Sandusky Register – 10/31/2013

Spooky spots
Region home to many haunted locations

ANDY OURIEL, DANBURY TWP
OCT 31, 2013

Forget about candy, costumes and pumpkins.

Halloween, at its core, centers on the scary, supernatural and secret stories.

Legend has it, several spooky spots exist in Erie, Huron, Ottawa and Sandusky counties.

The Register visited eight locations ripe with mystery and compiled information from the Ohio Exploration Society to reveal the eeriest areas.

Rather than trick-or-treating tonight, brave souls seeking a challenge might want to test their boldness by trekking out to these chilling locations to spot spirits, hear howls or even catch a quick glimpse of a ghost.

Castalia Cemetery, Castalia
– Spooky story: Driving through the cemetery at night might make your car stall. You might also hear yelling and screaming. And after the yelling and screaming? Look out for your own gravestone to pop up once you are vamoosing out of the cemetery.

Gore Orphanage, Vermilion
– Spooky story: An orphanage burned down in the early 1900s with children dying inside of it. People passing by swear to hearing children cry — and some attest to smelling burning flesh.

Milan Cemetery, Milan
– Spooky story: Looking for a good dare? Go up and knock on the door of Abbott’s Tomb, which houses a rocking chair mysteriously moving back and forth. But only do it if you’re fast, since ghosts will chase you away. Also bring sunglasses to view a cross-shaped tombstone brightly, and mysteriously, glow at night.

“Blue Ridge” on Lamereaux Road, Monroeville
– Spooky story: Mysterious lights flash, shadowy figures dance and strange mists persists along the nearby Seymour Creek, named after an Ohio militia scout killed in the area by Indians during the War of 1812.

Johnson’s Island Confederate Cemetery, Danbury Township
– Spooky story: The Union prison camp confining 15,000 Confederate soldiers also became the final resting place for the north’s enemy during the Civil War. Rumor has it you can sometimes hear gunshots followed by the screams of agony from dead soldiers. At times, they reappear, including ghosts joining in on the island’s Memorial Day parade.

Old Stone House Bed & Breakfast, Marblehead
– Spooky story: You might want to checkout as soon as you enter this B&B: The lodge has toilets flushing unexpectedly, fireplaces surprisingly light when no one has visited the place for ages and a little girl — who fell out of a window three-stories high to her death — haunting Room 11 by re-appearing as a white mist.

Tindall Bridge, Fremont
– Spooky story: Some can see a 1950s murder victim on the road underneath the bridge. Others have heard her shriek in horror.

Green Springs Elementary School, Green Springs
– Spooky story: Talk about school being a drag — the school originally standing on the grounds burned down in the late 1800s, with some students never escaping. The school was rebuilt in 1939, which was later demolished and replaced by a new building in 2010. The ghosts, however, stayed through all the replacements and renovations. Doors mysteriously open and close by themselves, and others hear footsteps in the hallways when nobody’s around.

© Copyright Tandem Media Network

Thank you to Andy Ouriel for using the Ohio Exploration Society in his article about haunts in the Sandusky area.