Back in my TBM days I would sometimes have really unexplained uncomfortable feelings at certain church locations. For example..

Church Office Building - I only went in there a handful of times mostly with visiting family members who wanted to go up on the top floor for the view. Every time I was in that building I felt uncomfortable.

Old Church Office Building - Only in there once when Spencer W Kimball was laying in state. Totally creeped me out. I walked in there to honor who I had thought at the time was a great prophet and walked out wondering why I felt really uneasy and uncomfortable.

Nauvoo - I had the chance once to spend the night in the Nauvoo House (which is owned by the RLDS/CoC). Just for historical reasons I thought that was pretty awesome. That night I thought i'd walk the streets of Old Nauvoo (the area around where the Mansion House and the Smith cemetary is located) and just try to absorb the history of the area. It was pretty late and there were no people anywhere to be seen. I didn't get 100 yards away from the Nauvoo House that I started feeling an unexpected since of dread and darkness. I tried to shrug it off as being silly but it intensified so much that I turned around and high tailed it back to the Nauvoo House.

Palmyra - I had already gone to all of the historical sites - Hill Cumorah, Smith farm and the wooded area the church tries to pass off as the Sacred Grove. Though they were all interesting I didn't really get any spiritual go go juice out of any of them like I had hoped. Before leaving the area we stopped at an LDS bookstore which was operated out of an old house. I was in the house no more than a few minutes when I started feeling really uneasy and anxious and recognized it as the same feeling of dread I had felt in Nauvoo. I couldn't get out of that house faster. As soon as I did I immediately felt better.

Brigham Young's Grave - I've been there twice. The first time I felt that same uneasy, uncomfortable feeling though not quite as intense. I went a second time to take some family members and again, same feeling.

As a TBM I couldn't reconcile what I had felt at these church landmarks. To be fair, I never felt those feelings in a regular ward building, BYU or even the temple. I know that 'feelings' aren't an indicator of truth but I still find it fascinating that while I was at the height of my Mormoness that I had these experiences which were not at all faith promoting.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

If U really want to be Spooked... go to the site of the MMM...

When my wife and I were newly weds in the 70s we took a detour out to the Moutain Meadows site, it was quite a bit different then. We were there at sunset on a winter afternoon. Creeped the hell out of both of us. Felt very good to get away from there.

"The Temple" I always felt like "Hey this is a cult, what am I doing here."

> "The Temple" I always felt
> like "Hey this is a cult,
> what am I doing here?".

I have always had a very orderly, if giggly, mindset.  Halfway through the temple ceremony I began to feel disorderly, and not the least bit giggly.

By the time I reached the point where I could stand (very briefly) in the CK room, looking at myself in the infinity mirror, I was done believing in mormon ghawd, although I was still very much the mormon person I'd been before.  A non-religious mormon, if you will.

I only went to the temple two more times: second time a couple of weeks later, while at the old Salt Lake mission home, and third and final time, when I got married.  Even as an EQP I always found excuses for not being able to make it to ward temple night.

The temple ceremonies that I endured were, to me, very stupid travesties and it bugged the hell out of me that the temple-faithful couldn't see that.

That's the closest I've ever come to feeling 'creepy', aside from doing my own taxes . . .

The only time I have ever had a creepy get me out of here kind of feeling was at the Salem Witch Trials Memorial. I was standing in broad daylight and I swear the second I walked into the Memorial space the temperature dropped 10 degrees.

The words of the accused are carved into the stone as you enter and the names and date and manner of death are carved into benches that line the wall. This is outside next to the old burying point in Salem, where none of the accused were allowed to be buried. I did not walk out of the sun, the temperature just dropped.

Walked 5 feet and I warmed right back up. Really eerie.

You should visit the yards at Kilmainham Jail where the Easter Rebels were shot by British troops. A very atmospheric place.

Deseret Book stores always gave me the creeps even when I was trying to be a TBM. Those stores should have a sign over the door:
"Please leave your individuality and critical thinking skills outside".

I have to say that my visit to Mountain Meadow was the creepiest place I've ever been.

Yes I would agree MMM gives you the creepiest feeling but what's particularly strange about the place is that there are two massacre sites there. One seems to emit a sinister energy from the ground, the other is the opposite. Those weren't good people who died.

macaRomney Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Those weren't
> good people who died.
,..,...........................
Not really sure what you mean by this, but regardless were the people so bad they deserved to be shot down where the stood defenseless?

You realize, I hope, that the majority of people who died at MMM were women and children.

