St. Bernadette has long been a person of mystery and speculation. Howeer, one of the most interesting things about her was NOT included in any of the movie versions. Over the years, her body was exhumed and reburied many times. In spite of the dampness of the grave (rusted crucifix and damp habit attested to that) her body NEVER decayed. It remains today, as it did on the day of her death, perfectly preserved, as you can see from the photo.

St. Bernadette, the Saint of Lourdes, was judged by the Catholic church to have seen visions of and recieved instruction from the Virgin Mary. While we make no judgements on this, we would like to point out that St. Bernadette is only one of several Catholic saints whoe bodies have failed to decompose.She died on April 16, 1879.She is enshrined in chapel of the convent of Saint-Gildard on France.

This was a seventeenth century Countess with very weird ideas. Born in Transylvania, she is at least partially responsible for the belief in vampires that plagued that area for a long time. She entertained the belief that bathing in the blood of virgins would keep her young, and, for ten years, did just that. When authorities finally raided her castle, the remains of over fifty young firls were found. As punishment, she was walled up in her bedroom, fed only through a small access hole. She died after four years of confinement.

The exact location of her grave is unknown, but it is said to be near Chactice Castle,   Nove Mesto, Bratislavski, Slovakia.

Located in the approximate center of the Arkansas State University campus, Wilson Hall is one of the older buildings. It is said that when the building was new, a flight of poorly built stairs collapsed, killing a young female student. She is said to wander the halls at night, checking to make sure the stairs are safe for use. Also, lights are said to move from one room to another at night, when no one is inside the locked building.

Judge Parker, better known as THE HANGING JUDGE, was responsible for the hanging deaths of more thn 80 convicts in the Fort Smith area. The old court house where he passed his judgements, and where the hangings were carried out, is now a museum. Among other things, you can hear the pounding of Judge Parker’s gavel in the old court room, and the hangman exhibit, which is supposedly i the same location as the old gallows, has nooses that sway on their own when there is no wind. Parker is said to walk the halls, as are the eighty plus men he sentenced to hang.

The woman that history records as “Ma Barker” was born sometime in or around  1877 and died on January 16th, 1935. She, along with her four sons and multiple other criminals, were legendary for their crimes throughout the west. She was killed in a shootout with the FBI.

Ma Barker is buried in  Williams Timberhill Cemetary, Welch, Oklahoma.

Klaus Barbie was born October 25th of 1913, and died of cancer on September 25th of 1991. A major Nazi figure under Hitler, he was responsible for the execution of an untold number of people, both Jews and Jewish sympathizers. He disgusted the world by escaping execution by dying of cancer before they could get around to it.

Klaus Barbie was cremated and his ashes scattered in an attempt to avoid gravesite problems.

John Lennon was born on October 9th, 1940 and was murdered on December 8th, 1980. What can be said about Lennon that hasn’t already been said a thousand times? I recall reading an interview he gave one time that mentioned his having been in a restaurant when a fan came up and started telling him what a great song writer he was…and then proceded to give Lennon all the credit for McCaernet’s lyrics. Lennon says he was smiling, nodding, and thinking, “what happens when this guy realizes that I was the one who wrote I AM THE WALRUS…” or something close to that. I know exactly how he felt.

Reportedly against his wishes, his widow had his remains cremated. There are differing reports of what she did with them, and she apparently isn’t talking.

Rita Hayworth was born on October 17th, 1918, and died of complications from Alzheimer’s Dosease on May 14th, 1987.Though trained in her youth to become a dancer and join her family in their collective dancing careers, she broke away from that to go into acting, soon winning aclaim. She is probably best know for her starring role in GILDA.

Rita Hayworth’s grave is located in Holy Cross Cemetary, Grotto, lot 196, plot 6.