Lake Monsters and Presidential Assassinations
Category: Travel and Places

One year ago today, a Chinese news reporter filmed a 20-minute video of six unknown creatures swimming in the nation's Tianchi Lake. The lake has long been believed to be the home of several lake monsters, dubbed "The Lake Tianchi Monsters."

Take a swim in Lake Tianchi.

Also on this date in 1901, American President William McKinley was shot at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York by assassin Leon Czolgosz. McKinley passed away a couple of weeks later from the gangrene surrounding his wounds.

Visit the site of the McKinley Assassination and learn how the assassin's corpse was defiled after death.

You can explore this and many more Dark Destinations at:
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How to Plan a Dark Tour/Halloween Vacation
Category: Travel and Places

How to Plan a Dark Tour/Halloween Vacation

Steps

1. Determine who will be going on the trip with you. Whether friends or family, they should have an interest in the subject matter of the tour. It can be an unpleasant experience for them, yourself and anyone else along if one person is uncomfortable with the nature of the locations being visited.
2. Involve anyone else going on the trip in the planning of it. This will further generate interest and can be fun in its own right. Besides, with more than one person researching the trip, you are more likely to turn up a location or opportunity that would have been otherwise missed.
3. Pick a primary geographical location or theme for your trip. A geographical location can be chosen based on proximity to home, a specific point of interest, density of dark locations, other non-dark tourist features that may also appeal (you can always take a break from Salem's witches to go whale watching), or any number of other reasons an area might appeal. Picking a theme for a dark journey can be satisfying for someone with specific interests. Themes can range from something simple/general such as Halloween events/festivals and haunted locations to complex/specific such as visiting sites of political assassinations or places that were used in the filming of horror movies.
4. Research the locations and the area surrounding them. Utilize the internet, books, magazines, DVDs, etc. to perform your research.
5. Find out if there are there locations of further interest nearby that you weren't aware of and can include in the trip.
6. Find out if tourism welcome at the sites of your interest. For example: Amityville, NY and Burkittsville, Maryland are not pleased with the attention brought to them by the films "The Amityville Horror" and "The Blair Witch Project." You may wish to reconsider your trip if the location isn't friendly to this form of tourism.
7. Research how much will it cost. Finding out the cost of guided tours, museum admissions, and other attraction costs will help with planning the budget for the trip.
8. Look for available lodging and its cost. Another handy thing to know for your trip budget. It pays to look into surrounding areas. For example: The demand for hotel rooms in Salem, MA in the month of October drives the price up and makes it prohibitively expensive for some folks. However the city of Danvers has average-priced lodging while only being 15 minutes away (it also has quite a few locations tied to the Salem Witch Trials…including the actual execution site).
9. Find out if the locations actually still exist. What can you expect to find there? Some locations of interest are not oriented for tourism. Some may in fact be sore points with the local community. They may have been torn down or altered over the years due to either natural change or a community's need to have an infamous crime scene removed due to a need to heal and move on from the unpleasantness.
10. Think about what time of year is the best for your visit? Some locations have events that only occur on specific days of the week or year. Do you wish to visit on the anniversary of a particular event associated with the location? Visiting some locations near an anniversary or during the Halloween season may lead to dealing with crowds, lines and other associated drawbacks of peak time for a particular location. However, it may also feature tourist opportunities unavailable during non-peak time, such as guided tours limited to specific times of year, festivals, etc.
11. Pick up an Atlas or maps of the area(s) to be visited. Print out maps from websites which allow you to get directions from one location to the next.
12. Plan some visits to non-dark sites and/or downtime for your trip. This is especially important if you are traveling with people who are not as into the subject matter of the dark locations as you. It can also be a good idea to plan breaks and visits to more lighthearted locations to avoid becoming depressed if the area you are visiting might bring yourself or other travelers down. Taking a guided tour of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland or visiting the site of the former World Trade Center in New York City may affect you in ways you don't plan for. Also, you are on vacation…you should plan time to relax and not burn yourself out by trying to cram in too many locations/activities.
13. Pack appropriately for your trip based on weather conditions for the location in that season and length of stay. Make sure to bring your camera or camcorder to capture the moment. Take into account the luggage of fellow travelers if the trip is by automobile.
14. If you are traveling by automobile, make sure that your vehicle is in shape for the trip, especially if traveling long distances.

