Celebrity Ghosts and Notorious Hauntings

by Marie D. Jones

Rich. Famous. Glamorous. Dead … and Immortal! From old Hollywood silent film stars to rock stars to athletes, past presidents, and famous generals, celebrated individuals sometimes become celebrity ghosts, and they haunt their homes, workplaces, and even burial places. In turn, those places become famous, even notorious, thanks to the ghost that is haunting it! Celebrity Ghosts and Notorious Hauntings looks at many famous ghosts―dead celebrities that haunt old Hollywood locales, famous generals that appear to witnesses at great battlefields, and noted politicians that roam the hallways of courthouses, statehouses, and even the White House! Plus, this fascinating frightfest examines the famous haunted locations themselves, such as the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the Hotel del Coronado, Gettysburg, the Stanley Hotel (which inspired Stephen King’s The Shining ) and so many others that claim the supernatural as part of their heritage and history. This riveting look at the unexplained also investigates movie lore, including the unsettling incidents on the Amityville Horror set; “The Dark Knight” curse that includes on-set accidents from the horrible death of Heath Ledger, who played the Joker, to the mass shooting at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises ; the deaths and curse surrounding The Matrix ; the Infamous Stage 28 at Universal Studios; and Paramount Studios’ long history of hauntings and strange goings-on. Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Frank Sinatra, and Hank Williams. Presidents John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, and Harry Truman. Henry VIII, beheaded Sir Walter Raleigh, and Prince Edward V. Rudolph Valentino, Mary Pickford, Marilyn Monroe, and “Superman” actor George Reeves. Houdini, Redd Foxx, Liberace, and serial-killer Ted Bundy. They all lurk in this chillingly riveting book. Haunted graveyards (of course), haunted historical landmarks and battlefields, plus haunted libraries, courthouses, ships, submarines, lighthouses, hotels, roadways, byways, bridges, prisons, and hospitals are all gathered together in this comprehensive look at the ghastly afterlife of the renowned. From famous faces to famous places, if it involves fame and celebrity, fortune and notoriety, legend and lore, Celebrity Ghosts and Notorious Hauntings covers it.

Genres: Paranormal, Ghosts

432 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2019

About the author

Best selling author, screenwriter, and producer. Marie has written over 30 non-fiction books, novels, and novellas, and contributed to over 100 anthologies. She is a produced screenwriter and indie filmmaker. She has been on radio all over the world, and on television's History Channel, including "Ancient Aliens." She has spoken at major events and writes frequently for a number of magazines on the paranormal, metaphysics, cutting edge science and Noetics. She is currently focusing on fiction and screenwriting and just re-released a middle grade novel based on her son's true story, BULLIES BEWARE, EKHO IS HERE! as well as a horror novel with Denise A. Agnew, THE DIM, and a paranormal thriller, FREAK. She will be releasing several more novels for adults and kids over the next few years. She has written and edited books for several publishers and ghostwrites, too. She also has a line of fun and funky journals on Amazon.com called ATTITUDENALS and her own ETSY shop of the same name.

Reviews

[Di · Rating 2 out of 5]

On page 41 in the Hollywood Ghosts Chapter, the author states that Gram Parsons's good friend and road manager, Phil Kaufman, "drove to Los Angeles International Airport and stole Parsons's ashes from his family after he was cremated and made sure to fulfill Parsons's last wish of having them spread over the desert landscape." This is incorrect. Phil Kaufman, with the help of another friend, drove to the airport in a borrowed hearse and stole Parsons's body and coffin, taking them to Joshua Tree National Park where the attempt was made to cremate Parsons. Parsons's body was partially cremated but the rest of him was sent to his family to be buried in New Orleans.
This is pretty easy to look up and confirm through a quick internet search that will provide multiple sources backing up the same story.
After finding this easy to spot error, the book lost validity to me. Because this is a book about ghosts and hauntings, I believe getting the known facts correct in the telling is all the more important.
Baseless enjoyment quickly forgotten rather than a well researched, history-steeped spooky book.

[Koren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can really appreciate the research that went into this book and the organization. About half way it started to sound the same, just the location was different and I tired of reading of places I was probably never going to visit.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were not quite enough celebrity ghost stories as you might think. Aside from that the "notorious hauntings" was a bit of a stretch. Many I had heard of, depending on the chapter, but there was an equal amount I hadn't heard of and not enough details to deem a haunting as "notorious."

[Erica Sonzogni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghosts, poltergeists and apparitions have intrigued people for centuries. Celebrity Ghosts and Notorious Haunting discusses an array of ghost stories from a variety of states and countries throughout the world. The text begins with vocabulary words and background information that is important to the paranormal culture such as the difference between imprints/residual ghosts and sentient/intelligent ghosts. Each chapter focuses on a different type of haunting; from historical ghosts to battlefields, cemeteries and churches, to prisons, hospitals, and asylums. Stories involve curses, murders and accidents. Everything anyone wants to know about the paranormal is included in this text which will scare, entertain and inspire the reader to visit the places mentioned.

This book is written in a textbook-like fashion and has the physical width and the figurative depth of this type of text. Much of the information is repeated throughout which could shorten the length. For example, Bugsy Siegel’s death was mentioned with the Beverly Hills Bermuda Triangle and then again when discussing the Hollywood cemetery where he is buried. In both of these sections, Siegel’s history is explained which is repetitious. Not all of the sections include places that are actually haunted; some of the stories include places that might be haunted, such as the Bug Light in Long Island that might have ghosts even though no stories have been confirmed. Other chapters are basically the same story but in different locations like the chapter on houses and castles. Additionally, throughout the book the writing language begins in a formal tone and changes to one that is more conversational. For example, one line in the text says “While spiritualists believe these are the lowest of the low spirits on the hierarchy of spirits (that’s not very nice!), one is hard-pressed to explain how ball lightning can move a couch across the room on its own.” While this text includes an abundance of information about the paranormal world, it also has repetitious elements which, when removed, could make the text much shorter and improve readability.

[Cheri Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and interesting.

I really liked this book. I'm very much into anything
to do with ghosts and the paranormal. I enjoyed
the pictures, also. I've been to many of these places
and it was great walking down memory lane. St.
Augustine, Colorado, and Gettysburg were my
favorite parts of this book. Although I definitely
enjoyed the rest.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome! Lots of stories about ghost encounters and places!

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading about the different ghosts stories across the country.