The Scenic Side of the Spooky Witch's Tower - Dayton, Ohio Hike

 As promised, my demon hunters, here are the pretty nature photos I took on my hike to The Witch's Tower. Enjoy!

Sheldon and Larry Hiked with Us.

Roadside memorial for 21 year old, Tony

Box Elder Bug

Kissing Bug

Kissing Bug

Me at the Witch's Tower.

Welcome Back & The Haunted Witch's Tower in Dayton, Ohio

It's been a long time, my demon hunters, but I am finally back and ready to share a new tale of terror with you!

Yesterday, I visited Five Rivers Parks and hiked to the infamous Witch's Tower, also called the Lookout Tower, Patterson's Tower, and Frankenstein's Castle. This site is reportedly haunted and a popular tourist destination, drawing visitors from around the USA.

The tower, built in 1941 by the National Youth Administration, is made out of salvaged stone and stands 30 feet tall. The walls are more than three feet thick and an impressive spiral staircase with fifty steps leads to the lookout at the top. Unfortunately, due to a tragic accident in the late 60s and vandalism in the 80s, park officials decided to block entrance to the exquisite tower, removing and sealing the doorway forever and adding iron rebar to all the accessible windows. If you watch YouTube footage, you will see that some enterprising people have gotten around these obstacles, though.

In 1967, 16 year old Peggy Ann Harmeson from Bellbrook and her 17 year old boyfriend, Ronnie Stevens, were caught in an evening downpour in the park. The young couple sought shelter in the tower. Lighting struck the tower and Peggy was found dead on the 11th step; half her body covered in horrible burns. Ronnie was the lucky survivor, though I am sure he didn't feel so lucky losing his girlfriend.

There are reports of shadow figures seen dancing atop the tower and a lady in white has been seen. Peggy Harmeson also haunts the tower where she died.

I went to investigate for myself with a friend and wasn't expecting the ghosts to put on a show for me, but I got more than I bargained for that afternoon. The hike to the tower was a normal one, though it is a rather steep climb. It is very scenic in the woods. The forest is bustling with squirrels and bird life, even in the fall and the changing tree colors were beautiful to photograph. 

As I approached the tower from below, I felt a shift in the air, but I told myself this was just my imagination. Upon reaching the tower and walking around it, I noted however, that all the normal forest noises I heard on the way up were gone. It was like being in a soundproof bubble. I put my hand on the stone of the building and felt it vibrating, which again, could just be psychosomatic, but with what happened on the hike down, I am going to say it was the lasting effect of visiting the tower.

I wasn't able to see much inside the windows, even though, I snapped a few shots. I didn't see Peggy or hear any ghosts and there were no dancing shadow figures present on top of the tower, much to my disappointment. After photographing for a while, I headed back down the steep trail and this is when I started to get woozy and develop a wicked headache. I also noted the forest sounds had returned, after leaving the tower. Thinking to check my blood sugar, I recorded that my sugars had dropped by 60 points, which is unusual for me because my blood sugar usually climbs when I am working out, even if it is just walking. Also, I had made sure I had a snack before I went out to hike the location. The further down the path to my car I went, the more sick I became. I felt terribly nauseous and my head was pounding.

The tower windows.

The missing door handle.

   Upon reaching the car, my friend noticed the driver's side door was locked, but none of the passenger doors were locked. If he had locked the car, all the doors would have been locked, but he left his 20 year old car unlocked that afternoon. He too experienced the same sound bubble, the headache, the dizziness, and the extreme nausea. We both concluded it was the tower drawing off of our energy. We started to feel much better after leaving the park and heading to lunch. 

Can I truly say The Witch's Tower is haunted? Well, I have no factual evidence, only what I and my friend experienced together that day, but I believe there is some unusual activity at the site and it is worth investigating. It is also interesting to note that Dayton is home to many prehistoric Native American mounds, some of which were desiccated by white settlers in the 1800s and a prominent ley line runs through the city. There is also a source of fresh running water in the woods and water is known to be conducive to active paranormal sites. Others have captured EVPs and floating orbs and had their own experiences. It's a haunting and ethereal place and if you have the time and money, I invite you to explore The Witch's Tower for yourself, my demon hunters.

Here are some links for more information on The Witch's Tower:

The Ghostly Tales Behind the Witch's Tower

Hills and Dales Lookout Tower: The Real Story

Tolloween Tales

Ghoul Scouts Present: Specter Inspectors Patterson's Tower

Top of Witch's Tower, Dayton Ohio

Have you ever explored a haunted location? Do you believe in the paranormal? Have you had any interactions with ghosts? I would love to hear from you in the comments below. 

