By Raegan Scharfetter/managing editor
Ghost hunting offers spooky Halloween alternative
The month of October brings seasonal treasures like an abundance of candy, costumes and new films, but one thing that remains year-round is truly haunted places.
The Collegian staff took it upon themselves to search for the spookiest locations Tarrant County has to offer such as River Legacy Park and the Stockyards including Miss Molly’s Hotel.
The first stop was the screaming bridge at River Legacy Park in Arlington. The legend of the screaming bridge is bound up in the actual events of a 1961 car accident and possibly another multi-vehicle wreck in the 1970s that reportedly resulted in multiple casualties.
The bridge itself seemed eerie when walking on it. However, when strolling along the pathways in the woods, our electromagnetic field detector went completely red. The EMF detector did not go off at any other time throughout our visit to River Legacy Park. The feeling of the park, especially at night, was scary, and we believed it had some paranormal activity occurring.
Fort Worth Stockyards Ghost Tour guide Eugene “Gene” Bonds showed the staff specific places in the Stockyards that are allegedly haunted, including the Stockyards Hotel where the infamous duo Bonnie and Clyde resided in Room 305 while rampaging through Fort Worth.
While on the tour, many sites with reported paranormal activity were not detected on the EMF detector except for Stockyard Station, Marine Creek that goes through the Stockyards tunnel and Miss Molly’s.
The Stockyard Station was another place that had a completely red EMF detector rating. This was in the middle of Stockyard Station. Many deaths have been reported in that particular area. So in theory, it may have been in the presence of ghosts. Marine Creek under the Stockyards tunnel had slight activity on the EMF detector but was completely surrounded by water so there was no room for interference from other sources.
Miss Molly’s Hotel was the final destination for The Collegian staff. Coming in at another location with a high EMF detector rating, it was concluded that it too was haunted.
General manager Paula Gowins said in the 12 years she has worked there, she has seen a full body apparition and witnessed an abundance of stuff moving around untouched. She has also heard from guests about the sights of Victorian women and children roaming about.
“The most significant sight I have seen while working here is a full body apparition of a cowboy,” Gowins said. “You can even hear his spurs while he is walking. I’ve been an innkeeper for many years and have seen a lot of paranormal activity here. But there have been no deaths.”
