Concerned individuals have been calling Birmingham, Alabama police for years to report seeing paranormal activity near the Sloss Furnaces Historical Landmark.
The Sloss Furnaces were built in 1882 and produced high-quality pig iron for 89 years. During the American industrial revolution, the steel produced by these furnaces was subsequently utilised to construct bridges, buildings, and railways.
This steel production has a high human cost. At Sloss, the working environment was hazardous and intolerable. No breaks or holidays were ever granted to the employees.
“The plant experienced oppressive summertime temperatures that exceeded 120 degrees. Only the lowest workers—immigrants who were desperate for work—would work the furnace because of the lack of sleep, the heat, and the poor visibility.
These appalling circumstances were rendered much worse by one foreman who worked at Sloss. The graveyard shift was managed by James “Slag” Wormwood.
Slag pushed his guys to their limits in an effort to please his superiors. He frequently insisted that people take excessive risks. This was done in order to hasten manufacturing.
47 guys died while under Wormwood’s direction. More people died during this shift than any other, by a factor of 10. In addition, several men suffered injuries in incidents that prevented them from working.
Six men were burnt blind in a single explosion that occurred in an accident in 1888.
Slag Wormwood suffered what many believed to be a fair fate in October of 1906. He plunged from the top of Big Alice, the largest furnace, into a sizable puddle of melting ore. His body vanished in an instant.
One mythology holds that this wasn’t a coincidence. His collapse may have been helped by workers.
Witness tales from that time on indicate that Slag continues to haunt Sloss Furnaces. His spirit is regarded as a cruel tormentor.
Numerous tales from former workers at the factory have been told. Most involve hands they can’t see pushing them from behind. People frequently describe hearing a voice yell, “Get back to work!”
Samuel Blumenthal, a former night watchman at The Sloss Furnaces, shares a personal experience from that year. This was the evening before to the plant’s output halt.
He claims he came face to face with the “most terrifying creature he had ever seen” when he was “face to face” with it. He called this individual “evil.” It was “half man/half monster,” he said.
He was being propelled up the stairs by this entity. It then started punching Blumenthal after he refused.
Later, when a doctor checked Blumenthal, he discovered that he had “severe burns” all over him.
According to all the accounts the police receive from worried individuals, this haunting is still going on today.
I should point out that Slag Wormwood’s ghost is not the only paranormal presence reported at Sloss; other apparitions are said to represent the spirits of those who perished at the factory. Most frequently, they are heard and seen close to where they died.
For public use, Sloss Furnaces have been conserved. The location has a nationally renowned metal arts programme and features a museum. Tours are offered of the plant’s remnants. Sloss Fright Furnace, a frightening attraction, is open during Halloween.
