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Possibly one of Dayton Ohio’s better-kept secrets is an historic and picturesque cemetery that overlooks the city. Nestled in tree shrouded rolling hills, Woodland Cemetery is serenely beautiful, with elaborate and richly ornate monuments and massive iron gated vaults. Many of these impressive tombs mark the final resting-place of several of Dayton’s more well known citizens, such as Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and the Wright Brothers. Woodland is also the final resting-place of several individuals who do not rest so soundly. There are many well-known and well-documented stories about Woodland Cemetery and it’s spectral inhabitants, here is something more recent.

Woodland Cemetery is bounded on its southwest side by the University of Dayton. In the fall of 1992, three young men were returning from one of the many off-campus parties that give U.D. a less then welcome “party-school” reputation. Since the boys had consumed their fair share of cheap beer, they wanted to avoid taking the long walk along public streets back to their dorm. They knew, that if they cut through the deserted cemetery they could crawl through the fence right behind the dorm, and sneak quietly into the building. While each was privately apprehensive about walking through the large, darkened cemetery there was no way they’d admit it to each other. They slipped into Woodland through a gap in the ornate iron fence and started up-hill.

As they labored up and over the first set of hills in the older gothic section of the cemetery, the boys began to notice the eerie silence of the graveyard and a distinct chill in the air. While the moon was full, the old and stately trees broke the moonlight into sharp shafts of pale light that cut through the chilled mist, giving the massive monuments a surrealistic if not ominous appearance. To keep their courage up, each taunted the other as they stumbled trough the cemetery. Not fully realizing how large Woodland is, and that their dorm was over a half mile away, the boys began to get disoriented, and stopped to talk.

As they argued over direction, one boy spotted something or someone moving through the mist few yards ahead. “Hey” he blurted, “there’s a babe over there.” The others didn’t believe him at first but, then convinced themselves that a couple of girls had the same idea they did. After all, the girl’s dorm backed up to the cemetery too. Even though they all didn’t see her, the boys decided to head in the direction of the sighting. Approaching a massive stone vault, the boys were aware of soft crying then the uncontrollable sobbing of a young woman. The boys looked at each other, they called out, “Hey, are you alright? Are you hurt? Where are you?” The crying stopped. “Don’t be afraid,” one boy said. “If you’re hurt we can get help.” The boy’s calls were met with silence. They waited, after a few minutes of silence they started to move on, thinking who ever it was, was just messing with them. They walked a few yards.

The crying started again. They turned to look behind them. Sitting on a large stone step leading up to the massive bronze and stained glass gate of the vault, was a young woman. She sat slumped forward with her head in her hands, long blond hair streaming down her back and shoulders. She sat in a shaft of pale moonlight and wept uncontrollably.

The boys were startled, but realized she must be in serious trouble. “Can we help?” one boy called out as he stepped forward. The young woman looked up. She had a startled look on her face, her tear streaked cheeks glistened in the moonlight. She stood quickly, and nervously looked at the boys. One of the boys held out his hand toward her and said, “are you lost, com on we’ll help you get out of here.” Without turning, the young woman quickly drifted backward and passed completely through the heavy bronze gate, into the darkness of the massive stone vault. Stunned, the boys starred at the large tarnished lock on the bronze gate. They nearly crippled each other as they wheeled around to run. Never looking back the boys found their way through the hills and gravestones to the main entrance to the cemetery. Attempting to get out, they made so much racket at the gate that the university police and a grounds keeper were called to let them out. The campus police officer decided to cut them a break and wrote it off as some college boy nonsense. The grounds keeper simply said, well you’re not the first to meet her.

There is no one location in the Chicago area that has more reported sightings and more heart stopping stories than Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery. This small, frequently desecrated and nearly forgotten cemetery lies at the edge of a large forest preserve near the Chicago suburb of Midlothian. The cemetery was established in the 1830’s. It was used as a final resting-place for many German immigrants who worked on the construction of the Illinois-Michigan Canal. The work was dirty and the hours were very, very long which is why many of the workers were not married, giving rise to the cemetery’s name.

Access to the decaying plot, is provided by a long and narrow gravel roadway. The cemetery has been abandoned since 1965 and is said to now be a ritual site for occult and satanic groups. Over the years many of the tombstones have been vandalized or stolen, only to mysteriously return. While it is not certain how the grave markers manage to get back to the graveyard, this unusual phenomenon lends a chilling intensity to the legend that the gravestones in Bachelor’s Grove move on their own.

One of the most consistent stories is of a white farmhouse that sits just off of the gravel road. Many have reported seeing the house, with a soft light burning in the window. When observers attempt to approach the house it slowly vanishes into thin air. Park rangers have reported seeing a phantom farmer with horse and plow slowly moving into the mist and then vanishing. One of the more well known, and frequent sightings is of the “Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove” said to be a woman buried next to her infant son in the 1870’s. This vaporous lady, shrouded in white mist, is often seen moving through the dark shadows of the trees cradling an infant in her arms.

