Titles in the Americas
Haunted Road Trip Series
Ghosthunting Colorado
Ghosthunting Florida
Ghosthunting Kentucky
Ghosthunting Illinois
Ghosthunting Maryland
Ghosthunting Michigan
Ghosthunting New Jersey
Ghosthunting New York City
Ghosthunting North Carolina
Ghosthunting Ohio
Ghosthunting Ohio: On the Road Again
Ghosthunting Oregon
Ghosthunting Pennsylvania
Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country
Ghosthunting Southern California
Ghosthunting Southern New England
Ghosthunting Texas
Ghosthunting Virginia
Chicago Haunted Handbook
Cincinnati Haunted Handbook
Haunted Hoosier Trails
More Haunted Hoosier Trails
Nashville Haunted Handbook
Spooked in Seattle
Twin Cities Haunted Handbook
T ABLE OF C ONTENTS
Acknowledgments
T HIS WAS MY FIRST TIME EVER WRITING A BOOK , and like any great project, I learned that it takes a village to get things done. To the following I send my warmest thanks.
My first set of thanks goes to Michael O. Varhola, who decided I was a good candidate to write this book, and then constantly pushed me to get it done. I feel lucky every day to have been selected to be a part of the Americas Haunted Road Trip series, and he was instrumental in making that happen.
The Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society has been ghosthunting in Colorado for nearly two decades, which made them a wealth of information when searching for locations that may (or may not be) truly haunted. My thanks to them for letting me join in on a ghost tour of Capitol Hill, because even after two years of living there I had no idea that I was living across the street from the supposed most haunted buildings in Denver. In particular, Bryan Bonner let me pick his brain about locations, but also about what it means to be a ghosthunter.
To finish a book, you must have someone to publish it. Thanks to the staff at Clerisy Press for making this book happen. In particular I would like to thank Tim W. Jackson and Liliane Opsomer, who worked with me.
To the friends and family who acted as the first readers (and makeshift editors), I appreciate all the help and time you were willing to give. My mother, Janelle Pedigo, gave feedback on every chapter, and is as much in the book as I am. To the friends and family who supported me by preordering the book on Amazon months before it was set to be published, you have my eternal gratitude.
To my parents, both biological and not, thank you for pushing me toward a career that I love. To William Ryan for teaching me the joy of writing simply for the love of it. To Nicole Lamb for showing me that cooking and sharing a glass of wine is an excellent way to de-stress, and to Jeff Lamb for always being the logical one. It doesnt sound like a compliment, but it means more to me than you will ever know.
Finally to William Fitzhugh for always being there to push me to get things finished, and for teaching me that hard work and dedication almost always pays off.
To anyone who I may have forgotten, I truly apologize and send my sincere thanks to you as well.
Welcome to Americas Haunted Road Trip
B Y VIRTUE OF THE FACT THAT YOU ARE READING THIS , there is a pretty good chance you believe in ghosts, or are at least open to the idea that something referred to as such might be real. If so, you are in pretty good company, as surveys over the years tend to generally show that more than half of all Americans believe in them and other supernatural phenomena. Some 61% of participants in a September 2013 Huffington Post poll, in fact, indicated that they believe some people have experienced ghosts (those overall numbers skew up by as much as 8% and down by as much as 16% based on factors that include gender, age, political affiliation, race, education, and geographical region).
Paranormal phenomena you or those you know might have experienced can vary widely, from the subtle to the profound and the comforting to the disturbing. Many people not seeking supernatural experiences have felt the presence or touch of recently departed loved ones, for example, or have even seen them, often just once, as if in final farewell. Others have at various points, and perhaps in places reputed to be haunted, experienced things like disembodied footsteps, inexplicable cold spots, or sounds with no discernible source, such as someone calling their name.
Those who are psychically sensitive, are exposed to extremely haunted sites, or actively engage in paranormal investigations of various sortsincluding what have been widely referred to for some years now as ghosthuntsmight experience any number of other things as well. These can include anomalies not audible to the unaided ear or visible to the naked eye that are captured in recordings or photographs, such as electronic voice phenomena (EVP) in the former and orbs, mists, or even coveted full-frontal apparitions in the latter.
Our intent with the Americas Haunted Road Trip series is to provide readers with resources they can use to personally discover and explore publicly accessible places that might be occupied by ghosts or the sites of other paranormal activity. We are not in the business of trying to prove that any particular place is or is not haunted; every single one of the places that appears in Ghosthunting Colorado certainly could be, and we believe that a number of them definitely are. The purpose of this volume and the others in the series is, rather, to tell everyone from the casual historical traveler to the hard-core ghosthunter about places of potential interest and to provide actionable, concrete information about how to visit those places.
As noted, all of the places covered in this book and the other volumes of the Americas Haunted Road Trip series are, to a lesser or greater extent, publicly accessible; there is simply no point in creating a travel guide to places people cannot easily visit. Places we cover in our guidebooks therefore include appropriate bridges; churches and other places of worship; cemeteries and graveyards; colleges and universities; government buildings; historic sites; hotels; museums; neighborhoods/districts of towns or cities; parks; restaurants and bars; roads and highways; railroads; shopping areas and malls; sports stadiums; and theaters.
Places we do not cover in our guidebooks or encourage people to visit generally include elementary, middle, or high schools; hospitals; assisted-living facilities; private homes and residential apartment buildings; private property; or prohibited areas like abandoned mental institutions or condemned buildings. It also bears mentioning that all potentially haunted places, their intersection with the otherworld notwithstanding, are still subject to all the hazards of the real world. So, show due respect to other good people and watch out for bad ones, do not violate local laws, be prepared for environmental hazards, and, in keeping with the mantra of urban exploration, take nothing but photographs; leave nothing but footprints.
Beyond that, we hope this book and the others in the series will be useful to you and that you have an enjoyable, informative, and fulfilling journey on your own haunted road trip.
Michael O. Varhola
Editor, Americas Haunted Road Trip
Introduction
Jack stood in the dining room just outside the batwing doors leading into the Colorado Lounge, his head cocked, listening. He was smiling faintly. Around him, he could hear the Overlook Hotel coming to life.
Stephen King, The Shining