You Don’t Want to Miss It!

Historic Castle Warden in St. Augustine pictured on cover of The Florida Road Guide to Haunted Locations

ST. AUGUSTINE (May 3, 2010) – Robert Ripley always said “the truth is stranger than fiction” and it appears he’s correct once again.  The original Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum is pictured on the cover of a new book to be released this week, entitled The Florida Road Guide to Haunted Locations, establishing the old castle once again as one of the Sunshine State’s most haunted buildings.

The book chronicles dozens of locations in Florida which have a history of hauntings, including many in St. Augustine, such as the Castillo De San Marcos, the Spanish Military Hospital, and the bay front Casa Blanca Bed & Breakfast.  Book co-authors Chad Lewis and Terry Fisk have compiled over 290 pages of stories, facts, history, and details of investigations done in Ripley’s and many other Florida landmarks.

Reports of ghosts at Ripley’s began almost immediately after its opening as a museum in December of 1950.  The historic Castle Warden actually dates back to the 1880’s and was never owned by Ripley himself, although he was a guest at the building in the 1940’s when it was a hotel operated by the celebrated author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and her husband Norton Baskin.  After Ripley’s passing in 1949, the castle was purchased by his heirs and converted into the first permanent location for Ripley’s collection of curiosities and oddities that had made him world famous. 

Not long after the museum opened, visitors and employees alike began to notice strange activity, including the appearances of the ghosts of two women who died in an April 1944 fire at the castle. Others have often experienced paranormal activity in the museum’s gift shop, lobby, and various rooms.  The famous TAPS team from TV’s GhostHunters led an investigation of the building in October of 2009.

Lewis and Fisk hope to visit the castle for a book signing later this year.  “We’re hoping to come to St. Augustine when our busy schedule permits, perhaps in November,” says Fisk, who along with Lewis has co-authored dozens of books, including road guides to haunted locations in Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota.

The book is published by Unexplained Research Publishing Company and details are available at www.unexplainedresearch.com.

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL (April , 2010) – For the second straight year a 24-hour marathon internet broadcast was completed at the original Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum in St. Augustine, Florida.  At the stroke of midnight Friday April 16, Jeremiah Greer (above) launched a full day of his internationally renowned Shadows in the Dark Radio show by broadcasting worldwide at www.shadows24.com.  Greer’s show also dabbles into the realm of the paranormal and focused on the haunted history of St. Augustine.

Greer’s guest list included Charlie Carlson, who’s recent PBS documentary “Weird Florida” (co-hosted by Charlie’s dog Miss Scarlett) has drawn rave reviews throughout the state.  Greer was also joined by Ripley Radio Odd-cast host Ralf “with an F” Ingwersen (interviewing Carlson at left), Mentalist & Illusionist Slim King and performance artist Karl Miranda and his drum circles.

Last year’s marathon was also successfully broadcast from Ripley’s Castle Warden, an historic 1880’s castle infamous for its various ghosts, with employees and paranormal investigators alike claiming to see and sense numerous spirits inside.  The castle was visited by Robert Ripley himself in the 1940’s when it served as the home of Pulitzer Prize winning author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.  It became the first-ever permanent Ripley’s Odditorium in 1950. 

At the completion of the 24-hour broadcast, Greer and many of his guests boarded the award-winning Ghost Train Adventure at the stroke of midnight for a ghost tour of the Nation’s Oldest City.

Zimmerman was on hand at Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Museum Saturday March 13, signing copies of her latest book, a special 10^th anniversary edition of the Ghost Investigator series.  

 Zimmerman’s latest release details 25 of her favorite cases from the previous nine Ghost Investigator volumes, and includes a new section on St. Augustine haunts, with Ripley’s historic Castle Warden as the backdrop for at least one tale.  The castle, which now houses the original Ripley’s museum, was built in the 1800’s as a family home, was later turned into a hotel by Pulitzer Prize winning author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and has been investigated for its reported paranormal activity by several groups, including T.A.P.S., the stars of the Ghost Hunters TV show on the SyFy Network.  Zimmerman has hopes for her own TV show based on her series of books and may shoot part of the pilot episode in St. Augustine.

Zimmerman initially received honors for her books on American history, but while delivering a series of history lectures for the bicentennial of Rockland County in southern New York’s Hudson Valley, she was asked about local ghosts and legends.  Linda says she told the one ghost story she knew, and then received a call several days later with “the excited voice on the other end of the line saying, ‘I hear you give ghost talks!’, so I researched a few more ghost stories, told those, word spread, and by the end of the series, more people were showing up to hear about the ghosts than the history.  From that point, my research into ghosts took on a life of its own, but the scientist in me wanted to personally conduct investigations.”

