Adventure ideas from where you live

[Chuck McDaniel]

The area around you probably has one or more BTS adventure ideas. What are they? Maybe an unsolved murder, a house that's said to be haunted, a ghost sighting, or other.

I live on the Isle of Wight near Midway, Ga which is on the marsh. About 30 miles south of Savannah, Ga the second most haunted city in America.

These are my adventure ideas from local history, legend, and true events.

1. Angry spirits of dead slaves. The spirits are aggitated due to the fact that people keep digging up slave graves for the "Slave Tags" on them. The players must find the grave robbers bring them to justice and return the tags.

This type of theft really does happen. The Slave Tags fetch around $200-$500 a piece. The Isle that I live on use to be a Pear and Rice Plantation.

2. The graveyard across from the Midway Museum has had a lot of strange happenings going on. As well as a reported haunting of the Museum.

The Midway Museum is real and so is the graveyard. It was owned by the family that owned what is now the museum. Around the 1840s a doctor was living in the house and had 3 wives mysteriously die. Come to find out it was a mentally ill slave women. She had poisoned all three because she knew that the doctor loved her, or so she believed. She committed suicide after being found out.

Also in the graveyard a wall was being built by two slave that kept fighting with one another. The "Boss Man" left them for awhile. When he came back the wall was finished but only one slave remained. The slave claimed the other had run off.

A few weeks later the wall cracked and fell apart. The good Doctor and "Boss Man" found the other slaves dead body. It had been bricked into the wall after he was killed. The other slave ran off before they could confront him. Ever since then the wall cracks in the same place shortly after being fixed.

3. The characters are in Liberty County, Ga (where I live) and find that there have been a string of strange disappearances and murders. They come to find that around 1860 a witch was discovered in the area was hung and buried in a white oak coffin. The only problem is she was not quite dead and her burial sight was directly below a nexus point.

This too is also local legend.

All of these things are either actual events or local legend. What are yours?

I'll post more later. Oh yes this area has a ton more.

Chuck

[count zero]

from Cleveland Free Times, 25 October, 2006:

MUTANT MELON HEADS TERRORIZE KIRTLAND

There is perhaps no town on Earth as spooky as Kirtland [Ohio].

This East Side [of Cleveland] suburb has a sordid history of weirdness. It's where cult leader Jeffrey Lundgren murdered the Avery family and buried their bodies under the floor of a decaying barn.

Today, Kirtland is still rural and underpopulated, a community of cabins on rolling hills amid vast stretches of forest. There is a place on King Memorial Road called Gravity Hill, where the laws of physics are seemingly reversed ‹ cars roll uphill, here. There's a crybaby bridge, too. Local legend claims a teenager became pregnant in the early 1900s under suspicious circumstances. When her father demanded she give it up for adoption, the teen took her baby and leaped into the river. If you stand on the bridge at midnight and chant "crybaby" three times, you can hear the faint cries of a child drifting through the trees.

But nothing is quite as scary as the tale of the Melonheads.

Around the turn of the last century, a man known only as Dr. Crow built an orphanage at the end of Wisner Road, atop a hill overlooking the crybaby bridge. He was an evil and twisted doctor, and at night, when the nurses were away, he conducted odd medical experiments on the children. The procedures caused the kids to develop abnormally large heads with no hair, on top of small, deformed bodies. He called them his "melonheads." But one day, the melonheads revolted. They killed the doctor, burned down the orphanage and escaped into the woods, where they still live today.

Ever since the orphanage burned down, residents of Kirtland have reported strange sightings of short, naked creatures with large heads roaming the woods.

Fire Chief Anthony Hutton has heard the story, but has never seen a melonhead himself ‹ though not for lack of trying. "When I was in school, we used to take the girls out there to scare 'em," he says with a sly smile.

Other residents suspect there may be a logical explanation to the myth. "How it all came about was, there was this doctor who lived here that had some mongoloid children," says Nancy Gorman, who owns horse stables on Wisner Road. "People were just scared of 'em because they didn't know better."

‹ James Renner

[sHaka]

1) I grew up on and live near the Isle of Portland. Near the southern tip there are the ruins of Bow and Arrow Castle (known locally as Rufus Castle) built by King William II during the 11th Century. Most visitors and tourists over look the ramparts and stone bridge that they walk under to access the pristine waters of Church Ope Cove. There is a local superstition (which I still adhere to out of habit!) that when you walk under the stone bridge of Rufus Castle, you must close your eyes, hold your breath and keep quiet until safely out the other side. Otherwise, we were always told, we would be visited by a horrible spirit so terrible that it would scare us to death.

