Your Neighborhood Haunted House

[David In Indy]

As promised, here is a picture of that tunnel I was telling you all about. I took these about an hour ago. It was dark out there, but I got close enough for the camera's flash to illuminate the tunnel.

This is the last remaining structure from the House of Blue Lights. It used to connect to the basement of the house which was located about a quarter of a mile away from this entrance. The tunnel was bricked up years ago.

it's quite spooky looking, especially at night. I often wonder if there are any ghosts lingering in that tunnel just behind the brick wall.

[ednbarby]

My childhood house always gave me the creeps.  And not just because lots of creepy things went on in there (which is absolutely true), but because it had a creepy unfinished basement and attic.

The really weird thing about the attic was that it went between my brothers' any my "Jack and Jill" bedrooms on the second floor.  You could get into it from a door in each bedroom.  But that was not all - you could also get into it by pulling a built-in drawer out of another wall in each room, and at the back of it was a crawl space in which you could tunnel under part of the bedroom and back up into the attic.  Why in the world did someone design it that way?  Did he think people living there would have reason to hide?  It was built in the 50s.  Maybe something to do with the Cold War, or the Holocaust, or who knows what...

I was scared to death of going in the attic.  There wasn't much in there, but it was just very dark and dank and creepy.  So was the basement.  The washer and dryer were down there, and as I got to be six or seven, I started having to do my own laundry or else it wouldn't get done.  I hated going down there with a passion.  The steps were wooden (and creaked), the floor was bare concrete, and the walls were cinder blocks.  I swear, they probably filmed "The Silence of the Lambs" in that basement.  All they had to do was add a well.

I still dream about that house regularly.  Sometimes they're disturbing dreams.  Sometimes the house is just the backdrop for a fairly mild, non-meaningful dream.

The more I think about it, the more I understand why I liked going to school so much.   

[Lynne]

"Aside from the Headless Gownsman, there is a more disturbing tale on campus. This involves Tuckaway Hall, and a room on the third floor. Campus legend tells that three students who have lived in this room have committed suicide. Now their ghosts haunt Tuckaway Hall, causing mayhem for residents today. Almost anyone who knows the tale will reject any assignment to this room, but there is the occasional student who does not know the history of this room. If you ever attend the University of the South, and are assigned to a room on the third floor of Tuckaway Hall, be careful. You might meet the same fate as three other former residents."

http://www.johnnorrisbrown.com/paranormal-tn/sewanee/index.htm

***shiver***

[David In Indy]

Eww. That attic sounds very creepy Barb. I can understand why you would be afraid of it.

Like you I was also very afraid of our basement. The first house I lived in (until I was 11) was a one floor ranch style house (brick) with a full basement. Like your house, it was also built in the 1950s. The basement was as big as the upstairs part of the house. It was perfect for when tornadoes came, and we had a family room type area down there, a bar, game room, utility room where the washer and dryer were located, a playroom and also a small office area for Dad. For some reason I didn't like being down there alone. Mom and Dad often made me go down there at night to turn the lights off. I hated that. I'd start at the back of the basement and start turning off lights as I made my way back to the stairs. I was always certain I would see a ghost down there, or maybe even a walking skeleton! Sometimes my sister would stand at the top of the stairs and just a soon as I got the final light turned off, she'd switch off the lights by the stairs and slam the door closed and lock it. I remember several times sitting at the top of the stairs literally crying and banging on the door for someone would let me out.

THEN! We had this mean babysitter who used to tell me that a monster called the "suds" lived in our basement. She said the suds looked like soap suds, but they were shaped like a giant man. She said they would come up through the heat vents in my bedroom floor and snatch me if I was bad. Then they would drag me back down to the basement and tie me up and torture me. I'm sure that was probably part of my fear of the basement too, but I remember being most afraid of any ghosts.

[ednbarby]

Oh, geez.  Your babysitter sounds like a real nutcase.  Sorry you were subjected to such a horrible story.

My brothers used to lock me in the basement or attic just to freak me out, too.  Damn older siblings.  Sometimes being 'the baby' wasn't such a great thing.

[David In Indy]

"Aside from the Headless Gownsman, there is a more disturbing tale on campus. This involves Tuckaway Hall, and a room on the third floor. Campus legend tells that three students who have lived in this room have committed suicide. Now their ghosts haunt Tuckaway Hall, causing mayhem for residents today. Almost anyone who knows the tale will reject any assignment to this room, but there is the occasional student who does not know the history of this room. If you ever attend the University of the South, and are assigned to a room on the third floor of Tuckaway Hall, be careful. You might meet the same fate as three other former residents."

http://www.johnnorrisbrown.com/paranormal-tn/sewanee/index.htm

***shiver***

Lynne, that story is creepy!! I wonder if anyone there recently has seen the gownsman? I think I would probably lose my sanity permanently if I ever saw a spirit walk past me with his head cut off!

That really does look like a beautiful campus, and it's very historic too!

[Lynne]

Lynne, that story is creepy!! I wonder if anyone there recently has seen the gownsman? I think I would probably lose my sanity permanently if I ever saw a spirit walk past me with his head cut off!

That really does look like a beautiful campus, and it's very historic too!

 

Yep...creepy is right.  Some of these stories are featured in Ghost Stories of the American South:  http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Stories-American-South-McNeil/dp/061398952X.

It is truly a beautiful campus.  I never saw the Headless Gownsman myself, but I know others who say they did.  My history professor sophomore year (Dr. Cushman) had his office on the fourth floor of Walsh-Ellett hall - had to climb a spiral staircase up almost into the bell tower.  Our papers were always due at midnight, so there were frequent trips up there to provide opportunity for contact!

[Jeff Wrangler]

The really weird thing about the attic was that it went between my brothers' any my "Jack and Jill" bedrooms on the second floor.  You could get into it from a door in each bedroom.

My maternal grandparent's house had a feature like that. The house was built in the 1870s, and there was a doorway in two of the bedrooms that led to the stairs to the attic. What really creeped me out was that in the room where I always had to sleep when we stayed over, the attic door was blocked by a large a chest of drawers, almost like it was barricading the door closed. I always more than half suspected that the chest actually was placed where it was to keep something trapped in the attic. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

THEN! We had this mean babysitter who used to tell me that a monster called the "suds" lived in our basement. She said the suds looked like soap suds, but they were shaped like a giant man. She said they would come up through the heat vents in my bedroom floor and snatch me if I was bad. Then they would drag me back down to the basement and tie me up and torture me. I'm sure that was probably part of my fear of the basement too, but I remember being most afraid of any ghosts.

   Aw, David, that's awful!