Michigan's Most Haunted Bridges - Puttygut Bridge in China Township #hauntedbridges

One story about the bridge involves a truck driver who died when his truck washed away during a spring flood. Some versions claim he was drunk and on his way home from the bar and didn’t realize the bridge was flooded until it was too late, he drove right into the water and the truck washed away.

Urban legends claim that if you stop on the bridge and put you keys on top of the car the ghost of a man who was killed on the bridge will come to your vehicle. Another version says that you should roll down your window and put your keys on the top of the vehicle you'll hear a splash and see the dead driver. The best time to do this is rumored to be between 2-3 AM.

Sometimes the ghostly figure will simply walk across the bridge, other times he’ll crawl out of the Belle River below.

People swear they have seen both scenarios play out.

But what most people claim to see is a ghostly light. Michigan’s Otherside author Amberrose Hammond investigated in the summer of 2005 and she seen the light, along with most of her crew. All but one spotted a strange perfectly round light off in the distance moving around. One second it was there, then it was gone. They tried to find a source, then tried to recreate it to see if it could have been headlights but they had no explanation. 

A commenter on her post claims to have visited in 2010 a couple times. The first time she experienced a vision of something human shaped walking on the water followed by a glowing light in the distance. The next time she didn’t hear anything but heard splashing in the water.

The Puttygut Bridge is just west of the intersection of Puttygut and McKinley Roads about seven miles southwest of St. Clair.

Halloween in the Time of Corona - How to Keep Halloween Alive During a Pandemic #halloweeninthetimeofcorona #quarantineoween

"There is a child in every one of us who is still a trick-or-treater looking for a brightly-lit front porch." ~ Robert Brault

Halloween has a special kind of magic no other holiday has.

It teaches us that fear can be fun. The heart-pounding, spine-tingling, thrills and chills that spook us during the Halloween season get our blood pumping and act as memento mori- a reminder that death is ever-present and that we should live life to the fullest enjoying each moment while we can.

Halloween offers us just that as we trek into the darkness of night to go trick or treating as a child or to visit haunted houses as an adult. 

Halloween offers us a moment to indulge in the decadence of too many sweets or alcohol filled drinks. It is a time of dark enjoyment. Blood-curdling screams often dissolve into laughter as we realize the fear is just make-believe. Fear, fantasy, and revelry mingle making us feel more alive than ever.

Halloween is often a child’s first taste of the forbidden fruit. It is a night children get to stay up late and go out after dark knocking on doors asking strangers for candy…things that on any other day is expressly forbidden.

Halloween also offers children a true taste of the make-believe, of pretending to be anything they want to be through their Halloween costume. When else can we dress up in costumes, hide behind masks, and pretend to be something we aren't?  It is our first magical taste of the transformation power of costumes.

As we get older that magic stays with us and sometimes it's not about pretending to be something we aren't on Halloween but it's the ability to finally show who we really are. On Halloween, we can show our hidden selves, the scary, beautiful, sexy, powerful, goofy, silly, crazy self that we are afraid to show off any other day. On Halloween, we can be anything we want to be for that one day. And sometimes we decide to be our true selves.

That's why we can't let COVID kill Halloween. We've figured out how to make things work for almost everything- school, work, socializing virtually.

We can figure out creative ways to celebrate the spooky season.

Here Are Some Ways To Celebrate Safely

• Many of us still have fingers crossed for a miracle that trick or treating can be saved but realistically we have to plan for alternatives. Depending on the status of the pandemic and current infection rate of your area in October, I think some places could safely set up trunk or treats with proper social distancing. People giving out candy should all practice proper social distancing while encouraging the trick or treaters to do the same. Set up guidelines to keep everyone at least 6 feet apart. Encourage all adults to wear masks. The pandemic kind, not the Halloween kind. Though you can combine the two by having fun Halloween themed pandemic masks. (I predict there will be many, many Plague Doctor masks this Halloween season)

• Host digital Halloween parties with friends and family via Zoom, Skype, Google Meeting, or another online platform. Encourage everyone to dress up. Have costume contests. Host a wine and Halloween candy pairing or an Autumn themed beer tasting (think Pumpkin Spice Brews and Hard Ciders) event for adults.

• Netflix usually adds Halloween favorites during the season, use NetflixParty.com, and host a Halloween movie watch party with friends. One of my family Halloween traditions is watching Hocus Pocus together. If it’s not a school night, we will watch it after trick or treating. If Halloween is on a weeknight we’ll usually watch it the weekend before. This year I think we might have an entire night dedicated to Hocus Pocus because the new Hocus Pocus board game released July 26.  Other family-friendly Halloween movies are the Disney Halloweentown movies, The Addams Family, the Goosebumps movies, Frankenweenie, A Nightmare Before Christmas, Para Norman, Corpse Bride, and Monster House.

