Haunted Odyssey

The Mississippi River has been one of America’s great passages for centuries. A primary artery of exploration and commerce, its history is rich in the human stories that have transpired along its banks through generations of natives and pioneers, farmers and explorers, entrepreneurs and soldiers. So it’s no surprise that many of its tales are of the spirits of those who made that history and haunt it to this day. Ghost stories are common on the Mississippi, and James M. Longo spent four years seeking them out from the people who live along its banks. Haunted Odyssey collects the tales he was told and the ones he unearthed in his travels up and down the river: • The phantom light on a deadly Cape Girardeau road • Kaskaskia’s Indian curse • A home in a quiet St. Louis suburb where a grandfather regularly stops by to check in and watch TV—years after he passed away • The infamous Lemp Mansion in St. Louis and the sordid history of madness and death that haunts it still today • An Indian guide’s spirit who helps children lost in the woods in St. Charles • Edwardsville’s Three Mile House, where alarm clocks are unnecessary thanks to a ghostly child • Footsteps that stalk through a Hannibal home with no one in sight Born and raised in St. Louis, James M. Longo’s lifelong interest in ghost stories culminated in his Mississippi Valley odyssey, gathering the best stories local residents sincerely believe to be true. Stories that will haunt you.