Randy Overbeck, educator, speaker and award-winning author, spoke to the Wilmington Rotary Club on his current genre – ghost stories.
He shared some of the places in the region that purport to be haunted, including:
• Music Hall in Cincinnati, built on an orphanage site; a graveyard of orphans was discovered when it was being built.
• Bobby Mackey’s Bar in Wilder, Ky., on the site of former satanic cult with organized crime ties, and reportedly over 40 murders happened there. It is reportedly the most haunted night club in the U. S.
• Dayton Masonic Temple. The ghost is the unofficial tour guide, often giving the tour and ending up at a photo of graduates – and he is one of them.
• Victoria Theater in Dayton. In 1900 a young actress went into a specific dressing room and was never seen again – she just disappeared. Other actresses using the room have seen her in the mirror’s reflection.
• Golden Lamb in Lebanon. It is the oldest inn in the area and home to several reported ghosts including Sarah Stubbs who grew up there and can be seen on the 4th floor.
It is said that 90 percent of ghosts appear in the place of their death. They generally are as averse to seeing and interacting with living people as they are to interacting with the ghosts, said Overbeck.
Ghosts are spirits caught between worlds and often the victims of sudden or violent deaths. It takes great psychic energy to make themselves seen by the living. Commonly, their presence can be felt by a sudden and dramatic drop in the temperature in the room, he said.
There are several organizations that hunt ghosts – some to try to find them and some to rationalize what might be a ghost or might be explained in other ways.
The Wilmington Rotary Club meets on Tuesdays at noon at the CMH meeting room.
