Ohio

Athens County

Koons Cabin

A small log cabin here became the birthplace of a whole family of spirits who started turning up in scattered places throughout the world.
Johnathan Koons was a medium who regularly held séances in his cabin, and in 1852 he conjured up the spirit of a pirate named John King. John
King was the patriarch of a large family of deceased individuals, who would all make their appearance in Athens County. A total of fifty-six
members of the King family showed up in Koons' cabin. The most popular spirit was John King's daughter, Katie. She became a regular guest at
séances held in United States and Europe. Her appearances to the Italian medium, Euscapia Palladino, became widely known, but her
relationship with English medium Florence Cook would become one of the most astonishing cases in spiritualist movement. The ghost's entire
body materialized at Cook's senses and was seen by dozens of reputable people. In 1874, Florence Cook agreed to be tested by scientist Sir
William Crookes, the president of the Royal Society and discoverer of X-rays. The tests took place in Crookes' home under tightly controlled
conditions. Amazingly, Crookes reported that he had confirmed that the materialization's were indeed real. The tests continued for three years The
respected scientist produced photographs and testimonials that he insisted proved the existence of disembodied spirits.

Cleveland

Tiedemann Castle

This Gothic, turreted mansion has a long history of psychic disturbances. Doors explode off their hinges, chandeliers spin around, mirror fog up for
no reason, and lights turn themselves on and off. The unexplainable crying of babies is heard, a ghostly cloud moves through the upstairs hall, and
the apparition of a woman in black has been seen several times staring out a tiny window in the front tower room. The manifestations are thought
to be connected with Hannes and Luise Tiedemann, who built the great house in 1864. The family lived there for thirty three years, and several
family members died in the house. After Hannes died in 1908, the building came into the hands of the German Socialist Party, which used it for
meetings and club functions for the next fifty five years. In 1968, the house was bought by the Romano family. The Romano children immediately
made contact with the ghosts in the house, although Mrs. Romano declared the third and fourth floors off limits are frightening tamping sounds
were heard and a friend witnesses a gray mist moving in the halls. The family consulted a Catholic priest, who said that the house contained evil
spirits. He refused to perform an exorcism, but did advice them to move. The Romano's finally found a buyer in 1974, and the building became the
headquarters for the Universal Christian Church. Dozens of people, including members of news media, observed unexplainable phenomena in the
house. Many refused ever to set foot in the building again. it was sold to Cleveland Police Chief Richard Hogisto in 1978, but his family moved out
in less than a year. Since 1979, George Miceta had owned the haunted house. He quickly accepted the face that the place was haunted. He give
tours on weekends and keeps a logbook of strange things experienced by visitors.

Hiram

Garfield House

When this house was moved to its present location, the ghosts of President James Garfield and his wife Lucretia started to appear. The house
was built in 1836 and served as a faculty boarding house for the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute until 1867. Garfield lived there when he
became a teacher and principal at the institute in 1856. That same year he married Lucretia, and they both lived in the house until 1861. The
house had several owners after the school closed and in 1958 was willed to Hiram College. Bruno and Dorothy Mallone bought it in 1961, and had
it moved from the campus to their property outside of town. Almost immediately, strange things started happening in the house. The dining room
light flickered whenever Garfield's name was mentioned. Then, the unaccountable odor of cigar smoke and strange footsteps were detected in the
parlor. The eerie effects increased in frequency, and the Mallones called in psychics to investigate. Several séances were conducted in which
Garfield's spirit was contacted. The general impression was that James Garfield is not happy in the afterlife. He thinks he was betrayed by close
friends who arranged his assassination.

Oakville

Walingham Farm

The problems at this wooden Victorian farmhouse began in 1891, when the owner found pieces of a skeleton in the basement. He threw the old
bones into a lime kiln. Soon, the family started hearing terrified screams in the early morning hours and bells chiming from nowhere. Then,
furniture moves across rooms, and a dismembered hand were seen on the staircase. Finally, the ghost of a bloody, beaten man started to
materialize. The family's dog attacked the ghost and was thrown to the ground with a broken neck. During a dinner party not long afterward,
groans were heard coming from an upstairs room and blood started to drip from the ceiling above the dinner table. The family moved the next day,
and their deserted home became known as possessed by demons. When investigator Harace Gunn spent a night there, he awoke to see the
bloodied head of a man floating above his bed. He ran into the hallway, but was grabbed by cold, invisible hands and choked into
unconsciousness. When he was discovered the next day, he was severely traumatized and incoherent. he never fully recovered from the
experience.

Hauck, Dennis. (1994). Haunted Places: Ghost Abodes, Sacred Sites, UFO landings, and other supernatural locations. New York: Penguin Book.