Author: Macabre Mary

Georgia-based author and artist, Mary has been a horror aficionado since the mid-2000s. Originally a hobby artist and writer, she found her niche in the horror industry in late 2019 and hasn't looked back since. Mary's evolution into a horror expert allowed her to express herself truly for the first time in her life. Now, she prides herself on indulging in the stuff of nightmares.

Mary also moonlights as a content creator across multiple social media platforms—breaking down horror tropes on YouTube, as well as playing horror games and broadcasting live digital art sessions on Twitch.

The Monster of Chesapeake Bay, Maryland

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Featured Horror Mystery and Lore

Chessie the Chesapeake Bay Monster

The original story began from the tale of two fishermen—Edward W. And Francis Klarrman—heading across the bay one day in 1943, looking to haul in their daily catch. The two men caught sight of a 12-foot-long serpentine creature, not too far from their vessel. They saw this creature turn to look at them several times. It turned its horselike head almost completely around, before disappearing under the waves.

The entire experience was astonishing and the Chesapeake Bay Monster has become a unique fixture of local history. Their description of Chessie was rivaled only by the more widely-known Loch Ness Monster. Plenty of witnesses have described Chessie as long, black, and snakelike, but the reports have varied drastically. Whether Chessie is 12-foot serpent, or a 30-foot serpent this cryptid has been reported as far back as 1846. Captain Lawson originally reported this strange creature when he saw it at the tip of the bay. It isn’t difficult to imagine that it is still considered a tall tale even to the present.

The Legend of Chessie

While it’s true that the legend hasn’t been substantiated with scientific fact, those who claim to have seen her range from retired CIA officers, fishermen, soldiers, and regular civilians. Those who argue her existence point out that the plausibility of her existence is much larger than her cousin across the pond—the Loch Ness Monster. This is due to the fact that the Chesapeake Bay has much more direct access to the open ocean than Loch Ness; as one of Britain’s largest and deepest freshwater lakes, it is connected to the sea, but there are nearly 7.5 miles of the River Ness between the lake and the oceanfront.

Scientific advancements have given us the capability to explore the ocean floor, but that hasn’t revealed every secret. Chessie has somehow kept its legend alive through its cunning, elusive, shy, and daring spirit. The existence of Chessie remains plausible, despite evading any type of classification.

People are most likely to catch a sighting of the Chesapeake Bay Monster between May and September. This is likely due to the warmer weather which causes people to flock to the beach. Do the larger crowds draw the curious creature closer to shore? Or are the increased number of watchful eyes the cause of the nearly 30 reports per year?

Sightings of the Family-Friendly Fiend

In 1982 a guest of Robert and Karen Frew captured the first known footage of the sea monster. The Frews were having a cookout at their seaside home on Love Point, when they noticed something strange. The guest noticed this creature undulating through the water near the shore. When they couldn’t identify what they were seeing they grabbed their camera.

Unfortunately, video evidence from 1982 was sub-par and with the camera zoomed all the way in all that was captured was a blurry dark gray mass snaking through the water. After being sent to the Smithsonian for verification, the professionals analyzed it, but all they could say with certainty was that the dark blurry mass was, in fact, a living creature. While they couldn’t confirm that it was Chessie, it fueled the fire of a legend that had previously been a laughable local tale. This of course brought on a lot of skeptics and caused the Frews to be the target of criticism and controversy—with many accusing them of participating in a hoax for clout. Thankfully for the legend of Chessie, the candid nature of the Frews report brought out witnesses who had remained silent due to their unwillingness to become social pariahs.

A more in-depth description of Chessie came from an encounter in 1985 when a recreational fisherman and his friend hooked a fish out on the bay. When this fisherman turned to see what he had caught he was met with a shockingly huge serpentine creature as it erupted from the water, a snapped fishing line hanging from its mouth. It rose approximately twelve feet out of the water, exposing its diamond-shaped flippers and ellipsoid body before submerging into the depths of the bay. This pair of fishermen described this creature as having green-yellow reptilian skin, with barnacles covering its back. Are we to believe that previous accounts only ever witnessed the creature’s long neck and not the entire body?

