Ghosts of Ohio Newsletter - December 2008

THE GHOSTS OF OHIO NEWSLETTER
Volume 6 / Issue 2

Happy New Year!
It’s hard to believe that another year has just flown by. Looking back, it has been a year filled with highs and lows, both professionally and personally. But what is perhaps most exciting of all is that 2009 will mark a milestone in The Ghosts of Ohio’s history; our 10th anniversary! And rest assured that we have some great things planned for all of you out there who have befriended us and stuck with us through the years.

In the meantime, we thought that we would send 2008 out with one last bit of holiday cheer. So the vast majority of the articles in this newsletter are centered on the Christmas season, including a special edition of our Ohio Ghost Stories section. Heck, I even decided to dig through my DVD collection to pull out some rather spooky (for more reasons than one) Christmas movies to share with you all.

So throw one last Yule log on the fire, grab yourself a big ol’ hunk of figgy pudding and let’s begin!

Cheers,

James A. Willis
Founder/Director

WHAT'S NEW AT THE GHOSTS OF OHIO?
After a busy Halloween season, The Ghosts of Ohio tidied up several cases from late 2008 and got ready for 2009. At our year-end meeting, we discussed as a group what we could do in order to better ourselves as well as continuing to offer our clients the most professional and efficient services possible. For 2009, we will be looking into testing out some of the newer pieces of “ghost gadgets” that have recently sprung up, including the Ovilus. We will also be exploring ways to get more of you, our fans, involved with overnight investigations, as well as shorter investigations for those of you who can’t make it for an entire night. Lastly, we as a group will be discussing ways to entrench ourselves more in the paranormal community, either through networking or by simply attending more conferences/seminars, etc. That’s because we firmly believe that no one can ever have enough knowledge in this field. The key is to never stop learning.

THE NEWSLETTER IS STILL A ROBOT!
We realize that we’ve been repeating this for a while now, but a few of you are still sending e-mails to the address that sends you the newsletter. Please don’t do this as that address is nothing more than an automated system that will banish your email to the depths of the Web until we manage to stumble across it, sometimes not until months later. So please be kind to your e-mails and don’t send them to the newsletter!

THE GHOSTS OF OHIO'S MERRY SCARY HOLIDAY PARTY
Several weeks ago, The Ghosts of Ohio gathered to celebrate at their annual Merry Scary Holiday Party. Amidst the skeletons in Santa hats and the Christmas tree that came to life and snatched at passersby, nearly 50 Ghosts of Ohio members, family and friends raised a cup of spooky cheer to 2008.
In addition, The Ghosts of Ohio once again took part in the annual Toys For Tots drive to collect toys for children and families in need. This year, The Ghosts of Ohio donated 25 toys, ensuring that at least some young boys and girls won’t go without a toy under their tree this holiday season.

OHIO GHOST STORIES
As we are all probably still recovering from the holidays, we thought it might be interesting to dig out an Ohio ghost story that’s tied to the Christmas season. Believe it or not, there are a couple of ghosts that like to make their presence known around Christmas. For instance, there’s the ghost haunting the Patterson Homestead in Dayton. This ghost apparently likes to mess about with the gingerbread men as they are being made, often pulling them off the line where they are placed to dry. There’s also the ghost at the Fulton County Historical Society in Wauseon. This ghost is apparently related to Ebenezer Scrooge as it resorts to throwing acorns at employees who decorate the Society’s Christmas tree. But of all the Christmas ghosts in Ohio, none is as strange as the one known as the Ghostly Indian of Fallsville.

This story originates from Michael Jay Katz's book Buckeye Legends: Folktales and Lore from Ohio. In it, Katz recounts the tale of the town of Fallsville, Ohio, which was once located in Highland County. There wasn't much to the area when Simon Clouser moved there in 1826 with his two small daughters, Joeline and Jane. In fact, it would not be another 22 years until Fallsville would become a town. And by then, there was a whopping three streets to the whole town. Either way, it was home to the Clouser family and as they grew, Joeline and Jane heard all sorts of stories about Native American Indians burying gold all around Fallsville. The sisters would often go out searching for the gold, using everything from divining rods to literally using their noses to try and sniff out the treasure. They never found anything, of course. But then things got a little strange late one December 24th.

 According to the legend, one Christmas Eve, there was a knock on the Clouser sisters’ front door. Opening it, they saw the surreal image of an Indian standing on the front step in the snow. Despite the fact that he was standing in deep snow wearing only moccasins and deerskins, the man did not appear to be cold at all. The man did not speak at all, but simply made a series of hand gestures and then simply vanished. Believing they had just experienced some sort of group hallucination, the sisters just shrugged the episode off and forgot all about it. That is, until the following Christmas Eve when a familiar knocking once again came from their front door. Sure enough, the Indian was back. Once again, he did not speak and instead simply made a few pointing gestures. It was then that it dawned on the sisters; he was trying to show them where he buried his treasure! But before they could react, the Indian vanished. Needless to say, the sisters couldn't wait until next Christmas Eve to see if the Indian showed up again.

Like clockwork, the Indian returned again on Christmas Eve. But try as they might, the sisters could not figure out where he was pointing or what they were supposed to do. One year, they even went so far as to invite "Indian Expert" Eben Rhodes to spend Christmas Eve with them so that he might interpret the mysterious man's gestures. Unfortunately, he didn't show up that Christmas Eve and the sisters never saw him again.

