When I was very young--perhaps not yet five years old--a teenage goblin stole my jack-o'-lantern, right off our front porch. Little did he know my father was watching. Trained in surveillance, Dad slipped out the door, undetected, and followed the hapless thief a block or so down the dark street before introducing himself, in a deep but polite voice, probably scaring the kid half to death. The shaken bandit stumbled over an apology and offered to return the jack-o'-lantern. No, my dad said, you took it; you must want it. Tell you what, he said, you keep it--on your head. Dad made the boy wear the carved pumpkin over his head like a football helmet...and he followed the kid several blocks to his home. I can only wonder why no one in the neighborhood reported a strange creature, with a jack-o'-lantern for a head, prowling the street that night...
My little tale can't compare to the nail-biters in Chris Woodyard's books of Ohio ghosts. I've read two of her works (noted below) and frankly, I'm too frightened to read any more for a while! Her books are great to take along on a camping trip; there are more ghost stories than you'll need for a week's worth of campfires. They are also, of course, perfect for Halloween parties. Have you heard the one about...
...the jilted bride in Beaver Creek, who died of a broken heart?
...the headless horseman of Cherry Creek?
...the dutiful schoolgirl, still trying to finish her lessons in Tuscararas County?
...Sam Coon, and his drum made of human skin? Some say they still hear the drum beating on misty nights by Nettle Creek in Williams County...
Even if you're not interested in ghosts, you'll learn a lot of Ohio history and probably get a good chuckle out of some of the tales in Woodyard's books. Was there a vampire in residence at the Ohio Penitentiary in the 1860s? Is the Wickerham Inn in Adams County still haunted? Did author Louis Bromfield's dog really come back to stay at Malabar Farm after his death? Did you know there have been Bigfoot sightings in at least eight Ohio counties?
These scary snippets were snatched from two books by Chris Woodyard, Haunted Ohio II (1992, 211 pages) and Spooky Ohio (1995, 84 pages). Woodyard, who grew up in Columbus, has had some firsthand experience with ghosts, but for these books, she interviewd folks all over the state.
My little tale can't compare to the nail-biters in Chris Woodyard's books of Ohio ghosts. I've read two of her works (noted below) and frankly, I'm too frightened to read any more for a while! Her books are great to take along on a camping trip; there are more ghost stories than you'll need for a week's worth of campfires. They are also, of course, perfect for Halloween parties. Have you heard the one about...
...the jilted bride in Beaver Creek, who died of a broken heart?
...the headless horseman of Cherry Creek?
...the dutiful schoolgirl, still trying to finish her lessons in Tuscararas County?
...Sam Coon, and his drum made of human skin? Some say they still hear the drum beating on misty nights by Nettle Creek in Williams County...
Even if you're not interested in ghosts, you'll learn a lot of Ohio history and probably get a good chuckle out of some of the tales in Woodyard's books. Was there a vampire in residence at the Ohio Penitentiary in the 1860s? Is the Wickerham Inn in Adams County still haunted? Did author Louis Bromfield's dog really come back to stay at Malabar Farm after his death? Did you know there have been Bigfoot sightings in at least eight Ohio counties?
These scary snippets were snatched from two books by Chris Woodyard, Haunted Ohio II (1992, 211 pages) and Spooky Ohio (1995, 84 pages). Woodyard, who grew up in Columbus, has had some firsthand experience with ghosts, but for these books, she interviewd folks all over the state.
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