Check back tomorrow for some more scenic nature pics of the surrounding woods.

Stay safe, my demon hunters, until next time.

Hauntings by Paranormal Author Pamela K. Kinney

Pamela K. Kinney is a published author of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and poetry, along with nonfiction ghost books published by Schiffer Publishing. Her first two ghost books were nominated for the Library of Virginia Award. Her third one, Virginia’s Haunted Historic Triangle, was just released July 2011.

Under the pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan, she writes erotic and sweet paranormal/fantasy/science fiction romance. One of these, Being Familiar With a Witch, is a Prism Awards 2010 winner and a EPIC Awards finalist 2010! The sequel, A Familiar Tangle With Hell, was released June 2011.

She admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house, husband, and even the cats sometimes suffer for it!

Find out more about her at: http://FantasticDreams.50megs.com and at http://www.SapphirePhelan.com for Sapphire Phelan.

Hauntings

“O Death, rock me asleep, bring me to quiet rest, let pass my weary guiltless ghost out of my careful breast.”
Anne Boleyn 

In my current nonfiction ghost book, Virginia’s Haunted Historic Triangle: Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, And Other Haunted Locations, I report, “History has a way of causing hauntings.” But that’s only part of the reason for hauntings. Modern phantoms still hang around after death, too.

No matter why they still are here, or if they come back and forth, they are with us lingering in our homes and places, at lonely crossroads or crowded bars and restaurants. They are the stars of stories we tell around campfires or before a fire burning in a hearth, terrifying us or awing us in myths, legends, and folklore too.

Who hasn’t said, “Bloody Mary” while staring into the mirror in the hope that a ghost appear? There’s the tale of the hitchhiking woman dressed in an evening gown that’s picked up and climbs into the back seat, giving directions to an address to the driver. But once they arrive at the house, the driver discovers that she has mysteriously disappeared. When he goes to the door, he is told that his hitchhiker is the daughter of the owner of the house, who had been killed just after she left a party several years before, never making it home. Stories like the hitchhiking ghost existed for a long time. Before it was a car, it was someone driving a horse and buggy that picks up the hitchhiker.

What are spirits? In traditional belief, a ghost is the soul of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestations, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely: The mode of manifestation in photos or seen by the living’s eyes can range from an invisible presence, shadow people, translucent or wispy shapes, and orbs, to realistic, life-like visions—solids. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as a séance. Paranormal investigators use equipment to find proof of paranormal activity and to make contact with phantoms.

Ghosts were often thought to be deceased people looking for vengeance, or imprisoned on earth for bad things they did during life. The appearance of a ghost has often been regarded as an omen or portent of death. Seeing one's own ghostly double or "fetch" is a related omen of death.

Ghosts are also termed spook, spirits, phantoms, fetch, haint (a common feature of southern oral and literary tradition), wraith, revenant, apparition, spectre, shade, and entity. Poltergeist, German for a “noisy spirit,” is for a spirit said to manifest itself by invisibly moving and influencing objects.

Besides the poltergeist phenomena, there are three other types of hauntings. First are residual hauntings. These are a recorded playback of what happened in the past. Maybe it could even be a time warp (one idea of mine, though I can’t prove this, but who knows, a feasible one like any other theory). There is no interaction with the living -- the ghost does not see or hear you because the ghost is not actually there. Only his/her energy remains, it is a remnant of his living form that you are seeing, just like when you watch a video. This cycle continues in the same place at usually the same time of day or year indefinitely until the energy is exhausted or diminishes to a low enough level that it is undetectable by human perception. One account of I know of this concerns the Civil War soldiers that march into Centre Hill Mansion in Petersburg, Virginia every year at certain time in January.

Traditional, or intelligent, hauntings are the second. Whether actual human spirits that had not crossed over into heaven and had some unfinished business with a living person, or a message they wanted to deliver before they could move on, or even those that just want to stay in a place they lived in life or be on our plane of existence (more and more, I suspect they can travel back and forth between here and the “other side.” These ghosts will unlock doors and open windows, run the faucets and even interact with you directly because they are an "intelligent" presence, the personality of a person who was once alive but has stayed behind rather than passing over.

