Author Book Signing of Ghost Books at Barnes and Noble Saturday

It's October, and with Halloween at the end of the month. A good time to read ghost stories and urban legends. Not just for Halloween, but signed, they make great Christmas gifts as Christmas is not far behind October.

I'll be signing copies of all of my nonfiction ghost books at the Barnes and Noble at Chesterfield Town Center this Saturday, October 13, 2018, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. That's Haunted Richmond, Haunted Richmond II, Haunted Virginia: Legends, Myths, and True Tales, Virginia's Haunted Historic Triangle: Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown, and Other Haunted Locations, and Paranormal Petersburg, Virginia, and the Tri-Cities Area. 

So come by and get a book, and there'll be chocolate too in my shadow person candy dish!

Barnes and Noble,
11500 Midlothian Turnpike
Richmond, Virginia 23235
Bookstore Phone: 804-794-6640

Supernatural Friday: Do Ghosts Get Clean Sheets While Haunting a Hotel? (Haunted Biltmore Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island)

From February 28^th through March 4^th a couple of weeks ago, I got to stay in what is considered one of the most haunted hotels for a horror writers convention. That’s the Biltmore Hotel at 11 Dorrance Street in Providence, Rhode Island (Lovecraft Country). That I had a couple of experiences, paranormal activity wise, just added to my enjoyment.

The first one happened Wednesday night, I brought my flashlight that can change from white LED to green LED to red laser dot, I set it to the green light, and used it when I needed to go to the bathroom. This way, I wouldn’t bother my two roommates and wake them up, or trip in the dark if I didn’t turn on the light. While I was in the restroom, the green light flickered. I peered at it closer, and it began to grow smaller and small, ready to go out. I said, “Really? You’re going to suck the batteries’ life,” shook the flashlight, and it came back on, so I managed to get back to bed, thinking I might have to replace the batteries in it. But the rest of the weekend, it remained strong when switched on. The second thing that happened to me was Friday night. Dead tired after seeing the mini horror films and enjoying the reception afterwards, Dee and I decided to go to bed and not go to the Monster Mashup. Our other roomie, Cat, did go. Dee put her headshot connected to her radio and fell asleep. I didn’t. It was while I lay in bed in the very quiet room, between Dee’s and my bed in the bedroom a loud whistle like someone blowing from their lips sounded in the air. I turned on the light by me and asked Dee if that was her, but she just snored lightly only. The next day she said maybe her radio, but I did as best as I could an imitation pf the whistle and she said, “No, it doesn’t do that.” I wondered why the whistle, but again who knows why? I also admit earlier on Friday night, when Dee and Cat went down to outside for Dee to smoke, I was alone and suddenly felt I was not alone. I just kept my eyes closed and finally the roomies returned.

I do know my streaming laptop wouldn't come up, no matter how long I charged it up. Funny thing, back to normal once home. Was it paranormal. or maybe just the Internet which was sort of wonky (not paranormal) or even the electricity? I'd brought my ghost box which wouldn't come up at all, but it was okay once home. But my EMF meter came on. Who knows why for all that.  Our room was 830.

Strange, but with possible explanations were the elevators stopping and opening and no one on the floor (these were the floors with rooms only). Some people mentioning odd noises in the hallways and no one else out there, or in their rooms.

I did used my pendulum Saturday afternoon since my ghost box didn’t come on. It said yes to being female, there since the 20s, and causing my light to start dying, plus my laptop. Still rather have done my ghost box, but maybe it did answer me with the pendulum.  

It would have been interesting to find out of HP Lovecraft has ever stepped into the hotel, or if his spirit has been seen there. After all, Providence was his stomping grounds and he would have been alive when it first was built and people stayed there.

History of the Biltmore

The Providence Biltmore Hotel is a historic landmark built in 1922. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Today, there are about 300 rooms and 2 ballrooms. It has 18 floors.

"Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye" was all the rage when 12-hundred guests gathered at the hotel for an opening night ball on June 6, 1922. The brick edifice was brilliantly lit and decorated with sprays of roses and carnations, the Providence News reported. Guests gorged themselves on a ten-course meal that included two seafood and two meat dishes. Then-Providence Mayor Joseph Gainer said the lack of a modern hotel had been holding the city back.

