CAPE HENLOPEN STATE PARK, LEWES - Delaware

Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware also has a rather creepy tale associated with it. It is said that there is a phantom soldier still on duty behind Tower 12.

Those who get too close to his post, which is located in a bunker underneath what appears to be a dune near the campground bicycle trail next to Spotting Tower 12, have heard growling or have been yelled at by a disembodied voice.

The face of the soldier has also manifested itself in photographs and video clips recorded in the area on a number of different occasions.

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CAT MAN'S GRAVE, FRANKFORD - Delaware

One of the strangest tales to come out of Delaware has to be The Cat man! This story is associated with Long Cemetery, Frankford – said to be one of the most haunted places in Delaware. Apparently, in life, The Cat man was a grave keeper who spent a large portion of his time chasing troublemakers out of the cemetery!

He was apparently a very feline looking man and after his death, it is said that those cat-like features became more prominent and now the caretaker’s spirit manifests as a part cat part man-creature who has often scared away the kids who come to the cemetery to party. He is still watching over the place even in death.

It is also said that if you are bold enough to knock on his tomb and disturb him at rest, then he will mess with your vehicle making it so you have difficulty leaving the cemetery!

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Phantom Dragoon of the Delaware River

The height that rises a mile or so to the south of Newark, Delaware, is called Iron Hill because it is rich in hematite ore. But about the time of General William Howe’s advance to the Brandywine River, it might well have won its name because of the panoply of war — the sullen guns, the flashing swords, and glistening bayonets — that appeared among the British tents pitched on it.

After the red-coats had established a camp here the American outposts were advanced and one of the pickets was stationed at Welsh Tract Church. On his first tour of duty, the sentry was thrown into great alarm by the appearance of a figure robed from head to foot in white, that rode a horse at a charging gait within ten feet of his face. When the guard was relieved the soldier begged that he might never be assigned to that post again. His nerves were strong in the presence of an enemy in the flesh — but an enemy out of the grave! Ugh! He would desert rather than encounter that shape again. His request was granted.

The sentry who succeeded him was startled, in the small hours, by a rush of hoofs and the flash of a pallid form. He fired at it and thought that he heard the sound of a mocking laugh come back.

White horse

Every night the phantom horseman made his rounds, and several times the sentinels shot at him without effect, the white horse and white rider showing no annoyance at these assaults.

When it came to the turn of a skeptical and unimaginative old corporal to take the night detail, he took the liberty of assuming the responsibilities of this post himself. He looked well to the priming of his musket, and at midnight withdrew out of the moonshine and waited, with his gun resting on a fence. It was not long before the beat of hoofs was heard approaching, and in spite of himself, the corporal felt a thrill along his spine as a mounted figure that might have represented Death on the pale horse came into view; but he jammed his hat down, set his teeth, and sighted his flint-lock with deliberation.

The rider was near, when bang went the corporal’s musket, and a white form was lying in the road, a horse speeding into the distance. Scrambling over the fence, the corporal reassured, ran to the form and turned it over: a British scout, quite dead. The daring fellow, relying on the superstitious fears of the rustics in his front, had made a nightly ride as a ghost, in order to keep the American outposts from advancing, and also to guess, from elevated points, at the strength and disposition of their troops. He wore a cuirass of steel, but that did not protect his brain from the corporal’s bullet.

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Dead President's Tavern - Wilmington,Delaware

This tavern is a very old
building (200 years or so) and has had many waiters/waitresses complain
of dishes being thrown at them, screaming, dominoes floating from the
game boards in the recreation room, and other poltergeis-like incidents
and activity, all supposedly related to the ghost of a former customer
who was a big prankster (circa 1950's) named lemonade Mullery, who
ended up having the last laugh as he slipped in a puddle of urine in
the men's room and broke his neck in the late 60's. An odd but true
tale, and a strange presence can fairly easily be felt in Dead
President's, even by non-psychic individuals.

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Bancroft Academy - Wilmington,Delaware

In girls bathroom on the second floor
lights will turn off and supposedly mister bancroft's red eyes are
appearing to look back at you. on friday the thirteenth if you knock on
the wall in the girls bathroom old mister bancroft will knock back.

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Cry Baby Bridge - Smyrna,Delaware

The bridge is said to be haunted by a baby that was born deformed and his teenage mother threw him off the bridge because of his condition. He is said to have monstrously strong legs and he knocks over trees with them when he throws fits crying for his mother. There are trees fallen over all around the bridge. People go there to party and get more than what they were looking for. Car doors lock and windows roll down by themselves and the car begins to roll backwards. Once you are there, the baby doesn’t want you to leave,

thinking you’re its long lost mother and it doesn’t want to lose you again.

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Blevins house - Smyrna,Delaware

Balls of light, voices, the feeling of that you are
not alone, figures walk around, spirit of a dog named Pee-Wee barks.
dead neighbor walks on the property in the shape of a vortex. man with
no face looks through the window of the living room. Man who’s skull
was crushed INSIDE a tree walks on the premises with no head supposedly
looking for it.

