Exploring America's Macabre Treasures
from WorldWeb.com Travel Guide

Interested in the paranormal and macabre? Throughout the United States, a vast selection of off-beat and informative attractions are readily available, in fact an entire vacation can be planned around them. Historic murder scenes take visitors back in time to the crime with the help of reenactments, tours and exhibits. Another attraction on the darker side are prisons and penitentiaries. Guests can lock themselves into jail cells, strap themselves into a gas chamber and learn what life used to be like for those behind bars. Paranormal activities can be explored at various locales across America, giving believers and skeptics the chance to challenge their beliefs. From coast to coast and in between, macabre attractions lure travelers from around the world to them.

	The Winchester Mystery Mansion Photo Courtesy Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, CA

MYSTERY HOUSES

Several murder sites in the United States have been transformed into tourist destinations. Other magnificent homes have been deemed mysterious because of the strange reasons for their construction and odd events experienced inside. Unusual circumstances and mysteries intrigue a number of people and draw them to visit some of America's mystery and murder homes.

Winchester Mansion
One of the United States' most interesting homes may be the Winchester Mansion of San Jose, California. The home is an architectural wonder and was under constant construction for more than 38 years. However, the reasons for the uninterrupted building project fascinates visitors more than the home's impressive design. The sprawling mansion was built by Sarah Winchester, the widow of a wealthy arms manufacturer, to appease the spirits of the men killed by her husband's guns. Her husband invented the Henry Rifle, a popular weapon used during the Civil War. Within a year, he and their infant daughter died, leaving Sarah alone with a massive fortune. While in Boston, she consulted a medium who told her of the distraught spirits and said that if she did not move west and start building, they would kill her too.

Macabre and Unusual Adventures Throughout the United States, macabre tours, museums and sites are easily found. The Dime Museum of Baltimore, Maryland, contains an array of oddities including shrunken heads, skeletons, animal heads and other unusual items. Raven's Grin Inn is a huge attraction in the small town of Mount Carroll, Illinois. Visitors can tour the elaborate haunted house, which has had reported ghost sightings. Hampton-Lillibridge House in Savannah, Georgia, was once exorcised to rid it of spirits. As a stop on the Ghost Talk Ghost Walk Tour, visitors will learn about the chilling tale of this building. For those who get goose bumps from puppets, Vent Haven Museum of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, may pose a challenge with its collection of more than 700 figures. Found inside the town's visitor center, the John Dillinger Museum in Hammond, Indiana, provides an up close look at this famous gangster and bank robber. Wax figurines depict his story, including a morgue scene.

Construction of this house began in 1884 and lasted until Sarah's death in1922. Even with the destruction of four floors during an earthquake, the home still amassed 160 rooms, two basements, 47 fireplaces, 950 doors, 40 stair cases and 10,000 window panes. It had features rare in other homes built during the time, including three elevators, a sewer system and gas lighting.

Over the years, reports of apparitions and unexplained events have caused debate about whether the Winchester mansion is actually haunted. Stories have emerged of unusual sounds and smells in the home. Many staff members have reported strange happenings, leading many to believe that perhaps there are spirits inside. Tours of the home are offered daily, with special flashlight tours on Halloween and on any Friday the 13th.

The Villisca Axe Murder House
On a residential street in Villisca, Iowa, stands the Villisca Axe Murder House. Interest in the home revolves around the astounding crime that occurred there in 1912. Josiah Moore, his wife Sarah, their four children and two guests were murdered while they slept one night. The case remaines unsolved, leaving the town and the house to forever be in the shadow of the murders.

Today, Villisca Axe Murder Home has been restored to resemble its original appearance and is open for tours by appointment. Visitors not only hear about the killings, but learn about how the town was changed afterwards. People are drawn to the house not only because of the unusual circumstances surrounding the murders but also because of the reported paranormal activities inside. Children's voices have been heard, mysterious shapes have appeared on photographs and ghostly figures sighted inside are a few reasons why visitors and ghost hunters are compelled to visit the house.

