Ever since I was a young child I knew that the world had some deep mysteries and unexplained phenomenon that I have now come to learn was nothing more than paranormal episodes flowing through my childhood like a soft breeze filled with troubled air. The problem was that I was too young to verbalize what I had began sensing, and I knew enough to keep it to myself until I could better understand that I was in fact experiencing. These anomalies that were for whatever reason not showing themselves to me at the time, were still allowing for my physiological capacities to elevate to a zone of negative sensations due to a lack of understanding. I was highly aware that some sort of spirit energy was flowing in a way that could only be understood when attempting to explain it as blatant paranoia or a delusional state of mind, but I knew from listening to my parents and grandparents conversations that it was ghosts attempting to communicate with us.
I began to fear the unknown because I couldn’t digest dealing with something that I could not see. I was also frightened by the fact that the spirits would hurt me since I was inexperienced about the reasons why so many ghosts and spirits are walking among the living that I could only assume that they want something from the able bodied beings that can give it to them. I have learned through experience that ghosts and spirits are relatively harmless, and behave in a manner to which they once lived out in their daily life before their death. Not to confuse anyone about apparitions, since there are many harmful entities out there, I can honestly say that I have only come across one in my life. Happily, my childhood experiences with ghosts were mild in comparison to the more in depth ghost stories that I write about.
Haunted Middletown, Delaware, Private Residence
At the time of one of my earliest experiences with the other side we resided in a 19th century plantation style mansion in Middletown, Delaware. My grandfather had bargained for the rambling abode through a co-worker to make it our new home. The place sat in a bit of disrepair and needed electrical work throughout. My grandfather being an electrician by trade put in all new insulated conductors and other electrical devises so that the mansion wouldn’t burn down from an electrical shortage or faulty wiring. It wasn’t long before we realized why the mansion came at such a cheap price.
The place was clearly haunted by several playful ghosts that loved dancing to ballroom music in the open upstairs foyer. Heavy footsteps ran up and down the stairs all hours of the night, and a man once stood on the steps and stared a hole through my mother until she screamed, making him immediately disappear. However he came back to visit several more times, and the redundant spirit brought his ghostly friends with him. Talking echoed throughout the mansion and cold spots were evident in many of the rooms, although my grandfather swore they were nothing more than drafts. My mother and grandmother were so terrified by the antics that went on in the mansion that we eventually moved to a nearby town. This was the first of many moves, to many different homes in various cities across the U.S. that would eventually lead me into a more profound and extensive life with the other side.
Locust Grove Farm, Middletown, Delaware
The rapidly aging and haunted farm house that sits in the middle of the grove is a century and a half old, and it is anything but peaceful and quiet as its exterior would have you believe upon first sight. The legend surrounding the house gives a blurry vision and description of a young boy who passed quickly while living in the farmhouse during the early 1900’s. He actively haunts the house today and clearly lets you know that he is there, typically by moving toys around as to let you know that he is up for a visit. The sunroom is his favorite place to play, and he has been seen by a few of the past tenants that have resided in the house. The small boy ghost likes to flick the lights on and off throughout the house, and he gets a kick out of turning electronic devices off in the middle of a good song or movie. At night the house never sleeps as bumps, squeaks, walking and banging are a regular occurrence at in just about every room at this haunted residence.
Dead Presidents Pub & Restaurant, Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware is one of the oldest cities in the state, and possibly one of the most haunted, and the highly spirited Dead Presidents Pub & Restaurant is a must see if you enjoy ghosts. The popular gathering spot is located in the historical part of the bustling urban settlement nestled in the heart of Wilmington on Union Street. The pub opened its doors in the late 1990’s, but prior to that this active two-story space has worn many different hats from being a private residency to many other businesses including bars. Presidential memorabilia make up much of the pubs interior as does paranormal activity. The pub is a hotbed for ghosts from the past two centuries who have for whatever reason decided to conglomerate at this particular eatery.
