Virginia’s Old House Woods, Part l

Town of Mathews

One of Virginia’s most haunted places is in Mathews County. Old House Woods is a 50-acre pine forest with marshlands, located in the Tidewater area of Chesapeake Bay.

Old House Woods got its name from an old house that once stood in the center of this forest—it has since burned to the ground.

This area was an active port before and during the Revolutionary War. There are many stories and legends connected to this area, including lost treasure, and an unusual phantom ship.

This forest lends itself to these kinds of tales because it is densely wooded, which does not allow much light at night. The trees are so tall the moon and stars can not be seen.

Old House Woods

For over 200 years tales of pirate and British lost treasures have been told.

Pirate's Loot

One early legend is about a band of pirates who buried their treasure on the banks of Whites Creek intending to return. But when they left to acquire more loot, their ship was lost in a storm.

This legend is connected to the phantom ship that is seen around Whites Creek, which is in Part ll of this post.

Another legend about buried treasure involves England’s King Charles ll. It is said he sent chests of treasure to Jamestown following the battle of Worcester in 1651.

He wanted a treasure in safekeeping in case he had to flee the country and go into exile.

Unfortunately, the crew in charge of this treasure encountered a storm, and they headed up the wrong creek—they ended up at Whites Creek. As they unloaded this treasure, bandits attacked them.

These robbers got away with some of the treasure, and the rest was buried in the woods. 

These besieged men intended to return to retrieve the buried treasure, but their ship capsized in a storm.

When they returned to England to give the King the news of what happened, they were put to death.

Yet another treasure story told about Old House Woods happened in 1781. It is said a large amount of gold and silver coins and jewelry were buried in large canons near a graveyard near Willow Creek.

This treasure was said to be patriot plunder left by soldiers, under the command of General Cornwallis, they were eventually captured and not allowed to return to the area.

In Part ll of Virginia’s Old House Woods, a popular tale about a phantom ship seen above this forest is told. 

Maryland: Ghosts of Antietam

This Civil War battle was the result of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s first invasion of the North in September of 1862.

One day of intense fighting turned the Antietam battle into one of the bloodiest of the war—second only to Gettysburg in devastation.

Bodies after the battle.

Lee’s troops met the Union army at Antietam Creek * on the 17^th near the small town of Sharpsburg in Maryland. A staggering 23,100 men were wounded, killed or were missing in action after these two armies collided in cornfields and farmlands.

* In 1933, the National Park Service took over this site making it a National Park.

In just four hours alone, along a sunken road that separated two farms 5,000 men died.

Lee’s troops had reached this road and stayed, thinking at first it provided some protection. Soldiers on both sides fired continuously as the Union soldiers tried to take the position.

Finally, the Confederate soldiers were overrun—bodies fell on top of bodies along this bloody road.

Part of the Sunken Road now
known as Bloody Lane.

Today this road is called Bloody Lane. People who visit it claim it leaves an eerie impression. For no matter how many visitors roam this old road on any given day—it remains deathly quiet.

Many modern-day visitors have experienced strange activity along Bloody Lane. The sounds of gunfire and the smell of gunpowder are reported when no one is around.

One male visitor to Antietam National Battlefield spotted several men wearing Confederate uniforms as he walked Bloody Lane. At first, he thought they were war re-enactors but then he saw them vanish.

Another strange encounter occurred when a group of Baltimore schoolboys visited the lane. They heard singing out in the fields. They described it as a chant or the Christmas song Deck the Halls.

They heard Fa-la-la-la-la sung repeatedly.

Observation tower along Sunken Road.

Their encounter is telling in that during the battle an Irish brigade charged the Confederates near the observation tower located along Sunken Road. These Irish soldiers battle cry was in Gaelic and sounded like a Christmas carol.

Burnside bridge

Another active area on the battlefield is Burnside’s Bridge. It was here that General Ambrose Burnside finally pushed the Confederate troops back after several previous attempts.

Many soldiers were buried quickly near this bridge in unmarked graves.

At night, visitors near this bridge report seeing a strange glowing blue light moving around the area. Others report hearing the cadence of a drum playing—this sound fades away into the distance.

Ghostly mist captured by
one canon. Photo by
Belinda Franks

Today five upside down canon barrels mark the spots where five generals died during the battle. Photographs taken in these areas sometimes have strange mists or light anomalies in them.

It appears some of the soldiers who perished during the Antietam Battle are more than just a memory.

Two houses-- the Pry House and the Piper House both stand on the battlefield. These structures are haunted as well.

Witnesses report hearing footsteps on the stairs and seeing apparitions.

