I Think We're Gonna Need A Priest

I’m so sorry peoples, I took an unplanned hiatus which then lasted longer than it should of. But I’m back and ready to get back into this. So, I thought I’d start with the horrible tale from Russia – the Countess Darya Saltykova.  So Darya Saltykova was born in 1730 into the Russian nobility and as far as anyone could tell there wasn’t anything special about her. She was just like every other Russian noble woman. However, she would go on to murder at least 138 at her estate in Moscow. So maybe not. When she was young, she married Gleb Saltykov and had two sons – Theodore and Nicholas. During her marriage to Gleb, people said that Darya was a pious woman who was a little gloomy at times. She was known to donate money to churches and monasteries, like the good noble she was. Though when she was just 26, Gleb died leaving Darya the wealthiest widow in Moscow. She inherited two properties – a property in Moscow and an estate near Moscow called Troitsko...

With over 50,00 deaths throughout its history, it’s no wonder that the Trans-Allegheny Asylum is haunted. I would like to say now that any derogatory words used in this post are what were used at the time and only used for historical significance. They are in no way what I would use. Anyway… on with the post. :) :) Construction began in 1858 and it was completed in 1881 but during this time patients were still admitted. The main building is the largest hand-cut stone masonry in the US and the second in the world, with the Kremlin coming in first. Originally construction was done by prison inmates – a local newspaper in the November that construction started noted “seven convict negroes” as the first to start working on the Asylum. In June 1861, the 7 th Ohio Infantry came to the town on behalf of the government and ‘stole’ $27,000 worth of gold coins (which is roughly $500,000 today). This money was to be used to build Trans-Allegheny but because of the Civil War the go...

Rose Hall was built in the 1770 and still stands to this day and when it was first built as was a sugar plantation. One of the largest on the island with over 2000 slaves working at one point in its history. Now known as Rose Hall Great House in Montego Bay, Jamaica it is now considered one of the most haunted houses in the western hemisphere. With such a notorious reputation that Johnny Cash, American singer and songwriter, wrote a song immortalising Annie Palmer. Annie Patterson was born in 1802 and had a rough start to life. When she was 10 years old she lost both of her parents to yellow fever. While living with her nanny, it said that this was the time that she apparently learned witchcraft and voodoo, because her nanny was supposedly a voodoo priestess. Now it could have been fate or Annie’s voodoo skills but hen she was 18 years old she crossed paths with John Palmer (the owner of the plantation). John whisked Annie away from Haiti to Jamaica and married her. It’s b...

Shall we play cards Satan? Not a question anyone should ask but this is what happened at Loftus Hall. Originally called Houseland Castle and built in 1170, it was rebuilt in 1350 and then again in 1870-ish by John Henry Loftus. This is when it was renamed Loftus Hall. He wanted to make it this grand house  – so grand Queen Victoria herself would want to visit when she came to Ireland (spoiler – she didn’t visit). He integrated the original Hall into the mansion that stands today. Everything that has happened started with one event, so our story begins in the mid-1600s with the untimely death of Anne Tottenham. Anne lived at Loftus Hall with her father, step-mother and siblings. On a stormy night, a stranger made his way up to the Hall and asked to take shelter within its walls. This was normal apparently, as it was the closest shelter to the docks. This particular stranger stayed for several weeks and during this time Anne fell in love. Like head over heels, puppy ...

Aaaaand we’re back! Here’s the second part of the H.H.Holmes story. This is the part where we focus on the hotel and the strange goings-on that went on. So, like I stated in the previous post, Holmes began building the hotel in 1887, while he was still scamming and murdering his way around America and Canada. During the construction of the hotel, Holmes was accused of not paying for the labour and equipment. Not surprising really. It was said that he would fire builders' mid-job so they didn’t know the full extent of the building layout. The building had three floors and a basement – all of them had there uses. The first floor housed the pharmacy, jewellers and a general store. The third floor housed Holmes’ apartment and office. The second floor and basement were the locations for all the wrong stuff that he did.  We’ll start on the second floor, purely because everything leads to the basement at one stage or another. So, on this floor, t...

First off – his name wasn’t even H.H.Holmes! It was an alias, one of many I might add. He was born Herman Webster Mudgett and changed his name several times throughout his lifetime. So, it isn’t confusing, will stick to calling him, Holmes. Right, I thought I’d try something different with my posts. I know all the posts I do will be information heavy but I want to make it enjoyable to read – not something straight out of a textbook. So, with that said on with the story and murders of Henry Howard Holmes. WARNING – This post mentions child death. Holmes was born 16 th May 1861 in Gilmanton, New Hampshire and was the third child of Levi Horton Mudgett and Theodate Page Price. Both parents were devout Methodists and Holmes seemed to have a normal childhood. According to different reports, classmates used to tease a young Holmes about his fear of doctors. So they forced him to stand in front of a human skeleton in a doctor’s office, which scared the poop out of him. But inste...

Serial Killer. Child Rapist. Cannibal. Murderer. These are the polite names that I think of for Albert Fish. Born in May 1870, Fish had a tough childhood which ultimately led to a disturbed man. Fish’s father died when he was young and he ended up spending some of his early years in St John's Orphanage in Washington DC. While at the orphanage Fish was subjected to regular beatings while the beatings were for punishment, Fish began to enjoy the physical pain they brought and many phycologists believe that this could have triggered his behaviour later in life. At age 10 Fish’s Mother was able to remove Fish from the orphanage and back into the family home but the damage was already done. Two years later, Fish began a relationship with a telegraph boy who introduced Fish to practices like urolagnia (drinking urine) and coprophagia (eating faeces). Which is eww. Fish began frequenting public baths so he could watch young boys undress.  By 1898 Fish...