Did something move by itself in the room? What were those loud noises down the dark hallway? Perhaps you are in one of the Most Haunted Places in America where chilling secrets lurk inside creepy, haunting walls.
#10 Lemp Mansion, St.Louis, MO
The Lemp family committed suicide there with Charles Lemp the last and the only one who left a note. He said he’d shot himself in bed. People who’ve stayed here see ghosts and other unexplained physical activity like moving objects. Creepy!
#9 Winchester House, San Jose, CO
When William Winchester and his daughter died, widow Sarah built the house to get rid of evil spirits. She held séances so her dead husband could help to design the home. The bizarre place ended up full of twists and turns, doors and staircases that lead nowhere, a complete maze almost with no end or relief. One visitor reported: “I felt someone pulling on my hair. I thought it was my brother so it didn’t bug me. In the next room I felt my ponytail holder break for no reason (it was new) then when I was in Sarah’s room I felt my hair being brushed ... the brush in midair.” She heard the words, ‘do not hide your hair from me.’
#8 Myrtle Plantation, New Orleans, LA
Since 1794, the house has had about ten murders within its walls so bad luck and murdered spooks abound like past resident, now ghost, a former slave named Chloe. Also frequently spotted in a stairway mirror, a young girl chants voodoo over people that sleep in her room.
#7 Bell Witch Cave, Adams, TN
Around 1817, John Bell’s started seeing weird unexplained animals wondering the property. Physical apparitions and strange noises began to arise like knocks on doors, scratches on walls, animals chewing on posts. The frightened Bells concluded it came from Kate, “the bell’s witch,” a horrid spirit who physically abused the Bells, from pulling hair to pinching.
#6 Old Slave House, Sterling IL
In 1842, John Hart Crenshaw kidnapped free slaves, forced them to work in his salt mines, locked them in the attic and tortured them. A dozen cells opened to a wide corridor and small rooms with bars on the windows. A whipping post was constantly in use and many of the slaves died. Years later, people report hearing strange noises in the attic and rattling chain throughout the house. An exorcist Hickman Whittington wrote about the house. He was in great health when he came to visit it but took ill that night and died hours later. The Old Slave House website now reads: “NO TOURS ALLOWED, The site is currently closed and trespassers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It is heavily patrolled and readers are advised to stay away from the property until further notice.”
#5 Whaley House, San Diego, CA
An official Haunted House, the first ghost was James “Yankee Jim” Robinson, hanged in 1852 on the property. Supposedly after the Whaley family moved in, they heard loud footsteps moving around and four family members died there. Anna Whaley’s ghosts haunts it -- visitors report visions of a woman in the courtroom. Her great granddaughter accidentally ingested ant poison and died while visiting. She haunts the dining room -- women and girls feel tugs on their clothing or grabbing of their hands or legs. A spirit of a dog is also seen, mostly by children, and licks people’s toes or legs.
#4 The White House, Washington DC
Apparently Richard Nixon isn’t the only former president who didn’t want to move out. Some dead ones decided to stay too.
Abe Lincoln, the most active presidential ghost, was been seen by Eleanor Roosevelt, Queen Wilhelmina, Winston Churchhill and Calvin Coolidge’s wife often saw Abe standing at the Oval Office window with his hands clasped behind his back staring at Civil War battlefields. Others who refuse to move out and on? Presidents Harrison and Andrew Jackson and First Lady Abigail Adams, who floats the hallways.
#3 Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, CO
Workers hear party noises in the ballroom when it’s empty. Some ghosts steal guests’ belongings. While changing film for a ghosthunter show, a table flew two feet in the air.
#2 Amityville Ville House, Long Island, NY
Originally used to hold mentally ill Native Americans, even before the Defeaos were murdered inside, this house was a cage for troubled souls. Kat and George Lutz moved into the house after the murders and saw many ghosts. Their toilet water turned black, smells started to permeate the house, strange noises came from different rooms, objects fell off shelves without a human force.
