Mary Beth Crain – författare

Do places where violent deaths occur somehow absorb the horror, only to conjure up images that haunt the living for generations to come? Many people believe that this can indeed happen; above all, in the context of that manmade phenomenon that reaps so great a toll in so short a time: War. Haunted U.S. Battlefields takes us on a spine-tingling tour of America’s most legendary spectral scenes of human struggle—from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, from the Indian Wars to World War II and beyond.

As America’s bloodiest conflict, the Civil War has yielded the greatest number of ghostly sightings. Hence, most of the twenty-five battlefield legends this book relates are from this era—whether the myriad strange spectral happenings associated with Gettysburg, or this war’s lesser known but equally tragic events.

In plenty of time for the holidays, here is a gathering of thirty tales of ghosts, hauntings, and other paranormal happenings purported to have taken place on or around Christmas, or that are otherwise related to this holiday. By a long-time believer in the paranormal who in the introduction tells the story of her own Christmas ghost, Haunted Christmas

includes stories such as:

HAUNTED BETHLEHEM—Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is famous for haunted locales such as the Hotel Bethlehem, the first house built in the town, in 1741. There, guests have come to expect visits from several spirits. Predictably, things heat up at Christmas—after all, this is Bethlehem.

THE DEATH COACH OF CHRISTMAS—One Christmas Eve in Ireland many years ago, young Nora Mahoney was returning from the bogs when an invisible something suddenly rushed past her with the sound of grinding wheels and thundering horses’ hooves. Had Nora encountered the “death coach” of Irish legend?

Since ancient times, stories have abounded concerning the existence of ghost animals. From the Native American animal spirits, to the menacing demon dogs of medieval England, to present day encounters with animal apparitions, there can be little doubt that animals, like people, live after death and pass back and forth between this world and the next.

In the realm of the paranormal, experiences concerning deceased pets who revisit the living are common events. Like the ghosts of humans, pet ghosts return for various reasons. Sometimes they appear to say goodbye. Sometimes they want to reassure their grieving owners that they are all right, and that their spirits are always with them. And sometimes, as they often did in life, they are guarding their beloved humans, delivering a message or a warning.

"Haunted Pets" covers a wide range of encounters with animal ghosts. Some of these encounters are comforting; others are terrifying. In general, when pets return in ghostly form, they provide comfort and protection to the living. But there are other less benign phantom creatures who have been known to haunt places of violence, or exact revenge upon humans for evil deeds which, while long past, have somehow evaded justice.

Do places where violent deaths occur somehow absorb the horror, only to conjure up images that haunt the living for generations to come? Many people believe that this can indeed happen; above all, in the context of that manmade phenomenon that reaps so great a toll in so short a time: War. Haunted U.S. Battlefields takes us on a spine-tingling tour of America''s most legendary spectral scenes of human struggle—from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, from the Indian Wars to World War II and beyond.

As America''s bloodiest conflict, the Civil War has yielded the greatest number of ghostly sightings. Hence, most of the twenty-five battlefield legends this book relates are from this era—whether the myriad strange spectral happenings associated with Gettysburg, or this war''s lesser known but equally tragic events.