It is mid-October, and all through the dorms, the chai tea lattes are brewing, and pumpkins are strewn all about. With the month of October comes the true beginning of fall; the hayrides, the apple picking, bonfires, and let’s not forget the chunky sweaters and scarves. Fall is the epitome of every girl’s fantasy (which is entirely 100 percent proven through the soaring sales of pumpkin spice lattes). But of all things, October marks a much more widely recognized event that effectively wraps up the month; and this would be Halloween. Bring out your witches and bring out your spider webs, because things are getting a little spooky around here. So, of course, to bring a little fright to the month, I thought it would only be fitting to give you a list of the top three most (allegedly) haunted places in northeast Ohio. With the colder weather comes cuddle season, and after visiting some of these places, you may just need someone to hold you. Enjoy.
1. Franklin Castle
Found at 4308 Franklin Boulevard in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood, the Franklin Castle is known to be perhaps the most haunted homes in all of Ohio. This four-story, 30-room sandstone mansion was built in 1864 by Hannes Tiedemann and is not all that it appears to be from the outside. Under the floorboards this castle boasts an elaborate maze of secret passages and hidden doors whose exact numbers are unknown. The real ghost stories come from the numerous number of deaths that have piled up over years of this home’s heyday. Starting with the first death of one of Hannes and Luises’ children, there was an abundance of death in the family over the next four years, with four more family members perishing in the home. Subsequently, this drove Hanne’s wife into a deep depression, which accounts for the dark architectural details. Franklin Castle has changed ownership over the years, and it is rumored that it harbored Nazi spies in the early twentieth century. There have been accounts of unexplained noises and movements in the house, and some have reported seeing child-shaped apparitions. Amidst the hidden bodies found in the walls of the underground tunnels and the unexplained noises, I think this is one castle I don’t want to stay in.
2. Squire's Castle
Located in the Cleveland Metroparks in Willoughby, Ohio, Squire’s Castle was only a taste of what meant to be the majestic oasis for Feargus B. Squire (one of the founding members of the Standard Oil Company) and his wife Rebecca. Nestled in the North Chagrin Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks, this building was once meant to be the gatehouse to an even more significant mansion that was never finished. Stories say that while Feargus was away, Rebecca would become bored of the lonesome countryside and wander the barren hallways of the home. Until one night when something from the outside startled Rebecca, and she plummeted backward down the stairs to her death. To this day, it is reported that visitors can sometimes see Rebecca still wandering the lonesome hallways with her red lantern. I guess they were right; you can take the girl out of the country, but not the country out of the girl.
3. Drury Mansion
Last on our list is the Drury Mansion found at 8625 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland. This Tudor revival-styled mansion was built by Industrialist Francis Drury in 1912, and there has been a long history of strange happenings in this home. Doors will open and close on their own, and there have been several witnesses that have reported seeing the apparitions of two females. In the 1970s, the mansion was used to house paroled convicts by the Ohio Adult Parole Authority Board. Many of the residents had reported seeing ghostly figures and hearing strange things. One reported seeing a woman with long, black hair and a hospital bracelet suddenly burst into flames, which strangely coincides with another tragic story. In May of 1929, a hundred lives were claimed at the Cleveland Clinic that burst into flames, which could account for the ghostly female figure. It is safe to say that I will not be dying to visit this home anytime soon.
