Haunted World War Ii

ON HALLOWED AND HAUNTED GROUND Discover the paranormal legacy of the Second World War. In this book, you will encounter dozens of phenomena in the European and Pacific theaters as well as historic locations in the US where the spirits of the dead are unable—or unwilling—to let the past go. The ghost of an admiral gives a tour of the USS Lexington Tourists at Dieppe are haunted by the terrifying sounds of battle A full-body apparition appears at Schofield Barracks Ghost tanks are witnessed patrolling the Russian front Phantom footsteps shock the guards at Hickam Air Force Base Ghostly soldiers knock on doors at Iwo Jima A spirit-sailor keeps eternal watch at Pearl Harbor This book also shares fascinating stories of supernatural warfare. Learn about wizards and witches in England casting spells to hold the Germans at bay; Dion Fortune and the Fraternity of the Inner Light working magic in support of the Allies; and Aleister Crowley waging a psychic campaign to capture high-ranking Nazi, Rudolf Hess. Haunted World War II explores the high strangeness and haunted aftermath of the most devastating clash of nations in living history.

“A riveting tale told through personal accounts and sketches along the way—ultimately, a story of success against great odds. I enjoyed it enormously.” —Tom Brokaw The first book to tell the full story of how a traveling road show of artists wielding imagination, paint, and bravado saved thousands of American lives—now updated with new material. In the summer of 1944, a handpicked group of young GIs—artists, designers, architects, and sound engineers, including such future luminaries as Bill Blass, Ellsworth Kelly, Arthur Singer, Victor Dowd, Art Kane, and Jack Masey—landed in France to conduct a secret mission. From Normandy to the Rhine, the 1,100 men of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, known as the Ghost Army, conjured up phony convoys, phantom divisions, and make-believe headquarters to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American units. Every move they made was top secret, and their story was hushed up for decades after the war's end. Hundreds of color and black-and-white photographs, along with maps, official memos, and letters, accompany Rick Beyer and Elizabeth Sayles’s meticulous research and interviews with many of the soldiers, weaving a compelling narrative of how an unlikely team carried out amazing battlefield deceptions that saved thousands of American lives and helped open the way for the final drive to Germany. The stunning art created between missions also offers a glimpse of life behind the lines during World War II. This updated edition includes: A new afterword by co-author Rick Beyer Never-before-seen additional images The successful campaign to have the unit awarded a Congressional Gold Medal History and WWII enthusiasts will find The Ghost Army of World War II an essential addition to their library.

“A Demon-Haunted Land is absorbing, gripping, and utterly fascinating... Beautifully written, without even a hint of jargon or pretension, it casts a significant and unexpected new light on the early phase of the Federal Republic of Germany’s history. Black’s analysis of the copious, largely unknown archival sources on which the book is based is unfailingly subtle and intelligent.” —Richard J. Evans, The New Republic In the aftermath of World War II, a succession of mass supernatural events swept through war-torn Germany. A messianic faith healer rose to extraordinary fame, prayer groups performed exorcisms, and enormous crowds traveled to witness apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Most strikingly, scores of people accused their neighbors of witchcraft, and found themselves in turn hauled into court on charges of defamation, assault, and even murder. What linked these events, in the wake of an annihilationist war and the Holocaust, was a widespread preoccupation with evil. While many histories emphasize Germany’s rapid transition from genocidal dictatorship to liberal democracy, A Demon-Haunted Land places in full view the toxic mistrust, profound bitterness, and spiritual malaise that unfolded alongside the economic miracle. Drawing on previously unpublished archival materials, acclaimed historian Monica Black argues that the surge of supernatural obsessions stemmed from the unspoken guilt and shame of a nation remarkably silent about what was euphemistically called “the most recent past.” This shadow history irrevocably changes our view of postwar Germany, revealing the country’s fraught emotional life, deep moral disquiet, and the cost of trying to bury a horrific legacy.

