Scary True Ghost Stories

A Warning About Scary True Ghost Stories

The stories below are true. They've been witnessed and documented, and in some cases there even remains physical evidence. The stories you are about to read are terrifying; they're scary to such an extreme that they should not be read when you are alone or if you are bothered by disturbing images.

The Brown Lady Ghost of Raynham Hall

The most famous scary true ghost story is that of the Brown Lady Ghost of Raynham Hall, Norfolk. The case also led to the most famous picture of a ghost ever taken. The picture was captured on September 19, 1936 when two photographers, Mr. Indre Shira and Captain Provand, spotted a figure descending the stairs and snapped a picture.

Locals who examined the photo believe that it is the ghost of Lady Dorothy Walpole. Lady Dorothy was in love with Second Viscount Townshend. However, her father would not consent to the marriage, so Tonwshend married another woman. Meanwhile, Dorothy had an affair with a man named Lord Wharton, who was also deeply in debt, considered a severe character flaw back then. When Townshend's first wife died, he and Dorothy were finally married. Somehow, Townshend eventually learned of his wife's past transgressions and locked her away in her apartments. She officially died on March 29, 1726 of smallpox, but many locals still believe that she died of a broken neck after being pushed down the wooden staircase.

Lady Walpole is known as "The Brown Lady" because she was spotted several times through the years wearing a brown brocade dress. In one case, in 1936, Author Captain Marryat and two young guests, one of whom brought along a gun for protection from the ghosts, spotted the Brown Lady headed down the hall coming directly toward them. Captain Marryat was so frightened that he even attempted to shoot at the ghost with the gun, but only succeeded in embedding a bullet into the door behind her.

Robert The Haunted Doll

While ghosts are known to possess people, this scary true ghost story is about a possessed doll. In 1897, the Otto family owned a plantation in Key West, Florida. One of the plantation's servant girls offered the family's son, Robert Eugene Otto, a doll as a gift. Local historians suspect that she practiced voodoo, and that the doll she offered young Robert was cursed.

Once Robert brought the doll into the house, neighbors reported seeing the doll moving from window to window when the family wasn't home. The family could hear the doll giggling and running throughout the house at night. Robert's parents would find his bedroom ransacked, and young Robert reported that the doll did it.

Robert kept the cursed doll through the years. In fact, he became attached to it, and spent countless hours locked in his room talking to the doll. Years later, when he married a woman named Anne, he still had the doll. Anne hated the doll, and in time forced Robert to place the doll in the attic. Before long, Robert brought the doll back down to a top floor room with a view. Neighborhood children reported seeing the doll moving in front of the window.

Skeptics might conclude that Robert himself was insane. However, after Robert Otto died, Anne left the home and leased it, but stipulated on the lease that the doll named "Robert" must remain alone in the attic. Families who leased the home reported hearing the ghost-possessed doll running back and forth in the attic as well as the sound of giggling. When they would check the attic, the doll had changed positions.

Once Anne died, the doll was removed from the home and placed in the East Martello Museum where he still resides today. Museum staff and visitors continue to report a great deal of paranormal activity surrounding "Robert" the doll.

The Haunted Ebay Painting

In February of 2000, a California couple posted a unique painting on Ebay. The painting was reportedly discovered abandoned behind an old brewery. The couple reported that their daughter saw the ghostly children leaving the painting during the night. The husband, quite alarmed by his daughter's story, decided to set up a camera. The couple claimed that they successfully captured two pictures of the boy exiting the painting.

Even more scary than the imagery within the painting was the public reaction to the photos. After more than thirteen thousand Ebay members viewed the picture, the following reactions were reported to the winning bidder:

• People claimed they were "repulsed".
• Several people became physically ill.
• Some people reported blackouts.
• One user reported hearing a voice, and feeling a blast of hot air.
• Two friends started crying unexplainably and praying for a minute until things returned to normal.
• One Native American became ill, and was forced to purge his house of unclean spirits with white sage.

The winning bidder discovered that the title of the painting was Hands Resist Him, and it was signed by artist Bill Stoneham.

The winning bidder claimed that no paranormal activity came with the painting, and the original sellers were never identified. However, whether the painting is cursed remains a topic of debate. The artist later reported that the owner of the gallery where the painting was displayed and the L.A. Times critic who wrote the show review were both dead within a year of the show. Coincidence?

Only view the photos if you are certain that you are not easily "spooked" or disturbed by surreal or psychologically uncomfortable images.