Bigfoot announces his presence in little-known Illinois Gothic hotspot

There is an isolated, wooded area just outside of the little town of Hartford, Illinois that has long been reputed to be a very spooky spot indeed. This is where the old Lakeview Castle was built in the late 19th Century by an eccentric and wealthy Frenchman as the dream home for his new wife. There is nothing left of this formerly palatial place now but crumbling ruins, most of it destroyed by fire in the early '70's. This mansion with real turrets was built right out in the middle of the woods. The romantic Frenchman even constructed a moat around it [view Google Earth aerial photo at www.untameddimensions.com ]. He had created his own private fantasy world for himself and his new bride. They thoroughly enjoyed their life here for a few years until she died. Then he moved away never to be heard from again [read the colorful, storybook history of this place at : http://www.altonhauntings.com/hartford.html]. One might be reminded of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" that once was a place of bright cheer and happiness until it fell upon evil days and a deadly gloom descended upon it, an ominous zig zag crack running diagnonally down its wall as if symbolizing the curse that had fallen upon the Usher family. This comparison easily comes to mind when one sees the bleak atmosphere this Hartford Castle location now has compared with its glorious heyday. Of course there have been tales told over the years by those bold enough to venture into this forbidding spot after dark, of having seen the sad ghost of the deceased wife roaming the site of her once splendid abode. This is all part of the supernatural lore of "Eerie Illinois" written about in various ghost tour guides.

But what almost nobody knows about is that this place is also heavily haunted by Bigfoot