Haunted Columbia 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.

Describes over 2,000 sites of supernatural occurances in the United States, including places visited by ghosts, UFOs, and unusual creatures.

The author of Civil War Ghosts of Southwest Missouri takes the paranormal pulse of this rustic city in the heart of the Ozarks. A rich mixture of inexplicable history and eerie happenstance runs through the portion of the Ozark Plateau that Carthage has carved out for itself. Woodland cabins greet visitors with phantom hosts or vanish into the night entirely. Rumors tell of lost Spanish treasure caravans haunting the hills with the same persistence as the Confederate guerrillas who were run aground there. But the town itself isn’t immune from the encroachment of the supernatural; the drama of tragic death continues to find a stage in an opera house, a hospital, and an elegant residence. Lisa Livingston-Martin tracks down the fiercest and most fascinating specters from Carthage’s past. Includes photos! “According to the book Haunted Carthage, Missouri by Lisa Livingston-Martin, there have been many sightings and various paranormal events in and around Carthage.” —The Joplin Globe

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.

Ghost stories from America's heartland have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery! Welcome to the spooky streets of Columbia, Missouri! Stay alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted by wandering phantoms. Did you know ghostly soldiers reenact Civil War battles along one road in Woodlandville' Or that a demon pack of hunting dogs can still be heard baying on a haunted farm outside Columbia' Can you believe that in the home of the University president, a former resident decided never to leave' Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see Columbia and have you sleeping with the light on!

“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

Some of the nation’s most compelling ghost stories owe their origin to “The Father of Waters.” Ghosts along the Mississippi River is the first book-length collection of ghost tales from the small towns and bustling cities that have grown up along its banks. The states represented in this book include Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Unlike most collections of “true” ghost stories, Ghosts along the Mississippi River draws from the folk traditions of the northern and the southern United States. These tales are populated with Federal and Confederate soldiers, Native Indians, wealthy entrepreneurs, actors, college students, hotel owners, preachers, slaves, and planters. According to some paranormal investigators, the large number of ghost stories from the Mississippi’s river towns, and from watery sites all over the world, are proof that large bodies of water are conductors of psychic energy. Granted, no concrete proof exists that there is a definite connection between the river and any actual ghosts or spiritual phenomena. What is indisputable, though, is the fact that the ghost stories included in Ghosts along the Mississippi River are an invaluable record of the values, dreams, fears, and lives of the people who have called the river home.

From Native American societies to the Civil War to the crime spree of Bonnie and Clyde, Joplin’s history leaves spirited legends in its wake . . . The barrier between Joplin’s boisterous past and its present is as flimsy as a swinging saloon door. Lisa Livingston-Martin kicks it wide open in this ghostly history. In her expert company, tour a hotel with a reputation made from equal parts opulence and tragedy. Visit that house of horrors, the Stefflebeck Bordello, where guests regularly got the axe and were disposed of in mine shafts. Navigate through angry lynch mobs and vengeful patrols of Civil War spirits. Catch a glimpse of Bonnie and Clyde. Keep your wits about you—it’s haunted Joplin. Includes photos! “There may be as many non-living residents of Joplin as there are live ones, according to Haunted Joplin.” —The Morning Sun