While working at the Mark Twain Cave in Hannibal, Missouri, years ago, I found the story of Dr. Joseph McDowell of St. Louis to be quite fascinating. His daughter died as a young girl, and he had her body pickled and stored in a cask in the cave.

Unfortunately, beauty does not guarantee prevention against ghosts and spirits appearing, and more often tends to be a magnet of the paranormal.

Some believe seeing one’s own, or a family member’s, doppelganger, is a portent of illness, bad luck, or even death.

In the churchyard, ancient yew trees line the path leading up to the church. One of the trees is extremely old and twisted with a dark red liquid flowing from a gash in the trunk. The liquid is the color and consistency of blood. I read one report that indicated the substance cannot be identified.

Most of us know the story of Doc Holliday and his exploits after moving west in the hopes that the drier air would help his tuberculosis. But, unless you live in Manitou Springs, Colorado, you might not have heard of Emma Crawford.

Every spring, for about two weeks, sometimes a little longer, depending on the amount of sunshine and rain our Earth receives, a phenomenon called "mushroom hunting season" sweeps through the mid west.

One would think a sugar plantation on the gorgeous island of Jamaica would be one of the more delightful places to visit . . . perhaps not, if the spirit of the notoriously evil Annie Palmer is still in residence . . . and from all accounts, she appears to be!

One of the most fascinating activities that I enjoyed while living in the desert years ago was ghost town hunting. Wonderful treasures could be found. Sometimes even real ghosts could be seen in the towns that were often in the middle of nowhere and seemingly devoid of any type of souls.

An old sea captain and a "little lady" are said to haunt the Owl´s Head Lighthouse at Rockland Harbor, Maine.

2009 has been declared the year of the patron saint of the sick, of family, and of poverty, Saint Bernadette.