The pub offers quite a few meals named after past presidents, and a Happy Hour where you can get blitzed and spooked all at the same time as glasses tend to rattle on their own in the bar. Buzzed or not visitors of the Dead Presidents Pub & Restaurant claim to feel a presence that has a dark and heavy feel to it, and often times causes the room to be cast over with a drop in temps that is hard to ignore. Everything from childlike to more maniac type giggles have been heard late at night when employees are at work closing the place up, and patrons have witnessed dominoes moving about on their own in the adjacent game room.
One legend on a entity that visits the pub regularly is of a man famously known by the locals as “Lemonade Mullery” who is rumored to have slipped on urine on the bathroom floor, located downstairs, and broke his neck during the fatal fall back in the 1960’s when the pub was operating as a completely different establishment. Employees get overly creeped out when left in an unoccupied room alone at night, and have often witnessed dishes flying across the room in what appears to be aimed at them. The highly regarded paranormal activity has drawn many a ghost hunter to the restaurant for a closer inspection, and they all claim that the place is active with quite a few entities that for whatever reasons feel they are a part of the staff.
Location: 618 North Union Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19805 Phone: (302) 652-7737
Web Site: http://www.deadpresidentspub.com/menus
Blevins House, Smyrna, Delaware
This Victorian home was built at the turn of the 19th century and is located in the Historical District of Smyrna, in Kent County, Delaware. Rich in both history and character, the mansion has been everything from a prime home to the affluent Blevins family to several businesses throughout the years. Be as it may the mansion has seemingly never been void of paranormal interactions with the living entities that have dwelled in the home during the last two centuries. The home has owned its share of sadness and death’s, it also possesses a large share of ghostly activity with everything from small dark creepy canine figures that resemble hell hounds to larger dark figures that are similar to that of shadow people encompassing every square inch of the mansions very being.
Strange balls of light that simulate large orbs have been seen floating both indoors and out at the mansion. Dark shadow figures often lurk around the property, disappearing when you get to close to them, and whispers that raise arm air travel with the cold night air sending a chill up your spine. An apparition has been detected by paranormal investigators that can only be described as that of a spinning flow of fluid more commonly known as a vortex. A faceless man with shining eyes peers at you through an upstairs window and a headless body walks the grounds in search of his crushed skull.
Location: 139 North Main Street, Smyrna Delaware 19977
Fort Delaware State Park
With its long history of Confederate prisoners and other colorful residents and guests it comes as no surprise that this harbor defense facility located on Pea Patch Island in New castle County, Delaware is in fact so haunted that the paranormal activity here received so much media attention that a ghost tour is now available to skeptics and ghost hunters alike. TAPS managed to catch some evidence and aired their findings on Ghost Hunters. The thermal imaging camera picked up a high amount of activity in the tunnels and the loud noises that sounded like cannon fire coming from the empty kitchen made viewers fear for the paranormal investigators.
Fort Delaware Candlelight Ghost Tours are available to the general public that allow ghost hunters to participate in a candlelit tour through the spookiest parts of the creepiest fortress on the planet. The popular tours are led by a ghost host who shares the history and some mysterious tales of Fort Delaware. According to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control the 8:00 p.m. tours sell out quickly so reservations should be made promptly to guarantee a spot by calling: 1-877-98-PARKS or by visiting their web site: at: www.destateparks.com.
Appetite for Apparitions: Dinner & Ghosts, Paranormal Investigations & Pea Patch Paranormal Investigations
September through October are the perfect months for a good scare while dining or dashing from ghosts. Tours and investigations for 2011 will begin on September 10th and proceed through October 29th. Everything from a buffet dinner at Crabby Dick’s in historic Delaware City, located by the ferry’s boat dock to a ghost hunt with the Delaware Ghost Hunters will be on the events schedule. Participants will enjoy seeing first hand just how ghosts, spirits and orbs are detected with the use of electronic magnetic field detectors, data recorders and temperature sensors. For more information on one or more of these exciting programs go to: http://www.destateparks.com/ghost/index.asp
Location: Delaware City, Delaware Phone: (302) 834-7941 Access is by ferry: http://www.destateparks.com/park/fort-delaware/ferry.asp
Sources:
http://delawareghosthunters.com/
http://eastghost.com/
http://theshadowlands.net/places/delaware.htm
http://downtownsmyrna.org/Smyrna%20History.htm
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