Headless Phantoms of the Diplomat Hotel - Baguio City, Philippines

In May of 1915, Dominican priests began construction began on a seminary that sat on top of Dominican Hill in Baguio City in the Philippine Islands.  A couple of years after the seminary, Collegio del Santissimo Rosario opened, it was shutdown and became a retreat that doubled as a sanitarium.  However, a drastic turn of events during World War II would make this building one of the most haunted places in the Philippines.

The Diplomat Hotel on Dominican Hill in Baguio City in The Philippines is thought to be haunted by victims massacred during World War II

When the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1941 during the second world war, many residents used the sanctum of the retreat as a place to shelter.  However, the Japanese showed no mercy and attacked the former seminary full force, causing major damage to the structure.  The priests and staff who ran he retreat as well as many residents were killed by the invading soldiers, many of them who did not die in the initial attack were beheaded.

Groover's Ghost of Richmond Bridge - Tasmania, Australia

In the village of Richmond in Tasmania, Australia, a bridge traverses the Coal River along the B31 or what was formerly known as 'convict trail' which served as a main transport route of work gangs from the penal colony of Port Arthur to the growing Hobart Town.  The bridge is said to be haunted by a former convict overseer and and a dog.

Richmond Bridge in Tasmania, Australia is said to be haunted by the ghost of George 'Simeon' Groover and a spectral dog

George 'Simeon' Groover started out his life in Tasmania as one of it's convict residents.  He was sent there for stealing and served out his term, then managed to get a job as a convict overseer around 1829.  He was also given the dubious job of flogging the prisoners when they got out of line. It was said that he became very brutally good at it, torturing many prisoners in his time as overseer.

Built in 1925 by convict labor, what was then known as Bigge's Bridge served as an easy way to traverse the river at Richmond.  One day in 1832, this bridge was the scene of a tragic end for George Groover.  The gang of convicts he was overseeing, took advantage of Groover's drunken state and took out their vengeance on him right there at the bridge and then threw him over the side into the river.

Haunted Richmond Bridge still stands today as one of the oldest bridges of its kind still in use in Australia

Over the years many passing over the bridge have witnessed the specter of a man pacing back and forth across the bridge.  It is believed that this is the ghost of George Groover.  Strangely enough, a phantom black dog has also appeared on the bridge.  Many claim that it appears and then just as suddenly, disappears without a trace. Groover's Dog as it has come to be known, usually manifests itself in the evenings and presents itself only to women and children.  There has also been sightings of a man in a straw hat appearing to be wearing convict attire, strolling across the bridge on occasion.  This is believed to be a prisoner that grew weary of the brutal conditions and threw himself over the side of the bridge while crossing one day.

Richmond Bridge still stands today as one of the oldest bridges of its kind still in use in Australia.  So if you are ever traveling on the B31, keep an eye out for phantoms of the past as you are passing over the haunted bridge at Richmond.

Island of the Dolls (La Isla De Las Muñecas) near Mexico City, Mexico

South of Mexico City, Mexico there lies a series of waterways called the Xochimilco canals that tourists navigate by boat or what the locals call the trajinera.  However, the trajinera pilots will avoid going near a particular island in the canals, the Island of the Dolls which is said to be very haunted.

Island of the Dolls (La Isla De Las Muñecas) near Mexico City, Mexico

La Isla De Las Muñecas or Island of the Dolls, gets it's name from an event that happened back in the 1950s or 60s.  A little girl accidentally drowned in these canals.  A hermit type man named Don Julián Santana Barrera lived on an island which was close to where the little girl died.  It is said that the next day Don Julián was fishing and pulled a small doll out of the water near the spot where the girl perished.  Then he found another, then another, and another.  He kept finding dolls in the canal after the tragic death of the little girl, so he believed that this was the spirit of the girl manifesting itself in the form of dolls.  He would take each doll and hang it on a tree and formed sort of a shrine to act as guardians of the island.

Entrance to the hut of Don Julián Santana Barrera on  Island of the Dolls (La Isla De Las Muñecas) near Mexico City, Mexico

Some years later, either driven mad by the haunting of the dead girl, or as some say he was actually killed by the doll spirits in some strange way.  Regardless of how he met his end, his body was found in the same spot in the canal as the little girl was.  However, they say that the spirit of Don Julián Santana Barrera now roams the island as well.

Xochimilco canals near Mexico City, Mexico

Trajinera on the Xochimilco canals near Mexico City, Mexico

Even today as visitors glide by the island by trajinera or those brave enough to hire a willing boat to take them there, have witnessed the dolls still eerily hanging in the trees of the island which has become known as Island of the Dolls, a sort of bizarre macabre art exhibit.  The dolls and the spirits within them are the only inhabitants of the island today except for a curator of sorts who is a family member of Don Julián.  Many visitors believe that they have seen them move after the sun goes down.