The hotel went on to fulfill its promise, becoming a social gathering point for Rhode Islanders and a destination for a host of celebrities, including President John Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, actress Audrey Hepburn, boxer Rocky Marciano and a young senator named Joe Biden. Even the dance floor was once converted into a swimming pool for Esther Williams and a skating rink for Sonja Henie. In the early years, the chef grew vegetables and raised roosting hens on the roof of the hotel so that celebrities like Benny Goodman could have fresh eggs. (Ah, here are those ‘chickens’ people claimed raised for Satanists I will mention later in this post.).

The hotel has also had its share of hard times. During the 1938 hurricane water filled the first floor. Hurricane Carol inundated it again in 1954.

By 1975 the Biltmore closed after its owner was unable to make a gas payment. Of course, it reopened, otherwise, Stokercon 2018 wouldn’t have been held there earlier this month. There are articles online that it was sold in October 2017 and will be part of a hotel chain in 2019.

There’s the glass elevator tacked onto the front of the Biltmore in the 1970's. It hasn't worked in years. They even have a cute sign attached to it that I took a picture.

The Ghosts and the Legends

There is supposedly a local legend suggests that hotel ran as a satanic paradise complete with animal sacrifices, murders, and so much more. That chickens were raised on the roof to become sacrifices for these Satanic ceremonies.  Others say that the hotel housed vibrant parties run by the mob during prohibition (which Rhode Island rebelled against). During these parties it is believed that many murders occurred filling the hotel with ghosts of those slain inside. Now, these I take with a grain of salt, as didn’t find that on ghost books of Rhode Island, and the chapters on Biltmore do not mention this.

One of the main ghosts to occupy the hotel is a financier who lost all of his money in the Depression in 1929.  He was staying in a room on the 14th floor when he received the news that he was effectively broke and was so overwhelmed by it that he threw himself out of the window.  His ghost doesn’t just haunt the room in which he was staying but seems to enjoy wandering through all the rooms he passed during his fall.  Guests staying in these rooms have reported seeing someone fall past the window but never a body on the street when they rush over to look.

Other ghosts are believed to be the spirits of those murdered in the hotel during the 1920s and 1930s.  Raucous parties are heard as well as laughter and people are seen dancing – none of whom are present.

A former event planner at the Biltmore tells "intuitive medium" Pam Patalano who relays the story to NBC 10's R.J. Heim that she saw ghosts dancing in the empty ballroom during the middle of the night on numerous occasions.

The Director of Marketing at the Biltmore, Pamela Baldwin, says some guests have told her that they have seen, heard and felt things during their visits, although she hasn’t had any first-hand experiences.

If you search "paranormal activity at the Biltmore" online, you will find plenty of stories. Pam Patalano says, “25% would be accurate and real. The rest would be just fake, or you could debunk it, or chalk it up to something else.” But it's that 25% she finds fascinating.

Another story I found concerned a guest who stayed at this hotel. Her partner and she were asleep when the woman woke to something like a dog, walking back and forth on her pillow. She tried to wake her partner who was in a deep sleep. The next morning, the partner admitted to having the same thing that happened, but afraid to say anything. Another story is about the 3rd floor of the Biltmore Hotel that has claims by guests is that it is haunted by the sounds of children at play.

And after checking out the cool architecture of Providence, Rhode Island, check out the other ghostly hauntings and legends of this spooky state in New England.

Thirteen Spooky Rhode Island Hauntings and Legends

1) Drink At Your Own Risk: Legend has it if you drink from the fountain outside the Providence Athenaeum you may leave Rhode Island but are guaranteed to always return. Since the fountain is from 1873, it is not in the best condition and we recommend you don't test this legend out or you may never return to life itself. 

Also, look out for Edgar Allen Poe's ghost at the Athenaeum, as many locals claim he still visits there.

2) Rhody's Most Famous Vampire: Exeter resident, Mercy Brown who died of tuberculosis in the 1890s was said to be a vampire because her body (allegedly) never decomposed and her hair and nails (reputedly) never stopped growing.

3) A Bewitching Drive: The Witch Tree located in the middle of the intersection of Log and Mann School Roads is said to be named after a witch that lived down the road. Many residents claim if you drive around the tree three times and head in a certain direction you will be followed by a phantom; no chance it's a cop.

4) Campus Hauntings: With four major colleges in Providence, there is no doubt there are some eerie places around the campuses. Brown's University Hall, RISD's Homer Hall, Providence College's Aquinas Hall, Johnson & Wales' Xavier Hall and URI fraternity house Lambda Chi Alpha are all rumored to be haunted.

