An Old Fashioned Christmas with Krampus!

On Saturday, December 8th my family and I dove head first into Christmas with a double dose of old fashioned Christmas fun.  Our first stop...pictures with Krampus.

This was our third year meeting and second year having our family photo taken with everyone's favorite Christmas demon.  Krampus is a hard-working guy; after making it through another Krampusnacht on December 5th, he took the time to meet and greet both pets and families at Mike Winland Studios in Kanawha City!  We loved our pictures from last year so much, that we absolutely knew we had to go back again this year...and once again, we were not disappointed.  Luke was a little braver this year...but not too much!  When it was our turn to have out photo taken, the photographer (Mike himself) recognized Luke from last year.  In fact, Luke's photo from last year was used on one of the ads for this year's event, so he was feeling pretty famous and important.  And then, he was feeling abject terror as Krampus stood behind him and giggled maniacally at seeing him back for another year.  We took a few fun poses, and as we waited to choose our photo, the Krampus stared at Luke, waved at him, and generally creeped him out fully.  I loved it, lol!  We are so lucky to have this opportunity to share a little culture and history with our son AND support a local artist/business owner. This Krampus was so detailed and spooky, and his actions and mannerisms were so spot on that it was really easy to forget that this wasn't an actual Germanic monster straight out of folklore, ready to beat you with a birch branch.

We bought an 8x10 portrait, but I also walked away with this gorgeous bracelet by Tiffany's Twisted Creations!  It's a real rat jaw bone! Tiffany was in the shop and we got to chat for a few minutes about her unique jewelry, much of which is made up of natural materials collected from her farm. You can find more of her work on Facebook and Etsy (Tiffanystwistedmind on Etsy).  Everything is reasonably priced, well-made, and if you're local, you can arranged a pick up/meet up to save on shipping.  Christmas is just a few weeks away and if you've got someone a little...different...on your list, you're likely to find the perfect gift at Tiffany's Twisted Creations.

Meeting Krampus and buying rat bone jewelry was a great way to get into the Christmas spirit, but our day wasn't done yet!  We headed straight back to Hurricane to take part in the town's Victorian Christmas and annual parade. The town of Hurricane was officially 'created' in 1888, and to celebrate the occasion, this year's town holiday festivities was to take on a Victorian flair.  There was a lot of potential with that idea, but unfortunately, it just didn't really come together.  There were very few activities being offered, but what there was, well...it was pretty awesome.

We started off with a kid's card making craft at Rock Paper Sisters, a local business.  The craft was free, and Luke had a great time making a card for me and Aaron. The girls who own the shop were extremely helpful and sweet, and made sure Luke had everything he needed to make a beautiful Christmas card. While we were there, a group of carolers in Victorian dress sang some Christmas favorites for us, which was fun.  Afterwards, we headed over to the Hidden Creek Mercantile to see a dramatic reading of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

I wasn't really sure what to expect going in, but wow, was I impressed!  Two narrators read an abridged version of the famous Christmas ghost story, while cast members acted out the scenes. The costumes (by Dale Morton Studios) were excellent and the cast did a great job.  I thought this would be the sort of thing that Luke wouldn't be overly interested in, but he really, really enjoyed it.  It was a story he was familiar with (thanks to Disney!) and the actors/narrators were so engaging that you couldn't help but be drawn in.  As an added bonus, FREE copies of A Christmas Carol book were given to the audience members! 

If you've been following me on Facebook, you know that I'm a huge supporter of bringing back the tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas time, so actually seeing such an awesome portrayal, in person, of the most famous Christmas ghost story of all time was perfect. And, as always, the parade was fun, but after all the more 'paranormal' elements to our day, it kind of took a back seat position in my mind, lol. Overall, we had a really fun Saturday filled with classic Christmas traditions. I love being able to make memories with my son and being able to add a little bit of a spooky element in there makes it even better.

I hope you and yours are also having a great holiday season!  I've got more spooky Christmas season fun coming to the blog and Facebook all month long, so keep checking back!  Happy Holidays from Theresa's Haunted History!

Undisclosed Business--Hurricane, WV

 

Growing up in Hurricane, I had no idea that there were so many haunted homes around the town...most notably the old McCallister/Umberger Mansion that used to stand where South Brooke subdivision is now located and of course the Rappold House off of Main Street.  Unfortunately, these two stories wouldn't come to my attention until well into my adulthood...but there was ONE ghost story that has been with me since we moved to Hurricane when I was three years old.

On a street corner sat a small white home that had been turned into a local business.  Every time we passed this building, I craned my neck to look out the car window and get a good view of this location.  I was looking for any sign of its resident ghost! The story that I always heard growing up was that a man had brutally killed his wife in the home, and that her ghost haunted a certain bedroom.  According to who was telling the story, or what mood they were in, the details would vary greatly. In some stories, the bedroom in which she died remained extremely cold all the time and the door to the bedroom would either refuse to remain shut...or would shut with great force, trapping anyone silly enough to actually go in there. Some would say that if you went into the room, you could still see the blood spatter on the walls, no matter how many coats of paint were used to cover it up.  And, of course, some would say that you could see the woman's ghost staring out the window of the house late at night.  There also seemed to have been some confusion as to exactly how the death took place---was she shot in the head, or did she suffer a blow to the head from an object such as an axe?

