A PARANORMAL VALENTINE -- 5 GHOST STORIES (Follower Love Giveaway Blog Hop)

Ghost stories aren’t just for Halloween, and happy endings don’t produce restless spirits. 

Love lost, love spurned, love betrayed – such things produce powerful emotions that just might be strong enough to cause spirits to linger instead of moving on. 

The following are five tragic tales of love gone terribly wrong....

The Missing Lovers

The Castillo de San Marcos is a fortress in St. Augustine, Florida. Built by the Spanish in 1695, it has a long history of ghostly manifestations. Many of these center around a woman, Dolores, who was the young wife of the fortress commander, Colonel Garcia Marti. The couple arrived at the fort in 1784. As the story goes, it was an arranged marriage and the harsh and ill-humored Colonel ignored his bride. It wasn’t long before Dolores took notice of the Colonel’s handsome and charming assistant, Captain Manuel Abela.

Actual dungeon where the fake wall was discovered.

Dolores wore a distinctive perfume, and one day the Colonel smelled it on Abela’s uniform! Shortly afterwards, both Manuel and Dolores disappeared, never to be seen again. The Colonel explained to the soldiers that Manuel was on special assignment to Cuba. To Dolores’ many friends, he claimed she had returned to Spain because the Florida climate was having a detrimental effect on her health.

The truth wasn’t discovered for 50 years, after the fort was in American hands. An anomaly was noticed in a dungeon wall and the bricks were removed – revealing a hidden room and a pair of skeletons, male and female, chained to the wall. Since that time, many people have reported cold spots, floating orbs of light and the sudden overpowering scent of sweet perfume in the dungeon area!

Ghosts in Paris

The Eiffel Tower is the site of many tales, and it's no surprise that one of them is a ghost story. A young couple who had been dating for a while agreed to meet at the top of the Eiffel Tower to talk. The woman wanted to end the relationship, while the man was intent on proposing. The man became so enraged that he threatened to kill her if she didn't marry him. She refused and he pushed her from the tower. It's said that the ghost of the young woman haunts the site, and her screams can sometimes still be heard.

Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France

The Arc de Triomphe in Paris has several ghosts, one of which is named Rose. After quarreling with her lover on Bastille Day (July 14) in 1914, it's said that she climbed the 284 steps to the top of this stone monument and threw herself off, narrowly missing the throngs of people below who had gathered for the holiday festivities. Sightings of Rose repeating this sad act have been reported, usually when there's a crowd gathered for a parade or other event. 

The Rejected Suitor

During the War of 1812, a Canadian lieutenant named Muir had fallen in love with Marie McIntosh, daughter of a local trader who lived near the Detroit River. She was very fond of the handsome young soldier, but he was terribly shy and the girl became annoyed with his timid wooing. He visited her every week without ever expressing his feelings for her until the very day he was leaving on a dangerous assignment, when he asked for her hand. To his shock, she laughed and teased him. Her expectation was that he would try even harder to win her and she would eventually relent and say yes.

Muir, however, thought she didn't love him and he was heartbroken. He rode off to his regiment without another word and Marie regretted her cruel actions. During the night, she was terrified by a visit from the young man's ghost. Muir told her he had died honorably but wanted his body brought back to the settlement. Then the spirit seized her hand, causing her to scream and faint.

Marie rode the next day and secured help from her father's friends at Fort Malden. Together they found the body where the spirit had said it was, and took it back to be buried at the Canadian settlement.

After that experience, it was said that Marie was no longer a carefree young girl but had aged into a serious woman. The story also says that she forever wore a black glove on the hand that the ghost had touched because the spirit had left a mark upon it. As for Lt. Muir, his ghost has been sighted many times over the years, particularly around the date of his death, August 9th.

The White Lady

Huntly Castle in Scotland is famous for its legend of a woman in white. The apparition has been reported wandering both the rooms of the castle and the grounds of the estate since the 17^th century.

Huntly Castle today

The castle was owned by the Lyon family at the time and one of their daughters had an affair with a servant. She was imprisoned in the bedchamber in the high castle tower, but was so distraught at being separated from her lover, she leapt from the window. At least that’s what the family said -- it was widely rumored that she was pushed because the family wished to minimize the scandal!

The Bride on the Bridge

"Emily's Bridge" in Stowe, Vermont

In Stowe, Vermont, a woman in a bridal gown is said to have haunted the covered bridge there since the 1800s. The woman, named Emily, was left waiting at the altar for a groom who never came. She left the church and took her carriage, intending to go to the groom’s home. When she arrived at the bridge, something spooked her horse and she was killed in the ensuing accident. Ever since, sightings of a woman driving a carriage have been reported in the hours after midnight. Those who have seen the ghost, say that she looks extremely angry and many believe she is still hunting for her would-be groom. 

Another version of the story says that Emily and her lover intended to elope and they were to meet at the bridge. She waited there for many hours with her bridal clothes in a suitcase, but her intended never came. Heartbroken, she hung herself from the bridge. It’s rumored that crossing the bridge at night will cause Emily’s ghost to leave long scratches on the car!

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Here's the fun part.  
From February 7th to 14th, 2012, it's the
"Follower Love Giveaway Hop ".


THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED. 


Congratulations to Proserpine whose name was drawn as the winner of my giveaway. 


Don't forget there'll be a BRAND NEW BLOG HOP beginning on Feb. 17th!