What do you think?
Rate this book
Haunted America
Haunted Richmond: The Shadows of Shockoe
Historic, haunted, chilling tales of the town of Richmond as told by one of Virginia's most respected paranormal investigators! With over four hundred years of history, Richmond abounds with ghostly tales and ghastly deeds from the past. Step into the shadows and take a tour of thirteen of Richmond's most haunted sites. Visit Church Hill, home of the famous St. John's Church , and discover the events that led to the tragic tunnel collapse of 1925. Discover the long-forgotten Civil War hospitals of Shockoe Bottom , where hundreds of wounded soldiers met their end. Feel the icy chill at the bottom of a staircase where a young apprentice was murdered in cold blood by his jealous master in 1826. These stories and more await as you discover the mysterious, tragic and terrifying events of Richmond's dark past.""
- GenresParanormalHistory
128 pages, Paperback
First published August 31, 2007
2 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 5, 2018
It's been so long since I've added to my regional-hauntings-and-ghost-story-shelf that I'd forgotten how much I love these tiny tomes. I thoroughly enjoyed this virtual ghost-tour of Shockoe Bottom & Shockoe Slip.
********** ********* ********* *********
Just picked this up to kill a couple minutes but I ended up reading several stories. Having worked downtown Richmond, this is particularly interesting from a historic view--the ghosts are a bonus.
1/3/18
********** ********* ********* *********
Just picked this up to kill a couple minutes but I ended up reading several stories. Having worked downtown Richmond, this is particularly interesting from a historic view--the ghosts are a bonus.
1/3/18
March 11, 2025
the ghost stories themselves leave much to be desired, but lots of good jumping off points for Richmond history I didn’t know - the stuff I could find about Gilbert Hunt was very cool, the train tunnels under Churchill were wild to learn about (esp when you think about all the sinkholes?!), loved all the pictures of the old buildings, was fun to just experience the book for what it was & feel myself be curious ab this city again
June 22, 2013
Great companion for a self guided walking tour.
November 1, 2019
The non-fiction horror by Scott and Sandi Bergman, Haunted Richmonds will take you on a tour of Richmond's most haunted areas. The authors start us off at the Main Street YMCA and take us through ghost stories, conspiracies, historical phenomena, and unsettling events with no answers to then end at Glasgow House. The tour guide gives all the information leading up to each event making you want to check what could be behind you. This book made me want to roll my eyes at some ridiculous ghost stories.
This book would not be my first choice. If you don’t live in Richmond it might be interesting and a good read for you, but if you live in the area the stories will make you want to scoff. Some of the stories were quite fascinating and intriguing. My favorite was the chapter called "The Church Hill Tunnel Tragedy," as it delves into what happened at 3:30 pm on October 2, 1925. Engineer Tom Mason was conducting a steam engine train through the infamous Church Hill tunnel when the train came to a stop, bricks started to fall. Most got out of the tunnel before the collapse but some workers would be encaged for infinity. People can still hear the riotous screams at Jefferson Hill Park from below them asking for help. Though this chapter was very thrilling, most made me want to stop reading, and somewhere pretty confusing. For example, the first chapter "The permanent guest of the YMCA," was first talking about the YMCA and how it could have been haunted. Then the chapter starts talking about Rosie Connolly's pub where there were rumors about seeing a man and or women pop up in the kitchen and then disappearing. Other short story's final result was so visible I only had to read the first page to figure out what would happen. This is shown in the section "Ladies and Locks" where a building is rebuilt after an evacuation fire. The build was a tobacco warehouse, granary, and now a brewery. Not surprisingly, there is a rumor of a woman or spirit upstairs, even guests have seen her. Most of these short stories were rumors about a spirit and was not the scary story I wished for.
In conclusion, I would never read Haunted Richmond again and wouldn't recommend it to anyone under the age of 30. Though, some chapters might be thrilling and truly creepy, most just talked about the normal conspiracies of ghosts and spirits lurking around you. This book was not very interesting to me and after two chapters I wanted to stop reading. If you like reading about historic sights and talking about haunted mysteries than this book is for you.
This book would not be my first choice. If you don’t live in Richmond it might be interesting and a good read for you, but if you live in the area the stories will make you want to scoff. Some of the stories were quite fascinating and intriguing. My favorite was the chapter called "The Church Hill Tunnel Tragedy," as it delves into what happened at 3:30 pm on October 2, 1925. Engineer Tom Mason was conducting a steam engine train through the infamous Church Hill tunnel when the train came to a stop, bricks started to fall. Most got out of the tunnel before the collapse but some workers would be encaged for infinity. People can still hear the riotous screams at Jefferson Hill Park from below them asking for help. Though this chapter was very thrilling, most made me want to stop reading, and somewhere pretty confusing. For example, the first chapter "The permanent guest of the YMCA," was first talking about the YMCA and how it could have been haunted. Then the chapter starts talking about Rosie Connolly's pub where there were rumors about seeing a man and or women pop up in the kitchen and then disappearing. Other short story's final result was so visible I only had to read the first page to figure out what would happen. This is shown in the section "Ladies and Locks" where a building is rebuilt after an evacuation fire. The build was a tobacco warehouse, granary, and now a brewery. Not surprisingly, there is a rumor of a woman or spirit upstairs, even guests have seen her. Most of these short stories were rumors about a spirit and was not the scary story I wished for.
In conclusion, I would never read Haunted Richmond again and wouldn't recommend it to anyone under the age of 30. Though, some chapters might be thrilling and truly creepy, most just talked about the normal conspiracies of ghosts and spirits lurking around you. This book was not very interesting to me and after two chapters I wanted to stop reading. If you like reading about historic sights and talking about haunted mysteries than this book is for you.