I am very lucky to be a member of the Upper Vandalia Historical Society and through it, several years ago I met the current owners of the building.  They were familiar with my blog and after a brief chat, they gave me permission to research and post about the house, given that I stuck to the facts, only. My research resulted in an all-too-common occurrence when it comes to researching urban legends and ghost stories---truth really is stranger than fiction!  To protect the owners of the property, the current occupants, and of course, the many friends and family of the victims still alive and living in this area, I'm choosing not to share the exact location of this building nor the names of those involved.  All information below is from a newspaper article found in the Huntington-Herald Dispatch, dated 20 December 1969.

A 31 year old woman was living in the neat little rental house on the corner with her two children--a ten year old daughter and a 13 year old son.  She and her 36 year old husband, married since 1955, had separated and he was apparently still living in Kanawha County.  However, on the night of December 18, 1969 he showed up at the house after the kids and several visiting family members had gone to bed. Police were called to the home around 11:30 pm that night and found evidence of what was quickly deemed a murder-suicide, which doesn't seem to have been investigated further.  What they found was the bodies of the husband and wife lying on the kitchen floor. Police chief J.W. Smith noted that a .32 caliber automatic was found lying beside the man's body.  The wife was shot once in the head and a second bullet had gone through her arm into her chest.  The man had been shot both in the head and the chest. When asked if there might have been a third party involved, police declined to comment.

After one mention in the local paper, the matter seemed to be dropped. The wife was buried near Falling Rock and no mention of the husband's final resting place was given. The memory of the terrible events, however, could not be completely erased, and live on through its urban legends.  Whether or not the house is actually haunted, however, I can't say.  I can, however, honestly say that I've never actually spoken with or found anyone who had an experience there, and it seems as if some vital elements to the ghost story, such as the room where it all happened, proved to be inaccurate. There was one former occupant of the house that I did manage to speak to a few years back, and according to her, there wasn't anything wrong felt with the property.

I don't feel comfortable sharing further details of this story at this time because so many people close to the incident are still living, but if you recognize this case and have pertinent information you'd like to share, please feel free to email me at theresarhps@yahoo.com. 

Hurricane's Haunted House Lives On

Those in the Hurricane/Teays Valley area may be old enough to remember a creepy old house which sat across the street from the entrance to Cow Creek Rd, right on Teays Valley Road. Known in more recent times as the Umberger House, this pre-Civil War mansion was a brick masterpiece full of legends and lore.  Although its been gone for many years, the legacy of the mansion continues to live on in local ghost-lore.

The mansion was originally known as the McCallister mansion, and was built by slave labor for John McCallister and his wife, Matilda (Tillie).  It was built around 1847 when the McCallisters were already well into life--around 53 years old to be precise.  Some say it was the first brick home built in Teays Valley and it was a showpiece of the McCallister family's wealth.  John was a wealthy landowner and farmer, and Tillie is said to have been independently wealthy herself, owning two chests filled with gold coins.  In addition, the McCallister's operated a brickyard and tannery, located approximately where the A&L Hardware building sits--across from the Hurricane City Park.

John McCallister died in 1865 at the age of 70 years old, and Tillie lasted until 1871, when she died at the age of 76.  The McCallisters had no living heirs and since Tillie died without having left a will, the house was put up for a commissioner's sale, where it was bought by Dr. George L. Nye in 1872.  Oddly, the 1870 census has Dr. George Nye and his wife living with Tillie in the home a year before she passed.  In September of 2012, I found out a little more about this arrangement.  The Nye's came to Teays Valley from Wytheville, VA in the 1860s and Dr. Nye opened up his own practice, boarding with Tillie.  When Tillie died, Dr. Nye was actually the one to sign her death certificate, but inexplicably left the Teays Valley area.  He didn't stay away long...When hearing that the house would be put up for auction, he came back and bought it.

In any event, the Nyes were also considered a very prominent family in the area.  Unfortunately, while living at the home, the Nyes lost at least two children, a ten-month old, and an infant that only survived two days after birth.  But, several children did survive into adulthood, including a son named (Norman) Luther.  Luther's daughter Lois Nye would go on to become one of the home's most well-known residents.

Lois Nye was born in Virginia, and at the age of thirty, married into the Umberger family.  Previously, Lois had been involved with a man by the name of Homewood, and bore a son in the early 1920s named Max.  She married William Isaac Umberger in the early 1930s.  She was William's third wife, and would eventually bear him two additional sons, Henry and William, Jr.

