Evicted by an Evil Spirit

A YOUNG couple who are refusing to live in a council property which they claim is haunted by an evil spirit now face the threat of having the property repossessed.

Laura Burke, her partner Ritchie, and their son, Kyle (4), are refusing to live in the three-bedroom house at Hollywood Estate in Hollyhill on Cork's northside after a bizarre series of events between December and March of this year.

The couple are still paying rent to Cork City Council on the property -- but they are refusing to live there and currently reside at the home of a family member.

The house has now effectively being lying empty for the past six months.

The couple are pleading with the council to be re-housed, though locals in the Hollyhill area have become increasingly sceptical of their supernatural claims.

Cork City Council warned last week they have no way of verifying the couple's claims and will not be providing them with an alternative property.

However, the council has offered to refurbish and repair the property, but stressed that, because the house has effectively been abandoned, it is now within their right to repossess it unless they take up occupancy.

Last March, a special 'cleansing' ceremony was performed on the house -- with one spiritualist claiming he could sense "an angry spirit" in the property.

The young couple, who only moved into the house in August 2009, insisted they are too afraid to remain in the building after the unexplained incidents.

"I really can't [go back]. We don't want to go near the place," Laura said.

Special prayers were said at the house to placate the spirit earlier this year, and a 'New Age' shaman even performed the 'cleansing' exorcism there.

Laura told the Sunday Independent that holy pictures were routinely knocked from the wall, screams were heard in the dead of night, their son was once flung from his bed, and both furniture and furnishings were discovered re-arranged despite being left in an empty room.

The family received their greatest shock when they spotted what they described as "glowing orbs" hovering in mid-air in certain rooms in the house. Their son claimed he could see 'eyes' following his every move in his bedroom.

"It's an evil spirit -- I just get the feeling that it is something evil. Whatever it is, I don't believe it means us well," Laura said.

The publicity surrounding the haunting attracted hundreds of curious onlookers when the story first hit the headlines last February and March.

Clairvoyant John O'Reilly was invited to inspect the house and he said he immediately felt "a presence".

"There is someone here. I am getting [a feeling] of a younger man who would have hung himself," he said.

Spiritualist and shaman, Paul O'Halloran, said he felt there were numerous spirits in the house, and believed they may be from children who were buried in unmarked graves in Cork.

However, locals are increasingly dubious about the haunting claims -- and pointed out that no one recalls previous incidents at the house, or any tragedy fitting the descriptions being cited.

A group of local children who at one point mounted a vigil to watch outside the house earlier this year for 'ghost-busting' activity gave up in disgust after four hours of seeing nothing unusual.

"A dog fell asleep on the front doorstep -- and animals are supposed to be the first to sense spirits and ghosts," one local girl said.

- Ralph Riegel

Sunday Independent

Lochinvar Mansion Haunted By Uncle Eb

Built in the late 1830's, the mansion was home to the Gordon family for many years and watched over by an old caretaker. The Gordon family is long gone now, though it's said the old caretaker still watches over the place.

Lochinvar was built by Robert Gordon, a Scottish adventurer, in the late 1830's as a gift for his wife. At the time, Gordon owned a strip of land which stretched all of the way from Pontotoc to Aberdeen, sixty miles away. Aberdeen was Gordon's own town. He had founded a trading post there in the early 1830's and named the place Dundee in honor of a town in Scotland. He later changed to the name to Aberdeen. It was near Pontotoc where Gordon found the land where he wanted to build his home. The location that he chose had been the land of the Choctaw Indian chief, Chinubi and once the Indians were gone from the area, he began building the new house.

After moving into the grand mansion, the Gordons would have one child, a son named James. His earliest memories of Lochinvar included magnificent parties and his personal servant, named Ebenezer. He could not remember a time when Ebenezer had not been a part of his life. He taught James to hunt and fish, told him stories, supervised his manners and when he was old enough, packed his trunks and watched him leave for the University of Mississippi at Oxford in 1851.

As the years passed, the beloved slave grew older and became known by the respectful name of "Uncle Eb". He remained particularly close to James Gordon and their relationship went far beyond master and servant.

In February of 1856, James married Virginia Wiley and in December of that year, their daughter Annie was born. From that time that she could walk, Annie was attached to Uncle Eb. She followed him everywhere and begged him to push her on the swings and to tell her stories.

Delighted, Uncle Eb took under his wing a new generation of Gordons.

Then came the Civil War. Robert Gordon, now too old to be involved, gave his support and advice to James and they raised a company of Confederate cavalry, the first from northern Mississippi. Before James Gordon left for service, he called Uncle Eb to see him. "Take care of my family and the plantation," he told his mentor, "My father needs your help and I need to know that you are here with my family. Don't let anything happen to them and I'll be back home soon." He embraced the older man and told him goodbye.

This began Uncle Eb's role as the caretaker and guardian of Lochinvar. Every afternoon, he would begin his rounds of the property, making sure the gates were closed, the doors to the house were locked and that there were no strangers lurking around the plantation. He moved his bed to the hallway outside of Annie's door, where he slept from that night on. He took to roaming the grounds at various times throughout the night, carrying an oil lantern and making sure that everything was secure.

As time passed, he learned other skills and began making repairs on the house and the farming equipment. He learned to cook and prepare the meals and even to dark socks and make repairs on clothing.

Night after night, the light from Uncle Eb's lantern circled the house, the barn, the garden, the pasture and the orchards, reassuring himself that nothing was amiss and that the people he loved were safe.

