Arkansas’s Spooky Spots and Haunted Havens
10 tales of terror from around the Natural State just in time for Halloween
ralphhardin@gmail.com Arkansas is certainly not short of a creepy tale or two! For those who believe in the supernatural (or even for theskeptic among us) there are plenty of wellknown haunted locations as well as a few scary stories you wish weren’t true.
Here’s just a sample of what’s lurking in the shadows just a short drive from the safety of your home — if you dare! The
• The Arkansas State Capitol (Little Rock) Did you know the Arkansas State Capitol as we know it today was built on the grounds of the former Arkansas State Penitentiary? During the excavation of the foundation around 1899, long-forgotten rotten wood coffins were unearthed, revealing the remains of the state’s past criminals. These days in the basement, disembodied voices have been heard. The 1932 tragedy of Representative Ira Gurley being crushed to death by the Capitol’s south elevator has been tied to the same elevator acting of its own accord. In other parts of the building, visitors and state employees have reported seeing a woman dressed in period clothing floating down the marble staircases.
• The Moonlight Murders (Texarkana) The Texarkana Moonlight Murders, a term coined by the news media, references the unsolved murders committed in and around Texarkana in the spring of 1946 by a still unidentified serial killer known only as the “Phantom Killer”, or “Phantom Slayer”. The killer is credited with attacking eight people within ten weeks, five of whom were killed. The attacks happened on weekends between Feb.
22 and May 3, 1946. The first two victims, Jimmy Hollis and Mary Larey, survived. The first double murder, which involved Richard Griffin and Polly Ann Moore, happened four weeks later. The second double-homicide, involving Paul Martin and Betty Jo Booker, occurred exactly three weeks from the first murders. The Texas Rangers came in to investigate, including the famous M. T.
“Lone Wolf” Gonzaullas.
Finally, almost exactly three weeks later, Virgil Starks was killed and his wife, Katie, was severely wounded.
The murders sent the town of Texarkana into a state of panic throughout the summer. At dusk, city inhabitants heavily armed themselves and locked themselves indoors while police patrolled streets and neighborhoods. Although many businesses lost customers at night, stores sold out of guns, ammunition, locks, and many other protective devices. Several rumors began to spread, including that the killer was caught, or that a third and even fourth double-homicide had been committed.
Most of the town hid in fear inside their houses or hotels, sometimes even leaving town. Some youths took matters into their own hands by trying to bait the Phantom so they could kill him.
After three months of no more Phantom attacks, the Texas Rangers slowly and quietly left town to keep the Phantom from believing he was safe to strike again. The murders were reported nationally and internationally by several publications. The story was turned into the 1976 film “The Town That Dreaded Sundown.”
• The Boggy Creek Monster (Fouke) According to the folklore, the Fouke Monster is said to have been seen in Miller County during the early 1970s. The creature was accused of attacking a local family. Initial sightings of the creature were concentrated in the Jonesville/ Boggy Creek area, where it was blamed for the destruction of local livestock. Later, sightings were made several hundred miles to the north and the east of Fouke.
The creature was named by journalist Jim Powell, who reported on it for the Texarkana Gazette and the Texarkana Daily News.
Various reports between 1971 and 1974 described the creature as being a large hominid-like creature covered in long dark hair, which was estimated to be about 7 feet tall, with a weight of 250–300 pounds. Witnesses said that its chest was about 3 feet wide. Later reports, published during the early 1980s, claimed that it was far larger, with one report describing it as 10 feet tall, with an estimated weight of 800 pounds.
Some accounts describe the Fouke Monster as running swiftly with a galloping gait and swinging its arms in a fashion similar to a monkey.
Reports also describe it as having a terrible odor, the odor being described as a combination of a skunk and a wet dog, and as having bright red eyes about the size of silver dollars. A variety of tracks and claw marks have been discovered which are claimed to belong to the creature. One set of foot prints reportedly measured 17 inches in length and 7 inches wide, while another appeared to show that the creature only had three toes.
Since the initial clusters of sightings during the 1970s, there have been sporadic reports of the creature. In 1991 the creature was reportedly seen jumping from a bridge. There were forty reported sightings in 1997 and, in 1998, the creature was reportedly sighted in a dry creek bed.
More recent sightings from 2000-2010 were brought to light by Lyle Blackburn’s 2012 book, The Beast of Boggy Creek: The True Story of the Fouke Monster. In one case, a married couple saw a large, hairy bipedal creature run across a county road near Fouke in 2010.
• Peel Mansion (Bentonville) Peel Mansion was built in 1875 by Samuel Peel and it is now said to be haunted by both Samuel himself and his daughter Minnie Belle. Minnie is commonly sighted as a woman in white wandering around Peel mansion and she is often heard playing the piano just as beautifully as she did in life, although it is said that if anyone enters the room while she is playing then the music will abruptly stop!
Samuel Peel, who was at one time a United States Congressman, is also said to haunt his former home and his spirit has been seen in various parts of the house.
Peel Mansion embraces its reputation as one of the most haunted places in Arkansas and even hosts ghost walks every Tuesday and Thursday which culminate in a dinner!
