The air becomes frosty, and the shadows grow long around the pumpkin patch heralding the arrival of October. This is a month in which our thoughts turn to ghosts, goblins and things that go bump in the night. Around the world we celebrate holidays such as Halloween, Teng Chieh, Punkie Night, Yue Lan, The Obon Festival, and El Dia de los Muertos. Pumpkins light walkways, children parade in costumes, a feast is shared with the ghosts of ancestors long dead. Skeletons rattle their bones and ghosts rattle their chains while we all try to appease them with pieces of candy. Here is a listing of some destinations that you can travel to where real evil has stretched out its icy fingers.

Vlad Dracula’s castle –

            Known as Bran Castle this fortress is located between Transylvania and Wallachia in Romania. Round about 1212 the first castle was built on this site by the Teutonic Knights. It was a wooded structure which guarded the entrance to the valley and the trade route through that valley. This structure was destroyed in 1242 by the Mongols. The stone citadel that was the beginning of the present castle was begun in 1377 and first used in 1378 as defense against the Ottomans. The castle changed many times over the ensuing centuries. Vlad Dracula never really lived here, but he might have spent two nights in the dungeon. The castle is now a museum and open to tourists. You may take a guided tour or wonder the grounds and building by yourself.

            Poenari Castle in Wallachia was home to Vlad Tepes’ aka Dracula. Vlad’s father gave Vlad and his younger brother over to the Ottoman’s as a guarantee that he would remain vassal to the Sultan. Vlad was often whipped and beaten by his Ottoman captors. When the Ottoman’s invaded Wallachia the Sultan put Vlad lll Dracul on the throne.  As the Prince of Wallachia, Vlad lll Dracul made himself the greatest enemy of the Ottomans. In 1459 he had 30,000 Germans (Saxons) impaled on stakes and left to die for transgressing his authority. A small tourism base has grown up around the legend of Dracula. Only a small amount of the once expansive castle is left.  If you are willing to climb the 1,500 steps to the castle the view from the top of the hill is amazing!

The Salem Witchcraft Trials –

            In Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692 two young girls, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, began to have fits in which they screamed, threw things around the room, and shook violently for no apparent reason. The village doctor could find no reason for this display. Soon other young girls began to display the same behaviors. One Sunday the girls disrupted the Sunday services by shaking violently and making unusual sounds. The witch hunt was on!
            Three women, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and a slave named simply Tituba were all accused of witchcraft and put on trial. When the matter finally ended in 1693, 19 innocent men and women had been hanged, one man was pressed to death and four others had died in jail while awaiting trial. You can return to this sad and yet fascinating time by visiting Salem, Massachusetts.

The White Witch of Rose Hall –

            Annie was born in Paris, France. She married John Palmer and in 1820 she came to live at Rose Hall which is located just to the east of Montego Bay, Jamaica. Rose Hall was a big and bustling sugar plantation which employed the use of many slaves. Although a very small woman, some reports have her height at about four feet, she terrorized her slaves with Obeah, a Jamaican form of Voodoo. Annie is reported to have killed 3 of her husbands, including the owner of Rose Hall, John Palmer. She also took many of her male slaves to her bed and then killed them. Annie was murdered in her bed during the slave uprising of 1830. Rose Hall fell to ruin, but reports of hauntings in the ruins and around the grounds have been many. The building was restored in the 1960’s and today it is a premier tourist destination. But late at night, when the moon is full, and the Duppy ghosts dance on the paths of Rose Hall, you can hear the screams of the murdered lovers…..or are they just the call of the Fish Birds? 

