Holy Ground

Reindeer Manor is a real haunted house located on the outskirts of Dallas with a truly haunted past, which has been open to the public for over 36 seasons. It is one of the oldest haunted attractions in the state of Texas, if not in the world. The grounds and buildings of what is now Reindeer Manor have experienced a unique, mysterious, and somewhat stormy history. In the early 1900's, a two story wooden house stood on the site of the current house. The owner of the house was James Sharp, a prominent Texas oil pioneer and banker. Unfortunately, in the quiet early hours of one morning in 1915, the silence of the farm was shattered by screams. Lightning had sparked a tragic fire which quickly consumed the wooden house. Mad because of the loss of property, Mr. Sharp decided to built on the property again, and even though it nearly tripled the cost of construction, he made sure all the buildings on the property were as fireproof as possible. However, before the Main House could be finished, Mr. Sharp suddenly died. Records are sketchy at best, but he either shot himself or was shot by his mistress in his bedroom.

In 1917, shortly after the death of his father, James Sharp's eldest son, James Jr. moved into the newly completed Manor. His wife, a prominent spiritualist at the time was convinced that the family and the Manor itself were cursed, and with ever falling income and creditors threatening, he began to act strangely. As the rumors of insanity spread within the staff, he receded more and more into himself, shunning those with whom he had formerly been quite open and spending more and more time with his wife in her "unholy pursuits". Constantly tormented by the whispers of a curse, James and his wife were obsessed with finding a solution to their problem. From psychics to witch doctors, Mr. and Mrs. Sharp had invited anyone with access to the occult to his bedroom in the vain pursuit of lifting the curse. His wife tried to contact his father from beyond the grave seeking his advice and council. Potions were mixed and incantations were chanted to rid the home and family from bad luck. The final chapter of the Sharp family in the history of Reindeer Manor ended with the discovery of James Juniors wife dead by poisoning in the main dining room , and his lifeless body swinging from a noose strung from the rafters of the barn.

After that, the Manor fell into ruin. Since then, a few people have tried to turn this house into a home, but all have failed. The house stood vacant until 1974 when it became The Haunted House at Reindeer Manor. Over the years, people that work and visit Reindeer Manor have experienced many strange occurrences. Unearthly noises are heard. Locals have seen eerie lights dancing in the windows of the buildings when the entire property was vacant. And everyone who enters the house alone feels as if someone is watching them or feels "cold spots" in some places. Some have seen objects floating in thin air. Recently, a picture was taken for a publicity stunt...when the film was developed the face of a young boy was seen faintly in the backround.

After the Sharp family was no more, a man named Jonathon Maybrick leased one of the barns for his residence and funeral parlor, which he named "the 13th Street Morgue". He was able to create a state of the art embalming facility, funeral chapel, crematory, and even his own residence for his family. The land of the west of the building was used to bury people who were too poor to afford a plot in the city cemetery. The Maybricks did well for some time, but trouble began when a local criminal met his end in a bank robbery. During the crime, a 16-year-old girl was shot and killed. Her father, Alfred Helm, religiously kept his three children indoors for fear of loosing them like he lost his wife. In a strange twist of fate, he had sent his eldest daughter, Abigail, to the bank that afternoon. The robber, Raymond Reynolds, killed both the bank teller and Abigail for no apparent reason. As he tried to flee he was shot dead by the towns police officer. After the shootings, Raymond's mother came to the Morgue to make final arrangements for her son. Alfred Helm was not at all happy to hear the news that the murderer of Abigail was to receive a proper funeral when he had to lay his child to rest on his own land with his own shovel. In one morning of December 13th, Alfred cut the phone lines and broke into the Morgue. Dressed as Santa Clause to fool the children if they awoke, he made his way into the Maybrick home and into each of their bedrooms. After strangling the two small children, the wife and Jonathon, Alfred set himself in a chair in the living room and shot himself in the chest. The note he left read: "Please watch after my children. They are the product of an unholy mind." To this day, the remains of of the Maybrick home and business still remain. No one lives there, but the spirits of the long dead still haunt the halls of the former mortuary and cemetery outside.

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