It’s raining in my area again, which makes me want to do another article relating to water. This time, let’s talk about lakes. What do you think when you hear that word? Does it invoke thoughts of sitting in folding chairs with a fishing rod in one hand? Meanwhile, your other is rummaging through the ice in your color and grabbing a chilly beverage.
How about something a bit more thrilling? Driving around in a watercraft or waterskiing? Then again, perhaps something in between is the way to go. What better way to enjoy the lake than by some soothing swimming? Unfortunately, R&R isn’t the only thing lakes are known for. Across the world, they are home to eerie legends, such as the Loch Ness Monster, or various tragedies in the form of deaths and hauntings.
That’s not going to be the focus of this, though, at least not mainly, since there’s already a lot of haunted lake and lake legends lists out there. Rather, I want to discuss why these myths get created. Scooby Doo has already given us the most mundane answer. It goes as follows. An area wants money, so people come up with a story about a ghost or some monster in the water to attract tourists.
While this explains why these legends are made, at least partly, it doesn’t address the continued fascination. Think about the fact that belief in Nessie persists despite the lack of evidence. Even if such an animal were real, it would be long dead by now. Yet, you can find individuals who are not only certain the myth is fact, but the beast is still active and has managed to elude detection. You’d think Google Earth would have seen it at this point.
What is it about lakes specifically? With the ocean (which I’m planning to make a future topic), it’s huge, and we haven’t explored nearly all of it. Therefore, it makes sense why there’s a lot of folklor einvolving it. Lakes are comparably smaller, which is why the insinuation that the stories around them are true is intriguing. Then again, not all of them are based on some mythical legend.
Some have more harrowing origins. Last year, I wrote an article involving the film Lake Mungo. While the events in it are fictional, that area does have its fair share of dark history. Be it the natives being driven off by Europeans or the fossilized remains of the Mungo Man and Woman, the oldest human remains found in Austrailia. In the case of the latter, and possibly the first cremation in history.
Of course, lakes are no strangers to death. Thanks to Lake Mead’s receding lines, five bodies have been found since 2022. That’s merely the tip of the iceberg to the amount of carnage experienced there. From what I have seen, there have been between three hundred and seven and a thousand deaths at the lake. The former comes from the 1930s, when it was first constructed.
I’m assuming the latter includes ones that occurred prior to its construction. Some of those were natives that were forced off their land while others have been due to drowning, car crashes, suicide, and murder.
It’s said to have more deaths than any other national park. Not to mention, it’s been a favorite dumping ground for the mafia. Naturally, these circumstances have given rise to rumours that the area is haunted. It’s not the only one. Lake Lanier (which, fun fact about me, is close to the area I grew up in) was built under shady circumstances.
Namely, the fact that Oscarville, a town already seeing its fair share of hardships, was gradually bought out and then flooded thanks to the Buford Dam. I’m noticing a pattern with these man-made lakes where the locals in those areas are forced out. Supposedly, the reason it was made was to give residents of Atlanta hydroelectricity, navigation, and flood control of the Chattahoochee River. Call me crazy, but the fact that you have to pay to get into the lake leads me to believe the intentions were not quite altruistic. When you’re in the US, everything revolves around the dollar.
That’s fitting, right? The coldness of those waters matches that of the people willing to do the most underhanded things just to score a buck. I don’t want to get off-topic, though. As for places such as that being home to paranormal activity, I have given my thoughts on that subject before, which you can read here. With that said, would I feel a certain way going to a place where I know a lot of people have perished? Yes, but I don’t know if I would qualify that as paranormal.
I think we’re naturally inclined to have apprehension in places of danger. That’s why we have a survival instinct. Then again, we also have a predisposition to be fascinated with this sort of thing. Just look at how many true crime shows there are or how often news reports on deaths. Bleeding does tend to get intimte with leading after all. For these lakes, people will say they’re cursed when a lot of the time deaths are as a result of human maliciousness or stupidity.
In short, alcohol and swimming isn’t always a winning combo (seriously, that shit’s dangerous). All this doesn’t answer the question I asked myself before I started writing this. What is it about them that always attracts such harrowing events? I feel like an idiot because I just now thought to mention Friday the 13th, a horror series that takes place at Camp Crystal Lake, one of the most famous lakes in cinema. That goes to show that those kinds of places being sinister is something that’s been ingrained in our culture in the same way that haunted houses have.
Back to my question, in the same way the waters of a lake can be slow moving, someone out there is slowly taking their last breath. Other times, the water is still, not unlike the stillness of someone who is resting in peace. Maybe that’s another reason they’re referred to as bodies of water. The calmness that comes with it can be equal parts alluring and repelling. If you happen to visit any of these places, be careful.
You never know when you may go from visitor to statistic. In any case, I hope you enjoy the water. Just make sure the dip you take won’t be your last.
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