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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