As a child growing up in Florida when I heard someone mention the state of Texas, which was often because I had an aunt residing in East Texas, The Alamo would pop into my head every time. It’s safe to say that the rest of the country associates The Alamo as the face of Texas and a historical cornerstone of the state and what a bloody cornerstone it is. I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never visited The Alamo, but it is definitely on my super Texas road trip bucket list.

Architecturally beautiful and saturated in history, The Alamo was erected during the 18^th century by Roman Catholic Missionaries as a mission for the local Native American Indians. By the early part of the following century, the magnificent mission meant to bring peace and learning erupted in a gory blood bath during the siege of the Battle of the Alamo.

The Battle of the Alamo went on for 13 deathly grueling days between February 26 – March 6, 1836, the Texians were massively outnumbered by the vast draconian Mexican army led by principle insurgent, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. General Lopez was noted to be fierce and without mercy and slaughtered most of the Texians and claimed The Alamo. Winning the Alamo was a great victory for the Mexican army. Texians, however, did when back The Alamo during the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Countless lives were brutally lost during both battles.

Days after the victory, General Lopez sent his men to destroy The Alamo out of fear of the spread of disease from the mass amount of corpses that covered the entire grounds and mission. The general’s men returned with the job not done shaking with fear claiming that six terrifying apparitions met them with flaming swords that were protecting the mission. The happening, called the Six Diablos,  is the first known occurrence of a paranormal phenomenon happening within The Alamo.

Today the Alamo is known as the most haunted spot in San Antonio, Texas. Visitors report hearing screams, calls for help, death moans of the dying. Many ghostly sightings have also been reported. The children’s playground, a known sight of a Mexican soldier burial ground, is said to be so haunted that it is not suitable for children. Witnesses claim that sinister apparitions appear at all times of the day. A book store near The Alamo is said to stay at a freezing temperature and that books will fly off the shelves at random times terrifying shoppers.

Another sound reported by visitors is the eerie trumpet of the El Deguello, a type of bugle used by the Mexican Army buglers. The trumpet of the El Deguello must have been a blood-curdling harp of doom for the Texians before the start of the 13-day siege when most lost their lives.

Many types of ghosts have been reported, including the unknown ghostly pair of a father and his young toddler. More famous ghosts such as Mexican General Manuel Fernandez de Castrillon and even good old Davy Crockett, who had volunteered to protect the mission, have been seen.

The Alamo was threatened to be destroyed a second time near the end of the 19^th century. An article was placed in the local San Antonio newspaper, calling for the demolishment of the mission. Still, as soon as the report was released, ghostly sightings increased, preventing The Alamo from being destroyed. Ghosts have intervened at least twice to save the Alamo.

Paranormal investigations at The Alamo are forbidden; perhaps some insight from a thorough investigation would give some idea on the multiple hauntings in and around The Alamo. The bloody history and the violent mass deaths live on through The Alamo’s ghostly inhabitants. Remember the Alamo!!

I’ve been to Jefferson once as a novice Texan. I was in awe of the lovely historical, tiny town and beautifully restored antebellum homes and knew nothing about its deep, and dark history. Nestled in the lush wetlands, surrounded by the dark bayous of far East Texas, Jefferson is known as the town that would not die, and rightly so.

Jefferson, seated in Marion County, is roughly 166 miles east of lively Dallas and nearly an hour drive west from Shreveport with a meager population of 2,000 souls. The town is quaint and picturesque revealing nothing of the black seeds its history carries. The town is considered to be so haunted that daily ghost tours are hosted twice a day. The ghost stories range from stories of a long dead river captain to the ghost of a prostitute who committed suicide when her lovers shot themselves in a gun fight. Colorful, isn’t it?

The cornerstone for Jefferson’s paranormal activity is the infamous, historic Kahn Hotel, considered to be the most haunted hotel in all of Texas. Built in 1865, Kahn Hotel, has a list of all kinds of bad. Killings, robberies, suicides. You name it, it is said that all these things happened within the hotel. The Kahn Hotel didn’t start out as a hotel, but as a Saloon and brothel then later was a funeral home before finally becoming a hotel in 2016.

During that time many people died within the walls of the establishment including a prostitute named Jacqueline. The tale of Jacqueline is a simple but sad one that I am sure has much more detail than what was passed down over the years. The story goes, that Jacqueline was a prostitute in the brothel and two men, both her lovers, both whom she was madly in love with, shot each other in a gun fight over Jacqueline’s affection. Jacqueline, so full grief and sorrow hung herself from the saloon’s rafters. It is said that she still haunts the hotel until this very day.

