Til Death: Ghost Brides of the United States

I am in the middle of planning a (goth rustic) wedding, which I do not enjoy doing. I was just not wired to be a bride. Instead of calling caterers or sending out invitations, I have been looking up ghost stories about brides. There are a lot of them. I could go into the theories behind why there are so many, but I’m just here to tell some stories!

The stories that started all this research were urban legends I heard as a child.

There are several versions of this first story, but they basically go like this. A young woman, groom, and some of their wedding guests decided to play a game of hide-and-seek in a large mansion used for the wedding reception (one version say it was the father-of-the-bride’s house). Someone other than the bride was designated as “it” (some versions say the maid of honor, others say the groom). Everyone was found, but the bride. Friends and family searched the house for hours, days, and weeks. A missing person report was filed. Eventually, the groom had to move on with his life. One day in the far off future, someone was cleaning the house. They opened a large chest in the attic and found a skeleton in a tattered wedding dress. It seemed that the lid of the chest shut on the bride when she used it as a hiding place. She was unable to open the lid and she suffocated to death (some say the heavy lid crushed her skull).

Another legend I grew up hearing involves a deadly wedding dress. There are many versions of this story, too. Sometimes it is not even a wedding dress. The story goes that a dead young woman was to be buried in her wedding dress, but her parents decided last minute to bury her in another dress. Since the wedding dress was expensive, they sold it for profit. This dress ended up in the hands of a another young woman as she needed it for a community dance. The entire night of the dance, the dress gave off an odor and she felt very faint. Her date decided to take her home, since she was not feeling well. She did not make it home alive. Her date told the doctor about the odor. The doctor investigated and found formaldehyde in her veins, which had caused her blood to coagulated and stop flowing (I don’t know). When they asked the store about the dress, they revealed that they received it from a funeral home and it had been worn by a corpse. The dancing most likely caused the young woman to sweat, which opened her pores and took in formaldehyde.

I am not sure why revisiting such dreadful stories brings me comfort during the stress of planning my own big day, but nevertheless it sent me down a rabbit hole full of ghost brides. The best way to avoid wedding tasks, I suppose! Enjoy the following bits of paranormal history involving brides, grooms, and haunted wedding dresses.

Old Faithful Inn  (Yellowstone National Park)

The inn itself is very haunted. A woman staying in Room 2 reported a woman dressed in 1890s clothes floating at the end of her bed. People have also reported the fire extinguisher moving and doors opening and closing. The most interesting ghost, though, is the headless bride. People have reported a woman in a white dress drifting across the Crow’s Nest, holding her head under her arm. According to legend, the bride was a young woman from 1915 New York that, despite her wealthy father’s wishes, married a much older male servant. Her father provided them a one-time dowry of a substantial amount with the agreement that they would not ask for money ever again and would leave New York forever. They married and headed to Yellowstone National Park for their honeymoon (staying in Room 127 of Old Faithful Inn). On their way to Yellowstone, the groom spent most of the money on gambling and booze. A month into their honeymoon, their dowry was gone. This led to intense arguments between the couple, which was heard by hotel staff. One day the husband stormed out and never returned. The hotel staff thought they might give the heartbroken wife her space and after a few days decided to check in on her. The maid found the young bride bloody in the bathtub. Her head was no where to be found. A couple days later, an odor in the Crow’s Nest led staff to…her head.

Dauphine Orleans Hotel (New Orleans, Louisiana)

A young courtesan named Millie worked in May’s Place, a bar in the Dauphine Orleans Hotel. The morning of her wedding, her groom-to-be was shot dead in a gambling dispute. Millie, from that point on and even after death, walked around the bar in her wedding dress. She still walks around the Dauphine in her wedding dress today, waiting for her fiancé to return.

Driskill Hotel (Austin, Texas)

Room 525 is haunted by two brides. Allegedly two young women ended their lives in the room on their honeymoons, 20 years apart. The room was closed for a time and then eventually reopened for renovations. The renovations brought about some paranormal activity including apparitions, weird sensations, unexplained leaks, distant voices, and other odd noises.

Hotel Galvez (Galveston, Texas)

Since her death in the 1950s, a ghost bride haunts Room 501 in Hotel Galvez. Her fiancé was a mariner and she, when expecting his return, would watch the sea from the hotel. One tragic day, she watched as his ship sank and soon after ended her life. He had actually survived and returned to heartbreak. She still walks the halls, scaring guests. One guest in Room 501 abruptly left the hotel at 3 a.m. in tears. 

City Tavern (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

A bride and her bridesmaids were preparing for the wedding when one bridesmaid accidentally knocked over a candle, setting the curtains on fire. The fire spread throughout the tavern, taking the lives of the bride and her bridesmaids.  The ghost of the bride is active today, especially during wedding events at the tavern. Some wedding photographers have even reported seeing her apparition appearing next to the (living) bride when looking through the camera viewfinder. Although, no one has caught her on film.