After William's death, Lois Nye Umberger continued to live in her grandfather's home and continued a career in teaching.  Locals remember Mrs. Umberger being a wonderfully classy southern lady who rode her horse side-saddle down Cow Creek Road to the Oakdale School where she taught.  Electricity didn't reach the mansion until the 1950s.  Lois died in 1964; she was 65 years old.

William Umberger was the last owner of the old homestead and the last in the family line to have actually lived in the old brick mansion.  The property was sold in the mid-1980s and the house was razed sometime between 1986 and 1994.  The land would later be the site of the Southbrooke Subdivision.  William Umberger is now deceased.

Shortly after Lois' death, the house quickly became a local legend and was known colloquially as the old haunted house; many of Hurricane's youth got their first taste of ghost hunting/legend tripping over the next twenty years by daring each other to go up to the door and knock.  Stories abounded of an accidental hanging on the property which led to such hauntings, but details of such an event would not be uncovered for many years.  According to a 1994 History of Hurricane publication, the ghostly activity at the house included anything from strange noises, faint lights moving about the home at night, and shadows passing by the windows.  It is even reported in a volume of WV paranormal literature (which, due to its high rate of inconsistency, shall remain nameless here) that Henry Umberger's trailer on the property was also haunted in the 1970s, causing him to flee and move away.

The legends of the haunting, however, were so pronounced that when a local paper, the Hurricane Breeze, ran a story on the mansion's history complete with accompanying photograph shortly before it was torn down, at least three independent readers called in to the paper to report seeing a ghostly figure in the photo. 

The property was also a favorite spot for treasure hunters, as another local legend sprung up concerning gold being buried on the property.  These rumors, which probably stemmed from stories of Mrs. McCallister's chests of gold coins led to plenty of folks perusing the property with metal detectors shortly after the mansion was torn down.  The gold coins were of no secret to anyone living in the community, as it is rumored that Tillie allowed her nephews to play with the coins, and even local people would come over on Saturday evenings and use the coins as checkers.  However, they could not be found upon her death...is it possible they are the reason Dr. Nye temporarily LEFT the Teays Valley area?

In the early years of the 1990s, the Southbrooke Subdivision sprung up on the old McCallister/Nye/Umberger property thanks to developer Roger Gibson and as Teays Valley was being flooded with new blood, many forgot about the old mansion and its ghostly legends.  However, the legends of the old house refused to die.  People living in the Southbrooke Subdivision started reporting that their brand new homes shockingly had paranormal activity...and shockingly, different homes were reporting basically the same thing.  At least four families came forward in 2005 with tales of a seeing a little girl in a white dress.  This little girl was spotted by one lady in her front entrance, putting on her shoes.  Others have seen her wandering the subdivision, late at night.

It is believed that this little girl is somehow tied to the old mansion, but details are sketchy as to her correct identity.  In researching this case, I didn't find much of substance concerning any children dying on the property, or really, much of any female children even living there.  The McCallisters had no children of their own while staying on the property, but they did have at least one slave die there...a 2 month old baby girl named Sarah who died in 1854.  As stated previously, the Nye's did have two male children die in infancy, but I was unable to uncover any little girls who died there at this point.  Over different census years, the Nye's had several female servants and various boarders, including extended family, living with them, so its possible that any one of these may have resulted in a little girl living on the property.

And while we don't know WHO the little girl is, Mrs. Umberger may have provided a clue as to WHY the little girl is still there.  A former resident of the Hurricane area wrote in to a local newspaper about a story Mrs. Umberger had told her in the late 1930s/early 1940s.  This lady, whose aunt was a friend of Mrs. Umberger, went to visit Mrs. Umberger in her home and commented on the beautiful old chandelier in the foyer.  Mrs. Umberger went on to tell her that years before, a young girl who lived in the home loved to play on the bannister, sliding down it from the second floor to the first.  Somehow, an accident occurred, and the little girl fell off the landing at the second floor.  She hit the chandelier, and her neck became caught up in the mechanism used to lower it, resulting in her accidental hanging.

Today, the people of Southbrooke are still reporting the occasional creepy experience, but interest in the former McCallister Mansion is quickly waning, as the older generation is dying off, only to be replaced with a new generation too young to have remembered the creepy old haunted house on Teays Valley Road.

Photos were scanned from a June 1989 edition of Hurricane High School's Warrior newspaper.  They were taken by Rod Farley.

Theresa's Note:  I have compiled a wealth of resources on this location, so please feel free to contact me for additional details about the family and the property that I have left out for the sake of brevity, including a history of the property BEFORE the McCallisters and a favorite way of "punishing" lazy slaves.  Also, I would LOVE to hear from anyone who has any other stories about the alleged hauntings of either the McCallister mansion or the Southbrooke subdivision.  I'm especially interested in tracking down a copy of the Hurricane Breeze featuring the alleged ghost photo.  I can be reached by email at theresarhps@yahoo.com.   Thanks!

Update December 2012:  Please check out this personal experience I found, concering someone who did live in the trailer on the property!  http://www.ufofreeparanormal.com/stories/viewstory.php?sid=470

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