Gore Orphanage is the subject of a local legend in Northern Ohio, which refers to a supposedly haunted ruin near the city of Vermilion in Lorain County, Ohio. The ruin is a building that formerly housed the Swift Mansion and, later, the Light of Hope Orphanage, and is the subject of local urban legends, whereby the violent deaths of young adults and children are alleged to have occurred. According to the urban legends, supernatural activity has occurred in the building since its closure. [1] [2]
Though historians have concluded that Gore Orphanage itself never existed, the Vermilion Chamber of Commerce has confirmed the existence of said orphanage, and discusses both the legend and truth of the orphanage. [3] The legend claims that in the 1800s Vermilion, OH, U.S.A, a fire was set which killed many children and one woman, whose ghosts now haunt the ruins. Historians also have determined that Gore Orphanage is the name of a road, not a building, and many unrelated people, places, and events simply have been combined into a ghost story. [4] [5]
The location that is claimed to be the actual site of Gore Orphanage is in fact the remains of Swift Mansion, also called Swift's Hollow, which was built and owned in 1840–42 by Joseph Swift. [4] Gore Orphanage Road is the only location in Vermilion, Ohio, whose name contains the words "Gore Orphanage." [6] Originally, the road was called simply "Gore Road," referring not to blood or tissue (as the ghost story implies) but to a surveyor's error in a gore (a narrow strip of land) along this road. [4] The word "orphanage" in the road's name actually refers to the Light of Hope Orphanage, [7] which is less than one mile away from the supposed Gore Orphanage site. [4] [6] [5] [8] [9]
The printing building of the Light of Hope Orphanage burned down during the morning of November 22, 1910, but without any injuries.
The Wilber family, who occupied Swift Mansion for a time, engaged in spiritual séances and eventually lost four young children to a local diphtheria epidemic; the séances and child deaths caused the location's reputation for being haunted. [4] However, the Wilber children did not die in Swift Mansion. [10]
The aspect of the legend regarding children trapped inside a burning building was likely inspired by the Collinwood school fire of 1908, which occurred years after the Swift Mansion events and the Light of Hope Orphanage opening [4] [11] and resulted in the deaths of 172 children and a few adults. [4] Swift Mansion itself burned down on the night of December 6, 1923, though there were no human casualties. [12]
The cries of orphans trapped in a fire, central to the legend, are claimed to be heard at the ruins of Gore Orphanage (Swift Mansion). However, investigators attribute the cries to the high-pitched hum of truck traffic on the nearby interstate highway, not visible from the area of the ruins. The Ohio Turnpike (Interstate 80) bridges the Vermilion River approximately 1+1⁄4 miles from the ruins. When a truck crosses the bridge, winds often carry the brief high hum to the ruins as a ghostly wail, unrecognizable as mechanical in origin. [4]
A local activity known as "legend tripping" involves teenagers testing one another's courage with ghost stories of haunted locations to which they travel by automobile. As early as 1905, teenagers were visiting the Swift Mansion before it developed its current Gore Orphanage legend, in search of the supernatural, due to its reputation for being haunted. [4] In later years, the sounds from unseen truck traffic were added to the legend as ghostly cries. [4]
A feature film by Principalities of Darkness LLC, is inspired by the legend. [13] The film stars Maria Olsen and Bill Townsend.
Season 5 Episode 9 of the television show Supernatural takes place at a fictitious hotel built atop the ruins of Gore Orphanage in Vermilion, Ohio. The protagonists, Sam and Dean Winchester, do battle with the ghost of Gore Orphanage's caretaker and several children who she scalped and murdered.
Lorain is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located in Northeast Ohio on Lake Erie at the mouth of the Black River, about 25 miles (40 km) west of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 65,211, making it Ohio's ninth-largest city, the third-largest in Greater Cleveland, and the largest in Lorain County by population.
A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property. Parapsychologists often attribute haunting to the spirits of the dead who have suffered from violent or tragic events in the building's past such as murder, accidental death, or suicide.
Legend tripping is a practice in which a usually furtive nocturnal pilgrimage is made to a site which is alleged to have been the scene of some tragic, horrific, and possibly supernatural event or haunting. The practice mostly involves the visiting of sites endemic to locations identified in local urban legends, and can serve as a rite of passage. Legend tripping has been documented most thoroughly to date in the United States.
Collinsport is the fictional setting of Dark Shadows, the 1960s Dan Curtis Productions Gothic horror soap opera.
Collinwood Mansion is a fictional house featured in the Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows, built in 1795 by Joshua Collins. Collinwood has been home to the Collins family and sometimes unwelcome supernatural visitors since its inception. The house is located near the town of Collinsport, Maine, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Due to frightening rumors and legends, almost every resident of the town is afraid to drive by the house. The house has more than 40 rooms, most of which are closed off due to the lack of inhabitants and financial reasons. It features numerous secret passageways, including one leading to a parallel timeline, a time-traveling stairway, and a room perceived as a playroom by some and a linen closet by others. Most of the household activity revolves around the drawing room and foyer, and occasionally extends to the kitchen, dining room, and study. Collinwood is notorious for causing unrest and frustration among both the residents and visitors, likely due to its ominous atmosphere and mysterious past. Despite its unsettling reputation, the allure of the grand estate continues to draw intrigue and curiosity from those brave enough to explore its halls. It has been the scene of deaths, random acts of violence, and other misfortunes. In many episodes of the series, most local characters find it easier to just avoid it and the Collins family altogether.
Ghost hunting is the process of investigating locations that are purportedly haunted by ghosts. The practice has been heavily criticized for its dismissal of the scientific method. No scientific study has ever been able to confirm the existence of ghosts. Ghost hunting is considered a pseudoscience by the vast majority of educators, academics, science writers and skeptics. Science historian Brian Regal described ghost hunting as "an unorganized exercise in futility".
Summerwind, formerly known as Lamont Mansion, is a ruined mansion on the shores of West Bay Lake in Vilas County, Wisconsin. Located on private land, its ruins are closed to the public. A number of urban legends and ghost stories in popular culture have contributed to its reputation as a haunted house.
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The following are reportedly haunted locations in California, in the United States. This list is sorted by county.
There are a number of widely reported haunted locations in the state of Oregon in the United States. Many reported hauntings in Oregon are linked to such historic places as the Oregon Trail and early coastal communities. Portland, the state's largest city and metropolitan area, was considered one of the most dangerous port cities in the world at the turn of the 20th century. Its gritty history includes many locations alleged or reported to be haunted. In 2012, USA Today named Portland among the top ten most haunted cities in the United States.
Gore Orphanage is a 2015 independent horror film and the directorial debut of Emily Lapisardi, who co-wrote the film with Cody Knotts. The film premiered at the Sandusky State Theater on July 11, 2015 and was released as a streaming video through Amazon on July 21. The film was inspired by the urban legend by the same name in Northern Ohio.