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America's Haunted Road Trip
Spooked in Seattle: A Haunted Handbook
Hop In and Hang On for Seattle’s Grandest Ghost Hunt Seattle may not be as old as some would expect from a haunted city. But it has a large number of haunted sites and stories. Spooked in Seattle, by Ross Allison, leads readers on a journey through Seattle's neighborhoods while teaching the city's history and tales of strange encounters. For those who love to venture off in search of ghosts and the unknown, this book will set readers forth in the right direction. Spooked in Seattle features more than 150 haunted locations, historic and contemporary photos, top ten questions about ghosts, Seattle's top ten most haunted places, location maps and addresses, Seattle history and haunted facts, Seattle cemeteries and tombstone symbols, and more. All of these stories are broken down into sections based on the city's neighborhoods to make finding them easier for ghost enthusiasts. Maps and photos help bring the locations to life, making the Seattle ghosthunting experience easy and enjoyable.
248 pages, Paperback
First published September 13, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 20, 2018
A nice little collection of haunted places around Seattle. Most stories are a page or so long and don't go into too much depth.
I would have liked to see this longer, more in depth, and split into Seattle neighborhoods.
I would have liked to see this longer, more in depth, and split into Seattle neighborhoods.
March 23, 2024
Let's be honest about what this is. This author stole these stories from published authors, didn't research anything, and did the bare minimum for your money.
I am bringing facts that speak to this author's credibility as a self-proclaimed professional ghost hunter/author/speaker.
Let's use Pages 46 & 47 - his story of Dutch Ned - for example:
1)The mausoleum he credits as "Dutch Ned's Mausoleum" is actually the mausoleum of George W. Stober, dob December 9, 1857, dod Jan 9, 1930, in the Oakland Cemetery of Moulton, Iowa. Why did this author not even bother to visit Lake View and take a picture of the actual stone, or at least use a picture of the real tomb before it was removed? Why did he use a picture of someone else's mausoleum, in another state, with their name clearly shown in the stone above the doorway?
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1...
2)Mr. Allison begins his story as: "Born Nils Jacob Olm in 1828, this Dutchman arrived in Seattle in 1854. Nick-named "Dutch Ned" by the locals, he was a funny old man who was a bit slow due to a childhood injury. He made his living filling in the potholes throughout Pioneer Square's streets with sawdust from Yesler's sawmill."
However, the story he plagiarized can be found in "Pioneers of Lake View: A Guide to Seattle's Early Settlers and Their Cemetery" by Robert L Ferguson, published in 1996 Pioneers of Lake View: A Guide to Seattle's Early Settlers and Their Cemetery (Mr. Allison published this book in 2011, remember). Ferguson begins his story about "Dutch Ned" as: "Nils Jacob Olm "Dutch Ned" 1828-1898 Lot 470. Dutch Ned, a funny old character, was unceremoniously dumped off a ship in Seattle in the summer of 1854. He was a bit slow in his thinking due to a head injury when he was young, but earned his way in Seattle carting away the mountains of sawdust generated by Yesler's mill. He then spread it over Mill and Commercial Streets, now Yesler Way and First Avenue South..."
Sound familiar? The whole story this author writes is the story Robert L. Ferguson wrote for his guide to Lake View... with the use of a thesaurus so it's not word-for-word.
The rest of the stories in the book contain the same. Stories stolen from other authors. With no credit. Misappropriated photographs. Disproven facts.
I am bringing facts that speak to this author's credibility as a self-proclaimed professional ghost hunter/author/speaker.
Let's use Pages 46 & 47 - his story of Dutch Ned - for example:
1)The mausoleum he credits as "Dutch Ned's Mausoleum" is actually the mausoleum of George W. Stober, dob December 9, 1857, dod Jan 9, 1930, in the Oakland Cemetery of Moulton, Iowa. Why did this author not even bother to visit Lake View and take a picture of the actual stone, or at least use a picture of the real tomb before it was removed? Why did he use a picture of someone else's mausoleum, in another state, with their name clearly shown in the stone above the doorway?