2) Portland is a quarrying community and it's stone is very highly respected by masons globally - 2 million tonnes of it were extracted to rebuild London after the fire of 1666 and the UN building in New York is finished in Portland Stone. Portland quarrymen were a superstitious lot and lived in fear of deadly cave-ins caused by the burrowing rabbits. To this day, many old Portlanders refuse to use the word "Rabbit", calling them bunnies instead. But perhaps... the humble rabbit is innocent, and something more malevolent scrapes through the soils of Portland...

[Jefffar]

About thee and a half blocks up the road is an intersection we refer to as Salvation Corners. It received that name because it ha a church on each corner of the intersection. Addiitonally, on the connecting streets there are another 4 churches, leading me to beleive that these two streets (ie the one I am living on and the one that it meets at the intersection described) are ley lines.

About a block away from Salvation Corners, on the street I don't live on, we have Damnation Corners.

I'll let you come up with a reason for that name.

[Trooper Jim]

I myself have Witnessed some of what Chi Panda has mentioned, Mainly the Other worldly howl. It instantly kicked in my flight response. I haven't ran that fast , that far since. Their are also several supposedly haunted areas in my home town. Places like the old basement to the high school. Supposedly that part of the school had been the original town hall / jail. I can also attest to a heavy feeling of dread in the old gym area. When I was taking Judo in jr. high, all the students had experienced the feeling at one point or another.

Another supernatural hotspot is Seattle's China Town. A few years ago I worked for the C.I.D.B.I.A./P.D.A. (Chinatown International District Business Improvement Administration & Preservation Development Authority) as a security guard. While patrolling the alleys I was informed that certain places were considered haunted and evil due thing that had happened there. One such place was a nondescript doorway that was scrawled with Chinese writing. I was told that about 20 years ago a gangland mass murder had occurred inside. And it was sealed up by the owner of the building to prevent the evil from escaping and harming others. I was also informed the writing was a warning to all never to open said door for fear of releasing the “demon” inside. I was also informed of several other supposedly haunted buildings in the area, but that is the only one I remember vividly.

[jedi078]

I too live in the Pacific North West, but no encounters with Bigfoot (yet).

Although I did come across the remains of some sort of Cult ritual while working during the summer between my Junior and Senior years of high school. The job was simple, pick up trash along the side of the highway (and no I wasn’t a juvenile delinquent). One day I went back to pick up a bunch of trash that was in a turn off, and a path lead deeper into the forest. There was a trial of trash so I picked it up and smelt something dead. As I moved on I came across a dead camp fire with four 4 foot stakes surrounding it. Each stake had the head of a goat on top, with each head facing inward.

[Ridley]

I live in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and that spells one thing, "Bigfoot".

Though I have never seen him myself, the stories have surrounded me and the region for generations. My sister even claims to have seen the big fuzzy guy looming in the barn door as she fed the animals and then running off when she turned and saw him.

Local horse farmer used to tell a story of coming out at night when his horses were freaking out, only to find something big, hairy, and standing tall over the backs of his horses panicking his heard.

Growing up, there was a local dairy barn that, despite having been chemically cleaned and treated prior to a new family moving onto the property, suddenly was invested with an overpowering stench, something that no honest farm-living folk could pin. Most are convinced that the barn had been used for shelter by one or more Sasquatch the winter prior.

Living in a small town on the edge of rural America also comes with its share of local myths, legends, etc. I know that within less than an hours drive from my home there were at least two cemeteries with dark reputations. One was a cemetery featuring "The 13 Steps to Hell" and another the tomb of an old city founder who was sort of a Crowley type figure. In high school, the old man's tomb was a popular hangout for teenagers who liked to flirt with the otherworld.

I myself have had a few run-ins with unexplained lights in the woods, haunting bestial noises that defy classification, and even saw what can only be described as a "giant bat" once.

I live in soutwestern idaho, and there have been recent sightings of big foot in my neighborhood last summer, a neghibor talking about somthing banging around outside thier house, and a disgusting smell. There was also a older man that i personaly think he would have no reason to lie. he said that he saw somthing in his garden, but when he got out, there was a aweful smell, and the thing roared and ran back into the forrest.