• Have a family pumpkin carving event. Every year my family has an annual pumpkin carving night. The guys are very competitive and creative, they'll break out the power tools and see who can create the craziest design. If carving isn’t an option for you pumpkins can be painted, covered in glitter, or accessorized with jewels and costume pieces. You can even use craft pumpkins in place of real ones. My book Pumpkins and Party Themes: 50 DIY Designs to Bring Your Halloween Extravaganza to Life features many no-carve options for decorating pumpkins. 

• Create new family Halloween traditions- like ghosts stories and s'mores around a bonfire or fireplace.  No real fire option? Grab a fun indoor s'mores maker from Walmart.com, Bed, Bath, and Beyond,  or Amazon. Add a spooky Halloween twist to your s'mores by using Halloween Peeps in place of marshmallows and Halloween chocolates in place of regular Hershey bars. Want more Halloween S'mores ideas? Visit SpookyLittleHalloween.com

• It’s in our best interest to wear masks during this pandemic, so why not make them fun? Get masks made with fun Halloween fabrics. Have a contest among friends and family, post pictures, and have people vote on their favorites. I purchased these fun Hocus Pocus themed masks on Facebook. Several online merchants have Sanderson Sisters masks. What a great way to complete your Hocus Pocus costumes while being safe during COVID.

• Make your own Plague Doctor masks and decorate them with paint, glitter, jewels, feathers, scraps of fabric, or whatever other craft supplies you have around the house.  You can create them with papier-mâché, paper, cardboard, leather or fabric.

Full DIY on Makezine.com

• I've heard that many people are planning to go all out with their outdoor Halloween decor this year. Take that to the next level by organizing a neighborhood Halloween House contest. A fun option for neighborhoods or small towns is a Halloween House contest. Our area does this for Christmas and the winner gets a sign in their yard and a prize pack full of goodies donated by local businesses. The whole family can help decorate the yard and house for the Halloween contest. Neighbors can vote online. Perhaps work with your local Chamber of Commerce or Homeowner’s Association to set up something official and encourage local businesses to donate a few prizes. This gives the family a Halloween project to work on together and the neighborhood something fun to do together while staying safely apart.

• Support a good cause: The Halloween Fun Pack. Jason Rhodes, the founder of the Halloween Fun Pack Project, hopes to provide up to 1,000 free “fun packs” with candy, stickers, trading cards, activity pages, and more this October to children throughout the U.S. who may be unable to trick-or-treat due to COVID-19. “Most people at this time of the year normally are thinking about beaches and vacations, not jack-o-lanterns and skeletons,” said Rhodes. “To make this project a reality, however, likely will require months of fundraising, which is why it’s important to start now.” Rhodes is no stranger to starting Halloween planning early. For nine years, he organized Treat Street, a safe Halloween trick-or-treating event in Salisbury, MD, that required months of advance planning and a similar fundraising commitment to serve hundreds of children annually. Learn more and donate at https://www.halloweenfunpack.com/donate

• Depending on your location and the level of restrictions your area is under in October you could have a series of micro-parties. Micro-parties are small gatherings consisting of 10 or fewer people. You could have a craft party with your crafty friends. Get the kids together for games, costumes, and pumpkin decorating. Have a small Halloween dinner party. Host a Halloween High Tea. These are all ideas that offer maximum fun for a small group of people. 

• If we have to quarantine and stay safe at home, then we'll put everything into it and have Halloween fun safely. Quarantine-O-Ween Part 2. March 31 was Quarantine-O-Ween, a day to break the monotony of quarantine and give Halloween fanatics something fun to do in the time of corona, because the depression and fear was hitting hard, and Halloween lovers know first hand that a great fix for that is fear that we can control. That's why so many love the spooky life and horror movies. We control the fear. We won't let Halloween be canceled. Where there's a will there's a way and Halloween lovers worldwide will find a way to celebrate. It might not look like what we're used to, it might not be a physical party with all our friends, but Halloween will live. 

Michigan's Most Haunted Bridges- Old Stronach Bridge in Manistee #hauntedbridges

The name "Manistee" is thought to be an Ottawa word. It could be a derivation of ministigweyaa which means "river with islands at its mouth." Or it could be a version of an Ojibwa term that meant "spirit of the woods."

In 1830 the village of Manistee was one of about 15 Ottawa (Odawa) villages along the shore of Lake Michigan. Much of Manistee was designated as an Odawa Reservation from 1836-1848.

