Happy Halloween Everyone!!!

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Is everyone ready for some scares and chills tonight? As usual our local newspaper runs a story every year about the Haunted cemetaries in our area. I was surprised they didn't add Oakwood cemetery as it is more haunted than Forest Park. BRUNSWICK - For years, Forrest Park Cemetery, also known as Pinewoods Cemetery, has been a place of abandonment and mystery. Stories of missing heads and limbs on statues, lights over gravesite markers and mist-covered headstones typically describe reported sightings by visitors to the cemetery. The stories are so rampant that there is a rumor Life magazine listed it as one of the top 10 haunted places in the country and another that it sits atop an Indian burial ground. There is the story of a hitchhiker who directed the driver who picked her up to take her up Pinewoods Avenue and disappeared while passing the cemetery. There is another story, dating to the 1940s or '50s of a couple who were "parking" in the cemetery when they suddenly heard strange noises. The man got out to investigate and shortly thereafter the woman heard a scraping noise on the roof of the car. As the story goes, when the woman got out to look she discovered her companion dangling from a tree and his feet were the source of the noise. The folklore surrounding Forrest Park has always drawn visitors curious about the unexplainable, especially around Halloween time, which invariably leads to spats of vandalism at the historic cemetery. "Most of the ghost stories that exist about the cemetery probably exist at about 10 other cemeteries in America," said Sharon Zankel, the Brunswick historian. "The most important thing is that we want the property respected. Local residents should not have to worry about litter or vandalism. This cemetery is really no different than any other cemetery."Although actual ghost sightings are debatable, the stories of bleeding statues, sounds of crying babies, random mists and the other unexplained phenomena said to occur there are well known throughout the country. The most commonly mentioned among visitors, however, is the general uneasy feeling of a "presence," especially around the area of the receiving tomb, which now is not much more than ruins. But it is still one of the few structures still standing in what was once considered the main area of the cemetery, according to Phyllis Harrison, president of the Brunswick Historical Society. Since taking ownership in 1990 the town has done a considerable amount of work at the cemetery including clearing away much of the brush to make it look at least presentable and hanging a new wrought iron gate at the entrance. Legends of the place being haunted continue, however, and are wide spread. In 2001, a group of paranormal investigators out of Central New York claim to have scrutinized the cemetery and debunked a number of the stories including the distinction by Life magazine. The group, called IMOVES, claims to have looked at the content description of Life going back to 1944 and found no such list exists. They also found no evidence of the dead body at the cemetery and no evidence that it is one of "the seven gateways of hell." They did, however, give a hint of credence to several first hand accounts of seeing "this Forrest Park Cemetery filled with ghostly tales Cemetery filled with ghostly tales. Well tonight I will not be able to celebarate the holiday as I have to work my overnight shift at the retirement home that I work in, the place can be a little scary some nights when I'm there, and tonight I'm a little worried.., not to mention there is a cemetery right across the street from the home, so I will be peeking out the window tonight to see if anything is going on. The cemetery in the article is right up the road from my job as well. So my question is. Do you have popular haunted places where you live?, and does your local paper run stories about them? Have you ever visited a haunted cemetery on Halloween, and did anything scary happen? Here is a picture of the entrance to Forest Park Cemetery.