Your claim that they "weren't good people" is disgusting.

WTF ?

I wish I could say I was surprised by this comment, but I'm not.

Scooby Doo, where are you?

You are one sick individual, Maca.

"Their eyes are dead, no pupils.

Their heavy-duty butts support a scary giant bowl of cold slimy water.

Their heads face out like stony zombies in a pen that can't hold them. As a farm girl, I knew about good fences and those oxen were mighty big to be penned in a small crowded space with wide spaced pokers as the only fencing."

from another thread about creepy feelings (mine.)

The Idaho Falls temple was always creepy to me. The oxen under the baptismal font looked creepy. The celestial room is wired. Looks more like a foyer than a celestial room and the murals on the walls are strange.

I was a nevermo married to a TBM with a huge TBM family working hard every minute to get me to convert. One effort involved getting tickets to visit the inside of the Logan temple prior to its dedication after renovation.

The whole thing illicited alternating feelings of banality and just plain creepiness. But in the solemn assembly hall the overwhelming sense of dread and the utter silence of place was sickening.

I was "forced" to go by my "husband" as his friend from high school was getting sealed to her husband. I didn't know his friends well and I had to sit with them--the women. Then I had to see the live session. I barely made it out of there.

Any temple.

I've had weird feelings all my life. BYU was one. Never liked being there. I didn't attend, just didn't like visiting people I knew and going to youth conference.

I hated mormon pageants or dance festivals. I definitely felt creepy at those. I avoided them as much as possible.

Yes. In all the temples I visited, the feeling was the same. I kept thinking the feeling would lessen, the more I went, and I would get used to the weird death rituals, the costumes, the whispers, all the shuffling, and the smells. But--the spirit of Satan--or whatever it was--was there to pounce on me, every time!

BYU depressed me. I had to grow into those "red-flag" emotions. As a child, my Provo cousins and I used to walk to the campus to play tennis, and have picnics by the little creek that wound around the campus (probably gone, now). But, as a student, that place was oppressive, and gave me a feeling of hopelessness, despair. I never was perfect enough. I never fell in love with any of the arrogant, chauvinistic Mormon boys I met. Probably, I never met the decent boys, because they were more reserved. I had given up my childhood soul mate, the love of my life, because he was Atheist, and no one ever measured up to who he was. Even in my two marriages, I never reached the depth of understanding and unconditional love, that the two of us had. He never found it, either, but we are sad and faithful to our families, to the end.

I just remember wandering around BYU, being bored with the classes, not knowing what Major to declare, and not being encouraged or challenged intellectually, because I was only a giggly female. To this day, if ever I'm manipulated into going on the BYU campus, that old feeling of despair and hopelessness engulfs me. It's like I was another person there--a victim--and now I'm back to being my old self, happily moving forward.

It makes me sad to think that I was told I could find love or even acceptance in a place like that. Teachers gave me good grades, because I did the work; I was never inspired or uplifted. Whenever I visit the other university at home, where I would work and go to school in the summers, I get the opposite reaction. I had achievement there, possibilities, opportunities, happiness!

These gut reactions occur to teach us something! These feelings are instant, and uncontrollable, and they happen before anyone has a chance to start manipulating and threatening and brainwashing us. I trust children's reaction to things, more than my own adult reaction. My children realized it was a cult full of lies and hoaxes, long before I did, and they led me out.

I made a vow to always listen to my heart, and heed those "creepy feelings."

I had the same experience at BYU-Provo...can relate.

These places have negative energy because of what people bring in with them. When you approach spirituality, you must be humble. A lot of these people are not humble.

I remember a friend saying, "Your endowment rituals are very powerful. But you do not know what to do with the energy."

I think it all sits there and becomes corrupt.

I was the youngest person (19 year soon to be missionary) in a group of geriatrics. Adam was being played by an 80 year old. I already felt uncomfortable in the film version of the post-1990 endowment session. The live session was beyond bizarre.

So Adam had slowly ascended the stairway then stopped at the top set to deliver his lines in the live play. The rest of the men were stopped on various steps. I was the last one in the group and there was no step to claim so I stood near the banister. As Adam was speaking there was this "Argh" and I heard something land next to me. I looked down at the floor and there was a half set of false teeth. It had fallen out of his mouth and nearly hit me where I was standing. I started laughing despite trying to hold it in. It was too funny and no one else saw the humor of Adam losing his teeth. Every one else started hissing at me to be reverent. I was escorted by two temple workers (one on each side) to a different room away from the hallway. They made it clear that my laughter in the temple was 100% inappropriate and that I would be asked to leave. I made it back to the group, but I coughed the rest of the session.