The entire Ghost Investigator series and the new 10^th Anniversary edition are available at www.amazon.com and at www.ghostinvestigator.com. Contact Linda directly at lindazim@optonline.net.  If you mention Ripley’s, Linda will sign your copy and ship it free.

For more information, contact Ralf Ingwersen at Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! at (904) 824-1606 or ingwersen@ripleys.com.

Even though we’ve been voted best tour by the locals three years running, we’re not afraid of the dark – and not afraid to give you a new and improved Ghost Train Adventure!

Our 90 minute interactive paranormal investigation now takes you inside THREE haunted buildings and visits TWO cemeteries.

Spanish Military Hospital

STOP # 1 – THE SPANISH MILITARY HOSPITAL

Bizarre things have happened for centuries in this building, which just happens to rest on top of one of St. Augustine’s earliest cemeteries.  Will you see the dark figure in the corner of the Apothecary Room, or feel the bed shake in the Ward Room?

Find out why TAPS, Paranormal Seekers and others have also investigated this site, which sits on Aviles Street, the oldest street in the Nation’s Oldest City.

Stop # 2 – THE OLD DRUG STORE (right)

The Old Drugstore

After winding slowly past the creepy Tolomato Cemetery, you’ll visit inside this creaky wooden structure from the 1700’s, which was later moved here – at the corner of the cemetery!

Use your EMF meters here and across the street at the equally haunted French Huguenot Cemetery, once known as St. Augustine’s Public Burial Grounds of 1821.

Stop # 3 – THE CASTLE WARDEN (below, with Ghost Train)

Take a forboding foray inside a real castle from the 1800’s which now houses the original Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Museum.

Will you hear the names of Betty and Ruth whispered in your ear?  Are they trying to reveal the truth about their mysterious deaths in 1944? What did guests see on the first floor the night TAPS investigated?  Grab the hand nearest you, hold tight, and enter... CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS!

TAPS has investigated the haunted Castle Warden, which now houses the original Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Museum.  Dave Tango, Steve Gonsalves, Dustin Pari and many guests were part of October 17th’s exclusive evening inside the 1880’s castle.

The Atlantic Paranormal Society, called TAPS, is internationally famous these days due to the popular TV series “GhostHunters” on the SyFy Network.  Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson and their fun-loving team of paranormal investigators have traveled the globe attempting to gather evidence of hauntings.  Most of the hardcore viewers realize the TAPS crew will often debunk stories of apparitions and strange sightings and rarely term a location “haunted”.

Since the TAPS members were NOT taping for TV that night, they did not set up multiple cameras and conduct a full-scale investigation.  However, that didn’t mean the spirits were at ease.  Several guests felt nausea and tingling sensations at the top steps of the third floor landing…one guest reported seeing a shadowy presence run off into a corner of a first floor exhibit room…and several other guests reported EMF meters flickering in response to questions concerning the deaths of two woman during a suspiscious 1944 fire when the Castle warden served as a hotel (although Betty Richeson and Ruth Pickering were said to have perished due to smoke inhalation, many people now believe a double homicide occurred and the fire set to cover up the deed).

As soon as we dissect all the evidence, we’ll post what we can here ASAP.  Dave, Steve, and Dustin exuded professionalism throughout the evening, and a big THANK YOU goes out from us here at Ripley’s to TAPS, Ideal Event Management, and all of the evening’s guests!

Ralf Ingwersen - Ghost Tours Director – Ripley’s St. Augustine, FL

Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango of TAPS

Links

• www.theatlanticparanormalsociety.com
• www.idealeventmanage.com

This is a lens strap...yep, just a lens strap.

We have rounded up some great tips for capturing ghost photos:

GET YOUR CAMERA READY. Set your digital camera to NIGHT if possible, and make sure your lens is clean.

TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES. The more photos the better your chances of catching a great ghost photo. Take shots at eye level and above your head.

AVOID SHINY SURFACES. The shine from glass, mirrors, marble or metal can give you an image that can be mistaken for a ghost. The reflection can appear like mist, fog & orb shapes.

KEEP YOUR SHOT CLEAR. Keep your hair, lens covers and camera straps out of the shot. They can easily be mistaken for ghostly apparitions.

AVOID LENS FLARE. Take photos with the light source behind you. Lens flair can make a light source look like a ghost.

TRUST YOUR GUT. If the hair on the back of your neck stands up…take a photo!