• Jacksonville High School (Jacksonville) One of the most wellknown ghost stories in Arkansas is probably ‘The Mumbling Man’. This is a story about a male spirit who haunts Jacksonville High School. The story goes that this man haunts the auditorium of the high school.
People have reported hearing strange noises in the auditorium that cannot be explained, the most common being the sound of a male voice mumbling away to himself when nobody else is in the room.
It is also common to hear footsteps walking on the catwalk above the stage, again when nobody is actually
• The Clayton House (Fort Smith) The Clayton House is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. It was once the home of William Henry Harrison Clayton and over the years it has come to be one of the best-loved buildings in all of Arkansas.
The house was completely restored to its former glory in the seventies and it is now like stepping back in time when you visit. There are even several priceless Clayton family belonging on display in the house.
Former Clayton House director, Martha Siler claimed to have started having paranormal encounters quite soon after starting work at the house. She has described how one particular bedroom on the second floor seems to terrify everyone who visits and that people report hearing doors slamming, and boots stomping up the hall along with music emanating from empty rooms.
She also claims to have seen the apparition of a woman dressed in a linen shirt and brown skirt appearing in Mr. Clayton’s study.
• Basin Park Hotel (Eureka Springs) The Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs is certainly proud of its spooky reputation – to the point where they use ‘Boo at the Basin’ as one of their slogans!
Many of the guests who come to stay actually do so purely to have the chance of snapping a picture of one of the Arkansas ghosts that call the Basin Park Hotel home!
The most commonly sighted ghosts at the hotel include a translucent young woman who is described as having steel blue eyes and cotton candy like blonde hair and also the spirit of a little girl with pigtails and a yellow dress.
Orbs of light are also a common occurrence around the hotel and objects often move seemingly of their own accord.
The Basin Park Hotel runs ghost tours every Friday and Saturday night guided by two mediums who not only explore the hotel in search of ghosts, but who will also offer a rundown of the hotel’s haunted history!
• The Allen House (Monticello) The Allen House in Monticello is apparently haunted by former owner Joe Allen who built the property, but he is not the only spirit that is clinging to the place that they once called home. In fact, the ghost that is spotted most often is actually that of his daughter LaDell Allen who is believed to have committed suicide in the property by drinking cyanide.
After her death, Joe moved the rest of the family out of the building and it was converted into smaller, more affordable apartments. It was when this construction began that people first started to report seeing LaDell’s ghost!
A doctor who lived in the house at one time did not hold much stock in ghost stories and told people that rumors of the hauntings were nothing but silliness.
However, he was forced to eat his words after developing some photographs he had taken of the house and finding a very clear image of LaDell Allen in one of the mirrors in the house!
You can visit the Allen House in search of LaDell yourself, if you’re feeling brave.
• Martha’s Bridge (Marion) You knew this one was coming. If you’ve lived around here for any length of time, you’ve probably heard some version of the supposedly haunted “Martha’s
another.
Just in case you’re not in the know (Welcome to Marion!), Martha’s Bridge is an old two-lane bridge out on Marion Lake Road just east of River Trace. It used to be
adding to the spooky ambiance, but some of that has gone away now that you can see porch lights while standing on it. Opinions vary, but you have to do…
well, something… to conjure up the spirits. You have to flash your headlights, honk your horn, yell “Martha!
Martha! Martha!” Bloody Mary style, or some other incantation, but whatever you do, you run the risk of getting Martha’s attention.
The story is, there was a couple who were at the bridge late at night and they got into a bad argument. The woman tried to run away from the man but he was faster than her. He grabbed her and put her head over the railing and chopped it off with the axe that was in the back if his truck. He threw the head and body over the railing. People say if you go on that bridge late at night you can see the girl carrying her head. My grandfather is from that area and has went to that bridge and said he saw the woman.”
Wait, that’s not right…
Martha was driving her car and went off the bridge, Martha and her child. Martha’s body was found but the child’s wasn’t. So, late at night go out there turn your car off and say, “Martha, I got your baby!”
No, wait…
There was Martha and her husband and her husband was very abusive, and so they were in a coach (horse and buggy) after midnight one night and she and her baby jumped and when she jumped she dropped her baby and her baby’s head was gone she started screaming ‘Elizabeth’ over and over again, and you can go out there in a full moon at 12:34 and you can hear her screaming through the slough!
Or something like that…
• The Crescent Hotel (Eureka
Often referred to at “The Most Haunted Place in Arkansas,” the Crescent Hotel sits at the very highest point in the county overlooking the Eureka Springs and the Ozark Mountains. Ghosts or no ghosts, it just looks and feels haunted. The Crescent boasts a rich history that is peppered with ghost stories. In fact, it is not only one of the most haunted places in Arkansas, but it is also regarded as one of the most haunted hotels in the entire United States!
The hotel is actually said to have several different ghosts and staff are constantly hearing reports of unexplained activity from various rooms in the hotel.
An apparition was actually (supposedly) photographed by a guest in Room 202, while in Room 218 guests have reported seeing fullbody apparitions as well as feeling strange sensations and hearing unexplained noises!
There have also been reports of a ghostly nurse pushing a gurney down the hall and through a solid wall in the middle of the night. This fits in with some interesting history as the property was once a retreat for cancer patients.
On that note, Happy Halloween!
