Fall Spooks: Enter If You Dare

Maryland is eerily popular as a ghost state. There are urban legends and haunted sites all over the place. It is a spooky coincidence, I believe, that the famous Gothic writer of the most spine chilling horror stories, Edgar Allan Poe, was laid to rest here in the very state of Maryland! There are a couple of top-notch paranormal research societies and ghost hunting organizations that work in the region as well. I might just join one! As Fall begins, and the craziness of the October spooks takes toll, all the haunted sites begin to advertise to voice their existence. Some of the cities and landmarks have myths and legends too. Even more surprisingly, I have been to some places without knowing they were haunted! Read on ...

Ellicott City

Ellicott City, Main Street, looked like Fleet Street, London from the movie Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. The last time I visited the antique, hilly area from the 1800's, I had not a clue that it was infamous for its haunted sites and sounds. There are myths of a Demon Truck/Car that chases you at midnight on 7 Hills Road, ghosts of the Lilburn House and the Hayden House, a Satanic, worn-down, abandoned college known for dark practices, and an abandoned female institute wreaking with ghosts.
We drove down the main street for a scenic tour and came across the old Fire Station, rumored to be haunted by disturbed firemen. Small novelty emporiums and coffeehouses are comfortably snuggled into the main street that runs from one end to the other. Hilly roadsides run up and down behind the main street lined by luxury, Gothic style mansions on both sides. Some have been entirely remodeled and some are wholly or partly preserved from the 1800's. My siblings and I ascended a hill to find a set of abandoned, fallen apart shacks, that were most definitely haunted.

Stay tuned in to the Fall Diaries for videos and photos of the Ellicott City adventure.

Glenn Dale Tuberculosis Sanitarium

Closed down for chemical hazards, worn out, and ancient, the sanitarium stands there in old Glenn Dale with a story of its own. It's guarded against trespassers and violators have to pay heavy fines. The place has a history that dates back to the 1930's. It was a tuberculosis sanitorium, and later a madhouse for the criminally insane. There several buildings to it which are distinguished as an adult hospital building, a children's school, and hostels. There are underground tunnels that connect these buildings. The highlights of the building are its morgue and crematorium where an incinerator furnace lays abandoned, it was used to burn dead bodies.  While several daring adventurers have breached security protocols and gone in to photograph the old relic, I chose to film it while I drove by with my brother. Stories and legends have it that when it closed down due to asbestos leakage, the medical staff abandoned the sick and/or the criminally insane to die of disease on the grounds. Also, that the insane were tortured at the premises until they died. Strange incidents include sounds of laughter or screaming, sighting of spirits, and smell of burning flesh.

Coming up in Fall Diaries, Glenn Dale Sanitarium adventure

References:
Haunted Ellicott City. Retrieved from http://www.ellicottcity.net/tourism/haunted/
Glenn Dale Hospital, Maryland. Retrieved from http://www.worldabandoned.com/2012/07/glen-dale-hospital-maryland.html