Because my cousion doesn't post here, i tell this story also. My cousion when he was 7, lived in a house, with either a poltergiest or a inhuman spirit. It was evil, pure and unmerciful evil. it would bang doors, open cubboards, trip people, and breathe on your neck. Eventually they asked thier bishop (Im LDS so is He) to help. It didnt work, he was going tog et more help a week later to help cast it out. it left for a few weeks then came back. eventually, it began to chcoke my uncle in his sleep. that was the final straw, so they left.

[JTwig]

In Northern Michigan (that Northern Lower Michigan Peninsula, and not the Upper Peninsula) we have a legend of a dog-man (not a were-wolf, but a dog-spirit that can walk on all fours or on two legs) that dates back to the to the Native Americans. In some (most) stories it is malevolent, supposedly been the reason for some missing lumber jacks, settlers, and campers. In others its just mischievous, and likes to scare the crap out of people and then run off.

Michigan is also covered by hundreds of tiny lakes (in fact it has the second greatest amount of water per square mile than any other state of the union, thats within its boarders and is not including the Great Lakes), a lot of which at one time or another have housed summer camps. Camps that are usually filled with children from the Detroit area and out of state who are not familiar or comfortable in a wilderness setting. Making it ripe for Friday the 13th style legends.

[Rahmota]

Well southern Ohio has a lot of old abandoned places such as farm houses, factories (Peter's cartridge company up in King's mill is one that gets mentioned in relation to ghosts a lot) plus a lot of indian power sites such as serpent mound and fort ancient and fort hill.

[Rahmota]

Sorry I didnt reply sooner. I have been rather busy and forgot that I mentioned this.

But anyhow not really a whole lot to tell. The company uised to maek ammo and gunpowder and such so there was a few accidents where people got killed and they are supposed to still be there.

The main things I've heard/read about is lights moving around outside and inside, stuff going bump with no one around it, cold and hot sensations, sounds. Supposedly those who are psychically sensitive will feel a pressure or presence. Sometimes if you stand on the old railway right of way you will see a light coming at you thats looks like a train supposedly.

Since this is private property that is used by the Butler County Sheriff's for SWAT/Urban training now and is being renovated and such I have never actually set foot inside the building to confirm these things. It is right next to the little miami bike trail so I've ridden past it and I'm the one who took and put the picture on the wikipedia article for this. They are probably going to turn it into an apartment complex from what I've heard.

Several other factories in the region that have had accidents in them also have stories of ghost lights and such. Southern Ohio is riddled with ghost stories. A book series that might be good for anyone interested is the Haunted Ohio books written by chris woodyard.

[Rahmota]

Oh yeah and I forgot about a few other things in my region: Since its a rainy nasty afternoon I have some google time.

Wright Patterson Air Museum is supposed to be a hotbed of paranormal activity at night with the pilots and crew of some of the craft on display there still flying and fighting the good fight. Supposedly there are radio messages coming from some of the planes, one person claimed the controls moved on a locked down plane, Not to mention the apparitions of people in the cockpits, etc....

Then of course there's Serpent Mound which is not only at the center of a crater that some people think is an ancient meteor crater but is also supposed to mark the nexus of several ley lines.

Fallsville hunting area in highland county is supposed to be haunted by

1) the ghost of an indian that was killed by settlers who where trying to find his treaure and now he seeks someone to give it to.
2) One of the settlers that fell over the falls and died.

CedarWoods Apartments in Hillsboro is suppoedly haunted. No reason given. But residents have claimed stuff has moved under its own power, levitation of pets, pets freakign out, etc....

Oddly enough in greenfield the high school has a ghost chandelier. The archetect didnt want a chandelier, his wife did. After she died if you stand outside and look in the window you will see a chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the main stairell.

I'll leave it at this but the Ohio exploration Society at Ohioexploration.com has a rather large listing of stuff as well as the aforementioned books.

[Rahmota]

Hey no problem. Southern Ohio is filled with stories of the paranormal once you start digging. Its just getting them to stay in the ground in the first place thats the issue.