Few know the story of the Japanese invasion of Alaska during World War II--until now. GHOSTS IN THE FOG is the first narrative nonfiction book for young adults to tell the riveting story of how the Japanese invaded and occupied the Aleutian Islands in Alaska during World War II. This fascinating little-known piece of American history is told from the point of view of the American civilians who were captured and taken prisoner, along with the American and Japanese soldiers who fought in one of the bloodiest battles of hand-to-hand combat during the war. Complete with more than 80 photographs throughout and first person accounts of this extraordinary event, GHOSTS IN THE FOG is sure to become a must-read for anyone interested in World War II and a perfect tie-in for the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Do places where violent deaths occur somehow absorb the horror, only to conjure up images that haunt the living for generations to come? Many people believe that this can indeed happen; above all, in the context of that manmade phenomenon that reaps so great a toll in so short a time: War. Haunted U.S. Battlefields takes us on a spine-tingling tour of America’s most legendary spectral scenes of human struggle—from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, from the Indian Wars to World War II and beyond. As America’s bloodiest conflict, the Civil War has yielded the greatest number of ghostly sightings. Hence, most of the twenty-five battlefield legends this book relates are from this era—whether the myriad strange spectral happenings associated with Gettysburg, or this war’s lesser known but equally tragic events. Summing up the eerie essence of wartime scenes across America—many of which today host popular ghost tours—Haunted U.S. Battlefields is a must for students of the paranormal, Civil War buffs, and all others interested in a spine-chilling realm of military history that the history books don’t dare tell.

“Highlights the most infamous and spine-tingling haunted places scattered throughout Northwest Indiana” (The Times of Northwest Indiana). In 2014, the story of Gary’s “Demon House” shocked the world, drawing millions into the terrifying tale of a contemporary exorcism. For many residents, however, ghosts are just part of the community. From the haunting of the Jackson Five to the ghost ship Flying Cloud, local legends abound. Ghostly echoes may linger from a fiery 1918 train wreck that claimed the lives of eighty-six circus performers. A young murderess, said to have drowned her children in the Little Calumet River, reportedly haunts the Cline Avenue freeway. And the spirit of Alice Gray, the most famous of myriad recluses, is said to remain in Duneland. Meet these and other eternal inhabitants of “America’s Ghost Town” with author Ursula Bielski. Includes photos!

For decades, the British ocean liner the Queen Mary sailed the seas, first as a luxurious playground for the world's rich and famous, then as transportation for thousands of soldiers who were ready to risk their lives during World War II. Today, the liner serves as a hotel in California, but there may be mysterious ghostly guests still onboard. Readers will learn about the Queen Mary and its phantom passengers, regaling its glory days as a liner to its time as the "Gray Ghost" of World War II. Detailed sidebars and fact boxes provide extra insight into the ship's storied history.

Return once more to haunted Richmond, where no building is safe from supernatural happenings. Visit Stories Comics, which holds more than just comics within its walls. Step back in time at Henricus Historical Park where you'll be welcomed by dead colonists, Civil War soldiers, and other haunts. Discover that not only is the Richmond Vampire out for your blood, but the Werewolf of Henrico waits for you beneath the full moon. It seems that the War Between the States is still being fought between ghostly Confederate and Union soldiers at Cold Harbor, Sailor's Creek, Parker's Battery, and Petersburg Battlefield. All this... plus a sea serpent, a lost city, ghostly cats, Bigfoot, a UFO, and haunted churches, parks, and colleges. So be sure to plan your visit now to a very paranormal Richmond. The dead don't stay dead in this town!

“A remarkable book, from its title and subtitle to its last words . . . A stirring indictment of American sentimentality about war.” —Robert G. Kaiser, The Washington Post In Looking for the Good War, Elizabeth D. Samet reexamines the literature, art, and culture that emerged after World War II, bringing her expertise as a professor of English at West Point to bear on the complexity of the postwar period in national life. She exposes the confusion about American identity that was expressed during and immediately after the war, and the deep national ambivalence toward war, violence, and veterans—all of which were suppressed in subsequent decades by a dangerously sentimental attitude toward the United States’ “exceptional” history and destiny. Samet finds the war's ambivalent legacy in some of its most heavily mythologized figures: the war correspondent epitomized by Ernie Pyle, the character of the erstwhile G.I. turned either cop or criminal in the pulp fiction and feature films of the late 1940s, the disaffected Civil War veteran who looms so large on the screen in the Cold War Western, and the resurgent military hero of the post-Vietnam period. Taken together, these figures reveal key elements of postwar attitudes toward violence, liberty, and nation—attitudes that have shaped domestic and foreign policy and that respond in various ways to various assumptions about national identity and purpose established or affirmed by World War II. As the United States reassesses its roles in Afghanistan and the Middle East, the time has come to rethink our national mythology: the way that World War II shaped our sense of national destiny, our beliefs about the use of American military force throughout the world, and our inability to accept the realities of the twenty-first century’s decades of devastating conflict.

Visit some of the spookiest houses around the world. Prepare to be scared as you visit haunted mansions and ghostly residence.