The legends usa. 10 Chilling Urban Legends from Across America: Unraveling the Mysteries

What are the most spine-tingling urban legends in the USA. How do these stories captivate our imagination and reflect our deepest fears. Why do urban legends persist in modern society.

The Suscan Screamer: Pennsylvania’s Haunting Bridge Tale

Deep in the heart of Pennsylvania, a chilling legend has taken root beneath the old Susquehanna Railroad Bridge on Suscan Road. Known as the Suscan Screamer, this eerie tale has captured the imagination of locals and visitors alike. But what exactly is the story behind this spectral bride?

According to the legend, if you dare to drive onto the bridge, turn off your car, place your keys on the roof, and wait, you’ll witness a haunting sight in your rearview mirror. The ghost of a jilted bride, who allegedly hung herself after being abandoned at the altar, is said to appear. Her final moments were reportedly marked by a blood-curdling scream as she plunged to her death.

Interestingly, the Suscan Screamer isn’t the only supernatural entity said to haunt this area. Reports of a creature with “webbed feet with long claws and a huge head” have also surfaced, adding another layer of mystery to the region. Furthermore, Bigfoot-like encounters are allegedly common, turning this stretch of Pennsylvania into a hotbed of paranormal activity.

The Psychology Behind Bridge-Based Urban Legends

Why do bridges often feature in urban legends? Bridges symbolize transitions and liminal spaces, making them perfect settings for stories of the supernatural. They represent the boundary between the known and unknown, the living and the dead. This psychological aspect contributes to the enduring nature of legends like the Suscan Screamer.

Lillian Gray: The Enigmatic Tombstone of Salt Lake City

In the heart of Salt Lake City, Utah, lies a cemetery with a tombstone that has sparked countless rumors and theories. The grave belongs to Lillian E. Gray, who passed away in the 1950s at the age of 77. At first glance, it appears unremarkable, but a closer look reveals an unsettling inscription: “Victim of the Beast 666.”

This cryptic message has led to a whirlwind of speculation. Was Lillian Gray involved in a Satanic cult? Did she fall victim to a modern-day witch hunt? The religious undertones of the inscription are particularly striking given Salt Lake City’s devout reputation.

However, as with many urban legends, the truth may be less supernatural but no less intriguing. Reports suggest that the inscription was commissioned by Gray’s paranoid, anti-government husband, who blamed law enforcement for her death. This revelation raises questions about the nature of conspiracy theories and their role in shaping urban legends.

The Power of Epitaphs in Creating Legends

Epitaphs have long been a source of fascination and speculation. In Lillian Gray’s case, a simple yet enigmatic phrase has transformed an ordinary grave into a local legend. This phenomenon demonstrates how easily a few words can spark the human imagination and give rise to complex narratives.

The Ghost of Stow Lake: San Francisco’s Haunting Tale

Golden Gate Park in San Francisco is renowned for its beauty, but it’s also home to numerous ghost stories. Among these, the legend of the Ghost of Stow Lake stands out, first appearing in the San Francisco Chronicle on January 6, 1908.

The story revolves around Arthur Pigeon, who was pulled over for speeding. His excuse? He claimed to be fleeing from the ghost of a woman at Stow Lake, describing her as having “long, fair hair” and being “barefooted.”

Like many urban legends, the ghost’s backstory involves tragedy. Some versions claim she was a mother who lost her child, while others suggest she killed her child before taking her own life. These dark themes reflect common motifs in American folklore, often centered around maternal guilt and loss.

The Role of Media in Propagating Urban Legends

The Ghost of Stow Lake legend demonstrates the crucial role media plays in spreading and legitimizing urban legends. By publishing the story, the San Francisco Chronicle gave credence to the tale, allowing it to take root in the public imagination. This interplay between journalism and folklore continues to shape our understanding of local legends today.

Bobby Mackey’s Hell Portal: Kentucky’s Paranormal Hotspot

Bobby Mackey’s Music World, a honky-tonk bar in Wilder, Kentucky, has become infamous for its alleged paranormal activity. The establishment boasts not one, but three interconnected urban legends that have become a significant draw for visitors.

The most outlandish claim is the existence of a portal to Hell in the Well Room, supposedly allowing demons to cross into our world. While the reasons for demonic interest in country music remain unclear, this legend has captured the imagination of many.

Two more traditional ghost stories are associated with the venue. The first involves Pearl Bryan, a real historical figure who was found decapitated in the late 19th century. The second centers around Johanna, a woman said to have poisoned herself after her father hanged her lover, a singer at a club that once stood behind Music World.

The Commercialization of Urban Legends

Bobby Mackey’s Music World exemplifies how businesses can capitalize on urban legends. By embracing and promoting these stories, the bar has transformed local folklore into a unique selling point. This raises interesting questions about the commodification of supernatural beliefs and their role in modern tourism.

Patterson Road: Houston’s Civil War Ghosts

In Houston, Texas, Patterson Road near Highway Six has become the focal point of a Civil War-themed urban legend. While details vary, all versions agree that the ghosts haunting the area are soldiers from this pivotal period in American history.

Some accounts claim that tapping on your car roof while driving down Patterson Road at night will result in ghostly tapping responses. Others suggest that parking on the bridge with your car turned off will lead to the sensation of the vehicle being pushed by unseen hands.

The Persistence of Civil War Legends in American Folklore

The endurance of Civil War-themed urban legends like the Patterson Road ghosts reflects the deep impact this conflict has had on American cultural memory. These stories serve as a form of living history, keeping the emotions and experiences of the past alive in the popular imagination.

The Psychological Appeal of Urban Legends

Urban legends like those discussed above continue to captivate us, even in our modern, technologically advanced society. But why do these stories hold such enduring appeal?

• They provide a safe way to explore fear and the unknown
• They often contain moral lessons or cautionary tales
• They create a sense of shared cultural experience
• They offer explanations for unexplained events or phenomena
• They can serve as a form of social commentary

Psychologists suggest that urban legends fulfill a fundamental human need for storytelling and meaning-making. By sharing these tales, we create connections with others and make sense of the world around us, even if the stories themselves are fictional.

The Evolution of Urban Legends in the Digital Age

As our society becomes increasingly digital, how are urban legends adapting? The internet and social media have dramatically changed the way these stories spread and evolve.

1. Faster dissemination: Stories can now go viral in a matter of hours
2. Global reach: Local legends can quickly become international phenomena
3. Multimedia formats: Legends now spread through videos, memes, and interactive content
4. Fact-checking challenges: The line between fact and fiction becomes increasingly blurred
5. Creation of new legends: The digital world has given rise to entirely new types of urban legends, such as those revolving around internet culture and technology

Despite these changes, the core appeal of urban legends remains the same. They continue to reflect our societal fears, values, and fascinations, adapting to new mediums while retaining their power to captivate and unsettle us.

The Impact of Urban Legends on Local Communities

Urban legends don’t just exist in the realm of storytelling; they can have tangible effects on the communities where they originate. How do these tales shape local identity and economy?

In many cases, urban legends become a source of pride and identity for local communities. They can attract tourists, as seen with Bobby Mackey’s Music World, potentially boosting the local economy. However, they can also lead to practical issues, such as trespassing or vandalism at allegedly haunted sites.

Some communities embrace their legendary status, organizing ghost tours or paranormal investigations. Others may find the attention unwelcome, especially if the legends are associated with tragic real-life events. The challenge lies in balancing the preservation of these cultural stories with respect for historical fact and community sensitivities.

Case Study: The Economic Impact of the Mothman Legend

Consider the case of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, home of the famous Mothman legend. This small town has successfully leveraged its association with the cryptid to drive tourism. The annual Mothman Festival attracts thousands of visitors, providing a significant economic boost to the local community.

This example illustrates how urban legends can transcend mere storytelling to become integral parts of a community’s cultural and economic landscape. It also raises questions about the ethics of promoting unverified legends for financial gain.

Debunking Urban Legends: The Role of Skepticism

While urban legends can be entertaining and culturally significant, it’s crucial to approach them with a critical eye. How can we balance appreciation for these stories with healthy skepticism?

Critical thinking skills are essential when evaluating urban legends. This involves:

• Fact-checking claims against reliable sources
• Considering the logical plausibility of the story
• Examining the historical context and potential origins of the legend
• Recognizing common narrative patterns in urban legends
• Understanding the psychological factors that make these stories appealing

By developing these skills, we can appreciate urban legends for their cultural value while maintaining a grounded understanding of reality. This approach allows us to enjoy the stories without falling into the trap of spreading misinformation.

The Importance of Media Literacy

In the age of social media and instant information sharing, media literacy is more crucial than ever. Teaching people to critically evaluate the sources and content of the information they encounter can help combat the spread of false or misleading urban legends.

Educational initiatives focusing on media literacy and critical thinking can empower individuals to navigate the complex landscape of modern information, including distinguishing between fact and folklore.

Urban Legends as a Mirror of Society

Urban legends often reflect the fears, values, and preoccupations of the societies that produce them. By analyzing these stories, what can we learn about American culture and psyche?

Many American urban legends revolve around themes of:

• Technology gone awry
• Loss of innocence
• Dangers lurking in seemingly safe places
• Punishment for moral transgressions
• Government conspiracy and cover-ups

These recurring motifs provide insight into the collective anxieties and moral framework of American society. For instance, the prevalence of ghost brides and mothers in urban legends might reflect societal expectations and pressures placed on women.

Cultural Variations in Urban Legends

While this article focuses on American urban legends, it’s worth noting that these stories can vary significantly across cultures. Comparing urban legends from different countries can reveal fascinating differences in cultural values, fears, and beliefs.

For example, Japanese urban legends often involve technology and modern life, reflecting the country’s highly technological society. In contrast, many European legends are rooted in older folkloric traditions. These variations highlight the role of cultural context in shaping our collective storytelling.

The Future of Urban Legends

As we move further into the 21st century, how might urban legends evolve? Will traditional ghost stories and local legends continue to thrive, or will they be replaced by new forms of digital folklore?

Several trends suggest the direction urban legends might take in the future:

1. Integration with technology: Legends involving AI, virtual reality, or other emerging technologies may become more prevalent
2. Global narratives: As the world becomes more connected, we may see more urban legends that transcend local or national boundaries
3. Interactive storytelling: Digital platforms could allow for more participatory forms of legend-creation and sharing
4. Blending with reality: The line between urban legend and real events may become increasingly blurred, especially in the age of “fake news” and deep fakes
5. Scientific themes: As our understanding of the universe expands, legends involving concepts from quantum physics, space exploration, or biotechnology may emerge

Despite these potential changes, the core function of urban legends – to express cultural anxieties, provide moral lessons, and satisfy our appetite for the mysterious – is likely to remain constant.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Urban Legends

As AI technology advances, it’s conceivable that it could play a role in both creating and analyzing urban legends. AI algorithms could potentially generate new legends based on existing patterns, or help researchers identify common themes and variations across large numbers of stories.

This intersection of folklore and technology raises intriguing questions about authorship, authenticity, and the nature of storytelling in the digital age. Will AI-generated urban legends resonate with human audiences in the same way as organically evolved stories? Only time will tell.

In conclusion, urban legends continue to be a fascinating aspect of American culture, reflecting our deepest fears, values, and fascinations. From the Suscan Screamer to the ghosts of Patterson Road, these stories captivate our imagination and provide insight into the American psyche. As we move into the future, urban legends will undoubtedly evolve, adapting to new technologies and social realities while continuing to fulfill their age-old role in our collective storytelling tradition.

10 Creepy Urban Legends From Around The USA

Admit it, you still get a chill when you think back to the urban legends of your youth. Every child hears the stories: masked maniacs, ghosts, alien abductions. And they all must be true, because they totally happened to a friend of a friend’s cousin’s girlfriend. Why would you need more proof than that?

10The Suscan Screamer

Is there anything creepier than a dead bride? Apparently not, because stories of these tragic ladies crop up all over the world. On Suscan Road in Pennsylvania, under what used to be called the Susquehanna Railroad Bridge, yet another of these legends has taken hold. According to many locals, if you drive onto the bridge, turn off your car, put the keys on the roof, and wait, you will be able to see the Suscan Screamer in your rearview mirror.

Most stories agree that she is the ghost of a woman who hung herself on the bridge after being dumped at the altar. She was supposed to have screamed loudly as as jumped to her death. But there are other stories from the same area, including a creature that had “webbed feet with long claws and had a huge head.”

Bigfoot-like encounters are also allegedly common in the region. Maybe someone should ask the dead bride if she’s seen anything suspicious the next time she pops into their backseat.

9Lillian Gray

This legend all started thanks to a tombstone located in the middle of a cemetery in Salt Lake City, Utah. It belongs to a woman named Lillian E. Gray, who died in the 1950s at the age of 77. At first glance, it doesn’t look any different from the other graves surrounding it. Nothing catches the eye until you see the inscription written underneath: “Victim of the Beast 666.”

Now that is a bit unusual.

What could this enigmatic statement mean? Is it some kind of accusation, made by the believers in one of the most religious cities in the nation? Could she have been sacrificed by a Satanic cult? Was she a devil worshiper herself? An innocent woman punished in a Salem-style witch hunt? Those are only some of the rumors intrigued citizens have come up with to explain it.

Of course, there are always those who have to come along and ruin the fun. It looks like the inscription was commissioned by the woman’s paranoid, anti-government husband, who blamed the police for her death. It is hard to say whether that makes the whole thing less creepy, or more so.