	A photograph of Lizzie Borden Photo Courtesy The Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast

The Lizzie Borden House
What today is the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast in Fall River, Massachusetts, was once the scene of an unsolved mystery. Built in 1845, the home is more famous for its past residents than for its architectural value. On an August morning in 1892, prominent citizens Andrew Borden and his wife Abby were murdered by an axe, which in itself was unusual for the time. Adding to the mysterious circumstances was that their daughter, Lizzie, was accused of the heinous crime. After the trial, she was found not guilty and the killer was never found.

Tours, accommodations and information about the murders are available at the house. Guests who stay the night are treated to a similar breakfast as the one the Borden's ate for their final meal. Candlelight tours of the house take people room to room, telling the tale of that awful day, as the evidence is placed before guests for them to decide if Lizzie was the killer or not. Each year on the anniversary of the Borden murders, the staff embark on a reenactment of the murder scene for the enjoyment of guests.

	Alcatraz Island Penitentiary Photo Courtesy Lewis Sommer, San Francisco Convention & Visitor's Bureau

HISTORIC PENITENTIARIES

For hundreds of years, institutions have attempted to rehabilitate those who have been convicted of crimes. Many of the older prisons offer tours of the buildings that once held America's most dangerous criminals. Several of these institutions invite guests to interact with some fairly morbid displays. At the Wyoming Frontier Prison in Rawlins, Wyoming, features a gas chamber that was once used in executions. Visitors can get strapped down and locked into the chamber, which is a unique part of this tour. Guides sometimes shock visitors by tossing a dummy down several stories to reenact prison suicides.

Historic penitentiaries often offer compelling glimpses into the conditions that prisoners faced during the early 20th century. Alcatraz in San Francisco, California, lets visitors tour cell blocks and common areas behind the cold and dreary prison walls. Another archaic jail in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Eastern State Penitentiary, features several thought-provoking exhibits. One such display is of the steel etchings of 41 juveniles who were sentenced to Death Row. Any glamor of prison life created by movies or TV will be altered completely after visiting the historic prisons across the United States.

WITCH ATTRACTIONS

Witch hunts, trials and burning stakes are all associated with one destination: Salem, Massachusetts. By embracing its past, the city draws many tourists to its bounty of macabre and historic sites. One such stop is the Witch House. Once the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin, an man who investigated suspected witches, it is the only remaining structure in Salem that is directly related the trials of 1692.

Public fallacies about the trials have led to the establishment of several museums. Aiming to educate through life-sized displays, historical reenactments and various artifacts, the Salem Witch Museum, the Witch Dungeon Museum and the Witch History Museum welcome visitors to tour their facilities. While it may not be commonly known, a significant proportion of Salem is currently involved in witchcraft. The Salem Witch Village was created as a vehicle to promote tolerance of and education about the occult of 1692 and modern times.

Adams, Tennessee, a small town approximately 30 mi (50 km) northwest of Nashville, boasts an interesting witch-related attraction of its own. Near to the Bell family homestead is the Bell Witch Cave, which was once thought to be haunted. In 1817, the family reported that a a female spirit, a witch named Kate, was tormenting them. She disappeared in 1828, but unusual occurances throughout the years have led many to believe Kate is still around. Tours of the cave and of the replicated cabin are available and give an in-depth look at the unusual happenings that were said to have happened there.

	A funeral parlor exhibit Photo Courtesy National Museum of Funeral Customs

FUNERAL MUSEUMS

America's museums cover a range of topics, from doll collections to macabre exhibits. Several museums have taken items found in funeral homes and combined them with historic information on the rituals, dress and customs associated with dying. One such institution, the Museum of Funeral Customs in Springfield, Illinois, examines how Westerners deal with death and mourning. Guests can view an embalming room filled with equipment, a hearse collection, a chapel, funeral furnishings and many other displays. The museum's extensive collection of mourning fashions, such as shrouds, jewelry and burial clothes, is one of its most prominent exhibits.

In Houston, Texas, another impressive compilation of funeral related items is available for guests to enjoy. The National Museum of Funeral History explores the traditions associated with these ceremonies. A look at the personal side of death is seen in its fantasy coffin exhibit, which features customized caskets built in Ghana that are in various shapes, including a giant chicken, an airplane and a lobster. Dying in America is examined in several exhibits that show the changes in techniques and burials over the years. One display looks at the introduction of embalming on the Cival War battlefields while another focuses on a casket factories from 1900s.