True Hauntings

St Helena Island is a small isolated island in the middle of the South Atlantic, some 1200 miles from the mainland of Africa. This tiny spot in the ocean played a big role as a stopover on the trade routes and as a place of exile for thousands of slaves. Such a history of use and abuse of the land and the people dumped there has led to a deeply dark and haunted place. Superstition, magic, voodoo a...

On a bright sunny day, Ballygally Castle is postcard perfect—a breath taking almost dream like Scottish baronial Castle overlooking the sea in Northern Ireland. Yet on any dark, stormy evening, Ballygally takes on a more sinister feel and looks like something right out of a 1950’s horror movie.  There’s a dark coastal road that takes you to the castle on the hill and you can ju...

The room upstairs looks like any child’s bedroom. Toys are lovingly arranged on chairs and on the bed in easy reach ready for play. Downstairs there is a doctor’s surgery, clean and tidy awaiting the patients for the day. There is also a school room for students. But the children, patients and students that roam these rooms are not the people you would expect to be here – they are all dead. Why is...

Fremantle Prison was built as a convict barracks in the 19th century and remained in continual use until 1991. The Prison was a place of hangings, floggings, dramatic convict escapes and prisoner riots. Inmates included imperial convicts, colonial prisoners, enemy aliens, prisoners of war and maximum-security detainees. The first convict transport sailed into Fremantle Harbour in 1850. The Convict...

The Bell Witch or Bell Witch Haunting is a legend from Southern United States folklore, centered on the 19th-century Bell family of northwest Robertson County, Tennessee. Farmer John Bell Sr. resided with his family along the Red River in an area currently near the town of Adams. For three years, “Kate” tormented the family, none more so than John Bell and his daughter, Betsy Bell, who was pi...

SURVEY REQUEST: if our listeners could fill in this survey, it would be appreciated. It will help us attract sponsors :) Many thanks http://bit.ly/truehauntings-survey In this episode of the True Hauntings Podcast we invite you to look behind the security doors of the Pennhurst State School and Hospital as we discover the many shades of blackness in its corridors and in the cold dark heart of man....

SURVEY REQUEST: if our listeners could fill in this survey, it would be appreciated. It will help us attract sponsors :) Many thanks http://bit.ly/truehauntings-survey The majestic Baranof Castle was home to many Russian governors in the 1800’s. Remaining is the hill the castle stood on, the gorgeous view and supposedly a spirit who walks the hills. Baranof Castle in Sitka has a history spanning f...

SURVEY REQUEST: if our listeners could fill in this survey, it would be appreciated. It will help us attract sponsors :) Many thanks http://bit.ly/truehauntings-survey Wicklow’s historic gaol stands in the centre of the township and today it is one of its major visitor attractions. But its history is filled with the angry men of Irish rebellions and the starving faces of the local people. You...

SURVEY REQUEST: if our listeners could fill in this survey, it would be appreciated. It will help us attract sponsors :) Many thanks http://bit.ly/truehauntings-survey The  Highgate Vampire  was a media sensation surrounding reports of supposed supernatural activity at Highgate Cemetery in London in the 1970s. This sensational claim was sparked when several people came out saying that th...

Built during the twelfth century, Newgate Prison in London became well known as a place of great cruelty and wretchedness, with a lack of regard for the humans inside its walls.  It was reserved for some of the most notorious prisoners ever held under the death sentence.  It lacked fresh air and drinkable water. Punishment was so inhumane that death was a blessed relief for the inmates....

An opium den on the first floor? Prison cells in the basement? The Viaduct has seen all sorts of strange and unusual activity over the ages, and if you’re looking to discover what London’s original Gin Palaces might have looked like then it is a perfect example. The Viaduct is an authentic survivor of Gin Palace style of the Victorian Era in England. The Viaduct Tavern opened in 1869 and it is Pro...

You are about to hear a tragic story, with a very sad ending. So, we are giving those who may be easily triggered by emotional content, and those under 18, a heads up that there will be a mention of suicide in this episode. But we must tell this story in its entirety -  as the events that happened in the Ferrier household in St Paulo, Brazil, might just be one of the most violent episode...

