Ghostly Happenings in Alaska

Tragedy of the Ax Accident

This spooky tale has to do with Badarka Road in Chugiak. A five-year-old girl was helping her father chop wood in the woods to take back to their cabin, where her mother and younger sister were waiting. The father embedded the ax into a tree to make sure the girl did not fall on it. While his back was turned, his daughter decided to impress him by pulling out the ax and chopping some wood herself.

The tragic tale goes that the little girl pulled the ax down on her head killing her instantly. Her father was distraught and did not want to leave his daughter alone in the woods. So he sat there cradling her lifeless body through the winter and died of hypothermia.

Driving down Badarka Road around 3:30 AM, you might see the man cradling the corpse of his daughter by the roadside. It is a spooky and tragic tale, but whatever happened to his wife and younger daughter waiting back at the cabin?

Those who have dared to explore Badarka Road often describe feelings of unease and have reported various supernatural encounters. The area is frequently discussed in local ghost stories and has become a point of interest for paranormal enthusiasts.

Ghostly Condominium Dwellers

The small town of Whittier sits at the head of the Passage Canal, a natural bay of Prince William Sound on the east coast of the Kenai Peninsula. Most of its residents live in Begish Towers Condominium, a 14-story tower that also includes stores, churches, and public utilities. Since all the people are here, ghostly spirits can get lonely, so they share the condominium tower with the living.

One spooky resident likes to whistle as he walks about the building, while another can be heard stomping up and down the stairs. When the manager awoke, he heard rustling noises in his kitchen, but upon investigation, there was no one around. Residents say that it really is not so bad sharing their living quarters with ghosts as long as they can leave at any time. It gets positively spooky in the winter months when there is a heavy snowfall and both the residents and the ghosts are unable to leave.

Haunting of the Unfortunate Souls

In the Haines Area, just off the coast of Alaska, the Eldred Rock Lighthouse is the oldest original lighthouse in Alaska.

In this area, one of the most notorious shipwrecks occurred. In 1898, the Clara Nevada steamship ran aground on Eldred Rock. It burst into flames and sank in the icy depths of the canal. This shipwreck claimed 75 lives, and hundreds of pounds of gold sank, never to be recovered.

Now the poor unfortunate souls of these passengers and sailors, as well as those of other shipwrecks, haunt the island and the surrounding waters.

Spirits of Crying Children in Empty Rooms

In Fairbanks, the nursery wing of the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital is haunted. Unknown ghostly spirits show up in the nursery wing when an infant appears to be dying. Nurses think perhaps these are angels that come to guide these children into the next life. There have also been the sounds of children crying in empty rooms and temperatures suddenly plummeting when spirits are near.

The Woman in White

Located on an isolated stretch of the Parks Highway in Cantwell, the Igloo City Hotel got its name because it is shaped like an igloo. Built in the 1970s, this four-story building was never completed. Since then it has been abandoned and given up to the harsh climate of Alaska.

Ghostly spirits have chosen to take up residence. Lights have been seen inside the building, and a woman in white looks out of one of the windows. I wonder who she is waiting for.

Ghostly Girl Haunts the Bathroom and the Gym

In Nightmute, at the Nightmute High School, a little girl has chosen to haunt the bathroom, flushing toilets and playing with the lights. When this spirit is done with the bathroom, she has been heard roaming about humming and will play with basketballs in an empty gym. Trying to understand the origin of the girl's spirit, a grave was uncovered beneath Room 106.

Darkness and Shadowy Creatures

The ghost town of Portlock is located on the southern edge of the Kenai Peninsula in Port Chatham Bay. It was in the 1940s that villagers started disappearing under violent and unexplained circumstances; others were found dead, and some were just gone. There are people who say that a darkness hangs over the area and large, shadowy creatures can be seen in the woods. Eventually the homes here were boarded up and now no one wants to be in the area. Unfortunately, this is private land and owned by the nearby native village of Nanwalek and cannot be visited. Whatever spirits haunt this place have been left alone to their own devices.

The Ghostly Spirit of Lydia

In Skagway, the Red Onion Saloon was once a brothel and later over the years an army barracks, a bakery, a laundry, a union hall, a gift shop, and even a TV studio. Today, visitors can take a guided tour of the property with tour guides dressed as madams of the era.

At the Red Onion Saloon, the first floor housed the bar area, and the upper floor had ten rooms where the ladies of the night could entertain their guests. In the bar, there were ten dolls, each representing the working girls. If the doll was laid flat on her back, it meant that she was occupied; if it was sitting upright, it meant that she was available.

Today the place is haunted by a ghostly spirit believed to be Lydia, one of the prostitutes who worked at the brothel. Her footsteps can be heard on the second floor, and there is a strong scent of perfume, and unusual cold spots felt. Lydia has also been seen as a full-body apparition walking around in Madame's room or running down the hall.

She is known to water the plants and at times behaves aggressively toward men.

An Angry Ghost and a Woman in White

At the University of Alaska, the Wendy Williamson Auditorium has acquired a ghostly spirit. Unfortunately, this is an angry male spirit who dislikes brunettes. Women with long brown hair find themselves pushed by this unseen spirit.

There is also a ghostly woman spirit dressed in white who appears during a performance, and while the audience thought she was part of the show, she disappeared. Also giggling children have been heard, and a teenage boy appears.