With just days left until the eve of All Saints' Day or more commonly known as Halloween, both Licking and Muskingum counties offer a plethora of haunting. What exactly is a ghost?

According to the Grave Addiction Web site, "No one is 100 percent sure what a ghost really is if they really exist. However, most people believe that a ghost is the remains of a person who refuses to cross over after death." By visiting the Web site, www.graveaddiction.com, you can get information on ghost hunting as well as tips on how to best photograph them. All information in the following excerpts was researched through the Ohio Exploration Society. For more information on these haunted places or for contact information go online to www.ohioexploration.com. Both counties have many rumors of haunted houses, cemeteries and roadways. This article will explore a few alleged haunted places in and around Southeastern Ohio.

First, Granville, Ohio is home to the Buxton Inn said to be haunted by a previous innkeeper from the nineteenth century. "The Lady in Blue," Ethal (Bonnie) Bounell, who was also an innkeeper, supposedly died in room nine and occasionally can be seen wearing blue.

The Ohio Exploration Society states cries from a child can be heard from the top of Sugarloaf Hill. This child is buried under a large rock on the hill and is said to be only one of many ghosts that haunt that spot.

Three of the Denison University buildings are said to be haunted, Chamberlain Lodge, Slayter Hall and William Howard Doane Library.

University students are warned not to fall asleep on the seventh tier of the library because they may be awakened by an shadowy woman in an old dress said to haunt the floor. Reports of ghostly activities near the flagpole out side of Slayter Hall were reported in the 60s and 70s. In the lodge residents have reportedly been touched by unseen hands. Some believe that the tombstone in the campus cemetery with the name Chamberlain on it has some connection. Newark, Ohio has three well known haunted places: Cedar Hill Cemetery, Newark Earthworks and Newark High School (B building).

The cemetery has an asylum where screams and knocking can be heard if someone were to put their ear to the door. In the cemetery itself lies a child with a stone for a grave marker and it is said that is one were to look away from the stone and look back again it would be turned in a different direction. If pictures of the ancient earthworks are taken, orbs supposedly appear on the photographs. In the old school building a staff member allegedly hung himself by accident and on the night he died it is said that footsteps can be heard in the building as well as someone whistling their favorite tune.

Traveling deeper into southeastern Ohio to Muskingum County the City of Zanesville has an enormous amount of paranormal activities described by the Ohio Exploration Society.

From individuals haunting entire neighborhoods to small-enclosed basements, Zanesville is well known for "Spiritual remains" that refuse to "cross over."

A slave who died while escaping through the Underground Railroad, known as Black Joe is said to haunt the vicinity of Putnam along with the building he is buried under. Figures are said to be seen standing by their graves unaware of the fact that they are dead and after they are seen they soon disappear. A home on Chandersville Road is supposedly haunted by the sound of a cane hitting the floor and at times things have flown from the walls into burners when they are on.

On the northern lock of the Muskingum River Ellis Bridge, mysterious lights gather around the bridge at night and have done so since the flood of 1913 which killed numerous local residents. Black Joe is thought to be buried under the James Madison School. He is said to haunt the basement of the structure, which was built in the mid 1800's. In Putnam a cemetery known as the Moxahala Burial Ground is said to be haunted by Miss Arnold, whose body was stolen from its grave. Her ghost haunts the cemetery looking from her body. John C, Hazelett's house once stood were the senior citizen center is now. His ghost allegedly haunts the site, it is said that the Civil War veteran was buried by his home after being killed by a musket ball during a battle in Tennessee.

One of Zanesville's most famous land marks, the Y-Bridge is even said to be haunted. The Licking River Ghost is supposed to rattle windows in homes around the bridge. Dr. Isaac Fowler's horse missed the bridge while traveling home and plummeted into the river. And on foggy nights the ghost is said to repeat his deadly ride.

The above excerpts are just a few of the stories that are known to surface around this time of the year, but be careful what you go looking for.

The Grave Addiction Web site gives a few tips on how to stay safe while ghost hunting: Never go by yourself, always get permission form the owner before going into an abandoned building, use a 35 millimeter camera with 400 speed film for photographs, almost any kind of recorder can be used to capture sounds, do not take or leave anything at the site you explore and most of all - have fun!

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