5) The Scariest House Ever: Harrisville is home to the real farmhouse that inspired the recent hit film The Conjuring. The Perron family experienced some unnerving events that resulted in them moving out. The home is now occupied by folks who claim they have experienced the spook but not to the same extent.

6) The Haunting of Sprague Mansion: After a chilling murder took place at the Sprague Mansion in Cranston, paranormal acitvitiy such as lights flickering, cold gusts and phantom foot-steps have been reported more than once.

7) The Old Abandoned Mental Hospital Trick: The Ladd School in Exeter, an abandoned mental rehabilitation hospital with a not so pleasant past has locals and curious trespassers claiming they have heard disembodied moaning, crying and whispering. Ghosts and glowing orbs have been reported to wander the grounds. It was torn down in 2013, leaving Rhode Island without the haunted abandoned mental hospital that is required by New England's by-laws.

8) Watch Out for Children: Tower Hill Road in Cumberland is said to be a paranormal hot spot. Total strangers have reported the same sightings of a ghost boy and his dog, a little girl who lingers in the same spot and a toddler ghost on a tricycle.

9) Hello, Dolly: Foster is where Dolly Cole, an alleged witch, vampire and murdered prostitute haunts the dense forests where she was killed. Those who say they have encountered her ghost can barely speak of the experience.

10) Uninvited Guests at the Biltmore: In 2000, the Biltmore in Providence was named "America's Most Haunted Hotel" for good reason. With stories of murders, ghost encounters and visitors disappearing forever, this place will definitely have you shaking in your boots. (Which I blogged about in this article.)

11) The Devil Went Down to South County: Devil's Foot Rock in North Kingstown is said to be a spot that Satan himself visited as he was leaping around New England. He met a bride in Little Rhody whom he tried to bring back to his fiery abyss. During this process his hot hooves were imprinted into the granite.

12) The Mysterious Rune: The legend of the Narragansett Rune Stone is that it has a medieval inscription on it that only appears for 20 minutes each day at low tide. Real or hoax?

13) Make Yourself (Un)Comfortable: In the woods of Narragansett you will find the Witches' Altar and Druids Chair, a mysterious circle of stones around an altar-like stone. The druids chair is a curved stone placed off to the side of the circle. Use your imagination to come up with what could go on there.

BONUS: Even though the Red Headed Hitch Hiker of Route 44 is a legend of nearby Rehoboth, MA, we thought he was worthy of mentioning. Creepy stories have been told of the hitch hiker having a distorted face, bugged out eyes and creepy giggles.

Supernatural Friday: Pets Can Come Back Too...Sometimes, Most Times, Okay, Definitely!

Why should humans be the only ones entitled to an after life existance? Not only are there human spirits, but phantom animals have been seen for centuries. Besides wraiths of the family pet who passed away there are legends of the Black Dog, Pookas, animals that predict a family's deaths (such as the black bird did for the Cox family of Cloverhill Plantation in Chesterfield, Virginia, phantom panthers and big cats, and others.

Apparitions of the infamous Black Dog has been seen not only in British Isles, but many other places in the world. They may be distinguished from normal flesh and blood black canines by features such as large or glowing eyes—sometimes only one—their ability to appear or disappear out of thin air or into and out of the ground, no head, two heads; or the ability to change their size or appearance. Though sometimes these ghostly hounds aren't always just black, but seen as white or brown beasts.

The Black Dogs go under many names depending which county you are in. In the north of England in counties such as Yorkshire and Lancashire, you will hear names such as Guytrash, Shriker, or Barguest; in East Anglia and Norfolk you will hear Black Shuck, Skeff, or Moddey Dhoo; and in the south of England you will hear names like Yeth or Wish Hounds. The origin of the word Guytrash is unknown, but Shuck can be traced back to the Old English Scucca, meaning Demon while Barguest may come from the German 'Bargeist' meaning “spirit of the (funeral) bier.” The demon association is sometimes emphasized by the title ‘’Devil Dog.” In the south, Yeth means Heath, while Wish, in a similar vein, is an old Sussex word for marsh. This name for the hounds is widely used in Sussex, but the origin also seems linked to the term Witch Hounds, which is also common. Whether there is any connection between the two is unknown. The names may only be referring to the fact that these dogs are often seen in wild country places. In many places, the dogs are seen as omens of death. To see one means either a portent of your own death or the death of a family member.

