Thread: The Ultimate Haunt

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30 years ago this year, I had a unique opportunity to haunt a place that for many years was believed to be fictional. We sometimes joke about fact being stranger than fiction,
but as life has taught us, most legend and lore start out as some sort of fact. This is a true account of one of those times.
I was stationed in Germany during my 2nd tour of duty in the U.S. Army in the early to mid 1970’s. Assigned to 32nd Signal Battalion located just outside of Frankfurt. It was a 20 minute ride via strassenbaun (electric cable car) to the main PX and the hub of 5th Army Headquarters in the I.G. Farben Building. Also located in the area were the American Movie theatres and the 97th General Hospital. My story begins in a building supplied by the U.S. Military and the German National Chamber. (Much like our Chamber of Commerce)
There was a very popular night club there called the Kontact Club. Staffed by both military and German people, it was a place where you could meet people and dance, drink, and just have fun. It helped bridge the gap between 2 diverse cultures, and was self supporting, so there were people from both sides on the planning boards. And it worked; I met Garret Phistner and Fred Munich, as well as some lovely German girls, and made many friends. It was a great place to relax after getting off duty. The club had
many functions, trips and tours they promoted to raise money to keep the club going.
I became involved in the club as I was thousands of miles away from home, and to be quite honest, I didn’t have anyone waiting at home for me to return.

During one of the planning meetings, we were discussing what we could do different during Ocktoberfest. For those who don’t know, Ocktoberfest in Germany is a nearly 2 month celebration that starts in September, and ends in October, and includes lots of sporting events parades, and parties. It is such a big deal that travel agencies to this day
have trips to the event. And I being a Halloween buff and amateur haunter, suggested we do a haunted house to cash in on the large amounts of people who would be in the area. Little did I know what this would lead to, and the lesson I would learn in the process.

Garret Phistner then told me about the town of Frankenstein, and the castle ruins that overlook that region. I was stunned, when he said that the book written by Mary Beth
Shelly was based on historical fact. And that the line of Frankenstein still existed today
As lawyers and doctors and real estate giants. He and Fred Munich told me I had much to learn.
The next day we made the trip from Frankfurt to Wiesbaden, where just outside of this city, is the Berg Frankenstein. Traveling thru the small village to the road that ran up the side of the mountain, mostly one lane, I actually felt a chill. Could this really be true and were we ever going to make it to the top It seemed as though we just kept going up and up. We finally reached the top; there was a parking area that we stopped in. A paved road led to the front gate of one of the most unusual places I had ever seen. We decided to walk thru the outer battlements to a huge wall that curved and ran alongside the road.

There were paths that went thru the woods, to the outer walls and battlements, and you didn’t want to stray to far off the path. There were cliffs and drops of up to 90 feet, is you went too far. One thing you did notice was the white looking moss that covered the ruins, it was everywhere. Garret told me it was what they called grave moss, and that it glowed at night. Yes I was skeptical, but I said that I wanted to see that for myself, at night. Yeah, real brave I was… We finally walked along the paved road for about an quarter mile to the front gate. It was there that we met the caretaker and his wife, a nice middle aged couple that didn’t seem too scary. We were shown into a small bar and gift shop of all things, and sat and as they talked German, I had a beer. Garret and Fred told the caretakers what we proposed. A haunting of the castle ruins, we would bring the visitors by the busload, and it would be good for them as they could open the bar and shop and make some money as well. It was then that the caretaker’s daughter came in and she spoke English, so I could understand what was being said. Bettina Hess
was her name, and she translated what her father said. There were going to contact the family and try to secure permission for us to haunt the castle. But there were rules to be followed. It was then that we were told a version of the legend by the caretaker himself.