[Kryzbyn]

Omaha, NE home of Offut AFB, or Strategic Air Command as it was known during the cold war.
While, as far as I know, the area around here is not screaming with paranormal stories (although there is the angel of death statue in a local graveyard, where if you climb the stairs next to it, you die when you get to the last step) but there could be a ton of stuff in the underground bunkers and command centers on base. Experiments, knowledge or tapes from recon flights gone bad, that sort of thing.

[Warwolf]

Off the top of my head, I know the Lemp mansion in St. Louis is supposed to be haunted. There's also the hospital that the exorcism of the boy from Boston occurred in (the true story they based The Exorcist off of). Not to mention the old asylum on "The Hill" in St. Louis... I felt some lingering "energy" there whenever I toured the place. I know that there's a heck of a lot more supernatural lore around St. Louis and even my home town (30 miles outside of St. Lou), but I'll have to do some digging for better details.

[count zero]

Hey no problem. Southern Ohio is filled with stories of the paranormal once you start digging. Its just getting them to stay in the ground in the first place thats the issue.

The entire state of Ohio is filled with creepiness and paranormal-type stories. We've got our fair share up here on the North Coast as well.

http://www.creepycleveland.net

Ø

[Ridley]

Did you guys ever hear about the skin walkers down around New Mexico? Ther're suposed to be some type of indian witches, they can walk really fast on all fours. A Friend at work told me how her husband had one running next to his car when down there.

[Rockwolf66]

I, Personally am origionally from Eureka California. Which means that locally I grew up in Bigfoot country. It also means that there was a massacre on Indian Island.

Where I am curently going to college is the site of a Native American burial ground. Every year Local Native Americans perform Apeasement rituals to placate the dead. Personally I don't think that they would be too happy with the way the local teachers act.

[Warwolf]

After a tiny bit of research I dug up a couple reported hauntings and a single Bigfoot report (from a mushroom hunter ) from my home town.

Reportedly, a train vs. car traffic accident has caused the haunting of a local crossing by a ghostly couple.

Also, there is the old legend of a young boy being accidentally hung in the middle school gym during a production of Peter Pan. I remember hearing that tale when I attended school there, but I am skeptical of its validity. Reportedly some individuals have been able to contact the ghost by going there after dark. I might do some more digging to see if I can find any corroborating evidence.

I also was told stories while I was growing up of a ghostly lantern-bearer that manifested around a Civil-War era graveyard up the hill from my childhood home.

And then, there is my personal experience with a house I lived in before (built around the remains of a 180-year-old log cabin). However, that will have to wait for another time as it is getting rather late here (and the library will be closing soon). It's going to be a cold walk home...

[Rahmota]

Count Zero: Sorry to imply that the rest of the state was a supernaturalless wasteland of logic and reason.

I'm just more familiar with southern ohio having grown up here than anywhere else. Go with what you know you know.

[count zero]

Count Zero: Sorry to imply that the rest of the state was a supernaturalless wasteland of logic and reason.

I'm just more familiar with southern ohio having grown up here than anywhere else. Go with what you know you know.

It's all good. The Buckeye State is big enough for weirdness aplenty

Ø

[Xar]

Just came across this today. Heard him on the radio. Might be a story seed or three.

http://from-the-shadows.blogspot.com/

[Ridley]

So, Warwolf, whats your personal experiance? After reading this thread i SO wish that i had a copy of Beyond the supernatural.

[Ridley]

We have an old circa 1900 prison about 1 mile from downtown. Looks like an old castle, used to hang and electricute people there, very creepy.

http://www.idahohistory.net/oldpen.html

http://www.efn.org/~hkrieger/prison.htm

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2 ... ry_boise-i

Pretty cool, im in idaho too.

[MASTERMIND]

Indianapolis, Indiana is fairly quiet when compared to most cities although one of the most documented haunted houses is here in the city. If you expand your range to all of Indiana you can also find:

The Haunted Bridges on the west side of the state. There are several dozen bridges and many bad things have happened on some of them over the years. On one a young unwed mother-to-be threw herself off the bridge and her crying wails can be heard to this day. You can also sometimes hear a baby crying. To date three of the bridges are closed to the public. On the same bridge where the young mother killed herself there have been dozens of killings. Whether evil is born from this location or the legends surrounding it draw evil people to do their evil things there no one knows.

In Paoli, Indiana there is a pleasantly haunted house not too far from the town square (I have been to this one and experienced it first hand). An old couple died there and still exist within the home walking up and down the stairs all day and night.

