Buzz
The United States Census Bureau estimates that over 7 billion individuals currently inhabit the Earth. Yet, these figures overlook those who exist on the fringes of reality: a diverse group including spirits, vampires, saints, psychics, and cryptids. Here are ten enigmatic phenomena that push the boundaries of our comprehension.
10. Charles Dickens Communicates From Beyond the Grave
At the time of his death at 58, Charles Dickens was deeply engrossed in writing a new novel titled The Mystery of Edwin Drood. This murder mystery centered around the disappearance and presumed death of the main character, Edwin. Sadly, Dickens passed away before completing the story. Various authors, including his son Charles Dickens Jr., attempted to conclude the unfinished narrative.
The most bizarre version was written by a Vermont printer in 1873. Thomas James, the man in question, asserted that Charles Dickens had communicated with him from the afterlife to complete the story definitively. James would write in an unfamiliar script that matched neither his nor Dickens' handwriting. Many dismissed James as a fraud. Despite this, his completed book gained popularity in the United States, though it was less acclaimed in the United Kingdom. Spiritualists like Arthur Conan Doyle supported James, convinced he had genuinely connected with Dickens. Interestingly, Thomas James never authored another book, despite receiving tempting offers.
9. The Bridge of Suicides
Bridges are infamous locations for individuals in despair to end their lives. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge has seen nearly 2,000 suicides, with at least 10 occurring in August 2013 alone. Pasadena’s Colorado Street Bridge, constructed in 1913, has a lower but equally eerie death toll. One tragic incident on May 1, 1937, involved a mother who threw her baby daughter off the bridge before jumping herself. Miraculously, the infant survived after being caught by tree branches, while the mother tragically perished on the riverbed below.
Sadly, folklore suggests that those who end their lives at this location often linger as spirits. Witnesses have claimed to see a spectral figure in wire-rimmed glasses strolling across the bridge, accompanied by a woman in a flowing robe who leaps off repeatedly, reliving her tragic end. Most chillingly, eerie entities are said to roam the riverbed below, crying out and luring others to join them in their despair.
8. The Maero of New Zealand
The Maori of New Zealand have a fierce and storied past. Renowned for their intricate facial tattoos and cannibalistic practices, they appear fearless. However, they harbor a deep fear of the “Maero,” a race of wild men said to inhabit the forests. Described as hairy with long, bony fingers used to skewer and devour raw meat, the Maero share traits with other legendary bipedal creatures like Sasquatch or the Yeti, though their origins are steeped in the supernatural.
A popular Maori legend tells of Tukoio, a man who fought a Maero. During the struggle, Tukoio severed the creature’s limbs and beheaded it. As he carried the head back to his village, it screamed, “My children, I am being taken away!” Tukoio dropped it and ran. Later, he and fellow villagers found the remains had vanished, likely reassembled through supernatural means.
7. The Loveland Frogmen
For those who grew up singing with Kermit, the idea of humanoid frogs might seem harmless. However, the creatures reportedly seen in Loveland, Ohio, are anything but. In 1955, a man claimed to spot three frog-like beings, each about a meter tall, crouching under a bridge. Described as wrinkled, leathery, and with webbed extremities, one allegedly held a wand emitting sparks. The witness fled in fear.
Numerous sightings have been reported over the years. On March 3, 1972, a police officer allegedly encountered one of these creatures on a bridge over the Little Miami River. He returned with another officer, Mark Matthews, to investigate, finding scratch marks near the river. Two weeks later, Matthews spotted the creature again by the roadside. He fired at it, but it escaped. Both officers faced ridicule, and Matthews later downplayed the incident, claiming it was just an iguana.
6. The Enigmatic Blue Hole
New Jersey’s vast pine barrens are shrouded in mystery, and the Blue Hole in Winslow Township is no exception. Nestled in a dense forest, this waterbody stands out starkly. Unlike the murky, brown waters typical of the region, the Blue Hole boasts strikingly clear, azure waters.
Even during the peak of summer, the Blue Hole remains icy cold, with legends suggesting it might be bottomless. It’s also rumored to be perilous, with tales of whirlpools and aquatic creatures pulling swimmers into its depths, never to return. Some even claim to have spotted the infamous Jersey Devil lurking nearby, ready to ambush unsuspecting visitors.
Similar to other mysterious sites, the Blue Hole is accessible to curious explorers and monster hunters. Located within a public wildlife preserve, it’s easily accessible by foot.
5. The Ghostly Presence at the Kotei
While ghost stories about the White House in Washington DC are common, Japan’s Prime Minister’s residence, the Kotei, is also rumored to be haunted. Built in 1929 in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright, the Kotei has been the site of numerous eerie incidents reported by former Prime Ministers and their spouses. Current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has opted to stay in his private home instead, citing the mansion’s size as impractical. However, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper quoted him saying, “I don’t want to live here because there are ghosts.
The Kotei’s history is steeped in violence. On May 15, 1932, Navy officers assassinated Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi, shooting him dead. The plot was even more chilling, as Inukai was hosting Charlie Chaplin at the time. Fortunately, Chaplin was at a sumo match with Inukai’s son during the attack. Four years later, another coup unfolded at the Kotei when 280 soldiers stormed the gates, leading to a shootout with four police officers and Prime Minister Keisuke Okada. The officers were killed, but their sacrifice allowed Okada to escape. Tragically, his brother-in-law, Denzo Matsuo, who resembled Okada, was mistakenly shot and killed.
