Ghost Hunters Diary, Vol. 1 - T. M. Simmons, Author

The Green Room is haunted by a Confederate soldier, but for some reason, he only appears in the summer. He had been wounded in the Civil War and found his way to The Myrtles, where he died from his wounds. There are tales of people seeing six red-coated British soldiers carrying a coffin out by the pond. A lady in white walks around the grounds, and both guests and townspeople have reported seeing her. The most famous story about The Myrtles, though, is the story of Cloe, the black slave. Clark Woodruff owned the plantation in the early 1800’s. By 1982, he and his wife had three children, two girls and a boy. There was a portrait of Woodruff in the game room, and stories say that people have actually seen tears flowing down it.

In those days the southern plantations were worked by slaves, and at times, the masters took mistresses from the workers. One of Woodruff’s mistresses was Cloe. Proud and protective of her status, since it kept her in the house and out of the fields picking cotton and other crops, Cloe intended to maintain her position. Thus, she tended to eavesdrop in order to store up any information that might assist her. When caught Woodruff ordered Cloe’s ear cut off and banished her from his bed.

Author T. M. Simmons doesn’t just write paranormal stories; she lives them too. The ghosts above are just some that she and her Aunt Belle encountered while visiting The Myrtles in St. Francisville, Louisiana, just outside of Baton Rouge. In her Ghost Hunting Diary Volume I, she gives us a look at what is involved in ‘cleansing’ a room and sometimes even a whole house. But I think the story that got to me the most was when she and other members of the North Texas Paranormal Research Society visited Goshen Cemetery, just out from Eustance, Texas on of all times of the year, Halloween.

There have been times in my own life that I’ve felt there were ‘others’ among us but have always brushed this feeling off to excuses such as ‘I’m alone,’ ‘Its Dark,’ or ‘That was just the wind.’ After reading Ghost Hunting Diary Volume I, I’ve just about decided that there is a lot more to these encounters than we realize. I have a feeling that by the time I get to her 4^th Ghost Hunting Diary, I’ll be a true believer.

Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com