8The Ghost Of Stow Lake

Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California is pretty well-known for its paranormal stories. If you believe locals, it is so full of spirits that you run the risk of crashing straight into one while jogging. They might as well rename it “No One Is Alive Here Park.” But one ghost story has been the most popular and circulated, ever since it appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on January 6, 1908. That’s the story of the Ghost of Stow Lake.

The newspaper piece starts with a man named Arthur Pigeon. He was going just a bit too fast in his car when he was pulled over by police. But he told the officers it wasn’t his fault, as he was trying to get away! He claimed to have seen the ghost of a woman at Stow Lake. She had “long, fair hair and was barefooted.”

The legends always claim this woman was a mother who lost a child, or else killed her child and then herself. America seems to be full of women offing themselves and their offspring.

7Bobby Mackey’s Hell Portal

Bobby Mackey’s Music World is a popular honky-tonk bar in Wilder, Kentucky, owned by country singer Bobby Mackey. There are three associated urban legends that have become so popular they are now considered a selling point for the establishment.

The first is that there is an actual portal to Hell located in the Well Room, which allows demons to come into our realm. It isn’t clear why they would want to. Maybe they are really into country ballads and overpriced beer.

As for the two other stories, they are more traditional hauntings. First, you have Pearl Bryan, a real pregnant woman who was found decapitated in the late 19th century. Her lover Scott Jackson and his friend Alonzo Walling were hanged for her murder. Second is the legend of a woman named Johanna, who is said to have fallen in love with a singer at a club that used to exist behind Music World. Her angry father supposedly hanged her lover in his dressing room, leading her to poison herself in retribution. Bobby Mackey wrote a song about the incident, which strongly suggests she is still haunting his bar.

6Patterson Road

In Houston, Texas, cultural memories of the Civil War have sparked numerous urban legends. One of the creepiest is centered around Patterson Road, located near Highway Six.

The claims here tend to differ, depending on whom you ask. However, everyone agrees that the ghosts involved were Civil War soldiers. Because, as we all know, every bit of land someone from that period walked across has become a ghostly hot spot by default.

Believers say that if you go onto the Langham Creek Bridge on Patterson at night and park your car with the lights off, you will hear tapping or see a mist surround your car. More skeptical locals will point out that parking your car with your lights off on a busy bridge is a good way to become a ghost yourself.

5Goatman

Some urban legends are created by adults who want to scare their kids into behaving. Anyone who grew up with Mexican parents will be well used to this method, and probably still feel a deep-seated fear of El Cucuy.

Other stories are more likely to have been made up by your jerk older brother who wants to freak you out. Such is the case of the Goatman of Beltsville, Maryland. Who is the Goatman? There is no official story, but most claim a scientist at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center did experiments on goats. This somehow led to him actually becoming part goat, a kind of animal-human hybrid.

He is said to roam the backwoods of Fletchertown Road, attacking people and cars with his axe. Why a scientist-turned-goatman would carry an axe isn’t explained.

4The Snallygaster

In the 1730s, German immigrants in Fredrick County, Maryland claimed to have encountered a terrifying creature. Shortly after founding their town, the residents began reporting sightings of a beast that was half-bird, half-reptile, with a beak made of metal with razor-sharp teeth. It also sported tentacles like an octopus that it used to seize people and carry them away, presumably to feed to its bird-lizard-robot-squid babies.

When you first hear this story, not to mention the creature’s moniker of “the Snallygaster,” it is easy to scoff. But the plot thickened a bit for residents when sightings of these creatures were reported everywhere from New Jersey to Ohio. Of course, “sightings reported” and “hard evidence” are worlds apart, but we aren’t going to nitpick.

3Green Man

This is one of the few stories on this list that can be traced back to a real person, including the more frightening details. In Koppel, Pennsylvania, it became common to see a horribly disfigured man walking down the darkened streets at night. He was given the name Charlie No-Face, or Green Man, and everyone had their own story of sighting him.

That’s because he was 100 percent real. Born Raymond Robinson in 1910, at the age of eight he was trying to view a bird’s nest on Morado Bridge when there was an accident. He touched a power line, which electrocuted him, causing horrific facial injuries that never properly healed.

Because his appearance tended to cause panic and make babies cry, he spent most of his 74 years hiding out in his home with his family. But at night he would make the streets his own, taking long walks when people were less likely to see him.

Obviously, this didn’t work all the time. Hence he became a living urban legend in his town, where some people used to drive around all night hoping to catch a glimpse.

2Dog Boy

Quitman, Arkansas is one of those areas that is filled with ghost stories. Most of the older houses seem to have a spirit attached, so it would take a lot for a legend stand out from the crowd. But the tale that has managed to claw its way to the top is the legend of Dog Boy.

In 1954, Gerald Floyd Bettis was born to Floyd and Alline Bettis in what has since been named the Bettis House. Those who knew him claim he used to catch dogs and cats and keep them in his home as a young boy. But he wasn’t playing veterinarian. Instead, he would horribly torture and kill the creatures.

But what he is really known for is his treatment of his parents. The story goes that he imprisoned them in the attic, keeping them there for years. According to police reports, he did abuse his parents quite badly, but wasn’t arrested for it until after the death of his father and the continued abuse of his mother. He died in prison of a drug overdose.

Since then, people have claimed that paranormal activity is common in the house. Flickering lights, strange noises, and moving objects have all been reported. Considering Bettis once threw his father out of a window, that seems to be getting off relatively light in the haunting department.

1Char-Man

A well-known urban legend in California comes from the Ojai Valley in Camp Comfort County Park. They say the spirit of a man burnt in a fire will emerge from the forest and attack cars and hikers. He is called Char-Man because the majority of his face and body could be described as “extra-crispy.”

There are several versions of Char-Man’s origin, but they all begin with a wildfire that occurred in the park in 1948. The main story goes that a father and son were caught in the blaze and the older man was killed. But the son survived, and when a rescue team arrived they found that he had strung up his father and pulled off his skin. He then disappeared into the woods. Another story makes the victims a husband and wife, claiming that the man went mad as he lay trapped and injured in the fire, unable to aid his wife, who was screaming for his help.

Either way, it is said that if you drive onto a bridge located in the park and get out of your car, Char-Man will come. The horribly burned man will run at you and attack, trying to tear off your skin—perhaps to take as his own.

Olivia Anderson is a freelance writer and horror junkie living in Salt Lake City, Utah. She can be contacted by email here, or you can check out her (not at all creepy) vegetarian blog at thewannabeveggie.com.

10 Chilling Urban Legends In North Carolina That Are Sure To Frighten

Urban legends certainly ignite the storyteller in all of us. We hear these tales, we tell them to our friends and family, and soon they become stories passed down through generations. While North Carolina is full of the haunted, the weird, and the scary, we also have some pretty interesting urban legends that add to the mystery and allure of our state. Which of these urban legends in North Carolina have you heard before?

We’re aware that these uncertain times are limiting many aspects of life. While we continue to feature destinations that make our state wonderful, please take proper precautions or add them to your bucket list to see at a later date. If you know of a local business that could use some extra support during these times, please nominate them here: onlyinyourstate. com/nominate

1.Raleigh’s Haunting Capitol Building History

Built in 1840, the old Raleigh state capitol building continues to be one the best preserved pieces of history in the state. The anitquated history is felt through original furniture, decorations, and souls that still linger. Between former enraged politicians and a possible murder, politics aren’t the only scary subject in Raleigh. In 1961, the seat of the North Carolina State Government moved just two blocks away, but the original building still remains. Of course, any old building contains tons of history…but what about ghosts? Most encounters of the ghostly kind are reported by the night watchers who claim to have heard yells, screams, and doors being unexplainably slammed and opened. The strangest encounter was witnessed and reported by a watchman by the name of Mr. Jackson. Jackson claims to have witnessed the manual elevator going up and down from the third to first floor, while distant voices carried on conversation as if a time/space break was occuring and somehow, Jackson was witnessing a day in the life in the 1900’s. In the 1860’s, a woman was murdered at the front steps of the Capitol building. Witnesses who have heard chilling, shrill screams, attribute this to the victim’s ghost. From downright terrifying to sometimes silly, the Capitol building and its ghosts are famous NC urban legends.

2. A scary ‘monster’ with a cute name, Lake Norman’s Normie

Manmade in 1963, Lake Norman was created by damning the Catawba River at Cowan’s Ford. While no ancient creatures could be waiting to make their ascension, something could have possibly been caught in the making of Lake Norman. ‘Normie’ has so many reports, and sightings, it is hard to believe this urban legend is NOT true. Divers have reported seeing a fish large enough to swallow a human, and have vowed never to dive in certain areas again. Fishermen, and lake dwellers, have also reported seeing Normie. Maybe he is just an overgrown garfish or mutated fresh water eel, but it is still a mystery what exactly lurks in these waters.

3. The Beast of Bladenboro

In 1954, an alarming amount of dead livestock and animal mutilations began being reported in Bladenboro. The animals were found with their jaw either broken or removed, and the blood drained from their bodies, linking this ‘beast’ to the legend of the Chupacabra. The witness reports described the animal as resembling a panther or overgrown cat. The town banded together in an effort to hunt and kill the beast. Yet, no results turned up. For 50 years the town of Bladenboro sat quietly as no attacks were reported. Then, in 2006, the same attacks, and the same beast appeared again. No one knows what exactly the ‘beast’ is, but the mysterious attacks, and its mysterious false retirement leave us wondering and even believing there could be some truth to this legend.

4. The Brown Mountain Lights

In Burke County, as the sun descends beneath the trees and night takes over, something strange begins to happen. Bright, multicolored and mulitsized lights appear in the distance. Are they aliens? Are they ghosts? Is it just some type of ‘marsh gas?’ For over 100 years, no one has been able to figure out what the Brown Mountain Lights are. Legends link the lights to ‘ghost maidens’ searching for their loved ones after a great battle of The Cherokee and Catawba. The only truth, and agreement to this legend is that the Brown Mountain Lights are visible with your own two eyes.

5. The devil dances right here in North Carolina

The devil doesn’t need to go down to Georgia to find a soul, he can prey on some defiant camper who is camping in ‘his circle.’ The devil’s tramping ground is a real North Carolina mystery. In this 40-ft. diameter nothing will grow ‘quite right.’ Leave something in the circle, and it is sure to vanish the next day. Brave, bold souls have camped in the center of the circle. While they did not disappear, they did express that there was something strange about staying in this area overnight.

6. No need for AAA at Gravity Hill

The legend of gravity hill is linked to a truly tragic story. It is said that on Richfield Road, a young mother and her child were driving when her car stalled. As she got out of the car and attempted to push the car up the hill herself, a truck came along, hit, and killed both instantly. Today, legend has it that if you go to the hill and put baby powder on the hood you will see handprints when you get to the top. Legend also says if you put your car in neutral at the bottom, you will be pushed up the hill.

7. A dream leading to an execution

There’s no shortage of superstitions in western North Carolina. Superstition and wive’s tales are about as common as breathing. That is why when I stumbled upon this story, I found it to be truly fascinating. As the story goes….In the 1870’s there was a farmer by the name of George Feller who lived in Mcdowell County with his wife, Kathy. During this time, farming was a prime source of income for many families in the region. George’s wife suffered chronic asthma, preventing her from helping him on the farm. So George was left to do things on his own as his wife’s condition worsened. One night, a frantic George appeared at a neighbor’s door, sobbing and asking for help. He said his wife had a violent bout of asthma, and with the closest doctor being miles away, he needed immediate help. When the neighbor’s arrived, they found Kathy dead, with her infant son curled next to her body. In typical mountain fashion,the town banded together for help as all the funeral arrangements were made and finalized. On the day of the funeral, in tradition, a group of mourners walked behind the wagon carrying the coffin for the four-mile journey. As they traveled, they suddenly encountered a man on horseback who refused to let them pass. He told the mourners “You can not bury this woman, she has been murdered!” As the crowd stood in shock…the man continued…”I don’t know any of you, I live in Yancey County. But I had a dream last night that on my way into McDowell County I would meet the funeral procession of a woman killed by her husband. “This is the party I saw in my dream. The same carriage, the same coffin. Unless you have an examination made you leave me no choice but to tell the law”. Everyone stood in disbelief. While some thought it silly, others could not argue with the fact that somehow, this stranger knew it was in fact a young woman’s body in the coffin. Despite the objections by George Feller, they agreed it was the right thing to do to have the body examined. Upon examination, the doctor found that Kathy had in fact died from pressure applied to the outside of the body, not her condition. Kathy was actually murdered, and after this striking discovery it did not take long for George to admit that he and Kathy had a terrible fight the night before her death. That he did, in fact, murder his wife in rogue rage by strangling her with a leather strap. After his confession, George was hanged. Rather this story is true, or mere fiction, it is a fascinating mountain tale.

8. Wrong place, wrong time…Pactolus Lights

This infamous NC legend is the only train track story that does not involve an actual train wreck. In the early 1900’s, a young man rode his horse from Greenville to Pactolus to surprise his fiancee as she got off the train. Sadly, he was never there to greet her as he caught the attention of three men walking the tracks. They decided at this point, they should just ride instead of walk to their destination. As he approached, the three men ambushed him and murdered him. His body was hidden in the woods, but his frightened horse took off and returned to Greenville two days later. The family knew the horse returning alone was a bad omen, and went to thoroughly search the surrounding area. Their search never yielded any results. The train tracks have long been removed but the soul of the young man still haunts the area. He is said to appear in the form of a glowing orb of light. Sometimes the light will float at waist level, as if the man is walking beside his horse. Other times, at eye level as if he still riding the horse. The legend of the lights is linked to the young man trying to let his fiancee know he is there looking for her. The land is now privately owned and unwanted visitors are usually told to go away.

