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Haunted Ohio: Ghostly Tales from the Buckeye State
In this book you'll meet the vengeful spirit of an Indian who wanted his skull back, a haunted antique party dress, a ghostly poisoner doomed to her own private hell, Thomas Edison and his machine to talk to the dead, the long-dead actress who still takes curtain calls, the headless motorcyclist of the Great Black Swamp. There are tales as old as Native American ghostlore, as new as the one about a haunted airplane. There are stories about haunted presidents and haunted swimming pools. There are tales of the dead and famous and of the faceless dead. Visit that altered state of consciousness--Haunted Ohio. Stories from the following Ohio Ashland, Auglaize, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Columbiana, Coshocton, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Defiance, Erie, Fairfield, Franklin, Greene, Guernsey, Hamilton, Hardin, Knox, Lawrence, Licking, Mahoning, Marion, Medina, Meigs, Miami, Montgomery, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Portage, Richland, Sandusky, Summit, Tuscarawas, Vinton, Wood, Wyandot. Includes general index and index by county, bibliography, source notes, and directory of haunted places open to the public.
212 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
May 17, 2014
Meh.
The writing was so-so. It was trying to be factual and journalistic about stuff that sounds fake, even when read in a mental NPR voice. It went back and forth between "I'm a serious journalist" type writing and "It was a dark and stormy night. Ooooo Spooky. Don't you think so? This is totally spooky!" type writing. In other words, any "creep factor" attempt was thwarted by itself.
I had hoped to get a book of creepy hauntings and the history behind them. All I got was a bunch of second/third hand accounts of people going, "It's so spooky! X moved when I wasn't looking, so this place must be haunted!" type stories that most of the time were just lame rather than the spooky I wanted. I was booooooooored.
About the only thing that was interesting was the section on theater ghosts and college ghosts because these were treated less like, "So-and-so saw a shadow, thus the place is haunted" and more like an urban legend. While they still weren't scary, they were at least presented in a more interesting (and in my opinion, appropriate) way. More information was given on these hauntings as back story and as I said, more of an urban legend feel (both of which is what I was hoping for from the rest of the book).
It's sad to say, but I've read creepy pastas better than this... But I suppose it's all about what you're looking for. If you're looking for Hauntings: A History or Spooky Tales of the Unknown, you will not find this here. If you're grasping at straws to prove ghosts are real and don't mind things that sound extremely fishy because only ONE PERSON ever experienced a STRANGE SHADOW (or something else that's equally unrepeatable) and thus the place is assumed haunted, then you'll probably want to read this. It's just not what I was hoping for from the title (and sadly, there wasn't much of a description on the back to let me know this was the wrong book to look in for Spooky Haunting Histories).
The last thing I'd like to note is that, despite the title being Haunted Ohio: Ghostly Tales from the Buckeye State, not all these tales are about ghosts. Some rumor angels and other non-ghostly entities.
The writing was so-so. It was trying to be factual and journalistic about stuff that sounds fake, even when read in a mental NPR voice. It went back and forth between "I'm a serious journalist" type writing and "It was a dark and stormy night. Ooooo Spooky. Don't you think so? This is totally spooky!" type writing. In other words, any "creep factor" attempt was thwarted by itself.
I had hoped to get a book of creepy hauntings and the history behind them. All I got was a bunch of second/third hand accounts of people going, "It's so spooky! X moved when I wasn't looking, so this place must be haunted!" type stories that most of the time were just lame rather than the spooky I wanted. I was booooooooored.
About the only thing that was interesting was the section on theater ghosts and college ghosts because these were treated less like, "So-and-so saw a shadow, thus the place is haunted" and more like an urban legend. While they still weren't scary, they were at least presented in a more interesting (and in my opinion, appropriate) way. More information was given on these hauntings as back story and as I said, more of an urban legend feel (both of which is what I was hoping for from the rest of the book).
It's sad to say, but I've read creepy pastas better than this... But I suppose it's all about what you're looking for. If you're looking for Hauntings: A History or Spooky Tales of the Unknown, you will not find this here. If you're grasping at straws to prove ghosts are real and don't mind things that sound extremely fishy because only ONE PERSON ever experienced a STRANGE SHADOW (or something else that's equally unrepeatable) and thus the place is assumed haunted, then you'll probably want to read this. It's just not what I was hoping for from the title (and sadly, there wasn't much of a description on the back to let me know this was the wrong book to look in for Spooky Haunting Histories).