One night, while Uncle Eb was on his rounds, a rider approached. It was Captain James Gordon, home for a brief stay at Lochinvar. A few days after he left, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel, returning to combat with the 2nd Mississippi Cavalry Regiment, Armstrong's Brigade.

Colonel Gordon and Uncle Eb would never meet again.

One rainy night, Uncle Eb was roused from his sleep by a strange sound. He took his lantern outside and crossed the grounds in the storm. He was soaked to the skin before he was sure that everything was secure. A day or so later, what seemed to be a cold developed into pneumonia. In less than a week, old Uncle Eb was dead.

It was a long time before Colonel Gordon received word of his friend's death. He was in England at the time on a mission for President Davis. On his way home, he landed in North Carolina and was captured and imprisoned. He soon escaped and made his way to Canada. There, he met and befriended an actor named John Wilkes Booth. This casual friendship with Booth later pointed suspicion to Gordon when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Luckily, Gordon was able to prove his innocence.

After the war, Gordon finally learned that Uncle Eb had passed away while carrying out his duties to the plantation.

Many believe that since Uncle Eb died before the war ended and before his guardianship of the Gordon home came to an end....he has not rested in peace in the years since the Civil War. As the years have passed, hisoil lantern is still seen roaming the grounds of the Lochinvar estate. It has been seen for decades and locals believe that the light belongs to the spirit of Uncle Eb, watching over his beloved family throughout eternity.

Episode Three: The Apartment

The Out of the Dark team investigates one of the team's private residences. J.J. Brewster, investigator takes the team to his house to find out what is keeping him up at night. The team utilizes a Ouija Board and witnesses objects move by their own accord.

J.J. Brewster has since moved to a new residence, as with the other many previous occupants. Find out who is haunting and what they want.

Director’s Notes:

Out of the Dark investigator J.J. Brewster has expressed that he perhaps is experiencing something in his downtown Calgary residence. He invited the rest of the team to perform a Quija Board session to speak directly to the spirits who have been causing him sleepless nights.

The team witnesses an object move on its own accord and uses the Ouija Board to speak to the spirits of J.J.’s home.

J.J. has since moved out of the residence, as several previous tenants have done. According to a neighbor, “No one really stays for very long.”

Haunted Niagara Photocards

Here is a collection of my historic photocards of Niagara Falls. Some of these are simply historic buildings, while others are haunted. Enjoy!

Mount Carmel College or Loretto Academy
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

The only original structure left of Fort George,
Niagara On the Lake, Ontario, Canada

William Lyon MacKenzie's House & Printer,
Queenston, Ontario, Canada

The Niagara Falls Custom House or The Stone Jug,
Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada

The Wheatland House

By John Savoie

On a lonely road, overtaken by nature and the unforgiving prairie landscape, a house appears to have weathered over a 100 years of life only to be left abandoned and empty.

The farmhouse in Wheatland County has attracted the attention of myself and a few sensitive individuals over the course of the last two years.

On one impromptu scouting trip we arrived close to 11pm as the sun made its way over the rocky mountains and darkness covered the land. The house reflected the last rays of the warm rays and cast eerie shadows across its yard.

We peaked inside the windows and we listened. A friend noticed a wispy smoke-like movement from one side of the front bedroom to the hallway. He immediately backed off and went around the other side of the house and with a frantic voice said, "I'm not going in there."

I felt an energy also. One that pulled me in to investigate and also one that warned me to stay away. I chose my gut instincts and followed my friend around the side of the house and took a few pictures and decided to come back for a full investigation another day.

On June 29, 2009 I made my way back to the property and brought along with me a psychic and also my investigating equipment. I arrived during daylight hours to take full advantage of my surroundings.

I made my way through a tangle of shrubs, bushes and trees as a falcon screetched above in the cloudless sky. I found the front door and opened it slowly, cautiously, in preparation to meet any animal or circumstance. The main living area was in terrible shape with a red sofa against one wall.

The front bedroom door was closed and did not feel inviting. I turned and walked into the living space and snapped a few pictures of this room and the window which overlooked the western sky. This room felt lonely, but did not feel threatening or haunted.

I quickly turned and once again looked to the closed door. Something was in that room...I could feel it. But I didn't open that door, not yet. Something was warning me deep inside and I could sense it. Someone was keeping that door shut for a reason. It held a secret.

I made my way to the back of the house where I found a second bedroom, a kitchen and a mudroom. The mudroom held a feeling of hard work, loneliness and longing.



I returned once again to the front of the house and concentrated on the door and what lay beyond. There was something behind it. A spirit. I could sense him. I snapped a picture of the door and then proceeded to open the door.



I opened the door feeling a rush of a spirit wash over me and then dissipate as if it did not want to be sensed nor disturbed. The room was small and had one board covered window. It also contained the stairs leading to the crawlspace under the house. I waited in this room, recorder, camera, video tape and EMF detector all activated, but the spirit who was guarding this room was gone.




In this room with no view, in the crawlspace on the left side ledge was a single, silver key dating back to the turn of the century. What was it for? Was this the guarded object?

My companion psychic never entered the house. Instead she remained outside and said she was not welcome inside.

I made my way around the property and we walked the acreage noting an old site for a vegtable garden. Dark clouds covered the sun and night was fast approaching. In the back yard I found the skull of a young cow - perhaps the dinner of a coyote or perhaps a warning.

Below are additional photos of the house: