The Myrtles Plantation: The True Story of America's Most Haunted House [Mass Market Paperback]

Frances Kermeen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005

Broken clocks tick...beds rise in the air...paintings fly across the room...locked doors fling open...crystal chandeliers shake...heavy footsteps and eerie piano music sound in the dead of night-and that's just for starters. Welcome to the Myrtles Long recognized as America's most haunted house both by parapsychologists and the media, The Myrtles is a twenty-eight-room Louisiana bed-and-breakfast once owned by Frances Kermeen. In this spine-tingling chronicle, Frances tells the story of how she was drawn to this former plantation mansion, its bone-chilling history, and the incredible encounters of the ghostly kind she had that forever changed her beliefs about the supernatural-and just may change yours. Along with the sometimes terrifying, sometimes benevolent hauntings, her years at The Myrtles also brought death threats from the Ku Klux Klan, the tragic loss of friends, a catastrophic betrayal, and other personal challenges. They would all converge with the paranormal phenomena around her into one cataclysmic event...

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; Reprint edition (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446614157
• ISBN-13: 978-0446614153
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #382,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Occult > Ghosts & Haunted Houses
  • #14 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Reincarnation
  • #21 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Occult > Supernatural

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Plantation Phantoms, February 5, 2005

By 

Dennis Phillips "The Book Friar" (Bulls Gap, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Myrtles Plantation: The True Story of America's Most Haunted House (Mass Market Paperback)

Being just a little skeptical of The Myrtles I mainly picked up this book because I very much enjoyed this author's previous book filled with ghost accounts from across the country. Now that I have read this book which is written with such sincere conviction and forthright honesty I am convinced that The Myrtles is indeed a very haunted place.

Frances Kermeen and her husband Jim bought The Myrtles in 1980 with the intent of being innkeepers and they appear to have been very successful in that enterprise. So successful in fact that they had several guests that just wouldn't leave. As she relates the story of her often frightening experiences at The Myrtles Ms. Kermeen come across as one of the most sincere authors that I have come across when reading this type of book. She holds nothing back and gives the reader the whole story no matter how hard it must have been for her to write about. Interestingly it is this author who finds out that some of the legends surrounding the plantation are incorrect and through much hard work she pieces together what really happened which actually may have pacified some of the spirits.

What happened to the author and her family and friends at The Myrtles is so fascinating that I basically read this book in one sitting. Just like a great novelist, Ms. Kermeen manages to make the reader really begin to care about the people in the story and one begins to worry about what may happen to them next and it becomes very hard to put this book down. The only negative to be found in this book is the author's sometimes-condescending attitude toward Southern traditions regarding marriage and manners. That type of attitude is why we Southerners are so leery of people who move in from other parts of the country but this small foible takes very little away from the book as a whole. This author's first book was quite good but I have never seen any author's writing skill improve so much between first and second books. I am sure that the personal feeling that she poured into this book will make it a classic for years to come.

If you wonder what it is like to live with ghosts or if you just like a good ghost story then this is a book you will definitely want to read. The story of The Myrtles will make you laugh, cry and duck your head under the bed covers. I hope that Ms. Kermeen will continue her research into the supernatural and will give us many, many more books like this one. This is very close to being the perfect ghost story book.

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Look over your shoulder, February 17, 2005

By 

Sandy Rhoad "Insatiable reader" (Branchville, SC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Myrtles Plantation: The True Story of America's Most Haunted House (Mass Market Paperback)

Don't read this in bed, alone, at night. If even half of the sightings are true I want to book a flight to Louisiana NOW. I have seen many stories on TV about the ghosts at this plantation. The book just added the icing to the cake of shivers. It is worth the read - and seems worth the price of the trip. Keep this one on your table for rainy nights and candles.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like it lots, December 7, 2006

By 

Mayberry (South Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Myrtles Plantation: The True Story of America's Most Haunted House (Mass Market Paperback)

I usually read reviews before buying but I'm glad I didn't in this case since there are one or two thumbs down here that might have put me off. IMO the fact the book is the story of the author's relationship with the house (a haunted antebellum plantation in La.) and its effect on her personal relationships is fascinating and the fact that the place wreaked havoc on her marriage, that her husband seemed to be "overshadowed" by whatever disturbed, blinkered or sinister forces are at work in the place, is quite interesting since personal imbroglios often seem to be the reason the troubled spirits remain locked in residence at the myrtles.

The author's depiction of an interplay between the endlessly looping ghosts and contemporary residents or guests is intriguing, and one of the reasons I was sorry to come to the end of the book. Could reenactment of their ancient dramas bring some catharsis? Who knows, but it's an idea that appeals to one's desire for a happy ending, or at least a lifting of misery.

It's written in an unpretentious style that I think works and you get the feeling you would like the author, who comes across as a trustworthy narrator, even though I kept asking myself why in the world anybody would stay in a place that creepy when they were scared out of their wits; for instance calling a laundry list of candidates to stay over when alone at night (yes there is humor)--the answer of course is that when you make such a big commitment to something, whether a philandering husband or a haunted plantation, it's hard to walk away.

The descriptions of the South, esp. small town life, food, food prep, behind-the-scenes running of a B&B, friends and the house itself are well drawn. I agree with the reviewer who said they look forward to what the author will do next.