The Haunting of Hales Bar Dam

Editorial Note: PDN is proud to welcome Conner Gossel to the Team. He will be heading our historical research into haunted homes and places. You will be seeing much more of his haunting work from now on. Welcome, Conner!

Welcome Conner

Tennessee has always been a deceptive destination for those involved in the paranormal community. Shrouded in a sprawling expanse of forestry that is the Rocky Mountains, and divided by the seemingly endless network of rivers that dissect the land, the state has a tendency to appear untouched by civilization. If one takes the time to look closer though, beyond the facade of a state covered in uninhabited wilderness, a darker reality exists.

The grim truth of the matter is that Tennessee houses some of the country’s, and the world’s, most dangerously paranormal locations. For our purpose, however, we need only concern ourselves with the eerie building that sits on Lake Nickajack, Hales Bar Dam.

The Haunting Of Hales Bar Dam

When construction on the dam began in 1905, thousands of workers were brought into the area to help complete the project. Temporary homes were built on the water's edge to serve as living quarters for them all, but as time went on these temporary homes became far less crowded than they began. This fact is entirely due to the fatality rate of the dam's construction. Hundreds of men perished in the process of erecting the building and many, if not most of their bodies, are still entombed within the foundation to this day.

Believe it or not, though, the death toll associated with Hales Bar Dam isn’t to blame for its severe supernatural happenings.

The Haunting Of Hales Bar Dam

The Hales Bar Dam Curse

Long before the dam was even theorized, back when the territory was a part of the Cherokee Nation, an Indian War Chief named Dragging Canoe cursed the land, condemning it to be unproductive and uninhabitable because of its “dark and bloody” nature. The dam's construction was society’s first glimpse of the power of the curse.

Those who didn’t lose their lives building the structure gave accounts of what they experienced. Their accounts told of dark figures seen walking around inside the dam at all hours of the day, inhumane screams, floating apparitions, whispering voices, moving tools and equipment, and the spirits of numerous children whose bodies are said to be buried underneath the water.

Paranormal Activity

Such paranormal activity continues to persist to this very day, driving the current owners of Hales Bar Dam to begin allowing paranormal investigative teams to visit the property in hopes that they might be able to shed light on the haunting. Over the years, many investigators have corroborated the claims of the staff, of general visitors, and of the original construction crew members. A number of investigators and experts in the field have also offered a warning, saying that the little girl who claims to be buried in the water could very likely be a malevolent spirit. While we certainly hope that’s not the case, it is worth mentioning that dark forces have a tendency to mask themselves as the innocent in order to fool the living.

Needless to say, if you venture to Hales Bar Dam, keep your wits about you and prepare to experience the afterlife like never before.

Two new paranormal TV shows are changing the landscape of ghost-hunting shows

A few months ago, I joined a team of paranormal investigators, visiting haunted locations for the first season of a brand-new indie ghost-hunting show called Inhuman Beings. This month, we launched a Kickstarter to finish Inhuman Beings and a paranormal documentary series called New Blood. The two shows aim to present a new outlook on the supernatural, showcasing the esteemed specialist in the occult, Michelle Belanger. Her expertise has been previously displayed on several publications such as Paranormal State, Portals to Hell, Conjuring Kesha, among others. Locations have been chosen for the first season of a brand-new indie ghost-hunting show called Inhuman Beings. This month, we launched a Kickstarter to finish Inhuman Beings and a paranormal documentary series called New Blood.

Inhuman Beings

Each episode of Inhuman Beings features a different location with a reputation for high strangeness. Rather than trying to banish ghosts or uncover demons, we approach the unknown with a sense of curiosity, keeping an open mind and looking into ghosts, UFOs, cryptids, the fae, and more.

We use some traditional paranormal investigation techniques, experimenting with REM pods, spirit boxes, a Kinect SLS camera, and an Ovilus. But we also get weird, trying out remote viewing experiments, using dream sigils to communicate with entities, and following our curiosity as far down the rabbit hole as we can go.

That led us to some strange places. During production, we found ourselves crossing a remote river to visit land ruled by the fae, exploring a strange castle with a mysterious past, and investigating the most haunted building in a small town.

As the team’s paranormal researcher, I dug into the locations before filming and was floored by how many anomalies had been reported in each spot.

In one episode, we venture to the area of the original Loveland frogman sightings, along the banks of Ohio’s Little Miami River. While doing preliminary research, I couldn’t believe how much lore was concentrated in one small area and how interconnected the different paranormal phenomena were there.

I had heard the famous 1950s story about a man encountering strange, frog-like humanoids—one of whom carried a wand emitting sparks—but the more research I did, the more reports I found about local sightings of UFOs, cryptids, aliens, and ghosts.

