Ghosthunting Ohio

America's Haunted Road Trip

by John B. Kachuba

Go Ghosthunting in the Buckeye State! Author John B. Kachuba bravely visits more than twenty-five haunted places in Ohio to give readers first-hand frights from the safety of their armchairs. For readers curious―and courageous―enough to "hunt" on their own, maps and travel information are provided to every haunted location.

Genres: Nonfiction, Ghosts, Ghost Stories

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

John B. Kachuba is the series editor of America's Haunted Road Trip from Clerisy Press and the author of Ghosthunting Illinois and Ghosthunting Ohio. He has also written other books such as Ghosthunters: On the Trail of Mediums, Dowsers, Spirit Seekers, and Other Investigators of America's Paranormal World, How to Write Funny, and Why is this Job Killing Me? (co-authored with his wife, Mary A. Newman, PhD).

John's short fiction and nonfiction have been widely published and he has received several awards for his fiction, including the 2004 Dogwood Fiction Prize.

He holds advanced degrees in Creative Writing from Antioch University (Yellow Springs, OH) and Ohio University. He has taught writing at both the University of Cincinnati and Ohio University. He is also on the faculty of the Gotham Writers Workshop.

John is a noted conference speaker and presenter and is a sought-after guest on many radio and television programs throughout the country and internationally.

John lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his wife Mary.

Reviews

[Alannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though this book contains lots of great ghosthunting sites, I do have some complaints. I feel as though the author included too many personal anecdotes which pulled the focus from ghosts, as well as made the book boring and it seemed to drag on. There are also a few jokes in bad taste about women and suicide. Other than that, especially if you'd like a fun adventure, this is a good read.

[Jana Denardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked that it included places open to the public

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Your typical round up of local haunts but i liked that it made an effort to include ones you could go to yourself

[Anita Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book for Ohioians interested in the paranormal, with stories from many locations around the state with haunting claims and history.

[Emi えみ Takami 鷹見 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into this book, but then I sat and read literally from page 70 onward. A nice, spooky read. Draws a lot on history of the area and of the location, and Mr. Kachuba doesn't just automatically assume everything's haunted. He doesn't automatically assume what he's caught on camera is a ghost, but say things like, "I have been able to rule out dust, reflection, or moisture as possible causes for the appearance of the orbs, but I cannot explain what they are or how they got there. All I can say is, if I were a ghost, I could think of no more pleasant place to spend eternity than in the lobby of The Lafayette Hotel" (pg 232), letting the reader see the picture and draw their own conclusions.

One of the restaurants mentioned, the Ye Olde Trail Tavern in Yellow Springs, Ohio, is a place I've been to (as recently as a few weeks ago). Lovely old interior, and great beer cheese. Whether you're hunting for ghosts or a good meal, you should stop on in.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. I liked this book a lot as it was organized, and the segments were short, and got to the point very quickly, unlike Haunted Ohio V, where the author had tons of ramblings and some sections were grouped and thrown on pages. The author comes right out and says he isn't a "sensitive"or "psychic" or whatever you want to call it. He is essentially an amateur who travelled to these places with his wife and a camera and talked to the people and wrote their stories into this book. I think about anybody who likes ghosts, haunts, or travelling in general would like this book here.

[Sarah G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like others have mentioned, I found this boring. I wish there was a better balance between the ghost stories and the history of each location. Could have done without all of the stupid jokes that fell flat.

[Amanda Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book, it gave lots of information and had many different places. It also included many references.

[Cheyenne Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good and very interesting! Don't always love the writing style but hey, nothing's perfect.

[Todd Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ohio is simply a paranormal loving state. We love our haunted houses and haunted bridges and haunted woods and haunted motorcycles and haunted railroads and haunted anything in the Buckeye State. Kachuba introduces the reader to some of the more well known hauntings throughout the state. If you enjoy Chris Woodyard's Haunted Ohio series, you won't find as much of the "personal story" side of things, but Kachuba relates much of his own personal experiences in visiting many of the sites in the book.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

2004, 256 pages.

This book divides Ohio into the Northwest, Northeast, Central, Southwest and Southeast. Each section has its own sub-topics and each sub-topic starts with a photograph. It has the usual type of ghost stories in it. It's quite interesting how many stories revolve around taverns, especially very old ones. Museums, hotels and art centers also make up a good bulk of the areas where ghosts seem to be inhabiting. Overall an interesting book.

[Elizabeth Mayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this book initially captured my attention with the "Ghost Hunting," I really enjoyed the historical information on the places the author chose to explore for this book. Very interesting, and there are now more places on my list of interesting spots to visit in Ohio.

[Gary Desrosiers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not so much a read as a browse.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come...

[Mike Wigal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of meh. I grew up in Athens, Ohio. I never saw anything.

[Khrystie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are alot of places in Ohio that are haunted. I would like to go see them.