Oh my friends. This tale today is scary unbelievable. It makes you want to do a double take… and possibly a triple take. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. You see working on my 31 Days of Spook takes month of advance preparation. All year long, I’m looking for just the right stories to bring to you. Stories of the macabre, ghosts, strange tales, paranormal and things that go bump in the night. But this story, it caught my attention and I’ve been waiting for some time to share it.
This is something that is strange. It takes place in Chihuahua, Mexico. There’s a well known bridal shop in the town called La Popular. In the bridal shop, there is a mannequin nicknamed La Pascualita that is wearing a wedding dress in the store window. Sounds all innocent enough, right? Well here’s the twist. Some say that La Pascualita might be real. Do I have your interest piqued now?
You see, for the past 75 years this bridal shop has had rumors flying around about La Pascualita. Some believe that this mannequin is actually a perfectly preserved corpse!
La Pascualita was placed in the window on March 25, 1930. Locals saw it and knew that something just wasn’t right about it. Look at the pictures to the left. Do you know notice anything odd?
According to the legend, La Popular’s owner Pascuala Esparza had a daughter. His daughter tragically passed away on her wedding day from the bite of a black widow spider. Some believe that Esparza had his daughter embalmed and that she is now the famous La Pascualita in the shop window. Of course Esparza has denied such rumors.
Funny thing though – if La Pascualita isn’t Esparza’s daughter why all the secrecy. What secrecy you ask? Well, of all of the employees of the shop there are only two that are allowed to change her clothing and that is only behind a closed door.
Other employees of the shop so that La Pascualita’s hands are very realistic and some say you can even see wrinkles and varicose veins on her legs. Other employees say they come into the shop in the early mornings only to see that La Pascualita has changed positions on her own. And then there are other employees that say La Pascualita ‘watches’ them during the day.
You be the judge. What do you think?
Story courtesy of Greg Newkirk with Roadtrippers and Pictures from Pinterest
Squeals with piggy delight. My friends I have scored the ultimate story for your today. Mommy has helped me to get in touch with Mr. Dave Schrader. If you know anything about the paranormal field, you will recognize the name. Dave Schrader does a talk show where he is the host and producer of Darkness Radio. If you haven’t heard of his show, you *must* check it out for chills and thrills. Dave Schrader has also been seen on television with Zak Bagans on Ghost Adventures, co-hosted the show Paranormal Challenge with Zak Bagans and has made contributions to Ghost Hunters TAPS ParaMagazine. Dave Schrader currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
We are VERY excited to present a story from Dave Schrader today. Now, settle back and enjoy my friends!
It was August of 2005 and our radio show was entering its 8th month on the air when I received an invitation to be a part of a psychic and shamanic exploration at Thayer’s Bed and Breakfast in Annandale, MN. Since I have no psychic bones in my body, I thought I would check it out and see if I could learn something new and tap into some psy experience for myself. I would be surrounded in a peaceful environment with mediums, psychics and shamans at a well known haunted location. This might be my best chance yet to witness some interesting phenomena.
I say quietly watching people mill about, discussing what they were picking up on, what spirits they sensed and generally soaking in the atmosphere. During my observation, the resident cat – a large fluffy white beastie – decided I was its new friend and would not leave my side, lap or feet. It stuck to me like I was made of tuna. I stroked the cat like an evil Bond villain as I sat and watched a fascinating scene unfold before me of shared experiences, giddy claims of ghostly presence and some chilling moments as part of the group relayed a story about the creepy man on the top floor that leapt to the wall and skittered up and across the ceiling like a Victorian Spider-Man.
Next came an extraordinary experiment. We were all going to tap into ourselves, meet our spirit guides and do a Shamanic journey. We laid upon the ground, spread eagle and not touching ourselves or others nearby while Hanakia Zedek gently beat a drum to some soothing music and in his deep voice guided us to a meditative trance. By this time, the room lights had been dimmed and the room had been cleared of all cats, kids and other distractions. We were to just BE in the moment and experience the darkness, the music and open ourselves to contact with our totem, spirit guides or loved ones.