In Evansville, IN you can find the world famous Grey Lady at Willard Library. This ghost even has a website devoted to her in conjunction with the library's website. There are webcams on the locations where she is seen most that you can watch 24 hours a day. And archives of supposedly real and fake (the possibly real and obviously fake are separated into separate archves) webcam shots can be found too.

In NW Indiana near Hoebert are the lakes where notorious gangsters from Chicago would take people they "needed to get rid of". Numerous bodies have been dug up from the bottom of the lake. Local legend says you can sometimes here the sounds of men crying and pleading for their lives floating across the lakes.

[Warwolf]

So, Warwolf, whats your personal experiance? After reading this thread i SO wish that i had a copy of Beyond the supernatural.

Bah, I keep forgetting to put together the details (I don't want to mis-represent the facts as there is more than one party involved).

At any rate, I can say that I have encountered what I believe to be the supernatural on several occasions. In one instance, I was upstairs in the home of my little brother's grandparents (I have a crazy family composition, they were his GP's not mine). I was getting ready to return downstairs when I got an unsettling feeling, what most people would describe as the "jitters" or "heebie-jeebies".

At any rate, as I exited the small sitting room into the hallway beside the staircase, I noticed a white apparition at the end of the hall. I got the sense that it was female from the appearance of it wearing a long nightgown of sorts. I froze in place for a brief few seconds as it was the first "ghost" I had ever seen. She proceeded to walk down the hall as if I weren't there, passing straight through me. Thus, I can verify the occurrence of so-called "cold spots" as the experience was not unlike being exposed to an icy gust of wind.

I ran downstairs without bothering to look back and relayed my story to my mother (I was eight or so at the time). When my brother's grandmother heard my account, she shared her own encounters with the spirit of what she thought was one of the previous residents that had died there (of natural causes). She even described being sick and having the spirit check in on her, as she awoke to find it looking down at her from the bedside. It fits, because I felt no malice or negative tidings when I encountered the spirit. It just freaked the heck out of me as it was completely unexpected (the house wasn't THAT old).

One of the other stories includes me, but I was too young to remember (which I will share at a later date). The main story I spoke of I was not present for, but it was my mother and sister (and thus I have no reason to doubt the account). Once I confirm a couple of other facts, I'll post it here.

Now, can my story be chalked up to anything but the supernatural? Sure. It could have been a hallucination, a figment of my over-active imagination. However, it would take one he** of an altered state to cause me to experience what I did... unless it was of supernatural origin.

Another thing you all must keep in mind is that I must be careful with these accounts. I prefer sharing these stories in person with people I know I can trust rather than on public boards such as these. In the profession I'm going into, admitting you believe in the "paranormal" is a good way to get yourself labeled as crack-pot at best (which is stupid in my opinion, but science is the be-all end-all these days... except when it's not ).

[MASTERMIND]

Well, if we are telling ghost stories I have two. I mentioned the one in Paoli because I have been there. While in high school drama club the superintendent decided to give us a new stage which was cool but he did so during pre-production on our next play so it was not so cool. Our director Larry lived in a beautiful older home that had a large living room with an attached dining and piano room, perfect for our play with a small audience of 30 people.

Soon after beginning to use the house we noticed a lot of strange noises like someone walking up the stairs when no one was there and the typical "I am being watched" feeling especially in the old bedroom upstairs where we changed costumes. We asked Larry about it and he told us point blank the house was haunted by its previous tenets, an old couple who died in the upstairs bedroom (where he kept their original furniture and the photos of them left in the home when he bought it).

We finish the play and after the final performance one of the guests says they had heard the house was haunted. Larry told the story and everyone laughed. Then my friend said rather boldly and a little too loud he didn't believe in ghosts and the house wasn't haunted. At the moment a little porcelain angel that was resting on the handrail of the stairs flew off its perch, across the room and smashed into the wall where my friend was standing a second before. No one was on that side of the room (there was nowhere to hide from view) and when we ran upstairs to throttle whoever threw it we found the upstairs empty. Everything upstairs is boarded up including the windows because Larry didn't use that space. As soon as we realized what had really happened we got out of there as fast as we could.

