The Book of the Bizarre: Freaky Facts and Strange Stories (2 page)

In 1961 archaeologists digging into a prehistoric mound in the Transylvanian village of Tartaria made a startling discovery—several small clay tablets with bizarre inscriptions on them. Some believed the inscriptions to be sigils or magical signs, and others believed that they were important documents left behind for the singular purpose of being found—time capsules, perhaps. Using the modern method of carbon dating, the objects' origin was placed at around 4000 B.C. The writing was believed to be of Mesopotamian origin, specifically Sumerian, the first written language. Could this discovery mean the origins of writing began in the wild backwoods of Transylvania?

The three tablets were found in the lowest layer of the dig. They were in a sacrificial pit within a burial mound, and the pit also contained some scattered human bones. The bones bore symbols quite similar to the inscriptions on the tablets; the symbols were both from Sumer and from the highly advanced Minoan civilizations of Crete. But if the carbon dating is accurate, the tablets were made by a primitive Stone Age agricultural tribe known as the Vinca. The Vinca predated Sumerian writing by one millennium and the Minoan writing by two thousand years. Most scholars believe that the inscriptions were magical ciphers—spells and secret codes of this ancient farming tribe. The hash marks, swirls,
x
's, and shapes on the three tablets cast a spell over mystery lovers, too.

STONEHENGE

Built over four thousand years ago, Stonehenge, the massive stone monument that sits on the Salisbury Plain of England, is shrouded in mystery and legend. Was it constructed as an ancient calendar and used to predict astrological events or seasonal changes? Or was it a place of worship, a spiritual temple built to honor the deities of its makers?

The purpose of this spectacular man-made rock formation has been studied and debated for centuries. Just as bewildering is the question of how Stonehenge was created. Some of the stones used are believed to have come from hundreds of miles away. How were these rocks, some weighing up to four tons, transported such a distance in an era before the invention of the wheel? No one knows for sure.

And no one knows for sure
who
built Stonehenge. There are many supernatural and mystical theories, though none have ever been proven. Some believe Stonehenge was the creation of aliens, while others claim that the sorcerer Merlin used his magical powers to move the stones across the land and sea. One legend even tells of the devil creating Stonehenge as part of a bizarre riddle he concocted to toy with local villagers.

STONE'S PUBLIC HOUSE

Numerous stories of ghostly encounters surround Stone's Public House in Ashland, Massachusetts. The inn and pub was built in 1834 by John Stone and still serves as a restaurant and pub today.

The assistant manager of Stone's tells a tale of being alone in the pub one night, finishing up the day's
duties, and having a sudden feeling of terror. Then a handful of birdseed fell through holes in the ceiling, rattling to his newly mopped floor. Other staffers report water faucets turning on by themselves, and numerous patrons say they have felt someone tapping on their shoulder only to find no one behind them when they turn around.

A noted hypnotist and parapsychologist, Ralph Bibbo, visited the inn numerous times and says that there are at least six, possibly seven, different ghosts that dwell there. Bibbo says that Stone himself accidentally killed a boarder in 1845 and tried to cover up the murder. The other spirits were accomplices or witnesses to Stone's crime. Having sworn to keep Stone's crime a secret while they were alive, they are still bound to the pub in death.

THE TOWER OF LONDON

The Tower of London is perhaps the most infamous haunted dwelling in history. Built over a two-hundred-year period beginning in the early eleventh century, the complex is seen as an architectural wonder, having over twenty towers and occupying over eighteen acres of land.

The Tower of London was used as by English monarchs as a prison, and it has housed some of Britain's most notorious of criminals. Murderers and traitors to the crown were locked up in one of its many towers to await execution, and those prisoners who were sentenced to death were beheaded within the Tower's very walls. Many of those who were beheaded are said to haunt the Tower to this day. Lady Jane Grey, who held the throne for only nine days in 1554 before being executed in the Tower, is said to appear every year on the day of her death, holding her own head beneath her arm.

Two other murdered queens, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, both wives of Henry the VIII, also are said to appear within the Tower as two headless figures surrounded by a supernatural glow. Katherine has even be seen and heard wandering the halls and begging for mercy as she did on the day of her execution.

One of the Tower's most gruesome murders was of the Countess of Salisbury. As her head was placed on the executioner's block, she panicked and tried to run. The executioner chased her down and hacked her to death with his axe. It is said that the spirits of the countess and her executioner appear and reenact her brutal murder.

Of all the ghostly sightings in the Tower of London, the most disturbing are the apparitions of two small
boys walking along the hallways hand in hand. These boys are believed to be the sons and heirs of King Edward V. Edward's brother Richard, the duke of Gloucester, placed his nephews in the Tower after King Edward's death. He later smothered the two princes in their sleep, so that he could claim the king's throne for himself.

“It's fascinating to think that all around us there's an invisible world we can't even see. I'm speaking, of course, of the World of the Invisible Scary Skeletons.” —JACK HANDY

A GHOST TO BE

What manner of death creates a ghost? While many ghosts may stay on after their passing because they are fond of a place (or person), most hauntings are attributed to some kind of disruptive death. Leslie Rule describes these as “ghost makers” in her book
Coast to Coast Ghosts
:

1. Murder. Unsolved killings especially. Ghost often moves on once the murder is solved.
   
2. Suicide. Torment equals a soul bound to earth.
   
3. Accidents. Sudden deaths have more hauntings attached to them than deaths of natural causes.
   
4. Broken hearts. Those who die mourning are often the source of ghostly activity.
   
5. Greed. A preoccupation with land or money in life can be carried into the beyond.
   
6. Lack of proper burial or desecration of grave site.