GHOST HUNTING IN OHIO

By Nora Roughen

Marysville Public Library

Born and raised in Upstate New York, James A. Willis has been chasing after ghosts and visiting crybaby bridges for over 20 years. In 1999, he moved to Ohio and founded The Ghosts of Ohio (www.ghostsofohio.org), a nationally recognized paranormal research organization.

Willis has been featured in numerous publications, television and radio programs, and live web casts. He has given presentations throughout the state on how one may hope to find evidence of the existence of ghosts. Willis resides in Columbus with his Queen-loving parrot and the world's whiniest cat.

In addition to co-authoring Weird Ohio, Willis was also a contributing author to Weird US (2004) and Weird Hauntings (2006). His unique and offbeat writing style was officially recognized in 2006 when he was inducted into the Grand Order of Weird Writers.

I had the opportunity to interview him recently about his work. Here is what he had to say……

1. Tell me about The Ghosts of Ohio as an organization. How many members do you have currently and are you actively researching in Ohio?
I founded The Ghosts of Ohio organization in 1999 when I re-located to Ohio. Headquartered in Columbus, we also have fully-operational Ghost Outposts in Cincinnati and Cleveland to better meet the needs of our clients. Currently, we have over 20 members located throughout the state. As far as current investigations go, we are involved with a private investigation in northeast Ohio as well as one in central Ohio and two in southern Ohio.

2. Would you say that Ohio has an unusually large amount of paranormal activity and legends of paranormal activity?
Yes, I would. Personally, I think a lot of that has to do with Ohio being a unique state—it's land-locked on the east and western sides and yet it has large bodies of water and waterways to the north and south. Plus, throw in an unusually high number of Bigfoot sightings (3^rd highest in the whole US) and dozens of Indian burial mound and you've got an area ripe for growing some good, old-fashioned ghost stories and legends.

3. When was the last time that you were scared?
To be honest, I can't remember the last time I was scared on an investigation or by anything related to ghosts. I tend to get freaked out more by what I see while driving on Ohio's highways. I never cease to be amazed (and frightened) by the things we human beings do to each other. It's like I say: ghosts I get. It's humans that scare me.

4. Do you feel like humans can effectively communicate with spirits?
I believe we can communicate with spirits, but that we're still working on the effectively part. I think sometimes people get so caught up in all the high-tech equipment they forget that an integral part of communicating is to just listen.

5. What do you find particularly satisfying about your work?
Interacting with people, especially the ones who contact us about activity going on in their homes. Most people don't contact us to find a ghost, but to provide them with answers. Modern culture has given people a pretty distorted view about ghosts and what they can do. Being able to provide people with a safe, confidential place to go and get answers while having their fears calmed is incredibly rewarding.

6. What is particularly grueling?
The paperwork! You would be amazed at how much paperwork in involved with a single investigation.

7. Favorite city/town in Ohio for paranormal research?
Athens and pretty much all of Summit County.

8. Community in Ohio that you'd like to research further?
Kirtland/Mentor area

9. I have heard that libraries are great places to find ghosts. Have you ever conducted an investigation in a library?
Not yet, but I would love to! So if you're a librarian and you think you've got a ghost, give me a call!

10. Tell me about writing and researching Weird Ohio. (Great book, by the way!) That had to have been a pretty amazing experience.
It truly was an amazing experience! Having a background in ghosts and urban legends, it was a blast to get out into the land of the living and explore such roadside oddities like the world's largest cuckoo clock, add my "piece" to the wall of gum, and gaze upon a jar containing pickled human fingers!

11. Will you do a Ghosts of Ohio book?
Believe it or not, there's one in planning stages now. Stay tuned!

12. Are any other books in the planning stages right now?
I just signed the contract to co-author Weird Indiana, so it's safe to say that you haven't heard the last of the weirdness from me yet!

13. How would your friends describe you?
My friends often use a lot of colorful words to describe me. But the one they never use to describe me is "boring."

14. What's the best thing about your job?

Ever since I was a child, I was fascinated with ghosts and ghost stories. I couldn't get enough of them. Now, I am in a position where I not only get to go and explore places where ghosts are said to linger, but people from all walks of life seek me out to share their ghost stories with me. It doesn't get much better than that!

Willis will appear in Marysville at the Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium, 233 W. 6^th St., Marysville, OH 43040 on October 27, 2006 at 6:30PM. This is a free program but you must have a ticket to enter. Tickets are available at the Marysville Public Library, Raymond Branch and at the Plain City Public Library. This program is appropriate for ages 12+. If you have questions about the program please log on to: www.marysvillelib.org  or call: (937) 642-1876 x 36.

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