Today's guest is author, Pamela K Kinney and her book, Haunted Virginia ~ Legends, Myths and True Tales.
Pamela K. Kinney is an author of published horror, science fiction, fantasy, horror, poetry, and the nonfiction book, Haunted Richmond, Virginia, published by Schiffer Publishing, along with Haunted Virginia: Legends, Myths and True Tales coming May 2009 from Schiffer Publishing, too. Using the pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan, she has published erotic and sweet paranormal/fantasy/science fiction romance, also poetry and a couple of erotic horror stories. She also has done acting on stage and in films. She admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house and husband sometimes suffers for it!
Find out more about her at: http://fantasticdreams.50megs.com/ or at either of her MySpaces: http://www.myspace.com/PamelaKKinney and http://www.myspace.com/SapphirePhelan.
Richmond, Virginia is chock-full of ghosts and haunted places. This city names Edgar Allan Poe as its native son, and it is rich in ghostly lore, legends, and tales. Join this tour to:• Learn why Virginia's governor shares his mansion with ghosts;• Dine with ghosts at Ruth's Chris Steak House and Crab Louie's Seafood Tavern;• Discover that the Byrd Theatre has more than movies to offer customers;• Visit the prison in Powhatan (it might not be safe, even for those working there);• Call on the Lady in Red who roams the corridors at Wrexham Hall.These and other interesting and scary stories will transport you beyond, to a Richmond that most mortals never see! EXCERPT
Chapter One
Ghostly Legends and Myths
In every state, in fact, in every country around the world, there are
ghostly legends and folklore. Many are stories that are happening to
people today, but there are many others that happened in the past and
can not be authenticated. These are always told at sleep overs and at
summer camp, at Halloween parties, and on ghost tours, too. With the
Internet, many are posted in forums and on Web sites. Most of all, they
always seemed to happen to a friend of a friend!
The Ghost Makes Him Behave—Portsmouth
There is a story told on the annual Ghost Walk in Old Towne
Portsmouth each Halloween. Mike Hardy, an ex-Confederate soldier who
always bragged about how many Yankees he killed in the Civil War, actually
felt guilty for one death, a young drummer boy he shot in the back.
After the war, Hardy came back to Portsmouth and settled into a
life of carousing and lechery. Later, though, as he passed by St. Paul’s
Church one night, he felt a strong compulsion to ask forgiveness for his
sins. He entered the church and knelt. Just then, a voice behind him
uttered, “I have long forgiven you for what you did to me.”
Hardy whipped around and found himself face-to-face with the ghost
of the drummer boy. The boy said, “Change your ways, Mike Hardy, or
you won’t be able to go where I am now.” The ghost disappeared.
Chastened—or more likely scared—Mike Hardy changed his life
around and became an upstanding citizen. It is said that when he was
dying, he smiled and said he saw the Yankee drummer boy waiting to
take him away.
Noisy Ghost-Varina
In the Varina Battlefield Cemetery, there is a cemetery on the right
that has a very strange ghost lurking around the graves. He watches over
the cemetery and the rumor goes that there’s a water fountain in the
yard. And if you drink from it, this spirit will make noises and sometimes
throw things at you. He is believed to be a Confederate solder.
Haunted Theatre—Norfolk
Teddy Skylar of Ghost FIRE Haunts paranormal group (http://www.
ghostfirehaunts.com/) told me that there’s a legend about a theatre
(the theatre does not want their name used) in Norfolk. In the very
early days of the theatre, a stage hand named Ned tripped and fell
from the rafters. He was accidentally hung and died. People claim to
still see him back stage.
There is also a story in the same theatre about a small boy who fell
from of the number 3 box seat, stage right. The child has been seen
in the box, but only for a moment.
Lost in a Cave—Somewhere in Virginia
Along the New River, a local man found a cave and entered it in
the mid 1900s. He became lost and did not get out for several days.
Upon returning home, it was said that his hair had turned gray from
his experience. He would never talk of what happened in the cave,
except to say that no one would believe what he saw.
Haunted Statue and Mural at Virginia Military Institute-Lexington
On the campus of Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, there are
written accounts that tears are seen falling down the bronze face of the
Sir Moses Ezekiel’s statue of “Virginia Mourning Her Dead.” It is said
that the statue may be mourning over the graves of the teen-aged VMI
cadets who died in the Battle of New Market during the Civil War.
The statue isn’t the only spooky VMI occurrence. A cadet—locked
up by accident in Jackson Memorial Hall—claimed that not only did
he see figures moving on a large mural of the same battle and flashes
of gunfire, but he also heard sounds.
Worried Mother—Amherst
The story goes that a family bought an old farm and moved in.
While the husband was out plowing and the wife had just completed
her milking chores, the wife found a woman in black standing at the
basement door, crying. Then the woman vanished. This happened for
three days to the frightened farmer’s wife. She told her husband and
he told her that next time to ask what the woman wanted.
So when it happened to her again, she asked what was wrong. The
ghost looked at her and said that in the field the farmer was plowing,
her two children had been buried and she feared they would be dug up.
The ghost told the woman that there was money she had hidden in the
basement. She told her to take it and buy some tombstones for the two
graves, that there would be plenty left over. The wife found the money
as told. Then she and her husband discovered the two graves. They
put a fence around the graves and marked them with special stones.
Though the farmer and his wife never said how much had been found,
afterwards they looked like a couple of considerable means.
Ghostly Legends and Myths
In every state, in fact, in every country around the world, there are
ghostly legends and folklore. Many are stories that are happening to
people today, but there are many others that happened in the past and
can not be authenticated. These are always told at sleep overs and at
summer camp, at Halloween parties, and on ghost tours, too. With the
Internet, many are posted in forums and on Web sites. Most of all, they
always seemed to happen to a friend of a friend!
The Ghost Makes Him Behave—Portsmouth
There is a story told on the annual Ghost Walk in Old Towne
Portsmouth each Halloween. Mike Hardy, an ex-Confederate soldier who
always bragged about how many Yankees he killed in the Civil War, actually
felt guilty for one death, a young drummer boy he shot in the back.
After the war, Hardy came back to Portsmouth and settled into a
life of carousing and lechery. Later, though, as he passed by St. Paul’s
Church one night, he felt a strong compulsion to ask forgiveness for his
sins. He entered the church and knelt. Just then, a voice behind him
uttered, “I have long forgiven you for what you did to me.”
Hardy whipped around and found himself face-to-face with the ghost
of the drummer boy. The boy said, “Change your ways, Mike Hardy, or
you won’t be able to go where I am now.” The ghost disappeared.
Chastened—or more likely scared—Mike Hardy changed his life
around and became an upstanding citizen. It is said that when he was
dying, he smiled and said he saw the Yankee drummer boy waiting to
take him away.
Noisy Ghost-Varina
In the Varina Battlefield Cemetery, there is a cemetery on the right
that has a very strange ghost lurking around the graves. He watches over
the cemetery and the rumor goes that there’s a water fountain in the
yard. And if you drink from it, this spirit will make noises and sometimes
throw things at you. He is believed to be a Confederate solder.
Haunted Theatre—Norfolk
Teddy Skylar of Ghost FIRE Haunts paranormal group (http://www.
ghostfirehaunts.com/) told me that there’s a legend about a theatre
(the theatre does not want their name used) in Norfolk. In the very
early days of the theatre, a stage hand named Ned tripped and fell
from the rafters. He was accidentally hung and died. People claim to
still see him back stage.
There is also a story in the same theatre about a small boy who fell
from of the number 3 box seat, stage right. The child has been seen
in the box, but only for a moment.
Lost in a Cave—Somewhere in Virginia
Along the New River, a local man found a cave and entered it in
the mid 1900s. He became lost and did not get out for several days.
Upon returning home, it was said that his hair had turned gray from
his experience. He would never talk of what happened in the cave,
except to say that no one would believe what he saw.
Haunted Statue and Mural at Virginia Military Institute-Lexington
On the campus of Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, there are
written accounts that tears are seen falling down the bronze face of the
Sir Moses Ezekiel’s statue of “Virginia Mourning Her Dead.” It is said
that the statue may be mourning over the graves of the teen-aged VMI
cadets who died in the Battle of New Market during the Civil War.
The statue isn’t the only spooky VMI occurrence. A cadet—locked
up by accident in Jackson Memorial Hall—claimed that not only did
he see figures moving on a large mural of the same battle and flashes
of gunfire, but he also heard sounds.
Worried Mother—Amherst
The story goes that a family bought an old farm and moved in.
While the husband was out plowing and the wife had just completed
her milking chores, the wife found a woman in black standing at the
basement door, crying. Then the woman vanished. This happened for
three days to the frightened farmer’s wife. She told her husband and
he told her that next time to ask what the woman wanted.
So when it happened to her again, she asked what was wrong. The
ghost looked at her and said that in the field the farmer was plowing,
her two children had been buried and she feared they would be dug up.
The ghost told the woman that there was money she had hidden in the
basement. She told her to take it and buy some tombstones for the two
graves, that there would be plenty left over. The wife found the money
as told. Then she and her husband discovered the two graves. They
put a fence around the graves and marked them with special stones.
Though the farmer and his wife never said how much had been found,
afterwards they looked like a couple of considerable means.
Ooohhh, erie....what better way to usher in October? LOL!
Well Friends, hope you enjoy this spotlight. Stay tuned every week for more interesting authors and their fabulous books!
Until later....take care, be blessed and remember....Love is a Choice.
Pamela S Thibodeaux
"Inspirational with an Edge!" (tm)
5 comments:
Didn't we all love to be scared to death as kids!
Oooh, your stories sound fascinating. I had chills just reading the excerpt and the blurb.
Wow, a ton of research must have gone into digging up all these ghost stories.
Nice job!
Thanks. Sorry, I didn't get back until now, but saturday in the real world offline was a bad day and Sunday was the same--both had book signings.
I love doing the research and footwork on these books. I actually learn things I never know before too.
Fun topic, and your book cover is a hoot!
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