31 Days of Spook – Okefenokee Horror

Hello my blogville friends.  Today I have a special treat just for you.  I met new some friends at Okefenokee – special hello’s to Steve, Jo and their black cat Tequila.  They gave me special permission to use their stories and pictures from the Okefenokee Pastimes Inc. – just in time for my 31 days of Spook.  Be prepared to be spooked, frightened and perhaps even sleep with a nightlight on tonight.  I know I have mine plugged in already 🙂  And Steve, Jo and Tequila – thank you so much from the bottom of this little pigs heart.  Friends, hold someone tight – these are true stories from not too far from the Hotel Thompson.

  A HEADLESS GHOST

An Okefenokee area ghost tradition, this one dating to the 1930s, owes its existence to the railroad. A man fishing along the tracks at Henson Creek, near Manor, fell asleep one night with the rails as his pillow. A train appeared, sounding its whistle frantically, but there was no response. Steel wheels kept on rolling, and the fisher person was high landered.

Now for a twist. The legend is that the body can be seen walking the rails at night swinging a phantom lantern in search of its head. Kevin Dial claims that his grandfather went in search of the “shade” one night. Sure enough, it approached, solid white and six feet tall, walking directly toward Gramps, who fired a futile shot before fleeing.

GHOST SPIRIT SIGHTINGS

A log cabin on Okefenokee’s East Side by an area called Camp Cornelia on Trail Ridge is where this haunting took place in the early 1990′s. A former Refuge volunteer, who resided in the cabin, reported strange visitations of Spirits. The Spirits were Native American Indians in full regalia. These spirits were not aware of the walls and boundaries of the cabin, but seemed attached to the land the cabin was on. They seemingly went about their daily tribal existence without concern.

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SPECTRES OF THE SWAMP SIGHTING

This one was reported in January 1998 on Trail Ridge, the ancient geological feature which makes up the eastern boundary of the swamp. A traveler on vacation and hiking near the boardwalk area was surprised by the sound of drums in the distant piney woods. Native American spectres carrying objects and walking swiftly in a single file line were sighted off in the distance heading south on the ridge. The vacationer did not linger long to watch the procession. He reported no sense of hostility, but felt uneasy as if he was seeing something he should not be observing.