Friday, October 31, 2008

Here's a ghostly piece Johnny previously wrote for another website

Sadly, Michigan is Amazing is no longer around, but Johnny kept some of the stories he wrote, this group of Michigan haunts being one of them...

Michigan is amazing, some say it's also very haunted, so on this Halloween, lets take a look at six Michigan ghostly legends and let you make up your own mind. Perhaps one of these haunted stories is close enough to where you live to see for yourself.

Dateline: Westland, MI.
Butler Cemetery
OK, it's not REALLY called Butler Cemetery but that's where the legend comes from. In truth it's William Ganong Cemetery and it's located along Henry Ruff Road between Annapolis and Van Born Roads. The cemetery itself is neglected and overgrown in many places. Years of wear and some vandalism have taken their toll. Yet this remains to be one of Michigan's most haunted cemeteries. Drivers have seen a woman dressed in white walking along the road and some have swerved to avoid her. Other sightings from the road place her in the cemetery proper. Others have reported seeing a male apparition in some kind of uniform. Research shows an inordinate amount of car accidents right near William Ganong Cemetery. Are these accidents the result of trying to avoid hitting apparitions in the road or is there a more scientific reason?

Dateline: Forester, MI
Just north of Port Sanilac, on the eastern Michigan coast, lies the small community of Forester. It's not the town that's haunted, nor is it a cemetery or house, its the shoreline there.
The ghost of Minnie Quay is a sad and eerie tale of a young woman waiting for her man to return from a ship he was on sailing the Great Lakes. Minnie's parents greatly disapproved of her romance with the young sailor as did the townspeople. In the spring of 1876, word reached Minnie Quay that the ship that the young man had been working on had gone down in a storm. A few days later, Minnie committed suicide by diving off the town pier into Lake Huron. The ghost of Minnie Quay is said to walk along the shoreline near Forester crying mournfully. Several young women claim to have seen Minnie's ghost call them into the lake to join her, legend even says one girl did. The old Quay House stands across the street from the Forester Inn should you want to see if Minnie is walking her shoreline yet today.

Dateline: Marquette, MI
Hotels will advertise all kinds of amenities in trying to get you to stay. Cable TV, internet hook up, PlayStation games and the like but they never seem to advertise guests who never check out. Such is the case of the Landmark Inn in downtown Marquette. In a story similar to that of Minnie Quay, the Landmark has a librarian who used to look out over Lake Superior awaiting her true loves return, which of course never came. The librarian is said to haunt the Lilac Room overlooking the big lake. Male guests have reported keys not working, calls to rooms in the middle of the night, while the front desk is said to get phone calls from the Lilac Room when nobody is there. However by far the most famous of spirits is that of Amelia Earhart who stayed at the Landmark Inn in 1932, room 502. Some have reported seeing her ghost there as well.

Another rumor is a ghost in room 304 Halverson Hall at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. A student who hung himself as the story goes. Interesting this one and imagine this writers amazement since in the fall of 1981 he himself lived in room 304 Halverson Hall. I never heard or saw anything ghostly nor undead other than my own grades.

Dateline: Grayling, MI
Along Cemetery Road in Grayling lies the ruins of a very old cemetery from a town that no longer exists. The Pere Cheney Cemetery is said to be haunted by many many spirits. People report troubles with electrical devices such as cars and car radios. Radio stations that simply switch, or the radio just cuts out while on. People have also reported childish laughter from disembodied voices. The Pere Cheney Cemetery is also said to have it's share of apparitions after dark. A full plate of hauntings from a hard to find, almost devoid cemetery.

Dateline: Ypsilanti, MI
Libraries make excellent places for a ghost to make a home. Quiet, and not a lot of commotion. Such is the case with the Ypsilanti Ladies' Library located at the corner of Washington and Emmet streets. The Library was built and lived in by the Starkweather family. It was willed to the city by owner Marryanne Starkweather upon her death. Someone forgot to tell Marryanne she doesn't live there anymore. People have seen her apparition on the upper floor drifting down hallways. She is also heard walking around late at night by workers who know nobody else is in the building. Some have reported unexplained cold spots in upstairs rooms. Marryanne may have willed the house to Ypsilanti but she just didn't tell anyone she came with the deed.

Dateline: Nunica, MI
Just off of I-96, in the small hamlet of Nunica, there is a cemetery that ranks among the most haunted in Michigan. This cemetery, located off of M-104 (luckily there is a BIG sign) just east of Spring Lake Road, is home to just about any ghostly activity you can imagine. Rope that appears from nowhere, dark figures behind tombs, orbs, detached voices and apparitions actually seen by real ghost investigators. This place is the real deal for ghost buffs. One ghost in fact has his own name, "Mr. Bond". Mr. Bond supposedly got his name from actual communications with him. Apparently there is a shed on the premises where a lot of the supernatural activity manifests itself. A favorite haunt of paranormal researchers, perhaps the Nunica Cemetery is a gift that keeps giving, if you consider frights as gifts, all the year round.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great feature, Johnny!

Johnny Action Space Punk said...

Thanks Trixie!