As I lay trying to quiet my mind and the senseless chatter that usually clutters it, I found myself getting more restless, unable to attain the nirvana our leader wanted us to achieve. That was when my furry friend found his way back to my side. He would nuzzle my hip and flop on my hand seeking affection and attention. I would pet him for a few seconds than push him away so I could try to slip into a deep meditation, but my kitty companion wasn’t having it. He kept purring, nuzzling and pushing against me.
After 20 minutes or so all with my eyes closed, I finally relented and began giving him the love he craved. My hands scratching the deep fur bringing about even more purrs and nuzzles. I began to wonder how much longer this foray into futility would continue with our Shamanic leader. Obviously I was not going tobecome more enlightened or have a profound moment. I opened my eyes and glanced down to see which cat was so desperately in need of my attention. My eyes widened, my hand stopped mid scratch and I froze. I could feel the cat purring, pushing against my leg and hand simultaneously but to my utter amazement, there was no cat there.
I paused assuming my eyes were playing tricks on me and that they had just not adjusted properly to the low light setting. I closed them tightly, drew in a deep breath and began digging deep into the fur of phantom friend once more. I opened my eyes a second time and there was my hand, hovering mid-air, stroking….emptiness. There was no cat to bee seen, but I could feel and hear it. Within moments, the drumming stopped and the lights began to lift as they adjusted the dimmer switch, our journey to the ether-world was at an end yet here I was stroking an imaginary cat.
The crowd milled about in a semi comatose state. My brain raced trying to make sense of what had just happened to me. I was afraid to speak up for fear of looking like a fool despite the wild claims I had heard from other experiencers all night long. Then I heard the group begin to discuss their personal reflections of the drumming and meditation when one of the people spoke up and said, “How about the ghost cat?” Many in the group admitted to seeing a ghostly cat all night long checking us out and stalking the room. Still I stood silent.
“He was sure curious about what we were doing. I heard the owner say her favorite cat passed away a few weeks back, its nice to know he still calls this home.:” I was astounded, did I just spend 30 minutes petting a specter? I don’t even like cats I thought to myself, why did he mess with me?
The crowd dispersed and a few days later I got an email from a girl that also attended the event. She had laid to my immediate right and she informed me she knew I had an experience and she had been petting that same cat all night. We had been ping ponging the cat between us for the evening when we would try to focus on the guided meditation and brush it off, it would move to the other one of us. That was one of the first truly amazing experiences I ever had that was more than a fleeting moment that could easily be explained away and I will cherish that forever.
– Dave Schrader
Friends – we hope you enjoyed our special guest today. We would also like to throw a great huge THANK YOU to Dave Schrader for taking time to share his story. You rock!!
Oh my friends. Let’s do a twist today. Let’s see if you can scare me for a change. Mom/dad were sitting the living room last night with us anipals. The room was dark except for the flames of the fireplace. They were talking about movies they have seen over the years that scared them silly. Conversation went back and forth until they settled on two.
Dad’s Movie Pick – 1408. This movie came out in 2007 and started John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. You see John Cusack’s character was a so called ‘ghost hunter’. He went to famous places and would spend the night in haunted rooms. Most of the time, nothing happened and the places were debunked. But then while writing his latest book, he travels to New York to stay at the Dolphin Hotel in room 1408, a haunted room. In fact, it was so haunted that the hotel would not rent the room to anyone. Through lawyers, he finds out that if the room is vacant, the hotel has to rent it so he makes a reservation to stay. He checks in and meets with the hotel manager, played by Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson tries everything he can to persuade Cusack’s character not to stay in the room – a room upgrade, expensive booze and even will allow Cusack to look at a book he has made showing over 50 deaths in room 1408. But in the end, Cusack stays in 1408. Let’s just say that 1408 is everything you can imagine it to be.
Mom’s Movie Pick – House on Haunted Hill. This movie came out in 1999. Mom/dad will usually go to the movies to see comedy’s but for some reason, they saw this movie in the theater. Don’t ask me why because it’s not like them. Mom actually watched part of the movies with her hands covering her eyes. At one time, she even told daddy that she might have to leave – that’s how scared she was. The entire movie is about a millionaire who offers a diverse group of people $1,000,000 to spend the night in a haunted house with a horrifying past. “nuff said before I make water from being scared.
So my question to you my friends, what is the one movie that you saw that scared your pants off?