A 2014 sighting of Chessie described it as a long, black, serpent winding through the water of Magothy River. These witness accounts are conflicting, but it’s unclear whether or not these reports are of different creatures. This particular witness was parked aside the Magothy River at high tide, around 1:40 AM when he saw Chessie. The witness didn’t specify the lighting situation surrounding the sighting. Initially, he believed that what he saw was two creatures traveling together. A lack of photo evidence caused his sighting to remain unverified.

Sea Serpents like Chessie

Reports of sea serpents like Chessie (or even Nessie for that matter) aren’t uncommon—after all, our planet is 71% water and less than 10% of that has been thoroughly mapped out and explored. The existence of these kinds of creatures cannot be completely ruled out, which is how these kinds of legends still have so much steam after one hundred fifty years.

The spirit of Chessie maintains its playful innocence, instead of a malicious nightmare fuel cryptid. In the years since the first reported sighting Chessie has become a mascot for the people in the Bay. As a result, its likeness has been turned into plushies, stickers, and apparel to promote tourism.

Sources

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How Friday the 13th Became a Renowned Superstition

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Featured Horror Mystery and Lore Lifestyle

Friday the 13th is an iconic day, especially for horror fans. So let’s dig into the history of Friday the 13th and rediscover where this all began, shall we?

The History of Friday the 13th

Paraskevidekatriaphobia—do you have it? Well, if you’re irrationally afraid of the natural occurrence of the thirteenth of any given month falling on a Friday, then yes—yes, you do. If so, then you might have a hard time this year, since we’ve got two of them coming up. Friday the 13th, supposedly the unluckiest day of the year, occurs at least once, but never more than three times in a calendar year. March and November are the unlucky winners this year, so if you’re scared, arm yourself with some of these facts and prepare to understand your superstition better than ever before.

The Origin of the Superstition

Within western culture, there are many superstitions that circulate on a regular basis—Friday the 13th is but one example of a superstition that has become so well-known that it has been worked into the very fabric of horror culture itself. From walking under ladders to breaking mirrors, stepping on cracks, or having a black cat cross your path, it seems as if there is always something to be superstitious of—people even subject themselves to their own superstitions, such as wearing their favorite sports team’s jersey to increase the odds of their team winning. Regardless, it seems that people still choose to purposefully avoid black cats, sidewalk cracks, and treat mirrors with respect, especially on Friday the 13th—as if these superstitions, when combined escalate into something even worse. Dr. Phil Stevens, an associate anthropology professor at the University of Buffalo, suggests that it’s important to respect the convictions that people display about their superstitions, noting that, “sometimes these are frivolous things, but sometimes they are deeply rooted cultural fears … you can insult somebody by making fun of it or you can be ignorant yourself. Some people have deep cultural taboos that you cannot change by denying them.” The question that has long plagued people, however, is why do we subject ourselves to these blatant paranoias—how did these things evolve to being harbingers of bad luck, and why do we continue to pay tribute to these traditions year after year?

How Thirteen Became an Unlucky Number

According to Dr. Simon Bronner, a notable professor of American studies and folklore at Pennsylvania State University, Friday the 13th is just a “convenient milestone for people who are looking to trace bad luck to a certain cause,” but he always state that there really is nothing special about the date itself—in fact, in countries like Italy, the number thirteen is actually considered a lucky number! To be perfectly honest, it’s unclear how Friday the 13th became such a totem for bad luck, but the number thirteen itself has been speculated, to have been considered unlucky since the Middle Ages.

First mentioned in the English language, this day was first introduced as an unlucky happenstance in the biography of Gioachino Rossini, an Italian composer who died on—you guessed it—Friday, November 13th, 1868. It was further extended into superstition by Thomas W. Lawson, an American businessman who published a book titled Friday the Thirteenth, in which a crooked stockbroker takes advantage of this superstition to create wide-spread panic on Wall Street.

In Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York an analysis conducted by CityRealty presented findings that fewer than five percent of mid-rise and high-rise residential condo buildings have a thirteenth floor. Not to say that the thirteenth floor doesn’t exist—it’s just not labeled under the number thirteen.

Norse Mythological Origins

While not the most notable mythological origin, according to Donald Dossey, in Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun, a Norse myth told of a dinner party that was set for twelve gods, where the thirteenth guest—the god of trickery, Loki—crashed the party and shot Baldr, the god of joy and happiness. Thanks for all the bad luck, Loki.

