four men, Fred Burke, Joseph Lolordo, John Scalise and Albert Anselmi, exited the vehicle. Two of them were wearing the police uniforms. The men entered the garage and announced they were conducting a police raid. Rather than open fire or try to run, the North Side Gang was compliant and allowed their weapons to be taken from them.

While this is happening, Bugs and Newberry arrive outside the garage and see the police car. They decide to avoid the raid and head to a coffee shop. Bugs has no idea that seven of his men are about to be assassinated. Those seven men were the garage mechanic John May, Adam Heyer who owned the building, Peter Gusenberg and his brother Frank, Albert Weinshank, Reinhardt Schwimmer and Albert Kachellek. All seven men were lined up against a wall of the garage. The assassins opened fire using a .45, two Tommy guns and a sawed off shotgun. The faces of May and Kachellek were so obliterated, they were unrecognizable. Seventy rounds of ammunition were fired.

The assassins continued their ruse as they exited the building. The two men dressed as officers pointed their weapons at the two men dressed in plain clothes, while those men held their hands up. Neighbors who heard the gun shots assumed the police had raided the place and were arresting some gang members. They got in the cop car and drove away. The real police arrived a little later after a neighbor who had walked in on the grisly murder scene called them. The neighbor had heard a dog barking wildly inside the garage. The dog was a German Shepherd named Highball who had been left unscathed, tethered inside the garage. The police found all the men dead except for Frank Gusenberg. He was breathing heavy and choking on his blood. He had been shot fourteen times. He was rushed to the hospital where he died three hours later. The police were unable to get him to talk. An investigation was conducted, but nobody ever was pinned with the crime. Capone was in Miami and Jack McGurn's fiancee gave him what came to be known as the "Blonde Alibi." She claimed that the two had been together while the massacre occurred. And thus ended the most notorious and horrific gang slaying in mob history.

Scene outside the Massacre with curious onlookers

But that is not where our story ends. This kind of violent act has all the ingredients for making a haunting. The location where the massacre occurred is very different today. The building is no longer there. The area where the garage had been located is now a grassy area that is connected to a nursing home. The brick wall that the gang members had faced before they were killed was torn down long ago and a large tree marks the spot in the park. Before the building was torn down, an antique furniture store was set up in the front area. The owners did not realize that a massacre had happened at the location until they figured out that most of the people visiting their store were not there to purchase anything, but rather to see the bullet holes left in the brick wall.

In 1967, the building was torn down and the bricks from the infamous wall were auctioned off to a man named George Patey. He reassembled the brick wall for the men's restroom at a nightclub he was opening. He put plexiglas in front of the wall to protect it. Three nights a week, the ladies at the club were allowed to peek into the restroom to see the wall. When the nightclub closed, the bricks were put into storage and then Patey decided to sell the bricks one by one. Legend claims that the bricks are cursed. Is this true? Well, Patey soon started getting the sold bricks back. People were returning them claiming that after they acquired the brick, their fortunes had turned. Many claimed that the bricks had caused them financial ruin. Some even blamed illness and death on the curse of the bricks. Where are the bricks today? Patey died in 2004 and nobody knows what he did with them. A few still turn up here and there.

The nursing home park area seems to be haunted. People claim to get weird feelings of dread when they walk by and animals that walk by the area whine and cower. Haunting audible noises have been heard in the form of gunshots and screams. Unusual lights and mists have been seen. Male voices have been heard both audibly and as EVPs.

Al Capone himself claimed to be haunted by an entity until he died. He claimed that the spirit was James Clark, who was Bugs Moran's brother-in-law and was also one of the massacre victims. James Clark was the alias of Albert Kachellek. When Capone was incarcerated at Eastern State Penitentiary, fellow inmates said they would hear Capone crying out at night, "Jimmy, please leave me alone!" In Chicago, Capone lived at the Lexington Hotel. He would have his most frequent encounters with Jimmy here. Bodyguards for Capone heard him begging in his room to be left alone. Occasionally they would bust in thinking that someone was trying to hurt Capone, but Capone would be alone. He would tell them that Jimmy's ghost had been there. Keep in mind that syphilis might already have been making him half nuts. Capone enlisted the help of a psychic named Alice Britt to help him get rid of the ghost. It did not help. One of Capone's valets once saw the specter in the parlor and he witnessed it run behind the curtains. He called for the bodyguards, but no one was there.

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre left an indelible mark in American history, but did it also leave that same mark on the land? Was Capone haunted and is that why the authorities pursued him so heavily after the Massacre? This act put Capone on the authorities map and lead him to be proclaimed "Public Enemy Number One." Perhaps someone or something was helping the authorities. Is North Clark Street haunted by the ghosts of gangsters? Is the land cursed? That is for you to decide.

