Paranormal Magazine UK

   H.H. Holmes: Americas First Serial Killer!

H.H. Holmes born Herman Webster Mudgett was a sadistic serial killer in the 19^th century! Regarded as one of the world’s first, if not the first serial killer. Holmes was born in 1861 in New Hampshire and was born in to a very wealthy family. Although Holmes was regarded as being very intelligent it was apparent even as a child that something wasn’t right. He was truly fascinated with medicine and had an unhealthy obsession with the dissection of animals and it is reported he would conduct cruel and unjust experiments on animals and was even responsible for a death of a friend.

When Holmes got older he went to study medicine at the university of Michigan, at this time in his life he began to steal corpses, abandoning the bodies and then claiming that they were his relatives, so he could claim the insurance money.

In 1886 Holmes moved to Chicago and started using the name Dr Henry H Holmes. He began to work in a pharmacy and after a short time took it over many people believe that he killed the owner, however this can’t be known for certain. Shortly after taking over the pharmacy he bought a plot of land across from the pharmacy and began to build a 3-storey building which he had the sole intention to use as a place he could commit his terrible crimes!

The building was built with sound proof rooms a bank vault, so he could leave his victims in to slowly suffocate and die. A sealed off room which had a trap door in the roof, so once the victim was inside the room they couldn’t get out and would slowly die.

By 1893 Holmes had opened the building as a Hotel and most people who checked in never checked out! He would lure mostly women back to the hotel and once they were in their rooms he would gas them with secret pipes that were fitted in their rooms. He would then dissect the women and sell the skeletons to medical schools and then he would burn the remains in two large furnaces that he had in the basement of the building!

His crimes would have carried on had it not been for his greed of money, Holmes was reported to the police for not paying money he owed. Whilst on the run from the police he killed a con man friend Benjamin Pitezel and 3 of his children, before finally been arrested in Boston…  When the police searched the hotel, they discovered the full horrors of what Holmes had been up to.  In 1896 Holmes was finally hanged for his crimes. There is no way to say for definite how many people he killed estimate vary from 27 to over 200, it is also worth noting that it is theorized by some that Holmes was also responsible for the Ripper murders, Perhaps Americas first serial killer was also Jack the Ripper. The hotel, which was also known as the murder castle was eventually pulled down.

   The Marlborough: A Mystery Still Unsolved

The Marlborough was a Hugh was an iron-built two-decked merchant sailing ship which disappeared in 1890. The ship spent its time at sea travelling between Britain and New Zealand. The ship made many successful voyages in its time and mainly carried wool and frozen meat! A few months after the ship left port in New Zealand in January 1890 carrying its usual cargo and 33 crew members, the Marlborough failed to arrive at its destination in Britain and was reported missing!

At the time many people thought that the Marlborough had been sunk has she passed through cape horn which is a hot spot for ship sinking icebergs! 23 years after the ship was last seen a Singapore newspaper claim that the Marlborough had been discovered near cape horn!

It’s here were the creepy mystery starts as the Marlborough was found shipped wrecked on an extremely craggy island. When a crew of another ship boarded they were horrified at what they found! There was said to be around 20 skeletons on board, what was believed to be the capital was found under the wheel, one was found alone on the ship bridge, some were found by the ladder leading below the deck, 3 were found in the ships hatch way and the rest were found in the ships mess room.

The skeletons are what makes this mystery creepy and strange as there were no signs of foul play and why the skeleton was spread all over the ship makes it weirder. Investigators believed that they must of all died at around the same time as if this wasn’t the case the people that were alive at the time wouldn’t have just left the bodies there to decompose and they would have moved them. Also, because they were scattered around the ship it isn’t believed that they were gathered by an attacker and killed. It is also a mystery Why the captain that was believed to be the skeleton found under the wheel was there in the first place.

Another thing, if the ship had just run a ground surely the crew would have just left the ship and gone onto land to try and survive?! So, why they were all dead! And the ship was missing for so long is a truly creepy mystery! The Marlborough’s sister ship the Dunedin also went missing in the same year and to this day has never been found! Strange eh?

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Waverly Hills: Americas Most Haunted Hospital

Waverly hills sanatorium located in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, and is regarded as one of the most haunted location in the USA! Featured on almost every ghost hunting program in the US, Waverly has been subject to extensive investigation and on many occasions unearthing what most would say is proof of the existence of the paranormal!

Waverly first opened its door in 1910 and housed thousands of patients suffering from tuberculosis. Originally built to house 40-50 patients, Waverly ended up housing up to 400 patients at a time. Waverly had its doors open for over 50 years but due to a new revolutionary antibiotic which drastically eliminated tuberculosis and the hospital closed in 1962! Waverly re-opened a year later, but closed in 1980 as officials found out evidence of horrendous patient neglect! No one knows exactly how many people died at Waverly, but it is said that at least 6000! People died.

The patients of Waverly would often suffer terribly and must go through horrible treatments; Such as, electroshock therapy, experimental surgery and other cruel and unethical procedures. One of the more well-known and truly tragic cases is that of Mary Lee, a nurse that treat people with tuberculosis and ended up contracting the disease herself. Mary got pregnant to one of the doctors and was unwed the shame of all this was too much for her and she took her own life, by hanging herself in room 502. Mary laid undiscovered for a long time.

With Waverly’s cruel and sinister past there is no wonder why it is supposed to be one of Americas most haunted locations! With dozens of photos, videos and audio recording that apparently capture the image of sound of something paranormal, not to mention the countless eyewitness accounts. There is no doubt that Waverly has a very sad past, but does that sadness still reside there in the form of restless spirits? What are your thoughts?

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Spring Heeled Jack: England’s Famous Cryptid!

The spring heeled Jack is an English mythical creature that was spotted throughout the Victorian era. First spotted in 1837, the spring heeled jack or ‘Jack’ was described as a terrifying human-like creature with ugly facial features, red burning eyes, goatee style beard with pointy ears and horns! He also had claw hands and could leap from rooftop to rooftop.

Shortly after the first sighting happened Jack began to be spotted all over the UK, With reports of the creature attacking people and countless eyewitness accounts of the creature up to no good it wasn’t long until the Jack became more well known. The press began to report on Jack and gave him the name Spring Heeled Jack! People were warned about Jack and was told that he lurked on the top of rooftops! It wasn’t long before panic set in and mass hysteria started. Before long people were seeing the Spring Heeled Jack everywhere! As the rumours and stories grew, it became hard to separate what was fact from fiction.

The last known reported sighting of the spring heeled Jack was in 1904 ever since these sighting began there has been a multitude of theories to what Jack might have been. Whatever Jack was, at the time Jack he was the cause of a lot of terror! So, what are your thoughts on the spring heeled Jack? Could he have been a real creature or nothing more than a figment of people’s imagination!