Most Famous Paranormal Stories

While many paranormal stories are embellished andfather-in-law and her husband, who died of sudden
exaggerated over the years -- by products of rumorstuberculosis. After consulting with a psychic, she
and hearsay, no doubt -- there are still a number ofbelieved that her family was cursed by paranormal
tales that can be substantiated by newspaper stories,spirits who had met their bitter fate at the end of a
historical artifacts, and eyewitness accounts. ToWinchester gun.
become a particularly famous ghost story, the taleTo avoid being cursed and killed herself, she felt she
must include a history of known violence, repeatedhad to continuously keep building a mansion to house
paranormal activity, direct contact with visitors andthe spirits and keep them satisfied. The end result was
extreme actions. A number of books have beena $5.5 million dollar haunted mansion, with a number of
written about these famous haunts, but nothing beatsbizarre design features intended to confuse the
a hair-raising tour of a place like The Winchestermalevolent ghosts -- doors to nowhere, vaults within
Mystery House, Gettysburg or Alcatraz, where onevaults, windows that opened up to blank walls, trap
may encounter his or her own personal paranormaldoors, secret hallways, and staircases that lead to
sightings.ceilings. Today, visitors often report the sounds of
The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall is an infamousfootsteps, organ playing, and photographs of faces in
story because this particular apparition has been sowindows.
reliably photographed. While she hasn't made anThe Amherst Poltergeist is one of Canada's most
appearance since 1936, many witnesses reportedterrifying paranormal stories. After 19-year-old Esther
seeing a woman apparition in a long brown cape orCox of Amherst, Nova Scotia was raped by a
dress. In the early 1800s, King George IV said he sawshoemaker, Esther and her sisters began experiencing
a woman with disheveled hair in a brown dressviolent activities, with thunderous noises coming from
standing over his bed. Later, an 1835 house guest,under the bed, objects moving across the floor and
Colonel Loftus, reported that he saw a womanunseen forces moving beneath the bed sheets.
wearing a brown satin dress with empty eye sockets.Esther's body turned red and swelled mysteriously and
Captain Frederick Marryat slept in the "haunted room"reports from Dr. Carritte say he was baffled by what
hoping to catch a glimpse, but surprisingly encounteredhe saw.
her carrying a lantern down an upstairs hallway. TwoAccording to the doctor, there was no clear medical
little boys reported seeing her in 1926 and the famousreason for the swelling and he watched an unseen
photograph caught her on camera in 1936, whenhand scrawl the words "Esther Cox you are mine to
Captain Provand and Indre Shira were taking a photokill" across the plaster wall. Potatoes and knives flew
of the staircase for Country Life Magazine. Legendacross the room. Esther's face was poked by sewing
has it, the paranormal happenings come from aneedles and her back was stabbed with a pocketknife
woman named Lady Townshend, who waswrenched from her friend's hand. Lit matches caused
suspected of infidelity and reportedly locked up in thebeds in the house to erupt into flames on more than
house by her cruel husband until her death.one occasion. No matter where Esther moved, the
Another one of the most famous paranormal stories ispresence seemed to follow her. After she spent a
the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California.month in jail for supposedly starting a house on fire, the
As legend has it, Sarah Winchester was distraughtparanormal happenings subsided, but the ghostly
following the successive deaths of her baby, herstories remain some of the most frightening.