Gary told me to just write, so here goes nothing. My name is Aurora D'Angelis. Yes, that Aurora D'Angelis, the 1990-something porn star and before that drug addict/rock groupie. That should lend some real credibility to my story. Okay, so that was my past.
I need help and I'm hoping someone out there will read this and be able to help.
About four years ago, my sister, Lisa, was traveling with some death metal band and they came to Eastham, planning to stay overnight and then head up into New York State. Lisa disappeared. She left a note saying she was going to Eastham Institute to meet with Priscilla Walker. I've since learned that Priscilla, a heroin-addicted prostitute was incarcerated at the institute and was murdered by Henry Ketteridge (you may know he's a serial killer who had a "castle" here in Eastham back in the late 1800's, where he tortured and murdered upwards of 30 people), who posed as a doctor. He raped and hung her.
How Lisa knew of Priscilla, I have no idea, but Lisa hasn't been seen since. I went to Eastham in hopes of finding out anything about my sister and Priscilla, but no one knew a thing, or if they did, they weren't talking. I do know the institute burned down in the 1930's so it's impossible that Lisa was going to visit Priscilla.
My husband, David, a journalist, went there to do a story on the institute (and look for Lisa) and how it's allegedly haunted. I had planned to go with him, but my job kept me from it (not the movies, but an actual real job in an office). When I called him, he didn't answer. I called the motel and was told he wasn't there and no one knew where he'd gone. His car was still there, but he was gone.
Again, I went to Eastham (I often wonder if the town wanted me and the only way to get me was through those I love) to find out whatever I could, and just like with Lisa, no one knew anything. Although, a couple of people told me of a local legend of people who live under Eastham Lake, called Lake Walkers, and maybe David got too close and they took him.
I moved there a couple of years ago and have been searching for any information on Lisa or David. If anyone knows anything about Priscilla Walker (family or friends), the Institute, or the Lake Walker legend, please contact me through this blog. Please ask your friends to read this; maybe they know something. I know it's a long shot, but Eastham's not that far from New York, and I'm hoping someone who reads this might be able to help.
Thank you. And thank you Gary, for letting me post this.
Sincerely,
Aurora D'Angelis
Showing posts with label Eastham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eastham. Show all posts
Friday, August 13, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
In My Little Town...
Eastham, New Jersey is a (ficticious) small town located just north of Sussex. If you take Route 23 North all the way up past Sussex, you'll come to Castle Road on your right. Make the turn and take that to Main Street and make that right. If you go too far, you'll come to Sheckman's Road on your left where you can turn around. One thing you will notice is that it feels as if Eastham, and the roads to get there, were carved out of the forest that grows dense and right to the road. Truth is, it was.
Here's what I've learned about Eastham. back in the 1860's, William Harvey Eastham, and his wife, Sylvia, opened Eastham Institute (a polite word for sanitarium) as a retreat for those who had suffered nervous breakdowns. As more and people came, they started construction on brick buildings until by the turn of the century, when construction was complete, over five hundred mentally disturbed patients called the sanitarium home. Around the same time, they built an orphanage on what is now Sheckman's Hill.
As philanthropic as the Easthams were, they could not watch everything that went on and it was discovered much later, that some of the doctors, nurses, and caretakers (even a few of the religious people on staff) had agendas of their own, like experimenting on patients, including children, to make them perfect in the eyes of God. Some, but not all, were caught and sent to jail. The rest continued their experiments in secret until both the orphanage and the sanitarium burned down under extremely mysterious conditions.
During one of the worst lightning storms to ever hit the area, survivors claimed they heard voices telling them to leave the building. As they fled, multiple lightning strikes hit the institute and the orphanage, starting numerous fires that raged out of control before the Sussex Fire Department and those from surrounding areas could put it out.
When it was all over and there was nothing left but rubble, some asked why the innocent died and some said there were no innocents, only the wicked and those being made to be wicked. Once the debris and bodies were cleared, the local politicians and developers were only too happy to build a small, self-contained community there and an office building and warehouse up where the orphanage had been. The businesses in Sussex prospered, as did the new businesses in Eastham. BioTribe Corp. moved in to the office building, but left several years ago, under mysterious circumstances. The warehouse and office were turned into a homeless shelter, where close to fifty people live. Volunteers from the area come up to what's now called Sheckman's Hollow to feed the homeless and to make sure they're as healthy as homeless people can be.
What few people know, and others only whisper about. is that the area had become tainted by the madness that had seeped from the sanitarium and the orphanage into the ground, and though it never affected anything in nature (no one knows why), the people were much more susceptible.
There's a lot of weirdness in Eastham now, including sightings of lights in the woods, ghosts and shadow people, humanoid creatures that live under Eastham Lake, unidentifiable monsters, and more unexplained phenomena. A certain local magazine has been there a number of times to interview people, but the local police won't let them talk to anyone.
What goes on behind the closed doors in Eastham is up for conjecture, as no one's talking. But there are many dark secrets in this town.
I'll be writing more on Eastham and the residents soon.
Peace,
Gary . . .
Here's what I've learned about Eastham. back in the 1860's, William Harvey Eastham, and his wife, Sylvia, opened Eastham Institute (a polite word for sanitarium) as a retreat for those who had suffered nervous breakdowns. As more and people came, they started construction on brick buildings until by the turn of the century, when construction was complete, over five hundred mentally disturbed patients called the sanitarium home. Around the same time, they built an orphanage on what is now Sheckman's Hill.
As philanthropic as the Easthams were, they could not watch everything that went on and it was discovered much later, that some of the doctors, nurses, and caretakers (even a few of the religious people on staff) had agendas of their own, like experimenting on patients, including children, to make them perfect in the eyes of God. Some, but not all, were caught and sent to jail. The rest continued their experiments in secret until both the orphanage and the sanitarium burned down under extremely mysterious conditions.
During one of the worst lightning storms to ever hit the area, survivors claimed they heard voices telling them to leave the building. As they fled, multiple lightning strikes hit the institute and the orphanage, starting numerous fires that raged out of control before the Sussex Fire Department and those from surrounding areas could put it out.
When it was all over and there was nothing left but rubble, some asked why the innocent died and some said there were no innocents, only the wicked and those being made to be wicked. Once the debris and bodies were cleared, the local politicians and developers were only too happy to build a small, self-contained community there and an office building and warehouse up where the orphanage had been. The businesses in Sussex prospered, as did the new businesses in Eastham. BioTribe Corp. moved in to the office building, but left several years ago, under mysterious circumstances. The warehouse and office were turned into a homeless shelter, where close to fifty people live. Volunteers from the area come up to what's now called Sheckman's Hollow to feed the homeless and to make sure they're as healthy as homeless people can be.
What few people know, and others only whisper about. is that the area had become tainted by the madness that had seeped from the sanitarium and the orphanage into the ground, and though it never affected anything in nature (no one knows why), the people were much more susceptible.
There's a lot of weirdness in Eastham now, including sightings of lights in the woods, ghosts and shadow people, humanoid creatures that live under Eastham Lake, unidentifiable monsters, and more unexplained phenomena. A certain local magazine has been there a number of times to interview people, but the local police won't let them talk to anyone.
What goes on behind the closed doors in Eastham is up for conjecture, as no one's talking. But there are many dark secrets in this town.
I'll be writing more on Eastham and the residents soon.
Peace,
Gary . . .
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