Inexplicable noises, such as horses, crackling sounds, and human voices are reported frequently as are mysterious lights, very strange mist and dramatic shifts in temperature. Just beyond the graveyard is a small turgid pond. In prohibition years, the pond was allegedly a favorite dumping ground for the bodies and cars of unfortunate individuals who ran afoul of infamous Chicago gangsters. Reports of (spectral) bodies floating in the pond and phantom headlights beneath the surface of the dark water are numerous. In fact in one story, a couple was driving down the lane in late evening, hearing the sound of a loud speeding car getting closer and closer, they stopped their car. To their horror, they found themselves in a head-on collision with the speeding car, with horrific sounds of bending metal and breaking glass. After a few minutes of recovering from their shock however, and to their amazement, they realized that they were alone on the road, there was no other car. They were both fine and their car was unscathed as well.

A survivor of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the Water Tower is perhaps the most famous landmark in Chicago. Standing watch in the heart of the city since 1869 it has been witness to much of the cities turbulent and sometimes sinister past. Constructed of limestone quarried in near-by Joliet, its very fiber is rooted in the area’s past since time began. With such an inexorable link to past memories, is it any wonder that the tower has a few unusual memories of it’s own?

>It is said that on occasion, in the wee hours of the morning, a gaunt and pale man can be seen peering down into the streets from the windows in the upper floors of the tower. The building is always locked tight and no one is ever found when authorities enter and search the building. It is also reported that at times, passers-by have heard a strange melancholy whistling coming from inside. Legend has it that the tower’s inhabitant (or at least this one) is the spirit of a man hanged from the tower for an undisclosed crime he committed in the late 1870’s.

Nestled in the heart of the awe inspiring Canadian Rockies, Banff Springs Hotel is world famous for it’s regal ambiance and sumptuous accommodations. This incredible 100-year old castle is also a historic landmark. Built in 1886 by William Cornelius Van Horne, then General Manager of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Van Horne oversaw the challenge to drive the historic railway through the Canadian Rockies. Banff Springs Hotel opened in 1888, and has been a favorite haunt of the rich and famous ever since.

With such a rich and colorful history, it is not surprising to hear tales of guests and loyal employees who have lingered on, even beyond their departure from life.

One very sad and tragic tale involves a young bride and her elegant wedding party in the hotel’s grand ballroom. It seems that on the day of the young woman’s wedding, she was descending the ornate marble staircase in her beautiful flowing white wedding gown. And, as the story goes, an unexpected breeze (presumably from an open door or window) twisted the gown’s flowing train into her path, causing her to stumble. Attempts by the groom to catch-hold of his young wife were in vain, and she fell to her death on the polished marble tiles below. To this day, there are recurring reports of a fleeting vision of a beautiful girl in a long flowing white dress dancing in the ballroom or descending the staircase. At other times, people have commented on brief but chilling breezes brushing past them on the grand staircase.

In another tale, guests over the years have encountered a helpful and courteous bellman named Sam, who has opened locked doors, helped with lighting, and even parcels. When the guests of the ninth floor (Sam’s favorite floor) try to engage Sam in conversation or attempt to tip him for his services, he very quickly departs, “almost into thin-air” as one guest put it. Guests who inquire about Sam are always stunned to learn that Sam passed-away many years ago.

The Tower of London is perhaps one of the most famous castles in all the world, and for several centuries of English history, there was not a more blood-drenched battlement in all of England. As testament to the Tower’s violent past, several spectral personalities have walked it’s ramparts for nearly 800 years.

One of the earliest recorded sightings occurred in 1241, when 71 years after his murder in Canterbury Cathedral, St. Thomas Becket was seen by priests at the Tower. It is recorded by the priests witnessing the apparition that the Archbishop’s spirit apparently objected to expansion work being carried out on the grounds and struck the new walls with a cross, causing them to crumble to the ground.

One of the most frequently reported spectral sightings is of Queen Anne Boleyn, the second of King Henry VIII’s wives. Anne Boleyn was one of several of the wives that Henry had beheaded. She has been seen many times over the years by the guardsmen patrolling the grounds. One of the sentries even faced court-martial charges over the spirit. It seems one early morning while on guard duty, he saw a figure in a brown velvet gown emerge from the mist and move toward him. He challenged the figure several times and received no reply. The guard approached with bayonet fixed, and as he did, he noticed that the figure’s bonnet appeared completely empty. The figure did not stop advancing, and the soldier ran it through with his bayonet. Bolts of white fire shot back down his rifle knocking him unconscious. Later that morning, his superiors found him and accused him of sleeping on duty; a very serious offense in the military. In his court-martial hearing however, the court had learned that Anne Boleyn’s spirit had again been seen just outside the little chapel where she spent her last night before execution.

While there are many more reported specters that inhabit the infamous Tower, one of the most frightening is that of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury. At Margaret’s beheading, she managed to get free of her guards and ran screaming through the yard. The ominous masked executioners chased her and when she tripped, dragged her screaming and kicking back to the executioner’s block. Margaret screamed and struggled as the men tried to hold her down, causing the executioner’s axe to miss three times. By now Margaret had gone completely insane, and fought all the harder. On his fourth try, his axe tore into only half of her throat. Her screams turned into bloody gurgles. On the fifth drop of the axe the executioner found the mark and Margaret’s head rolled silently into the basket. Margaret reportedly reenacts her horrific execution every year, on it’s anniversary.