9. Everyone has a sixth sense at Helen’s Bridge

Located at Beaucatcher Mountain in Asheville, Helen’s Bridge is rooted in legend and unexplainable occurrences. The story goes that a young mother hung herself from this bridge after her daughter died in a fire. Incosolable, and grief-stricken, Helen is said to be seen in a long gown and will ask about the whereabouts of her child. The strangest connection to this legend though is that there have been multiple reports of car trouble at the bridge. May it be a battery dying at the bridge, or days after….people who have experienced Helen’s bridge have found looming car trouble to find them soon after their visit. It is not just Helen, but strange and dark apparitions cited around the area. The high volume of paranormal activity around this bridge fuels much of the legend. People have described seeing monster-like figures lurking behind the dense brush. Even slaps, punches, and scratches have been reported. What is really going on here?

10. Talking to the dead at Biltmore

After her husband died from complications during appendicitis surgery, Edith Vanderbilt still continued to seek advice from George. It is said that Edith would sit in his favorite room, the library, in front of the marble fireplace and carry on conversation as if George was still there. She would ask him questions, talk about her day, and eventually the servants began to believe she had lost her mind. Clearly, Edith was suffering from extreme grief, but her inability to cope with George’s death has persisted into the afterlife. It is said that to this day you can still hear her voice lightly talking to George.

Well, that was a wild, spooky ride! Which urban legends in North Carolina had you heard about? Are there any of these chilling tales you tell around the campfire?

For more creepy tales from North Carolina, be sure to check out these local legends… if you dare!

Address: Lake Norman, North Carolina, USA

Address: Capitol Building, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA

Address: Bladenboro, NC 28320, USA

Address: Brown Mountain Ridge, Upper Creek, NC 28655, USA

Address: 835-, 159 Richfield Rd, Richfield, NC 28137, USA

Address: 4005 Devils Tramping Ground Rd, Bear Creek, NC 27207, USA

Address: Pactolus, NC 27834, USA

Address: 201 Beaucatcher Rd, Asheville, NC 28805, USA

Address: Biltmore Village, Asheville, NC 28803, USA

The OIYS Visitor Center

Urban Legends In North Carolina

February 19, 2021

Kim Magaraci

What are the most haunted places in North Carolina?

One of the most haunted places in the state is the Great Dismal Swamp. Just by walking around this swamp and its surrounding woods you can feel an eerie spirit. Visit for a beautiful sunset, but don’t stay too long after dark or you might encounter strange sounds, lights, and spirits. The Grove Park Inn is the most haunted hotel in the Tarheel State. The “Pink Lady” fell to her death from the fifth floor and has been returning to visit guests ever since. People report seeing her in a pink ball gown or with a pink halo around her figure. Despite being, well, a ghost, she’s kind-hearted and good-natured. Many guests claim she plays with their children while they’re at the Inn. Another eerie spot, Payne Road is a long country road in Rural Hall, and if you ask around, you’ll find many locals have tales of horrible happenings along this stretch of street.

Can I visit any abandoned places in North Carolina?

North Wilkesboro Speedway is one abandoned place that tugs at the hearts of many here in North Carolina – this one popular NASCAR track is now sitting, overshadowed by its replacement. Do you remember the Rowland tornado? It destroyed much of the Family Inn of America, which still partially stands to this day, but nature does seem to be in the process of reclaiming the building. Two spooky former institutions, the Davis Hospital in Statesville and the Stonewell Jackson Reform School, still stand as a testament to their terrible pasts. Of course, nobody can overlook Henry River Mill – or as movie buffs know it, District 12.

What are the creepiest cemeteries in North Carolina?

‘The Weeping Arch’ at Cedar Grove Cemetery in New Burn was built in 1854, and to this day, it’s been known to “bleed” on people by dripping red, rusty water on those who walk by. Riverside Cemetery was established in 1885 and is the final resting spot for 13,000 people. This enormous cemetery is close to the battlefield of Asheville, and you can hear shouting troops and phantom gunfire if the wind blows just right.

Address: Lake Norman, North Carolina, USA

Address: Capitol Building, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA

Address: Bladenboro, NC 28320, USA

Address: Brown Mountain Ridge, Upper Creek, NC 28655, USA

Address: 835-, 159 Richfield Rd, Richfield, NC 28137, USA

Address: 4005 Devils Tramping Ground Rd, Bear Creek, NC 27207, USA

Address: Pactolus, NC 27834, USA

Address: 201 Beaucatcher Rd, Asheville, NC 28805, USA

Address: Biltmore Village, Asheville, NC 28803, USA

Most Chilling Urban Legends From Every State

These creepy urban legends from every state will give you goosebumps.

Best Urban Legends by State

Urban legends: They can be scary. They can be creepy. They can give you the willies. Every state has tales that span generations about ghostly encounters, unsolved mysteries and murders that are so realistic, you don’t want to be alone at night.

What are some of the creepiest urban legends across the country? We examine the legends from each state that will give you goosebumps.

Alabama: Dead Children’s Playground

In Huntsville, Alabama’s Maple Hill Cemetery is a playground (why there is a playground in a cemetery is beyond us) that will give visitors the heebie-jeebies. Here, swings swing on their own, and people have photographed and reported orbs and ghostly figures.

The cemetery was founded in 1822, and legend has it the spirits of the children entombed here come out to play. One YouTube video shows a young girl swinging alongside empty swings that are also swinging. It’s completely bone-chilling, even if they rigged the swings.

Alaska: The Alaska Triangle

Although the Bermuda Triangle gets more fame, Alaska has its own triangle. This vortex is filled with magnetic energy, and objects (including airplanes) and people are known to vanish without a trace.

In 1972, a plane carrying then U.S. House Majority Leader Hale Boggs’ went missing. Despite a month-long search involving 90 planes combing 32,000 square miles, not a single remnant was found. Ever since, more than 16,000 people have entered the vortex and never returned. 

The Alaska Triangle can be found between Anchorage, Juneau and Barrow, but perhaps there are prettier areas of Alaska you’d like to enjoy instead?

Arizona: Skinwalkers

Who wouldn’t be terrified of encountering a creature believed to be a human that can transform into a dog-like animal and move on all fours?

The legend of Skinwalkers comes from the Navajo people of Arizona. It is said these shapeshifters are medicine men who have been lured to the dark side and can travel as much as 200 miles a night, terrorizing anyone they encounter.

The Navajo say that just talking about a skinwalker can bring its evil to your door, and skinwalkers have even been used as a defense in murder trials. 

Arkansas: Highway 365

This highway between Conway and Pine Bluff, Arkansas, has many tales of hitchhiker hauntings.

Most of the legends tell the tale of a teenage girl caught in the rain, cold and wet. It is said a man stopped to give her a ride, getting out of his car to put his coat around her. When he got her home, he went to open her car door, but she was gone. He went to the door, and a woman answered. When he explained what happened, she said her daughter had died in an accident years ago but hitchhikes home once a year.

Whether the story involves a man, a woman or a child, all have the same result: A passenger gone and a story of a ghost returning home annually. Although why does the ghost need a ride home if its a ghost? Isn’t getting to travel wherever you want one of the perks?

California: The Dark Watchers

Seven-foot-tall phantoms wearing capes and wide-brimmed hats while carrying walking sticks have been found in Central California’s Santa Lucia Mountains.

Writers, including acclaimed John Steinbeck and poet Robinson Jeffers, have even referred to the Dark Watchers, or Los Vigilantes Oscuros, who also appear in indigenous cave paintings.

It is said the figures watch from the mountains, but if you attempt to get close, they will vanish into thin air. We’re 100 percent fine with them disappearing if we were to spot one!

Colorado: Riverdale Road

Another stretch of road with its fair share of ghost stories is Thornton, Colorado’s Riverdale Road, believed to have Gates to Hell.

Along this road was the mansion of David Wolpert. Behind his iron gates, he went mad and murdered his family by burning the house to the ground. All that remains are the gates.

But the road has more tales, like the ghost of a lady searching for her children, the ghost of a jogger that may chase you or hit your car, ghosts of slaves hanging from trees, a fast-moving Camaro ghost car with one headlight that may challenge you to a race, hitchhiker ghosts in need of a ride and blood-red handprints on street signs. Yikes!

Connecticut: The Dudleytown Curse

Connecticut’s lost village, Dudleytown, is said to have been cursed so that anyone who tries to inhabit the former town will meet a gruesome demise.

Found in northwestern Connecticut near Cornwall, the former village was named for Gideon Dudley in 1747. He and his two brothers settled the area and are said to have brought a family curse that dates back to 1510 England when Edmund Dudley was involved in a plot to kill King Henry VIII. He was beheaded, and a curse followed.

Although the Dudleys cannot be traced back to Edmund Dudley, strange deaths and people going mad seemed common in the small village that eventually died out after the Civil War when the legend spread.

Delaware: Corpse Light

On Christmas Day in 1655, the Devonshireman spotted the light from a lighthouse that lured it to the shore of Cape Henlopen. But there wasn’t a lighthouse or any reason for the light that drew the ship, which landed on rocks and sunk, killing more than 200 people.

A lighthouse was eventually added in 1769, where it later fell by erosion in 1926.

Some claim to spot the original phantom light in the night, and legend has it that it shines for the sunken ghost ship in a painful reenactment.

Florida: Spook Hill

We all know how gravity works: Objects are pulled down not up. But in Lake Wales, just north of Orlando, is a road that can pull your car up a hill. 

This “magnetic hill” is tested by drivers who will go to the hill, put their car in neutral and watch as their car moves up the hill instead of rolling down.

Now on the National Register of Historic Places, Spook Hill is found on North Wales Drive, and the town has embraced its anomaly, welcoming you to test it for yourself.

Georgia: The Statue That Cries Blood

Savannah’s Bonaventure Cemetery receives thousands of visitors, many of whom have heard the tales of its numerous hauntings. One statue that lures paranormal investigators is that of “Little Gracie. “

Born in 1883, Gracie Watson died when she was only 6 years old. Her heartbroken parents returned to New England, leaving the child alone in her afterlife but not before having a sculpture of their beloved daughter made for her grave. Some report seeing the ghostly girl playing in nearby Johnson Square. Others, however, say if you remove any of the tokens left at her statue, her statue cries tears of blood.

Taking flowers from a grave shouldn’t require tears of blood to make it a no-no.

Hawaii: The Curse of Pele

Those who grew up watching reruns of “The Brady Bunch” may recall the Curse of Pele. Anyone who takes rocks or sand from the Hawaiian islands is rumored to be cursed by the volcano goddess until returned. (To her, the rocks are her children.)

To the Bradys, it was a cursed idol, but islanders and visitors who have broken the rules swear by this curse. Park rangers say they’ve received stones returned by mail with letters from those who departed the islands with a piece of Pele, detailing all the things that went wrong since taking the rocks. The parks receive an average of 100 returned lava rocks monthly. In 2017 alone, 1,275 lava rocks were returned to Haleakala National Park.

Besides angering a goddess, it is actually illegal to take rocks from the national parks.

Idaho: Payette Lake Monster

Like Scotland’s infamous Loch Ness Monster, Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho, has its own mysterious creature sightings.

This serpent-like creature has been reported to be between 10- and 50-feet long. The locals call her Sharlie, and she was first spotted in 1920. It’s been 18 years since Sharlie was last seen, and some say the ancient sea monster has died.

But that doesn’t stop the stores in the area from selling Sharlie stuffed animals and merchandise.

Illinois: The Italian Bride

In a cemetery found in Hillside, Illinois, outside of Chicago, is the grave not only of Al Capone but also of Julia Buccola Petta, who was born in Italy.

At age 29, Julia died during childbirth, making her a martyr, and she was buried in her white wedding dress. Her mother, however, was distraught over losing her daughter and began to have nightmares that her daughter had been buried alive.

Six years after her death, Julia’s grave was exhumed, and upon the opening of her casket, it was discovered Julia’s body had not decayed. She looked as she had in life, with skin just as soft. The coffin, however, had been rotting.

Her mother took a photo of Julia in her casket and raised funds for a more elaborate tomb depicting a life-size statue of the bride and showcasing a photo taken of Julia in her coffin, six years after she had passed, as well as her wedding photo that matched the statue.

Indiana: Devil’s Road

It was a tragic day for the school children riding on a bus in Jasper, Indiana, when their suicidal bus driver stopped the bus on the train tracks. The children watched in horror when a train came directly at them.

Or, at least, that is the story told around campfires. Legend has it if you drive to tracks on Devil’s Road and stop on the tracks, the spirit of the lost children will push your car off the tracks to save you (no train needed). Further “evidence” can be found if you dust the hood of your car in baby powder, where the handprints of the kids will appear.

There is actually no proof of such a train accident, but that doesn’t stop those seeking a paranormal experience.

Iowa: Villisca Ax Murder House

In 1912, eight people were murdered in the small town of Villisca, Iowa. J.B. Moore, his wife and six children were killed with an ax in their sleep — a crime that has never been solved.

The murders sent a shock throughout the town, as residents began sealing up their homes and distrusting one another, trying to determine who could be capable of such an act. The crime scene revealed slabs of bacon left in odd places and doors that had all been locked from the inside, only adding to the mystery.

Today, the house has been converted to look as it did in 1912 and is open for tours and overnights, with past guests reporting strange occurrences. 

Kansas: Stull Cemetery

This isn’t an ordinary haunted cemetery, according to urban legend. This is one of the seven Gates to Hell. Located outside Lawrence, Kansas, the cemetery used to be home to the remains of a burned-down church and is said to be home to the devil himself, who plays pranks every Halloween night.

