Mercedes Yaeger, the author, runs ghost tours in the Pike Place Market at night. By combining history, journalism, research, and lore, Mercedes introduces the people of the Pike Place Market to the reader. Stories are about reported hauntings in the district but delve beyond just the reports. As one reader said "Very well researched and written, and I especially liked that it was not your "typical" ghost story book. It made the history of the area really come alive." Subject matters include not only the phenomenal but the very real and at times gruesome history of the northwest; murder, serial killers, and prostitution. While not graphic accounts, the stories are not for the very young. The Seattle Edition has gone through an edit to fix grammatical errors in the previous editions. Mercedes published her own book through the Market Ghost Tours and continues to fix and work the stories. The mission of her tours is: "To preserve the oral tradition and people's history of the Pike Place Market and, in doing so connect visitors to the individuals that have impacted the Market's growth." The book is an extension of that mission.
Mercedes Yaeger has grown up in the Pike Place Market. She runs a ghost tour at night through the Market, Market Ghost Tour. Her father, Michael Yaeger, is the honorary mayor of Pike Place. Her family owns Watercolors Fresh Daily, in the Atrium. Since the age of seven, Mercedes has been a member of the Market community.
Market Ghost Stories is a collection of ghost stories in the Pike Place Market. The book includes historical information about Seattle, archival photos, and paranormal occurrences in the Market.
Mercedes' resume includes documentary film work, voice overs, and ten years of being a tour guide in Seattle. Once an Assistant Producer for KCTS9, she has a passion for Public Television and has volunteered on camera as talent for the past five years during pledge drives. Mercedes and her team received an Emmy Nomination in 2005 for their work on The Perilous Fight; America's WWII In Color. She has traveled extensively and lived in New York City and Los Angeles before returning to Seattle, her permanent home. She loves the Pike Place Market, especially in the afternoons and evenings. She also enjoys weaving stories together with history and entertaining guests on the ghost tour.
A resident of Queen Anne Hill, Mercedes continues to give ghost tours in the Market. She also has written a new tour, The Seattle Lust Tour.
Mercedes has written for the Pike Place Market News, Seattle Metropolitan Magazine and maintains two blogs. Her first published work was a coloring book of the Pike Place Market for which she was both the author and illustrator. While she thinks of Market Ghost Stories as her first paperback, it is her second book about the Pike Place Market. The Pike Place Market Coloring Book is available through Amazon.com and at retail outlets, like Watercolors Fresh Daily, in Seattle.
