James A. Willis - ProfilesArchive

About Me

I am the founder / director of The Ghosts of Ohio--a not-for-profit organization that investigates and documents reported hauntings in Ohio. I started The Ghosts of Ohio in May of 1999 and we have been in continuous operation since. Feel free to swing by and check us out: www.ghostsofohio.orgPrior to forming The Ghosts of Ohio, I was involved with paranormal reseach in Georgia (which began my long-time affiliation with the American Ghost Society) and New York, where I was born and raised. In fact, I have been searching for ghosts and visiting Cry Baby Bridges for over 20 years now...which makes me sound (and sometimes feel) a lot older than I really am.On the "weird" front, I am the co-author of the book Weird Ohio and a contributing author to Weird US and Weird Hauntings. Weird Indiana, which I co-authored with Mark Mariman and Troy Taylor, was released on May 6, 2008. All the above-mentioned books are Barnes and Noble exclusives and are therefore available at all local Barnes & Noble stores. They can also be purchased through barnesandnoble.com as well as various other online booksellers.

My Interests

Ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggetty beasties and things that go bump in the night.

I'd like to meet:

Hans Holzer, the Loveland Frog, Bessie, and any member of the Melonheads family.

Movies:

Session 9, The Frighteners, The Shining, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Donnie Darko.

Television:

Supernatural

Books:

House of Leaves, Breakthrough, Ambrose Bierce: Alone in Bad Company, The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy, Weird Ohio, Weird US, Weird Hauntings, Weird Indiana.

Heroes:

Carl Kolchak, Vincent Price, Ed Wood, Jr.

My Blog

Something Strange and Spooky is Coming!

There's not much there now. Oh, but there will be soon! So you might want to bookmark it now! www.strangeandspooky.com
Posted by James A. Willis on Fri, 23 May 2008 10:27:00 PST

May 24th Barnes & Noble Book Signing and Discussion

On Saturday, May 24th, I will be doing a book signing at a Columbus Barnes and Noble (3685 W. Dublin-Granville Road, Columbus, OH 43235) beginning at 3:00 pm. I will also be discussing some of my...
Posted by James A. Willis on Tue, 20 May 2008 07:16:00 PST

Lincoln Funeral Train: The Results Are In!

Well, despite the fact that 11 members of The Ghosts of Ohio organization took up position along the Urbana railroad tracks and monitored our equipment for close to 6 hours, the Lincoln Funeral Train ...
Posted by James A. Willis on Wed, 14 May 2008 01:01:00 PST

Desperately Seeking Lincoln’s Funeral Train

According to the legend, every April 29th, the ghostly image of the funeral train that carried Abraham Lincoln's body back to Illinois is said to rumble through the town of Urbana, Ohio. This year, w...
Posted by James A. Willis on Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:22:00 PST

Spend the Night with The Ghosts of Ohio information and calendar

The Ghosts of Ohio is proud to announce an amazing opportunity for some lucky fans to take part in an overnight investigation with us! As part of the Spend the Night with The Ghosts of Ohio program, w...
Posted by James A. Willis on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:57:00 PST

Information on April 13th Radio Interview

On Sunday, April 13th, 2008, I will be doing a live interview on Dead Air Paranormal Talk Radio to discuss my upcoming book, Weird Indiana. You can tune in to the live broadcast at WBGU-FM ...
Posted by James A. Willis on Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:59:00 PST

Return from the Return of the Buzzards

Well, I managed to make it back from the annual Buzzard Day Celebration in one piece. For those of you not familiar with Buzzard Day, it is an annual celebration that marks the return of the buzzards ...
Posted by James A. Willis on Sat, 22 Mar 2008 09:14:00 PST

March 13th: Off To See The Buzzards

I’m getting ready to head up to Northern Ohio this weekend to cover one of Ohio’s strangest events; the annual return of the buzzards to Hinkley. Seems that for as long as anyone can ...
Posted by James A. Willis on Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:59:00 PST

Weird Indiana available for pre-order

It doesn't officially hit the streets for another 3 months (May 6th), but you can now pre-order Weird Indiana online at most of the major booksellers (amazon, barnesandnoble, etc.). In addition, barne...
Posted by James A. Willis on Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:56:00 PST

Cocomo Is At It Again!

Seems like since Weird Indiana now has an official release date, Cocomo D. Chipmunk thinks it's time let everyone in on what went into the making of the book. So if you're interested in finding out a...
Posted by James A. Willis on Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:46:00 PST