The Last Supper

Folklore historians all agree that isolating the exact time when Friday the 13th came to be known as a taboo and superstition, many of them agree that it may have originated from the Last Supper. As popular mythology agrees, Jesus was crucified on a Friday—some speculate Friday the 13th, immediately after the Last Supper, attended by Jesus and his twelve apostles to a total of thirteen people at the table. The longstanding superstition within the Christian religion is that having thirteen guests at a table is a bad omen that, “courts death.” Dr. Stevens told TIME that “when those two events come together, you are reenacting at least a portion of that terrible event … you are reestablishing two things that were connected to that terrible event.” So what started with what happened in Christian mythology, this somehow led to the modern phenomenon that has Americans avoiding things that are labeled with thirteen. Room number thirteen in a hotel, the thirteenth floor, the thirteenth row in an airplane—all of these superstitions are attached to the number of people who sat at the table the night before the crucifixion. Bronner believes that there is, “a grain of truth,” to the theory of the Last Supper, but that there is, “not much of a connection to the modern belief … it may be a case of religious folklore that rose to explain a belief.” He further tells us how psychologists treat the fear of Friday the 13th as a real phenomenon, but he believes that it was a constructed belief that is convenient for people to place blame upon.

Oddly enough, the crucifixion wasn’t the only biblical tragedy that befell mankind on Friday the 13th—in fact, it’s said that the story of Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden of Eden, the day Cain killed Abel, the Great Flood during the time of Noah, and the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel also took place on this fated day.

The Occult, Witches and their Covens

A long-standing myth that surrounds Friday the 13th puts a firm association with witches—likely another confirmation from the origination of this superstition from Christianity. For those that are not in-the-know, covens are said to be a formal gathering of witches who perform rituals together—a sort of religious or spiritual gathering, where they perform spells, rituals, or seasonal offerings to honor whoever they may worship. The Christian leaning of this is due to the witch trials where women were forced through torture to admit to things that weren’t necessarily true, stating that they were convening with the devil and attacking other members of the community to do his bidding.

What holds in the tradition of witchcraft is that a traditional coven recognizes twelve followers and a leader, which brings the total to—you guessed it—thirteen. In medieval covens, it is stated in The God of the Witches from 1931 that, “the number in a coven never varied, there were always thirteen, i.e., twelve members and the god.” In any case, the leader or god was always believed to be the Devil himself—or a man who represented the devil. This is of course, not backed by any substantial evidence from within the community of witchcraft practitioners, but instead considered more of an accusation from more mainstream religions such as Christianity.

The Thirteen Club

A New Yorker by the name Captain William Fowler made an attempt to remove the hardened stigma of the number thirteen in the late 19th century. In particular, his goal was to remove the stigma surrounding thirteen guests at a table—he attempted this vigorously by establishing a private society by the name of The Thirteen Club. As a general practice, this group dined on the thirteenth day of each month in room 13 of the Knickerbocker Cottage, which Fowler owned from 1863 to 1883. Before sitting down to dinner with twelve other guests, each participant of the club would pass under a ladder and a banner that read, “those of us who are about to die salute you,” in Latin. Notable members of this club were four former presidents of the United States of America, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, and Theodore Roosevelt.

HMS Friday—The Urban Legend

An urban legend centering around the Royal Navy from the 19th century considers this the ultimate Friday the 13th legend—the story goes, that it was an attempt by the Royal Navy to dismiss the superstition against sailing on a Friday. While the details vary from telling to telling, they christened the ship HMS Friday; her keel was laid on a Friday, she was launched on a Friday, she set sail on her maiden voyage on Friday the 13th, and all of this under the command of a man by the name of Captain James Friday. After her launch, she was never seen or heard from again. While it’s a great story, the truth is there has never been a Royal Navy ship by the name of HMS Friday.

