The Big Book of West Virginia Ghost Stories by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Warnings:
Murder
Violence
Spooky Shit
The Past Being the Worst
This book is divided into eight sections, so I'm going to go through each section, give some thoughts, and then at the end I'll talk about the book overall.
The Eastern Panhandle
The Eastern Panhandle is where places such as Harpers Ferry (which was originally Harper's Ferry, I assume the change was made cause apostrophes are hard for West Virginians), Charles Town (not Charleston, that will come up later), Shepherdstown and Berkley Springs.
Harpers Ferry is supposedly super haunted. And has (had? does it still exist?) one of the oldest ghost tours in America. One of the most notable ghosts in Harpers Ferry is John Brown. Which, if you don't know who that is (do people know who he is? Or is this just my nerdiness about West Virginia history again?) John Brown was an abolitionist that came up with this plan where him and a group of his followers would seize control of the armory in Harpers Ferry. The plan failed by the way. He was captured, put on trial and hung. There are a few hauntings that come from that bit of history.
Berkeley Springs is also in the Eastern Panhandle. Now, Berkeley (fuck, I cannot spell that fucking place) Springs was originally named Bath after the spa town in England. Berkeley Springs was a spa town because the springs supposedly had health benefits. But that's not the interesting bit. Who cares about rich old white people taking baths? The interesting bit is the castle. Berkeley Castle was built by Samuel Taylor Suit because he had the hots for a 17-year-old (he was like, in his 40s, I think) and she was like "I want a castle." So, he built her a fucking castle. They got married, he died, she started partying in her castle. Now, the castle has ghosts. All of this is lore and speculation. But fuck it is a good story.
Potomac Highlands
Okay, was anyone going to tell me that Ring Around the Rosie had no connection to the bubonic plague or was I just supposed to find out from reading a book about ghost stories? Also, the British version doesn't have the word "ashes" in it?
Anyway!
We got Droop Mountain, a tuberculosis sanitarium turned into a prison, Seneca Caverns and Seneca Rocks, a college and a phantom hitchhiker in this section.
I've been to Seneca Caverns and Seneca Rocks. Did not do any climbing at Seneca Rock. Ew. No. Did buy some random folklore books at the gift shop, though. Which... I do that a lot. If I go to some random place in West Virginia I am searching for the gift shop to buy myself a new book or two about ghosts or folklore or monsters. And my kid usually wants a rock. They like pretty rocks. I do recommend checking both places out though if you like pretty places. Did not see or feel any ghosty things, but still enjoyable trips.
Mountaineer Country
Oh! This is where I live!
First off, Morgantown takes its name from the Morgan family, who were among the first explorers and settlers in the area. The Morgan family included brothers David and... Zackquill. Yep. That's a name.
Okay, onto the ghosties.
There is apparently a ghost cow at West Virginia University. The ghost cow is joined by a few other ghosts in the various buildings that make up the university. Cheat Lake is supposedly haunted by two young women who were murdered in 1970. There is a book about the murder that I need to check out. Rivesville supposedly has a headless horseman. Fairmont has a few ghosts, some of which are at Pricketts Fort (I've been there. Didn't see any ghosts. Disappointing). And my favorite ghost story of this section:
The Northern Panhandle
I would like to open this section by saying that Wheeling used to be named Zanesburg. I prefer Zanesburg. It is believed that Wheeling comes from a Lenni-Lenape term that means "place of the head". But... Zanesburg makes me giggle.
Anyway! Bunch of hauntings in this part of the state. But most importantly, this is where the West Virginia State Penitentiary is. And now I am going to tell you all about the time I spent the night in the haunted prison in Moundsville, West Virginia.
When one of my best friends, Adriane, was getting married, we decided a bachelorette party was needed. She doesn't drink. Neither of us socialize. So, deciding on something to do was difficult. We had the thought of just renting a cabin, hanging out and playing board games. But then I was doing research on random places around the state and came across the information that you could spend the night at the Penitentiary. I said something to her and it was decided. The two of us and her other friend, Jen, were going to get spooked all night. I think it was May when we went up. April or May. We went through the guided tour (which, I have done two other tours of this place, each tour guide is awesome. Tip them cause they are fucking worth it) and then were released to explore on our own. We didn't see a lot. And we also kept getting lost. But it was so much fun. A couple things that did happen was a cold spot outside of the dining room. It happened twice to me. And it was a very noticeable temperature change. I had a very uneasy feeling in the kitchen. So much so that I had to leave. So we didn't explore it much. I refused to go back. While we were up in the infirmary on the second floor of the administration building (I think! I can picture exactly where we were but I cannot remember how we got there or what the places were called), Adriane, Jen and a couple other people that were there were checking out a room and I walked down the hall a few feet. I snapped a picture of a large room and began walking back towards the people and suddenly a loud bang came from the room I just left. We all heard it and tried to recreate the sound (there were random bits laying in the corner and we thought one just fell on its own or something). Couldn't recreate the sound. We left. But the scariest part happened in the dining hall. Adriane, Jen and I were in the large room alone. I was just kind of doing a slow spin as I snapped pictures. Just to see if I got anything cool. Suddenly, the door that led outside started to open! I screamed and tried to hide behind Adriane (which... She is 5 feet tall to my 5 foot 4-ish...). And... And.. In walked two of the other people that were there. Totally awesome night. We had a lot of fun. And I highly recommend checking out any of the tours offered.
