Alton city – Mysteries of the world

Leap Castle was built during the 1300s by the O’Bannon clan. The castle has a very grim history of more than 700 years and is the location of countless battles between clans and later family feuds within the clan as well.

O’Carrolls was a violent and supposedly evil clan who battled the O’Bannons for the castle before finally taking control of the castle in the 1500’s. Before the violent disposition of the castle the land was already a place for many deaths because of the battle. However, the history of the castle became even more grim from then on. O’Carrolls were ruthless people who did not show any mercy. When the head died, there was a family feud between the brothers for power. One brother killed the other while the latter was holding a mass for family members in the chapel which is now known as “bloody chapel”.

The ownership was passed again in the later 1600s to the Darby family and the fighting for ownership and power continued on till the 1900s when the castle had already been passed on to many different people. The brutal history of the castle was already well known but the magnitude of the inhumanity brought upon the people was revealed once again when the restoration work was started in the castle in the late 1900s a wall was removed which revealed hundreds and hundreds of human skeletons lying on spikes which belong to guests who were supposedly thrown from upper floors to kill them. From the evidence found on the victims, it is believed that these murders occurred till the 1800s which means not only the O’Carrolls but the families that owned the castle after them also committed the same crimes.

There are many known spirits said to roam the castle and its grounds. The spirit of the murdered brother is said to haunt the bloody chapel. For hundreds of years people have seen light coming out of its windows and the spirit roaming around the chapel.

The spirit of the two little girls that supposedly lived in the castle during the 1600s have been spotted by visitors playing in the main hall of the castle. They are sometimes even spotted along with an old woman referred to as the nanny.

A Red lady is also seen roaming in the halls of the castle holding the dagger in one hand.

The spirit that has frightened people for the longest period of time and some people believe that the spirit existed even before all those families started living there. An evil demonic entity known as the “Elemental”. This malevolent being is said to have been unleashed on the castle through black arts which according to some might have happened during the early days of the castle. But a former resident “Mildred Darby” who had the first known experience with the evil entity describes her terrible encounter. It is said that she started practicing dark arts which led to the release of the elemental spirit. She describes it as being the size of a sheep, an inhuman skeletal face and dark decomposed eyes. The horrible smell that was already present in the castle intensified a hundred times. It was the smell of a decomposing body.

The elemental does not show itself until it is bothered by people but people have reported being pushed, badly scratched and feeling extremely nauseated.

The castle is described by many as the most haunted place in Ireland and definitely one of the most haunted places in the world.

While researching about Leap Castle, i came to know that Sam and Colby visited the castle just recently and as I am a big fan of Sam and Colby i watch all the videos as soon as they are uploaded on YouTube. However, this time i didn’t because i wanted to see how well I have researched.

Alton is an old small city in Madison County, Illinois. Alton was a home to native Americans for hundreds of years before the 19th century after which European Americans started settling in the city.

For a small town, Alton has seen a lot of deaths due to its long unreported history. About 1400 confederate soldiers died during the civil war because of smallpox outbreak and many unreported deaths later Alton became one of the most haunted cities in the whole country.

The whole town is haunted but there are some locations that really stand out. One such location is the Mcpike mansion. Famous all over the country for its 11 or so ghost residents. The house was built between 1869 and 1871 on the highest point in Alton. Henry Mcgike a prominent member of the society and the Three time Mayor of the town moved into the house along with his family. They lived at the house till 1936 but the house was sold to Paul Laichinger who lived at the house till 1951. The house remained abandoned for years and fell in decay during those years due to vandalism. In 1994 Sharon and George Luedke bought the house in order to convert it into a hotel but they could not do so as they were unable to acquire any grant money for that purpose. But even with all those hindrances they managed to complete the renovations of the house through donations and opened the home for tours instead. They still host several ghost tours as well as historical tours. Although renovations around the house are still going on.

During the earlier renovations the first paranormal activity took place. Sharon was working on the garden one day and she saw a man staring at her from the second floor window. Later after doing some research about the house she found a picture of Paul Laichinger and quickly realized that it was the same person that she saw on the window.

Another spirit that has been spotted inside the house is believed to be Sarah. She used to be a servant in the house and is now a friendly ghost. Sharon often spots her inside the house and she doesn’t feel scared around her. Her spirit roams around in the attic.

The wine cellar is the most active place in the house. People hear footsteps and witness shadows and apparitions infront of their eyes. Often people feel sick around in the cellar although that might be due to the fact that people only visit the cellar during tours and it might get really congested during those tours. People have seen shadowy mist form in the cellar and follow them around. The heavy metal gate at the end of stairs usually takes a little bit of strength to open and close but people have seen it open on its own.

*The above “enhanced” pictures were captured by Tom Halstead of PTF during the*
*(Saturday) July 19, 2008 Workshop. The above enhancements were done by Bruce*
*Halliday of Paranormal Investigating Team (P.I.T.).* Bruce’s website can be visited
by clicking

Other ghosts residing in the house include that of Mrs and Mr Mcpike and people have heard voices and footsteps of small children in the house, infact when Paul Laichinger used to live in the house and rented some of the rooms, his tenants often complained about hearing kids playing inside the house even when there were no kids present. The child spirits are believed to be the kids of Mcpikes who died young.

Up till now no one has ever witnessed any sort of evil entity inside the house. All the ghosts are friendly and welcoming.

The house is still under repair but people can still book tours and visit the house.

Links-

Mcpike mansion official

Wikipedia

Haunted illinois

Tag: Alton city

Leap Castle, Ireland

Mcpike Mansion, Illinois.