Oh my friends – didn’t you get a chill just reading that title – dismemberment? It does bring me shutters thinking about it. You see this is a story that read about and heard on television. I couldn’t believe my piggy eyes and ears! I was shocked and ran to tell mom/dad. They were in awe as well.
There was a man that lived in Tennessee. Back in November of last year, he and his wife had a huge fight. Things didn’t end well. The fight escalated and the guy ended up killing his wife, dismembering her and putting her in their freezer in the garage of their house. There she was for two days.
During those two days, the man kept thinking his wife was coming to him in his dreams about what happened. He finally went and checked the freezer and she was alive! They had a long conversation and she was telling him how much she loved him. He was crying when he called 911 to come out and help her.
The police arrived to the house. When they went into the garage, there was no way the woman could have been talking to the guy – she was dead and had been for several days. Did she come back to seek her revenge?
Today mom and dad helped me by reminding me of a story at their true love – Savannah, Georgia. One of the must things to do in Savannah if you have never done it is to take a stroll through downtown at night on a haunted ghost tour. There are walking tours, horse and buggy tours or even a hearse tour if you dare.
Many moons ago, mom/dad went with my mom’s sister and her daughter, my little niece Savannah. Nice name huh? Savannah must have been about two and they decided to do a night time horse and buggy haunted ghost tour. It must have been scary too because little Savannah stayed camped out inside of mom’s hoodie the entire horse and buggy tour.
One of the last places on the tour was a little house called the 17 Hundred 90 Inn and Tavern. It’s a quaint little place, not so scary during the day but a night – chills. The 17 Hundred 90 Inn and Tavern is located at 306 East President Street, Savannah. The bottom floors have a restaurant and bar area while the upper floors have 14 suites in the inn. It has a long history of untimely death and ghosts. It was originally built in 1820 and is one of the oldest buildings in the Savannah area.
The most paranormal activity revolves around poor sweet Anna who fell from the window of room 204. There are many stories about poor Anna – we really don’t know which one is the truth.
One story states that she was married to the designer of the home, Steel White, who died in 1790 in a tragic riding accident. Anna fell in love with a German sailor who went off to sea and promised to return but never did. Anna found out that she was pregnant and realized that the German sailor never meant to return. In despair, she jumped to her death from room 204.
Another story similar to the one above with Anna has Anna being a servant at the inn instead of being married to the designer of the home. The end is the same result though, her untimely death.
People have reported the ghost of poor Anna leaning over them while they sleep in room 204. Other stories are of Anna caressing men’s cheeks and as they wake they see Anna crying and then jumping to her death out the window. Items are also often reported missing – wallets, jewelry, keys – all of which are later found mysteriously in a planter or behind a shelf.
Stories were so rampant at one point in room 204 that the 17 Hundred 90 Inn and Tavern required any patron staying in the room to sign a waiver stating they would not request their money back should they not stay the entire night. Nowadays, it is no longer required because most people wanting room 204 are hoping for a little ghost sighting of poor sweet Anna.
So this story was told on horse and buggy ride late at night through the streets of Savannah. Mom, Dad, my Aunt Tina and two year old niece Savannah who was taking up shop under mom’s hoodie. The mood was set. It was dark, a little misty. All you could hear was the clickey-clack of the horses feet, an occasional snarl from the horse and the soft tale of Anna coming for the tour guide. That’s when my niece Savannah decided to poke her head out to the world and say in her little child like voice, “Poor Anna”.
So do you believe in ghosts, spooks and things that go bump in the night? Do you have a little adventure still left in you? Want a weekend trip at a haunted inn – I’ve heard that the 17 Hundred 90 has open reservations…. if you dare my friends.
Some friends of ours in the deep south here took a picture of their home a couple of weeks ago. When they were looking at the pictures, they saw something that kind of stood out for them. They didn’t see it while they were taking pictures of their house. Do you see it? Would you go back into your home if this was your crib?
I know you are asking yourself who in the world is H.H. Holmes and why is he being featured on my 31 Days of Spook? The name sounds so plain and innocent. But I assure, it is not. You see H.H. Holmes is the common name of Dr. Henry Howard Holmes (who was actually born Herman Webster Mudgett – try to figure that out huh?) H.H. Holmes is considered America’s First Serial Killer. Does the name sound innocent now?
