Bloody Murders and Tortured Ghosts

The Story behind the Rocky Top Village Inn captivated me from the very beginning.  It had everything dark and sinister imaginable in a ghost story.  The story began with a group of four men planning a robbery.  They broke into the old office at the Rocky Top Village Inn and held the night clerk and the night watchman at gun point and stole all the money from the inn, but that wasn't enough.   The men saw their weeping victims and wanted more and they took what they wanted in such a violent and perverse fashion that I have been unable to find any descriptions of what they did. It was too horrible to describe.  It is known that the bodies were taken to room 1 and dumped and that the officer in charge found the bodies covered in gunshot wounds and knife wounds.   One of the murderers fled from the crime.  He had only agreed to participate in the robbery.   He left a note and a knife behind him in a nearby phone booth.  In the note,  he apologized for his crimes and said he never wanted to be part of the murders.   A man named tattoo Eddy was the ring leader of this brutal crime and he still sits on death row today.

I went to the Rocky Top Village Inn not knowing what to expect. Exploring haunted places is unpredictable.  Places that should feel terribly haunted seem vacant and places that should seem calm seem like you've stepped into Shirley Jackson's Hillhouse.  I went with some of my girlfriends.  One of my friends is psychic.  She doesn't tell many people this and she would never advertise it, but if you give her a few glasses of wine she opens up about it.  She agreed to go with me and help me explore my haunted locations.  I can sense some things, but I am no where near as gifted as she is.  With a glass of wine in hand, she once predicted my mother-in-laws death.

 When we pulled into the back parking lot of the inn, my friend didn't want to get out of the car.  She hesitated.   It wasn't just the ghosts.  The Rocky Top Village Inn is a pretty low brow motel and seedy people eyed us from their perches on the banisters above us as we crept out of our car, but even if the motel had been empty, she would have hesitated. The ghostly presence at this haunted motel was tangible.  Finally, we all got out of the car and explored the dingy, old motel.

The motel looked like it had been built over several decades and the two halves of the motel didn't match at all.  There was a newer portion with a more modern office and a pool.  It was still green and off putting, but in a general motel sort of way.  The other half of the motel was much older and made from stone.   It was in the old office here that the murders were committed.   My friends and I wandered the grounds of the motel and I took pictures of the office and room number one.  My psychic friend shifted uncomfortably and described the feeling coming from the building as beyond bleak.  She wouldn't stay long.  We left as soon as the pictures were taken.   It began to rain as we fled the scene and lightning painted the blackening sky.  My friend broke into a jog and we fled so quickly I felt like we were being pursued by something I couldn't see.

The Haunting of the Happiest Place on Earth

There are real ghosts in the Magic Kingdom,  although none of them can be found at The Haunted Mansion.   The most famous of Disney's ghosts can be found at The Pirates of the Carribean ride. He hides behind the animatronic skeletons and scares the staff to death when they are alone in the attraction. George was a construction worker who worked on the attraction in the 1970’s. He was climbing a ladder and he fell to his death. Since that time, staff members have said good morning and good night to George over the PA system. If they fail to follow this tradition, the ride will shut down and some staff members report that they’ve seen the ride shut down on the days that this ritual is forgotten.

While I was at Disney,  I was able to talk to several of the staff about George.  They smiled as they talked about him and answered my questions in the comfortable casual manner most people might speak about what they had for dinner or a slightly annoying cousin.  One staff member described George as nice.  She smiled brightly and said he wasn't very active any more.  She said it can sometimes be weeks before they hear from him.  She says he is never annoying, but everyone knows he is there.

I honestly couldn't tell if the staff were be truthful or if I was the back end of an elaborate inside joke when they spoke to me.  They all smiled and grinned as they spoke and  they spoke of George as if they had said the same thing a thousand times before.  Whether the lines were rehearse or not,  it was clear that George was well known.  Everyone knew exactly who I was talking about when I mentioned George. Whether George is active still or has passed into myth, he has become part of Disney.

The pictures I took of the ride showed a few orbs, but no conclusive evidence of any ghostly activity.  I still like to imagine, however, that George is still hiding in the shadows of this attraction, laughing at all the tourists that float through his ghostly abode.

The Ghosts of Flight 191

I flew into Chicago today.   My airplaine landed in one of the more haunted places in Chicago.  Believe it or not Chicago O'Hare Airport is reported to be very haunted.  Ghosts have been seen traversing the halls of this crowded and boisterous airport.  It is hard to imagine anything creepy seeping in through the throngs of people that push their ways through the halls of O'Hare.  Even if there were ghosts there,  I can't imagine noticing.   If a ghost sat on my head there,  I probably wouldn't have seen it in all the commotion.  Never the less,   there have been multiple reports of phantom pilots and stewardesses within this airport.

Thirty years ago,  tragedy befell this famous airport.   In 1979,  Flight 191 crashed and exploded into flames on the runway in front of the terminal.   271 passengers and crew members died in the fiery inferno that followed and their ghosts haven't rested since then.  The common reports of the supernatural at O'Hare are the phantom aircraft that is often seen flying in the skies.  As I wandered the terminal,  I tried to imagine ghosts.  I looked for them, but I saw nothing.   I suppose the ghosts may wait for nightfall.

The Ancient Apparitions of Russell Caverns

Today we drove North again.  We went on a road trip to find the last pieces of the haunted North Alabama puzzle.   We took our time and stopped to view the oddities along the way.   We stopped at Unclaimed Baggage to view the puppet used for Hoggle in the movie "Labrynth".  He's an odd thing to leave in your luggage, but no odder than the ancient manuscripts and other oddities that are placed behind glass at the Unclaimed Baggage Museum. 

Our final destination was Russell Caverns.  Many visitors to these ancient caves have reported seeing ghosts there.   Many have photographed ghosts and others have had ghostly encounters.   The caves were occupied by Native Americans for over 9000 years and archealogical evidence is on prominent display in the cave museum.   It is a short walk to the cave from the museum and it was a lovely day.  They sun filtered through the leaves painting the forest floor like stained glass.   We were the only ones there and the quiet was almost unnatural.  There was no guide and there were no crowds.  We entered the mouth of the cave alone and my son clutched my hand and said he was afraid.

The caves definately had a presence.  It was the type of presence that fills me with an odd calm and a desire to linger.   So we wandered through the small wooded area around the cave and the short path within the gaping mouth of the cavern for some time looking at the displays and reading the plaques.    I took dozens of photos while my boys climbed over the rocks.   My last set of pictures, taken in the same set as the ones above and just a few seconds later, show some very interesting movement.  It was a clear day with no fog or cloud cover.  I'm not sure what is going on in these photos, but I'm open to speculation.