Titles in the America’s Haunted Road Trip Series:
Ghosthunting Florida
Ghosthunting Kentucky
Ghosthunting Illinois
Ghosthunting Maryland
Ghosthunting New Jersey
Ghosthunting New York City
Ghosthunting North Carolina
Ghosthunting Ohio
Ghosthunting Ohio: On the Road Again
Ghosthunting Pennsylvania
Ghosthunting Southern New England
Ghosthunting Texas
Cincinnati Haunted Handbook
Haunted Hoosier Trails
More Haunted Hoosier Trails
Nashville Haunted Handbook
Spooked in Seattle
Ghosthunting Virginia
COPYRIGHT © 2008 by Michael J. Varhola
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any fashion, print, facsimile, or electronic, or by any method yet to be developed, without the express permission of the copyright holder.
Published by Clerisy Press
Distributed by Publishers Group West
Printed in the United States of America
First edition, second printing 2011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Varhola, Michael J., 1966–
Ghosthunting Virginia / by Michael J. Varhola. – 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-1-57860-327-5
ISBN-10: 1-57860-327-7
1. Ghosts–Virginia. 2. Haunted places–Virginia. I. Title.
BF1472.U6V37 2008
133.109755–dc22
2008034998
Editor: John Kachuba
Cover design: Scott McGrew
Cover and interior photos provided by Michael J. Varhola
Clerisy Press
P.O. Box 8874
Cincinnati, OH 45208-0874
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Welcome to America’s Haunted Road Trip
CHAPTER 1 Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington)
Many locations at this burial ground for America’s military personnel are said to be haunted by the spirits of those who have fallen over the past two centuries in the service of their nation.
CHAPTER 2 Bunny Man Bridge (Fairfax Station)
This site is reputed to be linked to a serial killer, whose spirit is said to make itself known if Bunny Man is uttered three times. Bunny Man Bridge has also influenced scenes in at least one movie and one video game.
CHAPTER 3 Gadsby’s Tavern (Alexandria)
A beautiful young woman who died at this historic tavern nearly two hundred years ago is sometimes still seen there, as are strange occurrences like lanterns that glow without being lit.
CHAPTER 4 Manassas National Battlefield Park (Prince William County)
Site of the first major battle of the Civil War, ghosts of fallen soldiers have long been seen roaming the fields where they fell during the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history.
CHAPTER 5 Historic Occoquan (Occoquan)
This charming waterfront village is reportedly home to a number of ghosts, including a murdered Indian who haunts a restaurant and whose likeness has been seen in the restaurant’s chimney smoke as well as in the mirror of the ladies’ restroom.
CHAPTER 6 Rippon Lodge (Woodbridge)
The oldest house still standing in Prince William County, this tragic lodge was the scene of more than one murder, and spirits who should have moved on to another world, are said to linger there.
CHAPTER 7 Weems-Botts Museum (Dumfries)
Originally the home of Mason Locke Weems, who fabricated the story of George Washington and the cherry tree, this site is now a museum and is said to be haunted by the ghosts of two sisters who both lived their lives in misery there.
CHAPTER 8 Berry Hill Road (Pittsylvania County)
Creepy under ideal conditions, this seven-and-a-half mile stretch of road and the surrounding areas are home to ghosts, abandoned farmsteads, blighted woodlands, gravitational anomalies, and “Satan’s Bridge.”
CHAPTER 9 Civil War Hospital Museum Exchange Hotel (Gordonsville)
Once a hotel that served as a battlefield hospital during the Civil War, this site is now a museum that is said to house the spirits of soldiers who died from their wounds during the bloody conflict.