You don’t have to go to the British Isles to see one. There have been some of these beasts reported in Virginia. There’s a legend of one that has been seen in Goochland, big as a young calf as it roamed the county. Sightings of it have always been reported to be near the State Farm, at the entrance to Thorncliff, and also at Chestnut Hill Bottom. Unlike Black Shuck in England, this one has never portended the death of anyone. There have been no tales of this animal seen since 1900 though.

Often, like the traditional Black Dogs seen in Britain, it would appear out of nowhere, trot alongside someone on foot or horseback or in a buggy. Even though it looked fearsome and was very big, it didn’t harm anyone. Some, though, didn’t want the dog accompanying them and would shoot at the animal. The bullets would just pass through its body, frightening the shooters, while the dog just kept trotting beside them. You can read more of the Virginian Black Dogs in my book, Haunted Virginia: Legends, Myths, and True Tales at various places, including AMAZON .

Apparitions of pets have been seen, plus a favorite toy seen rolling or moving as if a paw or nose still prodding it, and there has also been recorded of the feeling of something rubbing against legs or the push of a cold nose into a person's hand. Even sounds have been heard--either out loud or on EVPs from a recorder. I myself have gotten the meowing of a cat, once at Ferry Plantation during an investigation, and this past August 2011 at the Byrd Theater. A ghost cat has been seen and heard at Ferry; the ghost cat at the Byrd was more of a surprise to me.

Speaking of dog or cat spirits seen and heard, other animals' specters have been, too. Like horses. There is a story I read that concerned a child, who when her parents moved to Germany at the air base would keep avoiding an spot in the corridor of their home. She told her mother  that there was a horse in the middle of it. The mother looked up and found that the block of flats that their flat was in a military stable stood in the same area during World War II.

 

Another ghostly beastie seen was an ape at  Athelhampton Hall in Dorset, England. The place had been built by Sir William Martyn in 1485. Tyhe family's crest had an ape sitting on a tree stump and beneath that was the motto: "He who looks at Martyn's ape, Martyn's ape will look at him." Really owning this ape, it had the run of the hall. When one of Martyn's daughters had been spurned by her lover, she went to commit suicide in a room, locking herself in. Unfortunately for the animal, it followed her into the room and was locked in, too. It was found lying by her side, starved to death. This ghost ape is said to be heard scratching behind the walls.

In Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, lays the tomb of famous author, Ellen Glasgow. After she passed away, it was discovered in her will a stipulation that her two pet dogs that preceded her in death be dug up from the backyard of her home and buried with her. There are those who claim to hear these two dogs running around and whining at the gravesite, late at night. Could Ellen be tossing them sticks to fetch?

 

Also in Hollywood is another dog legend, concerning one made of iron. It stands almost in the shadow of the pyramid. It came originally from the front of a store on Broad Street in the 19^thcentury. A little girl would always come by and pet it, talking to it and showing her love for it as if it were a real dog. But one day she never came back. She had perished in an epidemic in 1892 and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery. Because of her affection for the cast iron dog though, it was placed at her grave site. Eerily, it stands there to this very day, as if guarding her. There have been those who say that it moves occasionally, that they would pass it pointing in one direction and come back, to find it staring the opposite way.

On moonlit nights, rider less horses are heard, galloping around the Federal-style country house, Reveille in Richmond.Located on West Cary Street in Richmond’s West End is used now as administrative offices for the Reveille United Methodist Church since it was bought in 1951.  In Old House Woods in Mathews County, ghosts of horses and cows appear and disappear before people's eyes while two black headless dogs have been seen running through the woods.

 

Last is two ghostly animals tales set in the Great Dismal swamp in Chesapeake, Virginia. Both involve ghost deer.

 

There is another local Indian tale told that is set in the Great Dismal Swamp of the Tidewater region. It is one of tragic love. There had been an Indian maiden, Wa-Cheagles, who happened to be daughter of the chief of one of two warring tribes in the area. For years she had an interesting relationship with a doe that she called Cin-Co, which meant guiding friend. It was believed that Cin-Co brought deer into the swamp each autumn. The doe would always lead her current fawn up to Wa-Cheagles to show her, at the edge of the forest near a pool of dark brown water. This was the only way for the squaw to meet with the doe as squaws were not allowed into the forest because the tribes believed this to be an evil omen. 