It is said noises have been caught on tape, a ghostly child wanders the nearby woods and additional otherworldly phenomena occur drawing hundreds on All Hallow’s Eve to experience it themselves.

The cemetery has been fenced off and receives daily patrol by the police for this very reason.

Kentucky: Sleepy Hollow Road

Perhaps naming a road Sleepy Hollow outside of Louisville, Kentucky, was a mistake. Many strange things have been reported to take place when you drive down this tree-lined, two-lane road at night.

One of the creepiest may be the black hearse spotted driving behind you, headlights on high beams as it speeds up and gets closer and closer, causing you to speed up until it pulls up beside you and forces you off the road.

At a portion of the road with a bridge, it is said you can hear the cries of a baby, as was the bridge where a mother tossed over her child she couldn’t care for.

Louisiana: The Devil’s Toy Box

So frightening is the legend of the one-room cabin in northern Louisiana that a movie was made about it. Inside, the room is made entirely of mirrors facing inward, including the floor and ceiling.

It is said that, if you can find this cabin, enter it and stand too long within its walls, you will either go crazy or the devil will come and take your soul.

It believed the cabin was built as part of a Halloween attraction for Farmer Grave’s Haunted Orchard. But, alas, the attraction had to be shut down a week after opening because people who entered the Devil’s Toy Box could not stand to be inside for more than 5 minutes, and many had to be hospitalized.

Maine: Sabattus Well

Between Brunswick and Augusta is the small town of Sabattus, where it is said that a group of teens stumbled upon an old well. The friends dared one to be lowered into the well, but when he was pulled back up, his hair had turned white, and he had gone mad.

The legend says he lives in a Maine mental institution and yells out the windows. No one knows what happened to him deep within the well.

Maryland: Goatman

As mythical as Bigfoot, Prince George County, Maryland, has its Goatman to fear lurking in the woods.

First reported in 1971, this man-beast is said to follow along Fletchertown Road near Bowie. Those who have seen him — including a family who says their beloved pooch was beheaded by Goatman — say it walks on two feet and stands 6 feet in height. 

This picture made the rounds in recent years after it was shared on social media. Imagine coming across this in the night?

Massachusetts: Homestead of Sheriff Corwin

Salem, Massachusetts, is filled with tales of witches, although they’ll tell you they are not evil. Someone who was evil, however, was Sheriff George Corwin who served during the Salem witch trials.

Corwin was known to torture accused witches and has been held responsible for signing warrants for the arrests and execution of innocent people.

It is said when near his home people feel the heavy weight of hands seemingly choking them.

Michigan: Paulding Light

Near the Upper Peninsula town of Sleepy Hollow (what is it with this name?) is another ghostly light.

Follow Old US-45 to its end at a forest, and you’ll see a clearing in the woods for the stretch of power lines running through it. There is nothing out this way, yet a mysterious light can be seen.

People have reported this phenomenon since 1966, but no one knows what causes it. Some believe it is the ghost of a railroad brakeman who continues to haunt his old post.

Minnesota: The Pickup Truck of Grey Cloud Island

Much of Minnesota’s folklore revolves around its Native American culture. On Grey Cloud Island rests the biggest collection of Native American burial mounds in the country.

The island is named for the Crow Creek Nation Grey Cloud, who is said to roam the island along with phantom coyotes. When trespassers appear on the sacred grounds, a driverless white pickup truck is said to chase them off the land.

Maybe it’s best to just leave the dead alone.

Mississippi: Singing River

Like the singing beach, Mississippi’s Pascagoula River has a tragic story that earned it the nickname the “Singing River.” Residents have heard strange humming coming from the river.

This hum is said to be the ghosts of the Pascagoula people who drowned themselves in the river instead of being taken as slaves by the Biloxi tribe. It is said the Pascagoula sang their death song as they joined hands and drowned together.

What’s creepier is this image was used as a stamp to commemorate the horrible mass suicide.

Missouri: Bubblehead Road

Actually named Carrico Road, the people of St. Louis bestowed the nickname to this scary road because not only is it dark and heavily tree-lined, but there are also said to be “Bubbleheads” that will chase you should you get too close.

No one is quite sure how the Bubbleheads got such large, deformed heads, but trespassers who dare trespass say they encounter beings that chase them at night. “No Trespassing” signs are all about to lend a little more truth to the fact that you are simply not wanted anywhere in this area of northern St. Louis.

Montana: The Girl of Ghost Bear Canyon

Hunters and hikers in the canyon outside Bozeman, Montana, have reported seeing a girl roaming in the woods. Women need to be especially wary as she is said to lure females into the woods — perhaps she seeks a mother?

But she is not the only spirit spotted here. During snowstorms, people have spotted a fur trapper or a cowboy struggling. Since this only happens during storms, people think it is the ghost of someone who froze to death in the canyon.

Nebraska: Hatchet House and Heartbeat Bridge

It may look like an unassuming old schoolhouse in Papillion, Nebraska, save for the chilling tale of the killer teacher.

Legend has it that a teacher at the Portal School in the early 1900s went mad. One by one she killed each of her 30 students (some say she decapitated them) and then proceeded to carve out their hearts.

Nearby, the teacher tossed their hearts at what is now dubbed Heartbeat Bridge because some say they hear the hearts beating. And for those who get near the old schoolhouse? The feeling of evil surrounds them.

Nevada: Pyramid Lake’s Mermaid and Water Babies

Don’t go swimming in Pyramid Lake near Elko, Nevada, any time soon. The lake has two frightening legends that will make you want to stay far away from its shores.

The first involves deformed babies. Rumor has it the Paiute tribe knew babies with deformities would weigh heavy on its survival and tossed their unwanted babies into the lake. Not only are the remains of babies in the lake, but there are also angry spirits known to pull people right off their boats to drown them in revenge.

If that wasn’t bad enough, there is also a mermaid who drowns swimmers in the lake. It is said she, a member of the Paiute tribe as well, was banished. She, too, gets her revenge by taking people down into the depths of the lake.

Either way, drowning seems to be the common thread and you should stay away.

New Hampshire: The Wood Devils

So far into the north of New Hampshire that the woods cross into Canada, you may get the sense you are being watched. 

It’s not Bigfoot. It’s a Wood Devil. More than 7-feet tall and extremely slim, these fast-moving entities are said to hide behind trees.

First spotted around the early 1900s, the last spotting was in 2004 when two men hunting encountered one that must have been frightened because it gave off a high-pitched yell.

New Jersey: Clinton Road

Another stretch of road to avoid can be found near West Milford. The 10-mile Clinton Road stretch has been the source of many a fright for more than 100 years.

Considered the most haunted of America’s haunted roads, ghosts, devil worshippers, the Ku Klux Klan and even mobsters disposing of dead bodies have been spotted here in the dead of night.

One of the biggest legends is the boy ghost who haunts the bridge near Dead Man’s Curve. It is said the boy drowned below, and you can summon him by dropping a coin in the water — he will return your coin to the bridge or the road by morning. He will also give you a shove if you get too close to the edge of the bridge — but don’t worry, he just wants to make sure you stay safe.

New Mexico: UFOs of New Mexico

For decades, people have believed UFOs crashed in the desert around New Mexico and that the U.S. government has a top-secret base where they keep the remains of alien beings and their flying saucers in what is known as Area 51.

Naysayers argue that this began with a high-altitude balloon crash in 1947 in which a photo of the crash looks like a spaceship. But conspiracy theorists say there are other incidents and believe the government is hiding something from us all.

The truth is out there.

New York: The Amityville House

In 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot his parents, two brothers and two sisters as they slept in their home in Amityville, New York, on Long Island.

The gruesome tale wound up inspiring a book and countless movies about the house that held spirits so evil they corrupted Ronald and caused him to slay his family.

This followed only after George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house in 1976. Within a month they left the house, telling reporters they felt a “very strong force” that told them to leave.

Today, the house is considered one of the most haunted homes in the nation and the movies continue to inspire thoughts that it is a gateway to hell.

North Carolina: The Ghost Ship

In 1921, the Carroll A. Deering was found aground on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina. Many ships have crashed into the rocks of Diamond Shoals and have sunken off the coast of the Outer Banks. But the Carroll A. Deering was unique: It had no crew.

The ship with a crew of 11 was seen off the coast on Jan. 29 reporting to another ship that it had lost its anchors. The ship was spotted on the rocks two days later without its lifeboats. When boarded, it was discovered the crew, all their personal items, navigational equipment and the anchors were gone. Some say dinner was even prepared and left cooking.

The FBI investigated the ship, and there has never been a trace of the crew or any of the missing items found to this day. Theories include pirates and the nearby Bermuda Triangle as reasons for the disappearances.

North Dakota: Miniwashitu

Anyone who’s anyone knows General Custer haunts the land, but only those in North Dakota know about the legendary Miniwashitu.

This river monster of the Missouri River is covered in bison-like fur of red and travels upstream, breaking the ice of the river.

While this story seems harmless, it is told a person who comes across the Miniwashitu will go insane and die. 

Ohio: Melon Heads

In Kirtland, Ohio, “Dr. Crow” performed scientific experiments on children who lived in an orphanage. No evidence of this doctor exists, but the story continues to spread.

In the tall tale, the children lost their hair and began to mutate. Dr. Crow also injected fluid into their brains, causing their heads to become larger than normal. The children finally had enough and in an uprising murdered Dr. Crow and burned down the orphanage. Now, the woods of Ohio are filled with these mutated children who live in the wild and have become cannibals.

(A similar story of melon heads can be heard in Michigan.)

Oklahoma: The Hex House

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, another house has made a few too many people experience some shudder-worthy moments. The home of Carol Ann Smith was discovered to be the home of religious slaves, found by police living in cages in the dark basement in hypnotic states in 1944.

Turns out Smith earned a living cashing in on the life insurance policies of those she kept locked up as well as others not found. She was never charged with murder but fled the state.

The home was eventually torn down, but they say the basement is intact beneath a parking lot. Smith’s house inspired the Hex House, a haunted attraction open during the Halloween season.

Oregon: The Family That Never Left

Captain George Flavel and his family resided in an elegant mansion in Astoria, Oregon. Perhaps they loved their 1886 home so much they decided never to leave it, even in death.

Now a museum, staff of the museum have heard ghostly conversations and music being played and have even seen the ghosts of a man and a woman.

But that’s not all. The Captain’s grandson, Harry Flavel, went on to have a number of spooky events of his own, including cornering his mother, ax in his hand. (They called him Hatchet Harry after that.) He was eventually charged with attempted murder and found guilty of assault in 1985.

Pennsylvania: The Ghost Town on Fire

Mining in the mountains of eastern Pennsylvania is not unusual. An ever-burning mining town, however, is. Enter Centralia.

This coal mining town was once a thriving community of 1,500 residents when a fire in the coal mines in 1962 set off an unstoppable fire beneath the ground. No one knows how the fire started, but the eventual sinkhole and toxic gases caused by what was taking place underground forced the residents to flee. Just five residents remained in 2017.

The underground fire continues to burn, and the area has become a popular oddity destination, with graffiti artists leaving their mark on the ghost town roads, a.k.a. Graffiti Highway.

Rhode Island: The Conjuring House

“The Conjuring” is another frightening movie based on true events. In the suburbs of Providence is a farmhouse known as the Old Arnold Estate.

When the Perron family moved into the home in the 1970s with their five daughters, angry spirits made themselves known right away, including the former mistress of the home, Bathsheba, who had lived in the home in the 1800s. She’s buried close to the house and was considered a witch in her time, accused of performing Satanic rituals that included sacrificing a child.

Ed and Lorraine Warren, characters in the movie and true-life investigators, were called in and, well, watch the movie and decide if the home’s new owners are a bit nuts. (They, too, claim to hear bumps in the night.)

South Carolina: The Boo Hag

The name alone should be enough to make you want to avoid this mythical spirit said to live in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. 

The Gullah Blacks, similar to Creoles, of this area believed skinless beings will enter a house as you sleep, climb on your chest, suck out your breath, and then skin you and wear it like a coat to stay warm.

Who exactly are Boo Hags? Those who were evil and not granted entry into Heaven after death. You’ll spot blue handprints with an eye in the center on houses across the Lowcountry to ward off these demonic beings.

South Dakota: Sica Hollow

The Sioux of South Dakota gave Sica Hollow its name, which means “evil,” to ward others away. 

That’s because this is where water runs red (believed to be the spirits of Sioux ancestors), trees are said to glow and swamps, bubble.

It’s now a state park (the government didn’t heed the warning), and visitors have reported seeing Native American spirits and hearing chanting and the beating of drums.

Tennessee: Old Green Eyes

Near the Tennessee-Georgia border, one of the Civil War’s bloodiest battles took place near Snodgrass Hill. Known as the Battle of Chickamauga, the blood spilled here is said to have lured a green-eyed beast.

Then again, other versions of the story have it that the beast was here well before the battle. Still, another story claims a green-eye soldier died here. No matter who it is, sightings of glowing green eyes by both visitors and park rangers at Chickamauga National Park have “confirmed” there is something here.

Frightened by the glowing green, drivers have even crashed cars here, proving this being isn’t one to mess with.

Texas: El Chupacabra

Found not only in Texas but also Mexico, Puerto Rico and South America, El Chupacabra has been deemed the “Bigfoot of Latino culture” by CNN.

The hairless, dog-like beast attacks farm animals and drains their blood.

