If you're anything like me then you love a good ghost story. And if you're lucky enough to live in or near a famously haunted city like Richmond, VA then you're in luck because there are plenty of allegedly haunted sites that will leave you both creeped out and excited to explore for yourself.
Here are just a few:
1. The Jefferson Hotel
The hotel is said to be home to a variety of spirits- most famously, the ghost of a humiliated bride. The woman was a guest at the hotel, who hung herself from the 12-foot-high headboard in her room after being left at the altar. This exact headboard is located in Room 19 of the Jefferson today.
Due to the stereotypical nature of this story, many people assume it to be an urban legend, rather than the backstory of an actual haunting. However, the Jefferson's former manager, Jodi Breckenridge, told theLongview News Journal, "I actually found an old newspaper when I was going through a bunch of old papers back about 15 years ago. There is actually a story in one of the old newspapers that relates the story. It is a true story. It is not something that was made up."
Other reports are of children laughing, running, and playing pranks on guests. Even comedian, Wanda Sykes, has a story of her encounter that she had with the ghost of a female slave, during her stay at the Jefferson, which she talked about in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres.
(Side Note: I am in downtown Richmond as I write this and my computer is going haywire.)
2. The Pocahontas Parkway
Dozens of reports have been filed with state police by travelers and toll booth workers alike, who have claimed to have seen traditionally dressed Indians standing in the road and holding torches.
Two police reports filed within days of each other, both in the early hours of the morning, bore a striking resemblance to one another with both callers panicked over seeing a human body (with only an outline of a head) running back and forth around the loading dock.
Troopers who worked the parkway at night, swear to having heard Indian drums, shouts, cries, and celebratory noises that sound as though they are coming from a crowd, despite no one being around.
An engineer who was working on the bridge's construction one night maintains that he and a few other guys on his team had seen an Indian on a horse at the bottom of the bridge. The engineers had not thought the man to be a ghost, but rather someone attempting to break the rules by riding a horse across the bridge. When they walked over to set him straight, he disappeared.
Indian reservations nearby had been contacted to be sure that they weren't practicing any sort of tribal ritual during the time of the initial reports, but they assured police that they wouldn't do such a thing, as it could get them into legal trouble.
3. The Byrd Theatre
Built in 1928, the Byrd Theatre is still a local hot spot for movie lovers. However, it is also home to at least two know spirits: the spirit of former manager, Robert Coulter, and the spirit of a young girl whose identity is unknown.
About Coulter's spirit, the theater's current general manager, Todd Schall-Vess stated, "It's sort of fitting that the most commonly seen ghost here is Robert Coulter. Just a week before he died he was down here checking on the condition of the boilers so it stands the reason since they couldn't get him out alive that he still was going to hang around after he died."
Coulter's spirit is often seen in the theater's balcony, where he used to sit to watch movies while he was alive. Staff members also swear that Coulter will show up at closing to help with clean up.
“When barring the doors at night he would appear as if he were helping but he'd only been seen from the waist up," says one account.
Another apparition frequently mentioned is the ghost of a young girl that seems to haunt the women's bathroom on the bottom floor.
During a ghost hunt in the theater by the Central Virginia Paranormal Investigators, audio was captured of a little girl's voice that had not been heard in the moment by those attending the investigation, seemingly backing up the claims pertaining to the child's spirit.
“These are both things (Coulter and the little girl) are things that have been repeated by multiple people who wouldn't necessarily have a conversation together and fabricate the story together,” Schall-Vass said.
4. The Hollywood Cemetery
One of the nation's most notable cemeteries, it only makes sense that The Hollywood Cemetery has quite a few ghost stories surrounding it, the validity of which is backed up by the accounts of groundskeepers and tourists.
Most notorious of the cemetery's creepy inhabitants is the Richmond Vampire. In 1925, there was a terrible tunnel accident in Richmond's Church Hill, by the cemetery. Survivors of the accident claimed to have seen a creature with skin hanging off of its body run towards the mausoleum of William Pool (W.W. Pool). After that point, the urban legend was born with many people believing the creature to be Pool- undead and bloodthirsty. Sadly, it was later discovered that the disfigured creature seen that night was actually Benjamin Mosby, a railroad fireman who was working the night of the accident, only to be caught up in the collapse. He died of his injuries.
While the Richmond Vampire may be more urban legend than ghost story- the cemetery does house more than its fair share of spooky tenants.
For instance, the Pyramid monument, built to honor the mass amount of Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery is said to be a spot of great paranormal activity. Reports of cold patches around the monument as well as disembodied moans have been made.
Perhaps the creepiest (and potentially sweetest) of the cemetery's ghost stories is that of a young girl who is buried on the premises, having died of Scarlett Fever. Beside her grave is an iron statue of a dog that is said to act as her guardian. An alarming amount of people have claimed to see the little girl playing with the dog, hear barking or growling when approaching the grave, and even swear that the dog had moved upon them turning around.
5. Me
Richmond's 5th most haunted place is me, McKenzie Gibbons. The ghosts of my past failures follow me everywhere, rendering me unable to sleep through the night or maintain healthy relationships.
"Sometimes when you're talking to her, she'll just lose focus and you can see that she's being possessed. Scary sh*t," said an unnamed source.
Most reports claim to have seen me in various Starbucks locations in the RVA area or simply crying alone in my car.
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