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James A. Willis

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

http://www.strangeandspookyworld.com

Twitter

jamesawillis

Genre

Paranormal, Nonfiction, Travel

Influences

H.P. Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce, Freddie Mercury, Adam West, The Little ...more

Member Since

April 2007

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/james_a_willis

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Not since the Headless Horseman went charging through Sleepy Hollow has something come out of the Hudson highlands of upstate New York as thrilling and chilling as author and paranormal researcher James A. Willis. Fueled by a steady diet of boo berry cereal, Creepy Magazine and late-night Vincent Price movies, Willis soon developed a taste for the unexplained and quickly began seeking out all things strange and spooky.

When he wasn’t trying to coax the boogeyman out from under his bed for a photo shoot, Willis pondered such eternal questions as what happens to us when we die is there life on other planets, and what possesses someone to decorate their house with 1,001 milk jugs?

In 1999, after spending more than 15 years chasing after ghosts Not since the Headless Horseman went charging through Sleepy Hollow has something come out of the Hudson highlands of upstate New York as thrilling and chilling as author and paranormal researcher James A. Willis. Fueled by a steady diet of boo berry cereal, Creepy Magazine and late-night Vincent Price movies, Willis soon developed a taste for the unexplained and quickly began seeking out all things strange and spooky.

When he wasn’t trying to coax the boogeyman out from under his bed for a photo shoot, Willis pondered such eternal questions as what happens to us when we die is there life on other planets, and what possesses someone to decorate their house with 1,001 milk jugs?

In 1999, after spending more than 15 years chasing after ghosts and visiting crybaby bridges, Willis moved to Ohio and founded The Ghosts of Ohio (ghostsofohio.org), a nationally recognized paranormal research organization. Willis has grown the organization to well over 35 members in three divisions throughout the state: Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.

In 2004, in what seemed to be destiny, Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman, the brainchild’s of the Weird US series of books, approached Willis and asked him to contribute to their latest volume, Weird US. To date, Willis has been involved with 6 books in the Weird US series. He is the co-author of Weird Ohio (2005) and Weird Indiana (2008) and was also a contributing author to Weird US (2004), Weird Hauntings (2006), Weird US II: The ODDyssey Continues (2008), and Weird Encounters (2010). Willis’ unique and offbeat writing style was officially recognized in 2006 with his induction into the Grand Order of Weird Writers.

In addition, Willis has been a contributing author to several books in the Armchair Reader series, beginning with Weird, Scary & Unusual (2008) and continuing with several books released in 2010: Armchair Reader Goes Hollywood, Armchair Reader’s All about Ohio, and The Mammoth Armchair Reader. 2011 marked the release of Willis' latest collaboration with Armchair Reader, Haunted America. For 2012, Willis released Haunted Indiana, his first work with Stackpole Books. In the fall of 2012, Willis' The Big Book Of Ohio Ghost Stories was unleashed.

Look for Willis' next book, Ohio's Historic Haunts, to be released in late summer of 2015.

A sought-after public speaker, Willis has given presentations throughout the United States, during which he has educated and entertained tens of thousands of people of all ages in crowd sizes ranging from 10 to well over 600. He has also been featured in more than 50 media sources, including CNN, USA Today, Columbus Business First, Midwest Living, The Canadian Press, and even the Kuwait Times. He is also currently a contributing author to Mysteries Magazine.

Willis currently resides in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife and daughter, a Queen-loving parrot, and three narcoleptic cats. ...more

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James A. Willis’s books

Average rating: 3.8 · 821 ratings · 102 reviews · 20 distinct works • Similar authors

	Weird Ohio: Your Travel Guide to Ohio's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets by James A. Willis (Goodreads Author), Loren L. Coleman, Andy Henderson 3.88 avg rating — 276 ratings — published 2005 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Big Book of Ohio Ghost Stories 3.79 avg rating — 121 ratings — published 2013 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Haunted Indiana: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Hoosier State 3.49 avg rating — 87 ratings — published 2012 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ohio's Historic Haunts 3.68 avg rating — 66 ratings — published 2014 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Central Ohio Legends & Lore 3.77 avg rating — 62 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Southern Ohio Legends & Lore 3.50 avg rating — 12 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Northern Ohio Legends & Lore really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Southern Ohio Legends & Lore really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Willis's veterinary practice, being an accurate and detailed account of the various diseases to which the horse is liable 1872 [Leather Bound] 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	“Collector’s Edition” Willis's veterinary practice, being an accurate and detailed account of the various diseases to which the horse is liable 1872 [Premium Leather Bound] 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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James A. Willis's Blog

2025-26 Appearances & Presentations Cheat Sheet

Handy dandy cheat sheet for you regarding all confirmed presentations and appearances for 2025-26. You can also scan the QR code, which will take you to the full calendar.

View more on James A. Willis's website »

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Published on September 22, 2025 10:19

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James is Currently Reading

James Willis is currently reading

SACRED CORRIDORS: SECRETS BEHIND THE REAL PROJECT BLUE BOOK, WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, ROSWELL, BATTELLE, MEMORY METAL, DR. J. ALLEN HYNEK & UFO COVER-UPS

by Irena Scott

bookshelves: currently-reading, conspiracies, ufos

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Jul 19, 2021 12:21PM

James Willis is currently reading

Bad Clowns

by Benjamin Radford (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, just-plain-weird, legends-folklore, history, serial-killers, weird-side-of-history

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Jul 19, 2021 12:20PM

James Willis is currently reading

Here's to My Sweet Satan: How the Occult Haunted Music, Movies and Pop Culture, 1966-1980

by George Case (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, conspiracies, cults, devilish-things-satanism-exorcism, satanic-panic, subliminal-messages

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Jul 02, 2021 02:55PM

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James’s Recent Updates

James A. Willis wrote a new blog post 2025-26 Appearances & Presentations Cheat Sheet Handy dandy cheat sheet for you regarding all confirmed presentations and appearances for 2025-26. You can also scan the QR code, which will take you Read more of this blog post »
Sep 23, 2025 02:54AM · like

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