There have been various sitings, photos and even remains of unidentified animals, but no one has yet been able to identify what they are.

Utah: The Old Pump House in Benjamin

A pump house once used to irrigate farms has been said to have lights coming from the house at night — yet it is abandoned and doesn’t have electricity.

The rumor is two men working alone one night were killed in the machinery — and they may be the voices heard coming from the pump house when further inspection proves it is empty.

Vermont: Black Agnes

This statue in Green Mount Cemetery in Montpelier is creepy enough without hearing the stories. It is that of Thanatos (or “Death” in Greek mythology).

Presiding over the tomb of Montpelier businessman John Hubbard, who died in 1899, his wealth was showcased with a grand monument. Over time, Thanatos was nicknamed “Black Agnes,” and it is said her eyes glow red at night.

But, for those who are willing to tempt fate, just take a seat in Agnes’ lap. Or maybe don’t because locals say anyone who does will die within seven days of doing so.

Virginia: The Bunnyman

Avoid the bridge beneath Colchester Road in Clifton, Virginia, on Halloween night. It is here where the Bunnyman claims his victims at midnight. He gets his name for stringing up his victims like rabbits during a hunt. But he also has a name: Douglas Griffon. 

When an asylum near the bridge was closed and patients were being relocated, the bus they were riding crashed, and one patient was never found. Yup, it was Griffon. After weeks passed, the remains of dead rabbits began appearing in the woods — surely an escapee finding a way to survive.

Then, one day his tastes changed when a group of kids were hanging around the bridge on Halloween night. The Bunnyman strung them like rabbits and gutted them, and if you’re here on Hallow’s Eve, the same fate could happen to you!

Washington: The 13 Steps to Hell

In Maltby Cemetery in Bothell, Washington, there were once 13 steps that descended into the tomb of a wealthy family — what could be wrong with that?

Of course, the No. 13 has long been associated with bad things, and as soon as area teens started daring each other to do silly things in the cemetery, the rumors started. Legend has it that, if you descended down the stairs, each step gave you a glimpse further into hell.

So many have visited the cemetery to get a peek that the steps have now been bulldozed … yet this hasn’t deterred midnight visitors.

West Virginia: Mothman

In Point Pleasant, West Virginia, a mysterious man-sized moth creature was frequently spotted in 1966 and 1967. The man could fly with its wings, and numerous reports said he had eyes that glowed red.

Writers began to spread the tale, including John Keel who wrote “The Mothman Prophecies.” The book tied the Mothman to supernatural events, including prophesying the collapse of the Silver Bridge. (A movie was made in 2002.)

The people of Point Pleasant have embraced their Mothman and hold an annual festival in his honor.

Wisconsin: The Bleeding Tombstone

Kate Blood had an unfortunate name, along with an untimely death of tuberculosis at age 23. Although she had a child with her husband, he remarried and Kate’s grave is located away from his family, which led to many stories about the lonely tomb.

Depending on the story, Kate murdered her husband or had numerous affairs and was killed by her husband.

People claim to have seen a ghost near the Appleton, Wisconsin, grave in Riverside Cemetry and say that, on the nights when a full moon shines, blood seeps from the tombstone.

Wyoming: The Platte River Ship of Death

You definitely don’t want to see the Death Ship that appears on the Platte River between Torrington and Alcova, Wyoming. Those who see it will experience death on the very same day.

The phantom ship is said to arrive with fog. The ship and its ghost crew are covered in frost overlooking a corpse they are about to toss into the river. When they step back from the corpse, the person revealed is that who will die.

The ship was first spotted in 1862 by Leon Weber who was shown the face of his fiancé as the corpse. She died on the same day.

JHS Pedals, Kansas City USA— Legends of Fuzz

1972 Univox Super-Fuzz Replica

In the late 1960’s, Japan was bursting at the seams with amazing guitar pedal companies and innovations. One of the most sought after effects from this time and place is the Univox Super-Fuzz. This effect is an octave fuzz that turns any note or chord into a thick and searing texture. Playing a high octave up alongside the distorted note, this is an effect that demands your attention. First produced inside of a large amp head sized multi-effect unit called the Honey* Psychedelic Machine (1967) and then re-released a few months later as a standalone pedal called the Honey* Baby Crying Effect. Honey* soon became Shin-Ei* and by 1968 Shin-Ei* became the guitar pedal powerhouse of Japan, making Shin-Ei* branded effects as well as producing those same circuits for dozens of brands like Shaftesbury, Kent, Crown, Jax, and America’s Univox. This circuit found its way into the lineup of brands all over the world. 

Thanks to product placement by Pete Townsend of The Who, the Univox Unicord Super-Fuzz version found fame above all the rest. First produced in a simple, unassuming grey metal enclosure (1968), it transitioned into a more eye catching form factor utilizing a large rectangle foot pad that said SUPER-FUZZ in large letters across the top (1970). Red and blue, black and grey, white and black, you could pick your color. 

The Supreme is an exact replica of my favorite Super-Fuzz in my collection, my extremely rare black and grey model. Although every early version of this pedal sounds strikingly similar, this 1972 unit has a certain magic that makes it stand out above the others. Imagine an Octavia Fuzz that woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and that’s what you’re plugging into here: a loud, screaming, full and vibrant octave fuzz that is always at 11. 

The controls are Volume and Expand. Volume makes the effect louder as you turn it and Expand increases the amount of fuzz. On the side you will see two buttons. The “Tone” button engages a mid cut that flattens out the Supreme’s attack and makes it more submissive. Think of this as a preset scooped mid EQ control. The “Mode” button activates our very own “JHS Mode” setting. You will hear a much more pronounced octave up effect, thicker mid-range, and more available volume/boost. 

If you want to replicate the classic octave fuzz sounds of Pete Townsend, Black Keys, White Stripes, Beastie Boys, and Mudhoney, this is it. 

Technical Artist III – Legends of Runeterra

As part of the Technical Art team, you will oversee tool creation and maintenance. Working closely with animation, modeling, engineers and designers, you will uncover new ways to improve workflow, support asset creation and implementation, and ensure functionality, consistency, and quality. You will make sure our pipeline is adapting correctly to the creative needs of the product, while also helping inform our creative direction from an art content production view.

As a Senior Technical Artist on LoR you will work with teams and features across the entire game to build memorable events and moments, and develop features that challenge genre conventions and evolve the Legends of Runeterra experience.

Responsibilities

• Set-up assets in the engine (meshes, animation blueprints, dynamics)
• Provide technical support to art and animation in both Maya and Unity
• Rig characters and props, working with animators to achieve engaging in-game performance.
• Work with content support teams to maintain a and sustainable approach for memory/performance
• Prototype new art assets and build asset generation pipelines
• Give and take constructive feedback, direct next steps, and communicate clear goals and outcomes to your team
• Work with outsourcers and external teams

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience as a technical artist in games or related industries
• Expertise in game development using modern game engines such as Unreal or Unity
• Expertise in content creation tools like Maya
• Diagnose and improve real-time 3D graphics
• Be an ambassador between art and engineering
• Experience working with external teams

Desired Qualifications

• Scripting knowledge (Python, C# or C++, etc)
• Experience developing in Unity, Unreal, or other real time 3d engines
• Experience with the technical requirements for a variety of game platforms
• Experience with character rigging and animation

For this role, you’ll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about the experiences of players, this could be the role for you!

Our Perks:

We offer medical, dental, and vision plans that cover you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children. Life insurance, parental leave, plus short-term and long-term disability coverage are also available. Riot will support your retirement benefits with a company match, and double down on your donations of time and money to non-profit charitable organizations. Balance between work and personal life is encouraged with open paid time off, and a play fund so you can broaden and deepen your personal relationship with games.

It’s our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant’s criminal history (LAMC 189.00).

Ghostly Legends and Lore Abound in Mississippi

Mississippians are natural-born storytellers, and ghost stories are no exception. Scary legends, eerie occurrences and mysterious reports of the supernatural haunt our state. We’ve gathered a few of Mississippi’s scariest places to help you prep for the spookiest time of the year. Read on to see what frights Mississippi has to offer…… IF YOU DARE.

King’s Tavern | Natchez

Featured on an episode of Ghost Adventures, King’s Tavern in Natchez is well known as the city’s oldest standing building. According to local legend, workers were performing a renovation on the tavern’s fireplace in the 1930s when they discovered a space behind the wall holding the remains of three bodies. One of the bodies was said to have been the mistress of the tavern’s original owner. Guests report seeing images in the tavern’s mirrors and hearing a crying baby in the restaurant. The tavern and inn are still operating today.

McRaven | Vicksburg

Known as “Mississippi’s Most Haunted House,” the grounds of McRaven served as a Confederate campsite and field hospital. At least five people have died inside McRaven. The remains of 11, likely Confederate soldiers, are buried on the property. Mary Elizabeth Howard, who died during childbirth in the upstairs middle bedroom in 1836, is said to be the most active spirit in the house. Her apparition has reportedly appeared to numerous witnesses. Other former occupants who have made posthumous appearances are John Bobb, murdered by Union soldiers near McRaven in 1864 and William Murray, who died in the home in 1911. The home is open for ghost tours.

Mont Helena | Rolling Fork

Mont Helena, a colonial revival home in Rolling Fork, has a long-running reputation as being haunted. Built as the retirement home for Helen and George Harris in 1896, the home sits atop a ceremonial Indian mound in the Delta region. Locals recount sightings of a lady dressed in a white gown peering out of windows or standing in the front yard. The property has been investigated by the Mississippi Paranormal Society, which recorded electronic voice phenomena, observed shadowy figures and captured orbs in photos.

Stuckey’s Bridge | Enterprise

Legend has it, a left-behind member of the infamous Dalton gang, a man by the name of Stuckey, frequently robbed and murdered travelers in the southwestern corner of Lauderdale County. In 1850, Stuckey was finally caught and hanged from the bridge. Visitors to the area have reported seeing the ghost of Stuckey roaming the riverbank with a lantern in hand. Others have reported seeing his apparition hanging from the bridge.

Vicksburg National Military Park | Vicksburg

Vicksburg National Military Park may still play host to the soldiers of the past. Visitors have reported hearing sounds of battle, cannon fire, horses, orders issued and screams of the wounded over the empty fields. Ghosts of troops have been spotted along the tree line or walking the grounds. There are even reports of the smell of smoke and gunpowder.

Friendship Cemetery | Columbus

Established in 1849, Friendship Cemetery is the final resting place of local citizens and soldiers who fell at the Civil War Battle of Shiloh in 1862. A Confederate soldier is said to still walk through the military section of the cemetery. Visitors to the cemetery are also attracted to the weeping angel standing over the grave of the Reverend Thomas Teasdale. Grasp the angel’s hand; some have remarked it feels lifelike.

Witch of Yazoo Grave Site | Yazoo City

In the middle of the sprawling, historic Glenwood Cemetery, there is a chain link surrounded grave known as, “The Witch’s Grave.” According to local legend (and canonized in Willie Morris’s novel “Good Ole Boy,) the aforementioned “witch” lived on the Yazoo River, luring in fishermen to tease and torture. Law enforcement caught on to her ways and chased her through the swamps where she was half drowned in quicksand. As she sank, she swore her revenge on Yazoo City and the town’s people. “In 20 years, I will return and burn this town to the ground!”  No one thought much of it at the time. Then came May 25, 1904…The Fire of 1904 destroyed more than 200 residences and nearly every business in Yazoo City – 324 buildings in total.

Satartia Bridge | Satartia

According to local lore (and featured on a news station’s ghost-hunting series) a visit to Satartia Bridge can bring about quite the paranormal experience. Hang around the bridge long enough and you’ll hear moans from the Yazoo River flowing underneath. Many speculate it’s the lost souls of the Yazoo Indian Tribe, who marched into the river to their deaths because they refused to surrender to the French. Or, maybe it’s a lost crew of one of the 29 boats sunk in the river during the Civil War.
 
Media Contact
Melissa Scallan, [email protected]
View and download assets, visit Mississippi’s Media Hub

If you publish anything as the result of any Visit Mississippi’s story ideas, please let us know so we can share your work across our social media platforms and say thank you! 

Legends Invitational

Our Thirtieth Annual Legends Invitational Golf Tournament takes place on November 11–15, 2021. A one-of-a-kind experience, we pair NFL Legends, Sports Greats and Navy SEALs as “Celebrity Captains” with every foursome, providing three first-class days of exceptional golf.

Recognized as one of the most prestigious and longest running privately owned tournaments at the Pebble Beach Resorts, the 30th Legends Invitational reserves three days of exclusive play on Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay and Spyglass Hill golf courses.

Legends Invitational Video

Along with an incomparable golf experience the tournament also hosts three unique entertainment evenings—NAVY SEALs UP-CLOSE & PERSONAL tactical demonstration, NFL UP-CLOSE & PERSONAL Gala event and the tournament’s Awards Banquet—for our guests.

Committed to creating a memorable occasion for all who attend, the Legends Invitational does so with the intent of raising awareness and funds for the National SEAL Museum and Memorial.

Often called the “quiet professionals” the Navy SEAL takes on the most dangerous missions, often anonymously, and ask for nothing in return.

The National Navy SEAL Museum and Memorial honors and supports SEALs for their contribution to our national security.

Dedicated in 1985, the National Navy SEAL Museum and Memorial is located in Fort Pierce, Florida—the birthplace of the U.S. Navy Frogman—where thousands of brave volunteers trained to become Naval Combat Demolition Units and Underwater Demolition Teams for World War II. It was from these Frogmen forefathers the U.S. Navy SEALs evolved into the most elite fighting force in the world.