Staring up the stairs, in the darkness
Photography by Yang Miao

A Timeline of Friday the 13thDisasters

  • October 13, 1307—officers of King Philip IV of France imprisoned and executed hundreds of the Knights Templar.
  • September 13, 1940—German forces bombed Buckingham Palace during WWII.
  • November 13, 1970—A cyclone in Bangladesh killed 300,000 people.
  • October 13, 1972—A Chilean Airforce plane disappeared in the Andes mountains, sixteen survivors turned up two months later, having been forced to cannibalize the dead in order to survive.
  • February/August 13, 1976—(no we’re really not sure which month) Daz Baxter a New Yorker with a raging case of paraskevidekatriaphobia decided to ride out his least favorite day of the year by staying in bed; his bad luck was illustrated when the floor of his apartment block collapsed that day and he fell to his death.
  • October 13, 1989—Black Friday—a $6.75 billion buyout for the parent company of United Airlines caused the crash of global markets.
  • September 13, 1996—Tupac Shakur succumbed to his gunshot wounds six days after multiple gunshot wounds during a drive-by shooting.
  • March 13, 2009—the SAW ride at Thorpe Park in Chertsey was scheduled to open but was shut down due to computer failure.
  • January 13, 2012—the Costa Concordia cruise ship crashed off of the coast of Italy, killing 30 people.
  • November 13, 2015—ISIS organized seven simultaneous terror attacks in Paris, killing 130 people and leaving hundreds wounded.
  • April 13, 2029—an asteroid is rumored to come within 22,000 miles of Earth—what will happen?

Strange Friday the 13th Facts

There are of course strange facts surrounding any supernatural phenomenon or superstition, but Friday the 13th even more so—perhaps because more people pay attention to things that they’re afraid of, or perhaps because Friday the 13th is such a notorious date for strange occurrences. Here are a few—maybe more than a few—strange facts about the superstitions regarding Fridays.

  • In Somerset, if you turn a bed over on a Friday, you’re risking turning a ship over at sea.
  • In Cumbria, if a baby is born on a Friday, they immediately lay them upon the family Bible.
  • In some areas, if a doctor is called upon for the first time on a Friday, it is an omen of certain death.
  • According to English Folklore from the 1800s, a marriage conducted on a Friday is destined for an unhappy future—on the plus side, this superstition generally leads weddings conducted on Friday the 13th is substantially cheaper for couples.
  • If you cut your hair or nails on a Friday, you’re doomed for misfortune.
  • If thirteen people unwittingly dine together, the first to rise will certainly be condemned to misfortune—another fun fact attached to this one is that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was known to uphold this superstition almost religiously.
  • President Franklin D. Roosevelt also refused to travel on Friday the 13th.
  • Winston Churchill refused to sit in any row that was numbered thirteen—cited in particular are rows on planes or theatres.
  • In North Carolina, the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute conducted a study that found a loss of $700-800 million every single Friday the 13th because people simply refuse to conduct their lives as they normally would.
  • If you’re brave enough to fly on what’s considered the unluckiest day of the year, you’ll find that prices are actually a little bit more reasonable.

Unlucky in Reality, but a Pop-Culture Boon

Just like anything in the horror genre—if it’s unlucky, scary, gruesome, or lies somewhere within the realm of supernatural, it’s bound to have a selling idea. The movie franchise Friday the 13th firmly placed the date into the greater arena of cultural recognition. Jason Voorhees, the star and villain of the franchise has inspired so many sequels, spinoffs and more that if you were to google Friday the 13th, you’ll get more results about the franchise than the lore that launched the idea for it in the first place.

Final Thoughts…

It seems that Friday the 13th may only be a western superstition though—as it’s cited that in Italy, the number thirteen is actually quite lucky, instead they rather fear Friday the 17th. Personal curiosity causes one to wonder if the movie franchise of Friday the 13th should be renamed in countries like Italy, to make it more culturally relevant. In Greece, it’s not Friday the 13th, but Tuesday the 13th that causes people to be unsettled, whereas in China the number four is considered to be unlucky as it has a similar pronunciation to the word for “death.”

So, in the long run—is Friday the 13th really a day of bad luck? According to Dr. Caroline Watt at the University of Edinburgh, it’s actually the belief in the superstition that causes all of the kerfuffle to happen on this date. She appeals to baser instincts when she suggests that, “if people believe in the superstition of Friday the 13th then they believe they are in greater danger on that day. As a result, they may be more anxious and distracted and this could lead to accidents. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy … It is like telling someone they are cursed. If they believe they are then they will worry, their blood pressure will go up and they put themselves at risk.” With that in mind—are you still afraid of a naturally occurring phenomenon?