That was my first hint that things were going to get a lot stranger than I had expected. However, I was not fully prepared for the firsthand experiences we had when we arrived at the site and engaged in conversations with the locals, conducted our own experiments, and gained a true understanding of what the place was truly like.

New Blood

Much of the cast and crew of Inhuman Beings are also in New Blood, a longform docu-series about modern-day vampires.

In New Blood, a series of synchronicities leads witch and host of paranormal podcast Follow the Woo Fen Alankus (she/they) to move from LA to the spooky Midwest. There, she conjures an investigative film crew to document a secret society of vampires.

They delve into the mysterious world of vampires while staying in a haunted Airbnb. The experience, which involves visiting sacred vampire ritual spaces, braving the creepy woods of Ohio, and performing out-of-the-box psychical experiments and spells, changes all of them. Season one was a wild ride, and the next phases of initiation have already begun for the team.

The Kickstarter and team

Michelle Belanger (he/she/they) and Fen Alankus (she/they) have gathered a top-notch crew of film professionals and paranormal investigators. That includes historian and medium Stephanie Bingham (she/her), who has been featured on the CW’s Mysteries Decoded, Destination America’s Paranormal Lockdown and SyFy Channel’s School Spirits; tarot/oracle reader Tigresse Bleu (they/she); filmmaker, forager, and hedgewitch Aubrey P. Archer (they/them); and photographer and skeptic-turned-believer Taylor Brown (she/they), and me.

More than 100 hours of footage have already been shot for these shows, and both shows are slated for release in Fall/Winter 2023.

With the Kickstarter funding, the team will finish up the first seasons of both shows, start pre-production on the next seasons, and more. Backers get rewards like magically imbued Ouija planchettes, Bigfoot and Pride Demon T-shirts, subtle-body portrait readings, bonus and behind-the-scenes content, executive producer credit, guest spots on their shows, and more. Spread the word and help bring this fresh paranormal project into the world!

Most Haunted Places: Raynham Hall, Norfolk, UK

At Paranormal Daily News, we regularly provide you with the best haunted places. Those of you interested in the paranormal, and like to go ghost hunting from time to time, have an increased chance of seeing a ghost in one of these places. The most haunted place we are going to discuss today? Raynham Hall!

Raynham Hall Location and History

Haunted Raynham Hall

Raynham Hall is situated in Norfolk, United Kingdom. The illustrious country house has been the home of the Townshend family for more than four-hundred years. Between 1674 and 1738, the country house was even the home of Charles Townshend, the 2nd Viscount Townshend as well as the leader of the House of Lords.

The Raynham country house is a popular destination for tourists. Not only does the mansion have some splendid architecture and paintings to enjoy, the mansion also houses its own resident ghost, the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall.

The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall

Many people travel to Raynham Hall to catch a glimpse of the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, one of the most famous ghosts in the entire United Kingdom.

The "Brown Lady" became a phenomenon in the United Kingdom after it was photographed by a reporter for Country Life Magazine. The apparition was promptly named after its discovery by popular media, even though sightings of the Brown Lady happened well before the photograph was published.

The Ghost of Lady Dorothy Walpole

The ghost who is believed to haunt Raynham Hall is Lady Dorothy Walpole, who was the sister of Robert Walpole. Even though it is not noted as such in the history books, Robert is believed to have been the first prime minister of the United Kingdom.

Lady Dorothy Walpole was the second wife of Charles Townshend. Legend has it that Charles was a violent man. After discovering his wife had an affair with Lord Wharton, it is claimed he locked Lady Walpole in her room within Raynham Hall.

However, Mary Wortley Montagu would later claim the Countess of Wharton was the one who was responsible for Dorothy's imprisonment. Dorothy would remain in Raynham Hall until her death in 1726. She died of smallpox.

There have been numerous sightings of the Brown Lady, the first dating to Christmas 1835, when Lucia C. Stone claimed she had encountered an apparition during a Christmas gathering. The Brown Lady was also seen by a number of guests who were invited to the gathering, including Colonel Loftus and Hawkins.

A mere year after the first sightings of the Brown Lady, Captain Frederick Marryat claimed to have seen the Brown Lady. Frederick's daughter, Florence Marryat, would later pen down her father's experience.

…he took possession of the room in which the portrait of the apparition hung, and in which she had been often seen, and slept each night with a loaded revolver under his pillow. For two days, however, he saw nothing, and the third was to be the limit of his stay. On the third night, however, two young men (nephews of the baronet), knocked at his door as he was undressing to go to bed, and asked him to step over to their room (which was at the other end of the corridor), and give them his opinion on a new gun just arrived from London. My father was in his shirt and trousers, but as the hour was late, and everybody had retired to rest except themselves, he prepared to accompany them as he was. As they were leaving the room, he caught up his revolver, “in case you meet the Brown Lady,” he said, laughing. When the inspection of the gun was over, the young men in the same spirit declared they would accompany my father back again, “in case you meet the Brown Lady,” they repeated, laughing also. The three gentlemen therefore returned in company.

