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| Ghostly Encounters: True Stories of America's Haunted Inns and Hotels | 
 enlarge | Author: Frances Kermeen
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $1.97
You Save: $6.02 (75%)
Buy New/Used from $1.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  (10 reviews)
Sales Rank: 275591
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.1 x 1
ISBN: 044661145X
Dewey Decimal Number: 001
EAN: 9780446611459
ASIN: 044661145X
Publication Date: October 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Frances Kermeen bought the Myrtles Plantation of St Francisville LA with the dream of turning the historic site into a cozy inn. But she was shocked to discover that the property was haunted. Instead of losing customers, however, business exploded. Since then, Kermeen has travelled to over 150 haunted inns and hotels throughout the US and collected some of the creepiest ghost stories ever told - and they're all true. Readers will enter the Oatman Hotel, where the distinct outline of a man, once murdered in the room, remains imprinted on the sheets - no matter how many times the maids change them. And in the garden of the Myrtles Plantation, two little girls, who were poisoned there in 1824, are often seen playing. Packed with chilling stories, GHOSTLY ENCOUNTERS is filled with practical information for anyone who dares to spend a night in a haunted house.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 I can vouch for my account, which is in the book November 20, 2008
The story of the Brookdale Lodge in California I can vouch for: it's my story. I met with Frances Kermeen and recounted my experience with the ghost of the little girl, it was the strangest event of my life.
-Jim Mangin
Good and spooky!! Frances is a great writer September 26, 2007
Great stories, written well and keep your interest. A definite keeper for your collection! The only bad thing is I wish it were longer.
Definitely True Spooky Stuff June 16, 2006
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Yet another example of Ms. Kermeen's talent for scaring up a terrific true account for her readers. Written in a breezy, informative and oh so fun style, this is a keeper. In my estimation, Ms. Kermeen is one of the top writers in the field today. No one does it better!
Oh Yes! She ranks right alongside Troy Taylor, Leslie Rule and their ilk.
 Not Reliable June 6, 2006
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
Ms. Kermeen's information on The Myrtles is seriously flawed. Sarah Mathilda was not murdered. She died from yellow fever (according to historical record) on July 21, 1823. Her children, a son and a daughter - not 2 daughters - died July 15, 1824 (James - yellow fever) and September 16, 1824 (Cornelia Gale - yellow fever). They certainly did not die from the result of poison. The 3rd child, Octavia, lived much longer, got married, and moved to another plantation with her husband. Another example is the story of William Winter. Winter was indeed murdered on the front porch by an unknown assailant but after being shot, he immediately fell down and died. On January 26, 1871, while going over a Sunday School lesson with his young son in the men's parlor, Winter heard a man ride up on horseback and call out to him. It seemed the man was wanting to talk with the attorney over some matter. When Winter went out to see who this was, he was shot. The people inside the house rushed out to find him dead on the gallery. This was reported in the Point Coupee Newspaper. His bloody trip through the house never took place --- information that was easily found in historical records. (This, by the way, is the only verifiable murder to take place in the house.)
If Ms. Kermeen could have written so much erroneous information about a house that she actually lived in for so many years, how much more could she have gotten wrong about the other locations in this book?
Other information in the book is incorrect, also. Another reviewer says "There are some historical errors in this book that I hope will be corrected if there are any further printings. The author has a real problem with dates, especially those pertaining to the Civil War and these errors are grievous enough to cost the book a star. Having visited these places she writes about, her facts should have been more accurate."
I bought this book about the same time that I got her other book. After finding so many colossal inaccuracies in both books, I can't trust either one.
NOT TRUE June 6, 2006
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
The information is inaccurate according to historical records. Many readers may be familiar with the story of The Myrtles. It's a classic ghost story and one that has been featured in books, in magazines and on television literally dozens of times. The problem is that not a word of it is true! The Myrtles, according to hundreds of people who have encountered the unexplained here, is haunted -- but not for the reasons that we have all been told. I would suggest reading "A Ghost Hunter's Guidebook" (Third Edition) by Troy Taylor and "So There I Was... More Confessions of Ghost Hunters" by Troy Taylor and Len Adams for more information on The Myrtles. You can also do a search on the internet for "The Legends, Lore and Lies of The Myrtles Plantation" for starters. Or, if you're ever in St. Francisville, you can go to the courthouse and the historical society and check through the records yourself. For instance, Sarah Mathilda and two of her children were not murdered. She died from yellow fever (according to historical record) in 1823. Her children, a son and a daughter - not both daughters, died about a year after she did in 1824 (both from yellow fever). As has been said more than once - "when the legend is better than the truth, print the legend". This is an adage that has been closely followed by the Myrtles, misleading hundreds of ghost hunters and enthusiasts over the years. Having lived in this house for many years, Ms. Kermeen's facts should have been more accurate. I do not discount the paranormal activity at The Myrtles - just the legends that surround them.
This quote is from a booklet about The Myrtles:
"James and Frances Kermeen Meyers passed through St. Francisville in the 1980s on a riverboat cruise and while visiting purchased the Myrtles. The Meyers ownership coincided neatly with the then-current fad of "Murder Mystery Weekends" in which local historians and surviving family members say that history was rewritten in a manner they consider "disgraceful"."
If you're interested in true ghost stories, read books by Troy Taylor. He's written quite a few....or "Mysterious America: The Revised Edition" by Loren Coleman.
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