The Mission of the Museum is to preserve the legacy of these “Teams” by honoring our fallen and caring for those warriors’ families through scholarship funds, dire-needs support and a safe haven at the Trident House.

In 2007, by Act of Congress, the Museum was designated as the Official National Museum of the U.S. Navy SEALs and their predecessors. Despite this designation, the Museum receives no federal funding and is entirely reliant on private donations.

We welcome your participation through the Legends Invitational’s sponsorship and donation opportunities to join us in support our country’s military Special Forces heroes and their families.

Great For Business Video90,000 The creepiest urban legends of all US states. Part 1

Admit it, many of you do not mind tickling your nerves by reading the creepy urban legends . Moreover, Halloween is just around the corner. On the eve of it, we have prepared one creepy story from each state. Let’s start alphabetically – with Idaho, Iowa, Alabama, Alaska and Arizona.

Idaho: Aquatic Babies

The Native American legend of aquatic babies is found in several places in America, but most prevalent in Pocatello, the Massacre Rocks Natural Park.

So, one day a severe famine struck the Shoshone tribe. Desperate mothers drowned their children in the river, so as not to see them die a slow death from hunger.

Some Idaho residents claim that when you sit on a rock by the river in Massacre Rocks, you will hear babies screaming. Others say: these children have grown their gills and fins and are now taking revenge by luring victims to the depths.

Iowa: Black Angel

Flickr / CC / Phil Roeder

The Black Angel is a 2.5-meter statue in Oakland Cemetery.It is shrouded in gloomy legends, probably because of its dark color.

According to one of the beliefs, pregnant women should not pass under the statue, otherwise they will lose their child. Others warn: if you touch or kiss (by the way, why ?!) the statue, you will die in the next six months.

Be that as it may, the statue is really gloomy. Although what other monuments should there be in cemeteries?

Alabama: Hell’s Gate Bridge

Photo: Screenshot

The history of this bridge in Oxford dates back to the 1950s.Once a car fell off a bridge into the river. The guy and the girl who were in it drowned.

Since then, 2 urban legends have been associated with the bridge. The first says: if you drive your car to the middle of the bridge and turn off the headlights, the drowned vapor will appear in the car and leave wet footprints on the seats. Second: if you, driving across the bridge, look back in the middle, the landscape behind you will turn into a portal engulfed in flames.

Probably to protect homebrew ghostbusters from such “checks”, the bridge was closed for passage.And it is not recommended to walk on it – the structure is badly dilapidated.

Alaska: the evil spirits of the Kushtak

Everyone knows about the ominous Bermuda Triangle, but you may not have guessed that Alaska is itself the Bermuda Triangle.

According to a study by the LA Times, Alaska has the highest percentage of missing persons.

And although many reasonably believe that in the harsh northern state it is very easy to get lost and disappear without a trace, the Tlingit Indians living in Juneau have their own explanation.

The Tlingits believe in kushtak – evil spirits. Kushtaka know how to take on human form and lure people with a sweet voice to the places of destruction.

Arizona: Slaughterhouse Canyon Ghosts

This legend began during the Gold Rush.

Once upon a time a very poor family lived in the canyon. One day, the father went to wander the canyon in the hope of finding at least some food for the children and his wife – and did not return. The family was slowly starving to death. Unable to listen to the hungry moans of children, the mother put on a wedding dress, killed the babies and threw their bodies into the river, and the next day she died.

And now, say the locals, at night in the canyon are heard the chilling cries of a mother who has lost her mind.

New York City Legends. You will be surprised!

Alligators in the Sewers, Liberty Island Treasure, Superrats, Cropsey and Haunted Hotel and other New York City urban legends.

New York is one of the most popular cities for tourists in the United States. And not only because of the signature of the world famous sights (Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Hudson Yards, Broadway – we can go on for a long time).It is also famous for its famous urban legends. This article is about seven urban legends in New York (ancient and not so) that will definitely surprise you.

Legends of New York give the city a special flavor and, at the same time, popularity. Perhaps that is why one wants to return there again and again, as if checking whether they are true or just fiction. Mama America recommends that New York be included in the top list of cities for US travel. Just imagine how many impressions you can get ?!

Alligators in the Sewers

This legend hails from 1935, after the New York Times published the article “Alligator Found in Uptown Sewer”.It said that several people had killed an 8-foot (almost 2.5 meters) alligator, which was caught in an open hatch on 123 Street in Harlem.

Experts believe that the appearance of an alligator in the sewers may well be real. Greg Young of the Bowery Boys believes that exotic animals were fashionable among wealthy New Yorkers in the 1920s and 40s. The appearance of alligators in the sewers was explained at that time by the fact that their young well-to-do owners were flushed into the toilets, after which they ended up in a huge network of the city’s sewage system.

This idea is supported by Fran Capo, author of Myths and Mysteries of New York, who speaks of 12 such cases.

In the early 2000s, writer Joyce Hackett found herself almost face to face with an alligator in an alley in Queens. Anyway, she told the following story to The Guardian: “He was on the wet asphalt, squatting motionlessly. I thought of my dog, ready to hunt, and was afraid that the alligator’s immobility was just a prelude to hitting the ankle of one of his opponents. “

Pirate Treasure on Liberty Island

According to legend, the captain of the ship, William Kidd, buried his booty on this island. He lived for 4 years in New York on Pearl Street, from where he could observe the island. And in 1701 he was hanged in London for piracy. Experts say that the treasures may indeed end up on Liberty Island, but practice shows otherwise. Hundreds of people over the years have tried to find them – to no avail.

Another legend follows from this legend – about the ghost of a pirate.It says that 100 after his execution, several soldiers from a nearby fort went to a psychic to help them find the treasure. On his recommendation, the soldiers began to dig on the next full moon. Their shovels reached the human skeleton, after which a ghost appeared from the pit with a saber in hand. But there was no chest.

Empire State Building and Bermuda Triangle

This legend is very young – it was born in 2008. If the Bermuda Triangle has for centuries caused fear among sailors, incapacitating ships, then the Empire State Building made drivers nervous.In Midtown Manhattan, home to one of the most famous building structures in the world, drivers began to complain. Within 5 blocks of the Empire State Building, their cars inexplicably stalled and refused to start. Roni Jaakobovich, manager of NYC Tire and Auto Care in Hell’s Kitchen, says this happened every day. “We took these cars, drove them a few blocks, and they started working,” he recalls.

However, there is a more rational explanation for this.Radio signals installed at the very top of the building’s spire could disable car alarm systems and prevent them from being activated. This might be a perfectly acceptable explanation if it weren’t for the fact that the car problems disappeared one day, a few years later.

Superrats after Hurricane Sandy

Another legend of the XXI century. Hurricane Sandy caused billions of dollars in damage to New York. Its consequences are still felt by the residents.One of them told how he heard sounds coming from behind the wall. It was scratching and running around. Mark, as he called himself, reported that one day, entering the kitchen, he saw a rat the size of a small cat crawling along the grocery shelves. He set traps that proved ineffective. The guy could not understand how the rats got to the fifth floor of the building in which he lived.

After that, Mark read the rat reports of their migration inland, away from the coast from the subway tunnels flooded after Hurricane Sandy.There was also a theory that weaker rats were exterminated, and the surviving rodents raised a new generation of stronger and more tenacious superrats.

However, Robert Sullivan, author of Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants, argues that the likelihood of superrats is the same as the realism of Bigfoot. .

Cropsey

This legend was born in the 90s of the last century in one of the boroughs of New York – Staten Island.The legend is based on the story of the abandoned Willowbrook psychiatric clinic. One New Yorker recounted how in the 90s he was there and saw blood-stained walls. The unpleasant picture was complemented by horror stories about a man named Cropsey, who went crazy after the death of his son and fled into the forest, vowing to take revenge. There have been several kidnappings in the area since then, and Cropsey has become an urban legend.

However, Cropsey may have a very real prototype. His name is Andrew Rand, the janitor at this mental hospital.He was convicted in 1987 of the kidnapping and murder of a child on Staten Island. He is currently serving a life sentence. In theory, he could apply for parole in 2037 if he lives.

Haunted Hotel

Some guests at the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan believe that the tragic Sex Pistols rocker Sid Vicious is still playing, even though he died in 1979.

Ed Hamilton, author of Legends of the Chelsea Hotel: Living With Artists and Outlaws of New York’s Rebel Mecca, says that elevators mysteriously stop at random floors.Presumably, this is the ghost of Sid, who is too lazy to go up the stairs.

Mole people

Jennifer Toth, author of The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City, 1993, says rumors of people living underground have surfaced back in the 1800s, when construction of the metro first began in the city.

A few years ago, visitors to a restaurant on 6th Avenue reported seeing a mole-man.He allegedly opened the sewer hatch from the inside and climbed out. Some argue that moles are getting in the way of the metro.

However, this legend has a completely logical explanation. There are no mole people. People really live underground. But these are ordinary homeless people. They complicate the further construction of the metro, since it is difficult to drive them out of the subway. And they don’t want to go to shelters for the homeless.

90,000 Bald eagle is the symbol of the United States.

A handsome oriental crowned crane placed on the flag of Uganda.The cedar is the symbol of Lebanon. The eagle hovers on the flag of Kazakhstan, and also settled on the flags of Albania, Germany, Egypt, Mexico, Montenegro and other countries. In general, plant-animal symbolism is a very interesting subject for researchers of identity. Why and where did these symbols come from? Why did some become official, while others were outside the legal regulation?

In 1782 the US Congress decreed that the bald eagle should be the symbol of the United States. The decision was worked out and made consciously.The symbolism was constructed in a rational manner. And for almost two and a half centuries, the American eagle has been holding a bundle of arrows and an olive branch in its paws. The meaning is obvious: power, readiness for war and peace at the same time, Roman imperialism and appeal both to the new land and to the traditions that the emigrants brought from Europe. Here, of course, there is freedom and independence. The Secretary of the Continental Congress, Charles Thompson, did an excellent job with the task of inventing the symbolism of the Congress seal. There are also legends. One of them says that during the next battle for independence, the eagles circled screaming over the battlefield.And one of the fighters said: “They are calling for freedom!”

If with eagles, as well as with lions and bears, everything is more or less clear, for they are warlike, regal, strong, etc., and so on, then where did the cock come from as a symbol of France? No, of course, there is nobility, and courage, and strength, and other cock qualities. And yet you can hardly compare with an eagle or a lion. The most obvious version is an accidental consonance (gallus) with the names of the tribes – Gauls. They tried to get rid of this “accident” many times, but it did not work out.And then the rooster was entrenched in the mass consciousness and generally became a symbol opposing the royal lilies. In fact, a symbol of the republic.

A little later, Napoleon also tried to eradicate the rooster symbolism and introduce the imperial eagle, but it turned out only for a while. And now after the revolution of 1830, the rooster returns to the banners and uniforms by the decision of the last king of France, the citizen king and the pear king (he was not thin!) Louis Philippe I. At the same time, the French themselves, mocking their symbol, may well joke that only they are capable, like a rooster, standing in the manure, take on a menacing look and sing battle hymns.And they cite as an example a huge number of revolutions, which would be enough for a dozen calmer countries.

And here it is important to note that different plant-animal identity markers are perceived differently in different countries. For example, for Russians with a French rooster, a symbolic misunderstanding often arises, but for the whole world it is absolutely obvious why a kangaroo and an emu are symbols of Australia. They are just unique. But just as we would not be surprised to see a koala, wombat, echidna or platypus among the Australian symbols, because they are no less unusual and characteristic only of this continent.For Australians, this general global understanding is not enough. For them, the legend is important, just like for the Americans with their eagle or the French with their rooster. It turns out that there is one factor that makes kangaroos and emus stand out from a long line of continental uniqueness. They are unable to move backward. Only forward. As for the kangaroo, this is for sure, because the tail interferes, for the emu there are doubts. But a legend is a legend. So, Australia, together with its symbols – kangaroo and emu – should and can only move forward, only towards progress and prosperity.

The Russian brown bear is a symbol for the world that has long been understood, but extremely ambiguous. For some, he is aggressive, strong, vicious, cruel and stupid. For others – lazy, clumsy, but still strong, brave, good-natured. And again legends, myths, fairy tales appear. And their broadcast. In a negative or positive context, depending on interests and goals.

But the promotion of the giant panda as a symbol of China, or rather the advancement of China through the symbolic ranks associated with the panda, is extremely positive.Panda is perceived as friendliness, intelligence, unique beauty. Such an absolute cute, although, we note, once in China they tried to train pandas as fighting animals along with tigers, elephants and other large animals. It didn’t work, the pandas turned out to be too kind and lazy.

And at the same time, the panda is a symbol not only of China, but also of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). And this underlines the positive symbolic series: uniqueness, fragility, global significance. In China itself, a lot of other, including philosophical, connotations are added to this series.The laziness of the giant panda, its drowsiness and immobility are akin to the principle of contemplative passivity (Wu-wei), the principle of non-action in Lao Tzu and the Taoists. The panda’s adherence to a simple bamboo diet is interpreted as modesty, denial of excesses, asceticism. The pandas’ desire for solitude is associated with philosophical hermitism, independence. Contrasting colors are, of course, Yin and Yang. Calm, responsiveness and peacefulness of the panda is a symbol of China’s foreign policy.