Stronach is a small town in Manistee County. It was originally settled as Paggeotville then renamed in 1841 when John & Adam Stronach built a sawmill on Manistee Lake and another on the Manistee River.

In 1849 the Native reservation on the land was dismantled and the land was given to white settlers.

On October 8, 1871, a fire swept through the town, decimating over half of the city.

Legend says that an entire family burned to death in a house near the Old Stronach Bridge: mom, dad, and two children.

People often see apparitions of people on the bridge including two children. They also hear splashes in the water and children laughing. The bridge and the water are thought to have been a happy playground of the children who were killed in the fire.

Photo from https://historicbridges.org/

The current bridge on the site was built in 1887 by Detroit Bridge and Iron Works of Detroit.

Other spooky places are close by.

The Old Stronach Cemetery is small but scary cemetery right down the road from the bridge. 

Nearby on Maple Street in Manistee is the Ramsdell Theatre that is plagued with electrical disturbances that many attributes to ghosts, possibly to the ghost of Mr. Ramsdell himself who has been spotted roaming about the old theatre with an unknown ghostly gal.  The ghost of a little girl has been spotted in the basement.

A Stream of Darkness by Avery Kilpatrick #urbanfantasy

A Stream of Darkness
Crymsen Crescent
Book One
Avery Kilpatrick

Genre: Urban Fantasy, New Adult with a dash of romance
Publisher: Avery Kilpatrick
Date of Publication: July 31, 2020
ASIN: B08DQRLCNC
ISBN: 9798645700447
Word Count: 62,358

Cover Artist: Warren Design

Book Description:

A reformed killer, a dragon agent, and a lone shifter must work together to investigate four abductions…

I've always had a close relationship with death.

Six years ago, I was the Renegade, the Wolf of Eden, terrorizing the streets of a small town in Mississippi. Now, after a plea deal that saved my life, I work for the police as a consultant and unofficial cop.

Obsidian Moon, the Underworlder police agency, isn't doing anything about the disappearances of four college women. It falls to my shoulders while I'm stressing over my college assignments and the new transfer who thinks testing my control is a great pasttime.

Then there's him. The mystery shifter who danced with me at a club and reminds me of home.  And he seems to be more than just a random stranger who walked up to an ex-murderer and danced rather than fight.

But I have bigger concerns than two sexy men on my tail as a stream of darkness hangs over Paradise Grove.

The opening of a new series, A Stream of Darkness, will have you guessing at every turn and turning the pages to learn more.

Amazon

Excerpt:

I sidestepped the ramming bull—well, technically, he was a werewolf—and watched with growing amusement as he slammed into the bar.

As one of the more prominent clubs on the Quad, Mirage was filled to the brim with writhing bodies hypnotized by the pulsing music that resounded from the DJ’s throne. The walls thrummed with the powerful beats and siren acoustics coaxed people into drowning themselves in alcohol. Flashing lights of gold and sapphire, of ruby and amethyst, of emerald and topaz, cast colorful shadows on the clubbers who watched the growing brawl in amusement and fear.

I cocked my head to the side and ebony-gray curls swayed to the left as mint eyes burned like a raging pyre as I watched him stumble to his feet. A Cheshire Cat smirk pulled my lips back over elongated canines that gleamed under the colorful neon lights. “Olé!”

The bar, a mix of black quartz and wood, won this round as it remained unharmed. The werewolf shook his head, the tightly braided red curls bouncing lightly against the left side of his skull. His jade eyes were glazed in confusion and there were flecks of pale yellow from the wolf peering through his gaze as his temper grew shorter. He held a hand to his side and attempted to take a deep breath only to hiss quietly. Though wolves, like most Underworlders, could heal themselves through either magic or blood, it took time to fix fractured bones. His linebacker build didn’t help matters either as he held out another hand to grip the bar to steady himself.

He snarled, a rumbling sound that probably caused him more pain than he let on. Our audience murmured as the less than sober patrons realized that the scar dominating my face wasn’t just any old scar from a run-in gone awry. Flowing from my left jaw to the bridge of my nose, the puckered, jagged scar was as much a moniker as a reminder of my “sin.”  

“Mind givin’ me another shot, Izzy?” I drawled, my gaze never once leaving the wolf in front of me as we circled each other.

Izzy was already working on my drink before the last word left my mouth. Her hands flashed after working for years as a bartender on the fast-paced Quad, and she wasn’t at all bothered by the brawl in front of her. “I should be cutting you off, Luce, but since alcohol doesn’t effect you—what the hell, right?”

