Pro Flight Simulator: Enjoy Flying With Flight Simulators

Pro Flight Simulator: Enjoy Flying With Flight Simulators: An artificial system that copies or simulates the act of flying an aircraft in a realistic manner is a flight simulator. A flight sim is...

North Carolina Ghost Stories: Tar River Banshee

North Carolina Ghost Stories: Tar River Banshee: Of the various supernatural creatures that inhabit this world, one of the most mysterious is that of the banshee. Also known as the mess...

North Carolina Ghost Stories: Does the Ghost of Nell Cropsey Still Haunt Her For...

North Carolina Ghost Stories: Does the Ghost of Nell Cropsey Still Haunt Her For...: Located at 1901, Riverside Drive, in Elizabeth City, is a beautiful white, two story home formerly known as the Cropsey Home. This hist...

Tar River Banshee

Of the various supernatural creatures that inhabit this world, one of the most mysterious is that of the banshee. Also known as the messenger of death, The ominous warning from the creature “As I am, so shall you be”, would strike fear into anyones soul. While most banshees are reported in Ireland and Scotland, The banks of the Tar River near Tarboro in Edgecombe County is said to hold one of the legendary banshee stories.

During the Revolutionary war a native of England named Dave Warner adopted the area as his home and opened a mill on the shores of the Tar river. Sympathetic to the cause of the new nation, Warner used his grain to help the young army. Warner was also a huge man with jet black hair and a long beard. His arms and legs were bulging with the muscles he built lifting the massive bags of flour all day.

One day in August of 1781 a townsman rode to the mill with a warning for Warner. The British were near and they knew Dave to be a rebel. The man told Warner to close his mill and hide. Dave Warner laugh and refused saying “I'd rather stay and wring a British neck or two.” The townsman tried again to get the miller to leave telling him he'll be killed but again Warner refused.

When the British rode up and busted into the mill, they found both the miller and the messenger trying to save every ounce of grain they could. The red coats attacked Warner, and while he was a mighty man he could not fight off the five men who pinned him to the floor. Faced with the threat of drowning in the river, Dave Warner countered with his own warning: “Go ahead and throw me in the river you British cowards. But be warned that if you do, the banshee will haunt you the rest of your days. For she lives down at the river and when the moon is black and the river is like ink and the mist is so thick you can cut it with a sword you can see her floating from shore to shore. If you kill me, she'll get ye.”

Taken aback (and a little scared) by the millers words, the soldiers began to rethink drowning the large man. One red coat suggested that they wait for their commander and let him decide the man's fate. Another quickly spoke up and said they should just drown the man like they'd planned. After all, they were charged with making the way safe for the rest of the British troops. Convinced by his words the others agreed to kill the miller. They chained him to several heavy stones and dumped him in the Tar river.

As he sank, a blood curdling scream like a woman in pain echoed down the river.
Just then a mist began to float from the river and take the form of a woman with long hair just like Warner had described. The soldiers were gripped with fear and ran back to camp as fast as they could. It was late by the time the commander made it to the mill and the river was, as Warner said, black as ink. The enlisted men camped by the river while the officers made their camp in the mill.
A eerie yellow moon broke through the clouds and cast a creepy light on the camp. Again, a wail from the banshee pierced the still night. Everyone ran down to the river to see what was up. Everyone but those involved with the millers murder that is. Filled with fear and guilt, the men confessed what they'd done to the commander.

Ashamed of their actions, he ordered them to remain at the mill working within ear shot of the banshee.

And so it was they worked until one night the banshee appeared in the doorway to the mill. Her veil removed to show a horrible face. All but one man followed her back to the shore of the Tar where they fell in and drowned. As for the other man, the one who'd egged on the others to kill Dave Warner, he went mad that night and ran off into the dark. His body was discovered a few days later floating where the miller had lost his life.

Since that time, the month of August has been a haunted month for the Tar river. If you must go to the Tar river, don't go in August, or if you must, don't go on a moonlit night for you may see the banshee, hear her wail and face certain death.

Most people believe in evil in some form or another. Whether it be a supernatural "Devil" they hear about in church, or a serial killer they read about in the paper or watch on TV most people know in their hearts that evil exists. The people who lived around the Pee Dee River in Richmond County many years ago didn't question if evil exists, they had evil living among them.

His name was Harvey and he was a warlock, or a male witch. He settled in Richmond county on the banks of the Pee Dee River when he was was already an old man. Over time, he got to know many of the farmers in the area and their families. At first, most people pitied the enfeebled elderly man. He would ask for things such as flour or milk and people were kind enough to oblige. Over time, his requests became greater, then became demands with horrible consequences if they weren't met.

One Day Harvey came to call on his neighbor Sally while she was milking her prized cow. After a few minutes of small talk, Harvey demanded sally give him the cow. A request that she flatly refused. Disgusted, Harvey walked away with the words "You'd better give her to me. She'll never do you any good". Sally dismissed the words as the ramblings of a old man.

