Mackinac Bridge

Mackinac Bridge
Mackinac Bridge, taken from the ferry on the way to Mackinac Island.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Creepy Ohio Books

I often like to visit places that have a history, or that may be a little Creepy. There are a lot of good general books on strangeness in Ohio.
Chris Woodyard's extensive Haunted Ohio series covers the better known locations, and the other ones too. I think it is up to 6 volumes. It is ALL here. If you plan on spending a lot of time in the state, and you like ghosts, go ahead and pop for all of them.
John Kachuba has a really interesting book out called Ghosthunting Ohio. This is a great book too. John seems to be around the Cincinnati area a lot so its not hard to track him down to discuss his book or things ghostly. I read this book not long ago, and I might try to put a review up.
I have bumped in to 2 of the authors of the cool "Weird Ohio" book. This book has lots of info, and lots of pictures. I like this series. I met one author James Willis at an under promoted book signing in Indianapolis. He is another fun guy that knows his stuff. He could talk weirdness all day long. Willis is always out ghost hunting, or looking for the unusual. I met his co-author, the legendary Loren Coleman (cryptomundo.com) here in Kentucky last year. he might be about the last serious person still looking for Bigfoot. He is keeping it scientific though, and in many cases he is very sceptical. If either of these guys contributes to a book, its worth a look through. Weird Ohio comes score points for having both of them credited.
Craig Cartography's Hidden Ohio map is painfully informative! As far as volume goes, the map might be as informative as Woodyard's series. I hope this MAP gets re released in some type of book form. Because it is a HUGE map, it is difficult to use. It's worth its price though because of the volume and accuracy of the information. Most Half Price Book Stores in Ohio seem to be well stocked with this map. Pick one up before other people start to realize how great this resource is for the traveler who appreciates hidden attractions.
Southwest Ohio is Haunted is another fun read written by the guys who do the Miamitown ghost walk. Sadly, on their web site, it says that this book is no longer available. Fortunately, the last time I talked to them they talked about a new version coming out. Miamitown Ghosttours do their research. The book talks about local legends, and they research the legends. The book was put out independently, and it does have some editing flaws, but their writing style alone is worth the price. The stories are more specific than most. They give locations, details about the legends in the area, and when possible, they try to figure out from where the legends originated.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I am one of the guys from Miamitown Ghost Tours and one of the authors of "Southwest Ohio Is Haunted". I wanted to just stop in to let you and everyone else know the book is no longer being sold because of the new version being released June 8, 2009 (published through Acradia Publishing). It is titled "Haunted Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio" and is currently available for preorder at borders.com, amazon.com, bn.com and other national online book retailers.
And BTW, thank you for all your kind words. We love to know that people truely enjoy what we love so much. Thank you!

jimerado said...

Thanks Michael, great to hear from you! I am also glad to see that the new version is coming out!!
The thing I appreciate most about the book is that it is so specific. I can actually go and check on most of the reports myself. Some recent books about hauntings are very vague about locations and details.
I just checked your web site too, and it notes that tours run year round. That is great!
At $10 a pop, this is a great value too. You guys are obviously doing this because you enjoy it. I mentioned in my 3/10 entry here that my friends and I were really creeped out by the tour!
http://www.miamitownghosttours.com/

Michael said...

It is definately because we love it. It is $10 a pop but there is a coupon on our site that then makes it $8! If we wanted money we could change stuff to make the money, but we do this as a hobby more than a job. Thank you again for the praises. Did you happen to get any cool pictures on the tour where you and your friend saw something? We never get pictures from our visitors and we need some good ones.

jimerado said...

Hey Michael, I do have some photos on a disk that I cannot find at the moment. I will try to get them to you, and I will try to write something up about our adventure on your ghost tour.

Miamitown Ghost Tours said...

I don't know if you saw but we are having a huge event on the 13th of June in Miamitown! Our book is being released by the big publishing house (Arcadia) on June 8th and on the 13th at the Miami Historical Society of Whitewater Township (Miamitown Town hall) we are holding a book signing with a big tour following. We will have CAPER joining us for the tour as well. Reservation required for the tour!