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39 Local Horror Stories and Cursed Locations From Around the World

January 27, 2024

Gather ‘round, folks, we’re doing our own off-season Are You Afraid of the Dark?. A bunch of our readers wrote in to tip us off about the ghost stories, solved and unsolved murders and other spooky stuff being churned out of their local rumor mills.

Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.

39

... TELL US NOW. THE DROWNING Fall River, Massachusetts Dale J. reports, A woman drowned in a public swimming pool, and her body wasn't found for two days. This was a very busy pool, and many people swam around her corpse until her body was discovered. — Source

38

... TELL US NOW. BUNNY MAN BRIDGE Clifton, Virgina Mike D. tells us, In 1949, a mother and her infant were found buried next to the bridge; the woman was beaten and shot, the baby buried alive. At the same bridge in late October, 1970, police responded to reports of a man in a bunny costume terrorizing people with an ахе, even throwing it through a car's windshield and then skipping off into the dark. CRACKED.COM — Source

37

... TELL US NOW. WATER BABIES Pyramid Lake, Nevada Liz S. informs us, The local legend is that the babies were drowned to protect them from the horrific treatment of white people who were coming west. The Water Babies are especially vengeful toward white people with some Native American mixed into their bloodlines. CRACKED.COM — Source

36

... TELL US NOW. GRAVE OF LILIAS ADIE Torryburn, Scotland Adie was accused of fornicating with the devil. She died in prison before she could be burnt at the stake. Poor Lilias was buried under a large slab on the shoreline to stop her from reanimating, says Nat T. CRACKED.COM — Source

35

... TELL US NOW. BOY SCOUT LANE Stevens Point, Wisconsin Jacob M. told US about the isolated road where a troop of Boy Scouts were supposedly once murdered. It is said lights can be seen at night, flashlights of the ghosts who seek to help two Scouts who escaped and were never found. CRACKED.COM — Source

34

... TELL US NOW. GORE ORPHANAGE Vermilion, Ohio Tim S. alerted US to this haunted ruin. It is believed a fire at an orphanage took the lives of many children who were trapped inside. The cries of the orphans can supposedly be heard in this location, even though some attribute the strange noises to paranormal activity. CRACKED.COM — Source

33

Strange Lights

... TELL US NOW. BROWN MOUNTAIN LIGHTS Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina Justin M. explains there's three folklore explanations for mysterious forest lights: ghosts of Cherokee warriors killed in the forest trying to find their way home by torchlight, ghosts of escaped slaves who died trying to flee to the North, and (of course) ALIENS. CRACKED.COM — Source

32

... TELL US NOW. MOLL DYER Leonardtown, Maryland Dryer was accused of witchcraft and chased out of her home on a winter's night. She was found partially frozen to a rock, a few days later. Tiffany C. reveals, People can visit the rock that is believed to be the site of her death. CRACKED.COM — Source

31

The school girl

... TELL US NOW. THE SCHOOL GIRL Gamagori, Japan Andrew C. informs US of sightings of a high school girl wearing an old (now out of use) uniform standing idly in the dark. She holds completely still, always facing the opposite direction. Witnesses have never approached the haunted figure. CRACKED.COM — Source

30

Seven Gates of Hell

... TELL US NOW. SEVEN GATES OF HELL Collinsville, Illinois 13-11 EVER Eric L. told us about the seven railroad trestles that are the rumored sites of KKK meetings satanic rituals, and paranormal activity. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

... TELL US NOW. CRAZY GEORGE'S BRIDGE Monterey, Tennessee Kevin W. informed US of a bridge haunted by a man who was hit by a train. Не adds, If you stop your car on it and shut it off, it won't start again. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

... TELL US NOW. KILLING FIELDS Texas Kevin D. told us about the 50-mile area in Texas where 30 bodies of unsolved murder victims (mostly young women and girls between 12 and 25 years-old) have been found. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

... TELL US NOW. GATEWAY TO HELL Stull, Kansas A dilapidated church (mysteriously destroyed) used to stand among a haunted cemetary in which the entrance to Hell supposedly exists. Rachel L. claims that the Pope avoids ever flying over. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

... TELL US NOW. KENNESAW HOUSE Marietta, Georgia MARIETTA MUSEUM OF HISTORY KENNESAW HOUSE. The Kennesaw House, also known as The House of 1000 Ghosts is a hotel that served as a makeshift hospital in the Civil War where many died within its walls, according to AP W. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

... TELL US NOW. MAYHAYLEY LANCASTER'S GRAVE Franklin, Georgia A. MAYHAYLEY LANCASTER OCT. 18. 1875 NOV 22. 1955 Donovan K. tells US about the grave of the well-known psychic, A kid defiled her grave by urinating on it and died when a tree fell in the path of his truck. Another kid was killed in an accident after knocking over her grave stone. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

... TELL US NOW. GEORGE STICKNEY HOUSE McHenry County, Illinois The house was designed with no 90 degree angles between walls, as the owners believed that spirits could get stuck in room corners. The original owners were mediums who loved to hold seances and gatherings. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

... TELL US NOW. LADY IN WHITE Bavaria, Germany The Lady in White is a common vision in parts of Germany. Laura H. said she's been visited by her after a family member died, and older people, who have also been visited by her, taught her how to handle the apperance. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

... TELL US NOW. ELIZAVILLE MONSTER Elizaville, Indiana БАРТЫ CHERCE KARC The small town has had an unusual number of disapperances. Nicholas F. says, If you scream anywhere in town during the night... the Elizaville Monster will track you down, drag you back to its lair, and eat you, bones and all. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

... TELL US NOW. HADDO HOUSE Tarves, Scotland Emily R., who lived and worked there, says, We had a couple of ghosts, namely Lord Archibald, killed in one of the first motor accidents, and definitely a people's ghost as he's often spotted smiling or trying to talk to visitors. There's also a couple of servant ghosts and a small boy in the library. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