However, the next day she was horrified to find her cow had stopped eating and was now giving blood instead of milk. Day after day, the cow lost weight from not eating and gave only blood when milked. Finally, Sally had enough and delivered her animal to Harvey. She was scared what he would do to her and her farm. Her fear was overruled by her concern for her animal, so the next day she went to Harvey's place to check on the animal.

There she found her cow eating plenty and giving buckets of milk. Anger shot through body as she verbally tore into Harvey and threatened to take her cow back. Harvey told Sally if she did, it would be dead before she reached her farm. Not wanted to test the old man's powers further, Sally left, but not before telling the warlock not to come back to her farm.

Harvey avoided Sally, but only for a few weeks. One day while she was feeding her hog, she turned to see Harvey looking at her. She order him to leave. He agreed, but only if she gave him the pig. Sally refused. Again, Harvey told her the pig would do her no good. She cursed him and told him to get off her land. Harvey left, but as soon as he got to the edge of the forrest that separated his home from her farm, Sally's pig dropped dead.

Enraged at the death of her animal, but fearful of what Harvey may do next, Sally buried her hog and sought the advice of a neighbor. Her neighbor suggested drawing a picture of Harvey and shoot it where she wanted the warlock to experience pain. When she was satisfied, she could take the picture down and the old man would recover.

Back at home, Sally drew a life size picture of her tormentor and attached it to the side of her barn and shot the image in the shoulder. The next day she visited Harvey and found him with a tremendous pain in his shoulder, exactly where she shot the picture. Feeling the warlock deserved the punishment, day after day Sally shot the drawing and day after day Harvey felt the pain.

Then one day Sally found the old man in seriously ill. Feeling she had done enough Sally returned home to take down the drawing. However, as she got closer to home, a storm came up and Sally ran for the safety of her home intending to take down the picture the next day.
She never got the chance...

The next morning she discovered a bolt of lightning had burned her barn to the ground, the image along with it. Thinking that Harvey would now get better, she hurried to his place to see for herself. There she found a crowd of neighbors gathered outside. They informed her of Harvey's imminent death. She went in just to hear his last wish of being buried under a walnut tree between his dog and mule. "Bury me just after dinner" he whispered. "When lightning strikes the tree, you'll know I'm in Hell".

Early in the evening, as he requested, Harvey was buried under the tree. The neighbors didn't stick around long due to a eerie storm cloud on the horizon. Just as he predicted, lightning struck the tree where he was buried.

Did Harvey finally meet the Devil? I traveled to Richmond County to take the pictures you see below. I'm not sure where his place was supposed to be, and I didn't stick around too long. After all, I might have something the warlock covets... What if he had come back to ask for it?

Does the Ghost of Nell Cropsey Still Haunt Her Former Home?

Located at 1901, Riverside Drive, in Elizabeth City, is a beautiful white, two story home formerly known as the Cropsey Home. This historical home differs from others in that it not only harbors it's own set of unusual secrets, but also a beautiful ghost who's spirit has haunted the house since the 1900's.

The ghost of the young girl is said to be that of “Nell” Cropsey. Her father moved her and her family from Brooklyn New York to Elizabeth City in 1898. Though many men in Pasquotank County would have jumped a the chance to court Nell, she chose, as her suitor, the sherriff's son, Jim Wilcox.
Jim was 5 years older than Nell, and their romance spanned over 3 years. In November of 1901, with the Thanksgiving holiday quickly approaching, the Cropsey family planned a trip to their hometown in New York.

The family never got the chance to take that trip.

On November 20, 1901, 19 year old Nell Cropsey disappeared from her home. Jim Wilcox was the last person to see her that night, and when interrogated later, he could not provide consistant answers. The following day, Jim was arrested for kidnapping and suspicion of murder.

And so the search for Nell began. The residents of Elizabeth City united, forming parties that searched the residential areas, farming fields and the countryside. The on December 27, 1901, two fishermen found the body of Nell Cropsey in the Pasqotank River. The coroners report concluded that even though Nell's body had been found in water, she had not drowned. The actual cause of death was trauma to the head.

Jim Wilcox was eventually convicted of 2nd degree murder, with a sentence of 30 years in prison. In 1918, Wilcox was pardoned for the crime, due to lack of evidence. Upon his release from jail, Wilcox was unable to find work, and finally in 1932, conspired with the editor of the local newspaper to write a book about the Cropsey Case.

After a short meeting with the editor, Jim Wilcox ended his life with a self inflicted shotgun would to the head. A couple of weeks later, the editor died in a car accident, taking the secrets of the Cropsey Case with him.

No one knows the events that transpired on that cold November evening. No one, that is, except Jim Wilcox and Nell Cropsey. And neither one of them are talking.

