Amelia Island Museum of History (Amelia Island, Florida)
Nigel Tufnel (yes, I assume it’s THE Nigel Tufnel!) recommends a visit to the allegedly haunted Old Jail on Amelia Island, Florida. The Old Jail now houses the Amelia Island Museum of History, but it’s the Legend that is of interest to us fans of morbidity:
“Luc Simone Aury was the bastard son of a pirate named Luis Aury. He was a renowned scoundrel and wanted for many crimes such as murder, rape, and robbery to name a few. Upon his capture, Aury was sentenced to hang in the gallows behind the jail. As word spread, a huge crowd gathered to witness the execution of this famous criminal. The night before the hanging however, Aury managed to slit his own throat in effort to deprive the city of his humiliating spectacle. A surgeon was summoned to crudely stitch him up just enough to keep him alive until the execution. With his collar buttoned to hide the wound, he was drug up the steps on his appointed day. When the trap was sprung, the stitches ripped open, nearly decapitating him. Blood spewed into and all over the crowd. Women fainted, men screamed, and children were trampled as the crowd fled in terror. Aury can be heard moaning where the old gallows used to be. On rare occasions, his ghost will appear with a gaping slash across his neck covered in blood.”