Explore the history-the haunted history-of many towns and cities in southeast Kansas. These stories mix folklore, eyewitness testimony, and historical fact into gently woven tales which show current paranormal activity, speculate about who might be haunting, and even suggest why the activity occurs. This collection includes friendly ghosts like Charley, who has saved the lives of his Independence family more than once, and more haunted figures like the Lady in Black, who wandered the streets of Caney more than a century ago, looking for her baby's grave. They tell of well-known haunted places, such as Coffeyville's Tavern on the Plaza, William Inge's childhood home, and The Old Haunted House of Fredonia, but they also reveal secret places that even witnesses themselves are reluctant to discuss. These tales, from funny to frightening, are perfect for reading alone, or aloud-except on dark nights, when the Kansas wind is howling. About the Author Cheryl Carvajal has been writing since she learned how, beginning her first play at the age of six. She lived in Kansas and Oklahoma for several years, and she recently moved from southeast Kansas to Bothell, Washington, with her husband Richard, her two young children, and her black tabby. She earned her bachelor's degree in English at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma; her master's in Literature at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale; and her doctorate in English at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. She spent two years researching this book, and one more writing and publishing it. Dr. Carvajal is a playwright, and several of her plays have been performed at the William Inge Center for the Arts. She also writes fiction and poetry, sings, draws, paints, juggles, teaches English and theatre, and works actively to inspire others to enrich their lives through involvement in the arts.

Meet the ghosts of Kansas! Visit with a librarian who moves books at the State Capitol and ghosts that have been known to go home with patrons at River House. Learn about the Holton House spirit seen on a thermal imaging camera. Drink a cold brew with a ghost at Fat Matt's, the Twilighter, and PJ's Bar. Relive college days at the haunted fraternity in Manhattan, where a ghost rattles doorknobs during tours. Buy a hammer from Ghostly Grandpa at his hardware store in Shawnee. Kansas ghosts are here to thrill and entertain you!

In the 1920s and 1930s, Pittsburg, KS was a major coal-mining town, attracting various ethnic groups from southeast Europe and beyond. The often belligerent and divisive spirit of the miners--and the unpredictable politics of Southeast Kansas--earned the region the nickname, "The Little Balkans." The four poets (Al Ortolani, Melissa Fite Johnson, Adam Jameson, JT Knoll) appearing in this collection carry forward that same proud, independent spirit. They call themselves White Buffalo, after a now-defunct café in Pittsburg that offered writers, poets, artists, musicians, and friends a place of warmth and community, which in turn fostered an environment of challenge and diversity. Ghost Sign epitomizes honest work that is both lyrical and painful while simultaneously joyous and sad. It is rooted in folklore and mystery, and its place is informed by powerful imagery: sunlight on the crater of a strip pit, the shadow of an owl at Camp 50, junkyard mechanics, railroad men, and a grandfather at a piano plunking out Methodist hymns. With craft and passion, the Ghost Sign poets, who each know how to remember, resurrect those indomitable, lost places, folks, and ghosts from the forgotten past of Southeast Kansas. Published in partnership with Spartan Press.

A collection of ghost stories and narration unique to the state of Kansas. The stories are a blend of mystery and menace. The ghosts are shown are to notoriously linked to a specific structure or landscape, whether it be an 18th century mansion or a bottomless pool.

The story of the Sallie House and the fire-starting ghost girl who haunted it has sparked endless rumors and theories of murder, cover-ups, racism, and abuse. But the Pickmans know the real story because they lived it-- and barely made it out alive.

"In the early twentieth century, Tulsa was the "Oil Capital of the World." The rush of roughnecks and oil barons built a culinary foundation that not only provided traditional food and diner fare but also inspired upper-class experiences and international cuisine. Tulsans could reserve a candlelit dinner at the Louisiane or cruise along the Restless Ribbon with a pit stop at Pennington s. Generations of regulars depended on family-owned establishments such as Villa Venice, The Golden Drumstick and St. Michael's Alley. Join author Rhys Martin on a gastronomic journey through time, from the Great Depression to the days of "Liquor by the Wink" and the Oil Bust of the 1980s."--Back cover.

A ghost story that begins in everyday tragedy, from a distinctly American master of both forms: a "scary, sad, funny . . . mesmerizing read" (Stephen King) At Midnight on Halloween in a cloistered New England suburb, a car carrying five teenagers leaves a winding road and slams into a tree, killing three of them. One escapes unharmed, another suffers severe brain damage. A year later, summoned by the memories of those closest to them, the three that died come back on a last chilling mission among the living. A strange and unsettling ghost story, The Night Country creeps through the leaf-strewn streets and quiet cul-de-sacs of one bedroom community, reaching into the desperately connected yet isolated lives of three people changed forever by the accident: Tim, who survived yet lost everything; Brooks, the cop whose guilty secret has destroyed his life; and Kyle's mom, trying to love the new son the doctors returned to her. As the day wanes and darkness falls, one of them puts a terrible plan into effect, and they find themselves caught in a collision of need and desire, watched over by the knowing ghosts. Macabre and moving, The Night Country elevates every small town's bad high school crash into myth, finding the deeper human truth beneath a shared and very American tragedy. As in his highly-prized Snow Angels and A Prayer for the Dying, once again Stewart O'Nan gives us an intimate look at people trying to hold on to hope, and the consequences when they fail.