HGB Podcast 27 - Barren Hill Tavern & Brewery

Moment in Oddity - The Skunk Ape

In the remote areas of the swamp and the Everglades in Florida, lives a variation of the creature commonly called Sasquatch or Bigfoot. This hominid cryptid variation is known as the Skunk Ape. And yes, it did acquire that name based on its repulsive stench that some claim is a cross between garbage and skunk spray. The Skunk Ape is hypothesized to live in caves that are dank, which may be the cause of its stench. Supposed sightings of the elusive creature detail a seven foot, upright walking beast completely covered in long black or reddish hair. The eyes of the creature reportedly glow red. Sightings of the Skunk Ape began in the 1960s and continue to this day, with the most recent highly reported pictures being taken in 2000 by an anonymous woman who sent the pictures to the Sarasota Sheriff's Department in Florida. The National Park Service claims that any such sightings are hoaxes, but indigenous tribes that live in the areas where the Skunk Ape has been seen, claim that the cryptids are real. Does the Skunk Ape actually exist? If it does, it certainly is a mysterious and odd creature.

This Day in History - The Larchmont sinks killing 150

On this day, February 11th, in 1907, the passenger ship Larchmont sinks off of Block Island in Rhode Island. The Larchmont had left Providence at 7 o'clock. The ship was on course with smooth sailing and no signs of trouble. Around 10:45pm, that all changed when a schooner that was out of control of her crew approached the Larchmont. A siren of warning was sounded. The Larchmont tried to pull away, but it was too late.  The schooner slammed into the port side of the Larchmont before falling away and disappearing.  The Larchmont began to take on water rapidly.  Everyone was ordered to abandon ship and the lifeboats headed for Block Island.  Capt. McVey wrote about the experience, "The cold was terrible. We struggled for hours and hours, and the pain from our frostbitten hands and feet was almost unbearable. One of our men, a seaman, became crazed and committed suicide in the boat by cutting his throat. No one in the boat had strength enough to prevent him from doing it. We arrived here at 6:30 o'clock in the morning, very much exhausted and frozen." The captain of the schooner blamed the Larchmont for the accident. He claimed the steamship came towards them and seemed to not see the schooner's lights. By the time the captain realized that the Larchmont was not going to steer away, it was too late. The schooner sank as well. Nearly all the inhabitants of Block Island joined the efforts to rescue victims and recover bodies the next morning. A survivor from the Larchmont claimed the Captain and crew abandoned the passengers. Only nineteen people aboard the Larchmont survived of 169 passengers, so it would seem that the old adage that the captain goes down with the ship was not true here and that perhaps the crew really did save themselves. In the end, 150 people lost their lives.

Barren Hill Tavern & Brewery

Barren Hill Tavern and Brewery has only been open for a couple of years, but the history behind the building that this warm eatery is housed within has an extensive history.  Some people who come to this establishment, that is located on the outskirts of Philadelphia near the Barren Hill Battlefield, get more than just a nice meal and the chance to sample an originally crafted beer.  Some of them have an experience with the unseen.  The former General Lafayette Inn might still be playing host to guests that decided to never leave.

Barren Hill Tavern is located in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania.  The town was named for French General Marquis de Lafayette who spent time in the area during the American Revolution.  Lafayette was a French aristocrat who fought with the rebels during the American Revolution and he was a close friend of several of the Founding Fathers.  Lafayette had been commissioned as an officer at the tender age of 13 in his home country of France.  He came to America and was commissioned as a general when he was just nineteen.  He would be wounded at the Battle of Brandywine and play a major role in the Siege of Yorktown.

In May of 1778, General George Washington sent General Lafayette to Barren Hill with 2,200 men to do some spying. This seems like a large group for reconnaissance and indeed the British soon found out about the group and surrounded them on three sides. Lafayette's force was nearly one third of General Washington's army and thus they could not afford to be slaughtered. General Lafayette climbed the tower of the St. Peter's Church, which was right next to the Inn, and he mapped out a plan for escape. The British far outnumbered Lafayette and he ordered a retreat.  He knew in order to put up a better fight and succeed in retreating, he needed to convince the British that they were dealing with a bigger force than what Lafayette actually had.  He ordered his men to spread out on the future Lafayette Hill and fire sporadically from different spots.  The group then backed away through a sunken road where they were not easily seen and they made it across Matson's Ford safely.  The British headed for New York and General Lafayette came up from the rear, successfully attacking the British in New Jersey.