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Dress like a Throwback Traditional Wednesday Addams

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Character Costumes Costume Themes

Acting the Part: Get to Know Wednesday Addams

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Wednesday Addams was initially made iconic by Christina Ricci in The Addams Family (1991), but her character began in the one-panel cartoons created by Charles Addams in 1938. Her character received further development when that popular comic turned into a popular television show by the same name in the 1960s. It was the movies made in the ‘90s, however, that really brought a modern spotlight to this nearly century-old family. Now, the Netflix show Wednesday has brought renewed vigor to the Charles Addams creation, but let’s not forget the Wednesday Addams that really defined the character.

Christina Ricci’s portrayal of Wednesday in 1991 The Addams Family movie as well as the 1993 Addams Family Values turned the character into who we know and love today. Wednesday Addams is obsessed with death and incredibly brilliant with a penchant for science—specifically performing scientific experiments on her younger brother Pugsley. Much like the rest of her family, the creepier things in life—such as spiders, the Bermuda Triangle, and death—are her bread and butter, so the more emotionless and creepy you can act while in costume the more authentically you’ll be portraying this timeless character.

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Looking the Part: Putting together the Costume

Wednesday is most often seen in a primarily simple knee-length black dress with long sleeves and a white collar. The dress doesn’t have to be solid black, but for simplicity’s sake, it might be easiest to find one without a pattern that fits the character. In the movie, we see that she frequently wears dresses with very minimal floral patterns that have a Gothic or slightly Victorian feel to them. She is always seen with her long black hair in pigtails, so if you happen to have long black hair and know how to braid then you’re all set—but if you’re like the rest of us you might need a wig! Wednesday also always wears either opaque black tights or stockings and finishes off the look with a pair of comfortable black boots. Suffice it to say, when the movies came out the character spoke to a lot of us Gothic youths when the norm was brightly colored anoraks, velour tracksuits, and butterfly clips.

Whether you’re an adult or a kid wanting to dress like Wednesday Addams, the costume is the same—the size, however, will vary quite a bit. So we’ve provided options for both!

Adult’s Wednesday Addams Costume

Kid’s Wednesday Addams Costume

Bonus Adult Wednesday Costume

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If you’re interested in doing a true throwback of Wednesday Addams and want the look that Lisa Loring sported in 1968, then have a look at this Officially Licensed costume—it’s almost a full set, including the dress, tights, and Wednesday’s headless doll, Marie Antoinette. Just pair it with a black braided wig and some black combat boots and you’ll be all set to do the Drew!

To Finish the Look

Since the traditional look for Wednesday Addams is based on a young girl’s character, there isn’t much in the way of makeup that needs to be addressed. Unless of course, you’re interested in obtaining that pale-as-death skin tone to really complete the costume, consider trying a white foundation.

Since this Wednesday Addams portrayal is aimed at capturing the more traditional character, we’ve also created a guide on how to create a costume for the more modern Wednesday Addams. Don’t forget to check out our article on how to create a costume for Wednesday Addams from the hit Netflix show Wednesday (2022).

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Dress Like Wednesday Addams from the hit Netflix Series

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Character Costumes Costume Themes DIY Costumes Lifestyle

Ever since the show Wednesday debuted on Netflix in late 2022, it has experienced huge success, especially in the re-imagining of the character Wednesday Addams herself. Wednesday Addams has come a long way from her origins in Charles Addams’s dark, yet humorous comics. To dress like Wednesday Addams you will first need to decide which look to follow.

From Lisa Loring’s charismatic stage presence in the 1964 television show, Christina Ricci’s reprisal of the role in 1991 and 1993, and now Jenna Ortega’s 2022 Wednesday series on Netflix, we have seen this macabre and intelligent character grow from a mere child to a young adult. This makes this character age appropriate for children, teens, and adults.

In no small part due to the most recent re-invigoration of Wednesday’s character on screen, her look has not only become a popular costume concept (again), but her character’s style has become the trending look for Gen Z Goths everywhere. From her now-viral dance—you know the one—to her Gothic Prep casual style, it seems that everything she wears is uniquely representative of who she is.

