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Ghosts of the Past
The Face in the Window: Haunted Ohio Tales
Chris Woodyard, author of the popular Haunted Ohio series brings you a scrapbook of Victorian hauntings and horrors.
This collection of ghostly and ghastly stories from Ohio's dark past includes haunting and historical tales of spook lights, cemetery wraiths, Women in Black, ghostly faces etched in window glass, and fire-bug poltergeists.
These long-lost (and all-new) tales, resurrected from archives and newspapers still have the power to terrify.
The first in a The Ghosts of the Past.
1. Snapshot of a Spirit Photos, Women in White, and Haunted Bridges
2. The Face in the Strange Images in the Glass
3. That Hellbound Headless Conductors and Train Wreck Horrors
4. Rock, Fire, and The Mysterious Poltergeist
5. The Death-Bed Revenge Beyond the Grave in Coshocton
6. Great Balls of Spook Lights and Mystery Lights
7. The Awful Fate of a Mercer County The Pinnacle of Prevaricating Perfection
8. A Cat Named Cemetery Spirits, Omens of Death, and Curious Cadavers
9. A Family The Hoffman Poltergeist of Wooster
10. Death in Black Ohio s Women in Black
11. The Vampires, Madness, and a Haunted Morgue
12. The Babe in the The Ghosts of Murder
13. Haunted by A Fire-Spook in Springfield
Spook Shavings from the Coffin of News
Ohio counties Adams, Allen, Belmont, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Columbiana, Coshocton, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Darke, Defiance, Erie, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Guernsey, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Highland, Holmes, Huron, Knox, Lake, Lawrence, Licking, Logan, Lorain, Lucas, Madison, Mahoning, Medina, Meigs, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Morrow, Ottawa, Paulding, Pickaway, Portage, Preble, Ross, Sandusky, Scioto, Seneca, Shelby, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas, Union, Van Wert, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wood
This collection of ghostly and ghastly stories from Ohio's dark past includes haunting and historical tales of spook lights, cemetery wraiths, Women in Black, ghostly faces etched in window glass, and fire-bug poltergeists.
These long-lost (and all-new) tales, resurrected from archives and newspapers still have the power to terrify.
The first in a The Ghosts of the Past.
1. Snapshot of a Spirit Photos, Women in White, and Haunted Bridges
2. The Face in the Strange Images in the Glass
3. That Hellbound Headless Conductors and Train Wreck Horrors
4. Rock, Fire, and The Mysterious Poltergeist
5. The Death-Bed Revenge Beyond the Grave in Coshocton
6. Great Balls of Spook Lights and Mystery Lights
7. The Awful Fate of a Mercer County The Pinnacle of Prevaricating Perfection
8. A Cat Named Cemetery Spirits, Omens of Death, and Curious Cadavers
9. A Family The Hoffman Poltergeist of Wooster
10. Death in Black Ohio s Women in Black
11. The Vampires, Madness, and a Haunted Morgue
12. The Babe in the The Ghosts of Murder
13. Haunted by A Fire-Spook in Springfield
Spook Shavings from the Coffin of News
Ohio counties Adams, Allen, Belmont, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Columbiana, Coshocton, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Darke, Defiance, Erie, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Guernsey, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Highland, Holmes, Huron, Knox, Lake, Lawrence, Licking, Logan, Lorain, Lucas, Madison, Mahoning, Medina, Meigs, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Morrow, Ottawa, Paulding, Pickaway, Portage, Preble, Ross, Sandusky, Scioto, Seneca, Shelby, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas, Union, Van Wert, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wood
- GenresNonfiction
231 pages, Paperback
First published October 19, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 27, 2020
I have a vivid memory of buying a paperback series of books when I was growing up. Each had a yellow cover, and the illustration on that cover (surrounding the title) were boxes containing sketches depicting chilling ghost events that were described within the book. I remember once checking the copyright and discovering that what I held in my hand was at least two decades old. Yes, these tomes telling of “true ghost sightings” were reprinted for new audiences of Readers who couldn’t wait to shiver under the covers at night.
These breathless books were replaced by modern stories of ghost investigators who provided details of specific hauntings in their “case files.” Some had blurry photographs purportedly showing captured images of ghosts ... or at least white spots that were supposed to be hovering ghost lights. I didn’t read many of these. Reading breathless accounts of age old ghost sightings were fun, these more modern versions made me feel as if the writers thought I was gullible!
Bridging the two of these types was the HAUNTED OHIO series of books by Chris Woodyard. Each one was filled with a retelling of famous ghostly sightings in Ohio, and the locations were often (if not always) visited by the writer. (One of them included the theater ghost at the college campus where I went to school.) I’d have to go back and look at them, but I don’t believe there were any manifestations seen by the writer (unlike what happened in the “ghost investigator” books).
THE FACE IN THE WINDOW harkens back to those decades old paperback stories that I’d enjoyed so much, but with a much better twist. Chris Woodyard has curated newspaper articles from the late 1800’s through early 1900’s describing these ghostly visitations in the most sensationalist terms. If you’ve ever read the press articles of the time that detailed Whitechapel’s Jack the Ripper murders, you know just what I am citing. The articles very, very seldom just expressed “facts.” Instead, they were mini-short stories all of their own filled with “purple prose” and descriptions of the most lurid nature created to incite pictures in the mind of the Reader. Some took mocking tones, especially if reporting events in a nearby (rival) town. Most, though, sought a “you are there” perspective that elicited emotional thrills even while you were telling yourself that it was utter nonsense.