Decades later, bullet marks still scar the mansion’s front entrance, a grim reminder of its violent past. The Kotei’s dark history extends further, with reports of ghostly soldiers seen wandering the gardens. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe even confirmed that his predecessor, Yoshiro Mori, had encountered a ghost within the residence.
4. The Curse of the Lemp Family
The Lemp family, renowned brewers from St. Louis, Missouri, built their fortune on German lager after the Civil War. William J. Lemp, the family patriarch, purchased an opulent mansion to raise his children. Among them, Frederick was his favorite and the chosen successor for Lemp Beer. Tragically, Frederick’s poor health led to his untimely death from heart failure before turning 30. Devastated, William’s health declined, and after the death of his close friend Frederick Pabst, he took his own life in the mansion. His son, William “Billy” Lemp Jr., then took over the business.
Tragically, this marked the beginning of a series of suicides. Elsa, William’s daughter, who struggled with depression and marital issues, took her own life by shooting herself in the heart at her home on March 19, 1920. Prohibition devastated the Lemp Brewery, leading to its auction on June 28, 1922, for a fraction of its value. Five months later, Billy Lemp also ended his life by shooting himself in the heart in the mansion’s office. His brother, Charles Lemp, returned to the family home in his later years, becoming a reclusive and frail figure until he too took his own life on May 10, 1949, at age 77. His suicide note stated, “If I am found dead, blame no one but me.”
The reasons behind the Lemp family’s tragic fate remain unclear, but their legacy lives on. The Lemp mansion, now a restaurant, is rumored to be one of the most haunted locations in the United States.
3. The Miracle of Loretto Chapel
In modern times, religious miracles appear increasingly rare, with even figures like Mother Teresa facing scrutiny. However, New Mexico’s Loretto Chapel, constructed in 1878, offers a compelling case for the belief that saints may still walk among us.
During the chapel’s construction, the architect was tragically killed, leaving the building without a crucial element: access to the choir loft, situated 6.7 meters (22 ft) above the ground. Space constraints ruled out a traditional staircase, and the nuns refused to use ladders, fearing their long habits would get caught. According to legend, the Loretto sisters prayed for nine days, and on the final day, a disheveled man arrived on a donkey, offering to solve their dilemma.
Using only rudimentary tools—no nails included—he crafted an exquisite spiral staircase over several months. At first glance, the staircase seems to defy physics, appearing to lack central support. Once completed, the mysterious carpenter left without payment. The nuns, awestruck by his work, believed he was St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. Other theories suggest he may have been a traveling French carpenter named Francois-Jean Rochas.
The staircase has since been thoroughly analyzed. While stunning, it isn’t a true engineering marvel. Its tight helix design allows the center to act as its own support, preventing collapse. However, it’s considered highly unsafe, as it flexes like a spring when climbed. Today, the privately owned Loretto Chapel hosts weddings, allowing couples to take photos on the iconic staircase.
2. The Exmoor Beast
Across the British Isles, numerous accounts describe mysterious black cats and dogs, some seemingly real and others ghostly. Unlike many cryptids, there’s a significant amount of photographic evidence suggesting panthers, wolves, and massive demonic dogs roam the countryside. However, these images are often blurry and taken from afar, making it hard to distinguish between a monstrous creature and a domestic pet like a Labrador.
Exmoor, a hilly region in southwest England, is particularly known for such sightings. Since the 1970s, reports have emerged of a strange creature called “The Beast of Exmoor,” described as a large cat resembling a leopard or mountain lion. This beast has occasionally been blamed for attacks on livestock.
Several theories attempt to explain the Beast’s origins. While big cats once inhabited the British Isles, they went extinct thousands of years ago, making it unlikely a surviving population exists. A more credible explanation ties the sightings to the 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act, which led some owners to release exotic pets to avoid hefty fines. These animals may have formed a small breeding group, surviving on rabbits and deer, and occasionally preying on farm animals during food shortages.
In 2009, a carcass found on a Devon beach was briefly thought to be the Beast of Exmoor, but it was soon identified as a seal. Nevertheless, potential evidence of big cats in England exists, with deer and boar bones discovered bearing marks consistent with the bites of a large feline.
1. The Caged Graves
Old Mt. Zion Cemetery in Catawissa, Pennsylvania, features an unusual sight—two graves enclosed by iron cages. Both graves belong to women who passed away in June 1852. A third caged grave, belonging to Rebecca Clayton, was removed in the 1930s due to deterioration. Rebecca died just weeks before the other two women. Interestingly, all three were young, recently married, and closely related.
Over time, the cages have inspired their own legends. The close timing of the women’s deaths has fueled speculation that they might have been vampires, with the cages designed to prevent them from rising and preying on the living. However, a more plausible explanation is that the cages were meant to deter grave robbers. In the mid-19th century, grave robbing was rampant, as bodies were often sold to medical schools for dissection, and valuables buried with the deceased made them lucrative targets.
While the deaths of three young, related women in quick succession may seem eerie, it’s likely they were frequently exposed to each other and shared a water source. During that era, with limited sanitation, diseases often spread rapidly through communities. This period also coincides with cholera outbreaks that ravaged America.