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1...
2)Mr. Allison begins his story as: "Born Nils Jacob Olm in 1828, this Dutchman arrived in Seattle in 1854. Nick-named "Dutch Ned" by the locals, he was a funny old man who was a bit slow due to a childhood injury. He made his living filling in the potholes throughout Pioneer Square's streets with sawdust from Yesler's sawmill."
However, the story he plagiarized can be found in "Pioneers of Lake View: A Guide to Seattle's Early Settlers and Their Cemetery" by Robert L Ferguson, published in 1996 Pioneers of Lake View: A Guide to Seattle's Early Settlers and Their Cemetery (Mr. Allison published this book in 2011, remember). Ferguson begins his story about "Dutch Ned" as: "Nils Jacob Olm "Dutch Ned" 1828-1898 Lot 470. Dutch Ned, a funny old character, was unceremoniously dumped off a ship in Seattle in the summer of 1854. He was a bit slow in his thinking due to a head injury when he was young, but earned his way in Seattle carting away the mountains of sawdust generated by Yesler's mill. He then spread it over Mill and Commercial Streets, now Yesler Way and First Avenue South..."
Sound familiar? The whole story this author writes is the story Robert L. Ferguson wrote for his guide to Lake View... with the use of a thesaurus so it's not word-for-word.
The rest of the stories in the book contain the same. Stories stolen from other authors. With no credit. Misappropriated photographs. Disproven facts.
August 3, 2014
Truthfully, Spooked in Seattle probably doesn't quite measure up to a three-star rating. The book is rife with typos (I lost track of how many times "were" was spelled "where"), sentence and paragraph structure was frequently awkward, and frankly, the evidence provided for some of these sites being haunted was a bit, shall we say, thin.
Still, I liked this book! Yes, the haunted bit could have been more robust, but I thought Spooked in Seattle excelled at presenting the history of Seattle in an interesting, intriguing, and exicting way. I got shafted with a very poor teacher when I was required to take Washington State history in high school, so the most I ever learned about this state, let alone Seattle, was that swap meets were held every other weekend in Everett. I got nothing out of that class (other than a filled graduation requirement), and nothing sparked my desire to learn more about where I now live. Spooked in Seattle taught me that Seattle's history just brims over with colorful characters and interesting events, and this book even got me interested in the architectural history of Seattle. It has encouraged me to learn more.
While I can't call Spooked in Seattle a great ghost book (although it's fine as a tour book if one has a desire to visit supposedly haunted sites in the city), it did more for me than my Washington State history class. That just has to count for something, even if "were" was seldom spelled correctly, and even if many of the "ghosts" were probably just the wind.
Still, I liked this book! Yes, the haunted bit could have been more robust, but I thought Spooked in Seattle excelled at presenting the history of Seattle in an interesting, intriguing, and exicting way. I got shafted with a very poor teacher when I was required to take Washington State history in high school, so the most I ever learned about this state, let alone Seattle, was that swap meets were held every other weekend in Everett. I got nothing out of that class (other than a filled graduation requirement), and nothing sparked my desire to learn more about where I now live. Spooked in Seattle taught me that Seattle's history just brims over with colorful characters and interesting events, and this book even got me interested in the architectural history of Seattle. It has encouraged me to learn more.
While I can't call Spooked in Seattle a great ghost book (although it's fine as a tour book if one has a desire to visit supposedly haunted sites in the city), it did more for me than my Washington State history class. That just has to count for something, even if "were" was seldom spelled correctly, and even if many of the "ghosts" were probably just the wind.
November 8, 2012
I first picked up this book because I enjoy a good ghost story, but as I turned the pages, I found so much more to love. The book is filled with delightful tales of ghost stories from around the Seattle area. The ghost stories aren't just made up fiction. They are based on actual evidence collected by paranormal researchers and the history of the places which are being haunted. However, there is also an enormous amount of details in regards to the historic Seattle. I thought I knew a lot about the Seattle underground, but I discovered so much more.
