Missouri Hauntings

Hauntings lurk and spirits linger in the Show Me State Reader, beware! Turn these pages and enter the world of the paranormal, where ghosts and ghouls alike creep just out of sight. Author Troy Taylor shines a light in the dark corners of Missouri and scares those spirits out of hiding in this thrilling collection. From a headless ghost who stalks the aptly named “Murder Rocks”, to a large hairy monster that roams the banks of the Missouri River, there’s no shortage of bone-chilling tales to keep you up at night. It’s even rumored that the devil himself came to St. Louis in 1949, but nobody knows for sure if he ever left. Around the campfire or tucked away on a dark and stormy night, this big book of ghost stories is a hauntingly good read.

Tour the Show-me State to lonely cemeteries, abandoned buildings, and into Bigfoot-infested woods. Tales of the supernatural include a UFO crash and government cover-up, encounters with a mid-Missouri dogman, Bigfoot encounters in Southern Missouri, and the spirits that haunt an abandoned nursing home in Walt Disney's boyhood home. Did Mark Twain dictate a novel through a Ouija board? Does a secret UFO base exist in Jefferson City? Was a Missouri student accosted by black-eyed Kids? Did a Marceline man sleep with an extraterrestrial? Find out in Paranormal Missouri.

According to Columbia ghost lore, the city's dead only dabble with departure. The specter of Broadway legend Maude Adams checks in on classes at Stephens College, while ragtime pioneer John William Boone returns to trail invisible fingers along his grand piano. Some linger from love, like the spirit of the Osage woman who waited for a final walk with the brave she was to marry. Others remain for a reckoning, like the guerrilla stalking Brannock Hall for the Union sniper who shot him down or the murdered child discovered in the plaster of a frontier tavern. From the columns of Mizzou's quad to the region's winding country roads, author Mary Collins Barile explores the restless graves of Columbia's eerie heritage.

Missouri's state capital groans beneath the burden of its haunted heritage, from the shadow people of Native American folklore to Boogie Man Bill, Missouri's wild child. The muddy river waters hide the shifting graves of steamboat crews, like the one that went down with the Montana, and the savage scars of the Civil War still linger on the land. Join Janice Tremeear for the fascinating history behind Jefferson City's most chilling tales, including a visit to the notorious Missouri State Penitentiary, where the vicious festered for 170 years.

Guide to over 135 haunted locations throughout Missouri, and their stories. Includes ghosts in Branson, soldiers at Wilson Creek National Battlefield, a ghost cat at the Pythian Castle in Springfield, famous ghosts of Billy the Kid, ragtime pianist Scott Joplin, outlaws Frank and Jesse James, and much more.

From the mediums of Spiritualism's golden age to the ghost hunters of the modern era, Taylor shines a light on the phantasms and frauds of the past, the first researchers who dared to investigate the unknown, and the stories and events that galvanized the pubic and created the paranormal field that we know today.

"Missouri is a place of great diversity and amazing beauty, stretching from the Mississippi River to the forests and rolling hills of the Ozarks, with caves, rives, and rugged woodland in between. Out of this land comes scores of ghostly tales, from documented haunting to folk stories that have been passed along from one generation to the next."--Page 4 of cover

For southwest Missouri, the Civil War was an unparalleled period of violence, sorrow and anger. As the torches burned the physical landscape, the depredations inflicted were also scorched upon the psyche of the people who lived through fires. Survey Carthage's battlefield for stubborn holdouts or hold vigil at the Kendrick House for innocent bystanders who were swept up into the stratagems of bushwhackers and guerrillas. Meet the Bloody Spikes, Rotten Johnny Reb and scores more figures from the region's past who continue to trouble its present.

“A slim, riveting tome dedicated to the haunts of the Mid-Missouri region . . . [This] book is chock-full of history” (Columbia Daily Tribune). There is some uncertainty about the exact borders of the region that surrounds the Boonslick Trail but little doubt about the palpable and unsettling presence of its history. Stir up Missourians from St. Louis to Jackson County with the mention of ghosts, and after a few minutes of demurring, you will soon have more stories than you can shake a sheet at. Attend to the haunting music of John “Blind” Boone or the otherworldly poetry of Patience Worth. Crouch down in Civil War battlefields, crowded taverns, or the uncomfortable saddle of a headless horse. Wend your way through Missouri’s haunted heart: the Boonslick. Includes photos! “The book covers a broad history of hauntings and unexplained occurrences since 1812. It is peppered with ghost stories that have very human explanations.” —Missourian “Mary Collins Barile gives a history of the area, and mentions that these ghost stories are ones that are unknown to outsiders, yet important to the history of the region.” —St. Louis magazine

Paranormal researcher and psychic medium Margie Kay presents many of the most haunted locations in the city of Independence, Missouri. She and the Quest Investigation Group team investigated these sites over a period of 20 years. In this second edition of Haunted Independence, Missouri Margie discusses cases involving businesses, parks, cemeteries, and houses that are haunted by loved ones, poltergeists, shadow people and even aliens. Be sure to visit Independence sometime - it is very haunted!