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| Rose Hall |
The tales of the murderous Annie Palmer of Rose Hall still frighten children in Jamaica. Built in 1770, Rose Hall was a sugar cane plantation and home to Palmer and her husband. Palmer grew up in Haiti and learned voodoo from her nanny, which would later serve her in her dastardly schemes.
When Palmer became sexually unsatisfied with her husband, she began sleeping with slaves on the plantation. In order to keep them quiet about the affairs, she either killed these men or ordered other slaves to do so. Wanting to gain sole possession of her husband's wealth, she poisoned her first husband and later married and killed two other men Her sexual escapades continued as well. In case she encountered a man unwilling to pleasure her or a slave trying to escape, Palmer had a pit dug 16 feet (4.8 meters) below the house where she would banish these people. As her nefarious reputation spread around the island, she became known as the White Witch.
According to legend, Palmer cast a fatal voodoo hex on a housekeeper who caught the eye of one of her lovers. Supposedly, the housekeeper's grandfather later strangled Palmer to death [source: Belanger]. Her body was buried in an aboveground coffin in the eastern wing of Rose Hall. According to the lore, the White Witch's spirit, along with those of the slaves she had murdered, continued to haunt the house. When new tenants attempted to move into Rose Hall, they were quickly driven away from the haunted grounds. Eventually, in 1965, a couple bought the house and converted it into a museum. Yet even today, visitors and employees have reported hearing men's screams and doors slamming, as well as other paranormal phenomena.
Abraham Lincoln's ghost still hangs around the White House, particularly in the Lincoln bedroom.
It must be hard for former presidential couples to adjust to life after the White House. After four or more years, they probably get used to never having to take out the trash, wash dishes or change a light bulb, not to mention the other amenities afforded to arguably the most powerful people in the Western world. Perhaps that's why some have stuck around after their terms -- and lives -- ended. That's right: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is not only the most famous address in the United States, but also one of the most haunted.
John and Abigail Adams were the first presidential couple to live in the White House, taking residence in 1800, and Abigail has lingered ever since. Her ghost is said to hang laundry in the East Room on occasion. Another first lady, Dolley Madison, has reportedly been quite territorial with White House renovations. During her husband's term, Dolley oversaw the landscaping of the Rose Garden, where presidents often meet with the media. When President Woodrow Wilson's wife tried to have the garden dug up, the story goes that Dolley's ghost appeared and instructed the workers not to tear up her beloved garden
Going along with a rose theme, the Queen's Bedroom, which was once called the Rose Room, is known as a paranormal hotspot in the White House not only houses the bed of President Andrew Jackson but his ghost as well -- people say they've heard it walking around the room. Jackson's ghost is rumored to hang out in the Red Room as well. People have seen Abraham Lincoln's ghost ambling down the halls and staring out of windows. He pays visits to the Lincoln bedroom at times as well.
Don't believe us? The White House Web site, during George W. Bush's presidency, once had a page devoted to its ghost sightings, spotted by notable residents like Eleanor Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter's daughter.
James Dean, seen here in a still from the 1957 documentary movie "The James Dean Story," had a passion for sports cars.
Photo by Warner Bros. courtesy of Getty Images
On Sept. 30, 1955, actor James Dean got into his Porsche 550 Spyder with his mechanic Rolf Wuetherich and set out for a race. On the way, Dean was involved in a deadly car crash that injured Wuetherich and killed Dean. According to legend, however, Dean's Porsche wasn't finished spreading misery. For instance, the car supposedly broke a man's legs when it rolled off its trailer during transport. The list of tragedies associated with the car grew longer every year until the car was, perhaps mercifully, lost during transport
The Deane House in Alberta, Canada is the haunted house equivalent of James Dean's cursed set of wheels. And just like Dean's Porsche, the house was mobile. Built in 1906 for Superintendent Captain Richard Deane of the Mounted Police, the house was moved from its original location in 1914 to make way for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. Only after moving again in 1929 and becoming a boarding house, however, did the house become a magnet for tragedy. In 1933, a 14-year-old boy, suffering from epilepsy, took his own life in the house's attic after being bullied at school
Perhaps the most shocking event in the history of the Deane house, however, was the 1952 murder of Irma Umperville by her husband Roderick. Roderick stabbed and strangled his wife in front of their two children before killing himself in one of the home's apartments, adding one more tragic tale to the home's history
With such a violent past, it's no surprise that some say the house remains haunted today. Reports of strange sightings and unexplained laughter emanating from the foyer have surfaced for years.