One year, Cin-Co appeared alone, limping. She walked back into the forest, doing it two to three times, until Wa-Cheagles overcame her fear and followed her. The doe lead her to her fawn that had a hoof firmly on a barely living rattlesnake. No doubt this reptile had bitten Cin-Co and was the reason for her limp. The doe was telling the Indian maiden she wanted her to care for her fawn, since the doe was dying from the rattlesnake poison. While there, Wa-Cheagles heard a moan and discovered an Indian brave from an enemy tribe with a swollen leg from a rattlesnake bite. If she attended to him, she must pledge herself to him. Both then would be hunted down, to be killed by arrows with tips laced with water moccasin venom.

But she went ahead and helped him, removing her beret and tying it around his leg. Using some snakeroot she found, she applied a poultice over the wound. Ready to leave, she saw that Cin-Co had died and the fawn had vanished. Upset, she went back to her tribe.

For three days, she would sneaked away to tend to the brave. On the third day, her father appeared in the clearing, finding not only her, but the brave too. He carried away Cin-Co’s carcass, giving them enough time to get away.

Wa-Cheagles and her lover stopped at Lake Drummond to rest. Just then three warriors from her tribe confronted them, determined to erase the curse from their tribe.

As the warriors drew back their bows to send their arrows flying, a dark cloud blotted out the sun and a loud rustling noise filled the air. A flock of wild geese flew around Wa-Cheagles and her lover. The geese settled en masse on the lake until not one inch of the water could be seen. Terrified, the braves dropped their bows and arrows and bolted. 

Just then, the “swamp spirit” rose out of the lake and strolled over the backs of the geese, approaching the two lovers. It told them that Cin-Co’s spirit had saved them. That Wa-Cheagles must continue the doe’s good work. The spirit magicked the maiden into a white deer, a small crimson spot on her forehead. Her lover became a charmed hunter. The spirit told them they would roam the swamp’s forest forever, side by side, protected from both animals and hunters by rattlesnakes.

To this day there are hunters and others who say they have seen the white deer and the Indian brave by her side. Whenever a hunter pursues them, a rattlesnake appears on the spot they had been sighted, hissing and rattling its rattle. 

Black Jack the hermit took off in his boat one Christmas Eve, his only companion being his faithful hunting dog. He rowed across Drummond Lake, went down Washington Ditch and landed near White Marsh Road. Both man and dog left the boat to hunt deer for their dinner. 

The Native Americans in the area claimed that white deer were protected by spirits. Jack’s dog flushed out a white buck, the biggest deer Jack had ever seen. The buck froze, and when he fired at it, the bullet pierced its chest. But instead of falling, it bounded away. The dog gave chase, but lost it. Jack began to wonder of the local Indian stories were true then.

Later, the dog found a red buck and this one dropped easily when Jack’s bullet hit it. He loaded the carcass in his boat and rowed for home. When it was almost dark, a blue-green light rose in the sky above the tree tops. Jack thought it was the moon rising, but then it zipped for his boat. It paused above his boat and illuminated the whole lake. Frightened, the hermit began to row faster. 

When he got to his cabin, he dropped the buck and gave an order to his dog to guard the carcass, then went inside to gather the things needed to clean and dress it. He changed his clothes, sharpened his knives and went outside. Both his dog and the deer had vanished! Grabbing a lantern, he searched and found small patches of blood in the snow trailing back to the lake’s edge. Stunned, he stood there, not knowing what to do. 

Just then a moan rent the air. Louder and louder it grew and sounding as if from the middle of the lake. He stared as the same blue-green light rose out of the water and over a giant cypress, covering the tree in its unnatural glow.

When the scream of a wildcat came, he jumped in his boat and raced downstream to the locks. He leaped onto shore and bolted to Captain Crockett’s cottage. It was midnight when he banged on the front door. Black Jack streaked past Crockett when he opened the door. For three hours he sat in the cottage, not speaking, due to both being frozen and the fear he felt. Crockett gave him a mixture of honey, swamp water, and moonshine, and it freed him enough to blurt out his strange story. 

The next morning Jack left, determined to find his dog and the missing deer. That night, Crockett dreamed of a white buck and the mysterious halo of light that surrounded its head. He awoke, knowing it to be a premonition of danger for Jack. So the next morning he traveled to the hermit’s cabin and found the door wide open and the fire out. Jack was not inside. He searched outside and found Jack in a kneeling position in a thicket. The hermit had frozen to death. No other tracks surrounded him, and Crockett saw no signs of a struggle.