#1 Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery, Chicago, IL
The website states: “Many have seen it for themselves and many have heard its legends. For some, it is a place of happiness. Where family would once have picnics and swim in its pond, remembering their lost loved ones. For others, it is a place of sorrow and amazement. Where people see balls of light floating among them and human forms appear only to vanish before their eyes.”
Like most haunted sites, you can tour this cemetery. Across the country, ghost tours abound so discover for yourself what ghost lurk in haunted America. Do you have a ghost story to share? We’d love to hear from you!
What
Happens In Venice
Book
Two
Diana
Cachey
ISBN-13: 978-1500334529
ISBN-10: 1500334529
LCCN: 2014911793
Number of pages: 160
Word Count: 40,000
Tagline:
As Interpol expert Louisa
Mangotti is learning, ghosts watch over Venice. Can she trust them—or her
ex-lover—when spirits offer confusing clues to solve a double murder in this
sexy paranormal mystery?
Book
Description:
Lagoon Lure resumes the story of
Interpol expert Louisa Mangotti’s Venetian exploits and the paranormal assisted
murder investigation she began in Love Spirits.
Still unnerved by the notion that
Venetian ghosts are real, Louisa delves further into the deaths of two
glassmakers while juggling the lustful manipulations of her ex-lover, Matteo,
whose role in the murders grows murkier.
Meanwhile Louisa's usually shy
sister, Barbara, explores her newfound sexuality with Venice's willing men,
sharing her adventures with her sister but keeping one particularly mysterious
man a secret.
When Louisa's best friend,
"Rouge," arrives for Carnival to sample its masked men, she
complicates the situation further by encouraging the sisters to embrace the
pleasures of Venice.
Paranormal clues and apparitions
lead Louisa deeper into the lagoon and she is forced to reluctantly enlist
Matteo’s support. Can she trust him, or will this ghostly lagoon lure prove
deadly?
Back
Cover Copy:
Venice has its ghosts. They haunt
its byways and canals. They linger on its numerous bridges and waft through its
beautiful architecture—and they've taken a definite interest in Interpol expert
Louisa Mangotti.
In Lagoon Lure, Louisa continues
investigating the murder of two glassmakers she began in Love Spirits. Guided
by clues sent from otherworldly sources, she struggles to determine what role
her seductive ex-lover Matteo played in the deaths, constantly tempted by his
handsome looks, his charm, and the volatile chemistry between them.
While Louisa is led by the ghosts
to a sunken ship in the murky lagoon, her sister, Barbara, and best friend,
"Rouge," embark on their own carnal explorations of Venice, sampling
the men who flock to Carnival.
EXCERPT #2 (1000 words):
Once they reached the dive site,
Matteo, ever the expert captain, dropped anchor and secured it. He even
politely and patiently walked Barbara through some boat safety issues. After
suiting up, Louisa glanced back at Barbara and again saw that faint look of
pleasure on her face. Her three-way on Lido did something to that girl, thought
Louisa before she rolled back over the side of the boat and into the cold
Adriatic waters. She gave the signal to begin their descent. As Louisa grabbed the rope to pull
herself down to the shipwreck, barnacles cut her fingers and small fibers stung
her palms. She cursed herself for forgetting her dive gloves. Given the icy
water, it was a stupid mistake. She winced from the pain as she pictured her
gloves lying dormant on the hearth, where she left them drying after
yesterday’s dive, her first ever in the murky waters of the Venice lagoon.
Matteo, her dive buddy, was entering the water behind her so she had to move
fast down the rope despite the pain in her hands.
Finally her fins
hit the wreck and with algae billowing up, she lowered herself down. From
extensive research of the vessel, they learned that entry would be easiest at
the cargo hold area but in near zero visibility she couldn’t see either the bow
or stern. She needed to reorient based on rope slack but Matteo was already
descending it. So with little time to waste, she used her injured hands to negotiate
the wreck. Silt filtered through her fingers, gently coated her hands and
washed across her face. She brushed it off her dive mask, tucking loose strands
of blonde hair back into her hood.