TAKE PHOTOS OF LIVE PEOPLE. Ghosts are often attracted to people and will follow them around. So include people in the photos you take. Include enough space to one side of the picture and above the heads of those in the photo. Try taking a photo over your shoulder and snap a picture behind you. You never know what could be following you!

TALK TO THE GHOSTS. Be respectful, have nice thoughts, and quietly talk to them. Let them know you are not here to harm them. Ask them if they can make themselves visible to you. You never know!
Source: GhostStudy.com

Toys R Us Ghost

This image was caught on infrared film during a paranormal investigation at a Toys R Us in Sunnyvale, California, for the television series “That’s Incredible”.

The man seen leaning on the wall was not observed by the others present. High speed film shots taken at the same time as this one showed no trace of the leaning figure!

This Toys ‘R’ Us has a long history of being haunted by a ghost called “John” and store workers are used to see strange things happening, such as objects moving on their own!

Read this snopes.com ghost article to learn more.

Lions Gate Publicity

The Lions Gate trailer goes something like this:

“When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner’s clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover. Now unspeakable terror awaits, when Jonah, the boy who communicated with the powerful dark forces of the supernatural, returns to unleash a new kind of horror on the innocent and unsuspecting family.”

But Lorraine remembers the account much differently. “It’s a case that was much, much scarier than any movie could ever be,” Lorraine said. She also said that in typical Hollywood fashion, the movie is about as far fetched from the actual case as it could be. “The movie is very, very loosely based on the actual investigation,” she said.

“It was back in the ‘80’s. We were called, it was very late at night, by a woman” Lorraine said.

That family was the Snedekers.  In the movie, they’re known as the Campbells.

She said the family had moved into a house at 208 Meriden Avenue in Southington while their son was being treated for cancer at UConn. They wanted to find something close to the hospital so they could take him as an outpatient. What they found – and bought – was a big and seemingly welcoming home.

“All they could see when they were going to rent this property was a big, airy place. That’s what it looked like. But what they didn’t know was that it’s a former funeral home,” Lorraine said. What used to be the show room for the coffins was now the kids room. Just down the hall? The place where the bodies were prepared for viewing.

“The boys were the first to start talking about things they had seen and experienced, saying they were terrified,” Lorraine said. “The parents were kind of chastising the kids – they thought it was all crazy. But the kids were so scared they started sleeping on the floor in the living room.”
“The night that the woman called, they were really terrified,” said Lorraine. “Her niece was in a small bedroom in the back and the covers on her bed were levitating around her like there was a fan blowing them around.”

Lorraine said while the mother was on the phone with her, even more bizarre events started happening.
“The mother had rosary beads in her hand. They were in the kitchen talking to us and the beads were actually being pulled apart in her hand and falling to the floor.”

Lorraine and Ed went over the next morning with the family’s parish priest. Lorraine said even HE was scared. A blessing of the house seemed to do nothing to calm things down, she said.

“You really felt for this family. We tried everything to keep them comfortable. You can’t say to a family that has a sick son in the house that you have to just move on,” she said.

“It finally got to the point where we contacted the bishop’s office in Hartford. Thank God he was very open to our work and what was going on. She said the church sent an exorcist.

“When the exorcism happened, a crazy thing also happened that we still don’t really understand,” she said. “There was a huge tree in front of the house – and half of the tree, with no wind, broke off and fell on the property.”

The family moved a short time later.
Story Source: NBC Connecticut

Just checking out the web for some cool ghost pics,  and I found a shot worth of sharing.  This reminds me of the image caught in the St. Augustine Lighthouse.  Check it out.

Marcus Writes:

“This apparition photo was taken at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami Florida. To give you a brief summary of the place, Vizcaya was built around 1916 and now operates as a tour attraction.  This spiral staircase is in the area where the butlers would stay.  I thought the staircase would make a great photo if I took it looking up as the sun came through.

Before I took this photo I made sure that everyone was off the stairs and asked the last man coming down if there was any other people coming down. He told me no that there was no one up there, so that is when I took my photo. I knew no one was up there. When I came home and looking through my photos I had taken that day, I noticed something and had to upload it immediately to my computer. When I saw the actual photo I was startled to find a figure of a man standing, looking down the staircase.

Keep in mind that when I took the photo I saw no one there. As you can see, the figure’s hand is formed, but from the shoulders up, he is transparent. His head is see-through and you can see the frame of the skylight coming through.

Source: AngelsGhosts.com

If you have any ghost images or videos from personal experiences or from our Ghost Train Adventures that you would like to share on our site, do that HERE.  We look forward to seeing your photos!