Ross Allison is extremely knowledgeable on both paranormal investigation and Seattle history. That and his combined talent for writing make this book one of my favorites. I would definitely recommend it to friends.
Ross Allison is extremely knowledgeable on both paranormal investigation and Seattle history. That and his combined talent for writing make this book one of my favorites. I would definitely recommend it to friends.
February 4, 2013
Pretty good book. There were a lot of typos, at least in the kindle edition, so needs a better editor. As to the content it was very interesting learning about all the haunted places, mixed in with lots of history of Seattle. Maybe it was more interesting to me because I live up here and know of lots of these places, not sure, but it was really cool. Now I want to go on the tour and check all these places out.
January 8, 2021
Fun book about ghosts in Seattle. I’m a total wimp when it comes to scary stories, but the historical information provided made the ghosts more interesting than frightening. A great read for anyone interested in Seattle history, or haunted places!
December 9, 2011
This might be one I'll have to own, to keep on hand for my trips to Seattle. Not so much for the ghosts and all...more for the history of the city.
September 6, 2018
I enjoyed the history and the ghostly goings on in Seattle. However, the writing was horrible.
August 3, 2021
As someone who loves reading ghost story collections, I was really excited to dive into this one. Some things that I really enjoyed about it were how in depth some of the history was, there were some really great passages about the city's beginnings and some of the historical figures associated with the city. The haunted facts sections at the end of chapters, with information on hauntings in general, were fun to read.
That being said this book was in dire of one thing - a proofreader. There were so many instances where the author clearly meant a different word, but the word in place of it was spelled correctly, so it wasn't something spell check would catch. Some examples were "foots steps" instead of footsteps or "leather jack" instead of leather jacket. This is something that happened many many times throughout the book that always took me out of my reading enjoyment. A second pair of eyes looking over the book before it went to publication could have fixed it - and honestly could have bumped it up to 3-4 stars for me (yes, the history and stories were that interesting). I had a really hard time though because these errors stood out to me and would slow down my reading.
If you're looking for a book with a lot of great background information on Seattle, this is a solid pick, but be aware of the errors.
That being said this book was in dire of one thing - a proofreader. There were so many instances where the author clearly meant a different word, but the word in place of it was spelled correctly, so it wasn't something spell check would catch. Some examples were "foots steps" instead of footsteps or "leather jack" instead of leather jacket. This is something that happened many many times throughout the book that always took me out of my reading enjoyment. A second pair of eyes looking over the book before it went to publication could have fixed it - and honestly could have bumped it up to 3-4 stars for me (yes, the history and stories were that interesting). I had a really hard time though because these errors stood out to me and would slow down my reading.
If you're looking for a book with a lot of great background information on Seattle, this is a solid pick, but be aware of the errors.
November 1, 2022
If this book had an editor, shame on them for sleepwalking through the process. (I lost count of how many times 'were' was spelled as 'where'.) If it didn't have one, it badly needed it.
The multitude of typos aside, this is hit or miss. Honestly, I found the strengths of the book actually laid in talking about Seattle history, not ghosts. I certainly learned a lot about the various historical figures, events, and scandals, but found the paranormal material thin on the ground. Too many entries could basically be summed up as "there's a lot of burials around here and someone's reported feeling weird at this place, so it must be haunted." Those entries are even more disappointing when they're flagged as locations that warranted a paranormal investigation, but there's nothing about the investigation itself.
Despite the critique, this book's certainly not *bad*. It was readable and moderately entertaining, so it did the job--it just didn't do the job as well as it could have. There's a much better book in here that a good editor could have brought out and didn't. If you take the "Spooked in Seattle" tour (highly recommended!), you'll get a feel for what this book could have been.
