In Historic Haunts of Winchester, author Mac Rutherford presents Winchester s haunted past as never before. From the ghost of Tillie Russell frequently seen running through the streets in search of a wounded captain to ghostly echoes of artillery fire, Rutherford relates a spine-tingling record of spirits and specters. Along the way he chronicles Winchester s most shocking and unusual spirits, such as the legendary Giant Indians often glimpsed at the corner of Indian Alley and Piccadilly Street. Read Historic Haunts of Winchester and immerse yourself in Winchester s incredible history of hauntings."
From the homes of the first settlers in Middle Tennessee to Gallatin's public square and everywhere in between, there is not a more haunted county in America. The Winchesters' unique and architecturally impressive Cragfont had mysterious occurrences from its very beginnings in the late 1700s. Gallatin's public square, its courthouse, loft apartments and places of business have hauntings that seem to specifically point to restless spirits still unsettled from the oppressive days of Civil War occupation by a brutal commanding officer of the Union army. Even the modern subdivisions are not immune to the supernatural, hosting everything from flying cryptids to tormented spirit-remnants of the bloody conflict between settlers and Native Americans. Author Donna Lyn Hartley details the spooky side of Sumner County.
Do you believe in ghosts? "Dynamite," today's most popular kids' magazine has dug up these true stories about unexplained happenings. Includes a guide to haunted houses you can visit.
The Olentangy River runs through it—and ghosts inhabit it. Take a tour of central Ohio’s haunted hamlet with its resident paranormal expert. The infamous Vaudeville ghost that still puts on a show at the Strand, the mischievous, piano-playing poltergeists of the Arts Castle, and the bearded ghoul that speeds at a hellish pace down North Franklin Street in a horse-drawn carriage―these are the otherworldly denizens of Delaware, Ohio. Local ghost expert John B. Ciochetty’s collection of haunted lore will have skeptics and believers alike looking over their shoulders as they walk down the city streets. Behind the folklore and legends, readers will find the strange but hard facts of history that have given rise to tales of the city’s restless spirits. Join Ciochetty as he explores the other side of Delaware to discover its spine-tingling, haunted history. Includes photos! “Delaware’s local ghost expert . . . experienced several paranormal encounters on campus. That’s what inspired him to write books about paranormal activities at the university and around Delaware.” —The Delaware Gazette
"From the notorious Lizzie Borden to the innumerable, haunted rooms of Sarah Winchester's mysterious mansion this offbeat, insightful, first-ever book of its kind from the brilliant guides behind 'Boroughs of the Dead,' featured on NPR.org, The New York Times, and Jezebel, explores the history behind America's female ghosts, the stereotypes, myths, and paranormal tales that swirl around them, what their stories reveal about us--and why they haunt us"--
The first full-length biography of Sarah Winchester, the subject of the movie Winchester starring Helen Mirren. Since her death in 1922, Sarah Winchester has been perceived as a mysterious, haunted figure. After inheriting a vast fortune upon the death of her husband in 1881, Sarah purchased a simple farmhouse in San José, California. She began building additions to the house and continued construction on it for the next twenty years. A hostile press cast Sarah as the conscience of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company—a widow shouldering responsibility for the many deaths caused by the rifle that brought her riches. She was accused of being a ghost-obsessed spiritualist, and to this day it is largely believed that the extensive construction she executed on her San José house was done to appease the ghouls around her. But was she really as guilt-ridden and superstitious as history remembers her? When Winchester’s home was purchased after her death, it was transformed into a tourist attraction. The bizarre, sprawling mansion and the enigmatic nature of Winchester’s life were exaggerated by the new owners to generate publicity for their business. But as the mansion has become more widely known, the person of Winchester has receded from reality, and she is only remembered for squandering her riches to ward off disturbed spirits. Captive of the Labyrinth: Sarah L. Winchester, Heiress to the Rifle Fortune demystifies the life of this unique American. In the first full-length biography of Winchester, author and historian Mary Jo Ignoffo unearths the truth about this notorious eccentric, revealing that she was not a maddened spiritualist driven by remorse but an intelligent, articulate woman who sought to protect her private life amidst the chaos of her public existence. The author takes readers through Winchester’s several homes, explores her private life, and, by excerpting from personal correspondence, gives the heiress a voice for the first time since her death. Ignoffo’s research reveals that Winchester’s true financial priority was not dissipating her fortune on the mansion in San José but investing it for a philanthropic legacy. For too long Sarah Winchester has existed as a ghost herself—a woman whose existence lies somewhere between the facts of her life and a set of sensationalized recollections of who she may have been. Captive of the Labyrinth finally puts to rest the myths about this remarkable woman, and, in the process, uncovers the legacy she intended to leave behind.
An intellectual feast for fans of offbeat history, Ghostland takes readers on a road trip through some of the country's most infamously haunted places--and deep into the dark side of our history.
"An acclaimed historian explodes the myth about the 'special relationship' between Americans and their guns, revealing that savvy 19th century businessmen--not gun lovers--created American gun culture"--
Ghosts and other supernatural phenomena are widely represented throughout modern culture. They can be found in any number of entertainment, commercial, and other contexts, but popular media or commodified representations of ghosts can be quite different from the beliefs people hold about them, based on tradition or direct experience. Personal belief and cultural tradition on the one hand, and popular and commercial representation on the other, nevertheless continually feed each other. They frequently share space in how people think about the supernatural. In Haunting Experiences, three well-known folklorists seek to broaden the discussion of ghost lore by examining it from a variety of angles in various modern contexts. Diane E. Goldstein, Sylvia Ann Grider, and Jeannie Banks Thomas take ghosts seriously, as they draw on contemporary scholarship that emphasizes both the basis of belief in experience (rather than mere fantasy) and the usefulness of ghost stories. They look closely at the narrative role of such lore in matters such as socialization and gender. And they unravel the complex mix of mass media, commodification, and popular culture that today puts old spirits into new contexts.