The last thing I'd like to note is that, despite the title being Haunted Ohio: Ghostly Tales from the Buckeye State, not all these tales are about ghosts. Some rumor angels and other non-ghostly entities.
February 10, 2020
A local historian and skeptic, Chris Woodyard, seeks out Ohio's lesser known urban legends and spooky tales. The sections of the book are loosely organized by theme, but the themes are unique in that I'm not sure you would find these themes in other horror collections. Odd themes include "Ohio Presidents" and "Native Americans." Aside from the thematic chapter headings, there's little to unify the collection as a whole aside from geography. Woodyard collected whatever verbal tales she could find, regardless of what kind of spirit, ghost, etc. it pertained to.
Woodyard's skepticism was helpful for my enjoyment, as she never gave too much credit to gossip and rumors. These stories are mostly microstories, with most being 3-6 paragraphs.
This was pleasant for me as an Ohio resident but would probably have little appeal for anyone outside of Ohio who wasn't familiar with the places being described and referenced. Even though I enjoyed it, I was satisfied after finishing this one up. It's an older book, so its descriptions of people of color and famous historical figures is problematic and cringey.
Woodyard's skepticism was helpful for my enjoyment, as she never gave too much credit to gossip and rumors. These stories are mostly microstories, with most being 3-6 paragraphs.
This was pleasant for me as an Ohio resident but would probably have little appeal for anyone outside of Ohio who wasn't familiar with the places being described and referenced. Even though I enjoyed it, I was satisfied after finishing this one up. It's an older book, so its descriptions of people of color and famous historical figures is problematic and cringey.
June 1, 2016
Being a native of Ohio I always loved reading this series growing up. Like any anthology the quality and impact varies from story to story but if you are looking for a collection of ghost stories this series is worth a read.
February 15, 2020
So I picked this book up at the library because I like paranormal stuff and I also live in Ohio. At first it was pretty good. I wasn't excepting much, so the stories we're pretty intriguing. They had a story about a girl who liked this guy back in the 1700s but he didn't want to hurt her feelings so he said her parents didn't approve of him. Well she went and poisoned her families drink with rat poison. Now her ghost still roams the house.
Then about half way through, the book took a dramatic decline. The author started taking stories that had already been published in newspapers or other books. It was as if the first few stories was all she had known and had to look for more filler from someone else.
On the stories she did write herself, I feel like she took too many creative liberties with the storyline. For example you'll have a story about a ghost talking to a living person, and the ghost is describing its life in detail, like they are two friends having afternoon tea. She should have wrote what the ghost actually said to the person then in another paragraph wrote the back story.
Even the last story, which I made myself read was too much. The story goes, a solider just came back from war and is riding a motorcycle to his sweethearts house. When he entered the house she is already married. Angry and upset he rides his motorcycle away and turns too wide and gets decapitated in a ditch. Accounts say no one knew how it happen when they found the body sometime later the next few days.
Then how does the author know! I can see how she would know what happened in the house because the sweetheart could have told a descendent or wrote it in a journal. But she literally describes what the man is thinking when he's rushing off into the night. Also the last line reads: im dead I'm dead I'm dead. Which is really dumb because no one would be thinking that! Half of the ghosts she said, didn't even know they were dead.
Just too much filler and half the stories aren't in Ohio. Sometimes it will be Billy an Ohio native, but the story takes place in Kentucky. Sometimes she doesn't even say the location of where it takes place.
Then about half way through, the book took a dramatic decline. The author started taking stories that had already been published in newspapers or other books. It was as if the first few stories was all she had known and had to look for more filler from someone else.
On the stories she did write herself, I feel like she took too many creative liberties with the storyline. For example you'll have a story about a ghost talking to a living person, and the ghost is describing its life in detail, like they are two friends having afternoon tea. She should have wrote what the ghost actually said to the person then in another paragraph wrote the back story.
Even the last story, which I made myself read was too much. The story goes, a solider just came back from war and is riding a motorcycle to his sweethearts house. When he entered the house she is already married. Angry and upset he rides his motorcycle away and turns too wide and gets decapitated in a ditch. Accounts say no one knew how it happen when they found the body sometime later the next few days.
