The Ghosts of Illinois

Ghosts of the Prairie: History & Hauntings of Central Illinois by Troy Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I downloaded this book expecting it to be real heavy on narratives of peopke encountering ghosts or experience of people coming to haunted pkaces. what i got instead was an exhaustive history about various places in Illinois. The author gives the reader an extensive history of a certain place ,even the history of the ghost who might be there. It is light on the ghost experience. At the end of the section the reader is informed that people report seeing an apparition that gives them the chills and then goes away. There is the usual drop in temperature, along with people being touched mysteriously along with items being moved without explanation. I found this book to be more of a history book than a ghost book. i am not complaining. i like reading history and i learnec a lot about the history of Illinois. History is cool and many ghost books would benefit by including the history if various places. Illinois was named after the illinkwet Indians. Many European settlers traipsed through Illinois en route to the west. most who came to settle in Illinois were miners looking for gold. The Mormon came through as well but were driven on to Utah after one of their leaders was killed there. Illinois was known for crime and there is,a lot of crime there on many levels. Everything from bandits and highway robber on through to the mafia and corrupt politicians. Law and order was so scarce out there that vigilante gangs used to catch and hang criminals.a group called the regulators was set up to stop these bandits. Lincolns history out there is extensive as well. The book documents his beginning all the way through to hus assassination and beyond. After he was assasinated his train took his body on a tour so people could wish their president good bye. It is said that a long that route there is a ghost train that goes through even though the teacks are gone. Once Lincoln was buried there were attempts ro steal his body, so a secret society was established to protect his body. The biok not only covers politics and mines, but also hotels, theaters, schools and sanitariums. There are cases if victims being unable to move on, possession and ghosts that just enjoy their place. The book is long and like i said heavy on The history, low on the paranormal.

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