It is claimed that since then, on Christmas Eve between midnight and two in the morning that Jack can be heard gibbering about the light and the deer. At break of dawn, his dog and the missing red buck can be seen where he was found. Hunters fire at a white buck, but never hit it. The deer and the dog vanish into the underbrush. 

The white deer that hunters shoot at and never hit could be the Indian maiden, Wa-Cheagles from the Indian myths chapter, except for their claim that it is a buck they saw and Wa-Cheagles became a white doe, protected by her warrior lover. 

Halloween is Coming: Petersburg May Be More Haunted than Williamsburg!

   (The photos are copyrighted and included in my ghost book, Paranormal Petersburg, Virginia, and the Tri-CitiesArea, so please share the link and not them, Thank you.)

When one thinks of the most haunted spot in Virginia, they think Williamsburg. Well, after researching and writing books for each area, I am here to say, I think Petersburg has gotten Williamsburg beat!

But Williamsburg has Jamestowne, which began in the 1600s and before that the Powhatan Indians. Well, the Powhatan natives scattered as far as Chester and the Tri-Cities area and there is the second English settlement, the Citie of Henricus Sir Thomas Dale started after Jamestown and Fort Henry (became Petersburg later) was established by Abraham Wood in 1645 that later in 1675 Peter Jones took over and established his own trading post.  So, the area was as long living as Williamsburg.

Plantations in the area were built as early as 1600s and 1700s, like Weston Plantation in Hopewell.  The death of Powhatan and the ascension of Opechancanough as paramount chief brought about the 1622 Massacre that hit parts of the area, even the Falling Creek Ironworks March 22, 1622, killing all but two children.  In Petersburg, their wooden buildings burned down in a great fire July 16, 1815. More than 350 buildings were destroyed with an estimated $3,000,000 in damage. After that, they rebuilt, using brick.

During the War Between the States, there was the nine-month ling Siege of Petersburg, plus a battle raged on outside the city (in what is now Petersburg National Battlefield-the Eastern Front and in Dinwiddie County, the Petersburg National Civil War Battlefield—Five Forks (plus Battle at Sutherland Station and Dinwiddie Courthouse). 

Slavery happened here. A slave auction was held right in the old Town Petersburg! Petersburg’s first enslaved African- Americans were brought here in 1732 to work in John Bolling’s tobacco warehouses. Bolling owned haunted Centre Hill Mansion. It was subdivided and named Wittontown in 1750, but was renamed Pocahontas when it became a town in 1752. This town became the oldest free black community in the United States, settling Pocahontas Island—and it is still there today. Pocahontas Island is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Edgar Allan Poe and Virginia Clemm had their honeymoon here--staying at Hiram Haines Coffee and Ale House. Haines was friend and colleague of Poe and invited them. No one can pinpoint when Poe and Haines became friends, but Haines’s wife was the daughter of a wealthy Richmond merchant, and she had known Poe as a child.

The Revolutionary War is connected to Petersburg. My husband and I attended a 233^rd anniversary of the reenactment of the 1781 Battle of Petersburg at Battersea April 19-20, 2014. It did not happen at Battersea, but nearby. You can read about it in the chapter for Battersea in my ghost book, Paranormal Petersburg, Virginia, and the Tri-Cities Area.

Someone once told me that he’d heard a ghost story for every building in old Town Petersburg, along with many spots on the streets, too. Add to that, other parts of Petersburg, Dinwiddie, Sutherland, Prince George County, Colonial Heights, Hopewell, and add in nearby Chester, Enon and Ettrick-Matoaca, so much has added to a very paranormal section of Virginia.  

At this time of the year, with the leaves on trees and some bushes changing colors, the air generally more cooler, pumpkins on doorsteps, some already carved with faces on their flesh, and Halloween decorations on homes and in store windows and inside them, too, it is not hard to believe ghosts are watching you as you walk the streets of Petersburg, or tour Weston Plantation house or stalk the battlefields. It may not be as full of opulence as Williamsburg or hold ghost tour upon tours that fill the streets (after all, Williamsburg has more practice at accepting their spirits and using them to attract the history and paranormal buffs), but Petersburg with its gently tattered costume has a more haunted past that still persists, no, demands, to be seen and heard.   