[MASTERMIND]

My second one, while in the military and stationed at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas we lived in base housing. We often would hear the kid's toys making noise and our little girls could often be heard laughing and talking to someone. When my wife and I would ask them who they were talking to they would say, "The other little girl." When we asked if they were talking about their sister they would say, "No, the other little girl." But hey, they're kids so we didn't think much about it.

One day my wife was at work and I was playing with the kids in the living room when I saw a small child run down the main hallway of the house. My kids were with me and I sat there for a second before I realized my dog was sitting next to me too. Exploring the house I found no one in the back parts of the house and all the windows were still locked up.

When we left the house it was my youngest daughter's job to turn off the TV. We were leaving one day when I asked her to turn it off and she pointed at it and bellowed, "Turn it off!" The TV turned off. Checking around we found the remote on one of my high book shelves but there is an audible click when you use the actual switch on the TV and we heard it when the TV went off.

Cabinets in the kitchen were often found open. My wife and I would give each other grief over it or blame the kids. That was until most of the rest of this stuff started happening. I would make a conscious effort to close all the cabinets when we went to bed but inevitably some would be open come morning (and we had a gate the kids couldn't open so they couldnt even get to that side of the house let alone reach the higher cabinets).

All this was fine. I don't like meddling with the supernatural because I believe in it. As such I believe that as long as I stay away from it, it won't bother me.

We noticed after a long time that most of the noises would come from the smallest bedroom (where my youngest sleeps). Everything was cool for a long time but for some reason it started to bother my youngest.

The noises would wake her up and upset her and if any of you are fathers you know nothing gets our blood boiling like someone messing with our kids. This went on for a month before one night we woke up to my youngest screaming bloody murder. I launched through the house and into her room to find her curled up in the corner of her bed crying her poor little eyes out and pointing at the corner of her room. I look over just in time to see her little rocking chair stop moving. I was mad and I yelled at it telling it to get out of the house.

It was an emotional response but it was very stupid. That next week was not very cool. The next night I put up the gate in the hallway and I was turning to walk back to bed when something knocked the gate down and sent it crashing down the hallway and into the dining room. The only thing I could think was the dog had tried to jump over it and somehow I missed her running right past me down the narrow hallway but I found her asleep in our bedroom. Cabinets were constantly being found in disarray. Toys were going off like crazy and in general everyone got the feeling we were just not welcome there.

After a week or so everything calmed down but the usual activity resumed. To our benefit the crap in my daughter's room stopped which made us very happy. We lived in the home for another year and it never got bad again. As I tell all my friends each of the things that happened to us could be explained naturally (although I doubt there were natural reasons at all) but when you put them together you have a very convincing argument that the house really is haunted.

Hehe, as we were moving away there was a MSgt who lived next door who was retiring soon who asked how we stayed in the house for 3 years. I asked him what he meant and he told us he had managed to stay at the same assignment at Nellis for 12 years and had been in his home the whole time. None of the tenets in the home before us had stayed more than a year and several told him the house was haunted. I didn't worry about warning the next tenets though because the house is on the street that should have been demolished by now because they are building new homes in base housing.

Also of note, none of those toys that were always setting themselves off have continued to do so in our new home in Indianapolis. And on a side note when we moved into this home I asked the owner if it was haunted and he thought I was nuts but I was serious.

[Warwolf]

I don't like meddling with the supernatural because I believe in it. As such I believe that as long as I stay away from it, it won't bother me.

That's the approach that I take for the better part of my life, but you do need to know how to handle the situations when they spring up. To that point I'm knowledgeable enough to deal with things of a supernatural nature or at least who to ask for advice on the matter (I've befriended white witches, a druidess, and a shaman or two).

The noises would wake her up and upset her and if any of you are fathers you know nothing gets our blood boiling like someone messing with our kids. This went on for a month before one night we woke up to my youngest screaming bloody murder. I launched through the house and into her room to find her curled up in the corner of her bed crying her poor little eyes out and pointing at the corner of her room. I look over just in time to see her little rocking chair stop moving. I was mad and I yelled at it telling it to get out of the house.

It was an emotional response but it was very stupid. That next week was not very cool. The next night I put up the gate in the hallway and I was turning to walk back to bed when something knocked the gate down and sent it crashing down the hallway and into the dining room. The only thing I could think was the dog had tried to jump over it and somehow I missed her running right past me down the narrow hallway but I found her asleep in our bedroom. Cabinets were constantly being found in disarray. Toys were going off like crazy and in general everyone got the feeling we were just not welcome there.