Most people that want to become a doctor go into the field hoping to prevent death. H.H. Holmes went to school to become a doctor to help him out more in causing death and destruction. Let’s start from here and let me explain to you what H.H. Holmes actually did.
It starts out in 1886 in Chicago. H.H. Holmes built a hotel right in town near all of the fair activities. In the time that he was building it, he often brought in different construction crews to add things and then fired that crew afterwards. Again the next day hiring a different construction crew to work on something else at the hotel. That way, not one construction crew or person knew of the intricacies of the hotel. What intricacies? Well like 100’s of windowless rooms, doorways that opened into brick walls, stairways leading to nowhere, doors that opened from the outside and don’t forget the fun rooms. The rooms that had soundproof walls and gas lines in them to asphyxiate the guests. Or rooms that had walls covered with iron plates and blowtorches to incinerate guests. Or the secret hanging chamber… or the basement where he would dissect, strip the flesh off guests and then sale their bodies to medical schools. What a host huh?
The hotel was nicknamed the Castle by the people of the area and it was three stories and a block long. The name of the actual hotel was called the World’s Fair Hotel. Yep, you guessed it. The hotel was right there in the same area of the World Fair in 1893. Just think of all of the innocent people coming to Chicago for the World’s Fair. They see this nice, new hotel and check in thinking they are safe… and then they are never heard from again. Thus in the end, the hotel was then called the Murder Castle.
In the end, justice was given to H.H. Holmes. He was eventually caught and although he claimed to have killed 27 people, it is actually thought the count could be well over 200 people! What’s even more interesting is that H.H. Holmes is even linked to the likes of Jack the Ripper. Some people even think that they may be one and the same. H.H. Holmes was actually in London during the killings of Jack the Ripper. And of course, Jack the Ripper was actually a very clean cut killer – some believe that he had a medical background. With all of the killing that H.H. Holmes did, I would think he would fit that bill. Do you?
There I was last night all cuddled up in my Egyptian cotton sheet on my toddler bed in my bedroom. I was writing some stories and doing research for my 31 Days of Spook – which I hope you are enjoying. Someone sent me a video about selfies. I opened it and watched the video. Oh.my.piggy.heavens. Are you kidding me?! I peed on my bed. I can admit it. It scared me that much. You don’t believe me? Well, why don’t you watch the attached video in its entirety. It’s relatively short. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though – it’s not for the weak. Maybe you’ll think about it the next time you take a selfie.
Today I want to talk to you about a place that mom and dad have visited on Tybee Island. It’s called Fort Pulaski, a national monument, located at US Highway 80 E, Savannah, Georgia. Maybe it’s not full of ghosts, but if you close your eyes and listen hard enough perhaps you will still hear the sounds of battle.
The park is open daily from 9AM until 5PM. You can go on a guided tour or roam the grounds by yourself. Mom and dad decided to go by themselves and see what kind of trouble they could get into – go mom/dad.
After you pay to enter the park, you drive over the Cockspur Island Bridge into the grounds. It’s kind of a dark picture to the right but the trees are gorgeous! Look at all of that rolling lovely green grass! So many places for this little porker to play – pets are welcomed 🙂
Then you start to see the fort itself – so massive! I don’t know why but mom was just astonished to the ‘moat’ that was around this huge fortress. Mom and dad said they were the only ones there for a bit and the silence from everything was kind of overwhelming.
It was like you could almost hear the gunshots in the background, the moans of soldiers and people talking. The wind was blowing and you could hear it singing in between the brick walls with the soft sounds of the water echoing. It was kind of eerie.
Fort Pulaski is huge. It was overcast this day so some of the pictures are not the best but hopefully you will enjoy them. Mom took this picture to the right as they were walking down to enter into the fort. It looks calm but mom/dad both said that the air was heavy. They walked all the way down until the other side of the building.
That’s where there was a bridge that they walked over to enter into the fort itself. For the building to be as old as it is (built in 1861), it is remarkably still intact. You do see some stonework falling inside of the casemates but as a whole, it is grand.
Fireplaces and windows are still standing as well as the cannons in the windows. You’ll even notice on the bottom of the cannon picture where the cannons could slide left/right for positioning of the firing.
And how would you like to be a prisoner of the fort? Look to this picture to the left of the ‘beds’ they used. Wood slats. Comfy huh? Daddy tried one when mom ‘locked him up’ in prison. It was kind of hard – snorts.