Moreover, the use of unique pandas as gifts to various countries in the 50-80s.of the last century has become a practice for the normalization and strengthening of China’s relations with various countries and is called “panda diplomacy”. The most famous gifts at the time were the Hsing-Hsing, Ling-Ling pandas, which Zhou Enlai gave to Richard and Pat Nixon in 1972 during their visit to Beijing. Pandas then became literally American heroes.
In the 80s. They stopped giving away pandas for nothing to the countries of the “far abroad”. From now on, only for rent, for a lot of money and for a certain period.Moreover, with penalties for the death of a panda, and with the obligation of all cubs born in captivity to give back to China. And so, “panda diplomacy”, which, it would seem, should have disappeared, was modified, because no one canceled the symbolic potential and symbolic policy.

Only two stories, although there are many more. Moreover, panda democracy is the subject of serious research.

So, the first story. China in 2006 gives (it gives, and does not lease!) Two pandas to Taiwan.The scandal, because a gift, not leasing, sale or rent, symbolically underlines that Taiwan is the original territory of the PRC. Moreover, the names of the pandas are Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan. And these names, when they merge, mean “union.” Chen Shui-bian, President of the Republic of China, is shocked. Pandas are called the “fifth column” and “Trojan pandas”. But later, the gift was still accepted.

The second plot. Japan tried to take revenge for Taiwan. In the summer of 2012, a baby giant panda was born at the Tokyo Zoo.Japan was jubilant. An all-Japanese event. This is the first time in over 20 years! And then the then governor of Tokyo, writer, anti-Americanist, far-right politician Shintaro Ishihara suggests calling the cub either Sen Sen or Kaku Kaku. And what is it? The fact is that both of these names are part of the name of the Senkaku archipelago, which is a disputed territory. And it is Japan and China that argue for it. International scandal over the name of the baby panda! Alas, the little panda died a few days later from pneumonia, but entered the history of diplomacy and symbolic politics.

Elephant in Thailand, horse in Mongolia, panda in China. This is an absolutely understandable symbolism for everyone.

But why are there cows on the coat of arms of Andorra? Here it is no longer an accident, not a rational choice, but the rules of heraldry. The fact is that Andorra is simultaneously ruled by the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell in Catalonia. Accordingly, the coat of arms of Andorra is divided into four parts between the red pillars of the French house of Foix, again the red pillars symbolizing Catalonia, the bishop’s staff with miter and the cows of southern France.That’s all.

And finally, about Gibraltar, symbolized by the magota macaques. Why suddenly? Firstly, Gibraltar has the only natural monkey colony in Europe. An attempt to settle them in mainland Spain was unsuccessful. Didn’t take root.

Secondly, the magot – the barbarian monkey – is a historical symbol. They appeared in Gibraltar over a thousand years ago and were tamed. The Moors brought the Magots from North Africa (Algeria, Morocco).Since then, Gibraltar has changed “owners” several times, and macaques have lost their role as pets. But they are still called semi-wild.

Third, there were times when the magot macaques were on the verge of extinction. And then the British military took care of them. Until feeding and treatment at the Royal Hospital. During World War II, when the number of macaques was reduced to literally a dozen, a “whole” officer was assigned to take care of them. Now everything has stabilized, there are already several hundred magots, they are all numbered with tattoos.Many have chips. They pass the annual census, calmly enter the city territory, contact with tourists. Of course, a legend appeared, the essence of which is in two aphorisms: “Gibraltar will be English as long as at least one Magot macaque is alive” and “We will protect the monkeys to the last Englishman.”

How is this symbol different from many others? From proud eagles, mighty lions, diplomatic and beautiful pandas, aggressive wolves, fearless and mighty bears, useful cows and beavers, proud, brave and reckless roosters? Where do the macaques come from? This symbol arose from weakness and defenselessness, on the one hand, and humanity, on the other.Magots needed to be protected.

Generally, at least sometimes, but it’s worth just protecting the monkeys.

Urban Legends of America – LJ

Original taken from weeleksa

Whether you watched the film “Ghosts in Connecticut” or not, the point is not in this, but in the fact that the film is really based on real events that happened to the Snedeker family. I searched for any information about this family for a long time, but the Internet did not agree to reveal all the cards to me, in the end I had to be content with little (((

Collecting the grains of history, I accidentally stumbled upon a firsthand interview in the foreign press.The story came from a woman who visited the very center of these events, namely from Carmen Snedeker, if we draw analogies with the film, then she was the prototype of Sarah – Matt’s mother.

The film tells the story of a family forced to move closer to the clinic where their son is being treated for cancer. Already undergoing financial and moral stress, they discover that their recently renovated home holds dark secrets. After several encounters with the supernatural both inside and outside the home, the family turns to ghost hunters and the Catholic Church, which is conducting a rite of exorcism, for help.

The real story is as follows:

Snedeker family

On June 30, 1986, the Snedeker family, consisting of Allen Snedeker, his wife Carmen and four children, moved to the old residence at 208 Maryden Avenue Southington, Connecticut to be close to UConn Hospital, where their son Philip Snedeker was treated, who was diagnosed with immune system cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The house was spacious and the rent was cheap.

[ Circumstances prompting the Snedeker family to relocate ]
Snedeker family home in Connecticut

Historical background:
Meriden Avenue, simple, multi-story, Renaissance house on Meriden Avenue house that was built in 1916 and is located in one of the historic districts in Hartford County.

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Darrell Kern, the former owner of the Southington home, confirmed that prior to buying the property in the 1980s, the home served as a Hallahan funeral home for several decades.Ms Carmen Snedeker claims she was never informed that the house was used as a funeral home.

The doors of the funeral home were located at the end of the building

Carmen says that she did not go down to the basement for a long time, due to the repair work of the stairs, and only after the family moved there completely, having examined the house, the Snedekers discovered the morgue in the basement, various equipment for opening bodies and moving coffins, boxes filled with photographs of corpses, bags of personal belongings of the deceased, and small graves in the backyard.However, the former owner of their home claims that the family was fully informed of the state of affairs before they rented it.

Special winch for transporting coffins

Carmen did not want to live in this house, as everything around her reminded her of the possible imminent death of her son. But husband Allen reminded her that they had no choice, and they stayed to live in the house. Back in New York for work, Allen left all four children and his wife Carmen in a new home to settle down.

Carmen locked the room where the bodies were prepared for burial in order to hide her existence from the children as much as possible. The seriously ill son Philip was placed in the basement, as he was in the immediate vicinity of the bathroom – much needed by the boy because of his constantly repeated vomiting.

“I do not believe in ghosts. I believed in spirits, but I do not believe that they can interact with our world.” Carmen Snedeker said so, over time she had to change her mind…

Historical background
The life of the Snedeker family was quiet and peaceful in New York, Allen worked in a stone quarry, and Carmen nursed the children, until at the beginning of 1986 the eldest son of the couple, Philip, fell ill. It all started with a banal cough, which at first did not worry Carmen too much, until 14-year-old Philip reported that a huge lump had formed on the left side of his jaw.

Carmen, leaving household chores in a far corner, went with the child to her family doctor.As a result of initial tests and biopsy, the child was diagnosed with cancer of the immune system. Philip was immediately referred to Dempsey Hospital. Connecticut and prescribed chemotherapy and cobalt. New York was more than a hundred miles from Connecticut, this distance was unbearably painful to overcome the sick Philip, who was constantly in a state of nausea and vomiting.

To avoid a painful journey for her son, Carmen decides to find a home in Connecticut despite a rather tight budget.One day, while on a fact-finding trip around town while her son was undergoing chemotherapy at the hospital, she found a beautiful white colonial-style house with large windows and a “for rent” sign. Carmen’s first thought was that renting a house would be asking for a high price, which would be too expensive for the low budget of the Snedekers, but nevertheless she decided to come in and inquire about the conditions. Inside the house at that time there were some workers who were doing the finishing work on the reconstruction of the house, these builders provided Carmen with the phone number of the owner of the house – Mr. Darrell Kern.

After meeting with Darrell Kern that evening, Carmen decides to leave the motel where she was staying with her son Philip. The price for the house turned out to be affordable for the family’s modest budget and she immediately closes the deal with Mr. Kern and decides to move to a new house as soon as possible.

The night before leaving Carmen had a strange dream somehow connected with the house. In the dream, she saw many naked bodies, open coffins, old tools in the dim light, hooks and chains, and a man in a bloody white coat moving among coffins and organs carved with strange tools.Later, she will remember the warning dream, but it will be too late …

Finally, on June 30, 1986, the family moved into the house to start a new phase in their life. Much later, in their basement, in one of the walls, many deep embedded cells were found, each of which was assigned a serial number. The walls of some of them were painted with something dark, initially mistaken for moisture. Shelves covering specific areas on the wall contained tools resembling saws, knives, and a series of rubber tubes of varying diameters.A rotating metal subframe was installed in the center of the room. In one of the corners of the basement there was a large number of metal barrels containing heating oil. Several chains hung from the ceiling, connecting wooden planks. The basement was also accessed via a ramp that connected to the outside of the house.

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First mysterious events

On the very first evening, mysterious events began to take place.

[ Who is this someone that terrified the Snedeker family? ]

Someone in the basement called Philip by name, waking him up.He went to his mother, who was on the phone with her husband, and told her about it, but she only reassured him, suggesting that the sound spreads in an empty house much more and he just heard part of her conversation with his father. The boy kept saying that this house was evil. One day, Carmen noticed that the crucifix on the door had disappeared, and the nail on which it hung remained in place.

Photo of the place where the crucifixion was. Made by tourists in the house already in 2012.

The next evening the children decided to explore the basement in their new home.One of the boys soon noticed a stain on the floor. He touched it and his hand touched something sticky and dark. The guys ran up the stairs, pale with fear, and told Carmen that blood was oozing from the walls of the house. The mother thought that the children had invented all this, scared themselves and that there was no need to worry. Philip told Carmen that before he only heard voices in the basement, and now he began to see what was not there during the day. Thinking that this is a consequence of the exposure to radiation that Philip receives during treatment, the mother did not pay attention to his words.

Philip often saw shadows surrounding him, as well as hiding behind various furniture, and sometimes even touching him. There were speculations that Philip’s hallucinations were the result of chemotherapy. But the oncologist said that in principle there could be no chance of his hallucinations or delusions after treatment.

Strange vibrations and an unpleasant smell emanated from the basement room, but nevertheless, the couple decide to place their older children here – Philip and Bradley. Since the upper rooms were smaller, the basement was the only room that could accommodate teenagers.As a result, the brothers slept in a room that was adjacent to the embalming room.

After spending several nights in the basement, the brothers began to claim that more than once they saw the ghostly figures of three men standing at the foot of their beds and emitting a hoarse whisper, gradually turning into deafening laughter. Philip, believing that his visions are the fruit of his morbid condition, nevertheless expresses a desire to spend the night in the dining room. His brother, Bradley, spends these days with his grandmother, telling her stories that something strange and bad is felt in the basement.Adults write off the behavior of adolescents as friendly support of brothers and at first do not pay much attention to these visions.

Philip, meanwhile, made friends with the boy Cody from the house opposite, they began to spend a lot of time playing in the basement, but in the end Cody confesses to Philip that he does not like this place because he feels something strange here. Adults could no longer attribute these statements of an outside boy to a figment of a sick imagination or a side effect from taking medications.

One day, a little 4-year-old sister of Philip saw in the reflection of the mirror hanging in her room, a woman dressed in a white robe. Carmen’s spouse, Allen, told how he once heard the sounds of a funeral march coming from the basement. This once again confirmed that Philip’s medications had nothing to do with what they hear and see. A few days later, Philip, opening the doors to the felling, saw a young man of about 20 years old, calling him by name.

Soon after these events, all family members also began to notice that something inexplicable was happening in the house.They heard strange sounds, noticed sudden changes in temperatures in the house, and Carmen Snedeker talked about the strange figures of men who followed her: one of them, according to her, was of a thin build, with sharp cheekbones and long black hair. The other was wearing a tuxedo, and his eyes and hair were unnaturally white.

Once Carmen Snedeker was cleaning the floors in the house and something terrible happened. Then she said that:

“The water on the mop was blood red.I mean deep, deep red. Goosebumps ran down my skin. I started to get nervous that I would ruin the floor, I couldn’t think of anything else. It’s probably funny, but I think I just tried with all my might not to believe in what I see. ”

There was a situation with moving plates in the kitchen, but it is different from what we saw in the film. While the film depicts this phenomenon happening to the eldest son, it actually happened to the mother:

“I thought I was going crazy, I know I set the table, but the plates weren’t there.”

Tammy’s niece (in Wendy’s film) was indeed present at all these events. According to the middle son, Bradley Snedeker (Billy Campbell):

“… the light was on regardless of whether it was switched on or off, although there were no lamps in the room …”

When the Snedeker nieces came to visit, one of them also claimed to have felt someone’s touch at night. There have been many reports of other cases of strange noises, physical manifestations, etc.For example, one day, after returning from school, Brad discovered that Philip’s bed had been moved to the room where the bodies were being prepared for burial. Philip himself told Brad that he “made a deal.” All this scared Carmen very much and she took Philip to the hospital for an additional examination. Doctors assured that his behavior could not be the result of side effects of radiation, which he was exposed to during treatment. Every day Philip became more and more withdrawn, it was less and less possible to notice how he smiles.Carmen struggled to get her baby back to normal.

In the summer, guests came to the house of the Schnedecker family – Kim and Tammy Alvis. The sick Philip showed no desire to communicate with his cousins. After a while, he began to keep a diary. Brad tried to talk to him about it, but Philip was just silent and looked into his brother’s eyes. That look sent chills down Brad’s spine. One day Tammy was helping Carmen clean the house and accidentally found Philip’s diary.She did not want to invade her brother’s privacy, but the contents of the notebook scared Tammy so much that she decided to show it to Carmen. The pages of the diary were crossed out from top to bottom: they contained individual phrases, notes about death, about murders, they were filled with them from beginning to end.

