2001-06-07 - 9:56 p.m.
Here are some of my gleanings from the internet. I searched for the Donkey Lady, but found related stories. Everything between the stars was written by other folks.
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"Supernatural Phenomenons & Generally Weird Shit"
Chupacabra (AKA Blood Sucking Goat Killer)
Chupacabras have been sited on the Blanco River down off of River Road. They killed some baby goats or cows or something. Chupas are also believed to be resposible for some dog killings in the wooded area on the northside of Bishop Street at the edge of town. There were some cool newspaper articles about it published in the San Marcos Daily Record. We'll posted them as soon as we can locate them. The SMPD went as far as to choose the Chupacabra as the
department's official mascot.
Cry Baby Cemetery
The cemetery at the corner of Posey Road and Old Bastrop Highway is haunted. You can hear a baby crying after midnight, every night. More details to come...
More Details: Okay, me and Scott were drunk last week, so we drove out to Cry Baby Cemetery. We sat, drank beer, didn't hear shit. But we had to leave since a car was coming and we didn't feel like getting shot or arrested, so we hauled ass. (good adult behavior don't you think?)
The Donkey Lady
Out on Lime Kiln Road, south of the Blanco River, a one-armed women used to ride a donkey up and down the road until she died circa 1982. Supposedly after some bad mescal you can still see her.
UFO Encounter #1
Back in 1990, we were drinking beer at a friend's apartment when his roommate came running in saying he saw an alien. He said it was out on the Devil's Backbone, a mile or so from the Ranch Road 12 intersection. He said the alien was orange and he came out of a whitish sphere about 10 feet in diameter. We ridiculed him for being high on weed until he shut the hell up. He sounded
serious though, and swears to this day that it happened. (Note: a few months ago while surfing the web, I read about a UFO encounter in Europe that featured an orange alien coming out of a white sphere. Pretty weird huh?)
UFO Encounter #2
In mid 1996, I was driving on old Lime Kiln Road, on the north side of the Blanco River, when I saw a silver shape with no distinguishable features hovering in the air. It was small, maybe 2 feet across and 50 feet up in the air, about 200 feet away. All of a sudden it disappeared. Being completely sober and devoid of hallucinations for over a month, I can only assume it was a UFO.
Hays County's Only Known Mass Murderer
Back in the '30's a woman went crazy out in Uhland and killed her family. Her ghost runs around trying to kill other folks now too.
(Note: Back in 1996 when the courthouse was being renovated, some workers found an old trunk in the basement that contained evidence from the criminal trial. The jars contained severed hands and feet. Cool.)
http://olympia.fortunecity.com/afl/548/niceguys/super.html
"Urban Legends as Big as Texas"
La Llorana (la yo-RAH-nah)
This tale dates back centuries and has made its way up from Mexico to as far as New York City. The name is Spanish for "The Weeping Woman". Here is the tale as I originally heard it:
During Spain's colonization of Mexico, a Spanish nobleman fell in love with an Aztec princess. As she was neither Spanish nor Catholic, he never married her, but they maintained a household and had two children together. One evening, he did not come home and she became worried. She sought him out at his parent's house, and found him...in the middle of his wedding reception, with his blushing Spanish bride at his side. In anger and pain, she ran home and grabbed their two children. She took them down to the river, and drowned them. Soon after, she realized what she had done and took her own life. Now, wherever you find water flowing free, you can hear her weeping and crying for her children.
In some areas this legend has merged with the Vanishing Hitchhiker. In Dallas, she is known as the Donkey Lady of White Rock Lake who was hideously deformed and now haunts amorous couples in their cars. If you have any ohter versions of La Llorana, please e-mail us the story and where you heard it.
The Ghost Tracks
I've often wondered how many people have rolled their cars over those San Antonio tracks...
The legend is that somewhere between 1930 and 1960, a bus stalled on the tracks carrying a busload of kids. When the train came, all of the children were killed. As a memorial, the streets in the neighborhood were named after the deceased children. Now you can pull up to the tracks, powder your car, and the ghosts will push you over and leave fingerprints on your car.
Now there is a steady stream of cars waiting to try the tracks. The sheer number of people has attracted every kind of negative personality to the area, and the drugs, thefts and sometimes violent crimes that are happening as a result are putting a strain on the SAPD. Not to mention being a royal pain for the people who live there.
Let's dissect the legend:
1. If a busload of kids was killed at that location, there WOULD be a newpaper story, obituaries, or at least a police/railway safety report. There is none.
2. The streets are named after the developer's kids, one of whom has contacted us about these tracks.
3. There is a fairly common optical illusion that will make you think you are rolling uphill when you are actually rolling downhill. We have a street like that near my house, and it's far from haunted. Putting your car in neutral allows gravity to take over, and if you doubt that gravity could cause something as heavy as a car to roll, try driving a stick shift...
4. You can't just wipe your bumper down. You need to wash it to get rid of all oils left by you, your kids, your neighbor's kids, the cat... Otherwise, those prints that show up a few minutes later are yours.
I don't discount this legend completely. There is a grain of truth to most urban legends (they have to start somewhere...). Some fairly convincing photographs have been taken at this location. This legend just has so many holes that I have to classify it as urban legend.
http://www.lonestarspirits.org/investigations/urbanlegends.html
"Fandango"
"Here's to us, by God!"
-Gardener
In the summer of 71, five University of Texas seniors facing the draft and uncertain futures decide to have one final blowout before joining the rat race.