... TELL US NOW. HOTEL BOTHWELL Sedalia, Missouri HOTEL SHELL Melissa В. says that inconsiderate ghosts on the third floor open and close doors, shift items around, or continually sit down and up on the edge of your bed. CRACKED.COM — Source

19

... TELL US NOW. THE BLACK DOG Hubbard Park, Connecticut Joan В. explains, You hope you never see it more than once! If you spot a mysterious black dog once, legend goes you will find joy. If you spot it twice, sorrow. A third time and you die. There's been six deaths connected to a third dog spotting. CRACKED.COM — Source

18

... TELL US NOW. CRESCENT HOTEL Eureka Springs, Arkansas Melissa S. informs us that the haunted hotel just recently unearthed jars filled with different human body parts that had been buried for a long time. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Red Bluff, California A woman was kidnapped and kept locked in a box. Cameron and Janice Hooker kept Colleen Stan as a sex slave for seven years without anyone's knowledge in Thomas C.'s hometown. She was imprisoned in a box for 23 hours a day, as a punishment. CRACKED.COM — Source

16

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Saskatchewan, Canada A man stabbed, killed, and dismembered his seatmate on a Greyhound Bus ride. Не decapitated the corpse and ate parts of it, allegedly. Не even walked up to the windows and taunted the evacuated passengers with the head. -Ryan L. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Denver, Colorado Cheesman Park is straight-up Poltergeist. The site was originally a cemetery, and after botched efforts to relocate the bodies, Instead of transporting the remaining 3,000 bodies, removed any above-ground traces of the burial sites, built the park, collectively whistled, and walked away. - Richard U. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Greenfield, MA A man in Raichelle D.'s town dressed as Jason Voorhees and killed a female college student. Just short of a month after the murder his body was found hanging from a tree near an abandoned slaughterhouse. The coroner listed his death as suicide but rumor has it that he did not climb the tree himself. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Sutter County, California Randy С. went to high school with a serial killer's nephews. Juan Corona killed 25 migrant farm workers with a machete and buried the bodies in shallow graves in an orchard less than 5 miles from my family's home. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Pennsylvania A car with the mummfied remains of its driver was found in Melanie E.'s hometown. It was hidden in the undergrowth off the exit ramp into town. Не had apparently had a medical emergency and went off the road. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati had its own Angel of Death killer, in the '70s & 88s. Donald Harvey is credited with at least 100 deaths, and claims to have mercy killed terminally ill patients at first. But soon he came to realize he just liked killing people, says Phillip В. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: East Tennessee A man killed and dismembered two people. Howard Hawk Willis cut up the bodies and hid them in fifty-gallon storage containers in a rented storage locker. Mary R. says, The storage locker was in the middle of town and it started smelling really bad. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Spokane, Washington Robert Lee Yates is a serial killer of sex workers. CRI Lasha V. says, My first roommate is sure that's the guy who offered her a ride home from work. His neighbor worked in special ed at my school. She said he seemed like a nice, normal guy. Until they found the bodies buried in his yard, of course. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Nazareth, Pennsylvania Kelli F.'s dad has a theory about some unsolved murders. A brother and sister were bludgeoned to death and the murderer(s?) were never found. There were railroad tracks that were nearby back then, so my dad always thought it was a railroad bum. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Conway, Arkansas Conway, Arkansas had a serial toe sucker. Josh M. explains: Не approached women in department stores and put his mouth on their toes, then ran away. Не terrorized the Target and Kohl's for months. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Colonial Parkway, Virginia At least 8 unsolved murders have happened along the Colonial Parkway. River Colonial 199 Parkway Green Spring ntation Gloucester 5 Williamsburg 238 estown Yorktown erry Jam 143 Jamestown Three couples were confirmed murdered, an additional couple had disappeared and is presumed dead (fairly good assumption since this happened 30 years ago). -Anthony R. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Mattoon, Illinois Alek M.'s town had to endure the Mad Gasser of Mattoon. Не explains, supposed gas attacks that paralyzed people at night in their homes. Sightings and a sickly sweet odor of the gas, but no physical evidence. The attacks both caused and are blamed on mass hysteria. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Haunting Paranormal Encounters

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Bridgeport, Connecticut Jesse L. lives near The World's Most Haunted House. THE WORLD'S MOST HAUNTED HOUSE THE TRUN STURY or THE BRIDGEFORT POLLERGEIST UN LINDMA STORED It's the Lindley Street Poltergeist, where even the cops report witnessing some bizarre, unexplainable shenanigans. Flying refrigerators, talking cats cursing out priests, it was wild, says Jesse. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Jacksonville, Florida The body of Maddie Clifton was found inside the waterbed of her teenage neighbor. Benny S. says Josh Phillips killed Maddie over a game of catch where Maddie got hurt. Не was worried he'd get in trouble, so he strangled her with a telephone cord and beat her with a baseball bat before stuffing her into the box of his mattress. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Barranquilla, Colombia University security guards lured in homeless people to harvest their organs. 12A EL TOGALDO Policía y Judiciales Asesinatos de indigentes sí se cometieron en la Unilibre - - - - - 2 - - - 2018 - - .. - - - Andres R. says the guards lured homeless people to the university at night 'to help' them move stuff, they killed the homeless to sell the organs to the medicine department. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

... TELL US NOW. LOCATION: Columbus, Ohio Brian Shaffer walked into a bar ... and disappeared. According to Alex R., The creepy thing is all the exits and surrounding streets have CCTV of some sort and he's on camera entering the bar but never seen leaving. His friends say he went to the bathroom and never came back. CRACKED.COM — Source

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