Haunted America

Bucolic Door County has a rich haunted history of spooky shipwrecks, bizarre tales and ghost stories.

Because Door County received its name from ""Death's Door,"" the perilous strait with more freshwater shipwrecks than anywhere else in the world, it should be no surprise that the idyllic county has plenty of ghostly history. In the company of storyteller Gayle Soucek, meet lighthouse keepers whose sense of duty extends beyond the grave. Catch a glimpse of the phantom ship Le Griffon, never seen for more than a moment since it sailed through a crack in the ice in 1679. And it is not just the waters of Door County that carry the freight of haunted tales--Country Road T has its share of spooks, bizarre beasts have caused disturbances in the woods and there are whispered rumors that infamous gangster Al Capone added to the county's stock of ghosts through a handful of brutal murders, including an ex-girlfriend and two unacknowledged children.

Buried deep in the Wisconsin Northwoods, the ruined splendor of the Summerwind Mansion bares the bones of its legendary past. Robert Patterson Lamont purchased the property in 1916 as a country retreat where he could entertain such guests as President Warren G. Harding. Unfortunately, the house played host to visitors of an entirely different sort, and Lamont reportedly fled the property after discharging a pistol at a ghoul in the basement pantry. Raymond Bober abandoned his attempt to convert the house into a hotel in the 1970s, describing rooms that changed size and the mysterious presence of an eighteenth-century explorer in his famous book, The Carver Effect. Join Devon Bell for a glimpse through the shattered windows of the most specter-laden spot in the Badger State.

Like so many cities bordering Lake Michigan, Racine has a long and storied history. Some of that history is stranger than fiction.

The Live Towerview neighborhood, brimming with stories of the city's earliest burial sites, is a hotbed of ghostly activity. Former asylums like the ambitious Taylor Home Orphan Asylum and the infamous Racine County Insane Asylum are filled with chilling tales of the unexplained. The local Masonic Temple houses the restless souls of some of the city's earliest residents. So do Chances Food & Spirits and Ivanhoe, two of the most haunted taverns in southeastern Wisconsin. Historian Rory Graves uncovers some of Racine's most notorious haunts.

Historian Rory Graves uncovers some of Racine's most notorious haunts.

Explore the supernatural history of Circus City

For decades, ghosts have been known to inhabit some of Baraboo's most prized historic locations. Buildings and mansions built by the Ringling Brothers at the height of their circus empire now harbor apparitions of unidentified children, horse trainers, and other circus workers. Residents throughout the Downtown Baraboo Historic District describe disembodied voices, footsteps, and items moving on their own. Even historic homes, new homes, and roadways have ghosts - a family awakening to find their dining room table set for a party of ten, a little girl realizing her "friend'? isn't getting any older, a Highway 12 hitchhiker materializing despite the highway being rerouted.

Founder of Baraboo Tours, Shelley Mordini and tour guide Gwen Herrewig share tales of Baraboo's more mysterious side.

What unknown spirits lurk among the living in the Gateway to Wisconsin?

oin Candice Shatkins, a founding member of the Paranormal Investigators of Kenosha, as she uncovers the spooky secrets and unlikely legends of Kenosha County. From a secret burial chamber under a library to Wisconsin's very own Wolfman, a shipwreck on Black Tuesday to the haunted observatory tower of a former seminary and boarding school, Kenosha's ghosts are sure to delight visitors and residents alike in this stirring account of the area's historic haunts.

Wisconsin's capital city is haunted!

From restless spirits roaming the University of Wisconsin to ghostly Confederate soldiers lingering at Camp Randall Stadium, Madison is filled with otherworldly entities. Spirits do not rest in peace at Taliesin, and the tragedies that occurred on the Capitol grounds shed light on the building's numerous paranormal reports. The city's outskirts are just as eerie. From the prowling Beast of Bray Road to what is thought to be Wisconsin's most haunted bar, a spinetingling location is never far away.

Join author Anna Lardinois to discover some of Madison's most macabre tales.

Beneath Milwaukee's calm façade, its ghastly past awaits.

The overbearing spirit of Frederick Pabst keeps persistent watch over the mansion that shares his name. The remains of the Newhall House Fire, the city's deadliest disaster, may lie beneath a new building, but those who lost their lives that night refuse to rest in peace. Even the suburbs hold their share of ghoulish secrets, including the furtive dwarves of Haunchyville, the fabled Bray Road Beast and the stubborn spirits lurking in Deacon West's house. Tour guide and founder of Gothic Milwaukee Anna Lardinois shares the spine-tingling tales of the Beer City's famous, and not so famous, specters and legends.

The Chippewa Valley is nestled snugly in a vast tract of Wisconsin farmland that offered early settlers a secure place to settle into the American dream. But the valley also harbors a strange and sometimes confusing past. From the boisterous activity of the lumber boom to the lingering stillness of the Eau Claire Asylum, this northwestern corner of the Badger State is filled with tragic stories and tall tales. Cast off with the ghost ferries of Caryville or stand vigil in the small, secluded cemetery where the spirits of children come out to play. Join Devon Bell on a journey into the eerie history of the Chippewa Valley.

Burlington's historical district rests uneasily on top of twenty-seven ancient burial mounds. No wonder everyone in the seemingly sleepy Wisconsin town owns a ghost story or two. Residents have spotted the White Beast of Burlington near the old fish hatchery, bumped into a Confederate apparition on Academy Road and caught a glimpse of the Lady in Blue at the Malt House Theater. Mary Sutherland spent fourteen years chasing local lore through the underground tunnels and eerie skies of this hotbed of supernatural activity. Now she stands as a ready guide to the mysteries of the Burlington Vortex.

Walk through the "Gateway to the Northwoods" into a place teeming with apparitions, electrical disturbances, physical manifestations and veiled forces. Glide among the praying whispers in the basement of Rogers Theater or the unmanned piano music floating through the halls of the Hotel Wausau and gaze upon the unusual acorn pyramid at the Gillett home. Join Wausau Paranormal Research Society members Shawn Blaschka, Anji Spialek and Sharon Abitz as they present what they have discovered about Annie and the Blue Cowboy, the Bat-Man and the Mosinee poltergeist. This chilling collection of ghost lore searches out the dark secrets of Wausau's most public places.

Green Bay has always been a city with a fierce sense of tradition complemented by a friendly atmosphere. Those qualities seem to attract not only living visitors but also spirits of the dead.

Tour the city's haunted past with Tim Freiss as he follows the trail of the tragic, the inexplicable and the just plain spooky. From the desecration of the father of Wisconsin's burial spot to the winery that was a stop on the Underground Railroad to the nightclub haunted by a bullet-riddled love triangle, Haunted Green Bay stirs up the kind of history that keeps us awake a little bit longer once the lights are out.