After a week or so everything calmed down but the usual activity resumed. To our benefit the crap in my daughter's room stopped which made us very happy. We lived in the home for another year and it never got bad again. As I tell all my friends each of the things that happened to us could be explained naturally (although I doubt there were natural reasons at all) but when you put them together you have a very convincing argument that the house really is haunted.

Typical little kid, the spirit probably had an arguement with the little one and then got ticked at you for yelling at it. I can understand what you mean about getting aggravated that it was messing with your child (I'm not a father as of yet, but I am a big brother that's helped raise my brother and sister). It's good to hear that the situation resolved itself rather than having to resort to other means.

[J. Lionheart]

While it's not necessarily local stuff, I do keep an eye out for interesting real world news items to incorporate in to play. I'm hoping that on my next rotation through the GM chair for our BTS2 gaming, to incorporate a bit more reality into it to give it a more creepy feel.

At the moment, the portfolio I'm putting together for that game includes an actual article from the New York Times about a real-life parapsychology lab, with an accompanying semi-secret investigative society attached, a CNN briefing regarding Malaysian spirit-vampires, and hot off the AP, a mysterious ancient-greek artifact, found at the same time as the equally real, but for game purposes mysterious, revival of Zeus worship.

I shant say more, other members read these boards

[MASTERMIND]

In my anthropology class today we watched a video about the slave grave site found in downtown New York City in 1991. The grave site is significant for many reasons but being a gaming geek the story opportunity interested me. Here is this graveyard filled with an estimated 20,000 bodies in the middle of New York City. These people were slaves, lived cruel lives and often died long before they should have.

Now fast forward to the modern day and the one thing that gave them any sort of freedom (their graves) is disturbed. There has to be supernatural repercussions.

[Lord_Dalgard]

Chello!

Well, near my hometown, there is an abandoned school from back in the 30's. It was a school for blacks that was burned down by racists and there were some deaths of students. at night, you can see floating lights in the school and hear screams...I've been there. It's very freaking spooky.

http://www.texasghosthunters.com/stories/east/#white

Tony

[MASTERMIND]

O.o

Thanks for the link. VERY NICE!

[Lord_Dalgard]

Chello!

YW! We aim to please!

Tony

[MASTERMIND]

Just learned about this one.

Indianapolis, IN at the Soldier's and Sailor's Monument in the center of the city. Two confirmed events. A young boy named Bobby Polsgrove was left unattended while visiting the monument and Bobby wandering to the top portion and fell out a window to his death. The window facing the west. Years later a man named Sylvestor Sammons is at the same window and plunges to his death below. The local newspapers said suicide but the facts didn't add up. Many people who visit the west window at the top often report feeling like something is pushing them over the railing and into the window. Bobby and Sammons are often sighted in and around the monument.

At the same location many years before the monument was built it was the location of the governor's mansion. Due to poor design issues few Governors ever lived in the home but visitors were allowed to stay for short periods and the building was used for other things. Eventually the building fell into disrepair and disuse. A homeless preacher and a group of "tramps" took up residence in the home (how this was allowed to happen is completely unknown). The preacher was named Reverend John Strange (no joke, that was his name) and was a fit individual. One day he just died for unexplained reasons.

The mansion was eventually razed and the land was used for grazing livestock and dumping trash (apparently early Hoosiers in Indianapolis didn't have much pride in their city and what was supposed to be the hub of their fine city). During the Civil War the site was used to recruit young men into the service and soldiers on their way off to or coming back from the fighting would meet there together. After the Civil War the area was turned a park. Around 1900 the monument was commissioned and built.

That's all history but makes for good material for a game involving paranormal investigators.

[Chuck McDaniel]

Hey all,

Haven't been on in a while do to work and my oldest son being incredibly sick ( 4 MRIs , 3 CT scans and 1 nights stay in the hospital because they thought he had, had a brain aneurysm ).

I finely finished up my time as an apprentice and they are working me like a dog. But, hell the pay is good .

Sorry, what I wanted to say was thanks for the great and numerous responses to this post. The stuff y'all have posted is just phenomenal.
There is enough material in this thread alone for atleast 3 years of gaming IMHO.

This site and it's members are awesome . I asked a question and y'all MORE than rose to the challenged and just blew me away.