Her modern interpretation, embodied by one of the genre’s newer Scream Queens, Jenna Ortega, remains distinctive—even from that of the more traditional Wednesday renditions. Since we get to see Wednesday in so many different situations than we might otherwise not get to be acquainted with, there are so many new costume looks to choose from—so let’s take a look and see how to transform ourselves into a modern Wednesday Addams without breaking the bank.

Updated Wednesday Throwback Look

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Courtesy of Netflix 2022
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Courtesy of Vanity Fair 2022

This particular look will probably be the most recognizable for those familiar with the original Wednesday as well as those who were introduced to the character for the first time with the 2022 Netflix series. It features a simple long-sleeved dress, either solid black or with minimal Gothic/Victorian floral print, a start white dress collar and cuffs. While the original Wednesday was more likely to be found in a pair of matte black flat Mary Janes, we’ve gotten an update to match the Goth trend appropriate to the time.

Nevermore Academy Uniform

Wdenesday Addams Nevermore Academy Uniform
Courtesy of Netflix 2022
Wdenesday Addams Nevermore Academy Uniform
Courtesy of Netflix 2022

While every other student running around Nevermore Academy is dressed in two shades of blue, Wednesday’s outfit is especially colorless, which decidedly makes her stand out amongst the rest of her peers. To dress like Wednesday in her Nevermore Academy Uniform you will need a few core pieces.

Casual and Comfy Clothes

wednesday adams in a comfortable outfit
Courtesy of Netflix 2022
wednesday addams in a large black overcoat
Courtesy of Netflix 2022
wednesday addams in a large black overcoat
Courtesy of Netflix 2022

When it comes to being casual, it’s clear Wednesday seeks comfort while still adhering to her personal no-color policy. She favors the over-sized tops and opts for sneakers over dress shoes, but don’t let this comfy look fool you—it’s probably the most involved costume out of the bunch! Dress like Wednesday Addams comfy feel.

Formal Dance Dress

dress like wednesday from netflix gowns
Courtesy of Netflix 2022
wednesday addams in a black dress
Courtesy of Netflix 2022

While the dress that Wednesday wears to the Annual Rave’n is from the Alaïa Fall 2020 collection, most high schoolers don’t have four figures to drop on a dress to wear to prom. So, thankfully, there are already recreations of it within a reasonable price range. Surprisingly, considering the formal look of this costume, it’s likely the easiest to pull off.

Regardless of which modern Wednesday look you choose to dress in, you’ll need these to complete your transformation, down to the details.

We hope you have fun putting this costume together, but if you’re looking for a more traditional Wednesday Addams look, consider checking out our article on how to dress like Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993).

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Urban Legend: The Black Angel of Oakland Cemetery

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Featured Haunted Places Horror Mystery and Lore

Cemetery Angels

Loss has a way of striking us where it hurts most—our experiences shape who we are, as well as how we interact with and see the world around us. As a result of varied cultural and religious preferences, there is a symbolic connection between angels and death. It is popular, especially within religious traditions, to erect angel statues alongside the traditional headstone. Angels represent the symbolic connection between heaven and earth, but their additional meaning of strength, peace, faith, protection, and beauty can be comforting to those who are grieving the loss of loved ones. Angel costumes and art are associated with Christmas and other popular holiday celebrations. However, a certain black angel in an Oakland cemetery has become renowned for darker supernatural reasons.

Angelic Symbolism

The many different poses that these angels assume also contribute meaning to their presence over their respective graves. Angels represented in prayer signify the deceased’s devotion to god, an angel pointing upward can act as a symbolic guide for the soul to find its way to heaven. A weeping angel shows immense grief over the death of a loved one and an angel with their head bowed can symbolize the mourning of a sudden or unexpected death. Although angels are most commonly made from granite, they are often created from bronze as well—a granite angel would have less of a reaction to environmental factors, whereas bronze statues can come with unexpected consequences.

The Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City

In 1839, before the Iowa Territory became a state, its capital was located in Burlington; Governor Robert Lucas decided that the capital ought to be closer to the center of the territory and so the legislature created Iowa City. When the capital of the territory was finally moved there, two years later, the tiny hamlet had blossomed into a small city, at which point they recognized a problem arising—they had no place to put the dead. By 1843, the legislature deeded the Oakland Cemetery to the people of Iowa City.

