Can you imagine a castle existing in the middle of Ohio? Yes there is one such castle and if you haven’t already heard about it, this is America’s most famous and talked about castle located in Cleveland,Ohio. Franklin Castle is a 20 room lavish building built way back in 1881 and believe it or not, this castle is famous because it’s haunted.


Over the years there have been several reports of paranormal activity in the castle; doors opening and flying off by themselves, erratic lights, chandeliers spinning around in the air and unexplained sounds like a crying baby and the constant appearance of a woman in black.



1 Franklin Castle’s Strange Event Began from the Time of Its Construction

Franklin castle is legendary. It is considered Ohio’s most haunted house. Known as the Tiedemann mansion, the castle is associated with diabolical deeds, murders and demonic events all linked to what has now become the Franklin Castle legend.


The castle was built in 1891 by an immigrant from Germany named Hannes Tiedemann as a lavish homestead for his family. Unfortenuley for Tiedemann, a series of tragic events unfolded during his stay in the castle where in the very first year his daughter all of 15 died from diabetes. In the next 3 years, Tiedemann lost three more children. How uncanny is that?? Was some evil presence causing the tragedy?


2 What Killed The Tiedemann Family One By One? Coincidence or Evil??

In a bid to appease his wife and help her overcome the tragedy, he undertook renovations to the house. He constructed turrets; added gargoyles, making the house resemble a gothic castle complete with a huge ball room. You won’t believe what happened next. His wife died. Yes!! Louise Tiedemann died of liver cirrhosis the very next year.

Tiedemann was aggrieved and fed up so he sold the house but if there was evil lurking, he did not escape it.

Tiedemann too died soon after selling Franklin castle. Call it foul play, call it murder or call it demonic intervention, there is undoubtedly something which caused such a strange series of deaths one by one.


3 Bones Discovered In Secret Cabinet In 1975

Franklin Castle stands at the end of Franklin Boulevard in Cleveland. Be it fact or fiction, the castle was rumored to be a maze of corridors and labyrinths. Sliding panels existed which led to mysterious hallways. The property has been considered downright spooky by the public and historians alike. In fact one of its earlier ownersalso found human bones hidden in a secret cabinet giving rise to fears that ‘the story of a young girl murdered by a relative’ is true. The then Deputy Coroner of Cleveland, Leslie Adelson had clarified in January 1975 that the bones were human and they were extremely old.


During the 1900s the new owners of the house were none other than the German-American League for Culture. It was rumored that after the end of the World War I, the castle became a hotbed of Nazi activity.


4 Mangled Figures, Voices and a Lady in Black!! All Haunted the House

The ghostly activities in the house weren’t just restricted to material happenings. Many have claimed that they see a lady in black as a faint outline walking the balconies and standing in a window. And people believe it to be the spirit of Louise Tiedemann.

Other ghosts include mangled figures and the ghost of a girl named Rachel whose constant crying has been heard by many witnesses in the vicinity.


One brave heart who preferred living among such paranormal activity was a man named Sam Muscatel who purchased the castle in 1970. In fact he also gave regular ghostly tours to raise money for building a church. Isn’t that weird???


5 Even Priests Refused To Exorcise The House. Way Too Evil!!

In 1968, the house was purchased from the German group by one James Romano, his wife and 6 kids. Romano had ideas on opening a restaurant.On the very first day of their stay, Romano’s kids came down from the bedrooms to ask their mother for a cookie for their new found friend whom they met upstairs and who just wouldn’t stop crying. When the adults went to inspect, they found nothing.

Mrs.Romano also said in a report that she once heard an organ being played in the castle. That wasn’t all; she also heard footsteps on stairs, in hallways and even voices from the ball room. A catholic priest who had been called for an exorcism declined because he felt that the presence of the evil was way beyond him.


6 Franklin Caste Is Till Today Ohio’s Most Haunted House

During the tenure of owner Sam Muscatel and his ghost tours of the house, host John Webster of Cleveland radio had a tape recorder flung off his shoulders. “I just stood there holding the microphone as I watched the tape recorder go flying down to the bottom of the stairs, where it broke into pieces.”

If you are still skeptical about such events surrounding Franklin Castle then just listen to this. The Ohio Psychical Research Society was called upon to inspect the house. What they found must have been downright eerie because one of their own members literally started screaming during the investigation and he was so terrified that he just ran out of the house. Now that’s what is called a Haunted house!!


There are still residents in Franklin castle, but they prefer not to discuss about its evil past.