Haunted SUNY

There have been rumors of various places on campus being haunted.  The first and most obvious haunted site is the cemetery.  It is a very small cemetery located right next to the Stood.  The cemetery contains the remains of  Colonel Thomas Thomas, the original land owner and Revolutionary War hero, his family and his servants.  There are only a few, very old and damaged headstones left in the cemetery.  Over the years students have reported hearing strange noises and feeling an odd presence in the buildings surrounding the cemetery.
Another haunted site on campus is the house located across the street from Starbucks right next to the day care center.  It is reported that an old man hung himself either in the attic or in the basement many years ago and his spirit still remains in the house and can be seen in the windows from time to time.
The old Elephant Tree is also reported haunted.  While students sit under the tree reading, studying or just relaxing they claim that the branches and leaves sway even when there is no wind.  It is said that someone was hung from the tree; either a young girl took her life by hanging herself from the tree or it may have been used to hang slaves.
The water tower behind the Farside dorms is also said to be haunted.  The rumor is that a young boy somehow died in the water years ago.

Texas Panhandle Area

Amarillo Tradewinds Airport

• Amarillo is the Panhandle’s largest city, with a population of approximately 200,000 people. In addition to the town’s living residents, there are tales of a few who have died but still linger there in some form. Tales tell of Tradewinds Airport hosting one or much such spectral residents. Although today it offers charter services and airstrips for small aircraft pilots, it was a private airstrip back in the 1950s. According to legend, a local pilot used to take his girlfriend out in his plane—until the day his wife confronted them, killing the pair of illicit lovers and then herself. Reports tell of mysterious traces of perfume on the runway in evenings and the sounds of an argument, followed by gunshots in an empty hanger. Supposedly, on the anniversary of the event, you can see a ghostly plane taxing to that fatal hanger.

Amarillo Natatorium

• Built in 1922 to house a community swimming pool, as a way to escape the Panhandle heat, this building has undergone several changes. After the swimming pool was covered over, the building acquired a dance floor, and some upper areas were converted into gambling rooms. It has provided a performance stage from performers ranging from Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison in the 1950s to the Dixie Chicks in more recent days. The former gambling rooms have become an antique mall and cafe. Perhaps because it held so many good memories for so many people over the decades, a few seem to have decided to linger there after death. Some observers have reported seeing ghostly couples spinning on the dance floor. Others tell of cold spots and furniture mysteriously moving, seemingly on its own, overnight.

Panhandle Plains Museum in Canyon, TX

• The town of Canyon lies 14 miles south of Amarillo and is home to Texas A&M University, the Big Tex roadside attraction cowboy statue from the 1950s and the Panhandle Plains Museum. In the middle of the car and wagon room in the museum sits an old ambulance wagon and, at times, some say, a ghostly woman, known as Sara Jane, stands next to the wagon. People who have seen her report that her appearance is accompanied by the smell of blood, as well as headaches and feelings of panic.

Spooky Holiday in Bangs, TX

• If you’re in the vicinity of the small Panhandle town of Bangs in the mood for some spookiness rather than Christmas cheer, drive down Highway 67. Stories say that along this road, long ago, on Christmas Eve, a man killed his wife and children, then set the house on fire. Supposedly, you can see the yellow glare of spectral flames in the ruins of the house on the anniversary of the dark deed.

On the face of it, Preta are just a bit pathetic. Featured in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism, they’re basically dead and hungry but unable to eat, like the lamest zombie ever. But take one look at their backstory and you begin to feel a creeping dread. Preta are just dead people with a massive deficit of Karma. As punishment for being the scum of the earth in a previous life they’re brought back to roam the planet with a desperate hankering for food and no way to eat it. Sometimes the first bite bursts into flames in their mouth, sometimes the food just disappears; others they chew it but find they can’t swallow. And did I mention the food they crave is human waste? For not helping enough old ladies cross the road, they’re stuck crawling through sewers, desperately craving feces they can’t even eat. Oh, and apparently the moon and sun conspire together to alternately burn and freeze them like a vindictive Gobi Desert.

