Haunted Cape Girardeau

This “frightful compilation” of ghost stories flows from the rich history of the Missouri college town located on a bend in the Mississippi River (Southeast Missourian). For nearly two hundred-fifty years, the mighty Mississippi has granted Cape Girardeau a legacy of prosperity and dealt it some fearsome scars. Walk through buildings cut by the shrapnel of exploding steamboats, swamped in the debris of sudden floods, and haunted by the restless spirits of those who washed ashore. Beyond the riverfront, tragedy’s indelible mark can be found in places like the back row of the Rose Theater or the ashen mists of Spook Hollow. Joel P. Rhodes keeps company with the most forlorn figures and entrenched phantoms in this history of Cape Girardeau, where the river turns a thousand chilling tales. Includes photos!

For nearly 250 years, the mighty Mississippi has granted Cape Girardeau a legacy of prosperity and dealt it some fearsome scars. Walk through buildings cut by the shrapnel of exploding steamboats, swamped in the debris of sudden floods and haunted by the restless spirits of those who washed ashore. And beyond the riverfront, tragedy's indelible mark can be found in places like the back row of the Rose Theater or the ashen mists of Spook Hollow. Joel Rhodes keeps company with the most forlorn figures and entrenched phantoms in this history of Cape Girardeau, where the river turns a thousand chilling tales.

"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

A crossroads energy is the heart and soul of the Missouri Ozarks, where earthquakes, monster lore, and UFO sightings are as familiar as limestone bluffs along historic Route 66. Join Cynthia Carroll -- author, tour director, and sixt-generation native -- as your guide throguh the magic of the Missouri Ozarks.

The shocking true account of a man who learned everything there was to know about getting away with murder. Thirty years ago, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, became the hunting ground for a predator. Women were being brutally raped and murdered in a series of savage-and seemingly unconnected-crimes. Not until 2007 would the truth come to light, when DNA evidence pointed the finger at Timothy Krajcir, a convicted sex offender who'd never even appeared on a suspect list. He was a man who had pursued a degree in criminal justice and psychology-alongside the very investigators who would later use those same criminal sciences to finally stop him.

For most of us, most of the time, the roads we travel are largely forgotten once we get to where we're going. By day, they usually reveal a familiar, real—living—world. But then darkness comes. Haunted Highways brings together more than twenty of the spookiest stories ever of ghosts, hauntings, and supernatural events on or near America's highways and byways. There are the usual suspects—the creepy hitchhiker, the eerie lights along a lonely stretch of road—as well as many you never dared to imagine. Each of the book's more than twenty-five chapters ratchets up the suspense, from an introduction that sets the scene and draws you in, to a haunting climax. Whether the actor Telly Savalas's haunting encounter with a long-dead good Samaritan on a rural Long Island road, or the Ghost Riders in the Sky who appear over the plains of Texas, these stories will bring delightful fright to readers young and old.

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.

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.