Saturday, January 24, 2015

True Ghost Stories From America’s Most Haunted Neighborhood


The best ghost stories always come from neighborhoods with lots of old homes, so it’s no wonder that Louisville, Kentucky, has a record number of hauntings for a US city (Pluckley, England, has the world record.) David Domine starts with the Widmer House, which he bought and lived in, along with a noisy ghost named Lucy. It’s not a horror story; all she does is knock pictures off their hooks, and they pacify her by loudly asking permission and acknowledging that it’s “her” house.

One of the stories, about the “Witches’ Tree,” is obviously a silly rumor based on appearance. The tree in question is extremely ugly, dotted with massive knots that look like heads swirling up in a fire tornado. It’s just the kind of ugliness that makes you think of witches, and that idea is based on stereotyping as well. Witches are usually portrayed as old and ugly, with scratchy voices. If the witches were portrayed as attractive young women, with beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes, then they wouldn’t really be scary, would they?

Some of the ghost stories involve the city’s racist past, such as a gated private block that allegedly had a lynching tree. Others involve orphan homes, hotels, almost all of them located in the city’s well-preserved houses. Regardless of whether or not you’re a fan of ghosts and the paranormal, this book will make you want to visit Louisville on your vacation.

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