Utah’s Most Haunted: The Top Five Haunted Hot Spots

5) Alta Club, Salt Lake City: A Country Club On Fire

The Alta Club was a social club which had hotel rooms on the top floor in which members could live if they wished. As the story goes, there was a man who fell asleep on the coach with a burning cigar in his hand. It caused a fire in which not only most of the top floor was consumed, but the man died. You can still see some of the soot from the fire above the outside windows on the top floor. Many have seen the man (from which pictures were taken) who died in the fire wandering the halls of the hotel room floors. Mostly he looks at his room and can disappear with a second look. Unexplained but true, there is also a ghost in the basement who touches one lightly on the shoulder. With the ghost comes the strong smell of lilac perfume. Even today the place is still thriving as a refuge from city life for the professional elite, doing its same business since 1883.

4) Old Deseret, Salt Lake City: The Mormon Settlement

These buildings that lie in this area today are part of the former settlement of Brigham Young who brought the followers of Joseph Smith here after his murder by a Illinois mob in the year of 1844. They are indeed very haunted. The park today has employees in full on costume helping you to explore the area. The forest farmhouse of Brigham (which was eventually moved to the national park it is in today) was reported to be haunted by Young’s ghost. After the house was moved it apparently switched ghosts and in its new stead was the ghost of Brigham’s nineteenth wife (Ann Eliza Webb). She is very small, dressed in black, and hangs out the kitchen window. Webb hated this house and was called “the lion’s house” because of how she felt about his other wives. After divorcing Young, Webb reportedly toured the country denouncing her husband and the Mormon church. At the Jewkes-Draper House you can hearing the haunting sounds of a children’s party of some sort. Then Mary Fielding Smith can be seen in the doorway of the Smith house wagging her finger (probably because her house was completely turned around when it was moved to the park).

3) Clearfield Job Corps Center, Clearfield: The Navy’s Most Haunted

As you may have guessed from the title this area used to be the center of an old navy base. There is tons of supernatural activity in this place. Here are just a few of the areas within the place that are considered to be very haunted. First is Dorm E where there are three ghosts. The first one is a little girl about 5 or 6 who stands in the dorm’s doorway and at times she can be seen bouncing her ball down the hallways. Another ghost that hangs around E is a resident advisor who checks all the “students” in their rooms. The third spirit is as of yet an unidentified ghost who is supposedly a student who died recently. In Dorm L there is an old fashioned military nurse who wanders the halls. She could be the same nurse who haunts the TB ward, but that has not been proven. The movie theater section of this place used to be a military morgue and like all morgues it is indeed haunted.

2) Roy High School, Roy: The Erratic Dead

Probably the eeriest things about haunted high schools are the spirits that haunt there. After all, mostly what haunts high schools are teenagers. As we know teenagers emit energy that is erratic and unstable. So, when a high school that is this haunted comes about, you know that is going to be reflection of all that energy left behind. Mable is the most frequently seen ghost and although no one knows how she died, we do not that she hangs around backstage and has been known to scare people, move props around, make props disappear, and have lights go on and off. There is also a lady in a purple hat who also haunts the auditorium, but she beckons for whomever she sees to come follow her. No one as of yet has done so because she gives off an evil and sinister aura. The third ghost is just a head on the upper balconies. When he appears, it sounds like the lights are moving along their cords. The fourth ghost roams the halls of the whole high school. When someone is alone in the halls is when he actually glares at them. Sometimes it will walk with you and when it does you can smell his shampoo and feel his breath on your skin. Apparently he was hit by a train on the way to school one day. Although it may not seem like a huge amount of ghosts to you, Roy High School gets the second spot because they are seen most often.

1) Mountain Meadows Massacre (Mountain Meadows): A Massacre (Any Questions?).