Tips

• Some Internet Resources
• http://www.darkdestinations.com: A database for dark travel. The user-driven content informs those who planning trips as well as allows travelers to share their own experiences after a trip. The database covers the entire globe.
• http://www.findagrave.com/: A resource for locating graves; particularly the graves of the famous and infamous.
• http://www.hauntedhouses.com: This site lists haunted locations and Halloween attractions.
• http://www.wikipedia.org: This user-driven online encyclopedia has many articles that can be of use to a dark traveler.
• http://www.strangeusa.com/: This web site lists sites of hauntings and UFO encounters across the United States.
• http://www.seeing-stars.com/: This web site includes places where celebrities died and are buried.
• http://www.allstays.com/: This resource for hotel stays lists haunted hotels and bed & breakfasts around the world.
• Some Books and Magazines
• Creepy Crawls by Leon Marcelo: Contains travel tips as well as information on horror film sites, haunted locations and scenes of infamous crimes.
• Haunted Heartland by Beth Scott & Michael Norman: A compilation of haunted locations throughout the Midwest.
• Hell House" by Alison Rattle & Allison Vale: Lists Haunted and tragic locations around the world.
• Haunted Attraction Magazine: A publication for the Halloween/Haunted Attraction industry. It can also be a good resource for finding locations to visit.
• Rue Morgue Magazine: Issues have a regular feature called the Travelogue of Terror. The feature explores dark locations around the globe.

Warnings

• Exercise proper behavior for the location you are visiting. As mentioned earlier, some locations don't like the attention paid to them due to movies or infamous crimes. Some locations, such as Burkitsville have experienced vandalism, trespassing and other unpleasant tourist behavior since the release of "The Blair Witch Project." Residents of Wisconsin largely want to forget the horrible deeds of serial killers Ed Gein and Jeffrey Dahmer. Depending on the location, it may be best for you to keep tight-lipped about the nature of your visit. Please don't participate in vandalism. This includes taking souvenirs such as pieces of a location. Please don't trespass. While there are plenty of locations that are open to visitors, there are also plenty that are private property. In these situations, it is better stick to observing the location from a public location. You should be able to take photos legally from a sidewalk or the street. Even so, be prepared to move along if someone becomes concerned with your activity. Causing a scene only leads to further problems for fellow dark travelers down the line.
• If an area is unfriendly to dark tourism, consider travelling somewhere that is friendly to it instead.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Guide books
• Maps
• Luggage
• Transportation

Related wikiHows

• How to Plan a Trip
• How to Get Started With a Research Project
• How to Be a Smart Traveler
• How to Travel on a Budget

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Plan a Dark Tour/Halloween Vacation. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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Michael Berryman and The Hills Have Eyes
Category: Travel and Places

Horror film fan-favorite, Michael Berryman, was born on this date in 1948. Berryman was born with the condition Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia, which prevents the growth of hair, teeth, fingernails, and sweat glands. His unique appearance led to his casting in the role of Pluto for the 1977 Wes Craven horror film, The Hills Have Eyes, and started his run in the horror genre, often playing the villain. The filming of The Hills Have Eyes was a very dangerous undertaking for Berryman. The combination of the desert heat that often exceeded 100 degrees and the lack of sweat glands that normally would help regulate his temperature forced him to take frequent breaks to prevent his body from overheating. By all accounts, Berryman took the shoot in stride and emerged as a cult hero and fan favorite.

In honor of Berryman's birthday, let's travel to the edge of Lucerne Dry Lake and revisit those rocky formations that served as the title setting for that infamous horror classic. While not on a former nuclear test range and not home to a family of inbred mutants, the hills' only inhabitants are California wildlife, including snakes and other assorted critters.

They say those Hills Have Eyes.

You can explore this and many more Dark Destinations at:
http://www.thecabinet.com/darkdestinations/
http://www.twitter.com/darkdestination
http://www.myspace.com/darkdestinations
http://apps.facebook.com/darkdestinations

-Casey H.