June 6, 2025
A 3.5 rounded up to 4. It was well written.
I have lived in Richmond, Virginia since 2020, the last 5 years, so when I was reading the Haunted Richmond The Shadows of Shockoe, I knew the places the Bergman's were talking about because my husband and I did this same tour with them a few years ago one Halloween.
The 4th printing of this book was published in 2014, 11 years ago, so some businesses have since come and gone like the Julep's New Southern Cuisine and Big Daddy's Sports Bar restaurants. Other restaurants have replaced them.
On the tour, and also told in the book, I learned during the Civil War soldiers were bought to their state hospital where they were born, and we stood outside the Alabama, Georgia and Florida's hospitals since turned into luxury apartments. It was also where there were 3 women on our tour and one was apparently very drunk and she started asking questions the tour guide had just finished telling us. I was embarrassed for her and it seemed her friends were too. It was a few locations later and I noticed they were no longer with us. We kidded and said, maybe they were ghosts? Haha
Though not on the tour when we went, in May of this year, my husband and I took part in a, The Goul-Haunted Woodland of Weir: A Poe-Themed Tour of St. John's Graveyard. It is one street over from Bellevue Elementary School. It's also on the same street where Poe would visited his fiancee. We had parked behind the famous church and this is where I saw a Marker, and wouldn't you know it, it was for the Bellevue Elementary School and where I originally learned about the very brave and intelligent abolitionist Elizabeth Van Lew and a chapter in the book.
Another place we have visited on our own (though fortunately/unfortunately we didn't see any dancing children in the Enchanted Garden) was on the walking tour and a chapter in the book is the Edgar Allan Poe Museum.
An interesting book if you are into ghosts.
I have lived in Richmond, Virginia since 2020, the last 5 years, so when I was reading the Haunted Richmond The Shadows of Shockoe, I knew the places the Bergman's were talking about because my husband and I did this same tour with them a few years ago one Halloween.
The 4th printing of this book was published in 2014, 11 years ago, so some businesses have since come and gone like the Julep's New Southern Cuisine and Big Daddy's Sports Bar restaurants. Other restaurants have replaced them.
On the tour, and also told in the book, I learned during the Civil War soldiers were bought to their state hospital where they were born, and we stood outside the Alabama, Georgia and Florida's hospitals since turned into luxury apartments. It was also where there were 3 women on our tour and one was apparently very drunk and she started asking questions the tour guide had just finished telling us. I was embarrassed for her and it seemed her friends were too. It was a few locations later and I noticed they were no longer with us. We kidded and said, maybe they were ghosts? Haha
Though not on the tour when we went, in May of this year, my husband and I took part in a, The Goul-Haunted Woodland of Weir: A Poe-Themed Tour of St. John's Graveyard. It is one street over from Bellevue Elementary School. It's also on the same street where Poe would visited his fiancee. We had parked behind the famous church and this is where I saw a Marker, and wouldn't you know it, it was for the Bellevue Elementary School and where I originally learned about the very brave and intelligent abolitionist Elizabeth Van Lew and a chapter in the book.
Another place we have visited on our own (though fortunately/unfortunately we didn't see any dancing children in the Enchanted Garden) was on the walking tour and a chapter in the book is the Edgar Allan Poe Museum.
An interesting book if you are into ghosts.
July 23, 2023
Never having had the opportunity to go on the Shockoe Haunted Walk, I feel like I missed a great experience.
This is the second book, I've read on the haunted history of Richmond and it is by far the best book thus far. Organized into thirteen neat chapters, the Bergman's take you on their tour with him through the streets of one of Richmond's oldest neighborhoods.
It also contains something I adore and finding lacking in a lot of other haunted tomes: historical context. I learned new things about the Church Tunnel incident and about the ghosts at the Poe Museum where I brought the book. The writing in the book is clever and leaves you wishing for more when you come to the last page.
If you like Haunted Histories and Virginia History, this is a must read.
This is the second book, I've read on the haunted history of Richmond and it is by far the best book thus far. Organized into thirteen neat chapters, the Bergman's take you on their tour with him through the streets of one of Richmond's oldest neighborhoods.
It also contains something I adore and finding lacking in a lot of other haunted tomes: historical context. I learned new things about the Church Tunnel incident and about the ghosts at the Poe Museum where I brought the book. The writing in the book is clever and leaves you wishing for more when you come to the last page.
If you like Haunted Histories and Virginia History, this is a must read.
January 31, 2022
What a lovely compilation of Shockoe’s history. I learned so much about the neighborhood I used to live in. I can’t believe I walked past these sites daily without knowing their history. I wish there was an updated version with some color photos, but that won’t stop me from forcing all of my friends to read this!
January 2, 2025
This was a quick read with an engaging narrative, and though most of the existing businesses had changed since this first edition, it was easy to find them on Google maps through the addresses provided. A fun group, I’ve met the authors and Haunted Richmond still exists as a touring and publishing group locally.
October 15, 2020
Interesting histories with plenty of photos. Enjoyed it and thinking of a day trip soon.
January 2, 2022
Since I live here, it was easy to picture everything from the “virtual” tour. The train tunnel story really got me, though, since I visit Jefferson Park frequently.
September 28, 2022
Fun little book about Richmond's history and some spirits that come with.
May 26, 2025
I honestly found the history segments more enjoyable than the ghost stories.
September 16, 2014
I like to read ghost stories of Richmond because they create a different perspective on events. This was a fun, light read. I would like to find some of these places, and should be able to do so pretty easily. I do not believe in ghosts. I've never had any "experiences" and the stories in this book were generally goofy. An item being displaced or moved, footsteps, or best of all, an eerie feeling? Riiiiight.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews