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A Month of the Paranormal and Strange on Oregon Coast

(Oregon Coast) – October – for obvious reasons – will be full of ghosts, paranormal legends and the weird science of the region on tourism and entertainment website Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Between now and the end of the month, a variety of strange and tall tales will published on the site, partially to gear up for the talks on the subject in Seaside and Newport, given by editor Andre’ Hagestedt.

Hagestedt will speak about Oregon coast ghosts and other strange stories at the Oregon Coast Aquarium on October 27, and again in Seaside at Beach Books on October 29. Click here for more.

In preparation for this feast of freaky facts, Hagestedt has been slowly discovering more weird stories about the region lately and will publish these in detail over the weeks leading up to the talks.

Stay tuned to BeachConnection.net for the following wild yarns, which includes not just paranormal stuff but the freaky, even shocking scientific facts about the region.

Bandage Man: A favorite north coast legend that centers around Cannon Beach, he is something like a cheap version of the mummy, wandering around on stormy nights, dressed up in bandages often dripping with blood. BeachConnection.net has dug deeper into this myth and discovered more that’s both chilling and amusing.

Haunted Lighthouses: There are numerous tales of spirits meandering around the sentinels that have lit up these shores for about one hundred years now, but some of them aren’t what they seem.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

One tale is especially scary, about the ghost of a lighthouse keeper at Newport’s Yaquina Head lighthouse that supposedly had died a gruesome death there, causing his still-living coworkers to fear going into the place at night, lest they be accosted by him in spirit form. But this one has quite a weird ending.

The lighthouse at Heceta Head, near Florence, is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world, but it’s also been named one of the nation’s top ten haunted lighthouses by Coastal Living Magazine. You’ll find out why this month, and why the family who runs the B&B there simply shrugs it off after freely admitting the ghost is real.

There is the longtime, famous ghost story of the teenaged chick who haunts the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse in Newport – but there’s an unusual twist here too.

Particularly scary, however, is the real life yarn of a Hollywood film crew who left the other lighthouse a shambles – the tall one, on Yaquina Head. Probably the scariest part is that they were Hollywood folk, with the wanton attitude of Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears.

Tillamook Rock Lighthouse sits on a large basalt structure about a mile away from shore

Getting Spooky at Tillamook Rock Lighthouse: It’s perhaps the most mysterious of lighthouses in the nation, as it’s not accessible at all by the public, teasing us by lurking a mile offshore, barely visible and creating a bunch of self-sustaining myths about itself.

There are a couple creepy tales about this enigmatic icon that’s seen from Cannon Beach and Seaside – one of which involves the death of an entire ship that crashed near it. Now, some say you can hear the ship’s only survivor – a dog – howling in the night.

However, the truth behind this dark, mystifying place is the strangest part. Find out what happened during its extremely hazardous construction, and how the Native Americans tried to warn people.

The upper floors of the Seaside Aquarium were once apartments, and now said to still house some tenants

Sleepless in Seaside: The north coast town is full of little tales here and there, involving ghosts that throw stuff, creep out restaurant owners, appear fuzzily from behind doors, and ghosts that move with employees to haunt another building.

Then there’s the mysterious soldier who appeared once on the promenade to a local man, or the whispers of something in the nether regions of the upper floors of the Seaside Aquarium.

The Non-Living of Lincoln City: The central coast town has plenty of wild tales swirling about it, some of which include testimonials from a local man who did a small film on the ghosts of that area.

Witness the hairs standing up on his neck as he discovers the uncanny facts behind a ghost experience he filmed at a firehouse there.

Siletz Bay is known to have a ghost ship – both real and legendary, which adds particular strength to the tales of a schooner that appears from the fog and then disappears. There’s also a number of buildings haunted in the area.

Weird sights above the Nehalem Bay

Happy and Creepy in Nehalem Bay: Something is very different about this particularly engaging section of the north Oregon coast, with a rather insistent local population talking about a phenomenon where odd, serendipitous coincidences happen with startling regularity. It’s called the “Wheeler Moment,” and it sometimes means if you make a wish there, it just may come true.

On the other side of the coin, find out about the legends of hauntings there, and some of the new information recently uncovered about them. Also, the town of Manzanita has a past that is especially bizarre and creepy – one which strangely mirrors a horror movie released in the last few years.

Not only is Neskowin purportedly a strange "spirit spot," but it contains one of the strangest geologic features with its "ghost forest"

Spirits and the Spiritual of the Central Coast Ghosts: The village of Neskowin is another one of those “spiritual” spots, not unlike Nehalem Bay, and the Nye Beach area of Newport also has a similar spirit spot legend.

Find out more about the ghost of a man who may haunt the bars in Newport, and then there’s that chilling recount of the upset spirit that haunts the upper floor of a restaurant in Depoe Bay.

The Ghosts of Astoria: Here’s a town that it so atmospheric and ancient that it practically has no choice but to be a center for those from beyond. The Liberty Theater, the Firefighter Museum and a variety of buildings here – many of them Victorians – have an abundance of ghost tales. One involves a ghost nicknamed “Handsome Paul” who just looks dapper and hangs out. Meanwhile, the town has a gruesome history of people getting shanghaied, which lends plenty of reason as to why someone of the departed demographic would want to haunt the area.

Cape Falcon, near Manzanita: how it came to be dwarfs the scare element of any ghost story

The Fiery Truth About the Coast: How much of this region was formed is one bizarre, truly frightening saga. Many of the headlands and major rock structures you see, which give the coast its distinctive look, were formed by a lava flow so large it’s hard to imagine. Picture massive lava, as high as 20 feet and hundreds of miles long, scorching its way through the prehistoric Oregon – many times over.

Then, fast-forward millions of years later, to about 10,000 years ago. Oregon during the ice age was caught up in a flood so big it scoured out the valley we know as the Columbia Gorge.

Weird Science Wonders: Discover the strange wonders of glowing sand and sand that sings. Find out about meteor showers that are more spectacular on the coast. Find about the elusive and still controversial “green flash at sunset.” Truth is even stranger than science fiction on the coast.

All these are coming up in greater deal, throughout the weeks, until October 27.

Inn at Cannon Beach. Beautifully wooded natural setting at quiet south end of Cannon Beach. Great during winter storms with a new book by the fireplace – or when the sun is out for family fun and beach strolling. Handsome beach cottage-style architecture. Lush flowering gardens and naturalized courtyard pond. Warm, inviting guest rooms. Continental buffet breakfast. Warm Cookies. Family and Pet Friendly. Welcome gifts. Smoke-free. Complimentary Wireless Connectivity. Wine and book signing events. 800-321-6304 or 503-436-9085. Hemlock At Surfcrest, Cannon Beach, Oregon. www.atcannonbeach.com.

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