Gardener Barnes (Kevin Costner) the leader of the Groovers, pines for lost love and seems to be constantly on the move so he won't have time to think about the girl he let get away. (Suzi Amis) He has failed to meet academic standards and has received his draft notice.
Waggener (Sam Robards) was to marry the girl Gardener let get away. He too has received his draft notice so he calls the wedding off.
Phillip Hicks (Judd Nelson) is in the ROTC and is pretty gung-ho about the war. He tries to be the voice of reason and maturity amid the chaos but the rest aren't listening. The group is rounded out by Dorman (Chuck Bush) the gentle giant who is always full of surprises and Lester (Brian Cesak) a summa cum laude CPA who is in a drunken coma for the entire film.
They all pile into Phil's Cadillac and blaze a trail across southern Texas towards Mexico. (We deduce that the group made a similar trip when they were freshman.) Gardener decides that it's time to head to the border and dig up Dom. (Who's Dom? Did somebody die?)
Ignoring Phil's protests, the Caddy roars towards Mexico and Chata Ortegas for margaritas and a chance to see the Donkey Lady. (Now there's a mental image.)
There are a few detours along the way. The best is a pit stop at the Pecos Parachute School where Phillip has to prove his manhood by surviving a jump. The school is run by Truman Sparks a Vietnam vet who is, shall we say, chemically altered. (Marvin McIntyre) Things go from bad to worse with a mix up in the laundry. Those left on the ground desperately try and communicate with the radioless plane that Phil's parachute is nothing but a load of dirty socks.
Does Phillip survive? Do they find Dom? Will Waggener, wracked with regret, change his mind and get married. Will Gardener skip off to Mexico and dodge the draft? Will Lester ever wake up?
(Who am I to spoil the end?)
http://www.badmovieplanet.com/3btheater/f/fandango.html
"Stone Ridge Road"
The legend goes that sometime ago, I don't know when, a girl was riding with her friends one night. They decided it would be fun to drive with their lights off. They crashed the car and the girl was mangled beyond recognition and died. She is said to haunt the woods that surround that area and protects the souls of the children layed to rest in a cemetery near by. She has come to be called "The Donkey Lady" for some odd reason. But, it is said that if you drive down Stone Ridge Road with your lights off she will run after your car to make you turn them on. We have been out multiple times, yet nothing happens. But she can't be there everynight. Who knows. If you have any further information to this legend ( providing a name of the lady, the year of the incident or any other details), please Contact us.
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/theamadeus/stoneridgerd.html
"Austin Ghosts"
1. The Eanes-Marshall Ranch in West Lake Hills
If anyone knows this exact location - please report it here! Haunted by 2 horses pulling a riderless wagon and seven other distinct ghosts. The house now
serves as a studio for local artist Bruce Marshall. He is known for his paintings of the Civil War. One evening when attempting to contact any of the nine reported ghosts, 3 psychics fell to the floor unconscious
2. Metz Elementary School
When this Austin City School empties and today's children have gone home, sounds and laughter of children from another time still remain. The haunting began when the old school was torn down and a new school built in its place in
1991. In 1990 after weeks of whispers and rumors among the construction crew that ghosts were roaming, the death of a co-worker was quite suspicious. This brought national television to Austin where the schools strange events were
documented.
3. Neill-Cochran House
Constructed in 1853 this house on the UT campus has been reporting
ghost sightings for as long as anyone can remember. During the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War a yellow fever epidemic swept through Austin and
the building was used as a temporary hospital. Many of the people who died were buried on the school grounds.
4. Highlife Cafe
Built in 1872 this building served as an office and hotel for the New Orleans stagecoach. In 1886 a single woman with several children, Fanny Davis, purchased the building and opened a boarding house. The currant occupants
believe she may be the ghost that has appeared on four occasions, or
responsible for the numerous mischievous events that take place regularly. Located on 7th Street just north of Austin's famous 6th Street.
5. The Driskill Hotel
Spending a night in this old hotel can be a frightening experience!
More reputed Austin Haunts:
Old Stone Ridge Rd-
If you drive down this street at night with your lights off en route to the old children's cemetery, strange things happen. Once, the locks on the doors of our car went up and down. And they weren't automatic locks. Supposedly, the
Donkey Lady is responsible for the hauntings. Killed and badly mangled in an auto wreck when some friends of hers were driving down the road one night with no lights on, she haunts the woodsaround the area and protects the
souls of the small children buried in the cemetery.
Austin State School-
There are several buildings that have had sightings and sounds by staff members. This old place was built over a cemetery. Buried here are the patients that expired in the early part of this century. But recently to show proof that this
took place, a coffin popped out of the ground right next to one of the condemned buildings
Logan's on 6th street-
A man that died when the building was a coffee plantation refinery, is
said to haunt here. Glasses swing by themselves, doors swing open,
and a loud cackling can be heard on the second floor in the middle of the night.
http://austinstar.com/hauntedhouse/2000.html
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That's the lot for tonight. Did I tell y'all about the urban legend one of my classes started at our school? We were reading urban legends and discussing what they revealed about our society's anxieties and fears. We decided to create an urban legend playing upon the fears of students and spread it. We created a story that our school used to be an asylum, that it had secret passages, etc. One kid made a website with the story on it, printed it, and passed it around as a "discovery." One group falsified some timelines from the San Antonio Public Library and convinced the journalism teacher that it was real. That was in October. In May I was still hearing kids talk about it. (I almost got into trouble over the whole thing, by the way.)
Opal
