the Author
Welcome to America’s Haunted Road Trip
DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS?
If you are like 52 percent of Americans (according to a recent Harris Poll), you do believe that ghosts walk among us. Perhaps you have heard your name called in a dark and empty house. It could be that you have awoken to the sound of footsteps outside your bedroom door, only to find no one there. It is possible that you saw your grandmother sitting in her favorite rocker chair, the same grandmother who had passed away several years before. Maybe you took a photo of a crumbling, deserted farmhouse and discovered strange mists and orbs in the photo, anomalies that were not visible to your naked eye.
If you have experienced similar paranormal events, then you know that ghosts exist. Even if you have not yet experienced these things, you are curious about the paranormal world, the spirit realm. If you weren’t, you would not now be reading this Preface to the latest book in the America’s Haunted Road Trip series from Clerisy Press.
Over the last several years, I have investigated haunted locations across the country and with each new site, I found myself becoming more fascinated with ghosts. What are they? How do they manifest themselves? Why are they here? These are just a few of the questions I have been asking. No doubt, you have been asking the same questions.
The books in the America’s Haunted Road Trip series can help you find the answers to your questions about ghosts. We’ve gathered together some of America’s top ghost writers (no pun intended) and researchers and asked them to write about their states’ favorite haunts. Each location that they write about is open to the public so that you can visit them for yourself and try out your ghosthunting skills. In addition to telling you about their often hair-raising adventures, the writers have included maps and travel directions so that you can take your own haunted road trip.
People may think that Florida is all about Mickey Mouse, but Dave Lapham’s Ghosthunting Florida proves that the state is fertile ground for entities even more fantastic than a talking mouse. The book is a spine-tingling trip through Florida’s small towns and lively cities, its historic sites and fun spots, all of them haunted. Ride shotgun with Dave as he seeks out Civil War ghosts at the Olustee Battlefield and the spirits of Spanish soldiers at St. Augustine’s Spanish Military Hospital. Travel with him to the Audubon House in Key West where the ghosts of several children killed by yellow fever still roam the house in which they once played; if you’re lucky—or perhaps, unlucky—you will find the missing Demon Doll. And who, or what, is heard pacing the upstairs hallway of Monticello’s Palmer House? Hang on tight; Ghosthunting Florida is a scary ride.
But once you’ve finished reading this book, don’t unbuckle your seatbelt. There are still forty-nine states left for your haunted road trip! See you on the road!
John Kachuba
Editor, America’s Haunted Road Trip
Introduction
After having published Ghosts of St. Augustine (Pineapple Press, 1997) and Ancient City Hauntings (Pineapple Press, 2004), I thought I was finished with ghosts for a while, but they weren’t finished with me. Out of the blue, I was given an opportunity to write Ghosthunting Florida, covering the whole state. I immediately jumped at the chance, and now my ghosts and I are back in business.
My interest in ghosts and the inexplicable events we all encounter during our lives has been casual but persistent. I am as sensitive to the paranormal as a bull gator, but I have had many, many experiences that have mystified me and that I cannot explain. And I have so many questions. What are ghosts really? And exactly, physically, where is “the other side,” or Heaven, or whatever you may call it? And why do some ghosts stick around and others don’t? And clothes! Those who see ghosts, apparitions, almost always see them dressed in period clothes. Clothes are inanimate, so how can they be transported to the afterlife?
And why doesn’t everyone believe in ghosts? There are volumes of research that make it pretty clear to me that the death of the physical body is not the end, and yet so many still deny the existence of an afterlife. Deborah Blum in her excellent book, Ghost Hunters (Penguin Books, 2006), examines the studies conducted by William James, brother of author Henry James, and a group of highly respected scientists during the nineteenth century. Their studies were meant to bring understanding of life after death and to bridge the gulf between science and faith, to make psychic research a legitimate branch of science. Still, there are skeptics.
Ghosthunting Florida, along with the other books in the America’s Haunted Road Trip series, seeks to answer some of these questions and to sway skeptics with accurate, objective observations and experiences, and then let the reader draw their own conclusions. Whether you’re a paranormal investigator, an amateur ghosthunter, or just someone who enjoys a good ghost story, you will like this book and find it useful. In addition to the stories, which I have arranged by region, I have included a ghosthunting travel guide, Visiting Haunted Places, which provides detailed information about visiting the sites written about in this book and a list of resources.
For those who might wish to do their own ghost hunting, here are some guidelines and rules of etiquette:
1 Conduct all your investigations with an open mind and don’t be fooled by the “evidence.” No one has yet proven scientifically beyond a doubt that ghosts actually exist. You probably won’t be the one to do it, so be non-judgmental and open about what you experience and observe. And be skeptical of the evidence you gather by examining all possible explanations.
2 Interview witnesses separately, so that they don’t influence each other with their testimony.
3 Document all your activities. When professional and serious paranormal investigators visit sites, they are often loaded with infrared cameras, EMF meters, and all manner of highly sensitive equipment. If you have that sort of equipment, by all means use it. I don’t, but I like to carry a pen and notebook, a tape recorder, and a camera. It is helpful if each member of your party carries the same equipment also. The tape recorder is good for recording interviews, and you might catch unidentifiable sounds or voices from a site.The camera is a great tool, too. You might be surprised by what you pick up with your camera that you can’t see with your eyes. Most often bright, white spots—orbs—will appear. They can often be attributed to reflections, dust particles, water spots, and the like, but sometimes, when you enlarge these photos there seems to be no explanation for anomalies. Orbs are actually quite common.
4 Respect the site. Respect the history of a haunted site and the people who inhabited it. Take nothing from the site and leave nothing. Do not enter any site without permission and observe the rules and regulations. A special note about cemeteries: Cemeteries are sacred places, and they tend to be very haunted, often by malevolent spirits, so once you get permission to visit a cemetery after hours, don’t visit alone and always try to include an experienced person in your group. You should never enter any site without permission. If you obey the rules and use a little common sense, people will be more inclined to help you in your explorations.
5 Respect the privacy of your contacts. Some people may tell you their stories but, for whatever reason, may not want to reveal their identity. Respect their wishes. I used real names in this book, unless permission was not given to do so, in which case I used pseudonyms which I marked with an asterisk (*) after the name.
6 Be a knowledgeable ghosthunter. This is important. Study the literature. Learn from serious ghosthunters and paranormal investigators. We do not know or understand the laws that govern the world of spirits, and exploring that world is traveling into the unknown. The experts say that the more you know about it, the better your chances of being successful—and of