The corridor was long and dark, nor the lights had been extinguished, but as they reached the middle of it, they saw the glimmer of a lamp coming towards them from the other end. “One of the ladies going to visit the nurseries,” whispered the young Townshend to my father. Now the bedroom doors in that corridor faced each other, and each room had a double door with a space between, as is the case in many old-fashioned houses. My father, as I have said, was in shirt and trousers only, and his native modesty made him feel uncomfortable, so he slipped within one of the outer doors (his friends following his example), in order to conceal himself until the lady should have passed by.

I have heard him describe how he watched her approaching nearer and nearer, through the chink of the door, until, as she was close enough for him to distinguish the colors and style of her costume, he recognized the figure as the facsimile of the portrait of “The Brown Lady”. He had his finger on the trigger of his revolver, and was about to demand it to stop and give the reason for its presence there, when the figure halted of its own accord before the door behind which he stood, and holding the lighted lamp she carried to her features, grinned in a malicious and diabolical manner at him. This act so infuriated my father, who was anything but lamb-like in disposition, that he sprang into the corridor with a bound, and discharged the revolver right in her face. The figure instantly disappeared - the figure at which for several minutes three men had been looking together – and the bullet passed through the outer door of the room on the opposite side of the corridor, and lodged in the panel of the inner one. My father never attempted again to interfere with "The Brown Lady of Raynham". - Florence Marryatt

With many sightings dating back to the 1800's, Raynham Hall is undoubtedly worth a visit for anyone who would like the opportunity to see the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall. Even though sightings are now less than in the 1800's, Raynham Hall is still one of the most haunted places in the United Kingdom.

A Workplace Haunting

Haunting In Parkstone: Parkstone, in Poole, Dorset is alive with restless souls intent on causing distress, confusion and disharmony amongst those that dare enter their territory.

It is a place that has suffered immense change through the centuries - maritime development, industrial transition, to disease and bombardment. Commercial Road in Parkstone, Poole is where this honest event took place; it is a busy road that takes you into the heart of 'haunted' Poole centre.

It was 2013 when I first entered the stylish, modern, yet foreboding doorway. It was a private office full of secrecy. It wasn't long before things started to kick off.

There were usually four other co-workers that shared the office with me; one of the ladies had been there from the beginning and there was one place in the building she wouldn't enter alone. There was also much friction and stress in that office which sometimes caused angst and hostility.

A Haunting Feeling

Photographer: Camila Quintero Franco | Source: Unsplash

One day I was in the office with a senior employee. All the windows were closed as always, and although there was a floor above, the entire building was soundproof. As I sat at my computer I heard a loud moan, as if someone was trying to catch their breath. I looked at my associate but she was working solidly at her accounts; I didn't ask her outright as she always had deadlines to meet. I tried to work out where this auditory phenomena had come from. There was no echo in the building and nobody else in the room.

Yes, there were computers and wires, so some electrical charge would have been present, yet I was not fatigued or thirsty, which may have caused some hallucination. I heard a loud moan again later among other staff members.

Another incident occurred when an important figure who sits behind me, went to look out of the window when he became entangled in the curtain cord which attached itself around his neck.

Another time while alone, a roll of sellotape bounced off the desk in front of me, hitting the carpet. It had been placed on a hard, even surface and there were no vibrations.

Oppressive Haunting

I was asked to go down to the basement for the first time to collect a file. Making my way through a narrow corridor; dim lighting, complete with a shower, I felt I was being watched. This was an oppressive area and I felt a presence. The basement was icy - cold. The lady that had been there for years told me she'd never go there alone. It gave her the creeps. I asked her what stood on the grounds before; only an old cottage next door.

After a year, my contract was up so I left. I asked the community about the buildings next door and then visited the nearby library. Further research states that the office where I worked used to be an 18th/19th century house with nothing untoward documented. There was also a potter near by; a corn merchant directly opposite. A dairy stood close to the office to which the owners contracted typhoid, and new management took over. There were air raids witnessed here during the second world war.

I can only conclude that this paranormal phenomena in Commercial Road was possibly a result of a member of staff bringing in a menacing attachment; or the previous owner of the house that once stood may have witnessed a haunting in the very walls where spiritual energy remains.

Further paranormal investigations would benefit here, particularly during the evening, as my events unfolded in the day. But because of the nature of this impressive looking building, and the confidentiality linked to it, it would be hard to gather the answers.