10:56 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

The Last Witch Execution in Europe
Category: Travel and Places

Last week on August 28, the Swiss parliament finally exonerated a woman wrongfully persecuted of witchcraft and executed 226 years ago. In 1782, Anna Göldi, a housemaid in the employ of a Dr. Johann Jacob Tschudi and his family, was accused by her employer of witchcraft. A confession was tortured out of her, which she recanted afterward. She was tried, found guilty of attempted poisoning (as a way around having to put a witchcraft down in the books as the reason) and was sentenced to be decapitated by sword that very same day. She was the last woman in Europe to be executed as a result of a witch trial.

There is evidence that Anna's employer needed to have her silenced. A wealthy man with a strong political family, it appears as though he used the court system to assassinate a woman who could have possibly harmed his career.

For the past year, the Swiss government and the Protestant Church Council of Glarus have debated the case of Anna Göldi. This resulted in her finally being declared officially innocent after all these years.

Click here to learn more about Anna Göldi and to pay a visit to the museum dedicated to her.

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The Rediscovery of the Titanic
Category: Travel and Places

On this date in 1985, the R.M.S. Titanic was rediscovered by a joint American-French expedition. It had been 73 years since it sank, taking the lives of 1,517 passengers and crew. The discovery uncovered details of the sinking, including confirming some accounts that the ship had broken apart while sinking.

Click here to visit the Titanic's watery grave.

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The Terrible Death of Mary Ann Nichols
Category: Travel and Places

On this date in 1888, The body of Mary Ann Nichols, known as "Polly" to her friends, was discovered in Whitechapel, London. Her throat had been slashed and her abdomen sliced multiple times. She is commonly accepted as the first victim of Jack the Ripper, though there may have been more before her.

The exhibit Jack the Ripper and the East End at the Museum in the Docklands is still running for a little while. It ends on November 2nd.

If you happen to visit the Ripper exhibit, be sure to also check out London Horror Tour's guided Jack the Ripper tour. One of the many dark tours the company offers; it takes customers on visits to all the crime scenes associated with Jack the Ripper and also covers other famous local spots, including the hospital in which John Merrick, The Elephant Man, once lived. 

-Tom G 

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The Birth of Frankenstein
Category: Travel and Places

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born in London, England on August 30, 1797.  At the age of 19, Mary found herself in a villa in Switzerland, surrounded by future husband, Percy Shelley, stepsister Claire Claremont, owner Lord Byron and his personal physician John Polidori.  It was the "Year Without a Summer," following the eruption of Mount Tabor that caused weather disturbances around the world.  Huddled inside the villa, the group read from the ghost story anthology Fantasmagoriana.  Sparked by the stories within, as well as alleged "other influences," the group made a pact to write their own ghost stories.  Though it would take two years before Mary Shelley's story to be rounded out and published, the seeds were born that night.  The story is known today as Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus.  Along with that classic, the gathering in the Villa Diodati is also credited as bringing about the modern vampire.

See how it all began at the Villa Diodati.

-Casey H.

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The Exorcist and The Terminator
Category: Travel and Places

A very special happy birthday goes out to director William Friedkin who was born on this date in 1939.  Though he recently returned to the horror genre with a film adaptation of the successful play, Bug, by writer Tracy Letts, he is probably best known for the 1973 horror classic, The Exorcist.  In honor of his birthday, let's pay a visit to the infamous residence that doubled as the home of Chris and Regan McNeil, as well as a host of "others" for the feature.  Take a peak at the link below to read about how the house was altered for the film and the night of filming that managed to bring firefighters from Virginia to the set.

Tour the MacNeil House in Georgetown.

For those keeping up with the mythos of The Terminator, today also marks eleven years since Cyberdyne's innovative system, Skynet, became self-aware and well... launched a nuclear attack against Russia and started "Judgment Day" - bringing about the "Age of Machines."  Fortunately the hard work of Sarah and John Connor, with a Terminator in tow, were able to destroy Cyberdyne's headquarters and delayed said destruction for another day.

-Casey H.