Then how does the author know! I can see how she would know what happened in the house because the sweetheart could have told a descendent or wrote it in a journal. But she literally describes what the man is thinking when he's rushing off into the night. Also the last line reads: im dead I'm dead I'm dead. Which is really dumb because no one would be thinking that! Half of the ghosts she said, didn't even know they were dead.
Just too much filler and half the stories aren't in Ohio. Sometimes it will be Billy an Ohio native, but the story takes place in Kentucky. Sometimes she doesn't even say the location of where it takes place.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2023
Super fun stories. It is always fun to hear stories about the different places I have lived in Ohio. I will give a short edit. On page 142, it highlights the tragic ghosts of Kenyon College in Gambier. It talks of the old dorm that burned down and 9 students died. It mentions that once the dorm was rebuilt there was a lot of ghost activity, including seeing only the top half of someone’s body moving along the hallway. I was disappointed, because it left out the most interesting part of the dorms ghost story. When the dorm was rebuilt, it was built almost exactly the same, except the floors were about 2-4 feet higher than the original building to accommodate modern utility systems. When people see ghosts roaming the halls they only see either the top half of a body gliding along the floor, or the walking legs gliding on the ceiling of the floor below, because the ghosts are still walking the hallways of their dorm, not the newly built dorm.
The lack of that note made me worried I was missing other good details from the other stories, but I’m not too worried. The book was very fun and very spooky.
Great to read at a Halloween party.
Another note! I learned a lot about our Ohio presidents! If you are really curious, look up the curse of presidents that are elected on a 20 year interval dying while in office. Then look up when the cycle was broken (Ronald Reagan in 1980) and how his wife was a devote mystic. Very fun stuff.
The lack of that note made me worried I was missing other good details from the other stories, but I’m not too worried. The book was very fun and very spooky.
Great to read at a Halloween party.
Another note! I learned a lot about our Ohio presidents! If you are really curious, look up the curse of presidents that are elected on a 20 year interval dying while in office. Then look up when the cycle was broken (Ronald Reagan in 1980) and how his wife was a devote mystic. Very fun stuff.
October 2, 2018
4.5 stars
I really enjoyed reading this compilation of Ohio lore. I picked it up after hearing Chris Woodyard on a podcast recently. She's since compiled several other volumes of scary stories from Ohio, which are no doubt worth checking out.
I especially liked the extra-creepy stories about haunted colleges and universities, in particular, Fisher Hall on the campus of Miami University. One of the stories from Miami is one I heard many years ago from someone who went to school there.
Other highlights were the stories about theaters, which for some reason are great ghost magnets everywhere.
An excellent choice for Halloween season reading!
I really enjoyed reading this compilation of Ohio lore. I picked it up after hearing Chris Woodyard on a podcast recently. She's since compiled several other volumes of scary stories from Ohio, which are no doubt worth checking out.
I especially liked the extra-creepy stories about haunted colleges and universities, in particular, Fisher Hall on the campus of Miami University. One of the stories from Miami is one I heard many years ago from someone who went to school there.
Other highlights were the stories about theaters, which for some reason are great ghost magnets everywhere.
An excellent choice for Halloween season reading!
September 27, 2023
I read this book a handful of times when I was younger, and recently found a used copy and decided to give it a reread. I enjoyed the nostalgia factor, and had a tremendous amount of fun picking out towns and even a few places (like the museum at the Wright-Patt base) that I've visited as an adult. For me, it was mostly like reading an interesting historical account of my home state, although some stories still brought shivers. I do find the author a bit overdramatic nowadays, but I also don't believe in ghosts, so make of that what you will. Overall, it's a quick and fun read.
July 15, 2025
Some ghost books will tell you a story and say "But we couldn't find any evidence of this, so this person is a liar who is desperate for attention". That's not one of these books.
Instead, this book even starts off with "Are these stories true? Perhaps. In spirit". Perfect, I'm in, 100%.
Another thing I appreciate is that short stories are collected in a chapter, which allows for many more stories to be told.
Instead, this book even starts off with "Are these stories true? Perhaps. In spirit". Perfect, I'm in, 100%.
