Haunted Asheville

by Joshua P. Warren

A beautiful young woman dies from a fall in Asheville’s greatest hotel . . . and the Pink Lady is said to still wander the massive halls of the Grove Park Inn. A building is constructed on the grounds of a miserable, ancient cemetery . . . now they say you can still hear strange noises at night in the halls of Clyde A. Erwin High School. In 1908, a group of prisoners finally comes to Christ . . . after being terrorized at night by a spook in the Buncombe County Jail. A distraught mother hangs herself from the rafters of a looming Beaucatcher Mountain bridge . . . and the legend of Helen is born. These stories and more can be found within the pages of this remarkable book. A surreal mixture of history and myth, it searches for the fading morsels of truth while examining the feasts of folklore. These are the tales that linger in the minds of Asheville, as old and flavored as the mountains themselves. From secret chambers in aged castles to cryptic etchings on forgotten tombstones, this mountain town is filled with the lore and intrigue of the mysterious side of life. Explore historical facts, hear the words of eyewitnesses, and examine the stunning photographs. Never before have such stories been collected so completely and authentically. Open this book and prepare yourself for the unexpected.

Genres: Nonfiction, Ghosts, Paranormal

132 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2005

About the author

Born in Asheville, North Carolina, Joshua P. Warren has lived in the Blue Ridge Mountains his entire life, but traveled widely. At the age of 13, he wrote his first published book. Since then, he has had ten more books published, including the regional best-seller, Haunted Asheville, and How to Hunt Ghosts, and is the president of his multimedia productions company, Shadowbox Enterprises, LLC. His articles have been published internationally, and he has been covered by such mainstream media as CNN, Fox News, Southern Living, Delta Sky, FATE, New Woman, The New York Times, FHM and Something About the Author; and made the cover of the science journal, Electric Space Craft. A winner of the University of North Carolina Thomas Wolfe Award for Fiction, he wrote columns for the Asheville Citizen-Times from 1992 to 1995. His first novel, The Evil in Asheville, was released in 2000.

An internationally-recognized expert on paranormal research, Warren was hired by the famous Grove Park Inn Resort to be the first person to officially investigate the Pink Lady apparition in 1995 (the same year he founded L.E.M.U.R. paranormal investigations, of which he is president). Warren also led the expedition that captured the first known footage of the elusive Brown Mountain Lights, eventually resulting in scientific breakthroughs, via experiments Warren led in the lab, that help explain most of the lights and many mysterious, natural plasmas (such as ball lightning) that occur around the world. His work has been praised by the Rhine Research Center, The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (or NCCAT, for which he gives annual presentations) and numerous scholars such as New York Times best-selling author Dr. William R. Forstchen, Dr. William Roll, Dr. Andrew Nichols, and legendary researchers such as NASA engineer Charles A. Yost, Oak Ridge National Laboratory engineer David Hackett, and authors/researchers Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe.

Warren has appeared on the National Geographic Channel, History Channel, Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, Sci-Fi, Animal Planet, and numerous networks affiliates of NPR, ABC, NBC, and CBS. He is frequently asked to be a guest on radio shows around the world, especially Coast to Coast AM with George Noory/Art Bell. Warren is also an international award-winning filmmaker (including Hollywood.com's Top Underground Filmmaker of 1998), having worked on many sets, such as Warner Brother's My Fellow Americans, Universal's Patch Adams, Paradise Falls, Inbred Rednecks, Songcatcher, and Sinkhole.

Warren works as a radio host for Clear Channel, the largest radio corporation in the world, hosting a weekly paranormal program, Speaking of Strange, airing Saturday nights on News Radio 570 WWNC. It's rated no. 1 in the region Saturday nights, reaching up to four states and streaming live worldwide on the internet.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this little book looking into the mysterious side of the mountain town of Ashville, North Carolina. As all of you remember, Ashville was devastated by terrible flooding in 2024 and I hope it has recovered--to some extent, at least--by now. I picked up this book and got right into it. Two of the stories concern haunted hotels; one very interesting story is about a haunted bridge. The most bizarre story involves a "night of terror" at the county jail, a night so awful that the prisoners "saw the light" and accepted the Lord...a great trick that the jailers played ( I think). But what to make of these stories of hauntings? I'm trying to keep an open mind...

[Kitty Tomlinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book of ghost stories of Asheville. Fun read.

[Willow Redd · Rating 4 out of 5]

While at times reading more like ad copy for the locations mentioned than a look at their haunted histories, Haunted Asheville does still manage to cover some fertile ground of haunted happenings in the area. Most of the book covers the Grove Park Inn and the Pink Lady said to wander its halls, mainly because Warren was invited by the Inn to conduct a thorough investigation of the property to find answers.

Along with the Grove Park Inn, Warren relates other tales of woe and mysterious happenings in and around Asheville, including the well known Helen's Bridge of Zealandia, which is still a popular spot for teens and college kids to test their mettle or spook their dates into their arms.

Definitely an interesting read, and a welcome edition to my growing paranormal research library; but I have to ask one question: does Joshua P. Warren ever smile? Because he certainly doesn't in any of the pictures he includes of himself here.

[britt_brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up at #Malaprops when we visited Asheville last month. My favorite kind of souvenir! A local author shares historical facts and lore about harrowing experiences around this Blue Ridge Mountain town. I found it super fascinating that the name “Helen” is attached to several stories in varying locations.

[Carrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like when they updated it in the early 2000s, they could have updated some of the offensive language. Also, this reads like it was written by a high-school creative writing student — loads of unnecessarily flowery language and cliches.

[Kellene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warren is a good storyteller and the entries were interesting.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining. It was a quick read, but I was very interested in the history and stories after going on the ghost tour in Asheville.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not particularly well written, but a lot of fun, knowing Asheville as I do.

[Gwynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun stories, quick read