The Truth Behind the Legend

Terezie (anglicized as Teresa) Karásek was born in Strmilov, Bohemia, in Czechia (formerly the Czech Republic) on October 14, 1836. In 1865, at the age of thirty, she married František Doležal, a doctor from Moravia. After two years of marriage, Teresa birthed their first son, Otto who died when he was two weeks old. After the loss of her first child, Teresa became a midwife; she obtained her certificate in Vienna and moved back to Strmilov where she became a prolific midwife, delivering nearly one hundred children.

Immigrating to the United States

Closer to her forties, Teresa had her second son, Eduard (anglicized as Edward)—by the time he was four years old, Teresa left her husband and moved to the United States in 1877 with her son. It’s unknown why she left her husband, although it was fairly commonplace at the time for immigrants from Bohemia and Slovakia to find themselves living in Iowa, working on the railroad, and taking jobs at farmsteads.

In many tellings of her history, Teresa is said to have been a physician that turned to midwifery once she arrived in America, whereas others maintain she was a midwife her entire career. Either way, Teresa’s son Edward had planned to follow her example and enter the medical field as a doctor and in his late teens, he worked at a drugstore. Unfortunately, Edward contracted meningitis around the age of 17 or 18 and passed away in 1891, at which time he was buried in the Oakland Cemetery. Over his grave, she erected a monument of a tree stump with an ax sticking out of it in his honor—it is generally assumed that this was intended as a metaphor for his life being cut short.

Loss of A Second Son

Soon after Edward’s death, Teresa is said to have moved around a lot, having lived in Chicago, and even marrying her second husband, Joseph Picha, in Minnesota. When that marriage didn’t work, her travels landed her in Eugene, Oregon which is where she met and married her third husband, a German rancher by the name of Nicholas Feldevert. The two were married on March 20, 1897, by Justice of the Peace A.E. Wheeler in the parlor of Wald House in Eugene, Oregon. Nicholas had also been married twice before and had experienced the death of his only daughter whom he had seen die as a child.

Back to the Family Plot

Her husband, Nicholas, died in 1911; it was around this time that she moved back to Iowa City and brought her husband’s ashes along to put to rest next to her son. In memorial to her late husband, she commissioned Mario Korbel, a Chicago-based Czech sculptor to create what has come to be known as the locally famous monument the Black Angel.

The Black Angel in Oakland Cemetery is not to be confused with the Black Angel in Council Bluffs, Iowa—which is considered to be a great work of art sculpted by Daniel Chester French, the same artist who created the seated Abraham Lincoln inside of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and the Minutemen in Concord, Massachusetts.

While there is a disagreement on the timeline of the commission and when it was delivered, it is believed that the statue was commissioned between 1911 and 1913 and that it was delivered to Oakland Cemetery between 1912 and 1915. Without historical documentation to lend as evidence of its commission, completion, and delivery it’s difficult to say, with authority, the exact dates.

Teresa’s Philanthropy

 When Nicholas died he left behind no heirs and by default left his estate estimated at $30,000 (more than $800,000 by today’s inflation rates) to his widow, Teresa. Teresa sold the ranch and began to send money back to Strmilov as a patron for students and public welfare—scholarships and community projects benefited from her generosity in this respect. As her years dwindled, she made a point to spend her husband’s wealth since she also had no immediate heirs to leave her money to. Projects in Bohemia, including a grade school in Strmilov, benefited from her generosity.

The Angel’s Appearance

At one point, the statue that watched over the Feldevert family plot in earnest was a glorious golden-bronze monument that represented the love and grief of Teresa at her many losses in her lifetime. The 8.5-foot sculpture took Korbel months to create and being cast out of bronze, it wasn’t exactly a cheap commission. The story that we’re told is that the statue was not immediately installed, as Teresa was said to have been unhappy with the final result. This is another source of conflicting accounts—as some versions of the story insist that it was immediately installed upon arriving via train; others believe that the statue sat in a barn for six years while Teresa pursued a lawsuit. When she inevitably lost the suit, it’s assumed that she paid the artist the $5,000 he was owed, then eventually installed the angel atop a four-foot pedestal where her husband’s ashes were interred and moved the monument of her son to stand alongside the angel.

