The Mordecai House was built around 1785, making it older than Raleigh, North Carolina, by seven years. Five generations of the Mordecai family lived in the home, and in the 1960s, the house was sold to the city. Legend has it that the grounds are home to more than one ghost. A piano from the…
The Spinning Angel of Oakwood Cemetery
Etta Ratcliffe was born in 1880 and died in 1918, at the age of 38. She was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina. Today, she’s known as the “Spinning Angel of Oakwood”, and also known as the “Ratcliffe Angel.” Legend says the eyes of the life-like Angel in the cemetery follow people as…
Ghosts of the Eno River
There is an abandoned cemetery about 200 yards off the Cabelands Trail on the Eno River, near Durham, North Carolina. This historic cemetery is the final resting place of the Cabe family’s ancestors for over 200 years. Many hikers in this area have reported hearing whispering voices, screams from deep within the woods, and even…
The Ghostly State College smokestack at North Carolina State University
The State College smokestack at North Carolina State University was built in 1924, as part of the Yarbrough Steam Plant. Many ghostly tales surround this structure and its associated steam tunnels. According to legend, if you look at the top of the smokestack at night, you can sometimes see a ghost hanging in the air,…
The Pine State Creamery Ghost
Serial killer John Williams Jr. terrorized downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, in the mid-1990s. Williams was a homeless drifter who was responsible for at least four deaths, and possibly more. I will cover Mr. Williams in a future True Crime article at a later date, but it’s noteworthy to add that one building in the same…
The Phantom Horse of Cary
The ghostly horse has reportedly been seen around the Page-Walker Arts & History Center at 119 Ambassador Loop in Cary, North Carolina. Peggy Van Scoyoc wrote it in her book Just a Horse-Stopping Place. Reportedly, the Page homestead was a stopping point for Union soldiers during the Civil War. One of the soldiers passed away…
The ghostly legend of the abandoned “High House” Part 2
Sometime around 1822, Jones Left North Carolina and William’s ancestors moved into the High House, where they began having dreams about a hidden treasure. One night, a voice appeared to Leander Williams in a dream, revealing a secret treasure hidden in the fireplace. Reportedly, the same voice also visited William’s mother. During the 1700s and…
The ghostly legend of the abandoned “High House”
Legend has it that a section of Land in Cary, North Carolina, along High House Road is reportedly the home of buried treasure, ghosts, and even haunted woods. This will be a two-part series- Please follow The Lantern website. The tale dates back to the 1800s, and many things have changed in this part of…
‘Murray the Monster’ is said to call Lake Murray home
South Carolina is home to some of the most beautiful lakes in the country. Every year, many flock to these bodies of water for recreation to escape the boiling temperatures. One Midlands lake is said to be the home to a mythical creature that some have compared to a Loch Ness-type monster, while dubbing the…
The Mysterious Submerged Civil War Island
In the summer of 2016, Joshua Marano was flying over the Gulf when he noticed a strange pattern in the waters below. Marano is a maritime archaeologist with the National Park Service, consulted some old nautical charts. He had expected to find the ruins of an old lighthouse or beacon, but what he discovered was…