Screams in the Night

San Antonio is full of ghosts…every city is. This is because every place has its memories, and in the end, isn’t that what ghosts are? Memories that refuse to be forgotten? Realistically speaking, tragedy is part of everyday life, and no matter how peaceful things look on the outside there are always monsters swimming below the surface.

While researching for more local phenomenon I came across an interesting short ghost story titled simply Hobo Joe. Now, I usually pride myself on paranormal knowledge around the area, however, I can admit that this one was new to me.

According to the story, during the 1920s there occurred a horrible tragedy when three boxcars on a section of track on the city’s southeast side caught fire. It wasn’t clear exactly how the fire started, however several theories pointed that -since the cars were isolated and not part of a train- perhaps it started from a camp fire started by some of the homeless men who hung around the area. Railroad workers and bystanders watched the burning cars in mute horror as the tortured screams of a railway tramp who had been caught inside rang out into the night air. Unfortunately the fire was too intense and nothing could be done to save the man inside.

The following morning railroad workers and authorities returned back to the scene of the tragedy to retrieve the body of the man inside and give him a proper burial. However, according to the tale, they could find no trace of any human remains inside.

It is rumored that residents in the area near where the fire took place are sometimes treated to a strange horrific phenomenon. According to various accounts, close to midnight people can still hear the tortured screams of the poor man that burned inside one of the boxcars.

Further research has been unable to pin-point the exact location of the fire, and when trying to verify the story with any historical accounts I found even less information.

What does this mean? Is it simply just a cautionary tale? Or did something horrible really happen on those tracks many years ago? Without physical evidence of the tragedy one can’t be too sure of its authenticity. One interesting idea comes to mind. In none of the stories there is no mention of any witnesses seeing the fire actually start. Further more, there are no accounts of anyone seeing a person inside the car when the fire broke out. The only proof that there was even anyone inside the boxcar were the screams, however that alone can be misleading.

I feel as if perhaps there is something else going on below the surface. What if there was no tramp to begin with, but just a ghost instead? It would explain why they were unable to find any remains of the victim. However, in the end, with no real proof that would tie this story with reality, it can only be classified as just another urban legend of San Antonio.

Last Blog Assignment

For the Reddit assignment I chose the AMA “I was pulled out of the crowd and played on stage with Green Day. I then cannon-balled into the crowd.”

I commented: Yeah, it’s something that Green Day does at every show. I think it’s amazing how the band connects with the audience this way. I’ve only seen one other band pull people on stage before and that was the Bare Naked Ladies.

I chose this particular post because, having seen Green Day live myself I got to witness them also do this with our audience as well. When the lead singer had asked for guitar players I raised my hand with about a million other people. It would have been fun to go on stage, although, having been in bands myself I know what it’s like to play for an audience, just not of that magnitude.

The Converse Valley Werewolf

Werewolves are interesting characters of fiction. They represent the duality of man and nature and often, as many of the stories suggest, the lesson involved preaches that man must be civilized. If he is not then he is destroyed. In today’s age of horror films and books everyone is familiar with werewolves. Usually they inhabit the mist covered bogs of fiction, howling away at the full moon while we observe them safely from the other end of a screen or book. It’s fun because -as many of us know (or assume)- they are not real. However, many would argue against this. All over the world and mentioned through out history  strange wolf-men can be found, even as close as your own back yard.

Located about 15 miles northeast of Downtown San Antonio, Converse Texas claims to be the home of their very own werewolf. Although modern sightings are more or less “hearsay” the story of the Converse Werewolf traces its origins back to the mid 1960s.

According to legend the creature is known to haunt an area called Skull’s Crossing which is located near FM road 1518.

The story goes that a retired military man came home to San Antonio to settle down and live quietly with his son. Several searches online could not find any mention of whether or not he had a wife, however, for the story this makes no difference.

Now, the father was an avid hunter and settled on the eastern edge of the city because of the wild landscape. His son on the other hand preferred reading to hunting and being outside. This upset the father so much that one day, out of frustration and fear that his son was “unmanly” he shoved a rifle in his son’s hands and ordered him out of the house, not to return until he had killed something.

Distraught but finding no sympathy from his father, the boy set off into the thick woods to do what he had been ordered.

As the evening drew near the boy returned home empty handed. He was visibly shaken by something and it took a while for him to finally speak. When his father asked him what had happened the boy told him that he had been stalked by a strange half man, half wolf creature in the woods.

