Iconic series Unsolved Mysteries has been captivating audiences ever since it first aired in 1987, and continues to fascinate viewers even after it aired its final episode in 2002.
The spooky TV drama, which was originally hosted by Robert Stack and later hosted by Dennis Farina, featured re-enactments and interviews to retell mysteries that remain unsolved.
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While the series featured crimes, tales of loved lost, and unexplained history, it is the unexplained paranormal events featured on the show that still has many people shaking in the boots and checking under their bed before they go to sleep.
More than a decade since it last aired, these are the ghost stories that still creep us out.
Gettysburg Ghosts
Despite the somewhat corny re-enactment, the premiere episode from the show’s second season still keeps people up at night. The 1863 Battle of Gettysburg is haunting enough, claiming upwards of 50,000 soldiers and causing the rivers to run red with blood, according to some sources, but Civil War re-enactor Ray Hock’s story of a lost soul is what is truly terrifying.
“I think I seen a ghost. I think this guy had original equipment on. Original coat. Everything, to me, points out that it was original,” Hock explained during the episode. “He appeared to be a man laying there, but he wasn’t solid like you and I are. I mean, he was more of a hazy mist. He was shivering ’cause it looked like he was in a lot of pain.”
Resurrection Mary
The story of Resurrection Mary still has people by-passing Resurrection Cemetery in Chicago.
According to the legend, and as supported by the story of a cab driver featured in this third season episode, Resurrection Mary is a ghost who has been wandering the grounds near Resurrection Cemetery in Chicago since 1939. She often approaches those in cars, asking for a ride.
“I think that of all the ghost stories worth believing in, Resurrection Mary is the one with the best documentation. The witnesses that I’ve found are remarkably level-headed. And they’re primarily blue collar, middle-class types who have steady jobs and who have no other major claims to psychic encounters in their lives,” historian Richard Crowe said.
Lizzie Borden’s House
Everyone is familiar with the story of Lizzie Borden, the woman who was tried and acquitted for the 1892 axe murders of her father, Andrew Borden, and her stepmother, Abby Borden. While Lizzie Borden died in 1927, some say that she still roams the house where the murders that have fascinated America for more than a century occurred.
“When I was about 16 years old, I was in my bedroom reading a book, and above my room I could distinctly hear footsteps and the sound of, like marbles being played and it almost sounded like little children’s laughter,” said Martha McGinn, whose grandparents purchased the Borden house in 1968. She described her first encounter with Lizzie Borden during a season 3 episode of Unsolved Mysteries.
While the world may never know who is responsible for the Borden murders, people have the opportunity to visit the Borden household, which is now a bed and breakfast with a side of paranormal activity.
Comedy Store Ghosts
Though it is meant to be a place of laughter, The Comedy Store in Los Angeles, California has quickly earned a title for a place that elicits fear.
The famous comedy club was the focus Unsolved Mysteries‘ season 4, episode 21. While the hotspot has featured legendary acts like Garry Shandling, Jim Carrey, John Belushi, and Louie Anderson, it has also featured its fair share of spirits.
According to Laurie Jacobson, who waitressed at The Comedy Store, she’d often find unset tables after she set them only moments before. Former doorman Joey Gaynor claimed that the club would come to life at the witching hour, or 3 a.m. Gaynor reported noticing that candles would continue to flicker even after they had been blown out.
While the mystery of The Comedy Store’s strange occurrences remains unsolved, many believe that it is haunted by the spirits of the mobsters who used the place as a hangout in the ’30s and ’40s.
The Devil’s Backbone
Unsolved Mysteries‘ detailing of an area of land northeast of San Antonio, Texas dubbed “The Devil’s Backbone,” still has people convinced that they will never step foot on this paranormal rural area.
The Devil’s Backbone, an area said to be boasting more ghosts and paranormal activity than anywhere else in the United States, was the focus of a season 6 episode, which featured Bert Wall, one of the residents of the land. According to Wall, one evening when he was writing, his dog began to bark. When he looked up and out the window, he reportedly saw a Spanish Monk wearing clothing from the 1700s. The monk disappeared after only a moment.
Wall believes that he saw the ghost of a Franciscan Monk by the name of Espinoza, who lived in the area nearly 300 years ago.
Mary Celeste
Many a ship have found their demise on the sea, but none are quite as notorious in the paranormal world as the Mary Celeste.
During the fourteenth episode of Unsolved Mysteries‘ seventh the season, the tale of the Mary Celeste was detailed. The ship, which had set sail on Nov. 5, 1872 on a voyage from New York to Europe, was captained by Benjamin Briggs. Along with several other men aboard, the ship was also carrying thousands of barrels of luxury Italian wine, though the ship and the men never made it to their destination.
Over a week after the Mary Celeste set sail, it was discovered on Dec. 4 abandoned in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. David Moorehouse, a fellow captain who had had a meal with Briggs the day before the ship was discovered, gathered a crew to investigate the ship. Upon boarding, Briggs and his men discovered a shattered compass and a rope hanging off the side of the ship. There had been no evidence of foul play.
To this day, the mystery of the Mary Celeste and the fate of its crew remains unsolved.
Tatum’s Ghost
The story of a haunting in one Georgia home is the thing of nightmares, and perhaps one of the most terrifying stories ever detailed on Unsolved Mysteries.
Jim and Kay Tatum built their dream home just outside of Atlanta, Georgia, only to put it up for sale months later due to the paranormal activity. According to Kay, the haunting began one night when she felt a presence coming just outside her bedroom. When she got up, she noticed a man walking past the bedroom doorway.
“It was definitely a man, and he was swinging his arms lightly, and his head was slightly bent, and he walked briskly past me. At first I thought it was my husband. And I went into the bedroom and there my husband was in the bed, so I thought we had a burglar,” Kay detailed during the season 7 episode.
Over the course of the next several months, both Kay and Jim continued to notice a number of strange things and experience numerous paranormal encounters. Eventually, they put their home up for sale.