Ever heard of the infamous mountain meadows massacre? Well, everyone in the state of Utah does. It occurred in the April of 1857 when a band of settlers from Arkansas were traveling to the state of California to find a better life for themselves. They were murdered on the spot by the Mormon Militia. It wasn’t just the men, it was the women, and most of the children of the camp. The reasons for this brutal massacre are not known even to this day. What could of a group of Arkansas people done to have pissed off the Mormon Militia? Some suppose that it was the need for their cattle, or supplies, or fear of the government. I guess we will never know, but what we do know is that the spirits of this area are crying out for some resolve. When the creek is approached from the area of the monument the dead have been known to call out to many people and people who visit the area have been known to feel an immense sadness. Mountain Meadows is not only the top haunted hot spot of Utah, because of the tragic massacre that happened here, but also because of the strong presence felt when in this area.

Is There Special Meaning to Birthmarks?

In folklore significance has been placed and generally three theories appear across cultures and time:

1. Birthmarks signify are an omen which may denote a characteristic or life path
2. Birthmarks are leftover from a past life/ re-incarnation
3. Birthmarks are the result of events that happened to the mother while carrying her child or actions she took during her pregnancy.

So let us explore these further.

Birthmarks are an Omen

In this theory, the location of a birthmark signifies something about the person. For example it has been suggested that a birthmark on the right arm is an omen for prosperity, while a birthmark on the left arm conversely signifies financial struggle through life. The parallel of the right and left side of the body however does not always correlate to an opposing meaning of an omen. If a birthmark appears on the right foot, it is thought that the person in question will have an overpowering love of exploration and travel, while if such a birthmark appears on the left foot; this would be a sign of great intellectual ability.

The meaning ascribed to a birthmark can also differ depending on the gender of the person; marking on the ankle for a man denotes personal refinement, while for a woman such a marking is considered to represent independence and a zest for life.

Birthmarks and re-incarnation
The correlation between birthmarks and re-incarnation was first studied extensively in 1960 by Dr. Ian Stevenson (a former director in the field of Psychiatry and current researcher in personalities).  Stevenson was drawn into this research upon hearing about a case in Sri Lanka, involving a child who remembered his past life. After extensively interviewing the family of the child, the child and the people who the child claimed were his parents in his past life, Stevenson was convinced that the possibility of a past life was not only worth investigating, but highly probable.

Our interest in Dr. Stevenson’s research lays in his discovery that many children who remembered their past lives bore birthmarks located on their bodies which correlated with the deaths they claimed to have experienced prior to being re-incarnated. Being a scientist, Stevenson examined gestational and genetic causes that could be the cause of such skin pigmentation formations, and found that he could only explain 30%-60% of such cases. The combination of children’s memories and their birthmarks gave Stevenson a visual indication to his research, that re-incarnation was plausible.

Birthmarks, gestation and the mother
Italian and Spanish folklore states that birthmarks result from un-satisfied wishes of the mother during pregnancy, such as wishing for certain foods. Other believes include that the mother was startled during pregnancy resulting in a birthmark, the mother looking at a crescent moon during pregnancy and eating red foods during pregnancy. Finally some say that strong emotions felt by the pregnant women appear as birthmarks on the child.

While it is clear that there are many variations and believes about birthmarks, it is fair enough to suggest that mostly these can be attributed to old wives tales. However, the prominence of believes throughout many cultures and timeframes cannot be ignored, implying that there may more to be discovered. If you happen to be lucky enough to have been born with a birthmark which has been given an omen of luck prosperity or fortune, than perhaps it is wise to think it true and be happy!

Glenn Dale Hospital, Maryland: The Walls Are Screaming

This hospital operated in the 1900s and was abandoned in the 1970s. You will notice that the hospital is a set of many buildings that are across the road from each other. The haunting seems to be centered in the first two buildings on the right. The broken doors, broken windows, and abandoned medical equipment makes this hospital have an uncanny resemblance to many horror movie set. The sightings have included but aren’t limited to a pack of dogs, apparitions of patients roaming the second floor, smoke from the crematorium, shouting and screaming from the walls, screams, laughter, the smell of burning flesh, and a man in a straightjacket who committed suicide in this hospital after he went crazy following the murder of his wife and children. It is a haunting and very creepy place.