Ulalume
tart of darkness
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2009
- Messages
- 3,340
- Location
- Not Texas
The area where i'm living now has an interesting legend, and it's presence seems to hang over the town. even though talking about it is frowned upon.
This much is true:
In the late 1800's the towns most prominent family had a teenage daughter. She was very beautiful, and (according to the papers) very popular and much adored. In those days, of course, being introduced to soceity as a debutante was very important, and the girl was eagerly preparing for her debut when she suddenly became ill with typhoid. She struggled to survive for weeks but finally succumbed, just before (IIRC) her 17th birthday.
The girl, who I will call "Julia" to avoid her wrath, was mourned by the town.
The town named its high school after the teenager. The original dedication plaque said something about how Julia had never got to experience the exciting teenage social life she had so longed for. Her portrait showed a very beautiful girl wearing yards of lace and a slightly spoiled, petulant look.
The school burned to the ground repeatedly, with no apparent cause, and finally they rebuilt it out of brick. Then the brick work caught fire. Not the inside, mind you. Just the bricks...it couldn't help but be remembered how everything had to be burned during the typhoid outbreak.
The family, over several generations, named several of their daughters Julia. All of them met terrible fates.
One of the family's houses (where the second julia died) is allegedly so haunted that no one will stay in it, even though it's on a beautiful estate. They tried to give it to the church, but the church refused, for unknown reasons. A ghost-hunting television program tried to get inside once but the family wouldn't allow it.
There is a sense of despair and anger in the town that can't be explained away
It might just be superstition, but a lot of us think that Julia is a very jealous, angry ghost - or a force, at least. We try not to get on her bad side...
This much is true:
In the late 1800's the towns most prominent family had a teenage daughter. She was very beautiful, and (according to the papers) very popular and much adored. In those days, of course, being introduced to soceity as a debutante was very important, and the girl was eagerly preparing for her debut when she suddenly became ill with typhoid. She struggled to survive for weeks but finally succumbed, just before (IIRC) her 17th birthday.
The girl, who I will call "Julia" to avoid her wrath, was mourned by the town.
The town named its high school after the teenager. The original dedication plaque said something about how Julia had never got to experience the exciting teenage social life she had so longed for. Her portrait showed a very beautiful girl wearing yards of lace and a slightly spoiled, petulant look.
The school burned to the ground repeatedly, with no apparent cause, and finally they rebuilt it out of brick. Then the brick work caught fire. Not the inside, mind you. Just the bricks...it couldn't help but be remembered how everything had to be burned during the typhoid outbreak.
The family, over several generations, named several of their daughters Julia. All of them met terrible fates.
One of the family's houses (where the second julia died) is allegedly so haunted that no one will stay in it, even though it's on a beautiful estate. They tried to give it to the church, but the church refused, for unknown reasons. A ghost-hunting television program tried to get inside once but the family wouldn't allow it.
There is a sense of despair and anger in the town that can't be explained away
It might just be superstition, but a lot of us think that Julia is a very jealous, angry ghost - or a force, at least. We try not to get on her bad side...