14. Many lighthouses are claimed to be haunted
Lighthouses are often located in remote areas prone to fog and heavy mist. By design they are looming structures with few windows, and those no longer in service are often surrounded by crumbling service buildings, on lots overrun by weeds. They are located in areas where the sea is often troublesome to sailors, with crashing, heavy surf, and a reputation for shipwrecks. As such they are prime candidates for a haunting, and a favorite target of those who believe in ghosts and the paranormal. Tales of ghostly encounters in lighthouses are repeated around the world. Some focus on strange deaths within the lighthouse among the keepers and their families. Others are centered on the ghost of dead sailors whose ships foundered on the seas because they could not see the light or hear the fog warnings. Still others are of suicides who used the tower’s height to propel them to their deaths on the rocks below.
Haunted lighthouses abound in the Great Lakes, and the relatively recent movement to purchase a disused lighthouse from the government’s inventory for use as a permanent residence has done little to quell the tales of ghosts. Great Britain has its share of haunted lighthouses in Cornwall, Penzance, Dover, and elsewhere. Many lighthouses in Great Britain and the United States have been featured on television programs which purport to investigate such things as ghosts and spiritual presences. Many of the lighthouses around the United States which have claims to being haunted have been converted to Bed and Breakfast Inns, inviting their guests to spend an evening or two with the spirits in residence, perhaps fortified with spirits for sale. Others have become museums for tourists, who are warned of the possibility of a spiritual intrusion while enjoying their tour of the facility.
