Ghosts, Critters & Sacred Places of Washington & Oregon II

by Jefferson D. Davis

This is the second book in a Jeff Davis' series recounting true ghost stories from the Pacific Northwest. The stories in this book are not fiction, but come from many sources, like newspaper stories and first hand experiences from people who have had paranormal encounters. This book is thirty pages longer than Jeff's first Ghosts and Strange Critters of Washington and Oregon. Although most of the stories in this book are new, some of the haunted sites from Jeff's first book have been updated. There are more public places in this book, like bars, restaurants, hotels or public buildings. Most of them can be visited by readers for their own experiences. This book is divided into geograpic regions in Washington and Oregon, including the Puget Sound, the Coast, and east and west of the Cascade Mountains. In addition to ghost stories, there are several stories about "Strange Critters" like the Bigfoot and "Sea Critters" that have been seen in the Pacific Northwest. At the end of the book is a section on ghost hunting, where the author describes natural phenomenon that can be mistaken for hauntings. Such as low frequency sounds, which can cause hallucinations and other seemingly paranomal phenomenon. There is also a history of the Armonica, which instead of creating ghosts was thought to summon angels. There are several photographs of haunted locations as well as an index at the end of the book.

Genres: Paranormal, Monsters

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 15, 2000

About the author

Jeff Davis was born in Vancouver, Washington in 1962. According to family tradition he is related to his namesake, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. Jeff is an Army brat who grew up playing in and around the Vancouver Barracks. This led to an interest in the military and history. Late night horror movies led to an interest in ghosts, mythology, and archaeology.

After a three year enlistment in the U.S. Army, Jeff returned to college where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology. For several years Jeff worked for the U.S. Forest Service as an archaeologist in the Gifford Pinchot, the Boise, the Umatilla, and Mt. Hood National Forests.

In 1995 Jeff and his wife moved to England for a year where he earned his MA in Archaeology at the University of Sheffield. His thesis topic was the lifestyle of the Viking settler in Greenland. That is where he received the inspiration for his publishing company name, Norsemen Ventures.

In addition to his work as a freelance archaeologist and researching books on the paranormal, Jeff is planning on traveling to Greenland and producing a documentary on the Vikings who settled there.

Reviews

[Bon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a neat local publication we found at the bookstore, and I read it heavily for that hometown nostalgia vibe. It was creepily specific, mentioning some interesting locations that my schoolbus would drive past when I was young...
At the same time, clearly a pretty indie publication, with a lot of formatting problems, and the writing in general was not great. Appreciated the local tidbits I learned in it, though, and other stuff I remembered fondly. Some spooky ghosts in it, but the stories are told secondhand and not in a very exciting voice. Decent artwork, though. All in all, what you'd expect from a probably low-print count local production.