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And I saved the best picture until last.
The stairs to the top of the fort.
I’m not mentioning names but someone thought they would wobble up these torturous stairs to the top of the fort to take a peek. Notice that the stairs do not have handrails. It was a great view at the top and I would have a picture to share if only mom remembered to bring the camera – silly mom. And she wasn’t crawling back down to get the camera she said. And also let’s say that mom took the adventure of the stairs and that night it hurt in every place possible. That’ll teach mom not to climb and old fort like she was a teenager – snorts.
Oh, and another missed photo opportunity mom/dad made. They saw and met a beautiful white German Shepherd while visiting the Fort. She was so friendly and mom got to love on her for a while with her parents.
So the question remains. Is Fort Pulaski haunted? Mom asked one of the workers and she was told no. Is it spooky – yes. Do you pick up “feelings” of days gone – yes. Mom and dad both said they could close their eyes and hear and picture in their minds the activity that happened once upon a time.
Since mom/dad have been back home, I’ve done a lot of research on Fort Pulaski. To my amazement, there have been many encounters with the unknown at the Fort over the years. There was a story about a mother and son visiting the fort that were crossing over the draw bridge to enter into the fort. They met a Confederate sentry dressed in uniform with his sword. They spoke to him about his outfit and the fort. The mother then inquired about a restroom and he advised that he could not leave his position to show her. She thanked the man and with her son she continued into the fort to ask about the restrooms. There she was advised that the restrooms were at the entrance. She became upset and told the man about the soldier she spoke to at the drawbridge. The man advised her that they had no soldiers dressed in Confederate uniforms at the fort.
Then there was a time that a group of Confederate re-enactors placed a wreath at the graves in 1994. They then settled down for the night and camped out. During the night, a young 12 year old boy couldn’t sleep and was walking around the fort. Nearing the graves, he saw a figure of a Confederate soldier in uniform on his knees near the grave they had put the wreath. The soldier had his hat in his hand, then stood and faded away into the air.
Then during further research, I learned that an actor that you might have heard of did a movie at Fort Pulaski back in 2009. The movie was called The Conspirator and the actor was Robert Redford.
It’s up to you to decide if it’s haunted or not. Maybe someone needs to let the worker at the shop know that there has been some cases of mysterious sightings. It was definitely an adventure that mom/dad would be willing to do again… of course minus the stairs – snorts.
Miniature pot bellied pig and friends - Bacon, Houdini, Hemi and all of the Rock Clan with Journalist Rocky the Squirrel all out looking for adventures from the Hotel Thompson.
Oh my friends. This tale today is scary unbelievable. It makes you want to do a double take… and possibly a triple take. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. You see working on my 31 Days of Spook takes month of advance preparation. All year long, I’m looking for just the right stories to bring to you. Stories of the macabre, ghosts, strange tales, paranormal and things that go bump in the night. But this story, it caught my attention and I’ve been waiting for some time to share it.
Movie Pick – 1408. This movie came out in 2007 and started John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. You see John Cusack’s character was a so called ‘ghost hunter’. He went to famous places and would spend the night in haunted rooms. Most of the time, nothing happened and the places were debunked. But then while writing his latest book, he travels to New York to stay at the Dolphin Hotel in room 1408, a haunted room. In fact, it was so haunted that the hotel would not rent the room to anyone. Through lawyers, he finds out that if the room is vacant, the hotel has to rent it so he makes a reservation to stay. He checks in and meets with the hotel manager, played by Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson tries everything he can to persuade Cusack’s character not to stay in the room – a room upgrade, expensive booze and even will allow Cusack to look at a book he has made showing over 50 deaths in room 1408. But in the end, Cusack stays in 1408. Let’s just say that 1408 is everything you can imagine it to be.
movies to see comedy’s but for some reason, they saw this movie in the theater. Don’t ask me why because it’s not like them. Mom actually watched part of the movies with her hands covering her eyes. At one time, she even told daddy that she might have to leave – that’s how scared she was. The entire movie is about a millionaire who offers a diverse group of people $1,000,000 to spend the night in a haunted house with a horrifying past. “nuff said before I make water from being scared.
The stairs to the top of the fort.
Piglove 