At the End of a Long Life

Teresa died of cancer on November 18, 1924, at which time her ashes were placed beside her husband’s and although the monument displays her birthdate, she did not leave any money behind to inscribe the monument with the date of her death. As such, her remaining estate was appraised at $1,393.21 and since she had no immediate heirs, she willed $500 to a monument for fallen soldiers in Strmilov, $500 in books for the town’s public library, and whatever was leftover to be used for scholarships for two or three boys in town that were deemed worthy of the aid.

The Reputation of the Black Angel

The Black Angel of Oakland Cemetery has been a destination for those looking for paranormal thrills for literal decades; with all of the creepy legends surrounding it, how could those who have a thirst for the paranormal stay away? It’s likely that the stories about the monument are based less on fact than on fiction, with the tendencies of writers to embellish for the sake of a good story. As seen by the story of Teresa and her family’s life there was no immediate reason for the Angel to be haunted or cursed—loss happens, but there was no infidelity to speak of, no one committed suicide, nor was anyone murdered. So, why has the monument become part of such a famous urban legend?

The wild myths and legends that surround this monument were spawned primarily from the unsettling appearance that the monument took on after Teresa’s death. While the truth remains that the statue was forged in bronze and has oxidized over the years due to environmental factors—but that’s kind of a buzz kill isn’t it? The truth is, the creepiness of the blackened bronze isn’t lessened when people are eager to believe in the paranormal. To those who don’t do a deep dive into the true story behind the Black Angel, it’s clear to see how its reputation could make even seasoned investigators quake in their boots.

The Myths that Fuel the Superstition

Teresa Feldevert was, in life, a mysterious woman which led to many believing that she was in fact a witch—whether she ended up cursing, possessing, or simply haunting the statue is a source of some debate. Had she called some nameless evil to inhabit the Angel? Or was it simply her evil nature that caused the Angel to turn black as a reminder of the sins of her family? Was there really a severe storm that raged the night following Teresa’s burial, where a bolt of lightning struck the Angel and turned it black?

The myths become even more outlandish from there, based solely on rumors that make no sense after looking into the legend. Some believe that a man erected the monument upon his wife’s grave, but that his wife had been unfaithful throughout the marriage which caused the Angel to turn black due to her infidelity. Others maintain that a preacher buried his son beneath the Angel but it turned black because the preacher had actually murdered his son.

It’s believed by some that the Angel darkens every Halloween in recognition of the people that have been killed by the evil curse upon the statue. It doesn’t help that first-hand accounts from visitors report ghostly voices and strange anomalous lights floating around the statue. So what should you do (or not do) to avoid becoming the next victim of the Black Angel of Oakland Cemetery? We’ve compiled a list of simple rules to survive your encounter with the Black Angel.

  1. Never touch or kiss the Angel—to do so means instant death (unless you’re a virgin).
  2. Never kiss a girl near the Angel in the moonlight, or else the girl will die within six months.
  3. Never touch the Angel at midnight on Halloween, to do so means you’ll die within seven years.
  4. If you’re pregnant, never walk beneath the statue’s wings, otherwise, you’ll risk a miscarriage.
  5. If you happen to be a coed of the University of Iowa, then tradition states you must be kissed in front of the Black Angel.
  6. If a virgin is kissed in front of the Angel then the Angel will return to its original Bronze color and the curse will finally be lifted.

The Statue Vandalized

Throughout the history of the Black Angel, it has been noted that the black covering has never worn off to reveal the original bronze. The monument has, however, changed colors over the years when vandals have tried to paint it. One particular incident was recorded as having happened on a cold day in January of 1965 when the angel was painted a silvery gray—due to the weather, it remained that color until it was warm enough to reduce the risks of damage from the repairs. It’s also known to have had several fingers removed with hammers and hacksaws on a separate occasion, a bold move considering the alleged story that defacing the Angel will bring death.

Sources:

https://www.goiowaawesome.com/iowa-city/2018/03/2670/tales-from-iowa-city-the-black-angel-of-death

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/16409

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/black-angel-of-oakland-cemetery

https://paranormal.lovetoknow.com/ghosts-hauntings/black-angel-oakland-cemetery

https://www.thegazette.com/life/time-machine-teresa-dolezal-feldeverts-black-angel

https://www.thegazette.com/life/time-machine-teresa-dolezal-feldeverts-black-angel/#?secret=txk88YPIGy

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