I was expecting maybe 5-10 replies!

Here is another one for y'all.

About 2 years ago an 18 month old girl went missing about 1/2 a mile from my house. They had police, fire and rescue, and tons of volunteers looking for her. They suspected that she had been kidnapped.

After 12 hours of searching for her a diver pulled her body from the pond 20 yards behind her house.

Ever since then people have claimed to feel a chill when they pass the lake and several including myself, have seen a small figure in the rear view mirror either near the pond or in their backseat.

They say almost all of the fish have died in the pond and children avoid it due to a "scary feeling" they get going near it.

Great adventure idea just a very crappy way to have come upon the idea for it.
Thank You, Chuck

[Xar]

Hey--best wishes for your son. Really hope he get's better.

[Spectre]

I used to live near a graveyard in Oklahoma, lot of adventure ideas in that town. they used to hang people. Good source of material ravanent wanting revenge on thier hanggers desendants.

Speaking of Oklahoma...

http://theshadowlands.net/places/oklahoma.htm

Another place is the OKC bombing site. I hate going there, the feeling of suffering is similar to that of a weight pressing down.

[Warwolf]

Another place is the OKC bombing site. I hate going there, the feeling of suffering is similar to that of a weight pressing down.

Almost makes me curious enough to visit, just to see if I got the same impressions... but then again, I'm not sure I want to.

[Spectre]

A better choice of words would have been... oppressive.

[MASTERMIND]

About 2 years ago an 18 month old girl went missing about 1/2 a mile from my house. They had police, fire and rescue, and tons of volunteers looking for her. They suspected that she had been kidnapped.

After 12 hours of searching for her a diver pulled her body from the pond 20 yards behind her house.

Ever since then people have claimed to feel a chill when they pass the lake and several including myself, have seen a small figure in the rear view mirror either near the pond or in their backseat.

They say almost all of the fish have died in the pond and children avoid it due to a "scary feeling" they get going near it.

A malevolent spirit seeking revenge for her death? Or a benevolent spirit seeking to protect other children from her fate? A lot of potential there.

I agree about your sentiments though. I like to think I am honoring the spirit by telling a good story. Throw in a happy ending for the spirit and it is even better.

[Chuck McDaniel]

Hey--best wishes for your son. Really hope he get's better.

Thank You Xar

I believe I will too Mastermind.

[Chuck McDaniel]

Mod. can we get a sticky on this so it can be added to and not become dead?

Thanks, Chuck

[Chuck McDaniel]

a friend of mine just had an uncle, who had 3 cows die unexpectatly. and they looked mutilated. can we say Grays or a cult devoted to Satan or an Old One. What if the Grays are behind the cult. masquerading has god-like beings.

I like that idea duck . You could put more twists to that than a twizzlers.

You could have a god-like being put that in their heads so as to take eyes away from a plot or two of his/hers .

Chuck

[GreenGhost]

Just learned about this one.

Indianapolis, IN at the Soldier's and Sailor's Monument in the center of the city. Two confirmed events. A young boy named Bobby Polsgrove was left unattended while visiting the monument and Bobby wandering to the top portion and fell out a window to his death. The window facing the west. Years later a man named Sylvestor Sammons is at the same window and plunges to his death below. The local newspapers said suicide but the facts didn't add up. Many people who visit the west window at the top often report feeling like something is pushing them over the railing and into the window. Bobby and Sammons are often sighted in and around the monument.

At the same location many years before the monument was built it was the location of the governor's mansion. Due to poor design issues few Governors ever lived in the home but visitors were allowed to stay for short periods and the building was used for other things. Eventually the building fell into disrepair and disuse. A homeless preacher and a group of "tramps" took up residence in the home (how this was allowed to happen is completely unknown). The preacher was named Reverend John Strange (no joke, that was his name) and was a fit individual. One day he just died for unexplained reasons.

The mansion was eventually razed and the land was used for grazing livestock and dumping trash (apparently early Hoosiers in Indianapolis didn't have much pride in their city and what was supposed to be the hub of their fine city). During the Civil War the site was used to recruit young men into the service and soldiers on their way off to or coming back from the fighting would meet there together. After the Civil War the area was turned a park. Around 1900 the monument was commissioned and built.

That's all history but makes for good material for a game involving paranormal investigators.

At Ft. Benjiman Harris?