Jacqueline is not the only ghost, she is my favorite, said to haunt the hotel. One ghost would be more than enough for any hotel, but the Kahn Hotel has several, including a ghost only called the Nightwatchman. It is said that the Nightwatchman will knock on the windows of the guest rooms late into the night. There is nothing creepier than looking out a window into the darkness of night, a knock from the Nightwatchman would be terrifying.

Another ghost is Andrew, a 7-year-old boy that is reported to be a playful spirit, playing innocent games and moving things about. Personally, I think ghosts of children are horrifying but none of the ghosts within the hotel seem to want to cause harm to the guests. The benign haunts, based on my reading, seem to be attention seeking in nature. Maybe the ghosts want their stories to be told?

According to Kahn hotel’s website, there has been more than 300 hundred paranormal investigations in the last decade within the hotel with most of the investigations confirming some level of paranormal activity.

Brave visitors are welcome at the hotel and can book a room for around 100 dollars a night. The hotel has outstanding reviews on Yelp stating that guests received excellent service and that the rooms were nice and exceptionally clean. There is also a coffee shop that offers different assortments of food, treats and beverages. Potential guests looking for a spooky vacation destination, you can book a room with the hotel by calling 903-601-4434.

The Kahn Hotel is only 22 miles east from me, if only I could work up the nerve to go and have a coffee!

It was of no surprise to me while researching werewolf legends in Texas to find an abundance of information on the wolf- human hybrid creatures; Texas is a hub of lycanthrope activity. The werewolf can be found across many different cultural legends including several Native American legends and deep within ancient Greek mythology.

The oldest known tale of a werewolf is believed to come from the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest forms of Western Prose. In the Epic of Gilgamesh there is a story of a simple shepherd who is enamored with a goddess. Later, the cruel goddess becomes bored with the shepherd and turns him into a wolf.

Another root for werewolf mythology comes from early Nordic folklore in the form of Fenrir, a monstrous god in wolf form. Fenrir is the son of Loki according to Norse mythology, and legend has it that Fenrir will swallow up Odin, the senior god of Norse mythology. There is a wealth of information regarding Fenrir, especially in the Prose of Edna, where it reads that Fenrir was bound by the gods because of his unnatural growth.

Moving on to modern lore, it is commonly known that the werewolf is either a natural born shapeshifter, mainly a wolf, or a regular human created into the creature from a bite of another human suffering the curse of the werewolf. The details of the curse of the werewolf according to some legends can be pretty sinister.

I found several tales regarding the werewolf specific to the state of Texas. The first, being of the Cleo Face of Kimble County, Texas. The face is a stone carving of a monster, with snarling teeth and a strong werewolf likeness created by N.Q. Patterson in the latter part of the 1800s. Many wonder where Patterson had come across the inspiration to carve such a hideous face and some speculate that the idea for the carving came after Patterson had a face to face encounter with an actual werewolf.

Another story, somewhere in the time of the 1800s or early 1900s, comes from the southwest area of Texas around San Antonio. There is a spine-chilling tale of a rugged rancher who lived rough and off the land. The rancher had a son that was a little too soft for his liking so, he decided to toughen the boy up and sent him out into the wilderness to hunt. The boy came home stressed and scared to death, claiming to his father that there was a monster out beyond the ranch, stalking him. The boy, forced to go out into the wildness again, does not return home a second time. The rancher becomes afraid and guilt ridden, goes to search for his son, only to find his half-eaten corpse in the clutches of a werewolf.

A more current story, dated around 1960 was actually an article in Fate magazine; a magazine with over 70 years of covering unexplained phenomena and paranormal mysteries. In the 1960 issue of Fate, there was the startling testimonial of Mrs. Delburt Gregg of Greggton, Texas. Mrs. Greggton, goes on to tell Fate that it was a dark and stormy night and she was at home, alone, when she started to hear noises outside her bedroom window. When she walked over and looked out her window she saw a huge beast, wolf like, with mournful, glowing eyes. Mrs. Gregg, grabbed a flashlight and ran outside (brave woman!) only to find the beast gone. She heard some noise in the near by bush, she pointed her flashlight in the direction of the noise. A completely naked man ran out of the bush and into the dark of night. It is believed that Mrs. Delburt Gregg, had witnessed the transformation of a werewolf.

Myth or fact, there is certainly enough lore regarding the werewolf in Texas to make you think twice about going out at night when the moon is full. Usually, where the legend is abundant there is some truth buried at the root of the story. The truth of the werewolf could very likely be buried in the vast state of Texas.