Pink eyes remained amused as she watched the crowd around us groan while money exchanged hands. She had her long, straight platinum locks pulled into a ponytail as two square strips caressed the sides of her sharp cheeks. Placing the shot glass on the tabletop, she placed a fifty-dollar bill beside it with a good-natured grumble.

I chuckled, and the redheaded wolf took the momentary distraction as a chance to tackle me. Sidestepping him, I placed my hands on his back—barely a brush of my fingertips—and slammed my knee into his abdomen. The crunch of bone and the wheeze of air as a rib punctured his lung reached my ears, and my glittering eyes narrowed as he collapsed at my feet with a groan. Either he was truly a newbie with fighting a petite woman like me, or he was attacking with emotion rather than logical reasoning.

As my father would say, he was fighting for his pride and not for survival.

Heading to the bar to collect my shot, I tossed it back with a hearty sigh as the burn slid down my throat. Without me asking, Izzy refilled my glass, and I repeated the action before slamming the shot down on the bar as stumbling steps reached my ears over the roar of the music and drunken crowd. Sighing, I glanced over a narrow shoulder to see the wolf clutching his side as blood dripped from his bottom lip. He just would not accept defeat, no matter how much bigger a predator I was.

“Look, sourpuss,” I adjusted the fingerless gloves on my hands and rolled the sleeves of my leather jacket to my elbows. Pulling my thick, ebony curls behind me, I continued, “I’d hate to kill your pride in front of all these people, but I’ll gladly do it if you’re raring for a good ol’ fight.”

Glaring at me, he clenched his teeth at the calm indifference in my voice as I was not at all intimidated by his hulking form or the flecks of gold in his eyes. He towered over my five-two frame and I looked like a sixteen-year-old girl with a blunt mouth that got me into trouble, but I wasn’t joking around this time.

About the Author:

Avery Kilpatrick was born in Flowood, Mississippi, in April 1996. Raised in a small town in the Mississippi Delta, she has a fondness for nature and the cotton fields that create Southern snow pastures in the fall. After writing her first novel when she was thirteen, Avery decided to pursue her dream as an author at a young age.

An alumnus of Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, Avery graduated with a Bachelor’s in English. She also worked on the student-run newspaper, The Delta Statement, during her four-year career at Delta State as copy-editor and Editor-in-Chief.

Avery currently lives in a ranch-style home in her hometown in Greenwood, Mississippi. The mother of three fur babies, Cinnamon the spoiled cat, Ginger the rambunctious old lady, and Remington a.k.a. Remi the service dog, Avery has enough fur from shedding animals to make a fourth pet. When Avery isn’t busy writing her next novel, she goes on walks with her mother and dogs, watches Outlander or Criminal Minds on Netflix, or can be found curled up on the couch with Cinnamon reading a good book.

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Website: https://averykilpatrick.com/

Blog: https://averykilpatrick.com/blog

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Michigan's Most Haunted Bridges- Trowbridge Road Bridge in Bloomfield #hauntedbridges

This concrete T-Beam bridge that crossed over the Grand Trunk Railroad was built 1930 by A. Guthrie and Company. Decorative false arches gave it a unique appearance.

It is 231 feet long, with a 44-foot-wide deck carrying a 30-foot-wide roadway. The odd thing is, Trowbridge Road itself is less than a mile long and basically ends at the bridge.

The bridge was closed in early 2017 and slated for demolition in 2019.

Sad stories claim that numerous teens have committed suicide by jumping from the bridge 100 feet to their deaths on the railroad tracks below.

Spray-painted names on and around the bridge are said to be the names of those who jumped to their deaths.

Many strange things happen to people who decide to stroll across the bridge- unseen hands that push you toward the edge, disembodied voices that come from nowhere, and the occasional human shaped shadow that lurks at the edge of the bridge.

In article from C&G News about Detroit Hauntings a man was interviewed who claimed he heard an urban legend about the bridge being tied to satanic rituals:

Michael Babbish, of St. Clair Shores, grew up near the bridge and heard folklore passed down through generations about the location.

“Everyone knew it was a haunted place growing up. It was just kind of known,” he said. “I’ve heard multiple stories about what happened there to make it haunted, but I have no idea. No one knows exactly.”

He said a priest confirmed to him once that, long ago, local teens conducted some kind of satanic ritual there.

“What I hear is there was some type of incident that happened at Trowbridge in the ’40s or ’50s that involved the death of some type of high schooler or middle schooler, and it is suspected some kind of witchcraft or satantic ritual led to a mass suicide kind of thing, but (the story) changed every time.”