Carmen was scared to the point of fainting. But taking herself in hand began to reflect on the find. She knew that she had spent several years just teaching Philip how to write the alphabet correctly, and that he was extremely illiterate.And the diary contained complex words, the meanings of which the boy could hardly have known, in addition, they were written without a single mistake. When she decided to ask her son about this, Philip said that this “man” helped him write them.

From this day on, Philip’s personality changes every day. He becomes more and more aggressive. Any dispute between Philip and Brad quickly turns into a fight. When his sister Tammy tried to intervene, Philip entered her room and hit the girl hard.When she tried to stop him again, he threw his sister across the room as if she were light as a feather.

One night Tammy noticed during her sleep how something was pulling the blanket down from her. Also, someone or something was pulling on the strap of her bra. Tammy got scared and told Carmen about it. Philip’s mother refused to believe in ghosts, and was sure that this was Philip’s tricks. After these events, Carmen made the decision that she would call the psychiatric doctors for Philip.After calling the hospital and talking about what was happening, Carmen explained that most likely she was dealing with a case of schizophrenia. Calling the doctors, Philip’s mother did not show it and prepared the boy’s favorite dish for dinner. She continued to pretend that everything was fine. The people in white coats did not even knock on the door – they just entered the room, put the boy in a straitjacket and began to take him away. Following Philip managed to tell his mother that “since they took me away, they are going to follow you.” Carmen did not want to believe that her boy would remain schizophrenic for the rest of his life.She went down to the basement where Philip lived and sat there for hours, waiting for that very “man.” But nobody came.

One day, when Carmen was taking a shower, she was somehow enveloped by a shower curtain. She completely covered her mouth and nose so that the woman could not breathe. Carmen called Tammy for help and when she ran in, she managed to make a hole in the curtain so that Kramen could breathe air. Philip’s predictions were beginning to come true. After the incident, Tammy woke up in the middle of the night with the feeling that now “they” had come for her.Suddenly, something ripped off all of her clothes. Tammy jumped up and ran to her aunt. Carmen grabbed a Bible from the shelf of the closet and noticed that the last crucifix in the house under her bedroom door had disappeared. Throwing into bed, both women began to read aloud passages from the Bible. Tammy immediately sensed something approaching them. A hand began to grow under the covers. Both women managed to notice the bones of an arm and wrist under the sheet. Carmen grabbed her niece and they ran into the dining room.

After the incident, the Snedekers called the researchers of the paranormal into the house – Ed Warren and his clairvoyant wife Lorraine (I told about some of their investigations here and here), who named the reason for the alleged paranormal presence in the house.According to her, the funeral home workers committed acts of necrophilia, which led to dire consequences. Upon inquiry to city structures, Carmen Snedeker learned that several workers had indeed been found guilty of these crimes.

Lorraine and Ed Warren in 1981

The Warrens advised the Snedeckers to call the priesthood to the house of the priests to perform the rite of exorcism. Carmen was overwhelmed with guilt for hiding her son in a psychiatric hospital.Later, in an interview, Philip admitted that he felt betrayed and could not forgive his mother, but he realized that she was just trying to be strong in that situation.

Much later, on one of the TV shows, the same researchers of the paranormal will call Snedekers charlatans, alarmists and religious fanatics, accusing them of lying. On the same show, Carmen Snedecker will publicly declare that she has been raped by demons from time to time. However, in other interviews and articles, their testimony was constantly changing.In later stories, Carmen disowned many of her own words.

Many discrepancies in the stories of Carmen and Allen Snedeker made people doubt their honesty, however, as shown in the film, after the family left home, Philip Snedeker really began to remission and the cancer receded. Now 30 years old, he works as a truck driver and has four children.

The current owner of the house, Susan Trott-Smith, calls this story “Hollywood stupidity” and declares that she has been happily living in the house for more than ten years and has not noticed any oddities.

Complete failure of the legend of “American-style democracy”, which the United States is cynically trying to impose on the whole world – News – OLE. Opposition platform

Another wave of destructive pogroms that led to the deaths of American citizens in the building of the US Congress became a natural result of the policy that the American authorities are implementing in various parts of our planet: the desire to impose their will, disrespect for the opinion of the other side, violence as a decisive argument, humiliation of the power of other states, justification of radicalism – all that the United States resorted to, referring to its fantasized and promoted by them the role of “the beacon of democracy.”

The protests raised by doubts about the honesty of the presidential elections, finally remove from the agenda the question of whether the United States can be the model of democracy and the standard of government.

Games with public opinion, spurred and directed by manipulation in social networks and search engines, blocking politicians disliked by the United States, have created an ugly society that declares its tolerance, but at the same time consists of small groups that put their uniqueness based on racial, sexual or some other identity, above the peace in the country and the national community, and which aggressively and cynically imposes its worldview on everyone else.And it was precisely this model of public relations that the United States successfully exported to Ukraine, which naturally ended in a civil conflict, loss of sovereignty, territorial integrity, record impoverishment and a split in society.

The storming of the Capitol by the radical right ranks with the recent arson of police stations and the massive looting of shops by the radical left. All this, taken together, testifies to a deep split in American society, to the accumulated social, racial, and economic problems.It is significant that one in five Americans justified the storming of parliament, as before one in three justified violence during protests for “racial justice.”

Lumpen in the parliamentary hall and congressmen hiding under benches – these photos, which have spread all over the world, symbolize even for the most incorrigible Americanophiles that the United States has lost the moral right to impose its own recipes for political and socio-economic development on someone. External managers themselves need crisis management.

The ruling regime in Ukraine, brought to power with the approval of the United States, is historically doomed, understands this perfectly and therefore admires the “resilience of Congress, the oldest and greatest democratic institution in the world”, whose behavior would make any of the pioneers of the American continent pale in shame – ancestors of current congressmen. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called what was happening “a shameful scene”. Former US President George W. Bush drew a parallel between his country and the banana republic.

But wasn’t the United States trying to make a “banana republic” out of Ukraine, when in 2014 radicals seized government buildings, weapons and participated in armed clashes with law enforcement agencies, don’t they continue to do this today? At that time, neither British nor American politicians not only did not “express concern”, but also actively supported anti-government protests, thanks to which they managed to partially turn Ukraine into a “banana republic.”This humiliating situation in Ukraine must end!

The omnipotence of the radicals, who were nurtured and raised by various foundations and the media, financed with the most active participation of the American government, Congress, is the result of the desire to retain the world globalist leadership, built on the plunder and use of other countries. Although Congress was recently taken over by radicals, judging by US foreign policy, it seems like it happened much earlier.

The path of external control imposed on us by the United States and the power of Poroshenko-Zelensky is unacceptable for our country, leading to the impoverishment of the people, civil conflicts and a state catastrophe.

Only by relying on our traditions, striving for mutual understanding and peace that does not depend on angry shouts from Washington, we can build our independent, sovereign and successful Ukraine.

Viktor Medvedchuk,

Chairman of the Political Council of the Party

“Opposition Platform – For Life”

Published: January 8, 2021

Oprah Winfrey – 65: how the US style has changed 9000

American TV presenter, entrepreneur and public figure Oprah Winfrey is 65 years old.Throughout her career, which continues to gain momentum from year to year, the first black woman on the Forbes list has never been found to lack good taste. On the occasion of the anniversary of the world’s most famous TV presenter, Gazeta.Ru talks about the evolution of her style, which is not ashamed to be copied.

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A girl with an unusual name, Oprah, began to build her image since the 70s of the last century – she was to become the most recognizable and respected woman in American television and a style icon.However, the TV presenter, as is most often the case, did not immediately come to her own impeccable style. Dressing in the 80s so that you won’t be ashamed of it in 2019 is an almost impossible task.

Since those distant times, Oprah’s dressing style, as well as her character, remained two features that made her a living legend in the United States – courage and unprecedented self-confidence.

In all the photographs taken at the important film and television awards of the era, Winfrey did not change long fur coats made of natural fur in cold weather, preferred a shiny red nail polish and always complemented any resulting image with lilac eyeshadow.

If you compare Oprah’s photographs from, say, 1989 and 2005, it becomes clear why today cosmetic brands are practically accused of racism for the insufficient number of foundation shades released. If only because in the lenses of all photographers until the mid-2000s, a woman’s face looked unhealthy due to an overly pale tone.

For about 40 years of work in show business, the billionaire’s wardrobe depended on its current size – several times during her career, Oprah Winfrey got rid of a large number of extra pounds in record time, and then almost as rapidly gained weight back.During periods of weight loss, her outfits for the red carpets resembled the outlets of Tina Turner with her tight-fitting silhouettes, but there was a significant difference – Winfrey did not seek to open her legs, preferring to expose the cleavage area.

The appearance of both legs, arms and abdomen suffers from dramatic changes in weight due to the fact that the skin loses its elasticity, so fans of the once main television psychologist of America do not see any of the above in the nude. Thanks to decades spent in camera lenses, nurturing or working with personal stylists, Oprah’s fashion flaws are definitely not the love of exhibitionism.And knowing the characteristics of your own body in Hollywood can save more than one reputation.

In the 90s, the bloody shades of lipsticks and nail polishes were replaced by neutral skin tones, and bright prints of skirts and suits gave way to plain models of “Cinderella dresses” with fluffy skirts and shiny pantsuits. Draped fabrics have always been an important component of her images – in order to advantageously beat big hips and breasts, star stylists tried not to resort to simple silhouettes.At least until the heyday of the Kim Kardashian cult.

In 2004, Oprah’s image became much more glamorous than before. Perhaps this is somehow connected with an unforgettable event in the life of not every person on earth. It was in that year that the TV presenter, whom almost the whole world already knew and loved, became a billionaire and the first representative of the African American community to achieve such success. And such titles, whatever one may say, make you closely monitor what you are wearing.

It should be noted separately that over the years the love for rhinestones and brightness has not gone anywhere, namely, it has evolved – now massive earrings, rings, bracelets and watches shine, and dresses and suits do without images of flowers.Plus, the regular Forbes heroine expresses her personality with clutches in a variety of shapes and sizes.

In May 2018, the star was invited to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and almost violated royal etiquette because of a beige dress from Stella McCartney. The day before the wedding, it turned out that in the photographs the outfit will look absolutely white, and this is completely unacceptable – only the bride can go out in the “color of purity” on such a day.

Winfrey shared the story of her powder pink outfit on Instagram. The dress was sewn by the designer’s team 11 hours before the event, but the iconic presenter appeared at the chapel of St. James at the right time and arm in arm with actor Idris Elba.

Fedorov Sergey Viktorovich (Legends of Hockey)

Fedorov Sergey Viktorovich

Born on December 13, 1969, Pskov.

Honored Master of Sports of Russia (1998)

Amplua – forward

Playing career

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Pupil – Dynamo (Minsk)

Played in the teams “Dynamo” (Minsk): 1985/86; CSKA (Moscow): 1986/87 – 1989/90; Detroit Red Wings (Detroit, USA): 1990/91 – 2002/03; Anaheim Ducks (Anaheim, USA): 2003/04 – 2004/05; Columbus Blue Jackets (Columbus, USA): 2005/06 – 2007/08; Washington Capitals (Washington, USA): 2008/09 – 2009/10; Metallurg (Magnitogorsk): 2009/10 – 2011/12

Played in the youth national team of the USSR: 1986/87 – 1987/88; the second national team of the USSR team: 1987/88; the first national team of the USSR: 1988/89 – 1990/91; the first Russian national team: 1996/97 – 1997/98, 2001/02, 2007/08, 2009/10

Achievements

World Champion – 1989, 1990, 2008

European Champion – 1989

Winner of the Izvestia newspaper prize tournament – 1989

Winner of the Tournament for the prize of the newspaper “Leningradskaya Pravda” – 1988

Japan Cup Winner – 1989

Winner of the World Youth Championship – 1989

Silver medalist of the Olympic Games – 1998

Bronze medalist of the Olympic Games – 2002

Silver medalist of the World Championship – 2010

Silver medalist of the European Championship – 1990

Silver medalist of the World Youth Championship – 1988

USSR Champion – 1988, 1989

European Cup Winner – 1988, 1989, 1990

Stanley Cuba Winner – 1997, 1998, 2002

Stanley Cup Finalist – 1995

Participant of the World Cup – 1996

Winner of the “Hart Memorial Trophy” prize – 1994

Winner of the Frank J.Selki Trophy “- 1994, 1996

Winner of the Lester Pearson Avard Prize – 1994

Winner of the “Kharlamov Trophy” – 2003

Member of the 2017 List of 100 Greatest Hockey Players in the NHL of All League History

Participant in the NHL All-Star Game – 1992, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003

Participant in the KHL All-Star Game – 2010, 2011, 2012

Coaching career

Head coach of CSKA (Moscow) from 14.07.2021

Administrative career

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Chief HR and Sports Manager HC CSKA (Moscow) 15.05.2012 – 22.01.2013

Chief Manager HC CSKA (Moscow) 01/22/2013 – 12/12/2016

Chief Breeding Manager HC CSKA (Moscow) 12.12.2016 – 31.05.2017

Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of HC CSKA (Moscow) 06/10/2013 – 07/14/2021

Member of the Board of the Youth Hockey League 02/01/2014 – 06/11/2015

Member of the Council of Legends of the Night Hockey League since 16.12.2017

awards

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NHL Hall of Fame Member (11.