Ghosts and aliens on the Brooklyn Bridge! A Halloween story
Nowadays, when people talk about haunted houses, they’re most likely referring to sites, temporarily set up for Halloween, that are designed to scare people out of their wits using all the high-tech tools at the organizers’ disposal — flashing lights, pre-recorded screams, skeletons that appear out of nowhere, you name it. Here in Brooklyn, students at City Tech in Downtown Brooklyn each year produce “Gravesend Inn,” a huge hit with students and families.
Of course, there is an older tradition of haunted houses, meaning old houses that are supposedly inhabited by ghosts that are fleetingly seen by passers-by from time to time. One of the most haunted sites in Brooklyn is not a house, but the most famous symbol of Brooklyn worldwide: The Brooklyn Bridge itself.
The Brooklyn Bridge was marked by tragedy from its earliest days. During its construction, designer John Roebling died of a tetanus infection. His son Washington took over the project’s supervision, but fell victim to decompression sickness, or “the bends,” and became an invalid. During the building of the bridge, according to a website called The Haunted Brooklyn Bridge, 27 people died in accidents.