Karen Stollznow - Haunting America

Haunting America

Karen Stollznow

Acknowledgements

My sincere thanks goes to Matthew Baxter, Bryan Bonner, Rick Duffy, and Stu Hayes for their invaluable research assistance and dedication to helping me get to the bottom of these legends. These fellow investigators love mysteries as much as I do, but we all love solving them even more. I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Matthew Baxter and Nikolas Kovacevic for accompanying me on various investigations and assisting in my fieldwork. I would also like to express gratitude to Gary Goldberg, Chris Hobart, Sheldon Helms, Tana Owens, Stanley Rose, and Lisa Townley for their advice and feedback. Thanks to D.J. Grothe for initiating this project, and to the James Randi Educational Foundation for giving a home to Haunting America.

Table of Contents

Foreword

by James Randi

In this excellent selection from the myriad of myths, swindles, frauds, theories and just plain dumb ideas that our species has managed to conjure up, author Karen Stollznow has given us eight chapters that give a good idea of the variety of nonsense that has kept the public laying down money to learn totally useless and even damaging data that isadmittedlyrather attractive and sort of fun.

Briefly, Ill give you an acidic summary of the case of Coral Castle, which is quickly seen to be about a structure that is both not a castle, nor made of coral The very strange builder, Ed Leedskalnin, is said to have used paranormal powers to construct the various parts of this weird assemblage, since he did it all alone, mostly while concealed from sight, and was a truly little guy100 poundswho very much stayed to himself. The fact is that there wasnt much of a mystery to be found here, though promotersand the eventual inheritors of the noveltyreached far to sell the impossibility of the legend.

For one thing, Ed left behind all the tools that hed used, and any self-respecting Boy Scout can figure out how the jobthough strenuouswas accomplished, given that time was not a factor in the project. Ed had no deadline to meet. With basic knowledge of the laws of leverage, and with the aid of simple tools such as block & tackle, cables, chisels, cylindrical rollers, jacks, levers, sledges, slings, and wedges, all of what Ed produced could be made, although with considerable labor

That sort of simple, basic, investigative work and reasoning is the basis of the truth to be found in Haunting America, so well expressed and explained here by Ms. Stollznow.

Introduction: Legends that Haunt America

America is more haunted than ever before. In recent decades, paranormal television has popularized places that are believed to be haunted. Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, Most Haunted, Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, and many more shows have promoted numerous locations as haunted, and have crafted a steady stream of new legends along the way. They have also created a demand for more hauntings, and have spawned many nouveau haunted places to feed the reality TV beast. The psychologist Robert A. Baker (1921-2005) used to say, There are no haunted places, only haunted people. For some of these people, the historical seems to equal haunted. Today, every historic restaurant, theater, and hotel appears to have resident ghosts, especially if the place has a big mortgage. There is profit in the paranormal. This is the business of haunting, and the most haunted is often the most marketed.

However, some locations have long-held reputations of being strange or haunted. Haunting America visits some of these classic places that haunt America. Alcatraz prison was closed decades ago, although it is believed that some ghostly prisoners never left the island. The Lemp Mansion was the home of the beer baron family thought to be the victims of a curse that drove several members to commit suicide. The Myrtles Plantation is said to be the site of ten murders and at least twelve ghosts. Waverly Hills Sanatorium was a tuberculosis hospital during the epidemic of the twentieth century, and is reportedly the most haunted place in the country. All of these places fight for the title of most haunted in America.

These are legendary, must-see places, and people make pilgrimages to these supernatural shrines from all over the country. They also travel from around the globe; I traveled from Australia to visit them. In what is known as legend tripping, intrepid travelers try to recreate the fabled phenomena. They drive to the San Antonio railroad tracks to see if the tiny hands of ghostly children will push their car across the railroad crossing to safety. They visit The Myrtles Plantation hoping to capture a photo of the spirit woman and children trapped in the mirror. They camp overnight among the tombstones at Silver Cliff Cemetery to catch a glimpse of the dancing blue lights. They scour Coral Castle looking for hidden codes and the secrets of the universe. They trek through the body chute at Waverly Hills to follow the final path taken by thousands of corpses that were wheeled down the tunnel. People go to these sites because they are famous, as much as they visit them because they are believed to be haunted.

Legend tripping is exciting but it can be a dangerous pastime too. It is risky to play on railroad tracks that are still in use, or to hunt for paranormal activity in a dark building that is falling to pieces. The intention of this book is not to take the fun out of the haunted, because who doesnt love a good ghost story? HauntingAmerica recounts the popular legends of these places, which are prefaced with the caveats, It is said and, According to legend. There are tales of haunted paintings, ghostly animals, poltergeists, and phantom piano playing. We find out about Timmy, the ghost of a little boy who likes to play ball with the living, the specter of a slave woman named Chloe who wears a turban to hide her missing ear, and the perverted spirit of Billy who spies on women in the restroom. We hear about Ed Leedskalnin who dedicated his whole life to erecting a castle for his Sweet Sixteen, and the story of Sarah Winchester who spent her lifetime building a mansion for the spirits of people who died at the hands of the Winchester rifle.

However, theres a difference between enjoying these stories and believing in them. To believe in the ghosts we need proof. Paranormal television has shaped the publics ideas about what a ghost is, how to find them, and what constitutes evidence. Unlike these shows, the investigations in this book dont rely on Electromagnetic Field readers, Geiger counters, thermal imaging cameras, or K2 meters. They dont involve the analysis of orb photos or recordings of Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVPs), which are believed to be voices of the dead. Instead of searching for phenomena, this book examines the specific claims and looks for possible natural explanations before resorting to paranormal ones.

This type of historical research and investigation involves visits to libraries, sifting through archives, examining primary documents and consulting other reliable sources. Fieldwork is important too, and each case includes a road trip to the premises, where I attend tours, speak with informants, and conduct hands-on investigations. I explore the folklore and the plausibility of these stories when taking into consideration the historical events. The more you research these stories, the less haunted they become. Sometimes, history can actually solve the case, or reveal that there isnt one

The real history is more interesting than vague reports of weird feelings, or yet another account of phantom footsteps. These stories encompass major events and themes in Americas history, including wars, slavery, immigration, mining booms and busts, crime and punishment, prohibition, and national disasters. They include famous people, such as Al Capone, the Birdman of Alcatraz, Harry Houdini, and Theodore Roosevelt. The human condition underpins these stories; success and accomplishment, love, revenge, tragedy, disease and death. It is easy to forget that there are real people behind the haunted stories. Unfortunately, when legend transforms the dead into ghosts it often turns them into caricatures.