8:48 AM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

The Bluebeard of Quiet Dell
Category: Travel and Places

On this date in 1931, Quiet Dell resident Harry Powers was arrested for murder.  Given the moniker of "the Bluebeard of Quiet Dell" or "West Virginia Bluebeard" by the press, Powers allegedly wooed rich widows through a matrimonial service and murdered them after luring them to his home.  Though it is believed that he killed at least five people, Powers would ultimately convicted in the death of Dorothy Lemke from Massachusetts.  He was incarcerated at the infamous West Virginia Penitentiary (also known as Moundsville Penitentiary), where he would be executed by hanging on March 18, 1932.

Author David Grubbs would later morph the crimes of Harry Powers into those of his character Harry Powell in his novel Night of the Hunter, which also utilized the penitentiary as a set piece.  The novel would later inspire two film adaptations (the latter a television movie) of the same name, using actors Robert Mitchum and Richard Chamberlain in the role of Powell.

West Virginia Penitentiary has since been decommissioned but today has a rich reputation of paranormal activity associated with it.  It was featured in the pilot episode of MTV's Fear, as well has been investigated by the likes of Ghost Hunters and Scariest Places on Earth.  The prison is open for tours (both paranormal and historical) to the general public and is transformed into the "Dungeon of Horrors" during the Halloween season.

Search for the spirit of the Bluebeard of Quiet Dell at West Virginia Penitentiary.

-Casey H.

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List your Halloween Haunt on Dark Destinations!
Category: Travel and Places

October is quickly approaching and the Halloween season will be on us soon.  Dark Destinations currently lists over 100 Halloween events and haunted attractions throughout the United States and Canada.  Last October, we saw a large surge of interest from people looking for haunts in their local area and generated a lot of traffic for those currently in our database.  While we do our best to add in haunts ourselves, we only have so much time on our hands.  Make sure you get your haunt added to Dark Destinations for those traveling to your area this Halloween.  It just takes a minute and it is free publicity!  Even better, this coming October we will be featuring various haunted attractions here on this blog throughout the month.

In the meantime, check out the latest haunt to add their attraction to our database - The Dreaded Grove.  They are a new haunt located in American Fork, Utah that offers a wide array of activities and events.

Get your haunt listed at Dark Destinations!

-Casey H.

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The Ghosts of the McRaven House
Category: Travel and Places

The McRaven House in Vicksburg, Mississippi was first built circa 1797 on a former way station of the infamous Trail of Tears, but would undergo additions and renovations by subsequent owners over the years.  Sheriff Stephen Howard purchased the house for his family in 1836, but their happiness would be short-lived after Howard's wife, Mary Elizabeth Howard, would pass away in late August of that year.  According to stories, the spirit of Mary Elizabeth still makes her presence known to this day, but her story is only one of many.

The house was commandeered by the Union Army following the Siege of Vicksburg and would be the site of a ghostly encounter when a Union liaison appeared to his commanding officer and informed him that he was just murdered by the locals.  The incident was followed shortly thereafter by the murder of the current owner by Union troops after he lodged a complaint about the soldiers picking flowers after his garden.  Several ghosts are believed to reside in its walls to this day, giving the McRaven House the reputation of being the "most haunted house in Mississippi."

Visit with the spirits of the McRaven House.

You can explore this and many more Dark Destinations at:
http://www.thecabinet.com/darkdestinations/
http://www.twitter.com/darkdestination
http://www.myspace.com/darkdestinations
http://apps.facebook.com/darkdestinations

-Casey H.

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Pompeii, Lake Erie Monster, and the Baltimore Ravens
Category: Travel and Places

Today marks the anniversaries of a trio of Dark Destinations.  On August 24:

79: Mount Vesuvius (in what is now Italy) erupts. It covers neighboring towns, including Pompeii in volcanic ash. The doomed residents of Pompeii are buried alive, leaving behind casts of their death throws in the ash layer that formed around them.  The article on the site is written by Adrian Rule.

Take a walk under the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.

1993: The tabloid paper, Weekly World News, runs a story about the Lake Erie Monster attacking and killing three people with the headline, "Lake Erie Monster Sinks Sailboat."  The story's witnesses report that the creature's head is as large as a car.  Despite the obvious satire, the story is often cited as fact to this day.

