Body, Mind & Spirit

Haunted Hoaxes of the Hoosier State

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, newspapers were a major source of ghost stories. Paranormal experiences, no matter how mundane, were newsworthy and entertaining—even when they turned out not to be ghosts after all. A coffin holding a “talking corpse” on a train turned out to be a box of bullfrogs. An overturned automobile carrying white paint resulted in a paint-covered “ghost” wandering the streets, and a spiritualist tackled a phantom haunting a cemetery only to find that it was a fraternity pledge all along.

Revealing that the truth can sometimes be as amusing as the legend, author Ashley M. Watson gathers newspaper clippings about Indiana ghost stories that were not ghosts at all.

Crawfordsville, Indiana, has a rich history of spiritualism and paranormal lore. /

In the late 1800s and early 1900s mediums were trained in the city, and spiritualism was preached from the street corners. Spirit photography was all the rage, and many flocked to town to have their photos taken with ghosts. The Crawfordsville Monster caused a nationwide stir after terrorizing the town for several days and being spotted by more than 100 people. Urban legends also abound in this small city, including legends like the cursed chair of Oak Hill cemetery, Spooky Hollow and the Old Hospital./

Authors Christopher and Christina Hunt share these tales and others devoted to the mysterious past and darkly thrilling secret life of the heart of Montgomery County.

Indiana's landscape is dotted with urban and rural cemeteries teeming with restless spirits. These are the stories of the Hoosiers who refuse to rest in peace.

Crown Hill Cemetery is the final resting place of many notable Indiana residents, as well as one rather infamous soul, but it may also serve as a playground for the spectral children of Community Hill. Tales of mournful spirits can be found at Stepp Cemetery and Highland Lawn, while other areas such as Forest Hill and the cemeteries of LaPorte have far darker stories to tell. Join tour guide and paranormal investigator Ashley Hood on a journey through Indiana's ghostly burial grounds--from the Hoosier National Forest to the banks of Lake Michigan.

Strange and unusual things lurk behind the calm façade of Dearborn County.

Several legends surround Hillforest Mansion, the home of one of Aurora's founding families. Many have seen the ghost of a farmer and his mule at Carnegie Hall in Moores Hill. The glowing grave at Riverview Cemetery may connect to the 1941 Agrue family massacre. St. Mary's Church rectory is said to be haunted by the former priest, and the spirits at Whisky's in Lawrenceburg are not just in the drinks. Several schools in the area echo with the sounds of former students and staff, and numerous local residences house the spirits of former owners who never left.

Join Mary Ellen Quigley and Rebecca Wilhelm on a chilling tour from Lawrenceburg to Lawrenceville and beyond.

From Muncie’s past come weird tales of supernatural encounters, creepy ghostlights, haunted houses, and eerie hoaxes.

In the years before the Civil War, wraiths routinely harassed travelers on turnpikes southeast of the city. A poltergeist once terrorized a family farm in northeast Center Township in 1890. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, ghosts appeared frequently at local businesses, theaters, office buildings, factories, and turnpikes.

Delaware County historian Chris Flook delves deep into local historical archives to reveal dozens of uncanny encounters, ghostly pranks, and strange paranormal phenomena of the Magic City.

Discover school spirits and downtown haunts of Bloomington, Indiana

For many, the most terrifying sight in Bloomington is the bathroom in a freshman dorm, but even more disturbing things lurk in the dark corners of this college town. Two haunted portraits hang in the Indiana Memorial Union Building, and the ghosts of suicides roam the stairwell in Ballantine Hall. At the end of every night, bartenders at a downtown pub pour a shot of whiskey for a not-so-dearly-departed spirit. At a nearby old manor, two ghost children stir up trouble. Farther out of town, in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest lies Stepp Cemetery, a remote and desolate graveyard that is one of the most haunted locations in Indiana.

Join Bloomington native Klara Lee Sweet on a spine-tingling tour of the city's spectral history.

Posey County is a place where neighbors are friendly, the BBQ is good, and the blue skies are plentiful above checkerboard fields. It’s also a place where the dead roam freely.

Ghosts linger in the basement of the Sheriff’s Department, ready to jump out at unsuspecting correctional officers. Misty apparitions wander around a town once devastated by a tornado and can even be found in the brand-new Dollar General. The public library in Poseyville also has several librarian ghosts still hard at work keeping the library orderly.

Follow paranormal investigator Joni Mayhan as she delves into the darker side of this vibrant community and unearths its peculiar hauntings.

Along Indiana's northern border, Elkhart County is a rich mixture of industry and agriculture, tradition and innovation--and it has a reputation for paranormal activity.

The Winchester Mansion is haunted by the eccentric Nellie Knickerbocker, who, rumor says, slept in her own coffin. The spirits of three former workers roam the Old Bag Factory. A scowling spirit in a nurse's uniform once stalked the Clark Street Hospital while the Wilt House is home to a ghostly girl. A basketball player and mysterious organ music both play on at the Washington Township High School, and a former stagehand stalks the Bristol Opera House.

Join author Mark P. Doddington for a tour of all things spooky in Elkhart County.

This book is a chilling collection of the ghostly legends and lore of historic Madison, Indiana.

Beautifully preserved mid-nineteenth-century buildings grace the streets of Madison, Indiana, providing a concrete connection to the past. But a more ethereal, ghostly link flits about these streets when night descends. Restive spirits linger here, like the extra that may join you mid-slumber at Whitehall Bed-and-Breakfast, a residual from the Civil War hospital that was once nearby. Feel the ghostly chill of a mob bootlegger who stops by the Broadway Tavern around last call and learn of the myriad ghosts that flutter here in search of something. Dive into the shadows of Madison on this chilling journey with Virginia Jorgensen.

From the jail cell that once held John Dillinger to quaint shops with dark beginnings, the restless spirits of Crown Point purportedly result from a century-old hex.

Legend had it that a caravan of gypsies found themselves unfairly exiled from town. Forced to leave their beloved dead behind in unmarked graves, they invoked a venomous curse on the townspeople and vowed that no ancestor would be allowed eternal peace. Paranormal researcher Judith Tometczak exposes evidence of this deceptively quiet town's dark side.

North Central Indiana is rich in farmlands, wind turbines, and small towns. It is also thick with ghosts.

Ghastly apparitions roam the town of Battle Ground, where the infamous Battle of Tippecanoe occurred. A woman trying to put her life back together soon found herself disturbed by inexplicable events in a Fountain County apartment. Roads in Newton, Clinton, and Grant counties are but a few such roads where strange things suddenly appear—and often just as quickly disappear. The Rotary Jail Museum in Crawfordsville is said to have a pair of resident spirits. Purdue University and Indiana Beach harbor their own eerie tales.

Join authors and paranormal investigators W.C. Madden and Maria Salvo Benson on a spine-tingling journey of the haunts of North Central Indiana.

Noble County boasts small-town charm and attractions all year long.

And ghosts. The county’s only movie theater is patrolled by the well-known manager, who died in 1995. Two of the highest hills in the state are haunted, one after a hanging and another because of a murder immortalized by Indiana’s poet laureate. The sprawling Kneipp Sanitarium received a visit from the Virgin Mary herself and became a battleground of good versus evil. Former residents of the county poor farm still roam the building. Then there’s the “Thing in the Basement.”

Join authors and historians Mark and Emily Hunter as they tour the dark and spooky corners of Noble County.

Terre Haute might seem like a quiet river town, but the ghosts of the city's past ensure that things never grow too quiet!

From the ghost of a green-eyed bulldog to a mausoleum phone, the town’s cemeteries are a playground for those who have passed on to the other side. The spirits of children haunt the site of the former Glenn Home, where they once lived. The restless spirit of a girl who passed before her time lingers in a local salon, and the apparition of a faceless nun still wanders the hallowed halls of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. The former Condit residence has a long history of premature deaths, while the Preston House held its own secrets within its now vanished walls. Join tour guide and paranormal investigator Ashley Hood on a tour of Terre Haute’s spectral history.