Nell, who has haunted the home since her body was found, is often seen, but never heard. She roams, the halls, appearing and then disappearing in bedrooms. Even the current tenant's son has caught a glimpse of her. At first the apparition frightened the family, but now they have come to gladly share the home with her. After all, the house was her home before it was theirs, before she met her unexpected and tragic end, becoming caught between the world that we know and the spirit world.

Fayetteville's Suicide House

There is a house near Fayetteville in Cumberland County, North Carolina that has been empty since World War II. The owners have done what they could to rent out the house, but it seems likely that the house will stay empty forever. Let's hope that it does. Because each of the tenants of this house have paid a terrible price.

Built in 1910, the house was a mere shell when the contractor disappeared. The owner tried to find him to pay him for the work he'd done, but never saw him again. Eventually the owner found a new person to complete the job and as soon as the house was ready, a tenant was found. However, within six months the tenant was found dead. Hanging from a rafter in the attic. The reason for his suicide is unknown.

It was then that the house began it's reputation for being a 'death house' and for several weeks the house stood empty. Then a family from Virginia took a liking to the house on first sight. And the low rent sealed the deal. They moved in a few days later. It was only six weeks later that the new renter was found dead. Hanging from a rope at the same spot on the same rafter.

Now I'm not saying I'm superstitious, but if I knew that two people had died it that house in the same year hanging from the exact same place, I'd stay clear. And that's just what the people in Cumberland County did. The house stood empty for 35 years. It was only until WWII that the house gained a new occupant.

The influx of people into the Fayetteville area during the war was incredible. Housing was hard to come by so in July of 1945 the house was rented by a Boston born soldier and his new wife. The deal was the rent was free so long as the couple maintained the house. The first night was when the trouble began. Alarm clocks began going off at the wrong hour, doors they were sure they'd locked were open the next morning and books were rearranged on the shelves. They joked to their friends about what was going on.

Soon, both friends and strangers began stopping by to see the ghost house. The stories of the former occupants made their way back to the wife and the soldier. Both of them were painfully shy, so the attention they were getting weighed on their minds. They stopped answering the door, they began to bicker with the husband telling his wife that he was on the verge of a breakdown.

The Peglegged Ghost of Holman House

Thought to have been built between 1798 and 1810 by then Secretary of State William White, the mansion known now as Holman house located at 209 East Morgan Street in Raleigh, North Carolina was a fine example of architecture of the time. Over the years the house was modified and enlarged to suit the needs of those who lived in the house. One thing was never changed. The back staircase where the ghost of Holman house still makes its nightly walks.

No one knows who or what the ghost is. In fact, no one has ever seen it. All that has been reported is the sound of one foot and the hollow clap of a wooden leg against the back stairs as it makes its way up and down the stairs. Those new to the house are terrified when they first hear the sound of pegged-leg making its way up and down the stairs. Those who are familiar with the spirit are not bothered by it for it is confind to the back stairs and has done nothing to hurt anyone.

The Devils Stairs

The area known as "The Devils Stairs" is on NC 194 about six miles north of West Jefferson in Ashe County. Near the junction of SR 1507 (or Stanley road) is a bridge that spans Buffalo Creek. To the left of the bridge is a rock formation of four near perfect stairs, each nearly twelve feet high. The formation was man made in the early 1900's for a railway. But the number of hauntings in the area goes back farther than we know.

Before the area was settled, the Native Americans knew the area was haunted and steered clear of it at all costs. Why they thought it was haunted and who they thought haunted it is now lost. However, there are plenty of stories to take their place.

During the construction of the now abandoned railroad in 1914, a black laborer was killed while trying to dynamite a large rock in the way. According to a few old men in the area, parts of the man were found in the surrounding woods over the next few days. The locals believed that Satan had something to do with what had happened on the site, and so the name "Devils Stairs" was born.
Not long after the accident, the first of many terrifying stories began making it's way around the community. People claimed to hear a voice singing old hymns as he walked along the railroad. Other people swore that they saw a headless man dancing on the stairs.

A second tragedy took place less than a year later when a mentally ill woman climbed on a rock near the bridge and threw her unwanted newborn into the creek below. A few days after the child died, fisher men claimed they heard the cries of a baby along the banks.

One night a man named Jim Pullman was headed home to Warrensville from West Jefferson. As he approached the stairs, He saw something in the middle of the road. As he got closer, he saw it was a coffin containing a corpse. Just before he reached the coffin, his horse stopped and refused to go any farther. Jim tried to get down and lead his horse around the casket, but had no luck. Finally, Jim decided he had to spend the night at a friends house.

As his friend recalled later Jim was "So soaked through with sweat, you could have wrung water outta his clothes". The next day, a nervous Jim tried to make the trip again. This time, there was no coffin. No explanation has been give for this event. Old folks in the area say it might have been the coffin of the railroad worker that died in the explosion.