The Lady of Lake Ronkonkoma

There is a lake in the center of Long Island which is rumored to be haunted by a vengeful Indian maiden.

Ronkonkoma was the name of an Indian princess who fell in love with a white settler who lived near the lake. Upon their meeting, the princess and the settler immediately fell in love, but their union was forbidden by her father. Every night, they would sneak out to send messages of love to one another. Ronkonkoma would paddle her canoe out to the middle of the lake, where she would then float a message the rest of the way to her lover waiting on the opposite shore. This continued for years, until one day the princess was unable to deal with this arrangement and snapped. She sent a final farewell note to her lover. He received it on the shore and minutes later, the canoe washed up in front of him as well. Inside it was the princess’s body––she had committed suicide in the middle of the lake. He too committed suicide out of anguish over the death of his one true love.

Since that day Ronkonkoma has haunted the lake, becoming known to many as the Lady of the Lake. Angered because she wasn’t allowed to love in life, she now drags one man into the lake each year. People say that at least one person has drowned each year in Lake Ronkonkoma for the past 200 years, the large majority of them male. Many others have reported being drawn by some unseen force out to the center of the lake, as if something was trying to drag them in. These souls have been able to resist the pull of the Lady of the Lake, and have been lucky enough to live to report the existence of this strange phenomenon.

Haunted Lake of Francestown

Just outside of Francestown in New Hampshire, there is a pond that has come to be known as “Haunted Lake.” They had reason to give it this nomenclature.

Way back in the pond's history, there was a fire along its shores that burned everything, leaving it looking very eerie and odd. European settlers and Native People all noted its odd appearance.  

In the 1700s, a surveyor was employed to map out the area and wrote in his journal, “Soon after darkness set in, there commenced groanings and shrieks as of a human being in distress, and these continued, most plaintive and affecting, till nearly morning.”

In the late 1700s, a man was building a mill near the pond and found the bones of a “very large man.”

In the 1800s, four males drowned in the lake.
– A boy named Jacob Langdell, aged 15, drowned about 1810. Found with lilies clasped in hand. [author’s note: the lilies part is pretty odd, don’t you think?]
– A boy named Samuel Allen, drowned about 1816
– Ichabod Gay, drowned June 20, 1824, noticed states: “In Francestown, drowned, in Haunted Pond, Mr. Ichabod Gray, aged 55, deranged.”
– Nathaniel Aiken, drowned about 1830

Eventually, the pond was named for the Scoby family, but locals still referred to as the Haunted Lake.

The Curse of Acascosa Lake

Locals say if you go swimming in Acascosa Lake, you will feel hands pulling you down into the deep waters. People tend to avoid going there after dark. Local legends vary in some ways but they agree on one thing; the lake is cursed.

Acascoa Lake floods often. The local native tribes long ago used to believe that the flooding was a sign of anger from the Great Father. When the lake swelled, they would gather all of their prettiest young maidens and choose amongst them one who would be sacrificed to the lake to appease the gods. It was a great honor to be chosen. They were decked out in the finest of clothes and were told that they were saving their people and bringing honor to their families.

However during one of the floods a girl was chosen by the name of Háhnoma who was not willing to give her life away. She was betrothed to the chief’s son of a neighboring tribe. Their wedding was to fall just a few days after the sacrifice. Panicked she sent word to her lover of her impending doom, imploring him to come and rescue her, even if it meant incurring the anger of her own people.

Something happened to delay the messenger and her betrothed arrived too late, finding her drowned body floating by the shore, decked out beautifully with flowers in her hands. So upset was he by this that he threw himself into the waters and sunk down holding his dead bride-to-be until his own lungs filled with water and he succumbed to the deep cold lake. The tragedy put an end to the sacrifices on the lake but their story still continues.

Legend has it that the ghosts of both Háhnoma and her love still burn with anger and seek to have revenge upon those who enter the lake, taking advantage of Háhnoma’s sacrifice to appease the flowing of the lake. On days when the lake is low and still people have actually drowned in water that they could stand up in.
In 1972, teenager Emilio Gonzalez was seen standing in the lake with water up to his waist. When his mother looked again a moment later, he was nowhere to be found. A search was conducted and eventually his body was dredged from the bottom.

In 1986 a 40 year old career lifeguard and strong swimmer disappeared without a trace. His glasses were found near the shore but his body has never turned up.

People have reported feeling a tug when swimming. Others describe it as a pair of hands pulling them down by their legs.  One couple swears they saw a woman’s face in the water’s rippling reflection. No matter what, the lake has earned uite a reputation and people go swimming with care.