Most are “one-offs,” but some are the subject of multiple articles such as the chapter “Haunted by Fire: A Fire-Spook in Springfield” that contains not only details of fires being set in a rooming house by a possible poltergeist, but also coverage of a young woman who was wrongly accused of being the perpetrator and was literally hounded into an early death. Another chapter, “The Death-Bed Promise: Revenge Beyond the Grave in Coshocton,” is dedicated entirely to the adulterous circumstances that led to the title’s “Promise” ... and the ghostly consequences that followed. That was my favorite chapter in the book.
Woodyard keeps the typesetting style of the articles. These often included lurid, attention-grabbing titles ... and many employed the “all CAPS” style within the body of the writing to draw the eye and emphasize the more horrific elements. Here is a sample:
“Day after day the graves were torn open by the plow and the
ROTTING BONES
Thrown promiscuously upon the ground.”
If you didn’t have the time or inclination to read the more graphic gothic novels of the time, you could certainly satisfy your craving with the news.
Ultimately, as much fun as this was initially, it became repetitious for me and a matter of style over substance. THE FACE IN THE WINDOW is better read during the Halloween season, and then in short doses throughout the month.
These breathless books were replaced by modern stories of ghost investigators who provided details of specific hauntings in their “case files.” Some had blurry photographs purportedly showing captured images of ghosts ... or at least white spots that were supposed to be hovering ghost lights. I didn’t read many of these. Reading breathless accounts of age old ghost sightings were fun, these more modern versions made me feel as if the writers thought I was gullible!
Bridging the two of these types was the HAUNTED OHIO series of books by Chris Woodyard. Each one was filled with a retelling of famous ghostly sightings in Ohio, and the locations were often (if not always) visited by the writer. (One of them included the theater ghost at the college campus where I went to school.) I’d have to go back and look at them, but I don’t believe there were any manifestations seen by the writer (unlike what happened in the “ghost investigator” books).
THE FACE IN THE WINDOW harkens back to those decades old paperback stories that I’d enjoyed so much, but with a much better twist. Chris Woodyard has curated newspaper articles from the late 1800’s through early 1900’s describing these ghostly visitations in the most sensationalist terms. If you’ve ever read the press articles of the time that detailed Whitechapel’s Jack the Ripper murders, you know just what I am citing. The articles very, very seldom just expressed “facts.” Instead, they were mini-short stories all of their own filled with “purple prose” and descriptions of the most lurid nature created to incite pictures in the mind of the Reader. Some took mocking tones, especially if reporting events in a nearby (rival) town. Most, though, sought a “you are there” perspective that elicited emotional thrills even while you were telling yourself that it was utter nonsense.
Most are “one-offs,” but some are the subject of multiple articles such as the chapter “Haunted by Fire: A Fire-Spook in Springfield” that contains not only details of fires being set in a rooming house by a possible poltergeist, but also coverage of a young woman who was wrongly accused of being the perpetrator and was literally hounded into an early death. Another chapter, “The Death-Bed Promise: Revenge Beyond the Grave in Coshocton,” is dedicated entirely to the adulterous circumstances that led to the title’s “Promise” ... and the ghostly consequences that followed. That was my favorite chapter in the book.
Woodyard keeps the typesetting style of the articles. These often included lurid, attention-grabbing titles ... and many employed the “all CAPS” style within the body of the writing to draw the eye and emphasize the more horrific elements. Here is a sample:
“Day after day the graves were torn open by the plow and the
ROTTING BONES
Thrown promiscuously upon the ground.”
If you didn’t have the time or inclination to read the more graphic gothic novels of the time, you could certainly satisfy your craving with the news.
Ultimately, as much fun as this was initially, it became repetitious for me and a matter of style over substance. THE FACE IN THE WINDOW is better read during the Halloween season, and then in short doses throughout the month.
November 16, 2014
Chris Woodyard is best known for her series of stories on reported hauntings, especially her Haunted Ohio series. This book is a bit different from her typical collections, where she writes about her own experiences at haunted locales. The Face In The Window is a compilation of Victorian (and some Edwardian) era newspaper articles about ghosts, poltergeists and other unexplained phenomenon. It's hard to imagine today, but these were often big stories. I enjoyed this book on three fronts: One, it covers the Victorian era. Two, it covers the supernatural. Three, it covers Victorian journalism. As well as unexplained occurrences, Woodyard's book covers a couple of hoaxes perpetrated on the citizenry. A couple stories made me chuckle (like the obvious rivalry of two Ohio cities), but far more were heartbreaking and more than a few made my hair stand on end.
November 11, 2013
I usually love books from this author. To hear the spooky tales that are around the state I live in are actually really interesting. While this book has articles from the past, from papers of Ohio's late 1800s and early 1900s, an excellent source of history (and a fascinating look into how people thought back then), it felt like it lacked pizzazz. Sure, the author tried to let the articles speak for themselves, but a little information or the telling of the tale itself, to what the articles were referring to, would have made it better. It was a hard read, and this is from someone who loves history and ghost stories. They both actually go hand in hand.
April 25, 2016
Not my favorite... because it was mostly a collection of articles from old newspapers, it never really got a good "flow" to it. Some anthologies are easier to read than others, but this wasn't one of them for me.
February 12, 2013
I thought this was a really dry and boring book. It was not what I expected.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews