Southwest

The founder of the Southwest Ghost Hunter’s Association guides readers through the supernatural history of the legendary Arizona town.

Once the rowdiest town in the Old West, Tombstone still holds echoes from those wild days of thieves, outlaws and gamblers.

The ghost of the Swamper is said to stalk Big Nose Kate's Saloon, afraid someone might find his stolen hoard of silver. The Brunckow Cabin played host to a string of mysterious murders in the late 1800s, and some say that a menacing specter remains. Pictures of cowboy Billy Clanton's headstone in the infamous Boot Hill Graveyard are frequently reported to have unexplainable apparitions.

From the ghosts of the O.K. Corral to the feuding prostitutes lingering in the Bird Cage Theatre, eerie wraiths live again in these stories.

Spectral miners and lingering spirits

Once Arizona's biggest economic base, mines and the towns that sprang up around them can be found scattered across the state. Stories of paranormal encounters in places like Jerome, Bisbee and Prescott persist, while ghost towns are rumored to host a multitude of lingering spirits. In Ajo, the dead are said to wander through the old Phelps Dodge Hospital, and legend has it that the shades of miners long gone still work the Vulture Mine, looking for the next big gold strike. Do the spirits of Geronimo and his warriors still roam the land they fought so hard to keep?

Join historian Parker Anderson and paranormal expert Darlene Wilson as they uncover the fascinating history and haunts of Arizona’s mining towns.

“The story of May Walker Burleson’s murder of her ex-husband’s second wife . . . A meticulously researched work, [it] captures its era perfectly.”—Galveston County Daily News

Jennie May Walker Burleson was envied for having everything a woman of her time could want—the privileged upbringing, the dazzling good looks, the dashing war hero husband. She was admired for demonstrating that a woman could want more, from the front of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession to the bottom of a Mesoamerican archaeological dig. But as she stood over the body of her husband’s second wife, gun in hand, society’s envy and admiration quickly hardened into pity and scorn.

T. Felder Dorn examines the complicated trajectory of May's life as socialite, suffragist and shooter.

“Dorn’s book gives small glimpses of history, especially on the 1913 Suffragist parade in Washington, DC. Plus, May was sent to Waverly Hills Sanatorium reputed to be one of the most haunted places in the U.S. One of the best features of the book is the historical photos interspersed with each chapter.”—Forgotten Winds

The spirits of the Old West are alive and kicking in Flagstaff.

Once home to outlaws and pioneers, many former residents of this small mountain town never left. Read about the ghosts of the Weatherford Hotel, where strange sightings and disturbing events aren't just confined to the Zane Grey Ballroom. Step inside the Hotel Monte Vista, where locals swear that the Grizzly Meat Man still roams the hallways. Discover the historic train depot, an eternal home to those departed souls that once worked the rails, including a ghostly former train conductor.

Join author Susan Johnson as she uncovers the supernatural side of Flagstaff's fascinating history.

Trace the haunted heritage of America’s Mother Road across Oklahoma. Route 66 may seem like a quieter thoroughfare than it was in its heyday, but the ghosts of Oklahoma’s past bustle along unabated. When the sun sets on the Road of Dreams, the shadows of its roadside attractions take on a nightmarish cast. British airmen disappear into the mist above Miami. Phantoms stir in the Dust Bowl’s shallow grave. A westbound Frisco train hops the rails outside Kellyville. Author Tanya McCoy expertly weaves amongst the spirits still traveling along Oklahoma’s historic Route 66

Pull on the uncanny threads from the legendary tapestry of New Mexico’s Native American heritage.

Ancient Indian history and present Native American cultures are woven together in the Land of Enchantment. The threads of these tales stretch back to Mimbres burial grounds and prehistoric trade routes. Stories and traditions tie the land to its people, in spite of the cycles of slaughter and theft that have threatened to pluck them apart. Descend into the kivas of Chaco Canyon or seek out the high mountains where the clouds mark the stones. From legends of the Salt Woman to the legacy of the Ghost Dance, Ray John de Aragon examines the mysteries of the mesas.

Wandering spirits, vengeful ghosts, and unexplained sightings in Tucson, Arizona.

The benign, candle-carrying ghost of Mayor Levi Manning is reported to roam the halls of Manning House, while a frightening presence is said to lurk in the projectionist room at the Fox Theatre. In Room 242 of the Hotel Congress, guests have described a woman in white sitting at the end of the bed, while other spirits have been spotted in the halls. From the Mission San Xavier del Bac, built in 1700, to the grounds of the University of Arizona, stories of paranormal encounters abound. 

Join author Daryl F. Mallett and discover the thrilling and bone-chilling history of the Old Pueblo.

The New York Sunonce described Jerome as “the Wickedest Town in the West.

The area was once home to the largest copper mine in Northern Arizona, built on the steep terrain of Cleopatra Hill. The small town, population fifteen thousand at its peak, was shockingly nefarious. Diversions for the hardworking miners came by way of saloons, gambling and ladies of the evening. Shootouts and murders, violent accidents in the mines and smelters and fires and diseases scourged its denizens. Life was tough on the mountain—death came too soon for many. When the copper mine closed in 1953, Jerome was rendered a ghost town, and its spirits still lurk among the living. The stories in this book will convince you they are here for a reason.

Founded in 1876, Globe was once a wild and wooly mining camp, and its robberies, murders and mayhem left a dark impression.

Tucked at the base of the Pinal Mountains, this historic landmark is a quintessential old western town. Make a stop at the Globe Train Depot and discover why so many spirits have made it their last whistle-stop along the rails. Explore the courthouse and the Old Gila County Jail, where sinister spirit Kingsley Olds is said to still be doing time. Visit the Globe Cemetery where bandits, cowboys and upstanding citizens mingle.

Tag along with author and paranormal historian Debe Branning as she digs through some of Globe's deepest secrets and reveals wicked tales.

Terror in the Tri-Cities

Built along the 33rd Parallel, rumor has it that the cities of Chandler, Mesa, and Tempe are magnets for the unexplained. Mysterious tales of a cursed Ouija Board, restless pioneer spirits, and specters lurking in underground tunnels are just a few of the unsettling stories attributed to this phenomenon. Whispers about the accidental death of Santa Claus haunt Mesa, while in Chandler, spirits continue to celebrate in their favorite bars and lurk in the San Marcos Hotel. At the university campus in Tempe, ghosts of former staff and students are said to appear in the library and dorms. 

Author Debe Branning explores the spooky side of the Tri-Cities.

Some of the most notorious characters in American history once called Cochise County home.

From the well-known shootout at the OK Corral to the Greenway Manor, Southeastern Arizona is haunted by the shades of its violent past. Go beyond the tales of the restless spirits buried at Boothill, and discover an abandoned train tunnel plagued by a tragic death. In Douglas, the ghost of young Mabel haunts the halls of the Avenue Hotel, hoping someone will solve her murder, while the spirit of a Bisbee fireman still works tirelessly to save lives.

Join author and paranormal historian Francine Powers as she uncovers the stories behind the hauntings, banshees and apparitions of Cochise County.

Central New Mexico remains a vault of long-buried secrets and restless ghosts. Bloodcurdling tales from a haunted Civil War battlefield at Val Verde mingle with the whispers of unsettled spirits in Socorro. The notorious Luna mansion and the cursed rooms of Mountainair’s Shaffer Hotel gather in the otherworldly apparitions of a shadowy past. Cody Polston, a local ghost hunter, skeptic, and collector of the macabre offers a spine-tingling selection of stories from Central New Mexico’s haunted heritage. 

Built on top of ancient burial grounds or over forgotten cemeteries, schools like the Lee Williams High School seem to attract spirits who wander the halls long after the final bell. In Ruby and Vulture City, the old wooden schoolhouses where the town’s children used to gather are said to be haunted by the shades of those unaware their lessons have ended. Even Old Main at the University of Arizona, with its beautiful stone facades, is plagued by whispers of ghostly professors gliding across the marble floors.

Join author and paranormal historian Debe Branning as she explores the spooky side of Arizona’s schools.

Explore the haunted lore and inexplicable tragedies of North Central Texas. North Central Texas is home to some former residents who just won’t leave. Encounter spirits of affluent families lingering in their mansions and the specters of notorious outlaws still trapped in their jail cells. Uncover the mysterious demise of Garland’s Smiley family and the grisly secrets of a Grayson County slaughterhouse. Track down the stone angel who flaps her wings when no one is watching. Learn why the elevators at the Adolphus Hotel frighten guests and plumb the ghostly currents that flow through the town of Mineral Wells. Author Teresa Nordheim ventures into the past of a region with more unnerving shadows than a North Texas Thunderstorm.

Phantoms and Local Lore

Southwest of Tulsa on Historic Route 66 sits Sapulpa, where Lower Creek Native American James Sapulpa established a trading post around 1850. With the railroad arriving in 1866, enterprise brought ill-fated characters, oil booms, bootlegging and bordellos. And like most Western towns, mystery, murder and turmoil followed. And so too did the ghosts—born of vigilante justice, racial strife, natural disasters and one of America’s deadliest train wrecks. Authors Tanya McCoy and Stacey Price hunt the paranormal in the historic haunts and catastrophic calamities throughout Sapulpa’s history.

The author of Campus Ghosts of Norman, Oklahoma teams up with a paranormal investigator to uncover the supernatural side of OKC.

Oklahoma City boasts a rich heritage of gumption and perseverance, but there are many tales only whispered from shadows. A spectral woman may be seen in the upper window of the Overholser Mansion, looking for her long-lost love. The spirit of one of Oklahoma’s feistiest leaders is said to dwell in the Governor’s Mansion, where he trips guests on the stairs. Perhaps still thirsty for the drink a fatal gunshot interrupted, the ghost of a cheating mobster rattles the glasses at Gabriella’s off Route 66.

Jeff Provine and Tanya McCoy uncover the curious and creepy tales of the Sooner State capital.

“Where Oklahoma Began” and the Spirits Linger

Stillwater is a place with its boots planted firmly in different worlds—Cross Timbers and Great Plains, cowboys and Natives, Boomers and gunslingers. Less evident, however, Payne County possesses paranormal peculiarities unseen by the average visitor. Ghostly soldiers persist at the first Civil War battlefield in the state, and phantom students mingle in haunted university halls. From the terrors of Ghost Hollow to glamorous remnants of the oil boom, spectral figures can be found “still pioneering” in “America’s friendliest college town.” Oklahoma folklorist Jeff Provine serves as your guide through the strange, the ethereal, and the whispered-about tales of Payne County.

A phantom stagecoach materializes on Weatherford’s Main Street, the galloping hooves of invisible horses tugging witnesses back towards the nineteenth century. A stroll through the enchanting Chandor Gardens might lead to an encounter with its creator, renowned English portrait artist Douglas Chandor. The apparition of a former judge lingers around Parker County Courthouse, while the Old Jail Museum’s corridors are filled with disembodied voices and echoing footsteps. Visitors to Old Greenwood Cemetery might hear the quiet sobbing of the woman who was murdered by a jealous lover or feel a cold nudge against their hands when they pass by a canine buried alongside his owner. Author Teal Gray walks through miles of Weatherford's history to unwind years of its haunted lore. 

From goat men to witch ladies and spooky little girls, dive into the haunted history of Plano, Texas.

Plano's old homes and businesses are rife with haunted history. Explore eerie urban legends like the Goat Man, the Clown Threat, and Ranch 111, where devil worshipers performed their rituals.

The Evaporating Apparition spooked the staff at the Art Centre Theatre, while the grumpy spirit of an old rancher stalks the Masonic Lodge. Some specters are harmless, such as the Giggling Ghost, a little girl in the Cox Building with a penchant for peanut butter and pranks. Other figures own a more sinister reputation. The Witch Lady of Plano was feared by city youth and monitored by the FBI.

Mary Jacobs examines the ghostly fallout of Plano's darkest moments, from the smallpox epidemic to the gruesome Muncey family murders.

A Massacre, a Hellhound and Billy the Kid’s Many Victims.

Thanks to its bloody range war, Lincoln County hosts a wide array of restless spirits. La Llorona glides across the Bonito River and stalks the streets of Carrizozo. Old Ruidoso, the ghost steer, bellows from the mountains, sparking tales of ill omens and the relocation of an entire town. The clang of the shackles that restrained Billy the Kid reverberates through the Lincoln County Courthouse. Shadow people inhabit dark corners of Fort Stanton, while the ghosts of Aztec mummies guard a treasure in the Capitan Mountains. And the clear waters of Bonita Lake hide the blood-soaked history of Bonito City.

Author John LeMay explores the dark side of Lincoln County.

Explore more than a century of Garfield County’s ghostly lore.

Garfield County is seemingly a quiet span of rural Oklahoma, but its history is steeped with strange legends. Enid (originally known as “Skeleton” for chilling reasons) has served as the major center since winning out in the violent railroad war of 1894. Early settlers were startled when a mysterious stranger claimed to be John Wilkes Booth in a deathbed confession thirty years after Lincoln’s assassination. The intervening decades only added to the county’s haunted heritage, from the phantom staff still in the Broadway Tower to the glowing headstone at Imo. Join Jeff Provine and Tammy Wilson in the shadows that stalk the countryside and the spillways beneath town.

Wandering shades, ghost towns, and a phantom train

The Land of Enchantment lives up to its name when it comes to Route 66—and stories of the paranormal. With not one but two paths to explore, the Mother Road winds through New Mexico's mountains and deserts, past ghost towns and thriving cities, and boasts more than its fair share of haunts.

Budville, once a thriving hub and stopover between Albuquerque and Grants, now lies deserted, except, perhaps, for the spirit of the last person to call it home. The whistle of a phantom train can sometimes be heard chugging alongside the highway in Tucumcari, and in Glenrio, an abandoned town that straddles the New Mexico–Texas border, the spirit of a murder victim is rumored to inhabit one of the last buildings standing.

Even the New Mexico Mining Museum plays host to the spirits of miners who once worked in the uranium capital of the world, and in Gallup, the Hotel El Rancho boasts not just Hollywood credentials but tales of otherworldly encounters.

Author Sundee Perkins explores the spooky twists and turns of New Mexico’s Route 66.

Missing Persons, Doomsday Cults and Shifting Sands.

Though it may look as pure as the driven snow, White Sands is bathed in the blood of the dead whose bones lie hidden beneath the dunes. 

Still waiting to be found in the sea of gypsum is Albert Fountain, who vanished from the face of the earth in 1896 along with his eight-year-old son. Long before that, the spirit of Pavla Blanca searched for her conquistador lover in the form of swirling sand, mysterious giant footprints rose from the earth at Alkali Flats, and a sorcerer met his end near the spot that Spaceport America stands today. 

Elsewhere, the ghostly Rebecca haunts The Lodge at Cloudcroft, a long-dead hermit lights a fire from his den in the Organ Mountains, and a witch is still trying to claw her way out of a Mesilla cemetery. 

John LeMay and Donna Blake Birchell unearth the buried spirits of White Sands National Park, White Sands Missile Range, and nearby settlements. 

Discover a place in Texas that gives new meaning to the term “ghost town”

Old Town Spring’s historic streets may set the scene for a quaint shopping village, but they also serve as byways for one of the most haunted towns in Texas. A perfectionist past the end, Uncle Charlie still fusses around the historic Wunsche Brothers Café, the oldest commercial structure in the area. The spirit of a girl who died in a barn still plays with her group of friends in Doering Court, while a headless switchman runs after phantom trains trying to prevent a collision.

Her path lit by unknown lights in the sky, author Cathy Nance leads the way through Old Town Spring’s spookiest sites.

The booming, modern metropolis of Phoenix is a city filled with the ghosts of its past.

Discover the legend of the mysterious Hohokam tribe, whose people once inhabited the Pueblo Grande Ruins and later vanished. Learn about the spirits of the Smurthwaite House, which sits on the grounds of Phoenix’s oldest cemetery. Hear the tales of the Pioneer Living Museum, a collection of historic buildings relocated from every corner of Arizona—and the spirits of the former residents that came along too. Take a peek inside the Mystery Castle, old train depots and eerie historic mansions. Author and paranormal historian Debe Branning delves into the history and mysteries of these desert tales.

Explore the haunted history of Oklahoma’s saloons, bars, brothels, and speakeasies.

Saloons and brothels were often the first businesses to spring into existence when the boomtowns of Oklahoma were formed overnight in the state’s early history. During Prohibition, they entertained in the shadows, and their stories have often been left untold. But those stories, and the forgotten women who were often at the center of them, still shaped an indelible legacy. Sometimes their echoes linger in the present, from a saloon patron who continues to tip a McAlester bar from the great beyond to the phantom of a Tulsa brothel worker that appears with enough energy to flip over a pizza pan. Brooke Montoya embarks on a journey through the haunted history of Oklahoma’s saloons, bars, brothels and speakeasies.

Step into the supernatural world of New Mexico’s most haunted restaurants and bars, where the spirits of the past linger in the shadows.

In Santa Fe, the shade of Julia Staab wanders through La Posada, once the site of her opulent home, and in Cloudcroft, the Lodge hosts its own ghostly resident, Rebecca, who once worked as a chambermaid in the very place she haunts. The colorful past of Casa Vieja in Corrales inspired not only rumors of hidden bodies but also the menu, and on the Plaza of Old Town Albuquerque, tales of spectral encounters abound.

From fine dining spots with violent histories to cozy eateries where whispers of bygone eras still echo through the halls, author Donna Blake Birchell uncovers the eerie side of the Land of Enchantment.

Specters and apparitions roam the badlands of New Mexico, where the law was scarce but criminals were plenty.

Ruthless outlaws like Thomas “Black Jack” Ketchum and Billy the Kid met their end here but left a legend, and possibly vengeful spirits, behind. The worst prison riot in the United States occurred just outside of Santa Fe at the New Mexico State Penitentiary, and rumor has it that the abandoned complex is haunted by the horrors that occurred. In Taos, the graves of three suspected witches lie under a layer of cement to keep them from rising again.

Author Donna Blake Birchell explores the dark side of justice in the Land of Enchantment.