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September 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 29/09/2010 10:59 PM Page 21 10 Most Haunted U.S. Cities 21 10 Most Haunted Cities in War, and it is believed that strange figures often closer to the city’s downtown district. Reports the United States appear in photos taken at this location! say the Bordens were not a loving family unit and the stresses of step relatives created much from Rent.com 9. San Francisco’s Chinatown is home to tension in the house, which were only escalated countless ghost tours and creepy folklore. The by the Borden girls’ fears that their father was Queen Anne Hotel, which was originally a bequeathing his assets and property to the step- 1. Savannah, Georgia, was named “America’s school for girls in the 1890s, is said to be mother’s side of the family. Lizzie was indicted Most Haunted City” in 2002 by the American haunted by the ghost of its former headmistress, for the crime, and then acquitted by a jury. It Institute of Parapsychology. The city was home Mary Lake. If the Queen Anne Hotel isn’t was the trial of the century. She and her sister to a Revolutionary War battleground and was enough to scare you from this city, visitors to eventually moved to a home on French Street, the site of the Civil War capture of General Alcatraz often claim to see ghosts walking the and the murder home is now a bed and breakfast Sherman. Many tourists choose to take haunted cellblocks and hear voices in the cafeteria! where Andrew and Abby are said to still roam. ghost tours while they’re in town, and are Need a room for the night? excited to learn about the city made famous by 10. Portland, Oregon has developed a the bestselling book Midnight in the Garden of reputation as being the most haunted city of the Good and Evil. Pacific Northwest due to the Shanghai Tunnels. These haunted tunnels were used to kidnap 2. Gettysburg’s Civil War battle resulted in people in the 1800s and shuttle them to the 51,000 American casualties and as a result, it is harbor to be shipped off as slaves and believed that nearly all 40 miles of the prostitutes in the Far East. The White Eagle Gettysburg battlefields have paranormal Café, a former brothel, hotel and boarding activity. The city is home to many ghosts that house, is also said to be haunted. show up in photos, including the ghost of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Haunted Houses: 10 3. Salem, Mass., makes the list as the site of the Houses With Real Ghosts infamous Salem Witch Trials in the 1600s. By Kathy Kristof Gallows Hill is believed to be haunted by the spirits of the 19 “witches” hanged there and the 1. Winchester House (above) town is known as “Witch City, USA.” Location: San Jose, CA Regardless of whether you believe in ghosts, Notable ghost: Sarah Winchester Salem has one of the largest Halloween celebrations in the country for people of all As one of two homes in California ages…and beliefs. sanctioned by the U.S. Commerce Department as being haunted (the other is the Whaley 4.New Orleans has both voodoo and slavery in House, below), the magnificent Winchester its past, with famous voodoo priestess Marie House stands alone as perhaps the most bizarre Laveau, “The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans,” haunted home in the U.S. It was inspired and as its most famous ghost! In addition to all of designed by Sarah Winchester (photo), widow Chris Rutkowski’s name is synonymous the voodoo magic, the city’s St. Louis Cemetery of William Winchester, founder of Winchester with UFO research the world over, and this is considered one of America’s most haunted rifles. Legend goes that Sarah was deeply book captures his most breathtaking research, cemeteries. affected by the deaths of her daughter, Annie, in along with new and exciting accounts, that will 1866 and then her husband, William, in 1881. have you questioning “are we alone in the 5. San Antonio, Texas is regarded as the most Sarah consulted a medium who instructed her to universe?” The Big Book of UFOs is a haunted city in the state of Texas, with dozens build a house to ward off evil spirits. compendium of his best and most disturbing of ghostly sightings throughout its quarters. The Construction on the Winchester House started in UFO stories for enthusiastic fans everywhere, city is also the historic site of the Battle of the 1884 and continued for 38 years — until Sarah’s with startling evidence to make even the biggest Alamo, and the fort is said to be haunted by death in 1922. Sarah reportedly held nightly skeptics believe. The renowned ufologist takes those who died during it. seances to gain guidance from spirits and her us on a tour of UFOs in Canada and around the dead husband for the home’s design. What world. He has studied UFOs, aliens, abductions, 6. St. Augustine, Florida is the nation’s oldest resulted was a maze-like residence full of and even encounters reported by kids. city and the first permanently occupied twisting and turning hallways, dead-ends, secret Rutkowski offers many famous reports, such as European settlement. Castillo de San Marcos, panels, a window built into a floor, staircases the “ghost airplanes” seen over Canada’s an amazing star-shaped fort, is rumored to be leading to nowhere, doors that open to walls, Parliament in 1915, but also includes many one of the most haunted places, and the St. upside-down columns, and rooms built, then exciting new cases, secret files, and statistics, as Augustine Lighthouse has appeared on the intentionally closed off — all to ward off and well as lots of tidbits and trivia to keep everyone popular TV show Ghost Hunters. confuse evil spirits. Read more about Sarah and excited. the fascinating Winchester House. 7. Charleston, South Carolina’s downtown The Big Book of UFOs is available at area known as The Battery was a protective 2. Lizzie Borden House (above) www.amazon.com artillery installation during the Civil War. The Location: Fall River, MA or from area is known for its ghost stories that Notable ghosts: Andrew and Abby Borden www.dundurn.com originated with the Gullah, a West African culture that populates parts of South Carolina Who killed Andrew and Abby Borden To file a UFO Report and Georgia. The Battery Carriage House Inn is with an ax on the morning of Aug. 4, 1892 in the city’s famous haunted hotel, where visitors this Fall River, MA home? To this day, no one Go To often see strange happenings. truly knows. Lizzie Borden, the daughter of Andrew and step-daughter of Abby, became the 8. Chicago, Illinois is rumored to be one of the prime suspect and eventually, the subject of a www.ufocenter.com Prohibition-era gangsters’ favorite places to popular children’s rhyme. Andrew was a dump bodies, and its Bachelor’s Grove widowed cabinet-maker and had two daughters, cemetery is said to be haunted. There are also Lizzie (photo) and Emma Lenora. In 1865, he The National Reporting over 6,000 Confederate soldiers and sailors married Abby Durfee Gray and then in 1872, he buried at Oak Woods Cemetery during the Civil bought the home pictured above so he could be Center