The original building that would later house inns, restaurants and breweries was built in 1732. In 1752, Christopher Rapine bought the property and named it the Three Tuns Inn. General William Smallwood and General William Hull are believed to have used the Three Tuns as their headquarters during the Revolutionary War.  They joined General Lafayette in spy operations on the British before the Battle of Barren Hill.  After the Revolutionary War, the Inn needed extensive repairs and it was expanded.  Fireplaces were added to the first and second floors in corner spaces, which was unique for the time.  Marble from the Old Blue Quarry was used to make the mantles. Ludwig Dager owned the Inn during these renovations and the property was kept in the Dager family until 1825 when John Hagey took over the inn and renamed it "Trooper." In 1828, the property went back to the Dager family until 1869.

George and Leonard Fisher bought the property and changed the name yet again to the Barren Hill Hotel. In 1874, a horse drawn trolley line was built from Philadelphia and the hotel saw a resurgence in business. It was at this same time that the property found itself in the hands of another owner.  James Mehwhinney kept the building until 1895. Lottie Gundlack owned the hotel until 1946.

Ludwig Zackiewicz bought the hotel in 1946 and changed the name to Lafayette Hotel, naming it for General Lafayette.  The hotel faced demolition in 1958 to make way for a gas station, but Ludwig saved it.  He sold the building to Todd Helmetag and convinced him that restoration would be a plus and that if he made improvements, the hotel would thrive.  Ludwig was right and the Lafayette did very well for the next thirty years. From 1961 until the1990s, the Mustin family held the property.

Mike McGlynn bought the property in the early 1990s.  McGlynn believed strongly in preservation and he began extensive restoration on the building.  By 1996, the old building was ready for business again, this time under the name the General Lafayette Inn.  It was at this time that the microbrewery was added.  In 1999, a bed and breakfast was added.  Because of his love for the history, McGlynn began hosting events to commemorate General Lafayette's escape and the local soldier return from the Battle of Germantown.  McGlynn died of cancer in 2003.  The Inn's brewmaster, Chris Leonard, took over ownership in 2004.  The place was never the same though.  The General Lafayette Inn went into bankruptcy and closed in 2010.

Erin Wallace is a restauranteur who is unique in the world of brewery ownership since she is female.  Besides owning Barren Hill Tavern, she also owns Devil's Den in South Philadelphia and Old Eagle Tavern in Manayunk.  She bought the former General Lafayette Inn in 2013.  She poured $1.5 million into renovations before opening the Barren Hill Tavern and Brewery.  And that is what this historic inn and restaurant is today.

With such a vast history and with a location in the heart of some of the American Revolution battles, it is not surprising to hear rumors of hauntings taking place at the building. An older woman is one of the more prominent ghosts rumored to be at the building. When the location was still the General Lafayette Inn, an older woman's full bodied apparition would be seen walking in the smaller upstairs dining rooms. She also communicated with investigators via Ouija boards. There are claims that a woman was killed in the building, but we found nothing to substantiate that.

One night, after closing, two waitresses were organizing the chairs and they came upon a chair that would not budge no matter how hard they tried.  They both felt as though someone unseen were sitting in the chair.  They asked a manger for help and he lifted it quite easily as though whoever had been sitting in the chair had gotten up. On another occasion, a chair was witnessed tipping up on one leg and twirling in the pool room.

Doors have slammed and their knobs have rattled.  Former owner Mike McGlynn claimed that when he would be in his office doing paperwork with the door closed, he would hear the doorknob jiggle as if someone were trying to come in, but when he would look at the knob it would not be moving. No one would be at the door when he opened it. Disembodied footsteps can be heard throughout the building.  Full bodied apparitions have been seen.

In 2007, a bar patron was leaving the tavern around 1am and he claimed to see the apparition of an old hunched over man wearing a white nightshirt moving from the host stand towards the kitchen. A bar tender did not see the spirit, but he did see the patron's face and how white his face became.

A former brewmaster named Russ Czajka tells the following experiences, “I’ve had a couple of experiences, but just hearing things.  I was here one morning, early, by myself.  Actually there was one person in the kitchen.  And I had gone up into the attic to get some stuff for a beer festival.  When you come out of the attic there is a swinging door and a long hallway before you come down the back kitchen steps.  I came out of the door and down the hallway.  And when I made the turn to come down the steps I heard someone walking behind me.  I stopped, went back to look in the hallway and there was nobody there.” At the time, only Russ and one other employee were in the building.

Paranormal investigators had been allowed to investigate the building when it was the General Lafayette Inn and many groups claim that they captured orbs on film, had weird feelings in the building and experienced battery drains. As far as we know, no investigations have been made in the building recently and the new owner seems indifferent to talk of ghostly experiences.

The Barren Hill Tavern slipped through the hands of many owners in its nearly 280 years of existence. Are some of those owners still hanging around the property? Are there ghosts hanging out with the patrons and employees at the tavern? Is this place haunted? That is for you to decide.