Okiku's Well (Banshu Sarayashiki) at Himeji Castle - Himeji, Japan

In the center of Himeji, Japan on a hill top above the city, the tower of Himeji Castle rises into the skyline.  This castle was built in the early 14th century and several hundred years later it was expanded.  At the base of the castle there is a well which is located next to what is called the Hari-kiri Maru or in English, the suicide gate.  This is where those who have been dishonored are forced to take their own lives via disembowelment by their own sword.  The well was used to clean up after each Hari-kiri ceremony.  There is one particular victim who did not take their own life here that has returned to haunt those who wrongly put her to death.

Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture, Himeji, Honmachi, Japan

Okiku's Well at Himeji Castle, Honmachi, Japan

Centuries ago, a Himeji Castle servant girl named Okiku took care of a most revered treasure of the lord who lived there, ten gilded plates the value of which was more than imaginable.  Himeji was in love with the lord, however being only a servant girl, she kept this secret to herself.

Okiku of Himeji Castle, Japan

One day Okiku overheard a plot by one of the lord's chief retainers of which she served under, to kill him and overtake the castle.  Fearing for her the one she loved, she told the lord of what she had heard.  However, the chief escaped and later found that Okiku had informed the lord of his plan.  Now, he plotted against Okiku.  He stole one of the gilded plates.  Since these treasures were in the close guard of Okiku, she was blamed for stealing the plates and was later found guilty of stealing it and plotting against the lord's retainer. Instead of just subjecting her to commit Hari-kiri, she was mutilated and tortured to death by none other than the chief retainer himself and then afterwards her body was thrown into the castle well.

Himeji Castle rises above the skyline of Himeji, Japan

Himeji Castle in Himeji, Honmachi, Japan

Okiku's soul would not rest.  Every night between the hours of 2 and 3, Okiku's ghost (or yurrei) would rise up out of the well from which her body was thrown into.  She would then proceed to scream out the number of gilded plates, counting them from 1 to 10, wailing and screaming louder as she got to 10.  She would then disappear back into the well.  This would awake the lord every night, so he could not rest.  This drove him more and more insane.  He finally learned the truth about Okiku and how she was wrongfully tortured and murdered and that his retainer was the guilty one.  This drove him over the edge and he went completely insane.

Artist's impression of Okiku rising from the well of Himeji Castle

This epic tale and variations of it have been told in Japan for centuries.  It known as Banshu Sarayashiki. It is said that to this day, Okiku still arises from the well every night wailing out the count of the gilded plates and it is now known as Okiku's Well.  She cannot rest because of her wrongful death and will haunt the well of Himeji Castle forever.

Himeji Castle, Japan at night

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The Devil's Sentry Box (Garita del Diablo) - Fort San Cristóbal, San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico is protected by two forts, El Morro and San Cristóbal.  Both forts feature sentry boxes or turrets that allowed soldiers to monitor traffic coming in from the Caribbean.  However, one particular sentry box has earned a bad reputation over the years.  A reputation for sending soldiers into the hereafter, never to be seen again.

Garita del Diablo or The Devil's Sentry Box at Fort San Cristóbal in San Juan, Puerto Rico

The sentry box in question has been responsible for the disappearance of three individual soldiers over the years.  They would report to the sentry box post in the evening, however when morning arrived, they were no where to be found.  Some witness claimed to have seen a flash of light at the sentry box in the night.  This is the moment that many believe the soldiers disappear.  Many believe that these soldiers were taken by the Devil himself, earning the turret the title of garita del Diablo or The Devil's Sentry Box.

The Devil's Sentry Box (Garita del Diablo) - Fort San Cristóbal, San Juan, Puerto

Some dispel the phenomenon as a hoax.  Some say that one of the soldiers was found years later living nearby raising a family.  They say he staged his disappearance in the box so that he could leave the military and live a family life.  However, if this were so, then what about the other two?

The Devil's Sentry Box (Garita del Diablo) - Fort San Cristóbal, San Juan, Puerto

There are those who still believe that the sentry is haunted or possessed by the Devil.  The Puerto Rican military must have believed as well, because at one point the soldiers feared going into the box.  They were afraid the spirits would get them if the went to their post and the military abandoned the structure as a post.

The Devil's Sentry Box can be seen in the foreground on the left.  In the distance lies the fort El Castillo San Felipe del Morro or EL Morro as it is commonly known.

The forts are abandoned today, but are open to the public.  So if you are visiting San Juan and explore Fort San Cristóbal, you may want to think twice about entering el garita del Diablo.