Pay a visit to Bessie.

1998: The newly-formed NFL football team, the Baltimore Ravens, debut their new mascots - Edgar, Allan, and Poe - at their first preseason game at what is now M&T Bank Stadium. The team and mascots are named after Baltimore's famous resident, horror author Edgar Allan Poe.

Are you ready for some football?

-Casey H.

10:16 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

The Legend of the Lady in Black
Category: Travel and Places

On August 23, 1926, Hollywood superstar Rudolph Valentino passed away at the young age of 31.  His death shook both the entertainment industry as well as the adoring public, and shattered the growing sentiment of "immortality" for Hollywood stars.  His funeral service in New York City and burial in Los Angeles drew thousands of grieving admirers.  Some estimates put the number up around 80,000 people that descended upon Hollywood Forever Cemetery (then known as Hollywood Memorial Park) as his casket was carried into the Cathedral Mausoleum.

One of those mourners would make the visit an annual occasion.  Every year on the anniversary of Valentino's death, a mysterious woman dressed all in black visited his crypt and left behind a bouquet of red roses.  The press soon got word of the annual visits and began to stake out the mausoleum, hoping to finally reveal the woman hidden behind the dark veil.  Soon, there were countless ladies in black making the pilgrimage and several that identified themselves to the press as the "original" lady in black.  There are countless theories as to the true identity of the woman to this day, but the mystery still lingers.

Whoever felt they needed to honor Valentino on the anniversary of his death they didn't stop at their own demise.  According to several reported sightings, the ghostly image of a lady dressed completely in black is still seen at or near Valentino's tomb - usually on the anniversary of his death.  Others report hearing disembodied footsteps inside the mausoleum or flowers suddenly appearing in the vases on his tomb.

Music fans might also be interested to know that the story of the Lady in Black was a major inspiration for the popular ballad, The Long Black Veil, which has been covered from everyone from Johnny Cash to The Band.

Do you dare walk in the steps of the Lady in Black on the date of Valentino's death?

-Casey H.

9:48 PM - 1 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

Remembering Ghost Story/Circle of Fear
Category: Travel and Places

Today, I'd like to pay tribute to actor Sebastian Cabot who passed away on this date, August 22, 1977.  Though Cabot may be better known for his role on the television series, Family Affair, as well as many movie roles, I'll always remember him fondly as the host, Winston Essex, on the short-lived William Castle television series, Ghost Story.  14 episodes into the series run, the name was abruptly changed to Circle of Fear and Cabot was dropped.  The horror anthology would last only nine more episodes.

During Cabot's reign of Ghost Story, his character opened each episode from his manor, the Essex House.  In reality, the Essex House was none other than the famous Hotel del Coronado near San Diego, California.  The hotel may be better known today for its famous ghostly resident, Kate Morgan, who died there from what was reported as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Pay tribute to Cabot and keep an eye out for Kate Morgan at the Hotel del Coronado.

-Casey H.

8:28 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

The World Meets Slimy Slim/Sharlie
Category: Travel and Places

On August 21, 1944, Time Magazine reported on the recent sightings of a lake monster in the water of Idaho's Payette Lake and introduced Slimy Slim to the world.  The report followed a sighting by Boise-based auditor, Thomas L. Rogers, who reported seeing the head of the creature, "...which resembles that of a snub-nosed crocodile, was 18 inches above the water."  Rogers went on to estimate the size of the creature as 35-feet long.  Though the origins of the name of "Slimy Slim" has been debated for some time, the locals took matters into their own hands and held a worldwide contest to come up with a new name for the lake monster.  In 1954, the creature was re-dubbed "Sharlie" from the popular comedian Jack Perl's famous catchphrase, "Vas you dere, Sharlie?"

Sightings of a monster in Payette Lake have been reported in the decades since, including even this century.  The local residents of McCall, Idaho have fully embraced their cryptid neighbor and he pops up on t-shirts, buttons, and even as a snow sculpture annually at the McCall Winter Festival.

Vas you dere, Sharlie?

-Casey H.

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