Ghost Stories of Michigan

Joanne Wotypka is a branch library assistant in the Cameron Library at
the University of Alberta.

Who would have thought that Michigan was such a ghost-ridden place?
Along with many tales from Michigan’s wild past, Dan Asfar includes
reports of ghost-hunting expeditions from several different
organizations. Treading through Michigan’s most haunted sites with
recorders and cameras, these groups seem to have encountered a plethora
of supernatural entities, and recorded both photographic and audio
evidence.

Adding to the allure of the tales is Asfar’s writing style, which
alternates between credulity and incredulity as logical explanations for
phenomena are exhausted, leaving only the possibility of ghostly
entities as the cause. Though cemetery experiences are prominent, this
collection includes urban legends as well as stories rooted in
historical events. Among its other charms, Michigan seems to be host to
an incredible variety of ghosts, which range in temperament from the
morose to the homicidal. Especially disturbing is the report of a
poltergeist in Livonia that was so active as to cause destruction in
every room of the home.

Though containing a minimum of pictures (and none of a ghostly
variety), the book directs the reader to the websites of the
ghost-hunting groups featured in the narratives. I went to several of
these sites, and indeed the pictures are there for visitors to see and
judge. Combined with the narratives, these photographs are intriguing,
even if you don’t believe in the supernatural.

Even without trips to the Internet, these creepy tales are more than
enough to induce sleepless nights on your next camp-out.