The third type of haunting, and undoubtedly the most frightening, is a demonic, or inhuman, haunting. To me personally, I think when a human was evil in life, they too would be considered under demonic. There have been stories of where priests have gone in to exorcise a possessed person, and instead of a inhuman demon, this one claims to be the parent or someone alive once, tormenting the person.

The entity is similar to a traditional haunting because the spirit is intelligent and are existing in the present moment with you. These spirits are malevolent and hostile, suffering from psychological instability or distress stemming from an unresolved conflict with the people who are being subjected to the demonic activity. Demonic presences tend to be ‘unleashed' in order for them to manifest. This is one reason why the use of an Ouija Board is customarily discouraged among many ghost hunters. So if you find one in the game section of the store, don’t buy one. Not understanding and without protection, one can open up a portal, letting in things they can not handle and most times, demonic in nature.

I enjoy investigating haunted places for my books. Unlike my fiction, I learn things. I learn snippets of history I never knew and most of, interesting stories that seem too unbelievable to be true, but many times are.


Read a chapter from Virginia's Haunted Historic Triangle: Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, and Other Haunted Locations.

Interesting Places to Use as Story Settings

Everyone is attempting to save money these days, so here's a great tip. When planning a vacation or an outing, think of places you'd like to write about too. You can have fun while also doing your writing research. Remember to take pics to document your visit. They will come in handy later, when you want to write.

This doesn't mean I always double my entertainment and vacations with writing research, but I always take a ton of pics just in case.

I'm going to share four places I've gone and would like to use as settings for stories in the future.

The first setting is infamous.



The entire town is completely tourist crazy. Every storefront features aliens. Even the local lawyer's office got in on the action.

The streetlamps were even decorated for the alien holiday.

Of course, while I was there I visited the museum and took many pics. (A word for the interested -- the museum is a waste of money, but if you are an alien nut, you still have to go anyway just for the experience). I enjoyed my trip into Oddville and I have an alien Xmas ornament to put on my tree from the experience!

The second trip I want to incorporate in a story is The House on the Rock. Neil Gaiman already incorporated a scene from this house in American Gods, which is a book I highly recommend. This is one of my favorite trips. I've gone three times actually, and plan to go back again. Alex Jordan Jr.'s house is wacky and kooky, inspiring any writer.

Here are a few pics of the oddity that is The House on the Rock. Perhaps, they will inspire you to write as well:

This first sculpture is suspended from the ceiling above the great carousel.

The carousel hosts unconventional mythological creature seats such as these. It's a beautifully creepy and I can see why Neil Gaiman was inspired.

There is a wide variety of odd collections like guns and moving miniatures. Some of the more famous items in the house are the giant whale sculpture and the whimsical mechanical band that plays The Beatle's Octopus's Garden.

The third trip I took that will inspire a story, I am sure, is to Ripley's Wax Museum in Grand Prairie, TX. This museum is amazing and there are so many possibilities for a plot amongst all the famous movie monsters, celebrities, and historical displays. Here are just a few of my favorites:

The museum entrance:

Classic Frankenstein:

Billy the Kid:

And an amusing sign good for a chuckle:

The fourth setting is so inspirational! It's my recent trip to Savannah, Georgia this last December. If you have not been to Savannah and you love reading ghost stories, horror, historical, or gothic novels, then this is the vacation spot for you.

I stayed at the very famously haunted Marshall House, which got my ghostly writer juices flowing. It was nicely decorated for the holidays. All the woodwork is original to the hotel and is gorgeous, by the way.

I spent the weekend visiting with family and walking around downtown Savannah, which has a great atmosphere. It was raining too, which only added to the fun of it. Everywhere you walked was the famous Spanish moss on the live oaks. If that isn't haunting, I don't what is!

All the buildings downtown are kept up historically. The architecture is gorgeous and just gets your writer's imagination going.

We even managed to take in a ghost trolley tour, which was the perfect way to spend a chilly, rainy night on the riverfront and learn more about the history of the city.



There are tons of touristy shops set in  historical buildings that will set your writer's imagination alight, but beware of the treacherous stairways, which I can imagine a villain lurking in on a dark and lonely night.

I also found time to tour one of the historical graveyards in the area, Bonaventure Cemetery. The background was hauntingly seductive, so much so, it's already been featured in famous books like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, and in the movie directed by Clint Eastwood.

These are just four of the places I've visited and plan on featuring in my work.

What places have you featured in your writing? Happy travels!

And as always, happy writing and happy reading to all!