Another thing I appreciate is that short stories are collected in a chapter, which allows for many more stories to be told.
October 4, 2017
I'm being awfully generous putting this on my "nonfiction" shelf here on Goodreads, but that's how the book's marketed. I read this in high school in Ohio, where I grew up, and thought it was interesting. I think I was probably expecting it to be scarier.
September 4, 2019
Chris Woodyard came to speak at Blanchester many times and discuss her spooky tales of Ohio. She has several Haunted Ohio books that are intriguing and fun to read no matter what age you are or if you believe in Ghosts.
February 25, 2022
This was a fairly standard book on regional hauntings. History and eyewitness accounts blend to provide insight into haunted places throughout the state. At times these accounts seemed too brief and seemed like more information was needed.
October 12, 2025
3.5, there were some fun stories in here but some of them felt tenuously connected to Ohio and other sections I couldn't care less about. I felt like it was really strangely put together too without an opportunity for investment in a lot of stories.
June 29, 2018
A not very well written anthology of ghost stories from around Ohio.
August 9, 2018
Fun read!
Being born and raised in Cincinnati and having lived all over Ohio, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Truly a fun collection of tales!
Being born and raised in Cincinnati and having lived all over Ohio, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Truly a fun collection of tales!
October 2, 2018
I like the book had a lot of facts to go with the stories and found it quiet interesting but hard to follow along in some parts.
October 10, 2018
A solid selection of Ohio-based ghost stories. Most effective was the very last, which moved from purported fact to total fiction, but made for fun reading. (B)
July 20, 2019
The author signed my copy of this at Fairview Park library in Cleveland, OH when I was a kid. He was a legend to me with these stories. I mean I am biased as an Ohioan.
January 23, 2020
love this series of books!
March 18, 2021
It's fun to read the actual stories that you hear about as kids.
Read
February 25, 2022It was a really good book but some of the stories were kinda boring so i rate it 4 stars because some could be better stories
October 21, 2022
Very neat recollection of haunted stories told by ohioians all throughout time.
February 12, 2023
Really interesting and well written!
July 27, 2023
Kind of just a random assortment of stories. Some are interesting but most are just kind of vague with little detail.
October 26, 2023
Nostalgic read for me. Not as good as I remembered, but I have the sequels and maybe they get better.
August 30, 2024
It’s a fun book! Especially if you’re from the buckeye state.
November 2, 2025
don't like the format, kind of choppy
November 12, 2019
Some of the stories are hard to believe but they are still interesting. There are some historical facts thrown in as well as a number of stories involving past presidents. Although most of the stories are brief, some are very fascinating.
February 13, 2008
This book was supposed to be a way to tell my little brother, Jack, spooky stories. But it ended up being too 'grown up' for him. It reminded me of those shows you see on t.v. with people visiting spooky locales going around with night vision looking for spirits.
The most far fetched story was of a clothier/museum exhibition where strange things were happening and the spirits of the dead people who were once owners of the clothes started turning up- and the author mentioned that it could happen because their skin cells were still in them. LUDI-CHRISTMAS!
The most far fetched story was of a clothier/museum exhibition where strange things were happening and the spirits of the dead people who were once owners of the clothes started turning up- and the author mentioned that it could happen because their skin cells were still in them. LUDI-CHRISTMAS!
August 10, 2014
Ok, the biggest reason this gets 5 stars versus some of the other titles in the series (which still got fours) is because my alma mater got a whole section in the chapter on haunted colleges and universities. Even though Kenyon is small, it has more than its fair share of ghosties. Enjoy!
All of these books are awesome compilations of local legends and ghosts, and Chris Woodyard definitely does her homework, by researching the stories and often visiting the sites. Would highly recommend to the ghost story lovers out there.
All of these books are awesome compilations of local legends and ghosts, and Chris Woodyard definitely does her homework, by researching the stories and often visiting the sites. Would highly recommend to the ghost story lovers out there.
May 9, 2010
All short stories, enjoyable, some are too short and need more expansion. At times the book feels as if they are attempting to fit in as many stories and instances of ghost sightings as possible, the focus on fitting in all areas of Ohio does not make for a good read. Instead it seems geared toward being able to say "I've been there" or "I live there." Plenty of interesting research, historical material and areas to follow up on.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews