The Franklin Castle can be found in Cleveland, Ohio. While all castles are probably a bit eerie simply due to age, the Franklin Castle is a bit creepier than most and thought to be one of the most haunted castles in the world. The Franklin Castle was built in 1865 for Hannes Tiedemann. Tiedemann was German and perhaps he was just homesick when he had a castle built in America. His daughter Emma died of diabetes in 1881 and his mother Wiebeka died shortly after. Within the next three years, three more Tiedemann children would die. That seems like an … Continue reading →

Once again, it is one of my favorite times of the year – Halloween. Or, at least the lead up to Halloween. Each October, I like to do a special blog series on scary places. Unfortunately, I’ve only been to one (the Whaley House in San Diego), but I have many more on my to-do list (the Winchester House and the Hotel Chelsea). On my quest to find yet more scary places, I realized – what could be scarier than a underground burial chamber that you can walk through? Yes, I am talking about the Catacombs of Paris. I’ve never … Continue reading →

What does a Gothic looking building and a state penitentiary add up to? Apparently, it equates to a place haunted by unhappy souls. Such is the case of the West Virginia State Penitentiary. There are plenty of “haunted” prisons, but West Virginia State is thought to be the most haunted. Modeled after a prison in Joliet, the Gothic Revival architecture made it look frightening alone when 250 inmates entered cells in 1876 when it opened. Although conditions of the prison may have been seen as decent enough at the turn of the 20th century, they quickly deteriorated. Eventually, the prison … Continue reading →