Emily Morgan Hotel (San Antonio, Texas)

The Emily Morgan Hotel resides in a building erected in the 1920s; the hotel itself was established in the 1980s. The building, first used as a Medical Arts building, is lined with gargoyles portraying a different medical ailment. Such an astonishing building comes with some astonishing ghost stories, of course. The seventh floor of the thirteen-floor building is haunted by a ghost bride. Her backstory is unknown. Visitors of the hotel have called down to the front desk after hearing loud shrieks. Hotel staff simply reply, “We’re sorry, but we do think it might be a ghost responsible for that.”

Hotel Conneaut (Erie, Pennsylvania)

Elizabeth and her new husband stayed in Room 321 on their honeymoon. Their blissful vacation was interrupted by a raging fire in the hotel. The husband was able to get out alive, but Elizabeth was trapped in the room and died. The heartbroken bride still roams the third floor, looking for her husband and sobbing. Wearing a wedding dress, she leaves behind the smell of jasmine.

The Alpha Gamma Delta House at University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia)

The AGD sorority house at the University of Georgia once housed the wealthy families of Athens. The mansion was built by William Winstead Thomas in 1896 as an engagement gift for his daughter, Isabel, and her fiance, Richard W. Johnson. The house is often called “the wedding cake house,” because of this. Isabel ended her life in the house after Richard left her at the altar. The house went through a couple of hands before becoming a sorority house.

According to several reports, the scorned bride is still active in the house. Paranormal activity includes faucets turning on, lights turning on and off by themselves, doors opening by themselves, and faces appearing in the window. One sorority sister named Sarah lived in the “Engagement” room and described her experiences :”The door to my bedroom and my roommate’s closet door randomly swing open on their own […] I swear that the ghost who lives here is doing it. It really freaks me out.”

Long Island Campgrounds (Bolton Landing, New York)

The state campground has 90 sites over 100 acres. In the 1960s, a new husband and wife decided it was the perfect location for their honeymoon. They were allegedly murdered in their sleep while camping. The bride now wanders the grounds, looking for her husband among the living campers.

Phelps Grove Park (Springfield, Missouri)

When driving over a bridge in Phelps Grove Park, a newly married couple lost control of the car and both died. The bride still haunts the location. She can be seen holding the hem of her wedding dress. Her face is only darkness.

Curves (Onondaga Hill, New York)

A similar story appears in Onondaga Hill folklore. About 60 years ago, a young couple died in a car crash on a very snaky road just after their wedding. People claim to see the bride on Halloween. Her glowing figure floats down the road in a wedding gown, searching for her husband. Some say she carries a bright orange lantern. To read more about this legend, visit Weird New York.

Baker Mansion (Altoona, Pennsylvania)

Anna Baker, the daughter of the rich Elias Baker, fell in love with a local steelworker. Her father forbade her to marry him, because he was of lower class. She died alone. Much later, The Baker Mansion (in Altoona, PA) was made into a museum and a wedding dress was put on display in a glass case in Anna’s bedroom. When there is a full moon, the dress violently shakes, sometimes to the point of almost breaking the glass. Myth says she is so mad she never got to wear a wedding dress, and therefore shakes it in anger. Some people often report seeing it dance by itself (with the shoes tapping along).

Some Small Town (North Dakota)

The book Haunted America by Michael Norman and Beth Scott tells a spooky story of sisterly jealousy in the 1930s. Sisters Lorna Mae and Carol were complete opposites. Lorna Mae, the youngest sister, was strong, cheerful, and a hard worker. The older sister, Carol, was reportedly more attractive, grumpy, and lazy. They both fell in love with a widower with three children, Ben. Ben chose Lorna Mae to be his wife, imagining the both of them working side-by-side on the farm. Carol was very angry. Shouldn’t he be with the prettier one?

Shortly before the wedding, Lorna Mae suffered abdominal pains. Carol was nearby and was sent to get the doctor. She returned saying she could not find a doctor in town. It is believed she lied and even dawdled in town. Lorna Mae was rushed to town, but died of a ruptured appendix shortly after arriving.

Carol set out to marry Ben. She even demanded the undertaker to remove the wedding dress from Lorna Mae’s dead body before the burial. A month after the funeral, Carol was able to convince Ben to marry her. Their wedding was in mid-July in 100-degree heat. Carol look beautiful in Lorna Mae’s high neck wedding dress. During the festivities, though, Carol began to sway and grab at her throat. She died in Ben’s arms.

The autopsy revealed that it could not be heatstroke. The wedding dress had absorbed some of the embalming fluid while on Lorna Mae. The hot weather caused Carol to sweat, which opened her pores and allowed the fluid to enter.

Well, I’m back at that same childhood legend. I still do not have a wedding dress for my own wedding, but I’ll tell you what: I won’t be going vintage.

***Please note: the stories shared are legend. While they may have factual elements, they should be consumed with an “ALLEGEDLY” lens. 

Featured Image: Photo by Alex Dukhanov on Unsplash