This place might look strangely familiar to some. You may think, in your mind, that you have seen it before. If you have watched enough TV or movies over the last 20 years it will soon become clear. There aren’t many places in the world that are creepier than abandoned hospitals, and the Linda Vista Hospital in Los Angeles California goes a long way to reinforcing that story.  The hospital op...

SURVEY REQUEST: if our listeners could fill in this survey, it would be appreciated. It will help us attract sponsors :) Many thanks http://bit.ly/truehauntings-survey Despite its pretty brown stone exterior, the building at 14 West 10th Street in Greenwich Village has a not-so-nice history.  Since being constructed in the 1850’s it’s alleged that 22 people have died in the home and...

From movies to paranormal game shows, ghost stories continue to scare and fascinate the people of Indonesia. Not surprisingly, anything to do with ghosts has become a source of income for many. Said to be one of Indonesia’s most haunted place, the Lawang Sewu is notorious for being featured in the final episode of a local paranormal TV series, where an apparition was caught on video. A few days la...

With an alleged 63,000 deaths taking place inside its walls, Waverly hills Sanatorium is up to its eyeballs in ghosts and not surprisingly the site keeps topping the list of America’s most haunted locations. Originally built as a tuberculosis hospital in 1910, the building saw many lose their life from the disease. This was not the worst of it – slowly stories of mistreatment and dubious human exp...

Throughout history men have formed clandestine clubs, where rich young aristocrats would meet and indulge in drunken orgies, gambling and carousing. Few clubs have attained so much sensationalism as the Hellfire Clubs established in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century. Their history has lived on through the remains of these clubs, which are now major attractions open to the public. In our most...

SURVEY REQUEST: if our listeners could fill in this survey, it would be appreciated. It will help us attract sponsors :) Many thanks http://bit.ly/truehauntings-survey Deep in the heart of the canals of Xochimilco — Mexico City’s last vestige of the Aztecs — is one of the world’s most haunted and tragic locations: the Island of the Dolls. Here, on this single acre, which houses three hut...

The Colosseum of Rome is one of the few ancient wonders that still survives to this day. Historians have learned much about this fantastic structure, and about the lives of Roman citizens through the study of this one building. It quickly became the centre of Rome, the ultimate entertainment for the masses, and a tool for politicians. We seen the movies, we've heard the stories - you would imagine...

SURVEY REQUEST: if our listeners could fill in this survey, it would be appreciated. It will help us attract sponsors :) Many thanks http://bit.ly/truehauntings-survey Mary King’s Close was a street in Edinburgh sealed off from the world, leaving all the people suffering from the bubonic plague trapped beneath. These people were quarantined and left to die. The residents in the city above went abo...

According to the Travel Channel’s “America’s Most Haunted,” the property is the most haunted house in the United States. Visitors have reported supernatural encounters like hearing footsteps, capturing unexpected images in photos, and seeing apparitions of former residents including Thomas Whaley himself. Why did Thomas Whaley move his family to San Diego to the very spot he had witnessed a hangin...

The news that demons had invaded a house in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, first appeared in an Associated Press report on August 18, 1986. The house at the centre of the activity was on Chase Street in this small mining town just outside of Scranton is occupied by Jack and Janet Smurl and their four children: Dawn, 17, Heather, 14, and Karen and Shannon, 8-year-old twins.  As the news reached...

The Crumlin Road Gaol dates back to 1845 and closed its doors as a working prison in 1996. Crumlin Road Gaol is an historic Victorian-era prison which was a working gaol for over 150 years. In that time it saw children as young as ten pass through the gates as inmates. It has housed prisoners through times of severe punishment, world wars, and political conflicts. Sixteen years after its closure,...

The town of Jedburgh is situated in the Scottish Borders, and is home to a jail infamous for its terrible conditions and the cruelty that was dealt out to the prisoners. Torture and violence was common during it’s time so it is no surprise that the old jail has a terrifying reputation. During past ghost hunts at Jedburgh Jail apparitions and dark shadows have been seen and cell doors have slammed...

From skyscrapers in New York’s glittering skyline to automobiles being built in Detroit, America came to rely on Birmingham and Sloss Furnaces for providing materials needed to produce thousands of products. Birmingham grew to a metropolis almost overnight, earning it the nickname of “The Magic City”. But as with all progress, a price was paid..in the currency of blood. Crazy work hours and c...