Boo! Cemeteries

Today we are going to highlight some famous and eerie cemeteries.  Are you brave enough to enter my cemetery of the famous dead? I’ve wandered throughout the internet and done a lot of research to bring you some intriguing places of final rest… or is it?  I hope that you find them interesting.   Let’s take a little stroll amidst the stones shall we.

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St. Louis Cemetery #1

When I think of scary and mysterious cemeteries, my first thoughts have to go towards New Orleans.  St. Louis Cemetery #1 opened in 1789 and there are over 100,000 residents.  With that much of a crowd, you know some have to be a little unhappy with their final resting place.  I know I would be.  The most famous tenant here is Marie Laveau.  Marie Laveau was a famous voodoo priestess.  People visit her grave site often and mark three “X’s” on her grave.  People that do so believe that by marking the three “X’s”, Marie Laveau will grant them their wish.

Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery and Resurrection Cemetery

The next that came to mind were two different cemeteries in the Chicago area.  The first one is Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery.  I’ve heard about this place a lot over the years.  I’ve seen specials on television and mommy has read me different chilling facts in books.  Not only does this cemetery have a history of unexplained lights and ghosts, it has an entire house that mysteriously appears and disappears.  Many people that have seen the house describe it as a white farmhouse with pillars and a swing.  The other cemetery was Resurrection Cemetery in Chicago.  This story sends chills up and down my spine every time I see it on television.  It starts off with a beautiful girl who was walking home from a dance one late night.  She was hit by a car and killed and has been looking for a ride home every since.  I saw a story one night where a man picked up this lady at a dance.  They danced into the late hours and he admitted that she felt cold to the touch.  Upon taking her home after the dance, she asked him to stop in front of the cemetery.  She got out and disappeared into the air.

Howard Street Cemetery

And how can we forget the most eerie of places in Salem, Massachusetts at Howard Street Cemetery.  With all of the witch hunts that took place here, this has got to be one of the most haunted places in the United States.  Just think of all of the innocent people that were slowly tortured and burned at the stake for the public believing they were witches.  How many of those spirits still walk around wanting people to know that they were innocent but forever labeled a witch.  Talk about your unfinished business in setting things straight.  This reminds me of a story that mom told me about a guy named Giles Corey.  He was officially the only person to die by torture during these Witch Trials.  He wouldn’t say that he was a witch so the sheriff of the time made him lay down in the middle of his field.  The sheriff then had a board placed across his chest and slowly added stones on top of the board.  Eventually two days later, Corey was crushed to death in a slow and agonizing way.

 

31 Days of Spook – Texts from the Grave

Shivers.  Do you text on your cell phone?  Well, this is the story for you my friends.

You see, for the past three years, a woman along with her father and uncle have been sending text messages to a deceased family member in order to deal with the grief.  The loved one died from cancer and was buried with her beloved cell phone.  When she was alive, she would often text her love ones throughout the day.

You can imagine the shock to the family when they started receiving texts back from their deceased loved one beyond the grave.  One of the texts read, “I’m watching over you and it’s all going to bet better.  Just pull through.”

Can you imagine the shock, the disbelief and then the miracle of what happened.  The family was told that their loved ones number would never be given to anyone else.  What in the world was taking place?  Just for this moment, it was like they were texting again in the family.

Later it was discovered that the number had been reassigned to someone else who was unrelated to the family.  He had been receiving text messages from the family that showed their grief.  He thought he would reply to help them.

 

 

31 Days of Spooks – Coffins

Hello my friends.  I’m so glad to see that you are staying with me during my 31 Days of Spook.  Hasn’t it been fun?  Scary?  Are you second guessing the bumps you hear in the middle of the night?  Today, I want to talk about something that I learned about coffins.  It’s an interesting tale of a time back when.

Did you know that around 1829, they had bells attached to coffins?  I didn’t either until I stated doing some research.  You’ll never believe what those little bells were for.  Evil snort.  People in this time often got smallpox, diphtheria and cholera and doctors hastily pronounced they were dead and signed death certificates.  Sometimes they did this without even seeing the bodies themselves – just by the word of family.  Medical procedures were nothing like they are today.  Often with such, people were buried and and would wake up in a casket – shivers – the fear of that!  Patents were put out on caskets that had a hole drilled the coffin through which a chord was run that would be attached to a bell that was mounted above the grave.  The chord handle was placed in the ‘dead’ person’s hand just in case they ‘woke up’ from the dead.  They could ring the bell in hopes that someone would hear above and dig them back up.  It was an unfortunate time to live through, you think?

 

31 Days of Spook – The Italian Bride

Julia Buccola Petta died at age 29 while giving birth to her stillborn son, Filippo.  Julia was buried in her wedding dress and given the nickname of The Italian Bride.  According to legend, Julia’s mother, Filomena, began having dreams in which Julia was telling her that she was still alive.  Years after her death, Filomena received permission to have the grave opened and her daughter exhumed.  Her mother then took a picture of Julia in her casket which was then placed on the monument.  The picture is still there on her grave at the Mount Carmel Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.

Story courtesy of FIND A GRAVE

 

31 Days of Spook – Texts from the Grave

Shivers.  Do you text on your cell phone?  Well, this is the story for you my friends.

You see, for the past three years, a woman along with her father and uncle have been sending text messages to a deceased family member in order to deal with the grief.  The loved one died from cancer and was buried with her beloved cell phone.  When she was alive, she would often text her love ones throughout the day.

You can imagine the shock to the family when they started receiving texts back from their deceased loved one beyond the grave.  One of the texts read, “I’m watching over you and it’s all going to bet better.  Just pull through.”

Can you imagine the shock, the disbelief and then the miracle of what happened.  The family was told that their loved ones number would never be given to anyone else.  What in the world was taking place?  Just for this moment, it was like they were texting again in the family.

Later it was discovered that the number had been reassigned to someone else who was unrelated to the family.  He had been receiving text messages from the family that showed their grief.  He thought he would reply to help them.

 

 

31 Days of Spook – The Italian Bride

Julia Buccola Petta died at age 29 while giving birth to her stillborn son, Filippo.  Julia was buried in her wedding dress and given the nickname of The Italian Bride.  According to legen, Julia’s mother, Filomena, began having dreams in which Julia was telling her that she was still alive.  Years after her death, Filomena received permission to have the grave opened and her daughter exhumed.  Her mother then took a picture of Julia in her casket which was then placed on the monument.  The picture is still there on her grave at the Mount Carmel Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.

Story courtesy of FIND A GRAVE