You would think that would be the end of this strange story, but it isn't. Even though Fallsville is now a literal ghost town, that reportedly hasn't stopped the ghostly Indian from making his rounds every Christmas Eve. It is said that his ghost now wanders the area, looking for a front door to knock on in order to alert the owners to the location of his buried riches. So grab yourself a map and see if you live near where the town of Fallsville once stood. And if you do, make sure you stay home next Christmas Eve and listen for a knock on the door. You just never know who might come a-calling.   

SPEND THE NIGHT WITH THE GHOSTS OF OHIO
So what is this Spend the Night program everybody is talking about? Well, it is a unique opportunity for some of our lucky fans to take part in an overnight investigation with us! As part of the Spend the Night with The Ghosts of Ohio program, we will be renting out some of the most haunted buildings in Ohio for an entire night. Unlike traditional "ghost hunts," where you are often forced to share the location with total strangers, every building we rent out will be totally ours.

Now comes the best part—we want you to come along with us! We'll bring all the equipment, so all you need to bring is your courage.

How do you get in on all this spooky fun? It's simple, really. All you need to do is sign up for The Ghosts of Ohio newsletter—which is free!

For each investigation, we'll be picking several names from our list of newsletter subscribers and giving them the first shot at spending the night with us. All they need to do is pay the same registration fee that the members of The Ghosts of Ohio have to pay in order to rent out the building (dollar amount subject to change based on individual venue).  

In addition, we'll be drawing at least one lucky Grand Prize winner who will get to come along for FREE!

That's all there is to it! Of course, we might want to take a few pictures of you on the investigation and post them on our site so you'll be the envy of all your friends. But hey, that's a small price to pay for the chance to spend the night with The Ghosts!

If for some reason you don't have your own subscription, what are you waiting for? http://ghostsofohio.org/services/newsletter.html

JIM'S TWISTED HOLIDAY DVDS
I willingly admit that I am a movie junkie. My DVD collection, which started out on a shelf under the TV, now stretches out across an entire wall. I also have boxes full of collector’s edition VHS movies I can’t bear to part with. I’ve been known to fall asleep to the gentle sounds of director’s commentary. Netflix continually “throttles” my account. With all that being said, and in keeping with the holiday season, I thought I would share with you some of the stranger Christmas movies I have sitting on my DVD shelf. Most of these get pulled out every December, if for no other reason than to frighten my friends and family members with them.  

Santa Claws (1996)—Christmas is no fun for Raven Quinn, who is continually being stalked by her weird next door neighbor. Of course, the fact that he likes to dress up like Santa Claus and kill people with a metal claw doesn't make things any better. Rather tiresome and dull as far as horror movies go, even for ones that are tied to Christmas.
2 skulls

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)—A young boy is sent away to live in an orphanage after seeing his parents murdered by a guy in a Santa suit. About the most interesting aspect of this film is how something so bad managed to still spawn four direct-to-video sequels.
2 skulls

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)—Martian children everywhere are sad because they don’t have a Santa Claus to give them presents at Christmas. So their Martian parents hatch a plot to kidnap St. Nick and force him to make with the gift-giving. The plot of this movie is wafer-thin, but it’s so silly that it’s rather entertaining. 2.5 skulls

Santa Claus (1959)—Pitch the devil is out to destroy Christmas. Santa Claus, with the help of Merlin the Magician, will try to stop him! This movie, which is often cited as one of the worst holiday movies ever created, will have you laughing so hard you’ll be gasping for breath. Originally filmed in Mexico with Spanish-speaking actors, Santa Claus was eventually dubbed into (bad) English, which only adds to the entertainment value. Mix up some spiked egg nog and enjoy!
3.5 skulls

Gremlins (1984)—Not a Christmas-themed movie, per se, but it is set in a small town during Christmastime. Besides, where else can you see a bunch of mischievous gremlins leap from Christmas trees to attack people, get drunk in a bar amongst Christmas lights, and even sing carols door-to-door? Extra points go to the writer who penned the cringe-worthy speech given by Kate (played by Phoebe Cates) about how she found out the truth about Santa Claus.
3.5 skulls

Black Christmas (1974)—The plot line, young girls being attacked in their sorority house on Christmas break, may have you considering passing on this film. But rest assured, this is a very well-done horror movie with lots of scares and a high creep factor, to boot. Word of caution, though. Stick with the original and don’t waste your time with the 2006 remake.
3.5 skulls

MYSPACE
Need a spooky friend? If you have a MySpace account, swing by and add The Ghosts of Ohio to your friends list: www.myspace.com/ghostsofohio.

INVESTIGATIONS AND CONSULTATIONS
The Ghosts of Ohio has begun scheduling investigations for 2009. If you or someone you know is experiencing something unexplained in a home or place of business, contact us at info@ghostsofohio.org or visit our website to fill out an investigation request. All investigations are offered free of charge, and confidentiality and discretion are assured.

Not sure if you want or need an investigation? The Ghosts of Ohio now offers consultations. Let us sit down with you to discuss your current situation and what help we may be able to offer. For more information, please visit http://ghostsofohio.org/services/investigations.html.

ADMINISTRATION
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