The Tower of London –

            Said to be the most haunted place in England, the tower complex has been castle, prison for royals, place for executions, torture, observatory, armory, treasury, zoo and the mint. In the year 1078 William the Conqueror ordered the building of the White Tower. Thus was the beginning of the Tower of London complex. Richard the Lionheart had a wall built around the White Tower and a moat dug. Henry lll transformed the Tower into a royal residence. The complex was completed in 1285 by Edward l who built another wall around the Tower and another moat.
            There are 6 ravens that have lived at the Tower for centuries. There is a legend that if the ravens ever leave the Tower complex the White Tower, the monarchy and England itself would fall. One of the yeomen Warders is give the job of Ravenmaster. It is his job to care for the ravens and to make sure that they don’t ever leave the Tower.
            The first prisoner of the Tower was a man named Ranulf Flambard whom, as Bishop of Durham, had been found guilty of extortion. He escaped for the Tower by climbing down a rope. There were 22 other prisoners held at the Tower. The last was the Kray twins who were held for just a few days in 1952 after they failed to report of National Service. Many famous persons and royals met their maker on the grounds of the Tower, some at Tower Hill and some at Tower Green. The last of the executions was that of German spy Josef Jakobs who was killed by firing squad in August of 1941.
            It is easy, given the Tower’s history, to see why stories of ghosts in the Tower abound. The ghost of Queen Anne Boleyn is reported to wander around the chapel of St. Peter-ad-Vincula carrying her head under her arm. Other ghosts include Henry the Vl, Lady Jane Grey, Margaret Pole, and the two sons of Henry the lV “The Princes in the Tower”.  If you are in London a visit to the Tower is a must.

White Chapel/Spittalfields, London’s East End –

            Once home to Jack the Ripper, the east end of London has a reputation for ghosts and spirits. Jack the Ripper is an enigma. Was he one person or more? Who was he? To this day no one knows. During the autumn of 1888 he preyed on prostitutes in the White Chapel/Spittlefields in the East End of London. Jack the Ripper would prey on his victims in semi public places of the East End late at night or in the early hours of the morning. He would strangle his victims and then dismember them with surgical precision. Over the years truth has mixed with fiction but there is one thing for sure. There really was a Jack the Ripper and the ghosts of his victims still haunt the streets of London’s East End.

The Flying Dutchman –

            Doomed to sail the oceans forever, The Flying Dutchman is a ghost ship that can never go home. For centuries sailors have reported seeing The Flying Dutchman glowing with a ghostly light far off in the distance.  It has been said that if a ship gets close enough, the Dutchman’s crew will try to send messages to people who have long been dead. Seeing the Dutchman is supposed to be a precursor to doom.
            The first know reference to The Flying Dutchman is found in George Barrington’s, “Voyage to Botany Bay “1795. There have been many reported sighting of the Flying Dutchman over the centuries. England’s King George V reported seeing it as well as his brother Prince Albert Victor of Wales. The Flying Dutchman had passed within 200 yards of the bow of the ship on which the royals were traveling. All together 13 persons saw the ghost ship on that voyage. The seaman who first saw the Dutchman, later that day, fell from the mast and was killed.

The Chinese Ghosts of Africa –

            The Old Gold Guesthouse in Germiston may be haunted by the ghosts of Chinese miners. The 19th century building was the home of a Cornish mine manager. There are three underground rooms that once housed Chinese mineworkers. A secret staircase takes you to the chambers. These chambers were used to hide unregistered laborers. There are three tunnels that lead from these chambers to the goldmines. The Chinese labors worked the mines only to return to the chambers where they ate and slept never seeing the light of day. It is said that you can still hear their cries to leave the chambers and fell the wind on their faces.

Gettysburg, Pa. /Frederick, Md. –

            For three days the battle of Gettysburg raged and when it was over 7,863 men and women were dead. The battlefield was strewn with bodies, but even in the town of Gettysburg, civilians lay dead in their homes. The toll was terrible. Many of the dead still haunt the battlefields and town of Gettysburg.
            A staggering 27,224 wounded were transferred to Frederick, Maryland, 30 miles away, for medical attention. Every church and municipal building was used as a hospital as well as many homes. Doctors came from nearby towns to tend to the wounded. For days the people of Frederick worked to save the lives of Americans, be they Confederate or Union. Many of the wounded lived, but many also died. It is hard to find a building in the city of Frederick that is not haunted. The residents of the city have learned to live with the ghosts of the past. If you are ever in Frederick buy a copy of “Ghosts among the Spires” and then go on the ghost tour. Bet you see a ghost!