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White Witch of Rose Hall - Montego Bay, Jamaica

In the early 1800s, John Palmer owned a sugar plantation located just east of Montego Bay, Jamaica.  It was known as the Rose Hall Plantation. In 1820 John married a woman from Haiti named Annie.  Annie Palmer brought a history of death to Rose Hall and it is believed that she haunts the grounds of the estate to this day.

Rose Hall near Montego Bay, Jamaica is said to be haunted by The White Witch

Annie was a beautiful, petite Caucasian woman who to look at her you would never suspect that deep within that innocent looking woman was pure evil.  John Palmer, as well as two subsequent husbands of Annie Palmer died suspiciously.  Many islanders believed that Annie Palmer was a practitioner of voodoo magic and that she was responsible for her husbands' deaths. They called her The White Witch.  It is said that over the years she would mistreat her slaves and also used the good looking ones as lovers.  However, when she grew tired of them, she would kill them.  Eventually growing tired of this and more out of fear for their own protection, Annie's slaves rebelled against her and murdered her in 1831 and set fire to Rose Hall.  They buried her deep under a stone tomb and sealed her fate by conducting a voodoo ritual of their own to prevent  her from rising from her grave.  However, it is said that the ritual was not performed correctly.

The final resting place of Annie Palmer near Montego Bay, Jamaica,  who was known as The White Witch of Rose Hall

Rose Hall has been restored to it's former grandeur and to this day many claim to have seen the ghost of Annie Palmer roaming the grounds of the estate.  Sometimes she is seen riding a black horse wearing a greenish cloak.  Strange events occur in the mansion itself such as footsteps from an unseen source and cries in the night when no one is there.  They say you can still hear her shouting orders to her slaves.

Annie Palmer is said to haunt her former home, Rose Hall near Montego Bay, Jamaica

The Rose Hall Great House is open for tours and today the estate is host to one of the finest golf courses in the Caribbean Islands.  Take a trip to Montego Bay and maybe you will catch a glimpse of The White Witch of Rose Hall.

Skeleton Park (McBurney Park) - Kingston, Ontario Canada

In the early 1800s, Fort Frontenac once stood in Kingston, Ontario.  At one point during the history of the garrison and the town, a cholera epidemic wiped out thousands including soldiers and citizens.  The dead were buried in the garrison cemetery located nearby.

Kingston's Upper Cemetery on Ontario as it was in the 1800s

In 1827 the cemetery changed hands and expanded to become a common burial ground over the years.  A typhus epidemic sent many more to their deaths and were placed in what was known as the Kingston's Upper Cemetery.  When the cemetery reached full capacity in the 1850s, it fell into neglect. 

All that remains of Ft Frontenac Kingston, Ontario Canada

In 1893, it was demanded by locals that the cemetery be removed so work began on removing the remains of those buried in the graveyard and their tombstones to other cemeteries located in the area.  However, when one grave was opened and several soldiers from the garrison days were discovered partially decomposed, a great panic spread that the cholera epidemic could revive itself and devastate the town.  All work stopped on removal of the bodies.  The remaining tombstones were turned over and the entire cemetery covered over with a thin layer of dirt and became Frontenac Park.  

Removal of the graves from Kingston's Upper Cemetery in 1893 Ontario, Canada.  Today it is known as Skeleton Park.

Today the park is known as McBurney Park and is a relaxing and enjoyable place to spend time.  Children play on the play equipment, folks walk or sit and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere and concerts are held there as well.  However, on occasion the remains of a body surface due to weathering or when work is done in the area and a body is accidentally dug up. On one occasion work was being done in the city and a granite slab was uncovered.  Turning it over, it was a tombstone and found beneath the stone was the actual body of the person marked on the stone.  Thus, discoveries like these have earned the park the nickname "Skeleton Park".  There was but one tombstone remaining which is a very large monument to large to cover over or remove.  It is dedicated to priest who is buried there and serves as a reminder of what the park once was, or still is.

A large monument marking the grave of a priest that can be seen in a photo above as it appears today in McBurney Park which is located in Kingston, Ontario.  Also known as Skeleton Park.

It seems that the "residents" of McBurney Park are rather unsettled with the state that they were left in.  On occasion, they make themselves known.  Many visitors to the park have heard disembodied voices.  Several eyewitness claim to have seen actual apparitions in the park, some of those being children who seem to want to run and play.  Many houses surround the park and a large percentage of them have reported a high level of poltergeist activity such as doors opening and closing on their own as well as objects moving about unaided.

So if you want to take a walk with the dead and maybe catch a glimpse of a ghost or two, take a stroll through Skeleton Park, considered to be one of the most haunted places in Canada.

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