Category Archives: blog posts

Phantom Face in the Window – Princess Anne Jail

01/13/2017blog postsMindie Burgoyne

A guest on the Princess Anne Ghost Walk snapped a photo of the old jail with her smart phone. The image she snapped appears above. She then turned to me and asked if I saw a face in the window. As we expanded the picture, the face was not only present … it was amazing.

The face appears to be that of a small boy – and unlike the orbs, streaks of light, misty fog and scratchy laser-like images that typically appear in images with supposed “ghostly” anomalies, this image shows the outline of a hairline, eyebrows, a nose, cheeks a mouth – all appearing in the lower center pane of the building’s center window.

Face in the window of the old Princess Anne Jail - Photo by Desiree Wallace — Face in the window of the old Princess Anne Jail – Photo by Desiree Wallace

What makes this image even more strange is that the window, itself has no flooring in front of it. The first floor has a steel staircase directly behind it leaving the second floor window – shown above – open to the first floor. There’s no possible way anyone could have been standing in that window. There is no floor to support a body. Continue reading Phantom Face in the Window – Princess Anne Jail →

Who Haunts the Snow Hill Inn?

08/25/2016blog posts, ghosts, Snow Hill, Worcester Countyghost of snow hill, Haunted Snow Hill, snow hill inn, william aydelotteMindie Burgoyne

Snow Hill Inn - haunted Maryland The Ghost of the Snow Hill Inn is one of the best known and most told ghost stories on Delmarva. The building known as The Snow Hill Inn currently stands empty on East Market Street in Snow Hill, MD. It’s believed to be haunted by the ghost of William Aydelotte, a young pharmacology student who allegedly committed suicide so as not to disappoint his overbearing father. According to local lore, William has disturbed so many people over the years with his mischief that the site gained enough notoriety to become the only property on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to be featured as a haunted site on national television.

National Geographic Television Network featured the Snow Hill Inn on its Is it Real series back in 2005. Since shortly after that show aired, the building was vacated. Though it’s been sold several times since, the right owner hasn’t yet come along and the old Inn which also William’s childhood home has fallen into disrepair. Continue reading Who Haunts the Snow Hill Inn? →

The Haunted Pocomoke Forest and its Urban Legends

08/17/2016blog posts, ghost story, ghosts, Pocomoke, Worcester Countyhaunted forest, Pocomoke ForestMindie Burgoyne

Urban Legends and Folklore About the Pocomoke – Most Haunted Forest in Maryland

There’s nothing like some good old urban legends about severed heads, hitchhikers and ladies in white to get the conversation going around a campfire. There are scores of these stories set in Pocomoke Forest – all alleged to be true. In fact, there was even a research paper about the forest and its lore in the Folklore collection at the Edward H. Nabb Center at Salisbury University. Here are some of the most intriguing tales of the forest.

The Boyfriend

A boy and a girl were in a car and ran out of gas. They heard something. The boy got out to look for a phone and he told her not to turn around or get out of the car and to lock all the Continue reading The Haunted Pocomoke Forest and its Urban Legends →

Old Ailsey’s Light – Crisfield

07/05/2016blog posts, Crisfield, ghosts, Somerset CountyCrisfield, Janes Island, river ghosts, Swamp ghostsMindie Burgoyne

Old Ailsey's Light in Crisfield - Janes Island — Janes Island view of the marsh from the campground.

Old Ailsey’s Light is a legend about a light seen over the uninhabited Janes Island in Crisfield – Somerset County, Maryland near Flatcap Marsh.

From time to time, campers at Janes Island State Park in Crisfield will report seeing a strange light hovering above the salt marsh across Daugherty Creek Canal. Unlike swamp gas, it moves in a convulsive manner—hovering and then shooting one horizontal direction before burning out. And some reports state that the light is accompanied by the sound of a high-pitched moan—like a cat or woman wailing. The light isn’t reported to be white like a comet or a meteor. It’s orange like a fireball. Some people say that the light is nothing more than swamp gas being released from the marsh, but swamp gas doesn’t dart around. It bubbles up and then dissipates into the atmosphere. Continue reading Old Ailsey’s Light – Crisfield →

Shoreham Hotel

07/04/2016blog posts, ghost story, Ocean City, Worcester CountyBoardwalk Ghosts, Haunted Trifecta, Ocean City MD, Shoreham hotelMindie Burgoyne

Shoreham Hotel and Shenanigans Pub in Ocean City MD

The Haunted Trifecta #2

SHOREHAM HOTEL in Ocean City could be the most haunted building in the town. 3 ghosts! One is the ghost of a writer who committed suicide in the 1930s. 2nd is a man who was killed by a Navy Seal in the basement in the late 70s (there was a bar there at the time). And 3rd is Betsey who jumped to her death from a third floor window in the Summer of 1983.

The basement is so haunted that some employees are terrified to go down there. Boxes jump off shelves (it’s now used for storage), lights come on and off independent of electricity and many people feel rushes of cold even when the doors are all closed.

Seasonal Room 6 (Betsey’s room) always appears clean … even after guests leave. Staff never really has to deep clean it because the room is always kept in pristine condition. Guests who stay in seasonal room 6 complain about the power – whether it’s the air conditioner, lights, television … things tend to go on and off at will even though the management has continuously checked the rooms for electrical problems and found no issues.

