Thirteen may be an ominous number for many, but here at the House of Geekery the number means that we have reached the thirteenth edition of 5 Creepy Unsolved Mysteries. Again if you wish to scroll through the previous entries they are available here:
1. The Lonely Grave: Right outside of Boston lies the remains of Foxborough State Hospital, a facility which cared for the "insane" and the alcoholic in the early twentieth century. As with many of these hospitals from this era abuse was rampant and many patients suffered and died under Foxborough's care. When the center was closed down in the 1970's the task began of categorizing the 1100 people who died at the hospital and were subsequently buried on its grounds. An urban legend began to spread that there was a lone grave which was far away from the others who rested there. This was seen as a hoax until many years later when local historian Jack Authelet discovered the location of this poor soul buried in woods by a rail road track. The records as to who this woman may be have been lost to time, but the people of the area held a memorial service for this tragic victim we will never know the identity of.
2. Superstition Mountains: The dry and rugged deserts of the American Southwest can be a dangerous for those who do not know what they are doing, but the promise of lost treasure is to alluring to resist in a particular mountain range in Arizona. The area known as the Superstition Mountains are steeped in dark legends, the American Indians who once called the area home told that within the elaborate systems of caves and tunnels in the range was the entrance to hell itself, and that small reptilian creatures known as the Tuar-Tums call the mountains home and are willing to harm intruders. In the 1800's a German settler, named Jacob Waltz ventured into the mountains and claimed to have discovered a lost gold mine. Waltz took the secret of the mines location to his grave but that has not stopped fortune seekers from scouring the Superstition Mountains for what has been dubbed the Dutchman's Gold Mine. But what has stopped these treasure hunters is the fact that they tend to meet strange and violent deaths on their quest or simply disappear altogether.
3. The House That Bleeds: Atlanta, Georgia residents, William and Minnie Winston awoke on a September night to find a horrifying sight in the house they rented. Minnie discovered blood splatters on their bathroom floor and went to get her husband, as she logically thought an intruder was possibly in the home. Together the couple scoured their house and found more splatters of blood throughout the halls and kitchen but no sign what caused such a grotesque mess. As blood continues to seemingly ooze from the walls of their house, the couple naturally called the police. The authorities were just as baffled as the Winstons and had the blood from the house analyzed, discovering that it was in fact human blood of the Type O variety, while both of the Winstons were Type A. As one would expect the couple abruptly moved and have not been tracked down since, leaving us to wonder what caused their home to bleed.
4. The Hanging of Mark Devlin: In the 1800's the small Scottish town of Dundee was terrorized by a gang known as the Black Band. This band of thugs were so prominent that the area's meager police force were powerless to stop them, until they finally received a break and captured a prominent member of the Black Band, Mark Devlin. In order to send a message to the others in his crew, Devlin was ordered to be hanged; the only problem was nobody in Dundee was designated for such a task, so a volunteer was called on. Local showman James Livingston was chosen to take on this unenviable task and send Devlin to join the choir invisible.....or the equivalent musical group in hell. The execution went as planned save for one detail; Livingstone was actually in a neighboring town 15 miles away throughout the ordeal, leaving the true identity of the executioner a mystery.
5. The Vampire of Ojai Valley: At some point during the 1890's the peaceful community of Ojai Valley, California welcomed a visitor from Europe who changed their little town forever. As soon as this mysterious man bought a ranch in the area, livestock began to turn up drained of blood, shortly thereafter people began to turn up in the same fashion. The people of Ojai Valley realized a vampire was in their midst, and they knew exactly who it was. A posse gathered together armed with; garlic, crosses, stakes, etc. and ventured off to pay a visit to their new neighbor whom they never saw during the light of day. A sarcophagus was discovered on the European man's property which was guarded by a large black dog they had to chase away with a few splashes of holy water. According to local legend they opened the grave and drove stake through the creature's heart and burned the remains. After they left the vampire slayers vowed never to tell the location of the creature's remains, and though many have gone searching for it nobody has been able to discover the legendary resting place.
