Terror Tales that aren’t from an Author’s Imagination
Everyone enjoys a gripping ghost story. Strange encounters, unexplained
noises in the middle of the night as well as homeowners packing up their
belongings and making a beeline for anywhere else.
Such tales make
great fodder for horror scripts, but to the folks who have experienced
such paranormal activity it
is not a movie. On the contrary, it is real life. The definition of
such phenomena is extremely broad, encompassing incidents which fall
outside of the realm of what can be scientifically explained.
 |
| From www.salliehouse.com |
Folklore
and pop culture has sparked many accounts of the unexplained and
bizarre. Most legends along those lines revolve around descriptions of
spirits and extraterrestrial beings who visit the planet in UFO’s. While
naysayer may scoff and snicker, those who have experienced an event
first hand, beg to differ. Not a believer? Well, there are quite a few
individuals who have anecdotes to share and they come from all walks of
life.
The Sallie House
Why would someone move into a home which has the reputation for being
the most haunted in the Midwest? Well, from a real estate agent’s
perspective, telling a prospective buyer that you will be sharing your
new digs with some ghostly spirits can either be a selling point or a
deal breaker. However, unless you are a scientist out
to debunk the unexplainable, most people avoid places with those tags.
The Sallie House had quite a few residents before it became a tourist
attraction and none of them stuck around for longer than six months. Of
course, one can certainly understand why since their narratives will
spook you more than a Friday the 13th movie.
No, the abode it isn’t located in Amityville, New York; the site of the infamous movie which scared the pants off of viewers. The address is 508 2nd Street, Atchison, Kansas; smack dab in the middle of America’s Heartland.
The
unusual and downright creepy events which have been documented within
those walls have garnered attention from such television shows as
Unsolved Mysteries and Sightings. It was even the subject of a small
screen flick titled appropriately enough, Haunted Heartland.
There isn’t any shortage of ghosts in Sallie House. Voices
of several men, women and children have been recorded along with
unidentified laughter. More than a few objects have gone bump in the
night in addition to things disappearing and popping up in the weirdest
places. Entire rooms have been upended. You won’t find any stray cats
here. Animals sense the darkness and distance themselves or howl
continuously; freaking you out even more.
However, what will make your hair stand on end are the scratches which have appeared on male inhabitants of the house. Apparently anyone of that gender is an unwelcome presence.
Legend
has it that the home used to be occupied by a physician and his family
somewhere around 1906. The downstairs served as an office and surgery
with the doctor living upstairs. Sallie was a six-year-old who came in
with a stomachache which was diagnosed as appendicitis. As with most
little girls that age, a visit to the doctor was often met with
apprehension and tears. Sallie was an extremely uncooperative patient
and was unable to be restrained on the operating table and tragically
died during surgery. Her spirit has never left and for whatever reason,
she has attracted other ghosts and demons who dwell within the confines
of the space; tormenting those who dare to enter.
Sallie House Tours
If you would like to experience the strange goings on at Sallie House
for yourself, you may explore each room via a self-guided tour. There aren’t
any time constraints and you can dive into the spooky history at your
own leisure. When you are finished, you can stay a while and investigate
some of the other sites Atchison has to offer. The town is rich in
ghostly archives and there isn’t a shortage of activities which will
stir the imagination and spark the nightmares.
If tales of terror are up your alley, then be sure to book a trip to Atchison, Kansas, but bring a companion. You don't want to be listening to tales of the undead without a hand to grip onto; a human one that is.