Looking back on it, temple square in SLC felt creepy to me; or maybe it was the fact I felt nothing that gave me the creeps? I also had bad feelings at Institute evenings in the stake centre, and in the mission home in Scotland with my brother. I didn’t notice it anywhere else, which is weird.

My mom and dad argued a lot on Sundays as he farmed and then would come home and watch football after irrigating. So she would take us to SLC usually to see our aunt, but then our aunt moved to Missouri. Then we would go to temple square. SO MANY TIMES. I detest that place.

Carthage Jail.

The push with the canned speech and they get really pissed if you ask why no one washed the blood off the stairs in over 100 years. Even more why the door with the "bullet hole" was never replaced - even when the place had been a home.

Most of the historical locations get a dark feeling if you tell the missionaries/caretakers you don't want to talk or listen to the canned speil, just walk around. They are on you like you might shoplift the whole place.
\
The guides are the creepiest part of all the sites, including Temple Rectangle in SLC.

OneWayJay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Carthage Jail.
>
> The push with the canned speech and they get
> really pissed if you ask why no one washed the
> blood off the stairs in over 100 years. Even more
> why the door with the "bullet hole" was never
> replaced - even when the place had been a home.
>
> Most of the historical locations get a dark
> feeling if you tell the missionaries/caretakers
> you don't want to talk or listen to the canned
> speil, just walk around. They are on you like you
> might shoplift the whole place.
> \
> The guides are the creepiest part of all the
> sites, including Temple Rectangle in SLC.

I guess this is a dark place whatever you think of Mormonism. I mean it's a jail.

I got this feeling BIG time at the Johnson farm. That house creeped me out. I went there several times when I lived in the area. That farm just creeped me out. There was one room where they claim a lot of revelations were received. I always felt like that was a huge made up lie.

The worst room was where one of the twins died. Joe and Emmas bedroom.

The Whitney store also gave me the creeps.

Oddly enough, all of that darkness seemed to disappear when I'd go to the Kirtland temple. It didn't seem like a big spiritual spot, just an interesting historical building.
Its owned by the church of Christ. They tell the history, but put a spin on it like its more of a fairy tale. Especially the so called night the temple looked like it was burning and there were angels everywhere. The guy could hardly tell the story without laughing.

It was a relief to end the tours with the CoC people. I was TBM at the time, and they just seemed a bit more upfront and honest about the history. I think he really ticked off the Mormon tourists from Utah. They wer going to set him straight and convert him to the true arm of the cult. How embarrassing.

The two creepest buildings were the SLC temple and the Beehive house. I was really excited to see them. Turned out I couldn't wait for the tour to end so I could get out of there politely.

I had to lock up church buildings many years ago go over at 11 pm the to make sure windows closed etc it was creepy and felt evil it felt like I was being watched. It scared me every night not sure why. Just never felt alone

Toronto Boy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had to lock up church buildings many years ago
> go over at 11 pm the to make sure windows closed
> etc it was creepy and felt evil it felt like I was
> being watched. It scared me every night not sure
> why. Just never felt alone


Me too! Empty chapels can be spooky.

Anybody else find it disturbing that the church selects highly attractive young women to serve as tour guides to the two greatest symbols of polygamy?

And the church gives them a brainwashed script to defend the former practice.

The D C Temple totally creeped me out. It was in the early 70’s when they still had the signs of slitting your throat, disembowelment etc. I became light headed and thought I was going to faint . When we were forced to watch the live performances, I got chills , I felt like I could not get enough air to breath . If I would of knew where the door was that went out side , I would of bolted I after all these years later have night mares that I am lost inside it by my self .

My husband and I visited the MMM site in 2018.

It was a blue sky, sunny morning, with a little breeze blowing the two flags at the Monument.

We were the only ones there. We could hear some wild birds chirping in the distance.

Neither of us felt spooked or nervous. Instead, we both felt a profound sense of sadness.

I used to live near Palmyria. I had a little farm house and a little farm and a cool antique International Harvester tractor that had been a restored. I grew the best apples I ever ate in my apple orchard.

What was creepy is there were some old tombstones on my property back from the days family members were buried on their property. They were old tombstones from the early 19th century.

I was working in Rochester and the city was a dump so I bought a place out in the country. I miss that place sometimes.

Maybe there should be a LDS version of Scooby Doo.