Many visitors have claimed to see the spirits of children and teenagers on the bridge and hear the screams of those who jumped to their death.

Michigan's Most Haunted Bridges - Oakwood Avenue Bridge in Owosso #hauntedbridges

The Oakwood Avenue bridge was built in 1876 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company

Adjacent to the Kiwanis Park this is a pedestrian only bridge over the Shiawassee River.

This Whipple through truss bridge was once open to vehicular traffic but when a new bridge was built on Gould Street in 1975 the Oakwood was turned into a local landmark perfect for leisurely strolls.

At some point after becoming a footbridge it was repainted blue after years of being a salmon pink color giving it the nickname, the Pink Bridge.

Photographer Nathan Holth

An old urban legend claims that two young lovers decided to end their lives by jumping off the bridge.

No one knows why these 18 years decided to create suicide pact or exactly when this occurred though https://99wfmk.com/ claims the story happened around 1900.

For years people have claimed to see apparitions of the two young lovers on the bridge. Others have seen a horrific replay of their suicide. The two seem to be doomed to repeat their deaths over and over again.

Michigan's Most Haunted Cemeteries - Blood Cemetery in Laingsburg

The creep factor of this cemetery probably started with the name, Blood. That’s enough to get the imagination going.

There are several urban legends about the cemetery.

The stories all seem to feature Doctor Blood.

The wealthy Blood family lived in the area in 1800's. They even built their own cemetery on the land. The last surviving member of the family was Dr. Blood. He lived in a creepy old mansion next to the cemetery, which became known as Blood House. The legend claims that the doctor shot his wife with a shotgun then hacked her body to bits with an axe. Then he hung himself from a tree in the cemetery. Now the ghosts of Dr. and Mrs. Blood haunt the cemetery.

Another version of the urban legend claims that the ghost of Doctor Blood will try to murder anyone who visits the cemetery on Halloween night.

One detailed version of the urban legend features a more modern version of Dr. Blood and the demise of his wife.

One Halloween night a bunch of teens visited the cemetery. They spotted a ghostly figure moving among the gravestones, this spooked them so much they decided to make a quick exit. But as they were leaving one boy decided to dare another to go into the old Blood Mansion.

Of course he took the dare.

After about an hour the boy had not come out. His friends were terrified to go in so they drove to the nearest police station. The sheriff on duty said, Don’t you know old Dr. Blood lives there? He doesn’t like anyone trespassing on his property.

When they arrived back at the old mansion it was ablaze. The police called the fire department who tried to put out the flames but the house burned to the ground.

After the fire was out they sifted through the rubble and found the charred remains of the missing teen boy. His hands and feet were bound and a shotgun and bloody axe were found beside him.

A freshly dug grave was found in the cemetery. They dug it up and found the headless body of woman in a red gown. It was Mrs. Blood.

Many have claimed to see a headless and armless woman in a white nightgown wandering the cemetery late at night. Others claim to see Dr. Blood patrolling the land to keep trespassers away. Orbs and cold spots have been experienced by ghost hunters along with a weird feeling emanating off a big old tree.

There are several stories about teens who visited the cemetery and regretted it. Many have claimed to see Dr. Blood with an axe in one hand and a shotgun in the other.

One teen couple crashed their motorcycle after visiting the cemetery. In 1989 two teen girls wanted to check out the legend but the car spun out of control and crashed into Round Lake where they drowned trapped in the car.

In the book Ghost Hunting Michigan, Bradley P. Mikulka recounts a story that a friend told him about a group of four bored teenagers looking for something fun to do. They grabbed some beer and went to the cemetery. A few drinks in the boys started getting loud and taunting the spirits.  After not getting any response they decided the place wasn’t haunted. As they were getting ready to leave they heard a growl from by the caretaker’s shed. 

They looked in that direction and spotted red eyes staring at them. They decided to high tail it out of there fast.

But the car wouldn’t move. No matter how much gas they gave it, it just wouldn’t go. One guy got out to see if they were stuck on something. What he saw chilled him to the bone. A large creature around seven feet tall with wings and glowing red eyes.

He jumped back in the car and screamed “punch it”. The car finally spun its wheels and took off.  He told his friends about the creature and they all looked back to see the red eyes following them. No matter how fast they went they didn’t lose it. They sped through town trying to lose the beast behind them. They were so terrified they ran a red light and were t-boned by a semi. The only survivor was in the backseat on the passenger side. He told his story to the police but passed away a few days later.

No records can be found to confirm any of these tales.

The only thing known to be true is that a family named Blood lived there in the 1800s.

The Blood Cemetery is on Lancaster Road, East of Westgate Drive.