#parnormal

The gospels:

The Ghosts of Hershey Park

The park officially opened on April 24, 1907 and in its early days, was not much more than a nice place to have a picnic and go boating. It was created by Milton S. Hershey as an outdoor recreation area for employees of his candy factory. Over the years, additional attractions were added, including a swimming pool complex, amphitheater, and rides. In the early 1970s, HERCO pushed for the expansion of the property as a modern day theme park with a one-price admission for total access.

Over its long history, the park has definitely picked up its fair share of ghost stories. Here’s just a few of those tales!

Milton Hershey

The ghost of founder, Milton Hershey is said to roam the grounds of his park, keeping an eye on this aspect of his chocolate empire. Although a few witnesses have claimed to actually SEE Mr. Hershey’s apparition after park hours, this is one ghost that is usually smelled, and not seen. A phantom smell of cigar smoke is said to indicate Mr. Hershey’s ethereal presence.

“The Carrousel”

Every amusement park needs a carousel…and a haunted one is even better! The current carousel at Hershey’s is actually the park’s third. A year after the park opened, Milton Hershey decided to allow the public to enjoy it as well and added a used carousel for the enjoyment of his guests and employees. It quickly became a hit, and in 1912, a larger carousel was installed and operated until 1944. That year a new carousel was purchased, but due to a shortage of park funds, an older, used model was picked out.

That carousel was the Philadelphia Toboggan Company #47 Carrousel (notice the two ‘r’s). Built in 1919, the carousel began its career at Liberty Heights Park in Baltimore, where it remained for ten years. Then, it moved to Enna Jetta Park in New York before it was purchased in 1944 by Hershey Park. The theme of the carousel is one of understated patriotism. Beautifully carved eagles, flags, and Lady Liberty are sprinkled throughout the artwork of the ride as a tribute to the end of WWI in 1918–the war to end all wars. It was quite fitting that it would arrive at Hershey Park in the last days of WWII.

Today, the carousel is famous for being one of the spookiest places in the whole park! Originally installed near Spring Creek, it was moved to Founder’s Circle in 1972. Since then, park personnel have seen the carousel’s lights turn on by themselves, and the ride eerily start to turn without a living soul nearby. The music coming from its Wurlitzer organ begins to drift through the park, all under the command of an unseen operator. Well, mostly unseen. There is one story where a security officer was doing his rounds, when he noticed the lights of the carousel turned on. He turned them off and began to walk away, but the lights flipped themselves back on. As the officer turned back around towards the ride, a shadowy figure of a person sitting near the controls was seen. By the time the officer actually reached the ride, the mysterious figure was gone.

The Lighthouse

The original swimming pool complex of Hershey Park was completed in 1911 and lasted until 1928. The following season, a new swimming complex, complete with a concrete island lighthouse, was opened. The pools were filled in during the 1971 season and all that remains as a reminder of those years gone by is the lighthouse near the front of the park….that, and the ghosts. Over the nearly half a century that the pools were in operation, several children unfortunately drowned in their waters. The spirits of those children have been seen near the lighthouse wearing their old-fashioned swimwear, oblivious to the changes made by time.

The Sooperdooperlooper Rollercoaster

The 1977 season of Hershey Park opened with the addition of a brand new thrill ride: the Sooperdooperlooper rollercoaster! However, the ride seemed cursed from the very beginning. On its opening day on July 4th, 1977, the ride experienced a mechanical failure, stranding passengers, including Hershey’s CEO and other VIPs, on the hill lift. No one was hurt, but passengers were forced to walk down the narrow catwalks to safety. Unfortunately, it would be only a month later when someone WOULD get hurt.

William Harter was a 16 year old high school student working at the park as a maintenance man as part of a summer vocational program. On August 25th, Harter was removing some bolts from a magnetic control device designed to stop the train. Standing between the rails with his back toward the train, it suddenly started moving and ran over him. Since the incident, many security guards, maintenance personnel, and other employees in the park after dark have seen the shadowy figure of a young man standing or walking along the rails of the coaster.

Boardwalk

Movie: teen/adult Ed and Lorraine Warren.

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Trigger Warning: true stories of violence and murder, some readers may find disturbing.

One story of hauntings that interests me is the story of the Amityville Horror House. It is probably one of the most famous “haunted” houses in America. The home is located in Amityville, New York on what used to be 112 Ocean Ave.

The horror started with the murders of Ronald, Louise, Dawn, Allison, Marie, and John DeFeo. In November, 1974, Ronald DeFeo cold-bloodedly murdered his family by executing them with a .35 caliber Marlin rifle. Ronald ran screaming to a nearby bar, saying that his family had been shot. After police had been called, they found the bodies of the six family members of the DeFeo family. All had died face down in their beds. According to forensic experts, there were no signs of struggle or that the bodies had been moved. Also toxicology showed no sign that they had been drugged.

Ronald claimed that voices had compelled him to commit the murders. Though later he changed his story, people wondered if there was something paranormal involving the murders because how could nobody in the neighborhood hear six gunshots and how could nobody in the family had even tried to get away? And since they hadn’t been drugged, surely someone in the family would have woken up from the sound of gunshots in their own home when another family member was being attacked.

Because of the many times Ronald DeFeo Jr. has changed his story, it is unclear why he committed such a horrific crime. (Ronald DeFeo Jr. pictured below)

13 months after the murders, the Lutz family moved into the home on December 18, 1975.

Before moving in, Kathleen Lutz has a priest bless the house because of the tragedy that had happened the year before. While in the home, the priest claims to have heard a voice yell “get out!” on the second floor. He warned George and Kathleen Lutz not to use the upstairs room and not to let anyone sleep there. Kathleen, however, made it her sewing room and soon after, hundreds of flies invaded the room despite it being in the middle of winter with the windows closed.

From the first night, the family claimed to have felt strange sensations and noticed personality changes in each other.

During their time in the home, George spent most of his time by the fireplace. He said he was plagued by a constant chill.

The Lutz’s daughter began spending almost her time in her bedroom with a new imaginary friend she called “Jodie.” She said that Jodie could change shapes and sizes, two of her most common were an angel and a pig with red eyes. Their daughter also said that Jodie could only be seen if she wanted to be seen.

George Lutz also claimed to wake up every night at 3:15 am, which was approximately the time the DeFeo family was murdered. One of those nights he says he saw his sleeping wife age to about a 90-year-old woman and she began levitating above their bed. He also said that when he’d wake up, he’d sometimes hear his children’s beds slamming up and down.

Other disturbances the family reported were black stains, an unseen force touched Kathleen, a green substance that would ooze from the walls, and foul odors. George Lutz said, “There were odors in the house that came and went.” and “There were sounds. The front door would slam in the middle of the night.”

On the final night, the family swears having heard banging as loud as a marching band around the house and witnessed furniture moving. The family fled the house, leaving many of their belongings behind.

The Lutz family lived in the home for a total of 28 days.

After the stories from the Lutz family began to spread, paranormal researchers started an investigation. The Lutz family refused to be a part of the investigation, saying they were too scared to enter the house again. During the investigation, one of the researchers was reportedly shoved to the floor. Another investigator claimed that they were overwhelmed by the feeling of a dark presence and were plagued by images of the DeFeo family’s bodies. The researchers also captured a shocking image (below) that the reporter Lauren Didio describes as, “the face of what appeared to be a little boy peering out from one of the bedrooms.” (abcnews.go.com) (picture below)

The last I have heard about the home was that it was put on the market in 2016.

What are your thoughts on the Amityville house? Is it a hoax, or is there something paranormal really taking place? Whatever is going on in the house, the murders that took place were truly awful.