Welcome to Gaia! ::

I want to know where you guys are from and where some of your favorite local hauntings take place.

I come from San Francisco originally. This city has some incredible history:
If the great earthquake and fires of 1906 weren't enough, well before those fires, more than 75% of what is now the city used to be cemeteries. When the city realized how much revenue they were losing by not building on that land- there were more deceased residents of San Francisco than living- they implemented a city wide project to relocate the dead to outside towns like Daily City and Colma. The task was so daunting that of course some bodies were left behind. (during the construction of the new library, dozens of forgotten corpses were unearthed and the whole construction had to be put on hold until the bodies were safely removed.) The left over tombstones were used to line gutters and form brick walls in parks. You can find these stones with names still engraved in them.

Of course, that's not so paranormal... just some interesting history about the dead. Some of the most haunted areas of the city are also the most unlikely. Height & Ashbury, the hippie hang out during the Summer of Love, ended its era with a violent, drug induced streak. Lots of ODs and murders took place.
I stood outside of the house where a young man was shot and killed back in the late 60's while trying to run from a man with a gun across the street. The people who own the house say they hear heavy footsteps running up the street, but when they look outside to see who's running no one is there. Standing outside the house, one sometimes experiences an intense feeling of fear, nausea, faintness... I myself witnessed it first hand, and it stands out to me as one of the most intense experiences I've ever had.

Alcatraz Island's prison, which housed hundreds of the nations most deadly wanted criminals of its time, is one of the most actively haunted places in the city. You can tour this historic island during the day.

In Golden Gate Park there's a lake that used to be a recreation area back in the early 1900s. People used to row boat out there. Boating on the lake is prohibited now, but at a certain hour each night you can look out on the lake and see a grey lady standing on the water looking down. This woman is said to be the ghost of an unfortunate mother who lost her baby over the side of one of these boats. She lost her life when she dived in after the child and drowned.

My favorite story is about a new ghost that haunts the Panhandle Park, just south of Height/Ashbury. The city (like most) is infested with pigeons. They infest every park. The Panhandle was the pigeon epicenter because of the crazy homless man who'd sit in the park feeding them. If anyone came by, he'd threaten them; he'd say "If you disturb my pigeons, I'll kill you!" In 1992 a young musician named Buck Naked (Yes. That's really his name. He was a real person. Swear to God.) entered the park late at night with his unleashed dog. The dog disturbed the pigeons and the Pigeon Man shot and killed Buck Naked. The police arrested the loon, and he was convicted . The dog survived and was adopted by one of Buck's friends. To this day, you can walk through the park at night when no one is around and hear Buck calling his dog. My favorite part about this story: the Panhandle is now the only park in the entire city completely devoid of pigeons. The pigeons will only comes as close as the crossing street but won't land in the park. People believe its Buck's Ghost scaring them off.

There are a couple haunted tours in San Francisco and a ghost hunter's society, (established by TAPS, as it were.) The tours are, like, $20 and they are great.

Since I've moved to the East Coast, my interest in ghosts and the history of this area has only increased. I'm eager to find hot spots in the historical towns and locations out here. Let me know if you guys know of any.

I'm not really sure what all is in my area... I've always had family down here in Florida but before moving here I only spent time during the summers and other holidays. Originally I'm from northern Illinois.

This website seems to have a pretty decent list, and if you go to the main page you can even find ghost hunting groups.

http://www.hauntedflorida.com/haunted.htm

I do know that Robert the doll is in a museum here. http://www.robertthedoll.org/

I'll have to see what's close to me and go see some things.

XD lol I've never heard of the haunted doll names Robert.

Myrtle's Plantation I have heard of, and I'd love to go on the tour through there some day.

Oh god... the video of him moving in the window. I know it's staged but it still scares the crap out of me.

x.x I think if I even went to see Robert, that I'd stand like 50 feet away lol. He gives me the creeps... I don't have to be around him to feel that 'something just seems off' feeling.

Just the thought of him moving around freaks me out. He's small, he could hide in all kinds of places.

I don't like the idea of living dolls... x.x;

I love all of the haunted ships. I think it would be pretty creepy. All the spaces are so cramped and there are so many weird sounds, even if they aren't haunted.

Keeps saying BG is available and then nothing happens when you click?

Sorry, my kitties must be feeling anti-social or something. emo

complements to the San Francisco Ghost Society for creating this interactive US Map to help you find other ghost hunting societies in your state. smile
http://www.sfghostsociety.org/html/resources.html