The Haunted Ghost Town of Bodie

The old mining settlement at Bodie in California is America’s best preserved ghost town. Dating back to 1859, Bodie is frozen in a state of “arrested decay”, looked after as a historic park but not restored to its original condition.

This makes the town both authentic and mysterious, with original fixtures, furniture, and personal items in the buildings left untouched since their occupants deserted them.

 Bodie abounds with legends of the paranormal, but none more famous than the haunted Cain residence. Jim Cain was a local businessman who prospered from bringing lumber to Bodie.

Buildings were constructed from and heated by wood, and the mills burned vast amounts of it in their steam-driven engines, fattening Mr Cain’s wallet.

 Rumors spread that Cain and his maid were having an affair, and the maid was promptly fired by Cain’s wife. Publicly disgraced, the unfortunate maid was unable to find work and took her own life. It’s reported that the maid’s ghost haunts the Cain house.

 















Over the years, the house has provided accommodation for park rangers and has also been open to the public. People have reported ghostly apparitions in an upstairs bedroom, while others have heard music coming from the same room.

Staying in the house, the wife of a park ranger was lying in her bed and felt a strong pressure on her and was unable to move. Another ranger who had lived there had the same experience combined with the door flying open by itself and feeling of suffocation in the same room.

The Curse of Bodie

One of the most bizarre stories associated with Bodie is a mysterious curse that has been cast on multiple visitors to the town. Allegedly, the ghosts of the residents serve as guardians of the town’s property, bringing bad luck and misfortune to souvenir hunters who take anything with them when they leave.

Each month, park rangers receive objects and letters in the mail from people who admit to taking items from the town and beg the rangers to put them back. The letters also tell tales of horrible incidents such as mysterious illnesses, car accidents, and even death. 


The rangers have been on television specials about Bodie, speaking of the accounts, and assuring the senders that the objects are always returned to their original places as requested.

Curious History: The Changeling

That’s not my baby!
  A “Changeling” was a creature from European folklore that took the form of an infant.  According to legends, a demon, troll, or elf would swap a normal infant with a Changeling, leaving the parents to discover a strange, emotionless, or disturbed hollow creature in place of their child. 
  While today there are many scientific explanations to such phenomena (autism, mental retardation, exposure to toxins, etc.) at the time their were no rational explanations for such occurrences.  To Medieval parents Changelings were very real.  Most tragically the method of retrieving a child was to expose the Changeling, usually through horrific form of abuse such as exposure to hot objects, leaving the Changeling in a pile of manure at night, or near drowning.  It was thought that by exposing the Changeling to such danger, the fairies would return the real child, not wanting their spawn to be harmed.  Religious reformer Martin Luther believed in a more drastic approach, advocated infanticide when shown a Changeling in 1532;
  “I, Dr. Martin Luther, saw and touched a changeling. It was twelve years old, and from its eyes and the fact that it had all of its senses, one could have thought that it was a real child. It did nothing but eat; in fact, it ate enough for any four peasants or threshers. It ate, shit, and pissed, and whenever someone touched it, it cried. When bad things happened in the house, it laughed and was happy; but when things went well, it cried. It had these two virtues. I said to the Princes of Anhalt: “If I were the prince or the ruler here, I would throw this child into the water–into the Molda that flows by Dessau . I would dare commit homicidium on him!”  (Weimar: Böhlau, 1912-1921)
  Belief in Changelings would continue beyond the Middle Ages, even lasting in some rural communities into the 19th century.