Haunted Texas Vacations: The Complete Ghostly Guide

Lisa Farwell

1 a must -have book for texas ghost hunters
this is the first book i ever purchased about ghost hunting exclusively in texas. i was impressed with the detail that the author included in her book. every bit of information that you need in order to conduct ghost hunting trips in Texas is included here. i have purchased a couple of books after this one that dealt with texas ghosts but they fall short of Haunted Texas Vacations.

2 Fantastic Book!
This is a fun-to-read, informative book full of interesting ghost stories. It can be used for informative, historical reading or for pure enjoyment.

After reading "Haunted Texas Vacations," my husband and I set out on our own ghost hunts in San Antonio, Spring and Jefferson and, I'm happy to report, we were privileged to experience first-hand a couple of unexplained phenomena mentioned in Ms. Farwell's writings because we knew exactly where to look.

Please give us more, Ms. Farwell!

3 A Great Book!!
This was my first really good book on haunted places. Anyone who is interested in local (Texas) ghost stories just has to read this one. I am planning my vacation around some of these towns and I am very excited.

This book is so well written that it held my interest for hours and gave me quite a chill more than a couple of times. The way the author put Texas in sections made it even easier to find a particular area I was looking for. Although I was looking for San Antonio, I found there are all kinds of interesting places in between and beyond. I intend to eventually visit them all.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in our haunted history or just a great ghost story.

4 Don?t leave this plane without it.
This is a great book to take on a trip to add that extra worldly dimension to your vacation. The book divides Texas into six regions. Then the specific location is discussed there are key symbols to let you know about such things as "Ghostly Missions and Churches" or "Most Haunted Location." It includes such subjects as "What is a Ghost?", " Ghost Hunting", and "A ghost Hunter's Tool Kit."

A place that is eerie enough with out being haunted is the Monahans Sandhills state Park. When you get out the dunes they seem to go on forever. However I sounds like the ghosts are more interested in the "Visitors' center building".

"According to legend the visitors' center a Monahans Sandhills State Park is built on the sight of a nineteenth-center Comanche burial ground. In 1967, two boys digging neat the building unearthed a skeleton, lending credence to the ghost story."

5 Great Fun!
This book is a kick!! Good stories from all regions of Texas - my personal favorites center around San Antonio, Spring, and Jefferson - and the illustrations are particularly creative. Lisa devotes a few pages to the description of ghosts, the ghost hunter's tools, and various icons used throughout (check out the "shiver scale). Then come the histories and ghostly visitations associated with each site. A conversational writing style and sometimes self-effacing wit add to the enjoyment of this book. In one instance the author feels the pursuit of a ghost and turns to snap a quick photo. Unfortunately, the photo never "materializes" because in her haste and fear she has forgotten to remove the lens cap!

The appendices offer a suggested reading list and ghostly websites. There are many photos and each site includes pertinent info such a phone numbers, addresses, check-in/check-out times, etc. This book is quite entertaining, but I offer one caveat concerning its content. Lisa does not address this issue, but many experts in this genre consider ghosts to be inherently evil or at the least unnatural. Never attempt to communicate with potential spirits either verbally or through a ouija board. As the unwitting victim of some frightening poltergeist activity at the age of thirteen, I am well aware that negative energies do exist and are not be tampered with. Keeping this in mind, enjoy this effort.

P.S. to Lisa Farwell: Would love to see a book on Houston hauntings---in a town 160+ years old with a population of several million you should be able to "scare up" a few good stories.

6 more fun than Casper
"Remember, ghosts were people too" says Farwell and what a cast: frantically romantic lovers, dashing Edwardian gentlemen, poor pirates, southern belles, war heroes, war victims, and even--well, what other state would his ghost inhabit! --John Wayne...

What great stories!

For example: the story of the 19 year old boy who fell in love with a beautiful girl in the 1860's...she had not only the beauty but also the warmth of a diamond. He proposed, she declined, he shot himself...in a back room of the Texas Governor's Mansion. The boy was the governor's nephew; and shortly thereafter, the family was forced to flee because of the fall of the Confederacy. They simply shut the bedroom door on the blood, guts, fingers and toes. The mess remained until the next governor moved in. Witnesses say the poor spirit remains, still in love, still sobbing late in the night...

Cocktail-party-chatter-sized facts are also included: The average sighting is 15 seconds, ghosts usually have no sense of time, most ghosts are heard, felt, etc. but only rarely seen.

If you like a good story, you'll love Texas Haunted Vacations...Fun! You might not fall asleep so easily tonight, but who wants to sleep when spirits are walking the hallway and shaking the china...