Haunts of Mackinac

by Todd Clements

Mackinac Island (Michigan), famous for it s fudge, history, and natural beauty, has attracted visitors for generations. The lure of the Island has made it the top tourist attraction in the state of Michigan. However, Mackinac Island holds many secrets. These secrets come in many forms, some from beyond the grave others passed down for hundreds of years. If you ve been to Mackinac Island many times before, or you have not yet visited this gem of the Great Lakes, the stories in this book will both inform and entertain you. Inside this book you will not only find many of Mackinac Island s ghost stories, legends, and tragic tales, but also a brief history describing each location. In addition, stories of the Straits of Mackinac, including deadly shipwrecks, ghost ships, and other tragedies, are included. Also included, for those unfamiliar with ghostly phenomena, is a chapter with a crash course into the who, what, when, why, and where of ghostly activity.

Genres: Nonfiction, Horror, History, Ghosts, Paranormal, Mystery, Ghost Stories

163 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published August 31, 2006

Reviews

[Phyllis Runyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book written about the Mackinac straits area and Mackinac Island. It covers shipwrecks, lighthouses. This area is a graveyard of ships as this is a most dangerous area of the Great Lakes especially in storms. The Mackinac Island part covers some of the Indian legends, the Fort, the Grand Hotel, the cemeteries and other hotels and houses where tragedies have occurred and the lingering souls who won't let go.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I collect ghost stories and tragic tales from places I have been. I really enjoyed actually reading this while I was still in Mackinaw and finishing shortly after returning home, which is extremely rare for me!
I liked the parts about the shipwrecks the best since they are more or less fact. Knowing that I was on bridges and several ferry rides on water merely feet above these wrecks is horrifying and awesome. And while I am definitely a believer in ghosts and supernatural elements and creatures it’s obviously impossible to prove. I liked the Native American folklore and history of the Island and area in general, and learned a lot about how much people used to believe in giants. My biggest complaint was the frequent misspellings and bad grammar/editing but being a locally and independently produced book I guess I understand but they actually distracted me from the story sometimes (capitan instead of Captain etc). Overall I had fun reading and learning, and I always like to be a bit spooked (on my own terms!).

[Samantha Boroff · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are plenty of grammar and spelling mistakes that chop up the flow of reading. I enjoyed reading about the locations but explanations of the paranormal activity feel incomplete.

[Shelby Dage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very easy and quick read, but with quite a bit of information. Being from lower Michigan, I’ve made the U.P and the island vacation spots for years. I thought I knew a decent amount of the history and legends. Apparently I didn’t know as much as I thought I did! My only real complaint is that I wish this book was longer!

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mackinac Island has a haunted as shit history. The island was a sacred burial ground for Native Americans and, later, hosted a military fort. Later, there was one of those children's homes of let's save the "savage" children and make them wholesome Christians but also put them in terrible living conditions lol There's also been a few shipwrecks around the island. As wild as that is, it's a super popular summer tourist place and one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

I was incredibly lucky to have visited this beautiful island. My mom visited a few years ago and had been trying to set up a vacation for us to go since then when we bit the bullet and went for it during labor day weekend. I may never get over how perfect it was to sip coffee and lounge outside with my journal while feeling that breeze. Which is also weird because it shouldn't feel so cozy - it's stolen land! Stolen sacred land!

Anyways, as small as the island is (about 8 miles around) and how numerous the hauntings in this book, we didn't see anything, but we did catch the Haunts of Mackinac ghost tour.

I really appreciate ghost tours - the whole keeping alive stories and to talk of the unsavory bits of history and Mackinac has a great juxtaposition of feeling like paradise while hosting the worst parts of humanity.

Onto the book. Clements's book includes some maps and a cool scale on the ghostly activity - how often, how intense, how far back any activity is. There's also a couple of pictures. The writing is okay, but it doesn't need to be stellar.

My one complaint is that Clements doesn't tell us which Native American tribes the stories come from, but I did appreciate him including them. The book feels like a labor of love.

Haunts of Mackinac came out in 2006. My favorite stories from the tour I took (2023) are not in this one, but they may not have been collected then. It does include a lot of research that is well worth holding onto... if only to relive that magical vacation.

[Jadewik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little book is quite the anthology of Mackinac (pronounced Mack-ah-naw) ghost stories. As a kid, it was one of my favourite touristy places my parents would take us when visiting my grandparents in Michigan-- and even a little mythical since motorized vehicles aren't on the island. So, it was fun to grab a copy of this book to get the more interesting details about the island.

The book is an excellent little compendium of ghost stories and historical accounting of events of note that are potentially tied to haunting both on the island and in the straits. It was well researched-- and I do love ghost books with a hefty bibliography as this book has. The stories were short, sweet and to the point, with each location lasting on average 2-3 pages. There are photos of nearly all of the locations. There are also maps showing where the shipwrecks and haunted sites are located.

I wasn't too keen on the definitions of hauntings provided in the introduction-- as a connoisseur of ghost stories, it seemed a bit redundant. What was nice, though, was the rating of each location based on how recently the ghosts were sighted, how intensely the haunting is (things being moved vs full-body apparitions), and also how frequently people see the specters.

The book seems self-published, and as such, it has errors that can be distracting for some people when reading. Overall, though, they were relatively few and scattered throughout the book.

I enjoyed the book, and would likely bring it with me should I make my way back to this little island once again.