I really don’t get creeped out. It’s might be because I worked at a funeral home during college. I had to close up at night which meant closing caskets sometimes. It was a great job because it was quiet. I was busy if there was a funeral or viewing but I had lot’s of free time I could study and get paid for it.

The creepiest feeling I had was when I was with my mom and we drove through a tiny part of Colorado City where the FLDS cult is based. The other creepy feeling was later in St George and driving past BY's summer house because there were some senior couple missionaries sitting on the porch like vultures waiting for someone to show up for a "tour." This was all during the same trip we took to visit the Grand Canyon and cut through Page, AZ on the way back to Vegas.

I hate to say it but most of Utah that I visited creeped me out except I didn’t have a word for it at the time. Similar feeling in every temple. It’s the picture-perfect setting that does it for me. So temple square, church office buildings, BYU and anywhere where full TBM “niceness” is on full display.

It’s creepy.

Church Office Building

You mean The Penis Palace? Tall, straight white shaft with two oblong balls at the bottom.

Highlight of its existence was SLC Olympics when a bit wall tapestry of a figure skater in a skimpy outfit was on it.

Ah - the Glory Days. Bet some were envious of those with offices in "the good spots".

I would have to say that the Joseph Smith Birthplace, located in Sharon, Vermont is a uniquely odd place from a disorienting perspective. Park the car and lesson to music coming from the woods - or - was it watching the short movie “Man’s Search for Happiness” that created the fog?

While on vacation in California, my now-ex decided he wanted to check out the Church of Satan. I wasn't especially interested, but didn't want to fight. There was a long, uphill walkway leading to the entrance.

All of a sudden,it seemed like I ran into a wall of invisible Jello. Nothing tactile, but I could not take another step toward that building. I was afraid spouse would get angry at me for dawdling, but no matter what, I couldn't get past that invisible wall. I couldn't have explained it, so I didn't even try.

I told spouse I wasn't feeling all that great and would wait in the car. Very weird.

I find my senses are more impacted by smells and especially by sounds than the place. These are things more easily associated with memories that are buried deep. A few years ago I took my American born grandson to England and our visit included the Imperial War Museum on London. They had a London blitz exhibit that included many things I recalled. Suddenly sound was added and the exhibit hall was filled with the sound of the air raid siren. I stopped dead in my tracks and I must have changed in some way because my grandson was concerned and asking what was wrong.

I love to visit places where great events have taken place (WW1 Ypres, Normandy beaches, Gettysburg, the Battle of the Crater to name some) and while I have visualized what took place there I have not received any spiritual sense emanating from the place. I think our own experiences, good or bad, are triggered as we process what we are seeing and imagining in those places.

Kentish, do you live near the Kent Life Museum (formerly Museum of Kent Life)?

All the war stories I was told by my dad, who grew up in the Midlands (born 1935) were brought to life in their recreated semi-, with the wireless broadcasting a Churchill speech, the Anderson shelter down the garden, the family kitchen items, etc.

That was the creepiest place I have ever visited. The Tower of London, after dark for the Ceremony of the Keys, comes close.

Don't think that museum is anywhere near Nampa, Idaho where I live lol. I did live in Kent but was born in Sussex.Most of the things you mention were at the Imperial Ear Museum exhibit. Shortly after we were married my wife and I spent the night in the Tower. A friend got engaged to the daughter of a guard and we were locked in as the party went past the final closing time for residents. We walked all over the silent grounds and saw nary a headless ghost nor anything unusual.

I was attending the singles ward (branch?) at the U of Washington… late 60s or early 70s …

One of the student’s dads came to visit ONCE, but the asshat EQP had to remind him to attend at his home ward to honor <OBEY> his duties there, as if the whole home ward might fold bc he was away ONCE…

Soooooo Embarrassed

We were coming back from a camping trip recently and stopped off at a Tibetan Buddhist temple. I didn't say anything to the others, but I couldn't wait to get out of there. I tried to fight the feeling because I was curious about the place and wanted to see it. We didn't speak to anyone else. It was shut but you were allowed to visit the grounds.

I've no idea why. I sympathize with the Tibetan cause and even some aspects of Buddhism. So what was I picking up on? That temple had something not right about it.

Each time I pass by a Mormon church in developing nation I see a nice basketball and soccer field right at the entrance of the building. It is always empty. I marvel and get saddened at the masters of deception in building such beautiful and expensive churches and sport fields in order to entice young men and women. But we all know it is an expensive lie.