SCARIEST PLACES IN THE WORLD : Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia, USA

Savannah, Georgia is known as one of the most haunted cities in America, and Bonaventure Cemetery is known as one of the most haunted sites within Savannah! Despite the rumored hauntings, Bonaventure is also one of the most picturesque cemeteries in the US. This eerily beautiful Southern Gothic cemetery has been around since the 1800s. It is filled with rows of weathered gravestones resting under 250-year-old live oaks draped with Spanish moss.

It is rumored that people have been buried alive at Bonaventure Cemetery

Before modern technology such as heart monitors, sometimes people in comas with a low pulse rate were mistakenly buried alive. Although it was a rare occurrence, there is proof that this did happen on occasion. As evidence, they have found scratch marks inside of caskets when bodies have been exhumed or ransacked by grave robbers. In order to prevent this from happening, a string would be tied to the finger of the deceased and attached to a bell next to the grave, which is where the phrase “saved by the bell” came from.

The grave of Gracie, the six-year-old ghost, is found here

One of the most famous residents of Bonaventure Cemetery is Gracie Watson, the sweet 6-year-old that supposedly haunts the Regions Bank. Gracie’s parents managed the prestigious Pulaski hotel in Savannah where Gracie was beloved by all the guests. She was known to sing, giggle, smile, dance, and play around the hotel at the delight of its patrons. However, in 1889 when Gracie was only six years old, she fell ill with a fatal case of pneumonia and died just days before Easter. Her parents were utterly distraught and commissioned the famed sculptor, John Waltz, to carve a statue with her exact likeness even down to her favorite dress.

After Gracie’s passing, her mother and other hotel staff claimed to have heard her laughter and singing echoing throughout the halls of the hotel and under the back stairs where she loved to play. The Pulaski Hotel was eventually demolished with a cafe being built in its place. The cafe has since been converted to the Regions Bank on Johnson Square where patrons and workers claim to still hear her laughter. Rumor has it that she plays pranks on unsuspecting people, like pulling makeup out of women’s purses. Some have even seen the apparition of a young girl in 1880s attire wandering around the bank and other locations around Savannah. It is also said that if you take any of the gifts left at her grave then her statue will cry tears of blood.

Bonaventure Cemetery plays a starring role in the book and movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

The burial grounds have seen a dramatic increase in tourists since the release of the bestselling novel and subsequent movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The cover of the book features a statue known as Bird Girl that once resided in the cemetery. After fans of the book incessantly trampled the family plot to snap a photo of the statue, the family decided to donate Bird Girl to Savannah’s Telfair Academy Museum where it is safely on display. The statue is not the only tie that the cemetery has to the book.

In the book, the voodoo priestess Minerva routinely performed spells over Danny Hansford’s grave at Bonaventure Cemetery to vindicate Jim Williams of his murder. Discover the truth of a rumored ill-fated love story ending in suicide. One of the most controversial stories is in relation to Corinne Elliott Lawton. Many like to believe the Romeo and Juliet-esque version as it makes for a better story. Legend has it that Corinne was in love with a young man that was below her family’s social standards. Her parents did not approve and forced her into an arranged marriage.

On the eve of her wedding day, instead of living a life without her true love she threw herself into the Wilmington River and drowned. However, published accounts from her mother’s diary tell a different story. She writes that Corinne succumbed to a bout of Yellow Fever after being sick for 10 days and died in her bed while surrounded by family. Many also believe that the statue that was erected in her likeness is wearing shoes which symbolizes that Corinne is not walking with Jesus.

The ash remains of 344 Holocaust victims can be found at Bonaventure Cemetery

The Jewish cemetery within Bonaventure is a beautiful area to visit. There are a few things worth noting in this portion of the cemetery. You’ll notice that many of the headstones are engraved with the picture of two hands touching at thumbs with their middle fingers split in a “V”. If it looks similar to the “live long and prosper” gesture that Mr. Spock used on Star Trek, that is because it is the same gesture. Leonard Nimoy, the actor playing Mr. Spock, is Jewish. He adopted the symbol from the Jewish priests who make this gesture at the end of services in Orthodox synagogues as a traditional Jewish blessing.

Arsenal 4 PPS Eindhoven 0

Arsenal returned to the Champions League in style as they started their first campaign in six years with an impressive win over PSV Eindhoven at Emirates Stadium. The Gunners wrapped up victory in their opening Group B game with a scintillating first half display that saw them race into a 3-0 lead on a rain-soaked night in north London. Bukayo Saka opened the scoring after eight minutes, pouncing on a rebound when PSV keeper Walter Benitez could only push Martin Odegaard’s into the England winger’s path. Saka was involved again when Arsenal doubled their advantage 12 minutes later, laying the ball perfectly into Leandro Trossard’s pass for a smooth low finish after Gabriel Jesus had broken clear.

Jesus was outstanding and thoroughly deserved to add Arsenal’s third seven minutes before half-time with a rising drive that gave Benitez no chance. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta made a host of second-half changes with Sunday’s derby at home to in-form Tottenham in mind, but his side still retained complete control, and Odegaard made it 4-0 with a powerful 20-yard strike with 20 minutes left. Elsewhere in Group B, French side Lens held Sevilla to a 1-1 draw in Spain as they played in their first Champions League match in 20 years. Arsenal had been waiting for this day since 2017, and the home crowd celebrated their return to the Champions League with a thunderous roar before kick-off as the tournament’s anthem rang around Emirates Stadium.

And manager Arteta could hardly have wished for a better outcome as Arsenal dominated from the outset, those two early goals emphasising their superiority over PSV and a giving them a control they never looked like relinquishing. Striker Jesus was a perfect leader of the line, scoring one, helping to create another with a surging break, and also forcing a superb diving save out of keeper Benitez after some outstanding footwork. David Raya was again chosen ahead of Aaron Ramsdale in goal, and while he was hardly examined, he showed again why Arteta rates him so highly by demonstrating safe handling in conditions difficult as well as some excellent distribution with the ball at his feet.

The added bonus for Arteta was that Arsenal’s victory was so comfortable that he was able to make changes early to keep players fresh for that fixture against Spurs on Sunday. Saka, Jesus, Trossard, Declan Rice, and Oleksandr Zinchenko were all given an early night to conserve energies for what is shaping up as one of the biggest games of the Premier League season. The Gunners’ spirits could not be higher after following up their vital win at Everton last weekend with a display full of enough of their trademark fluency to outclass their Dutch opponents.