She found an
open hatch and looked back to check on Matteo before penetrating the wreck. She
could barely see him. Matteo’s careless movements had stirred up quite a bit
more algae and she began to seriously question her decision to dive with him
today. Yet anticipation and curiosity
called her into the wreck anyway. Once inside the enclosed, clouded space, she
waited for Matteo and tried to quiet her nerves.
During those few
minutes, she felt a rush of nausea. Her intuition urged her not to dive with
Matteo, an inexperienced diver and someone who could not be trusted to think
soundly on land. Ignoring her intuition, she refused to let it stop her from
diving today. It wasn’t the first time she had trusted him to her dismay. When Matteo joined her inside the wreck,
they entered the main cabin where visibility was marginally better. Scouring
the sunken boat for details, she recorded it foot by foot by mapping it on her
slates.
Barely
recognizable broken benches lie next to tables on their sides, earmarks of a
once lively galley. The eerie scene reminded her why she loved diving wrecks --
their human element. She thought about
the last meal this ship might have served. Fish crackling on the stove with the
scent of garlic in the air. Their
dive plan was to find the main cabin then separate to search for the bridge
where most likely would also be the captain’s quarters. They signaled each
other to confirm the plan was on and it was ok to go. She, the more experienced
and better-trained diver, would enter a small opening into a confined
compartment and she turned to swim toward it. Matteo motioned he’d explore the
opposite end, near a large gaping hole in the wreck, an area where you could
view the open sea and a school of sardines swirling about.
Matteo had no
intention of continuing directly to the bridge and when he was sure Louisa had
entered the confined compartment at the opposite end of the ship, he cased the
area. His eyes darted around the room, scanning it quickly, his breath slowed
and instinctively and continuously he looked around and behind him. Spying some
interesting cabinetry and being familiar with boats, he realized he was in the
galley, began to look for drawers and instantly spotted one. He struggled for a
few seconds to open it then grabbed his knife and swung it ferociously at the
drawer until it relented.
Well, well, what
wealth was waiting underwater to welcome me, he mused when he discovered the
drawer was full of eating utensils made of what appeared to be fine silver. Not much time, lucky he was good at
what he did. Anyone on this boat won’t miss their treasure; he thought and then
yanked the drawer out, dumped the contents into his mesh bag and tossed the
drawer aside.
Next his
attention moved to what would have been the floor. The wreck being slightly
tilted on its side, he knew to look for its lowest point, logically knowing
that this is where any heavier objects would have come to rest. His sharp
vision, trained by years of thieving and fishing, caught a glimpse of sparkle
amidst the soot. His hands carefully siphoned through the settled silt and he
slowly lifted an old gold chain. He kissed it thinking, my dear darling, I am
so sorry you had to sleep here alone all of these years, but now that I found
you I will take very good care of you, and he placed it gleefully in a zippered
pocket.
A small creature
moving in the corner drew his attention. A tiny crab pulled stones and coral
pieces one by one into its den, a hole in the wall. He remembered Louisa holed
up in a small compartment alone. At
the opposite end of the ship, Louisa had been attempting to move carefully and
nervously through several confined cabins much smaller than she had imagined
they’d be. It was awful. She pictured the eerie scene, the city of Venice only
eighty feet above her, but with visibility and confinement closing in on her,
it felt more like being hundreds, even, thousands, of feet at the bottom of the
ocean.
Back near the
bridge, Matteo spotted what looked to be bones, possibly human bones. He
stepped away from them, not out of fear, but out of respect. He was an honest
thief; he would never take those off the ship. So he knelt and crossed himself
next to their grave, undisturbed but by the changing currents and sea life.
Love Spirits
What Happens In Venice
Book One
Diana Cachey
Genre: Romance/paranormal.
ISBN: 1481031767
ISBN: 9781481031769
Number of pages: 160
Word Count: 40,000
Tagline: Among the romantic canals of Venice—and oh so many Italian distractions—can a stunning American lawyer and her psychic sister help the Ghosts of Venice solve a hushed-up crime?
Book Description:
Louisa Mangotti is a gorgeous American lawyer and Interpol expert who, after being offered a job working with the international crime unit in Venice, receives a mysterious postcard from the Venetian Ghosts, the ancient protectors of the Republic. But Louisa assumes her bad-boy ex, Matteo, sent it in a quixotic attempt to gain her attention. Louisa may have dismissed the ghosts, but the ghosts aren’t quite done with her.
When the bodies of two glassmakers wash up on Murano Island, the cryptic messages persist. Reluctantly, Louisa calls upon Matteo to help decipher the clues. And before she knows it, a flame that was never fully extinguished is rekindled. Sensing that her sister is in over her head, Barbara Mangotti rushes to the rescue, only to be lured away by two handsome Venetian men.
With time running out, can the two beauties solve a crime that could threaten the city of Venice itself?
Available at Createspace
Available at Createspace
About the Author:
Diana Cachey is a licensed attorney, published academic, and former adjunct law professor. She also holds a BA in English, and while in law school, she was the first female editor-in-chief of her university's law review.
The author of the novels Love Spirits and Lagoon Lure, Cachey trained with several New York Times best-selling writers whose sales total more than 70 million books. She has built a social media platform with over one hundred thousand Twitter users, and her popular YouTube channel featuring secret Venice locations has received over five hundred thousand views.
For more than a decade, Cachey has traveled to Venice, the setting of her novels, on extended trips several times a year. The cafés, restaurants, and many other haunts of Venice play a prominent role in her sexy paranormal mystery-romance series about a beautiful American lawyer guided by the Ghosts of Venice in the investigation of a hushed-up crime.
The author of the novels Love Spirits and Lagoon Lure, Cachey trained with several New York Times best-selling writers whose sales total more than 70 million books. She has built a social media platform with over one hundred thousand Twitter users, and her popular YouTube channel featuring secret Venice locations has received over five hundred thousand views.
For more than a decade, Cachey has traveled to Venice, the setting of her novels, on extended trips several times a year. The cafés, restaurants, and many other haunts of Venice play a prominent role in her sexy paranormal mystery-romance series about a beautiful American lawyer guided by the Ghosts of Venice in the investigation of a hushed-up crime.
@dianacachey
September 15 Spotlight
Sapphyria's Book Reviews
September 16 Spotlight
The Wormhole
September 17 Spotlight
Deal Sharing Aunt
September 18 Spotlight and review
Christy Herself!
September 19 Guest blog
Valerie Twombly
September 22 Guest Post
Mythical Books
September 23 Guest blog and review
Between The Pages
September 25 Guest blog and review
The Book Carousel
September 26 Spotlight and review
A Cup of Tea & A Big Book
September 30 Guest blog
The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom
October 1 Spotlight
Lisa’s World of Books
October 2 Spotlight
Roxanne’s Realm
October 3 Guest blog
Fang-tastic Books
October 6 Spotlight
A Night’s Dream of Books
http://anightsdreamofbooks.blogspot.com/
October 6 Spotlight
Sizzling Book Blog
http://chelssizzle.blogspot.com/
October 6 Spotlight
Sizzling Book Blog
http://chelssizzle.blogspot.com/
October 7 Spotlight
Fang Freakin Tastic Reviews
October 8 Guest blog
Sister Sinister Speaks
October 9 Interview and review
Kinky Vanilla Romance
October 9 Review
Paranormal Romance and Authors That Rock
October 10 Spotlight
Inner Goddess
October 10 Review
Deb Sanders
October 13 Guest blog
Flutey Words
