Haunted & Paranormal

Edgar Allan Poe has had a busy afterlife.

The author of "The Raven" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" might have died back in 1849, but some claim that did not stop him from composing poetry for another four decades. Others say he still makes appearances in no fewer than five cities, and that his ghost is a regular at a couple of different taverns, one of which saves a seat for him. Like a character from one of his short stories, Poe refuses to stay buried.

Author Christopher Semtner explores the ghost stories and hauntings associated with his life--from the supernatural legends that inspired his writing to the alleged paranormal activity inspired by those terror tales.

Gear up for a frightful jaunt into the darkest reaches of the ancient Appalachians.

Folk deep within Appalachian hollers lean close to share stories of the inexplicable with hushed awe. Monsters rumbling in the hills. Strange lights darting through the pitch-black night sky. Horrible occurrences, almost ineffable in their bizarre tragedy. "Tall tales," you might say. But tell that to the Flatwoods monster in Braxton County, West Virginia. Or the Goat Man of Louisville--look into his humanoid eyes and let him know you don't believe. And what of those apparitions in Mammoth Cave's Corpse Rock, or the Satan-spawn known as the Jersey Devil? How do you respond when those mysteries confront? From metaphysical energy that swirls near the Serpent Mound in Ohio to Point Pleasant's Mothman legacy, Mark Muncy and Kari Schultz explore the dark history lurking in the shadows of Appalachia..

The sweltering heat of the Florida sun breaks as a chill runs down your spine. A dark shadow looms from a nearby tourist trap - you didn't expect to find this kind of shade in Florida.

If only there was some sort of travel guide to steer you through the spookier locales. Well, you're in luck. Check in at The Biltmore in Coral Gables to spot the ghost of slain Fatty Walsh roaming the thirteenth floor. Sit down for a meal with the spirit of Ethel Allen at Ashley's Restaurant in Rockledge. Visit haunted graveyards, museums, parks and battlefields. Hear macabre stories of spectral pirates, gangsters, witches and madmen. From phantasmagoric packs of Madam McCoy's girls on Pensacola streets down to the ghostly clacking of Hemingway's typewriter in the Keys, Mark Muncy and Kari Schultz lead brave readers through the darkest locations in the Sunshine State.

Residents of Kernersville have spent lifetimes looking after each other--and sometimes they continue after death.

Nestled between Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point, Kernersville transformed from a sleepy little village stop on the Great Wagon Road into a thriving community in the nineteenth century--one with its share of ghost tales. Does a young soldier haunt the Kernersville Museum, flirting with the women who work there? Learn the truth of the ghost of the old McCuiston House. Local institutions like the P&N Store and Snow's Diner also claim their share of spooky stories.

Kernersville Museum director Kelly Hargett and local theater founder Scott Icenhower tell ghost tales that are sometimes comical, sometimes heartwarming, and sometimes a little hair raising.

These stories and more are wrenched from the gravest parts of America's past--real lives of people on plantations from Savannah and the coast of the Carolinas.

A shackled West African tribe drags themselves off aslave ship while singing, drowning in a Georgia creek to avoid being sold. Mysterious letters from a long-ruined church near Mepkin Abbey solicit a man to join faith. A French teacher disappears from a school after marking final exams in blood. An Egyptian mummy triggers a heart attack in a city museum. Most of these stories deal with the hub of the East Coast slave trade, Charleston, South Carolina. All are richly illustrated with both historic and contemporary images. Dwelling in the affairs of plantation life is to tread the fires of emotionally raw history. Sifting through the folklore and legends, the old hushed embers of the south ignite once again in this collection. While these stories relate encounters with the supernatural, readers will find that what actually happened here doesn'talways need a ghost to be disquieting.

Historic, haunted, chilling tales of the town of Richmond as told by one of Virginia's most respected paranormal investigators!

With over four hundred years of history, Richmond abounds with ghostly tales and ghastly deeds from the past. Step into the shadows and take a tour of thirteen of Richmond's most haunted sites. Visit Church Hill, home of the famous St. John's Church, and discover the events that led to the tragic tunnel collapse of 1925.

Discover the long-forgotten Civil Warhospitals of Shockoe Bottom, where hundreds of wounded soldiers met their end. Feel the icy chill at the bottom of a staircase where a young apprentice was murdered in cold blood by his jealous master in 1826.

These stories and more await as you discover the mysterious, tragic and terrifying events of Richmond's dark past.""

Beyond the façade of stately Louisiana platations are stories of hope and subjugation, tragedy and suffering, shame and perseverance and war and conquest.

After sixteen workers chopped down most of the Houmas House's ancient oak trees, referred to as "the Gentlemen," eight of the surviving trees eerily twisted overnight in grief over the losses wrought by a great Mississippi River flood. An illegal duel to reclaim lost honor left the grounds of Natchez's Cherokee Plantation bloodstained, but the victim's spirit may still wander there today. A mutilated slave girl named Chloe still haunts the halls of the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville. Cheryl H. White and W. Ryan Smith reveal the dark history, folklore and lasting human cost of Louisiana plantation life.

New Orleans has a reputation as a home for creatures of the night. Popular books, movies and television shows have cemented the city's connection to vampires in public imagination.

Rumors swirled about the fate of the Casket Girls, a group of mysterious maidens traveling to the New World from France with peculiar casket-shaped boxes. A charismatic man who moved to the French Quarter in the early 1900s eerily resembled a European aristocrat of one hundred years prior bearing the same name. A pair of brothers terrorized the town with their desire to feed on living human blood during the Great Depression. Marita Woywod Crandle investigates the origins of these legends so intricately woven through New Orleans's rich history.

Over the years, Bobby Mackey's Music World has played host to countless real-life horror stories and a string of criminal activity. Illegal gambling and liquor abounded when it later served as the Bluegrass Inn.

The site has been the location of death and destruction since the nineteenth century, including illegal lynchings and a bridge collapse killing forty-one men. In more recent years, mafia bosses turned it into a mafia-controlled nightclub known as the Latin Quarter. Beginning with the caretaker who fell under a demonic possession to more recent encounters between patrons and the paranormal, author Dan Smith revives the chilling stories that make it the most haunted nightclub in America.

More than four decades after the great aircraft carrier U.S.S. Yorktown last served her country, the ghosts of battle are still heard and felt onboard.

Staff members and visitors claim to have experienced disembodied voices, uniformed apparitions, shadowy masses and other unexplainable occurrences since the ""Fighting Lady"" first docked at Patriots Point. Join local author, investigator and "ghostorian'? Bruce Orr as he examines the history, haunting and heritage of the National Historic Landmark and home of Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.

In the early 1790s, a Lutheran family in Appalachia fell victim to a menacing spirit that Lutheran, Methodist and Episcopal clergy as well as Folk magic practitioners failed to remove. The entity, which came to be known as the Wizard Clip, was said to cut or slice anything made of cloth or leather. Was it a ghost or a demon? After years of torment, the deeply Protestant family finally found respite from a seemingly impossible ally, a Catholic exorcist. This legend has eerie parallels to lore of ghosts and witches from the Old World as well as the early American Republic. As American religious leaders sought to find a place for their congregations in a post-Revolutionary time of enlightened secularism, tales like these helped churches define themselves, and this particular story was used to distinguish Catholic supernaturalism from later spiritualism.

Author Michael Kishbucher tells a spooky and incredibly compelling story that shines a light on the region's religious history.

Virginia's long history and many beauties attract millions of visitors each year--and some never leave.

With some of the oldest inns in the country, Virginia has a multitude of options for travelers to sleep among the spirits. The historic Cavalier Hotel is haunted by the ghost of Adolph Coors, the beer magnate. Market Square Tavern is one of the original buildings in Williamsburg, and has some of the oldest haunts--including, possibly, Thomas Jefferson. The spirit of Mary Hooker still watches over her beloved home at King George's Bell Grove Plantation. The family of the former owner of Natural Bridge Hotel are said to still walk the halls of historic building--after he killed them.

Plan a ghostly journey along Virginia's byways with author and paranormal expert Susan Schwartz.

Gear up for a frightful journey into the mysterious Ocala National Forest.

Central Florida is known as the happiest place on Earth. But an hour's drive from the amusement parks lies a forest swirling with mystery. For generations, locals have whispered about a dark energy coming from the Ocala National Forest and drifting into nearby towns. Supernatural beasts and apparitions. Ghost lights galore. From cults to monsters to the spirts of those who ventured in yet never reemerged, the woods have long been a source of rumor and tragedy. The vengeful Coyote Woman who dispatches those with evil natures. The soldier of Fort King who vanishes when addressed. The spectral monk of Astor, on the hunt for his killer. Author and folklorist Christopher Balzano takes readers among the trees and beyond to offer a glimpse into the true stories, urban legends and haunted folklore whispered among the residents of these deep woods..

In Clarke County, the spirits of the past bring history to life.

The ghost of a brokenhearted Confederate soldier stares out a window waiting in vain for the return of the love of his life. Victims of a plane crash still linger at the scene of the tragedy forty-five years later. Union troops are still crossing the Shenandoah River through a hail of musket balls and cannon fire. From the legendary phantom coach of Carter Hall to lesser-known haunts along the county's back roads, a rock-throwing poltergeist, a smoky figure in a bedroom and strange creatures lurking in the woods, Michael Hess brings you the very best in Clarke County ghost lore.