[Allison Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

My family recently visited Mackinac Island and stayed in the Grand Hotel. I listened to a Podcast with Todd Clements and it made me want to read this book. He did an excellent job telling the history of locations as well as the ghost stories surrounding those locations. The book covers the straits, the construction of the bridge, landmarks, the hotel, and the downtown area and cottages. The author scored each haunting by time, intensity, and frequency. The book had many great pictures of places and landmarks around the island. I highly recommend this book for readers who are interested in the history of Mackinac Island and to those intrigued by ghosts and paranormal.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Copyright 2006. This is one of those books written for tourists, in this case for Mackinac Island. This is a quick read.
So, I liked how the author not only wrote the ghost stories, but went into the Native American legends. He also goes into What is a ghost & what makes them want to haunt.
There are a lot of great stories about the Island. He also gives them a star rating according to time scale/strength of the activity/regularity. Some of the ghost stories have faded with time. Some are still going strong.

I'd recommend this one. I thought it was interesting.

[Danalli Calhoun · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In writing this book I found that there is more to ghost stories and legends than just hype and horror." - Todd Clements
I absolutely loved this book, it was short and perfect for one sitting, and held my interest until the very end. This wasn't like the normal 'haunting' books that I've read, the ghost activity sections were rather short, just enough, sprinkled in between paragraphs and paragraphs of history, Native legends and stories.
I learned so much about the places that I saw while on Mackinac Island, the history of the places, the legends, and of course the hauntings.

[Heather Hofman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visiting Mackinac Island is like going back in time. No cars, only horses and bicycles and the houses are all beautiful and historic. The whole island is so rich in history it's a little overwhelming. I've been there 3 times now and just now read this book. I recognized and have visited some of the sites mentioned in this book. I can't wait to go back and take a closer look at some of these places. I think the author did a good job researching and this was a fast, enjoyable read.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

While nice and approachable for all especially casual readers, the book published in 2006 is becoming out of date.

The book could be vastly improved with a new edition that updates some vocabulary around a formal brothel on the island as well as an update to the approach to the former Native American boarding school.

Also I heard several newer ghost sightings on a ghost tour on island that would be great additions to this book.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wonderful book full of lots of facts and beyond the grave lore of the island. It includes several maps and lots of pictures one can use to actually find these places while visiting the island!!!!

I'm actually looking forward to using this book while I'm in Mich on vacation next week!!! What a great tourist tool to have!!!!

[Caitlin Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably read this over ten years ago after my first visit to Mackinac Island. If you are interested in local legends and how history connects with ghost stories then this is for you. I remember not being able to put the book down. It's also relatively short and it's an easy read. Overall, I think I'll read it again to relearn some of the legends and ghost stories that haunt Mackinac Island.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I visited Mackinac Island this summer, and the history and legends surrounding such a beautiful place is more than fascinating. I wish I had encountered some of the spirits there, but now I know all the best spots to visit.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing, editing, and organization were pretty bad, but it's easy enough to get the gist. A friend picked this up for me during a visit home to Michigan, and now I want to visit Mackinac to see all these locations.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick read with some good stories. It feels like it may have been put together a bit fast though, as there were several typos and errors.

[Scott Haraburda · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and quick read about some of the history of the island. And, some additional spooky tales behind some of the sites, several believable and the others somewhat silly.

[Chloegeo · Rating 3 out of 5]

An educational spook

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun ghostly read about Mackinac Island. It had great history and ghost stories. If you like ghost stories and Michigan history, I recommend this book!

[Tami · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Not much detail in the stories or first hand accounts, but did give me a taste of Mackinac and make me want to visit!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short haunting tales are well done and a fun quick read. I’ll be rereading this before my next trip to the island.

[Loren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of small, locally produced books of legends. Haunts of Mackinac collects Native American legends and ghost stories which span the island's history from its French fur trapping days, through the British occupation of its fort and the War of 1812, past the influx of American missionaries into the current tourist trade. Some of these stories gave me goosebumps, which was exactly what I wanted from it.

The book's introduction takes time to define ghosts. It should have also given an overview of the island's history. A map would have been nice, too. At some point during its history, Mackinac Island banned cars. I would have liked to know why and when. Also, I'm curious whether the author thought this lack of automobiles and other modern noise made it easier for ghosts to be perceived.

Overall, this is a nice little book. I wish other books of local legends were are well put together.

[Constance Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a joy to read. There were a lot of fascinating stories, not only about ghosts, but Indian legends and shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. The photos and drawings were a nice touch too and added to the overall eeriness of the book. If you've ever been to Mackinac Island or plan to visit there in the future, then this book is a must and will add to all the fun, leisure and intrigue that this island from another century offers.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Legend, myth, tall-tale, what-have-you...this book is filled with haunted happenings around the Mackinac area. The story "The Woman Who Weeps" is particularly interesting, especially if you can rise early enough when visiting the island to try and catch a glimpse of her.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am biased as a tour guide for Haunts of Mackinac and also a friend of the author, but I love this book! I think the local history and legends of Mackinac Island are so unique. Clements has done a wonderful job researching, collecting and compiling these stories and the work speaks for itself.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

super spooky, if you love history and mackinaw island than this is the book for you~

[Lizz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book had some real good historical notes, the supernatural information was minimal and often contained undocumented sources.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was actually loaned a copy of this book to read. Now I must buy my own copy and plan a trip to Mackinac and check out all the haunts!

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting because I was learning about history at the same time I was learning about ghosts.

[Kmeger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Interesting. I can't wait until I go back to Mackinaw Island next fall, and visit all the haunted places I read about in this book.