A Paranormal group from Pennsylvania investigated the Shoreham and found a wealth of data that showed paranormal activity – including in the basement and in Seasonal Room 6. The Shoreham is a hub for paranormal activity.

The Cat Lady at the Bayly Orem House

07/08/2015blog posts, Cambridge, Dorchester County, ghostsbayly orem, Cambridge, cat lady, High StreetMindie Burgoyne

cambridge-bayly-orem

An old lady and her beloved cat are remembered in this house on High Street in Cambridge.

The house, known as the Bayly Orem House, was built in 1888 and was occupied by a very a lady who grew old in the house and like many older people, she became set in her ways. She lived alone with her beloved cat who was her constant companion. When people visited – including her own family – she denied anyone access to the front parlor and resolutely refused to use it herself. She kept it meticulously cleaned and dusted it compulsively.

According to a neighbor, the old lady fell down some stairs and couldn’t reach out to anyone. It was her devoted cat who made its way outside to notify people of the lady’s fall. Sadly, help arrived too late and the lady died from her injuries at the foot of the steps in this house.

And where do you think her family laid her body out for visiting friends and relatives? Continue reading The Cat Lady at the Bayly Orem House →

The LeCompte Curse – Cambridge

06/11/2015blog posts, Cambridge, Dorchester County, ghostsCambridge Ghost Walk, Cambridge MD, LeCompte Curse, LeCompte HouseMindie Burgoyne

LaCompte House - Cambridge

The LeCompte Curse – Blindness in the Male Line

There’s an old legend about the LeCompte family curse of blindness befalling male descendents. The curse was cast by Indians in the Cambridge area that Antoine LeCompte drove off of his land back in the 17th century.LeCompte Bay is named after Antoine LeCompte and it was on those shores that the curse was allegedly cast. Oddly enough, the LeCompte do have a legacy of blindness in their male line.

We stop at theLeCompte House on High Street to tell this story. And while this house has no particular haunted legend, guests on our ghost walks get more oddities in photos at this stop than any other stop on the tour (there are 14 stories shared on the tour). Continue reading The LeCompte Curse – Cambridge →

The Henry Colored Hotel – Still Rocking!

05/12/2015blog posts, ghosts, Ocean City, Worcester CountyHenry Colored Hotel, henry hotelMindie Burgoyne

Henry Hotel has Happy Spirits

The Henry Colored Hotel - Ocean City MD

The old Henry Hotel still sits vacant at the corner of Baltimore and South Division Street in Ocean City, Maryland. Most people would never notice this three story, 20-roomed hotel, covered with brown shingles across from Trimper’s Rides. The entire hotel is about the size of most single family homes found in upscale Western Shore neighborhoods. The Henry has been out of commission since its most recent owner, Pearl Bonner died in 2003. Pearl was a legend in her own right, when as a single, African American woman raising three daughters she purchased the property in 1964. For forty summers she ran the hotel, putting her daughters to work when they needed money for their college educations. All of them are college graduates.

Pearl ran the hotel more as a rooming house for African American men who worked in Ocean City, rather than a vacation destination for black patrons looking to relax. Continue reading The Henry Colored Hotel – Still Rocking! →

Haunted Minute – Cambridge and Bloody Henny

05/07/2015blog posts, Cambridge, Dorchester County, Haunted MinuteBloody Henny, Cambridge Courthouse, Cambridge MD, Haunted MInuteMindie Burgoyne

Bloody Henny was hanged next to the Cambridge Courthouse

Spring Valley was the name for the area that is now a nice park with a fountain adjacent to the Cambridge Courthouse.

Human emotion certainly impacts the energy field around a site, so when there’s a traumatic occurrence, the energy field picks up those emotions. When the trauma is repeated and repeated – as in a place of corporal punishment – the energy gets stronger and stronger, and the sense of place takes on those emotions.

Hangings, whippings, slave auctioning and public judgements all happened in this spot. Today, it is linked with legends of spirits that still prowl around this park at night.

Join one of the Cambridge Ghost Walks to experience this place up close and personal, and hear the full story of Bloody Henny, plus 13 other haunted properties on High Street.

SEE ALL AVAILABLE CAMBRIDGE GHOST WALKS

Get Touched in the Haunted Pocomoke Forest

05/06/2015blog posts, ghosts, Pocomoke, Worcester Countypocomoke, Pocomoke Forest, Swamp ghostsMindie Burgoyne

Guests walk into the Pocomoke Forest under a full moon – orbs above.

I am a ghost-story teller. I live in a haunted house, but I am not afraid of anything from the spirit world anymore – except the spirits in the Pocomoke Forest. Out of the 130+ stories I’ve integrated into our ten ghost walks, there are only a handful where I’ve had a personal experience …. The Snow Hil Inn, the Trimper’s Carousel, the Robert Morris Inn, The Atlantic Hotel (Berlin), the Marva Theater AND – The Pocomoke Forest… and that one scared me so bad, that I couldn’t get out of that forest fast enough — but I had to act like I wasn’t afraid so as not to startle the 24 people following behind me (who were already scared by what had happened). Continue reading Get Touched in the Haunted Pocomoke Forest →