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The Witches Tree - Selbyville,Delaware

You can see balls of light flowting around. You can see a Man in an old truck reading a newspaper, but it is impossible to get a truck back where you see him because next to the tree in an 8 foot ditch and the rest is surrounded by thick woods. you can hear a woman crying. A man mumbling. Dogs barking, There is sounds of a truck starting.

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Lums Pond State Park - Newark,Delaware

In the early 70's a runaway girl was
taken into the woods and killed here. The killer was never caught but
sometimes a pleading high pitched voice and muffled screams can be
heard from the woods just off the Swamp Forest hiking trail which goes
around Lums Pond.

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Locust Grove Farm - Middletown,Delaware

A young boy was said to have died in the house in the early 1900s. The house is 152 years old. Lights, TVs turn themselves on and off. One night the toy train in the sunroom began to go around the track all by itself, and voices have been heard. Feelings of not being alone when you walk in the house is common! At night the house is never quite, squeaks and thumps are heard.

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The Neighborhood of Bay Oaks - Lewes,Delaware

In this newly built neighborhood,
sightings of orbs and streaks of light have been reported. This
bay-side area is believed to be a historical location at which a
massacre occurred between the Indians and Dutch settlers. In this
massacre, Indians slaughtered the newly settled Dutch leaving behind
artifacts such as Dutch pottery and arrowheads that have been recently
found by new homeowners. Only the residents of Dutch ancestry sense the
ghost’s presence or experience the symptoms that usually accompany the
presence of ghosts who may still be in search of eternal rest. Certain
symptoms that have been reported are: cold spots that are walked in and
out of (not near an air vent or window; feeling of being watched or
that someone is in the room with you; globes of light; the disappearing
and reappearing of ghost-related books about hauntings in the area; and
one teenage resident has reported waking up choking with the sensation
of a hand around their neck then seeing the ghostly hand pull away.
This area is under paranormal investigation at this time.

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Hwy12 west - Fredrica,Delaware

Glowing Red Eyes of a dog are seen on this stretch of
this highway. Legend has that many years ago, a man was angry with his
landlord, and so the man murdered him and grinded him up with cornmeal
and feed it to his dog. The specter of the dog with the illuminated
eyes that appear to be red are seen roadside by drivers at night.

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Catmans Grave Yard - Frankford,Delaware

You drive down the road and go behind the
grave yard to a brick wall and knock 3 times a evil thing that looks
like a man and a cat will come out and start messing with your car when
you try to start it the car will not turn over and you will see him
walking around the graveyard looking for you.

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Mount Saint Charles Academy - Woonsocket,Delaware

Supposedly one of the former
Brothers or the Sacred Heart (The brothers that run the high school)had
died and was so disliked that the students stuck pencils in his eyes at
his funeral. For revenge he is known to haunt the 4th floor and walk in
and out of the rooms.

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The Governor's Mansion. - Dover,Delaware

This building is quite haunted.
Residents have reported, among others: a bewigged 18th century
gentleman; a "tippling ghost" that will empty wineglasses left in a
certain place; a chain-rattling ghost in the basement (supposedly the
place was a stop on the underground railroad; and it's said that some
slaves were sold out and recaptured); and a little girl in a red dress
who plays in the gardens.

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The Governor’s Mansion - Dover, Delaware

Built in the 1790s by Charles Hillyard III, Woodburn (as the Governor’s Mansion is known) once served as a stop on the Underground Railroad and much more recently was purchased by the state of Delaware, serving as the official residence for Delaware’s governors since 1965. A Middle Period Georgian-style mansion, it has been home to everyone from gentleman farmers to U.S. Senators and doctors. And each owner seems to have left his own special imprint on the house.

The first ghost documented at Woodburn appeared only about 25 years after the house was constructed. The owners of the house at the time, Dr. and Mrs. Bates asked a visiting itinerant Methodist preacher to begin their shared morning meal with a prayer. The preacher suggested they wait for their other guest to join them. Puzzled, the couple stated there was no other guest in the house. The preacher then described in great detail the older gentleman he saw on the stairs. His description startled the couple even more, as it was precisely the way Mrs. Bates’ father, Charles Hillyard III had appeared—while alive.

It seems Mr. Hillyard is the most frequent spectral visitor at Woodburn. He is often seen on the steps. Having a reputation for enjoying alcohol, people have found that glasses of wine left on the stairs at night are often drained by morning.

As a stop on the Underground Railroad, slaves frequented the area. Legend has it that a slave running from a band of slave hunters hid in the hollow black walnut tree that used to stand near the home’s south porch. He was caught in his hideaway and some say his screams are still heard, most often at Halloween.

Another ghost visitors and residents have mentioned seeing is a young girl dressed in a traditional gingham dress and bonnet. She has been seen walking near the reflecting pool and carrying a candle. Although the most mysterious ghost of the group, none of the ghosts seem malicious or difficult. All seem to have become part of the rich history and local lore of Woodburn.

Tours of the mansion are available, but call ahead and stay with your guide so you don’t anger the spirits of Woodburn.

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