Real Haunted Locations with Neely Powell- Roosevelt Island




It was a cool, clear September night when we boarded the Roosevelt Island Tramway, which is the oldest urban commuter tramway in America. Amazing views of New York City make it a wonderful ride.

One of the smaller islands around Manhattan, Roosevelt Island is named in honor of Franklin D. Roosevelt, is in the East River, and is about two miles long. The island has had several names because it was privately owned for many years. It’s now owned by the city of New York. 




It’s easy to believe the island is haunted. It was used for a prison and then several hospitals, including the New York City Lunatic Asylum. At one time, there were 1,700 patients at the asylum, about twice its capacity. What better place to house those you don’t want polite society to see?

This was the hospital reporter Nellie Bly infiltrated and exposed in her book, Ten Days in a Mad House. She wrote honestly of the maltreatment and woes of the patients from first-hand experience.

The smallpox hospital on the island was brside a research institute and played a role in developing the vaccine which effectively eradicated the disease by 1979. With government support, the Strecker Memorial Lab was sort of a mad scientist’s dream come true. There were all kinds of experiments, and lab subjects were nearby and easily accessible. It’s said many people “went missing” and many others died of “unknown causes,” but it was at the forefront of understanding many diseases and how they spread. Unfortunately, like Las Vegas, what happened on the island stayed on the island.

Our plan was to visit the grounds of the old smallpox hospital built in 1856. On the southernmost point of the island, the location was convenient for dropping off smallpox patients and retrieving bodies. Can you imagine the scene on the dock? As you’re taken off a boat to go to a hospital you hope will help you, the cargo going back to the city is the bodies of those who didn’t make it.

The tram to the island was full and the streets close to the station were bustling, but few people were near the hospital. The night was eerily quiet as we stood at the fence surrounding the building. The dark windows and crumbling facade made for a chilling and scary atmosphere.It was easy to imagine the spirits of the dead all around.

We hung around and took pictures as long as we could, but grew increasingly uncomfortable. This isn’t a place you want to be in the waning hours of the night with almost no one else in sight. 

The photo below was taken by Jan Powell. A ghosthunter told her it’s possible the tiny lights you see are ghostly orbs. They weren’t visible to us. 




Healing Magic
The Witches of New Mourne 
Book Three
Neely Powell 

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Date of Publication: Oct. 18, 2021
ISBN Paperback: 978-1-5092-3960-3  
ISBN Digital: 978-1-5092-3961-0
ASIN: B09F3VX1PCB
Number of pages: 279
Word Count: 65,001 
Cover Artist: Debbie Taylor

Tagline: An empathic witch. A magical warrior. Joined by love, they battle a demon and an evil spirit.

Book Description:

Eva Grace Connelly is a witch and a beloved healer. Rodric McGuire, paranormal expert and descendent of faerie warriors, adores the flame-haired beauty. But their future is on hold as a family curse threatens her life. 

Centuries ago, the Witches of New Mourne struck a dark bargain with the Woman in White. In exchange for peace, the malevolent spirit takes a Connelly witch from each generation. 

Eva Grace is convinced she can heal the ghost's troubled spirit and end the reign of terror. But violence and family heartbreak challenge that resolve. As Samhain approaches, the Woman and her vile demon have control. 

Is sacrifice the only road to peace? Can Eva Grace and Rodric uncover the secrets and lies at the heart of the curse?

Amazon     BN

Excerpt 2:

Eva Grace put her hand against the elderly woman’s chest and chanted quietly.

Rodric watched Inez’s color improve.

“Better?” Eva Grace asked.

“Yes, thank you. Now I have something for you.” Inez produced a little velvet bag. “This belonged to my husband Craig. The fae helped him find it.”
Her hands trembling, Inez opened the bag. The arrowhead she held out was of creamy stone and perfectly shaped. The tip was honed to a fine point.

Inez placed the arrowhead in Eva Grace’s palm.  “The day your mother was taken, Craig got out this arrowhead. He held it and cried like a baby. He wouldn’t tell me why. But he was a Connelly, and he had a good sense of magic and of danger. He told me to guard it until I knew it was time to share the power.”

Eva Grace stared down at the arrowhead.

“It’s time,” Inez whispered. “Only you can find the answers.”

The arrowhead glowed, becoming almost translucent. Eva Grace closed her fingers around it and swayed.

Rodric placed his hand on her shoulder. He felt a ripple of magic. She looked up at him, her face alight with beauty and strength.

The front door banged open, followed by a burst of cold wind that extinguished the fire.

“Hide it,” Inez warned Eva Grace. “Now.”

She stuffed the arrowhead in the top of her boot.



About the Author:

Leigh Neely and Jan Hamilton Powell are the writing team of Neely Powell. They met working at a rock ‘n roll radio station, discovered they’d both rather be writing fiction, and have been close friends ever since. Their path to cowriting paranormal romance took some detours. 

Leigh’s resume chronicles a diverse career as a disk jockey, newspaper reporter, advertising copywriter, magazine writer and editor. Jan wrote 24 romance novels as Celeste Hamilton for Silhouette and Avon Books and then built a career in corporate communications and public relations. 

Neely Powell became a successful team when they turned their attention to shifters, werewolves, witches, ghosts, fae and all things supernatural. 

Their first novel was TRUE NATURE from The Wild Rose Press, followed by AWAKENING MAGIC and HAUNTING MAGIC. The Witches of New Mourne trilogy will conclude in October 2021 with HEALING MAGIC. 

Their rules for maintaining a partnership are simple:  be honest, be kind, and bring Diet Coke and chocolate.









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1 comment:

  1. What a spooky trip!
    The things done to the people of those old asylums was atrocious!

    Michelle, your countdown Crypt Keeper
    https://zombiecrossings.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete