Every ghost in the "Black Zodiac" has a personal story. To learn about the first six ghosts, please read the article Thirteen Ghosts: Ghosts 1-6. Due to the lack of evidence, the origin of the “Black Zodiac” is believed to be with the writers of the movie Thirteen Ghosts. To learn more about this film, please read the article Thirteen Ghosts – And the Black Zodiac.
Ghost # 7: The Pilgrimess
The Pilgrimess is the ghost of Isabella Smith, played by Xantha Radley. Isabella was an English woman, travelling across the Atlantic Ocean to settle down in New England during colonial times. Because she was different, she was isolated from the other townsmen. Due to her outsider status, she was convicted of witchcraft after the town’s livestock began to die in mysterious ways. Once she emerged from a burning barn, completely and utterly unharmed, it simply confirmed the townsmen’s theory and she was sentenced to the pillory without food or drink until she died. When she appears, she remains in her stocks and chains.
Ghosts # 8 and # 9: The Great Child and the Dire Mother
Ghosts number eight and nine go together as a mother and her child. The dire mother is Margaret Shelburne, played by Laurie Soper, who worked as an attraction in a carnival showing off her mere height of three feet. The story goes that she was raped by the “Tall Man”, another carnival freak. As a result, she gave birth to her son Harold, played by C. Ernst Harth, who became known as the Great Child. He gained over 300 pounds because he was spoiled and protected by his mother. To keep him as her child, Harold wore diapers his entire life.
Some of the employees in the carnival decided to kidnap Harold’s mother as a practical joke. When Harold found her, she was dead due to an apparent suffocation because she was placed in a bag. As a result, Harold killed the employees with an axe. He kept their remains, using them as displays to earn money at the carnival. Harold was physically torn apart by the mob when the owner of the carnival found out what he had done. As ghosts, mother and son are always together.
An alternative story of the great child and dire mother is that the great child rolled over his dire mother in his sleep, killing her. Due to her death, he himself starved as there was no one present to feed him.
Ghost # 10: The Hammer
George Markley was an African-American blacksmith, who lived in the 1890’s. He was wrongfully accused of stealing and when he was threatened with exile by a white man, he refused to leave town. A gang hanged his wife and children and burned their bodies. To revenge his family, George used a sledgehammer to beat the guilty persons. He was chained to a tree and executed by having railroad spikes driven into his body with his own hammer. Finally, they cut off his hand and placed his hammer in the decapitated hand. This ghost is portrayed by Herbert Duncanson.
Ghost # 11: The Jackal
Ryan Kuhn is the ghost known as the Jackal and is played by Shayne Wyler. Ryan was born in 1887 and was the son of a prostitute. He had an insatiable lust for women, rape and murdering prostitutes. Seeking a cure at an asylum, he ended up attacking a nurse and was thus placed in a straightjacket and placed in a padded room. Several years in imprisonment caused him to go completely insane and his straightjacket was tightened. His limbs contorted horribly as a result. As he continued to fight for freedom, he was placed in a metal cage, where he came to hate human contact. When a fire broke out in the asylum, everyone got out but him. He chose to stay behind and face the fire.
Ghost # 12: The Juggernaut
John DeSantis plays Horace “Breaker” Mahoney, who was a serial killer. He was 7 feet tall and was ostracized by a child. After being abandoned by his mother, his father had to raise him, making him work in the junkyard. After his father died, he was left alone and he went mad. He would pick up female hitchhikers, take them to the junkyard, tear them apart with his bare hands and feed their remains to his dogs. One time he picked up an undercover officer, who had SWAT surround the junkyard. When he got away due to his size and strength, officers shot him down. Just to be safe, they shot another round into him.
Ghost # 13: The Willing Sacrifice
The willing sacrifice is the husband of the withered lover, ghost # 4. His name is Arthur Kriticos, played by Tony Shalhoub and he is the father of a young lady, Shannon Elizabeth, and a young boy, Alec Roberts. The story goes that he willingly died to save his children, thus making him a willing sacrifice. However, in the film Thirteen Ghosts, this sacrifice is never completed and he does not ‘willingly’ sacrifice himself. Rather, it is through force and corruption.
The information found in this article can also be found on the Thirteen Ghosts DVD.
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