The boy seemed very disturbed by the experience. However, his father did not believe him. He believed that his son was just making up a story to cover for the fact that he had not shot anything. Annoyed once again he sent his son back out into the woods as it began to grow dark. After much pleading the boy wandered back out into the wild.

Come the following morning the boy did not return. As the day dragged on with no sight of his son the man began to worry that something might have happened to him. He gathered a few neighbors and friends to go out looking for his son.

After some time, and finding no sign of the boy anywhere, the men began to search the nearby valley. When the horses they were on refused to go past a certain point, the men dismounted and continued on foot.

According to the legend, the group of men came upon a strange creature in the woods feeding on a dead animal. They were only able to catch a quick view of it before it sped away, but it was obvious to them that whatever it was could not be natural. After reeling from the surprise of seeing the animal the men moved forward to discover that what the creature had been feeding on was the man’s son.

According to another version of the tale, the men were able to shoot at the creature before it bounded off. In that account the creature was described as an eight-foot-tall beast that looked like a cross between a large ape and a wolf.

Both versions end with the grief-stricken father dying shortly after, suffering from depression and a broken heart.

As I already mentioned, there are modern sighting of the creature. A general search online will pull up a few accounts, however, something of this nature falls under the category of big foot or lake monsters. With no substantial proof of its existence it can only remain within the realm of urban legend. Were wolves are still prevalent in society.

If anyone is interested in reading more about these creatures I suggest looking into the werewolves of Wisconsin. So next time you’re up at night, and you think you hear the far off cry of a wolf, just be safe. Make sure the doors are locked!

Midget Mansion

Every town has a haunted house. There’s no escaping it. It’s just inevitable. Just as everyplace has a Starbucks, so does every small town and every major city have a famous house that has experienced some kind of horrific grisly event. From the fictional Amityville Horror house to the real life residence of Lizzy Borden, haunted houses are an unspoken staple in our society.

In San Antonio the most famous haunted house is known as The Midget Mansion.

The story dates back to the early 1920’s when the house was first built.
According to research, the house in question was constructed and lived in by a retired Navy Captain during his final years in the service. According to legend, the captain- which is never named- fell in love with the city and decided to retire in San Antonio.

He built his beautiful home and, for a short while, lived there with his wife. Through multiple searches on the Internet, it is never really clear whether or not the captain died there or if he just sold the house. However, it is agreed on that he and his wife only lived in the house for a brief period of time.

Afterwards the house was sold to a family of four. Both the husband and wife were midgets, or to be politically correct “little people,” however, their children -both daughters- were of normal size.

The father, which after exhaustive research I could find no name or historical proof of existence, was said to be a very successful businessman in San Antonio and the family had many servants.

Then, according to the story, one night the father went crazy and decided to attack his family, cutting their throats and dragging their bodies into an upstairs closet.  After he murdered them the father took his own life with a gun.

However the story does not end there. The other family members who had had their throats cut were not dead when he stuffed them into the closet. The tale concludes that when the authorities later discovered their bodies they also found blood marks on the wall from where they had been scratching at while trying to escape. From that point on the house has been rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of the family.

Another version of the story states that the family’s servants plotted and murdered the family instead, stuffing their bodies into the closet. According to this take on the story, the servants ended up killing each other in an argument over the money they had stolen.

Online there are several accounts from later owners of the mansion that have claimed to hear moaning and scratching noises from the closet . Afterwards, the house remained empty for many years until a mysterious fire burned it to the ground. According to legend, the property supposedly still has the servants’ quarters intact, however, the site is said to be covered by apartments.

As I mentioned already, all of the research that I did turned up no historical facts about this supposed haunted house. A general search online will direct you to many different stories from people claiming chilling experiences on the property. However, other than that, there’s not much else. I personally have not visited this site, and if I ever do it would be to search for any physical evidence that there was such a mansion in San Antonio’s history. Other than that, this one has to go under the pure urban legend category.

Guidelines for the BBC

The editorial guidelines for the BBC were straight and to the point and  I found nothing in particular that I seemed to disagree with. Most of the items contained -I’m my opinion- made sense,  and I would like to discuss which ones I felt were the most important on the page.

On the section of using the BBC brand I agreed with the notion that all BBC logos should contain links back to their page when working on a third party site.  I feel as if this is something vital  in the use of all social media. In our own blogs we have learned the importance of using links within our work. It not only gives a better understanding of our subject to readers but it also gives credit to our sources. In this reverse way the BBC can attract readers from other sites.