The multitude of typos aside, this is hit or miss. Honestly, I found the strengths of the book actually laid in talking about Seattle history, not ghosts. I certainly learned a lot about the various historical figures, events, and scandals, but found the paranormal material thin on the ground. Too many entries could basically be summed up as "there's a lot of burials around here and someone's reported feeling weird at this place, so it must be haunted." Those entries are even more disappointing when they're flagged as locations that warranted a paranormal investigation, but there's nothing about the investigation itself.
Despite the critique, this book's certainly not *bad*. It was readable and moderately entertaining, so it did the job--it just didn't do the job as well as it could have. There's a much better book in here that a good editor could have brought out and didn't. If you take the "Spooked in Seattle" tour (highly recommended!), you'll get a feel for what this book could have been.
January 5, 2020
Interesting read! I don't even remember why I initially ordered this book, but decided to read it when it arrived. One thing that I thought was very interesting is the amount of graveyards that have been relocated and many of the ghosts are explained by their bodies not being moved. Some were missed every time a graveyard was relocated. I didn't even know this was something that was done.
Also having lived across the sound from Seattle, I discovered there were things there that I never knew existed, which I intend to visit. There is a miniature Statue Of Liberty on one of the beaches and an energy point, thought by some to be convergence of ley lines, right behind Pike Place Market.
One thing that detracted from the reading was the sheer amount of typographical or spelling errors. The publisher needs to use a person vice spell checker. The spell checkers don't catch grammatical errors, therefore some sentences don't make sense.
Also having lived across the sound from Seattle, I discovered there were things there that I never knew existed, which I intend to visit. There is a miniature Statue Of Liberty on one of the beaches and an energy point, thought by some to be convergence of ley lines, right behind Pike Place Market.
One thing that detracted from the reading was the sheer amount of typographical or spelling errors. The publisher needs to use a person vice spell checker. The spell checkers don't catch grammatical errors, therefore some sentences don't make sense.
November 25, 2024
Liked reading these stories and connecting them to what is there now. The edition of the book I read is kind of old so some of the places mentioned as being still around aren’t but like that they give addresses so they can still be placed. One big negative was the poor writing. No one reads a book like this expecting a literary masterpiece but some of the grammatical and editorial errors make reading it more work than it should have been.
February 7, 2025
If you live in Seattle or want to visit Seattle, this is a MUST have book. I know there are some editing issues, that isn't the fault of the author, that is the fault of the publisher for not editing it. But, it's a great read with a LOT of haunted places to visit. If you want to see a lot of these places in person, Spooked in Seattle has a ghost tour you can even go on. www.spookedinseattle.com - awesome book and great tour. Don't listen to the negative reviews, give it a chance!
June 3, 2020
This is worth a read for the sordid history of Seattle alone. I don't believe in ghosts, but I appreciate the facts and lore presented in a ghost story. I got this book after a SPOOKED IN SEATTLE ghost tour and finally got around to reading it. It's worth a read for the hidden history presented in between the covers.
March 27, 2021
I don't believe in ghosts, was reading this for plot hooks for a tabletop campaign. Lots of interesting history, but the descriptions of hauntings get very repetitive after a while and some of the "haunted" locations seem like a huge stretch.
November 13, 2022
Its a great haunted tour of the Seattle area, if you like spooky locations and haunted buildings this is a handy book to take with you. Even gives you directions and will tell you if the place is no longer there.
October 25, 2017
Great for history, OK for ghosts, bad editing.
August 2, 2023
Not great. Includes some really date and potentially offensive language.
March 23, 2024
Someone help this person with grammar and editing!
March 27, 2024
Riddled with grammatical errors and typos - quite disappointing.
December 2, 2012
Basically a section of the city per chapter - discusses old historical buildings that claim to be haunted. Not the best, but entertaining enough to flip through in October.
December 19, 2015
This book has some interesting historical tidbits and it includes photographs of most of the sites. Unfortunately,it is poorly written and could use a good editor.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews