Customer Reviews

Spirits of St. Louis: A Ghostly Guide to the Mound City's Unearthly Activities

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For many years Saint Louis has been a major American crossroads. Not only was the "Mound City" considered the gateway to the west but it also was a major port on the Mighty Mississippi. It is no wonder then that a town that has seen so much history is a very haunted place.

Robbi Courtaway has gathered numerous tales of the supernatural in the St. Louis area by both digging through old newspapers and by interviewing numerous witnesses. Indeed, most of the stories in this book are first person accounts and most of the haunts described are documented by several first person accounts lending this book a great deal of credibility. It is also noteworthy that many of these accounts come from self-described skeptics who didn't believe in ghosts until one basically walked up and bit them on the behind. Some of the witnesses are still not sure that they believe in ghosts but they can find no other possible explanation for their experiences.

The last chapter in the book deals not with ghosts but with a story that thanks to Hollywood has become one of the most famous supernatural events in American history. The famous exorcism that the movie "The Exorcist" was loosely based on was actually conducted in St. Louis and at the time that this book was written the last of the Priests involved was still living. The author conducted an extensive interview with Father Halloran and in the process debunked several myths that have grown up around the event. This was a marvelous chapter to end this chilling book with I think!

Finally, this author created an appendix that lists several other spooky places in the St. Louis area. Not all of these locations appear to be haunted but most of them have a haunted reputation. This appendix allows the author to point out to her readers that not every place that is rumored to be haunted actually is. It takes research and legwork to find out if there is a ghost hanging around any specific location and that is something that many authors in this genre are not willing to do.

I would suggest that maybe the book would have been easier to follow if the author had provided a little more geographical information. Many of the stories that she has gathered and investigated come from areas close to but outside of St. Louis. Sometimes Courtaway assumes that her readers will know as much about the St. Louis area as she does but I can assure her that this is not the case. Her writing style was also just a bit confusing at times but not often and for the most part the text had a very nice flow.

From what I can tell this is this author's first ghost book and quite frankly for a first effort this book is amazingly good with a perfect blend of history and haunts. The spirits that roam St. Louis should be proud.

Excellent book!! Anyone who grew up in Saint Louis or has lived here for more than a few years will really enjoy this book! The author Courtaway knew what she was doing by making the chapter about the infamous "Exorcism" the last chapter in the book. This is one of those books that is hard to put down. The authors writing style is at times given to confusing participles but for the most part is pretty fluid.
She definitely has done her homework on this one! It is a fantastic book and I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the supernatural or just in local history.

As a resident of the Greater St. Louis area, I was immediately drawn into the stories in this book. I was REALLY weirded out to know that the Book House, which is a store that I have visited in the past, is supposed to be haunted.

The fact that the book didn't contain any "pictures" of ghosts lost it a point.

The author and a number of others around town claim my father, Dave Hitzert, is one of the ghosts in this book. I'll say this, the claims that he has been mischief making, he took his job very seriously- he never missed a day- ever, are almost as hard to believe as the existence of his ghost. Another concern I have is that neither my mother or I was consulted for the book. I have a few interesting details that would have illuminated Ms. Courtaway's account. If Ghosts exist, I might have an idea of my fathers motives for sticking around. You can look into both the play he was working on and the day of the year, not the date but it's significance, or you can e-mail me at...
sonny_clips@yahoo.com, and I'll fill you in. My father was a great man and his story, ghost or otherwise, deserves a little better research.

Best,

Jason Garrett Hitzert

The book was purchased as a gift and the recipient loved it, as did other members of the family.