Frankenstein was indeed a doctor and a well educated man. He had read many books
on alchemy and dark sciences. His wife took ill after a type of plague had passed thru the region. Everything he tried to do seemed to fail. He sent for help from the doctors around the region, but they refused. There was great animosity between them as the doctors felt he had abandoned the pure science of medicine, for the darker alchemic arts.
Frankenstein even went to the Burgermeister (Mayor) for help, and was turned down.
He vowed revenge, as his wife slowly died day by day. He believed he had found the answer in the books that he had studied. When his wife finally passed, he preserved her body in ice in one of the lower chambers of the castle, and set about his experiments.
He did in fact rob graves for body parts….He made a creature, sewn together from these parts, for he felt if he could revive dead tissue, he could bring his wife back. After months of putting this creature together, with the combination of chemicals and electricity from a passing storm, he failed to bring the thing to life. He failed to reach his dream…
At some point his mind snapped, and he became enraged…he then removed the face of the creature and sewed the face onto his own. Frankenstein then went into the towns and murdered everyone he felt was responsible for his wife’s death and his failure to revive her. He was caught and hanged, and the castle was burned to destroy the evil that abided there.
This was the story we were told, a very interesting twist indeed. 3 days later Garret called and informed me that we had been granted approval to haunt the ruins, but we had serious restrictions due to safety and they would allow us to use a generator for only 4 scenes. One of those was to be in the one tower you were allowed to go up into, you know the monster scene. We spent 2 weeks roping off areas and running extension cords to single clip on spot lights. We noticed that the fog rolled in each night at certain times,
And that added to the creepiness. Looking out from the tower, over the battlements you could see into the valley on 4 sides of the castle. You could actually sea the graveyards where the graves were supposedly robbed. The path we were allowed to use went from the parking lot, to the outer battlements, along the curved wall, onto the road, thru the main gate. Then you went past the chapel, (were some of the Frankenstein’s were buried)
And veered to the right and went down into the over grown moat, that circles the castles base. This is where we had set up 3 of the 4 lighted scenes. You came out of the moat by the chapel. The caretakers had put lighted candles inside the chapel, so as you passed there was a little light in there. You were not allowed in the chapel. You then crossed the bridge and into the tunnel to the courtyard. There is a steel door there that has been kept locked that leads to the lower parts of the castle. Again, no one has been allowed in there for over 100 years. After getting scared by roaming creatures, you made your way to the upper battlements and then into the tower for the grand finish. We made do with what we had, and the Army’s 97th General Hospital helped by loaning us battle trauma wound kits that they used to train medics in the field. Things like open stomach wounds that the actor could pump a ball and fake blood would pour out. Visitors would be led thru the entire castle by a guide with either a lantern of a flashlight. There was no music or sound effects except in the tower with the Frankenstein monster. We had 15 people set up over the inside and outside of the castle. And 5 guides to walk people thru. As far as haunts go, this was very basic, but the fog, and the atmosphere and the place made it seem totally unreal.
The Army provided busses for transportation to the castle on Halloween night, they sent 5 at first, but ended up sending 6 more, each holding 45 people. We charge 5 bucks a head for the trip and the haunt and 1 free drink. It was a great success. I have posted pictures that my sister was able to find from then. She is our family’s historian as it were.
Some of the pictures were from September and October when we were looking the castle over. And some were taken in January after the fact. You can see the pics in the Halloween Gallery under duke10311. There are more pictures I will post as my sister finds them and sends them to me. And now 30 years later, from those humble beginnings, Halloween Fest at Frankenstein’s Castle is the event to be seen at. I have heard many stories about the parties and the costumes and the events that now go on there. If you can believe it, the have built a large restaurant and small hotel there if you want to spend the night. They even let people get married there now, quite a change over the years.
There are many legends concerning the castle and its inhabitants in the past, both factual,
and fantasy. I will be writing another article concerning this in the near future…Stay tuned!!!!

A really neat and incredible story!!
I can identify completely with everything you said about the authentic atmosphere doing alot of the entertaining of the customers.
(I wonder how many of the patrons really knew "what" they were actually getting for their low admission?)
My haunted house is open for tours almost every night of the year, it's full of my own artwork and architectural creations, I narrate the tour, guide them through the house, make them jump, jerk, scream and laugh.......but it is a "haunted", Haunted House.
Some 85 year olds told me it was haunted 19 years ago when I bought it.
For the first several years I tried to keep this fact a secret from the general public(bad for business!)
People were giving me the credit for some pretty amazing "special effects" that I don't know how to do!
This house was built in 1870 and very probably was a house of ill-repute for it's first 30 years, maybe this has something to do with the haunting?
A psychic told me there are three bodies hidden behind the walls of the wine cellar. You might be saying, "Sure, psychics make alot of mistakes though."
When he was here the first four things he told me about this house were fairly obscure facts concerning this place, several of them he could not possibly have been told about by anyone.
His 5th prediction that day said that I had been given "The Kiss Of Death", I laughed, a few months later he returned one night wanting me to invite the 38th ghost into the house from the sideyard, I said, "No"!
The next day the Kiss Of Death came calling, I barely managed to duck as a semi going 75 to 80 MPH came crashing through the back of my car as I was stopped behind 25 other cars at a construction zone!
The ambulance crew couldn't believe that I was alive, let alone getting just a small cut on the lip and a bruised rib!
The car is in my backyard here for a display and to illustrate the event as evidence.
Alot of E.M.T.s have seen the car and they can't see how I could have even survived the impact of the collision!
Maybe....I didn't?
Maybe my patrons don't realise exactly what they are getting here for a haunted house tour for their small admission fee?