The Mid-Ohio Valley
The Mid-Ohio Valley has Blennerhassett Island. Oh, and the history around that is like a less intense Game of Thrones. Harman Blennerhassett was from Ireland and was a wealthy aristocratic lawyer. When Harman was 31, he stayed with his sister and her husband. One day he was asked to accompany his 18-year-old niece home from school. And... They... fell in love 🤮 They got married and their families were like "Okay. This is bad. No." So, they ran away to America. They buy an island in the Ohio River and build a mansion. More shit happens, most of it unhappy and some of it involving Aaron Burr and treason. Now the island is haunted. As is a hotel in Parkersburg that is named Blennerhassett Hotel, but has no connections to the family.
Also in the Mid-Ohio Valley is a couple haunted cemeteries, a couple haunted tunnels, and a ghost story that sounds a lot like the story of the Bell Witch.
Mountain Lakes
The big one in this section is the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Which, I've never been there, but super wanna check out. We also get a nice little history about lobotomies. Which... fuck the past was the worst, right?
Also in this section we have the Headless Ghosts of Braxton County. One of those ghosts is Jacob Beamer. Now, Jacob Beamer sounded like a fun chap. He apparently told stories that his ancestors lived on the moon and traveled among the planets. They were stuck on Earth though. Sadly, this fun chap was wandering around, chatting with the guardian moon ghost, and he got decapitated by a train. Poor Jacob.
Mountain lakes area also has a lot of Civil War soldier ghosts. All of West Virginia does.
New River-Greenbrier Valley
This area has my favorite ghost story. The Greenbrier Ghost. It combines a ghost story with true crime!
The basic story is that a young lady named Zona Heaster married a man named Trout Shue. After about three months of marriage, Zona ends up dead. Days after her funeral, Zona's mother, Mary, claims to have seen Zona's ghost, who goes into detail about her husband murdering her. With this information, and some other bits of information, they exhume Zona's body and perform an autopsy where they discover she was murdered. Trout was arrested, tried and declared guilty and spent the rest of his life at the West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville. Now, there are quite a few hints and clues that say Mary might have made it all up. But she never changed her story. And even if she did make it up, it's still a entertaining story.
This area also has the story of John Henry, and supposedly his ghost.
Oh! And the Lake Shawnee Amusement Park. Which, I was watching The Most Terrifying Places in America while reading this. Which this book named in this section. And soon after I finished reading the section about Lake Shawnee, I watched the episode featuring it. All coincidence, but neat.
Metro Valley
This section starts off with Point Pleasant, but only a small mention of Mothman. Which... Yeah... It's a ghost book not a monster book. I will forgive it. The Tu-Endie-Wei State Park is mentioned. Which I have been there. Didn't see any ghosties, but the view of the river was fucking beautiful so I recommend checking it out just for the view.
Metro Valley area also has a couple haunted hotels, a haunted bowling alley, the TNT area and a hitchhiking ghost girl.
Hatfield-McCoy Mountains
The big one in this area is the ghost of Mamie Thurman. Which was more of a story of an unsolved murder and a possible ghost. Also, the corpse might have disappeared.
Also have a couple haunted cemeteries. And the book ends with the story of a man who might have met the devil. I think he was drunk. The man not Satan.
My Thoughts
This book felt almost like a history book with some ghost stories thrown in. Which is not a complaint from me. But I did tend to forget it was just about haunted places and would be like "Hey, why didn't she mention _____________." Before I remembered, no ghosts. It was full of history, ghost stories and folklore of West Virginia. So if you're into that, I highly recommend this. The writing is excellent. And there were quite a few times that she would tell a story and mention that it couldn't be proven, or it was just the lore so might not be completely true. The writer threw in her own experiences at some places which I enjoyed, but they weren't the focus. Most of the entries gave a bit of the history of the location and then the ghost stories. And I adored it. And yeah. Some of the ghost stories might not be true, but come on. It's a book about ghosts.
Also, West Virginia has a shit load of mansions for such a poor state. I think each section had a couple mansions mentioned. And so many hotels listed mentioned rich and famous people who had stayed there. Like, what the fuck? And colleges. I always forget there is more than just WVU and Fairmont State.
I just looked up the writer, Rosemary Ellen Guiley. I adore her work and wanted to double-check where she is from (I was thinking Maryland for some reason, but I was wrong). And I just learned she passed away in 2019 and now I am sad. She would come to West Virginia and was a speaker at the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant for years. She seemed like a cool lady. I have a few of her books (Monsters of West Virginia, and the Encyclopedias of Ghosts and Spirits, Witches and Witchcraft, and Vampires, Werewolves and other Monsters) and love them all. I recommend all of them, as well as this one.
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
– Stephen King