The Pry House was where Union Maj. General George B. McClellan made his headquarters. A woman seen in this house is believed to be Francis the wife of General Richardson.

Pry House as it appeared during battle.

Richardson was wounded during this battle and Francis nursed him on his deathbed.

Another structure near the battlefield in Sharpsburg is the St. Paul Episcopal Church. This building was used as a Confederate hospital following the battle.

Members of this church have heard screams, which they believe to be the southern soldiers who were wounded and dying in this makeshift hospital.

Other witnesses have seen lights flickering on and off in St. Paul’s tower.

Excerpts used in this post are from an article written by Rickie Longfellow a member of the West Licking Historical Society.

Here is a stark collection of Then and Now photos taken at Antietam. Warning: many are graphic in nature. 

Malaysian Karaoke Ghost

Collage of Malaysian
Karaoke

Karaoke has become a very popular activity in Malaysia * for people of all ages who use it to unwind and enjoy.

* Karaoke is also popular in a variety of other Asian countries.

This is a first person account told by a young teenage girl who often goes to Karaoke centers with her friends.

Myself, and two of my friends with nothing better to do and bored on a weeknight decided to go sing.

My closest friend Jolin especially enjoys singing for she holds a dream that one day she will be a famous singer like all of her idols.

We headed for our favorite Karaoke spot located in the center of our town. The time flew by as we spent three hours singing, ordering food and having a lot of fun.

Tired, I decided to request our bill. But when it arrived we were in shock for the center had billed us for four people not three.

Our waitress refused to change the bill.

We called the manager over and angrily demanded he explain why we were being billed for four people instead of three.

We tried to explain to him that there were only three of us but he would not budge. Jolin in her typical fashion asked him, “Do you know how to count?”

The manager shrugged and escorted us to his office where he showed us camera footage taken that evening. In the first clip we were singing our lungs out on stage. He pointed out there was a forth teenage girl on stage with us.

He then showed us another clip when we were sitting at our table. In the corner of our table sat the same fourth girl we did not know.

We were horrified for we had not seen this girl the whole evening. It was even more disturbing because it was a slow night at the center with not many people around.

Scared now, we quickly paid the bill and left. We haven’t returned to this center since. My only explanation for that evening is that a ghost joined us.

Here is a fun clip of a foreigner--an American--singing at a Malaysian Karaoke center.

Haunted Object: The Anguished Man

The Anguished Man is an oil painting that depicts a man that looks tortured.

The Anguished Man

The figure of the man in this picture appears bald, his face, neck and a portion of his body that is shown appears red. The mouth is open as if the man is screaming.

Some paintings are made to look this way but The Anguished Man painting is unusual in that it seems to adversely effect people that own it.

Sean Robinson’s grandmother came in possession of the painting when a friend gave it to her. She was firmly convinced that the painting was evil. She told Sean that the woman who gave her the painting mentioned the painter of this piece of art mixed his own blood with the oil paints he used.

Supposedly the artist then committed suicide after he completed it.

His mother stated that she heard crying and saw a shadow man who was faceless and a strange mist, She felt this activity was connected to the picture.

For twenty-five years she kept the painting locked away in her home’s attic in order to protect the family from the evil it projected. She felt this art piece was haunted.

When Sean inherited the painting his family began to experience several unexplained events. They heard the crying and sobbing sounds and saw the shadow figure as well. Sean’s wife had her hair touched while the painting hung upstairs.

His son fell off the stairs inexplicably. Sean feels the painting was the cause. 

Sean states his dog would not go upstairs when the painting was there and now it is in the cellar the family dog will not enter this room.

His wife had another a spine-chilling encounter with this ghost. One night, she thought  Sean had come to bed with her only to look up into a pair of strange eyes. Sean rushed upstairs hearing her screams. Sean put the painting in the cellar at this point.

After this, the dark figure was seen more often, the noises became louder and the family began to feel cold spots around the home. 

Sean set up a camera in front of the painting and filmed it. What he captured on this recording is interesting. This 2+ minute video is below.

Scraping sounds were recorded, a door shuts by itself and a loud bang is heard—while everyone in the house is sleeping.

Sean later set up his camera once more, this time he filmed for three consecutive nights for 8 hours each time-- he captured the loud bang sound again and he also captured the painting falling over on its own in the middle of the night. This video is below as well.

Sean still owns the painting but these days he keeps it locked in the basement of his home to protect his family. He feels it is cursed.

He has had many offers from others to buy the painting but for some reason he has no desire to sell it.

As usual, skeptics have claimed these videos are hoaxes. I will leave that to the reader to decide.

Here is the original video footage Sean shot of the painting.

Here is the second video where Sean captured the painting falling over.