People who strive for fame and fortune want to be known. As celebrities, they long to be recognized and admired, even become household names, whether they are movie stars, musicians, writers, politicians, world leaders, fashion models, filmmakers, athletes, or even business leaders and entrepreneurs. From actors to astronauts, senators to starlets, and rock stars to rocket scientists, the world loves a celebrity who has achieved greatness in their field, even if their only claim to fame is fame itself. In today’s Internet-obsessed world, anyone can acquire celebrity status with a popular video account or by posting tons of selfies on social networking. And the public eats it up!
We even love famous places, whether they have a historical past or are popular as tourist spots. It might be a local bar, a regional theme park or a national monument popularized via Internet review sites, word-of-mouth or social networking. If the place is said to be haunted, the public interest skyrockets, giving the location itself celebrity, even legendary, status.
Therefore, it makes sense that those people who were well-known in life are also well-known in death. From movie stars of the silent movie era to past presidents, celebrated individuals sometimes become celebrity ghosts, and they haunt their homes, workplaces, and burial places. In turn, those places become famous, even notorious, depending on who and what is haunting it!
No matter where we live, there is sure to be a haunted house that once belonged to a famous figure nearby. Perhaps a movie star of old whose figure is reported hanging out in their old digs, refusing to let go and move on, wanting only to be a star in death as they were in life. Maybe the local steakhouse sits upon a Native American burial ground and is riddled with spirits, becoming the new favorite hot spot of local ghost-hunting groups. Or the downtown courthouse is said to be visited by the ghost of a judge who was shot by a criminal he sent to prison for murder. These ghosts and ghostly places become famous on a local, regional, and national level based upon facts and real people and events, taking on a bigger-than-life quality just as celebrities themselves do.
Because we still don’t know for certain what happens to us after we die, we like to think a part of us lives on forever in some form. This applies to the celebrities and famous figures we love or despise, as the case may be. Even their homes and hangouts become the stuff of legends, as do the cemeteries in which they are buried, the institutions and hospitals in which they died, and the places with which they were most associated such as a battlefield, a bank, a bar, a bistro, or a ballpark.
From famous faces to famous places, Celebrity Ghosts and Notorious Hauntings documents the many hauntings that involve celebrities and well-known people and locations, including those deemed more “notorious” than famous (think of Lizzie Borden and her penchant for axes, or the hotel on which horror author Stephen King based The Shining, or ghosts of executed murderers and serial killers). Fame doesn’t always mean something out of Hollywood, but this book also documents haunted movie sets and experiences actors and actresses had while making some of the most well-known horror movies of our time.
We will also look at the famous people themselves who have seen or experienced ghostly apparitions and things that go bump in the night. Every year, more and more celebrities and famous folks come forward with their sometimes terrifying, inexplicable stories of encounters with spiritual entities. From senators and presidents to rock stars and movie stars, famed figures experience the paranormal, too. Some are brave enough to allow their experiences to be made public, despite backlash from skeptics and nonbelievers. But famous people lend a credibility that normal people do not, whether the witness is someone on a popular television show or the mayor of a large city. We give extra weight to the astronaut who reports a UFO, do we not?
But the paranormal doesn’t discriminate based on popularity, income level, or career choices. Just as someone’s Aunt Jolene or Uncle Barney can haunt the old family homestead, it also makes sense that Elvis might be walking the halls of Graceland, President Lincoln drops in for a ghostly visit of the White House, and Lizzie Borden can be seen floating down the halls of the house where she supposedly gave her mother forty chops with an axe.
Before we explore famous ghosts and ghost witnesses, we take a look at the subject of ghosts and hauntings in general because there are many different types of hauntings people report. Some ghosts know we are there, watching and observing them. Others have no awareness of us or even their own surroundings. Some appear only as voices on a tape recorder, which is known as the Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP).
Some of the questions this book will explore include: What is a ghost? An apparition? A poltergeist? Is there any scientific basis for the existence of ghosts? How do they manifest in our reality if they are the spirits of the dead? Is it possible they are something else entirely? What qualifies as a haunted location?
If it involves fame and celebrity, fortune and notoriety, legend and lore, this book will cover it. Our fascination for celebrity is only matched, if not surpassed, by our fascination with the paranormal and supernatural. Celebrity Ghosts and Notorious Hauntings combines the best, and spookiest, of both worlds.
Now a note from the author because chances are someone will complain that their favorite haunted location or ghostly sighting wasn’t mentioned. Authors are given specific word or page counts they must stick to when writing. While it has been this author’s quest to present as much of a variety of celebrity ghosts and notorious hauntings as possible, it is impossible for every single one out there to fit in one book. Or ten. Or fifty! Not to mention the fact that this book focuses on hauntings in the United States, but with a few international cases included for good measure. If a favorite or popular place or case was left out, it was simply because the author ran out of pages. Please be assured that the contents of this book are not comprehensive, but they will give the reader a broad and amazing taste of what is out there.
Let’s go exploring.…