WHEN I CAME UP WITH THE IDEA for the Haunted Handbook series, I started by looking toward many of the other ghost books that were already out there. I have always loved reading ghost stories, and these stories were always so much better when they were supposedly true. My favorite ghost books were the ones that had some sort of documented history behind the ghosts. I wanted to know why these ghosts were there, what happened on a certain road that gave rise to the ghosts that now reside there, or who was buried in a certain cemetery that caused it to be haunted. I also enjoyed knowing where the haunted locations were and how to get to them. As great as I thought these books were, I always had the belief that with enough research and hard work, I could make a better guide.
The first thing I set out to improve was the fact that the other ghost books out there usually left me wanting more. My favorite ghost books told anywhere from 17 to 34 ghost stories apiece about as many haunted locations. While these stories were sometimes terrifying and always interesting, I was always left wondering why the books stopped at so few of them. It seemed that there were so many more stories out there, and I wanted to hear them all.
When I set out to create the first Haunted Handbook, based in my hometown of Cincinnati, my goal was to include an unprecedented number of ghost stories in the book. It all started when I told my publisher that I was pretty sure I could get 50 haunted locations in a single book. Soon that changed to 75, and then to 90. Once I was confident that I could find ghost stories for 90 different haunted locations, I convinced myself that a hundred locations was possible. Instead of simply including a handful of haunted sites, we were ultimately able to include 100 places. In my opinion, the sheer number of locations is one of the most interesting facets of this series.
The next thing that I felt needed to be addressed in the Haunted Handbook series is the geographical focus. Many of my favorite ghost books focused on too wide an area, some even including stories from all across the country. Others had stories from across an entire state. I would always find myself skimming through these books, looking for those locations that I was able to recognize or that were close enough to me that I could go visit an actual haunted location. Unfortunately, many times this meant that only two or three locations in each book would really pique my interest.
The Haunted Handbook series addresses this issue by making sure that all 100 locations in the book are within an hour’s drive of the center of the city. This means that if you live in that city, whether you were aware that they were haunted or not, you are probably familiar with most of the locations. Tourists can visit any of the locations with the knowledge that they are never too far away from their hotel. Instead of having to flip through the book looking for those sites that are close, readers can now read through each chapter, knowing that each location is nearby.
The final thing that I wished my favorite ghost books would talk about is how to go looking for these ghosts. I have always liked to pretend that I was an explorer. I would rather learn about some haunted location and then go out and visit the place. The books that inspired me to start writing my own ghost books would capture my interest about a certain cemetery or haunted road, but I would have no idea how to get to the location or when the place closed. I would often wonder if it was okay to go there at night or if a certain place was safe to visit alone.
I decided to add sections that I hoped would answer these questions for the reader. Included with every chapter are both a section giving directions to each location and a section describing how to visit it if you were going there with the intention of looking for ghosts. Also, in lieu of a map in every section, I added the address, allowing readers to plug that information into a GPS unit before setting off on their adventures. All this helps make the book accessible to both those people who read ghost books only to get scared in the safety of their own home and those paranormal explorers who want to go out and find these ghosts for themselves.
As we move forward to the Nashville Haunted Handbook, the series has done nothing but progress. There are several appendixes that have been added to the Nashville guide that weren’t included in the Cincinnati book. We’ve invited new authors and experts to help create this book. Donna Marsh is an author from Nashville and the founder of the American Paranormal Society, which is based in middle Tennessee, and Garett Merk is an author and founder of Tri-State Paranormal and Oddities Observation Practitioners, which is based in southwestern Ohio.
This book was incredibly fun to help create, and I was glad to have been a part of it. I was amazed by how eclectic the ghost stories are in Nashville. I learned more than I ever thought possible about both the Civil War and country music. The locations that I had the most fun with, though, were the strange places unique to the area. There is a llama in White Bluff that roams the forests and eats children. There is an antiques store in Lebanon with an electric chair and a “genuine” bigfoot head. A grave in downtown Nashville is made from the actual cliffside where a woman leapt to her death. These stories make the mummy that comes to life and ravages a local museum every once in a while seem almost normal.
I hope that you enjoy reading this book as much as we enjoyed writing it. Go ahead, go out and explore the strange paranormal side of Nashville, Tennessee.
Enjoy!
Jeff
INTRODUCTION
TALES OF GHOSTS AND HAUNTINGS have fascinated me for as long as I can remember. As a child I devoured every book I could find in the local library, staying up late in order to sneak in just one more thrill before bed. However, I craved more as an adult so I became a paranormal investigator. It was the perfect way to indulge my passion for the supernatural.
When I moved to Nashville in 1997, I wasn’t sure if I could continue to indulge my interest or not because there just didn’t seem to be many books or much information about the ghosts of Music City. I joined a local ghost-hunting group and hoped for the best. Nashville didn’t disappoint me.
Dreams produce passion, passion produces energy, and that energy imprints itself on the surrounding area. Nashville is a city of dreams and passions. It was occupied during the Civil War, is the site of the nation’s worst train accident, gave birth to more number-one records than I can count, and so much more. The first white settlers came here with dreams of a new life, and people still do that today—only today’s dreams are quite often of making it big in the music industry.
With such a history is it any wonder that Nashville is a city full of ghosts? From haunted battlefields to spooky honky-tonks to long-forgotten tunnels, Nashville has it all, and I’ve been lucky enough to visit and even investigate some of Music City’s most haunted spots. Now, with the publication of Nashville Haunted Handbook, you can visit some of these sites as well.
Nashville Haunted Handbook gives you not only the history and ghost story for each location but also directions to the site, as well as little hints and tidbits to make your visit a success. All that is asked is that you hunt both safely and respectfully. Remember, it’s not the dead you have to fear but the living, so always practice safe ghost hunting by letting someone know where you’re heading and when you can be expected to return.
Also, hunt respectfully. Your actions reflect on other ghost enthusiasts, so always leave a site better than you found it—clean up a bit, pick up garbage, and treat the site as if it were your very own. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want someone to do to your final resting spot.
But enough of Mom’s lecture. Enjoy this book, enjoy the sites, and please let us know if you find any evidence of ghostly activity. We’d love to hear about it. Contact us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nashville.haunted.handbook.
Happy Hunting!
Donna