 

So take their ghost tour in the city, check out the ghost tour at Blandford Cemetery Halloween night, or join the ghost tours held at Pamplin Park for their Voices from the Shadows. You just might catch glimpse of a gentile lady in hooped skirts or see a Civil War soldier, even a black one, at a restaurant as you eat a meal. Snap a few photos at night of Centre Hill Mansion or the buildings in town, or Colonial Height’s Violet Bank Museum from the street. Drive the streets of Screamerville in Enon after the trick-or-treaters are all inside and with your window rolled down, you just might hear someone screaming. It might be someone living, but again, it might not, And maybe, just maybe, with the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead thinnest on Halloween, you might be fortunate to see why Petersburg and the Tri-Cities are more haunted than Williamsburg can ever attain to be.

Enjoy an excerpt from the Peter Jones Trading Post sub chapter in Old Towne Petersburg’s Other Haunted Places chapter of my book,  Paranormal Petersburg, Virginia,and the Tri-Cities Area.

The Investigation

The night of the investigation at The Bistro at Market and Grove on July 12, 2014, across the street, Carol Smith, Julia Ogle, Leonard Price, and I met in the parking lot. A full moon hovered in the sky above.

Since we weren’t supposed to go into the Bistro restaurant until 10 p.m., we gathered our equipment and made our way over to Peter Jones Trading Post. Our recorders already on, I turned on my ghost box and began asking questions to see if any spirits still lingered. Carol and the other two used their flashlights to read the posted signs for tourists about the ruin’s history.

I asked, “Is there any spirit still here?”

A male voice came across the scanning waves. “Jacob.”

I said, “Is Peter Jones still here?”

Peter Jones did not reply, so I said, “Jacob? Can you talk to me?”

He answered, “Jacob.” Two other, different male voices followed his.

“Phillip.” “Harry.”

I pressed, “Peter? Is Peter here?”

Nothing from Peter Jones came across the box.

We wandered down the street, ending up by a stone bench with bars crossing the front. I dropped all but my ghost box on the bench.

“Jacob? Jacob, are you one of the Confederates or Federal soldiers held prisoner here during the Civil War?”

“Yes.”

“Tell us anything you want us to tell us. Are you a Confederate soldier? A Union soldier?”

The box stopped scanning. Occasionally, I found spirits could turn off the ghost box, whether due to not wanting to talk to us or some other reason. Sometime, I wondered if they were maybe drawing the power from the batteries and electronics.

Julia asked: “Who was here during the War? Confederate? Federal?”

A man with a deeper voice than the others said, “Both.”

“Was Jacob one of the Federals or a Confederate?”

“Yes.” That did not answer my question, just that he was a soldier.

Then the same man’s deep voice came across the box, saying, “You must…”

I questioned, “You must what? We must go?”

I heard the man say, “Yes.”

I asked if we could take picture and then we would leave them alone. I searched in my pink bag for the camera in its soft case, but it was not inside. It had to be still in my car, so I told my friends that I was heading back to the parking lot to fetch it. Carol’s equipment was still in her vehicle, so we all left the structure. (We had a freaky paranormal experience in the parking lot that you can read about in The Bistro at Market and Grove chapter.)

What is left of the building can be found at the corner of Old and Market

Streets in what might be called a small park setting. It doesn’t cost to visit

and who knows, maybe the phantom of Peter Jones or some Civil War prisoners might talk to you. You never know.

 Book Blurb for Paranormal Petersburg, Virginia, and the Tri-Cities Area:

Travel to Petersburg, Virginia, and the surrounding areas of Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Prince George, Dinwiddie, and nearby Ettrick-Matoaca, Enon, and Chester to discover what spirits, monsters, UFOs, and legends await the unwary. Why are the Union and Confederate spirits still fighting the Civil War in the battlefields? Who is the lady in blue who haunts Weston Plantation House? Learn what the phantoms at Peter Jones Trading Post will do to keep from being photographed. Drink tea with runaway slaves still hiding on the top floor above the Blue Willow Tea Room. Are Edgar Allan Poe and his bride still on their honeymoon at Hiram Haines Coffee and Ale House? Why does the Goatman stalk young lovers? Meet the ghosts of Violet Bank Museum that greet guests at the house. Hauntingly active as they share space with the living, the dead refuse to give up their undead residency.