Under the section of tone of voice the BBC expresses their belief that when contributing to another site that they should be sensitive to the expectations of other users. The BBC believe that they should “go with the grain” in the attempt to avoid imposing on the site’s users and their space, and I feel that this is important in building relationships with other online media outlets. In this day when all news is a commodity it helps to be associated with as many different sources as possible.

Also, the guideline discusses the use of micro blogging and dangers involved. On the page it gave the example of using Twitter. When someone is representing a big name like the BBC it becomes very important to watch how and what gets associated with it. I agree with this because it’s common sense. When you retweet someone else’s post you run the risk of being viewed as having the same view or endorsing it. Once again, if you work for a large corporation you have to be tactful in what you align yourself with.

Most of the other sections on the guideline were very sensible. I didn’t really disagree with any of them as they all made sense from a business stand point. In the end I feel as if all, if not many, other news organizations will have similar guidelines. With the every evolving landscape of new journalism happening right in front of our eyes it is important to adapt to stay afloat.

Bloody Mary

When I was in elementary school, I can remember hearing the name Bloody Mary being tossed around quite a bit. I would lean my ear into other children’s conversations -usually unknown to them, and hear a fantastic story about a ghost in the mirror, and how she sometimes reached through the glass to get you. It was exciting.  All around me it seemed as if students were requesting hall passes and summoning her in the bathroom, coming back with horrific testimony that they had in deed seen some kind of face in the mirror staring back at them. It was enough to drive me to try out the ritual myself. However, the disappointment I felt after calling out her name three times and getting nothing still haunts me today more than the actual story did.  It left a profound impression on my young mind, and from that day forward I have been eagerly seeking out haunts and strange old stories in the hopes that the real ghost in the mirror will someday reveal itself to me.

As I got older, the story of Bloody Mary seemed to vanish away completely. Sometimes I would bring it up among childhood friends only to have them shrug and laugh it off. We were dumb kids, right? However, now when I bring up the story to my youngest brother or his friends I usually get a confused look. If I’m lucky there might be one young person among them who recognizes the name, but it’s usually only accredited to an older sibling or relative having told them.  Is it possible that the story of Bloody Mary was just a cultural craze attached to an era, like the Rubik’s cube or Gack? Was there any historical evidence to tie into the folklore?

According to research, the ritual of Bloody Mary has changed quite a bit from its origins. In the original version a young women is suppose to walk backwards up a flight of stairs at night while holding a candle and a hand mirror. As she looks into the mirror, she is supposed to be able to catch a view of her future husband’s face. However, while she did this she also risked the chance of seeing a skull, or the image of death, indicating that she was destined to die before she married. Somehow, this version seems more terrifying than the one I heard as a child.

In another version of the story, Bloody Mary seems to have suffered a fate much like that of the Donkey Lady, where she is murdered by an angry mob and burned to death. This is perhaps a favorite theme for many witch stories. However, many may not know that the character of Bloody Mary is actually based off of a real person or persons.

According to the site Castle of Spirits, Bloody Mary could actually have been a victim of the Salem Witch Trials, burned at the stake.  There is also a lot of speculation the legend of based on Mary I, Queen of England who reigned during the Tudor period. She was also commonly known as “Bloody Mary”.

However, in the end, despite what connections the story may have with history, the legend of Bloody Mary is nothing more than an obscure tale from another time. No one seems to be calling out her name anymore. Children no longer cast nervous glances in the mirrors at night while they brush their teeth. Historical facts or not, the story of the ghost in the mirror is only as real as we make it. When the interest is gone, so is the magic.

 

A Response to “New NAHJ Board Kills No-Tweet Policy.”

The main thing that I seemed to pull from the article was how the NAHJ didn’t want to allow live tweets of its meetings based on the fact that they were not open to the public. Of course, the reaction to this was an outcry through social media. It forces us to ask the question, “Is there any real privacy anymore?”

An organization can try to enforce their rules, and then try to keep people from writing about what goes on behind closed doors. However, in this age, where anyone can write and post news anonymous, those rules don’t really stand a chance.

Is this a good thing or not?  On one hand it allows for news to be shared quickly without a filter. However, that also means that news runs the risk of leaking sensitive material, or even worse, reporting inaccurate facts. Either way, the future looks grim for conventional journalists.